PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[lizzard]

Mandarine: Since I’m newly contributing to the board, I’ll gladly add to the “Mommy Confessional”.

Since he was a few weeks old, our son “M” has loved staring at the television. He could seriously do it for hours, if we let him. Whenever he gets inconsolable (and we’ve tried everything) I simply plop him in front of the TV and let him stare at the colors and sounds. I plan on cutting back on his “TV time" as he gets a little bit older, but for now, it works! Such a bad mommy!

Cradle cap: Sabine – when “M” had cradle cap we applied some Aquaphor on his head in the AM and let it sit throughout the day to penetrate into the skin. At night we used a warm, wet washcloth and massaged the flakes right off. I also used my fingernail (very, very gently) under the washcloth to scrape some of it off. He also had a little cradle cap on his eyebrows and this method worked well.

 

[Mandarine]

haha! Lizzard! Welcome!!!

I never knew the TV wasn''t good for them...so as newborns they watched a lot of TV. I thought it was funnt they were so interested! Then I read it wasn''t recommended...so now we try to not let them watch TV...but who am I to say they can''t watch CNBC with daddy so that I can catch a break?

 

[anchor31]

Thanks again for all the advice. The night before last it was the worst, Jacob did not sleep at all. So yesterday I said screw the books and gave him a paci... and he slept! We put him to bed at 8PM and he woke up to feed at 11PM. He was wide awake (but calm, thankfully) after that, so I stayed up and rocked him, then nursed him again at 1AM. He was still awake after that, so DH got up and rocked him to sleep. Then he slept from 2:30AM till 5AM, then 6AM till 7:45AM. So I guess he was nursing so much at night just for comfort. I''m not worried about my milk supply because I still feed him 8 to 10 times a day and he doesn''t spend the whole day or night with the paci in his mouth, it just helps him go to sleep.

Swaddling - After spending 48 hours in an incubator at less than a week old because of his jaundice, wearing nothing but a diaper, he started disliking being swaddled very quickly. He likes having his arms free and sleeps with his hands at the sides of his head, so I sort of swaddle him loosely and let his arms out of the blankets.

2nd baby - DH and I decided before we got pregnant that we would wait until baby #1 is potty trained before we have another. I''m going to be a SAHM for a year, but then I''d like to get a job and work for a bit before taking another year off to care for baby #2. I had a lot of back pain and morning sickness while pregnant, so I''d rather not have to change diapers while going through that again! Besides, DH and I are still young at 24 and 28, so we have plenty of time.

Nightlights - Jacob has one in his room... Maybe I should turn it off??

Mandy - Yay for the boys sleeping!

Sunkist - My parents used to drive my brother around to get him to sleep... Apparently he was a very difficult baby who cried all the time.

 

[fieryred33143]

Anchor-You can try to shut off the light and see what happens. Sophia cannot sleep with any light. She is just like her father in this aspect. The room has to be really dark in order for her to sleep well. That's why once the sun rises, she's awake. We're going to get black out curtains soon

My confession:

We had some cookies at a meeting today. There were some leftover and no one wanted them so I told my boss that I would take the rest of the cookies home to share for my party in the evening.

I do not have a party and have been enjoying them throughout the day and will enjoy them over the weekend

.

Also, this isn't really today's confession but I frequently put on my headphones at work. I do not listen to music as it is a distraction but what I like about it is that when people come over, they immediately walk away so they don't disturb me. They talk really low and say "I'll come back" and I say "Ok thank you:

Oh and yet another confession since it has been mentioned today...whenever I see "cradle cap" I immediately think "cradle crap" and giggle to myself.

 

[gailrmv]

Fiery, love it.

My confession - A is trashing my "office" (former office from when I worked!) right now while I am typing emails and on PS. Pulling cords, emptying books off the bookcase. Sometimes I get tired of fighting the losing battle and it;s just easier to clean it up later.

 

[Mandarine]

hahaha love it!

Another confession...

I have told DH there is no dinner because the boys haven''t napped at all.....but in reality time flew while I was doing who knows what! (PSing probably!)

 

[ChinaCat]

Mandy you are cracking me up with the confessions!

Only thing I can think of right now is that I used nipple shields while BF and maybe washed them once a day, defnitely not after every feeding. Also I constantly re-used BM AND the same bottle/nipple which apparently is a no-no. And O totally watches TV. There''s only so much I can do and when I want to watch something on TV, I do. I try not to let him watch it, but I am not a nazi about it. Once he gets older and knows what it is I will restrict him, but honestly I feel like I''ve given a lot up and sometimes I need some TV.

