Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

Hi again, finally a minute to finish catching up. Work has been crazy today! Though after a 3 day weekend home with O, it''s sort of a welcome relief.
31.gif
He''s soooo cute and fun now, but exhausting!!!!

Let''s see- yesterday O was officially 5 months (in months). He''s 22 weeks. Here''s his 5 month old picture with the monstrously huge lion. He''s going to be four years old before he''s bigger than the lion!

Yesterday he grabbed a french fry out of DH''s hand and stuck it in his mouth before I rescued it.
23.gif
DH was going to let him eat it.

He also figured out how to turn on his mobile in his crib by himself. Sneaky little creature! He was supposed to be going to bed. I was spying on him and watched him reach up and press the button and then cackle like a maniac.
30.gif
It is so much fun to watch them discover new things.

On the other hand, he barely ate all weekend so therefore is waking up to eat at night again. Oh well, at least it gives me time to catch up on my Gilmore Girls and soap operas I DVR!
3.gif


He''s scarily mobile as well, not crawling at all, but manages to roll all over the place and is impossible to contain.

Question: When you all started rice cereal, did you put it in the bottle first with the breastmilk (or formula), or did you go straight to feeding it to him?

5monthO.jpg
 
One more 5 month pic:

O5months.jpg
 
China - is that a Jelly Cat Lion by any chance? Daisy has a small one exactly the same!

I never gave D rice-cereal - just handed her the french fries
11.gif
- so can''t help on that one I''m afraid.
 
Date: 1/19/2010 5:50:31 PM
Author: ChinaCat

Question: When you all started rice cereal, did you put it in the bottle first with the breastmilk (or formula), or did you go straight to feeding it to him?
Click to expand...
I mixed rice cereal with BM and feed it to my son.

O is so adorable! What a happy little boy!
 
Mandy Just wanted to say hey and thinking of you. I don't have any suggestions above what others already said. I can totally relate; A was a really horrible sleeper (night and naps) and very fussy at first, and that was just ONE baby. I had some days when i was totally at the end of my rope emotionally just from lack of sleep, busy DH, and also no local family to help out. Anyway, I hope it gets better for you soon.

Taovandel Hope your outing went well today! I used to be nervous too, but I got used to it quickly.

I must say I am jealous of people whose babies sleep in carseats/strollers. A NEVER would, in fact putting in there just guaranteed he would scream. It was so hard to go anywhere! Finally around 3 or 4 months we stopped even trying the carseat, and I got a good front carrier and got my life back!


Chinacat I used pumped breastmilk mixed with rice cereal and fed it with a spoon. Sometimes I mixed the rice cereal with water. He never liked it much, so I didn't push it. It was more like to practice eating. Around 6 months he started eating pureed fruits and veggies. I mixed those with oatmeal so he never had much rice cereal, actually.

A has a cold, and hearing his sad little cough just melts my heart. I hope the rest of us don't get it.
 
China-O is adorable!!! I mix cereal and oatmeal with her formula and feed it to her. I figure this way she''ll get used to a spoon.
 
Pandora- It is a Jelly Cat! We also have the little one. But for some reason when my parents gave me the big one I thought it would be better for comparison size pics, for some stupid reason. It''s not, the little one would have been far better! Oh well, they are so cute, aren''t they?

Thanks everyone. He''s a happy little monkey.

I am not in a hurry to start the rice cereal, but he''s grabbing for food so I wanted to start thinking about it. I bought some cute little spoons for him in preparation and he grabbed it out of my hand and put it in his mouth.
 
Date: 1/19/2010 6:13:27 PM
Author: TanDogMom
Mandy Just wanted to say hey and thinking of you. I don''t have any suggestions above what others already said. I can totally relate; A was a really horrible sleeper (night and naps) and very fussy at first, and that was just ONE baby. I had some days when i was totally at the end of my rope emotionally just from lack of sleep, busy DH, and also no local family to help out. Anyway, I hope it gets better for you soon.

Taovandel Hope your outing went well today! I used to be nervous too, but I got used to it quickly.

I must say I am jealous of people whose babies sleep in carseats/strollers. A NEVER would, in fact putting in there just guaranteed he would scream. It was so hard to go anywhere! Finally around 3 or 4 months we stopped even trying the carseat, and I got a good front carrier and got my life back!


Chinacat I used pumped breastmilk mixed with rice cereal and fed it with a spoon. Sometimes I mixed the rice cereal with water. He never liked it much, so I didn''t push it. It was more like to practice eating. Around 6 months he started eating pureed fruits and veggies. I mixed those with oatmeal so he never had much rice cereal, actually.

A has a cold, and hearing his sad little cough just melts my heart. I hope the rest of us don''t get it.
Click to expand...
36.gif


Eugghhhh - Daisy is STILL a monster in the carseat. Although mine would fit the stroller I have never bothered as she was always in such a state by the time we got anywhere that it was a case of how fast could you undo the straps and get her out of it...
14.gif
 
Is PS going really slow for anyone else?

China, when you start cereal you should definitely start with a spoon (or your finger as a spoon) but not in the bottle. The purpose of it is for them to learn to eat from a spoon and learn new textures, which they won''t get if you give it in a bottle. Cute pics!

Those having sleep issues, especially Mandy, I''m so sorry! I truly feel your pain. Before we had sleep trained, Jacks would only sleep 45 minutes at a time unless he was being held, and dh physically couldn''t help. He worked such long hours at the time that even if I TRIED to wake him up, he wouldn''t wake up at times, or would go pick up Jacks and fall asleep with Jacks crying on his shoulder, etc. (not safe) so I had to take all the wakings. I also got so sleep deprived to the point where I thought I might have PPD, but as soon as I started getting more sleep I immediately felt better. I don''t really have any advice other than to sleep train as soon as they are old enough if you are still not sleeping. We co-slept to get through it, but even then I didn''t really sleep well, but it made it manageable for me. And if you do have someone who can help, definitely take it and do something to avoid waking up when your help is there (go somewhere else, ear plugs, white noise, etc. I never did this and I was up anyway when people were helping). Hang in there, and do NOT blame yourself or feel guilty. I think we''ve all been there at some point.

What do the other SAHM''s do to avoid getting in a rut? I feel like we''re doing the same activities day in and day out, and both Jacks and I are getting bored! It doesn''t help that he''s staying up 3 hours or so in between naps! We go out somewhere almost once a day, but I try to not go out till after 3 so as to not mess up his naps.
 
Date: 1/19/2010 7:54:10 PM
Author: Sabine


What do the other SAHM''s do to avoid getting in a rut? I feel like we''re doing the same activities day in and day out, and both Jacks and I are getting bored! It doesn''t help that he''s staying up 3 hours or so in between naps! We go out somewhere almost once a day, but I try to not go out till after 3 so as to not mess up his naps.
Click to expand...

Right there with you. The late afternoon seems to be the best time to go out to not mess with naps, although sometimes we can get out at lunchtime instead. We had super cold weather for a couple weeks and felt pretty housebound. This week has been nice though. I have a couple other SAHM friends and I try to meet up with each about once a week. It''s nice to get out with another mom and baby and have someone to talk to. I have one gal (aforementioned stalker neighbor, who has actually been much better lately) that I walk with ~once a week. Another gal and I mall walk or shop or hang out at one of our houses. Then I go jogging with another gal. One day a week we go to mother''s morning out. Once in a while we meet up with other friends (who don''t have babies) for lunch. We also get to the gym (which has childcare) several times a week. Let''s see, then there is the grocery, Target, and running other errands... it seems like there is always somewhere to go and something to do, although I can''t say any of it is using my brain too much! I feel like we''re in a pretty good groove. I really look forward to spring when we can spend more time outside.
 
double post
 
Question about preschool/mother's morning out for next year

So I have A enrolled in a mother's morning out program this year. I am deciding whether to keep him there or change to a different program for next year. What do you guys think?