Fiery- You are my hero for lying about the cookies! That''s awesome. I bought myself 2 cookies for lunch the other day b/c I always want another one later in the day. This was after eating a club sandwich loaded with bacon, cheese and avocado. And chips. BF makes me hungry, what can I say?

So Cal- Got you on FB!!! It was funny b/c I was like who is this?? I knew it was a PS''er, but couldn''t figure it out until I saw E''s name and then I knew!

Natalina- I''m with Mela, totally thought you were a brunette!

Ok so many of us start our posts by apologizing for being behind or for posting "mecentric" posts. How about we just all agree that it''s hard to find time to do anything, much less keep up with all of the posts on PS and NO ONE needs to apologize or respond to every post. Respond to what you can and me-centric posts are what we are here for. I never get offended by them, or expect everyone to respond to everything I say. If you have something to offer, great, but don''t feel the need to always respond to everyone. AGREED????

And I''m pumping and somehow have been missing the bag that is properly attached to the thing so half of my milk is on hte floor.

Seriously p''oed at myself. I was too busy reading PS to notice!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 1/22/2010 10:43:24 AM
Author: lizzard

Mela- our son (13 weeks old) does the same exact freak out every night immediately following his bath, before he gets fed. He SCREAMS when getting dressed, lotion, etc and it only happens at night following his bath. During the bath he is an angel. I’ve just attributed this obnoxious behavior to him being tired after the long day. Once he’s being fed, the normalcy returns…

Hunter does this too, but usually it is when he is a little over tired. When I put him down early (i.e. before he really shows signs) then he is a little less cookoo!

***

My DH came up with a saying that I really like and we apply it to our life with Hunter -- "A playing baby never looks tired".

So simple but saved us from bed time meltdowns many a time. If he is playing he just NEVER looks tired! Until all of a sudden he is a pool of crying, writhing, tired baby

 

[Dreamer_D]

OK, awesome confessions!! I am laughing so hard

Here is my confession

I was at daycare at noon for the lunchtime feed and Hunter decided to climb up on top of a big pile of mats onto a windowsill and then get on his tippytoes and reach for the cieling. I knew he was going to fall over, but I didn''t move and just let him tumble off.

I figured it was a soft landing on the mats

He didn''t cry and seemed fine.

Another

Hunter usually sleeps in the same sleeper for 2-3 nights in a row. I figure he doesn''t really sweat, and how dirty can a baby be, anyways??

 

[mela lu]

Date: 1/22/2010 12:05:28 PM
Author: fiery
Mela-Do you think that maybe he''s cold? That must be frustrating. Is his bath usually right before he nurses? Maybe he has associated bath time with feeding time and gets frustrated. I give Sophia a bath before bed and sometimes she''ll cry because a) she''s hungry and b) she''s really tired and the bath makes her even more tired.

I think both a) and b) are correct, yah. I just wish he could have an ounce of patience while we dress him. harumph.

CDT - Adorable Lex! I wuv those cheeks! We''re also ''not not trying''. lol. We''re both nuts!

 

[Dreamer_D]

China I am very offended by your mecentric posts.

 

[Blenheim]

China - most of my posts lately have been all about me, and I''ve just given up with any disclaimers.

These confessions are cracking me up.

My confession: I pretend that I can''t handle changing a poopy diaper and rinsing it off before putting it in the diaper pail, but it''s really an act because I hate dealing with poopy diapers. If I act like I can''t do both, then DH runs in to take the diaper and rinse it off for me. Less poo for me to deal with.

Oh, and I tried feeding George some bread with hummus on it a couple of days ago, and he made the most hilarious face like he thought I was trying to kill him. So a couple more times later that day, I''d feed him a spoonful of hummus just to get a reaction out of him.

 

[lili]

Date: 1/22/2010 5:10:58 PM
Author: Blenheim
My confession: I pretend that I can''t handle changing a poopy diaper and rinsing it off before putting it in the diaper pail, but it''s really an act because I hate dealing with poopy diapers. If I act like I can''t do both, then DH runs in to take the diaper and rinse it off for me. Less poo for me to deal with.

LOL....good one.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 1/22/2010 5:10:58 PM
Author: Blenheim
China - most of my posts lately have been all about me, and I''ve just given up with any disclaimers.

These confessions are cracking me up.

My confession: I pretend that I can''t handle changing a poopy diaper and rinsing it off before putting it in the diaper pail, but it''s really an act because I hate dealing with poopy diapers. If I act like I can''t do both, then DH runs in to take the diaper and rinse it off for me. Less poo for me to deal with.