Option 1 - re enroll where we are
1 day a week (3 hours),
There is a teacher + parents take turns being the teacher's helper every 6 weeks
We like the teacher and A is doing well there
Very affordable
Negative aspect: Is very religious, but not our religion


Option 2 - change to other program
2 days a week (3 hours each day)
No need to be teacher's helper, so more time off for me
Costs 3x as much as option 1 (still within budget, but seems pricey)
If we like it, can continue there throughout preschool
Is affiliated with our religion, although religion is not the focus (which is fine by me)

I'm pretty sure I'm going with Option 2. I've checked into several programs and haven't found anything I like better than Option 2. My main concern is the price, but also, I don't know if I *need* the two days a week of free time. (Am I crazy for saying that?) One day is awesome, but two seems indulgey. If it were not for the religion thing, we would like to keep him at the current place but I think that will become more confusing to him as he is age 2+. I did not realize how religious the program when we enrolled him for this year. Plus, if we are paying $, I think I'd rather it go to my religious institution than to another religious institution.

Thoughts? I have to decide next week if we are enrolling him at Option 2.
 
total lurker these days, but i just wanted to give my hugs to mandy. you are not alone!
my little one (emphasis on the one, i don''t know how you do it with two). is a total NON napper, NON sleeper! i can *maybe* get him to do a 45 min nap if he''s held, and forget about STTN or even doing a 4 or 5 hour stretch at night (or sleeping in his crib at all). unless he''s being held - it''s an all day, all night battle with the sleep monster. and i have a total irrational fear that no sleep = no thriving. somedays i have so much anxiety about sleeping that i''m having a hard time enjoying being a mom. we''ve also had a rough go of it with c''s milk/soy allergy, my bf woes and cutting out all dairy and soy from my diet, c''s reflux, and colic, and my most recent hospital stay for removal of a breast abscess that i got b/c of mastitis. i was away from my little man for 3 days while i had surgery and he went from being almost exclusively BF to bottle fed in 3 days. it''s been a roller coaster for sure.

i hate to be so focused on sleep, and how much he''s getting, but i can''t help but be focused on it. in any case, i understand your feelings and can totally relate to wanting to crawl into a dark room with a stiff drink for days. and the subsequent guilt, like that makes me a bad mom.

in happy happy news i think my little c is the smartest baby ever ;) naaaaaa, it''s just that he''s sooo giggly and chatty and smiles at me all of the time... it really makes up for his sleep "issues" :)

i''m sooooooo dying to try not swaddling him, but he gets so distracted if his arms and legs are flailing around. would love to try and sleep him on his belly too (think that would help with the reflux) but won''t try if he''s swaddled...... ugh, tomorrow is more trial and error ;)

((hugs)) mandy!
 
Awwww Mandarine. I really feel for you. Really
40.gif
Sleep devrivation is a very serious thing. I remember when I hit the wall, I was just a BEAR. I told my DH, "I don''t care WHAT you do, but I''m putting in my earplugs, getting into bed, and not getting up until morning". Eeeerrrrrrr, we ended up getting a night nurse that night
16.gif
and I swear, the next morning I was human again. Anyways, I don''t have anything to say that hasn''t been said already - but believe us when we tell you that you are doing a FANTASTIC job and twins are really challenging; you''re allowed to have your ''moments''.

re: SAHMs and staying "busy". I too don''t go out until after 3pm, which makes for a long day. My survival tactic is to nap at the same time he naps (in the afternoon) to give me the energy I need to do our afternoon outing. I usually make plans with someone or run errand. Not that fun, but its our life.
As for what we do from wake-up until 3pm, I try to look at the day in small ''windows'' to avoid feeling "oh my god what are we going to DO all day". So, 7am - 8am is feed and play in my bed, 8am - 830 is highchair solids, 830 - 9am is excersaucer playtime. 9am - 1015 is nap #1, etc. etc etc. I try to "chunk out" the day into different rooms and different activities so that I only have to occupy that small bit of time in that particular space (rather than 3 hours with the same toys in the same room).
Sabine - is that what you meant?

China - Is it me or does O look a lot like you? I also mix my BM with the rice cereal and feed him with a spoon. I tend to always feed him pears alongside the rice to avoid constipation.

Romeo is also barrel rolling everywhere and army crawling everywhere. Time to baby proof!
 
Mandy, I lurk mostly (because my advice isn''t really worth much these days), but wanted to just give you a shout out of support as well.

Parenting one is tough enough. Parenting two is something that many of will never really understand, so I''m happy that there are more than our share of twin PS moms. My friend''s sister just had twins. She said all was well and they slept great. I did warn about the 2 week honeymoon and sure enough, when I talked to the twin momma''s sister today (who is expecting triplets), she said her sister asked her when the twins will be 18 already. It''s getting tough, and I can only imagine it will get tougher. I''ll have a little glimpse inside the life of multiple parenting when my friend delivers her 3, as I''ve volunteered to help out.

Anyway, my point is I have a lot of respect for all moms, but especially the ones who have to deal with more than 1 at a time.

As for DD''s point that "we cannot and should not take too much credit when our kids do things "right", and we cannot and should not take too much credit when things go "wrong" either," I whole heartedly disagree (tongue in cheek, of course). Take credit for everything that goes right and don''t be hard on yourself when everything goes wrong...it''s the only way to stay sane...hahaha!
41.gif
Parenting is all about loving your child and believing you are doing the best you can raising them, so pat yourself on the back and build your confidence...it will do you well in the long run.
9.gif
 
Viz - I''m so sorry that you''re having such a rough go right now. I feel badly when colic and reflux are added the already difficult mix of BF, sleep (deprivation) and general anxiety. I have no solid advice, other than, keep on keeping on. so not what you need to hear, I know...but it should get easier as C''s digestive system continues to grow and develop. How old is C now? As for the Sleeping in the arms thing, Maybe Sabine can chime in because she had very similar issues with Jacks. If I were you (easier said than done), I would start the pick-up-put-down routine during your daytime naps, in hopes that C starts to get used to sleeping on an inanimate object.

We''re dealing with our own version of "crazy" over here. Romeo has oddly regressed at night - with one random night waking - where he plays for about 40 mins, and then cannot fall asleep again, so he screams and cries until we pick him up and soothe him to sleep. "We" = DH
11.gif
. He''s convinced its as a result of teething and so he feels sorry for him. I think it *may* be related to teething, but it has become a habit and HE NEEDS TO RE-LEARN how to soothe himself back to sleep. RIGHT???
33.gif
He can fall asleep unassisted at nap time, and even sometimes in the night he ''stirs'' and goes back to sleep. It just seems that after 40 mins of play he''s too ramped up to fall asleep again. Suggestions? CIO? Wait it out (if it''s just a wacky developmental phase)?
SOS!
 
Mand- ugh...I typed out a long response to you yesterday and PS ate it, then I was too p*ssed off to retype it! Anyway, the short version of what I said is that I am right there with 100% of your post. Except I have one to deal with! Ellie is still up twice a night to eat, and now wakes up in 45 minute intervals several times through the night. And DH works in a different city so is gone Mon-Thurs or Mon-Fri so I am IT for childcare. It's so tough. I cannot believe you are working out on top of all this! You should be so proud of yourself for all you do each day! The boys are safe, fed, and loved- that's really enough at the end of the day. I know that doesn't help with the sleep deprivation, but know that you ARE doing an AMAZING job!

Rant of the day:
DD's post about what we as moms "should" do really resonated for me. Lately I have been feeling like I "should:"
*get Ellie to sleep without the swaddle. Tried for 3 hours one night and it was a nightmare so I gave up.
*wean from the paci.
*try to eliminate at least one, if not both, of her night feedings.
*get her to STTN
*be better about having her take her naps in her crib, not while I hold her.
*I know there's more...
But then I think to myself- WHY?!?!?! I am not working, so feeding twice a night is okay for me (the little wake ups every 45 mins are another story). If she is hungry, I want to feed her even if she is technically physically able to go longer (she is plenty big enough). And why the rush to eliminate the swaddle and paci? Is it really that big a deal? Why is there such pressure to race a baby through all the developmental stages? Kind of goes back to all those people that say their 7 week old was STTN. Really? Good for you. I think I just want to let Ellie go at her own pace. I know Fiery has said her philosophy was always "Sophia will STTN when she STTN." And I think that's about where I am at. Do any of you know what I mean?

Now obviously, I don't want to neglect to break any habits that may hold back her development in some way. So if there is an important reason I should bite the bullet and just DO any of these things, please let me know! But otherwise, isn't it ok to just let a baby enjoy being a baby and set her own pace?

Sunkist, Fiery, AND China- LOVE the pics! Sweet babies, all three! (and the dog, too, Sunkist!)

ETA: This rant was NOT directed at anyone here, but more to myself for putting these pressures on myself. Does that make sense? I feel like I sound crazy
37.gif
. I LOVE all the advice and experience that everyone here shares and it really has helped me understand Ellie so much.

 
Hello ladies! I''ve been mostly lurking since Jacob has arrived, and I love all the baby pics. We PSers make gorgeous babies! I apologize for the self-centered post, but I have a few questions...

First, my little man is three weeks old now, and for about a week he''s been sleeping through the day, waking up for feedings and going right back to sleep, and then feeding through the night. It''s insane. I feed him, try to put him to bed, and 15 minutes later he wants to feed again. He does that about 4-5 times a night. he falls asleep on the breast, but as soon as i put him to bed he''s awake. Nothing will soothe him except for the breast, so I figure he''s hungry. I tried feeding him more often during the day, but then I ended up getting no rest at all because he still fed like a madman at night. Any other suggestions?

Second, I started pumping yesterday. I know they say you should wait 4-6 before introducing the bottle, but I was going crazy with the lack of sleep so we decided to have DH do a feeding. I pumped and put the milk in the fridge, then DH warmed it up for the feeding. I wonder, can we warm up and use the leftovers again or should we throw it away?

Third, Jacob has a lot of little acne-like pimples on his face. any idea what it could be and how to treat it? We''re going to the doctor''s in a couple of weeks and I''ll ask her then, but if anyone has advice in the meantime, I''d appreciate it.

TIA!
 
LOL Natalina you do not sound crazy! I think its easy to get wrapped up into what you feel your baby should be doing at their age. I think having trust in yourself to realize when it''s time to make changes is key. And not one way of doing things is going to work for everyone.

Hi Anchor
35.gif


Three weeks is when they hit their first major growth spurt. It sounds to me like that is what Jacob is going through with the cluster feeding as well as mixed in with a little day/night confusion. Where does he nap during the day? If possible, could you have him nap where there is a lot of noise like in the living room? That helped me out a lot with getting Sophia to switch her times. During the day I would feed her, then change her diaper, and "play" which with a 3 week old was usually just singing or walking around the apartment. At night we were in a dark room, I would feed, change diaper and put right back to sleep. No singing/talking/kisses.

Leftover BM: you can''t put it back in the fridge once it has been heated. If you find that he isn''t going through it all then I would do one ounce at a time so that you don''t throw away your milk.

Baby Acne: Sophia went through this as well around 4 weeks and it lasted about 2 weeks. I found out that it was because of my milk that would sometimes get on her face and also because while I was washing her clothing with baby detergent, I was still using regular detergent for our clothing/sheets. Once I switched and made sure milk didn''t get on her face, it went away. But baby acne is very normal. I would not put any creams on and try to keep the face clean. The pedi will let you know if it is an infection but I doubt it is.

Get as much rest as you can! Napping when Jacob naps is important so you don''t feel exhausted but sounds like you guys are doing great!
 
Viz, hugs! Your LO is chatty and giggly, so I totally wouldn''t worry that he isn''t getting enough sleep. I think you''d know if he were having problems because of lack of sleep. And so sorry to hear about the surgery!

Anchor, the acne has seemed to hit all the babies I''ve seen recently around 3 or 4 weeks. Claire''s went away on its own. My BIL is putting Aquaphor (the goopy stuff made by Eucerin) on his 5 week old because the pediatrician said the acne is a result of the skin producing too much oil to deal with dryness. So if the skin isn''t dry, the theory is that the acne will go away. But then you''ve got a baby covered in goopy stuff all the time, so it depends on how bad the acne is, IMO.

And yeah, you can''t reuse the same milk, but it''s awesome that you''re pumping that much! When I started pumping I would literally only get 1/6 an ounce sometimes.

Since Jacob is just 3 weeks, I don''t think you can do much about his feeding schedule other than to make sure he gets a full feeding each time (i.e. wake him up until he has eaten a good 30-40 minutes). That should "fill the tank" so he can go as long as his body will let him.

How long does he go between feedings during the day?

Natalina, yeah, give yourself a break! Who cares about "shoulds"? It''s all trial and error. I''ve had success with things like giving up the swaddle, but if she had cried instead of going to sleep, there''s no way I would have kept with it. I think I would have quit after 3 minutes, not 3 hours! I like Mandy''s trick of leaving the legs out if you''re worried that the blanket isn''t long enough anymore. And won''t you always look back on the times when you held her while she napped with nostalgia? Those moments are so sweet. Don''t let anyone make you feel like you should be doing things differently.

When we met our new niece this weekend, her mom actually joked that because they always put the baby down to nap all the time, she "doesn''t know what love is." I mean, jokes are funny because there''s truth in it, right? We''re more on the "put down" than "hold" end of the spectrum, but I made sure to snuggle Claire extra after hearing that. Our new thing is that after she eats, I turn her around on the boppy and she "sits" on the boppy in my arms. She''s so still and snuggly then, and I imagine she''s just thinking, "Oooh, snuggles with Mommy!"


My mom is coming into town today. I think she was thinking that this would be a rough time for me with only having 1.5 weeks until I go back to work but knowing we wouldn''t want company next week when the big day is approaching.
 
Ugh, my post just got eaten.

George is feeling better now, thankfully. His fever''s gone.

I have decided that I am cracking down on bedtime. It keeps getting pushed back later and later because someone (cough grandpa cough) keeps getting him all keyed up by "boxing" him, and picking him up and running around the house chasing people with him, and turning him upside down. By the time that I think it''s time to go to bed, he''s not at all tired and just wants to play. Plus the TV''s on in the evenings, which is not relaxing. George didn''t go to bed until 10:30 last night because he was so wired, and he didn''t even want to go to bed then- he threw a major tantrum and yelled and kicked and hit and clawed until he wore himself out and quite literally fell over asleep. I haven''t wanted to make too much of a stand because they''re allowing us to stay with them, but it''s getting beyond ridiculous. I am putting my foot down, and there will be no craziness in the evenings and we are establishing a calming bedtime routine. Crazy antics are going to be confined to the weekends, during the day.

Viz - good to hear from you!

Mela - I don''t think that waking from teething would result in wanting to play, so I''m with you on this one.

Natalina - I agree. However, I will say that I got to a point where I needed to do things that I "should" do, like focusing on crib napping, for my own sake. But I feel like you will know when you''re at that point.

Anchor - 1. Babies spend a longer time in light sleep before passing into deep sleep, and so you''re probably moving him while he''s in light sleep and he''s waking up, rather than him still being hungry. Sucking is soothing for newborns even when they''re not hungry. If you''re fine with him falling asleep nursing, you should probably just wait longer before trying to put him down so that he''s definitely in deep sleep. You''ll know when his limbs are limp. If you don''t want him to fall asleep nursing, you can try to put him down and use other soothing techniques. Rhymically patting George''s butt and rubbing his back has always worked pretty well for us. 2. Use warmed up milk w/in 1 hr, and I agree with Fiery of smaller portions if you''re consistently wasting. 3. Newborn acne is common and is usually caused by hormones. I don''t think you''re supposed to do anything in particular to treat it, other than just making sure that you keep him fairly clean. It should go away with time.

And George is awake now. Later!
 
Date: 1/20/2010 10:03:33 AM
Author: natalina

Mand- ugh...I typed out a long response to you yesterday and PS ate it, then I was too p*ssed off to retype it! Anyway, the short version of what I said is that I am right there with 100% of your post. Except I have one to deal with! Ellie is still up twice a night to eat, and now wakes up in 45 minute intervals several times through the night. And DH works in a different city so is gone Mon-Thurs or Mon-Fri so I am IT for childcare. It''s so tough. I cannot believe you are working out on top of all this! You should be so proud of yourself for all you do each day! The boys are safe, fed, and loved- that''s really enough at the end of the day. I know that doesn''t help with the sleep deprivation, but know that you ARE doing an AMAZING job!

Rant of the day:
DD''s post about what we as moms ''should'' do really resonated for me. Lately I have been feeling like I ''should:''
*get Ellie to sleep without the swaddle. Tried for 3 hours one night and it was a nightmare so I gave up.
*wean from the paci.
*try to eliminate at least one, if not both, of her night feedings.
*get her to STTN
*be better about having her take her naps in her crib, not while I hold her.
*I know there''s more...
But then I think to myself- WHY?!?!?! I am not working, so feeding twice a night is okay for me (the little wake ups every 45 mins are another story). If she is hungry, I want to feed her even if she is technically physically able to go longer (she is plenty big enough). And why the rush to eliminate the swaddle and paci? Is it really that big a deal? Why is there such pressure to race a baby through all the developmental stages? Kind of goes back to all those people that say their 7 week old was STTN. Really? Good for you. I think I just want to let Ellie go at her own pace. I know Fiery has said her philosophy was always ''Sophia will STTN when she STTN.'' And I think that''s about where I am at. Do any of you know what I mean?

Now obviously, I don''t want to neglect to break any habits that may hold back her development in some way. So if there is an important reason I should bite the bullet and just DO any of these things, please let me know! But otherwise, isn''t it ok to just let a baby enjoy being a baby and set her own pace?

Sunkist, Fiery, AND China- LOVE the pics! Sweet babies, all three! (and the dog, too, Sunkist!)

ETA: This rant was NOT directed at anyone here, but more to myself for putting these pressures on myself. Does that make sense? I feel like I sound crazy
37.gif
. I LOVE all the advice and experience that everyone here shares and it really has helped me understand Ellie so much.

Click to expand...
Natalina, I don''t recall how old Ellie is, but a few questions for you...

Why do you want to wean her from the paci and swaddle? If she''s happy in it, let her have it. I weaned Amelia off the swaddle somewhere between 2-3 months (I think), not because I WANTED to, but because she could bust out of the miracle blanket, but not entirely. This usually meant it was weirdly wrapped around her, oftentimes around her head. I didn''t feel safe. Weaning her off it was a challenge...I had several stops and starts and it certainly didn''t only take one night. By that time she wasn''t doing her 12 hour sleep, so I was tired and really wanted to use it if it meant getting her to sleep easily. A lot of what I''ve done with her has slipped from my memory, but I still remember clearly how nervous and "scared" I was to wean her off the miracle blanket. But it got wrapped around her head too often for my comfort.

Paci...I let her have it for ages. Definitely past 9 months, and possibly over a year old, although I can''t remember. Gals like Curly and Tacori let their kids have it for longer, so I just took the lead and didn''t care. I gave it a go one day and it wasn''t as hard to wean her from the paci. My main concern was that she had big front teeth and I really thought letting them get badly buck would be a bad idea.
41.gif


No child I know STTN at 7 weeks if you mean actually going through the night for a 10-12 stretch. Yes, many babies can STTN at 7 weeks if you mean the technical 5-6 hour definition. And I think every single new mom would be lying if she said she didn''t want that to happen early. But at some point, for whatever reason, it doesn''t so you have to weigh the desire to get more sleep vs the guilt and pressure of trying to "make" them do it. I''m all for the lower expectations and the "whenever it happens" attitude if it means staying sane. I think that should be the number one priority for moms: to stay sane and zen.
5.gif


So enjoy your baby and let her be a baby. Some of these habits that everyone is so afraid of "breaking" later really aren''t hard to break. Maybe others you wouldn''t expect are more challenging. But moms always seem to manage and since you are a mom, have faith in your ability to tackle whatever comes your way and give yourself a break now.
5.gif
 
thank you all so much!

I feel much better today.

Not because they slept better...because they didn''t! But instead of waking up at 1:30am and 4am, they woke up at 11:30pm and 4am...so DH was up at 11:30pm and did that feeding.

Then it was my turn at 4am...I fed them and then Lucas decided he didn''t want to go to sleep. I soothed him, checked to make sure he didn''t have poop...went in my room and turned off the monitor. Turned it back on 10 minutes later and he had gone to sleep...

The nanny came today so I was able to go to the gym and grocery shopping. I was exhausted and thought maybe I should just crawl into bed...but I pushed myself and I actually feel better after working out. I especially loved the kickboxing section of the class...I punched away my frustrations with "sleep regression" and kicked "growth spurt''s" behind.

So it looks like they almost officially went from waking up once to eat to adding a nightly bottle and eating twice during the night. Nice. I know, sleep regression happens...but that''s a GIANT step back. What do I do now? Just wait it out??

I guess it frustrates me because I thought those days of 2x/night were behind us...and my life has started to make sense again (when I was getting at least 5 hrs of sleep straight!). I just didn''t know they could go backwards. I swear, I didn''t know. I thought everything gradually got better. Silly me.

It is a good thing they are so darn cute and crack up with huge smiles as soon as I say ANYTHING to them. Melts my heart and I "forgive" them
2.gif
 
oh and I''m terrified of stopping the swaddle. I''m just not ready to give it up and neither are they.

They do break out of the miracle blanket from time to time...but not enough to be unsafe. The swaddle me wraps were a complete joke for them and waste of money for me!.

I do agree that babies should be babies.....I''m ok with the fact that they don''t STTN....I just wish they didn''t go backwards, but that''s sort of like the 2-week babymoon. Nobody warned me so I wasn''t expecting it!. I was so happy with my 1x/night and thought we were one step closer without any major pain to getting them to gradually STNN at their own pace. HA! They had their own plans
11.gif
 
Mandy, Amelia (even being the good sleeper she is) had several regressions and weird sleep related issues. I blamed everything on growth spurts and TGuy always rolled his eyes. Well, considering my girl is very very tall, I feel somewhat vindicated.
9.gif
 
Mandarine: glad you had a better night! Maybe your DH can take the 1130 shift regularly? That's not that late especially if he's all ready for bed and feeds them and then goes straight to bed. I don't think those 2 wake ups are that bad (11 and 4), but hopefully it'll shift back to one. Maybe a bigger feeding at 7 or whenever they initially go down?

I can tell you that sleep regression happens frequently. My "angel" slept 8 hrs regularly until 10mo's (grrr). Now at 15 mo's she's often up 2-3 times a night! But no more feedings obviously so it's less involved. I think we've all gone through sleep regression phases so often that I'm starting to wonder if STTN is the exception not the norm! Hang in there, it'll make sense soon, and TGAL said it sooo well!!
 
LOL TG

They are already wearing 3-6 month stuff and they just turned 3 months...so I''ll blame growth spurts too!!!

My exercise-induced and caffeine overload energy is starting to wear off.

Me thinks after the 1pm bottle I''m going to go shopping with the boys. That always makes everyone (me) feel better!
 
Hugs to you, Mandarine.
21.gif
I'm glad you're feeling better today. Just wanted to say I'm sure you're doing a fantastic job! I honestly have no idea how you and other twin mommas do it... I'm in awe even just reading your story of breastfeeding both babies while standing in the fitting room! Amazing!
36.gif
I'm exhausted and frustrated with just one...
14.gif
Dalila (7 weeks) also has a very irregular sleep schedule...last night she got up every hour or 1/2 hour for a feeding. Example of her schedule last night- sleep at 2:15 am - up at 3:30 am. Down again at 4:30 am, up at 6:00 am. Down at 6:30 am - up at 7:11 am. It was really tiring!!
14.gif
I really feel your pain but can only imagine how much more demanding it is with two babies to feed, comfort etc instead of one. Don't feel bad for feeling bad and frustrated at times. I think most parents do perhaps don't about it openly. Hopefully their schedules will settle soon.
 
He would definitely take the 11pm feeding if that becomes the norm. That''s what we were doing until they dropped off that feeding. It''s just unpredictable with them now...but absolutely, if they are up before he goes to bed DH always takes charge without me even asking. I was up anyway because of all the screaming..helped him make bottles and went back to bed...

You guys don''t have friends that tell you their babies STTN at 7 or 8 weeks?. I have TONS of those liar friends!. One tells me her baby has NEVER cried. Never, not even when he was teething. He just sort of calls for her. Really?. This kid was also STTN @ 7 weeks. From 10pm to 7am.

Yesterday at the twin''s group meeting one girl said her twins STTN since 8 weeks (7pm to 7am). I seriously wanted to punch her. I thought she could be friend material, but after she made that comment I''m just not so sure anymore...hahaha
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top