Oh, and I tried feeding George some bread with hummus on it a couple of days ago, and he made the most hilarious face like he thought I was trying to kill him. So a couple more times later that day, I''d feed him a spoonful of hummus just to get a reaction out of him.

We do that too! LOL!

 

[lili]

Just stalking at the little cutie pies on here

lysser--
love those dimples and rosy cheeks on your Calvin

 

[mela lu]

Holy dog poop I''m dying about these confessions. OMG, uh, ONE? I have tons. lol. Let''s start with a:

I let Romeo play with the dogs (filthy) toys. I figure it''s his introduction to germs...

I let him watch tons of TV. He''s lying on the floor right now, playing with a (dog) toy and watching some terrible kids show.
I drink wine before, and WHILE, I breastfeed. Bah dum dum.

I do like the idea of Baby pic Friday...! I could do that

 

[Blenheim]

Date: 1/22/2010 5:17:47 PM
Author: mela lu
Holy dog poop I''m dying about these confessions. OMG, uh, ONE? I have tons. lol. Let''s start with a:

I let Romeo play with the dogs (filthy) toys. I figure it''s his introduction to germs...

I let him watch tons of TV. He''s lying on the floor right now, playing with a (dog) toy and watching some terrible kids show.
I drink wine before, and WHILE, I breastfeed. Bah dum dum.

I do like the idea of Baby pic Friday...! I could do that

A Kong is what first motivated George to army crawl. Hey, whatever works...

 

[phoenixgirl]

Confession: many of the confessions you're sharing I do and didn't know I was doing anything wrong! We've just started using sleep sacks, and I thought I'd change them about every third day . . . that's how often I changed the Miracle Blanket, and she's wearing something underneath it, so I didn't even think twice about that.

And I watch tv . . . all the time. I mean, what else do you do when you're nursing? And then you get engrossed in your DVD of Grey's Anatomy Season 3 and need to watch the rest of the episode. So Claire sits in my lap and we snuggle and watch. I just got The Tudors and Dexter from Netflix too.

My contribution to the confessions: We only bathe Claire every 4 or 5 days. I want to bathe her every other day, but it's hard to do alone due to the type of infant bath we got, so I always tell DH we need to do it, and then we never get around to it. That's gross, right? I'm going to buy a new bath that I'll feel more comfortable using by myself.


Ugh, last night was the worst night for sleeping because our roof started leaking again, worse than ever. I couldn't sleep with the infernal drip drip drip in our room. If my mom weren't here, we would have slept in the guestroom where there is no leak. Argh. But it's nice to have my mom here for a sleep-deprived day. She picked up my BC prescription (I figure when you have a baby already it isn't embarrassing to have your mom do this) and is currently cooking us a delicious dinner and doing laundry. Thanks mom!

Anchor, I only lasted 6 days with not using a pacifier. I think you're past the stage where it could cause nipple confusion. Plus my sister told me it actually reduces the risk of SIDS. I think it helps Claire with reflux when I put her down immediately after feeding in the night too.

 

[fieryred33143]

PG so do we re: the baths! Well, every 3 days but that''s it.

Another confession:

This one is kind of mean. Sophia never really "plays" with toys. Everything goes in her mouth, she chews on it for a little while, and then drops it. The other day she was staring at this plastic hammer that she''s supposed to hit these balls with and the lion goes "rawr" when you hit one. I figured it wouldn''t be a big deal to let her chew on it for a little while. Well, she decided to take that day to figure out how to swing it and hit her mouth.

The face she made was priceless. It was a startled look, followed by a really sad face, and then a complete meltdown. I picked her up immediately and soothed her telling her it was ok but while I was doing this, I was laughing so hard. I felt really bad but her face was hilarious. It also reminded me that I have a child. I know I have a baby but babies don''t do anything. Children get into stuff. They pull, swing, hit, and eventually get hurt.

 

[ChinaCat]

O only gets baths like 2x a week. This is now on purpose b/c he has super dry skin and the water dries him out. BUT we only did it 2x a week before that b/c I could just never get around to it. He's just not that dirty, at least nothing that a swipe of a wipe can't fix!

He often sleeps in the same sack/MB- I only switch them when they are "dirty" (like after 4 nights) or if he pees on them.

Dog toys/baby toys are all a free for all.

I have never clipped my son's nails.

The nanny does it. And the only way she can get him still is to let him watch TV.

I don't always pump and dump if I've had more than a glass of wine. Figure a little can't hurt him and really, if he wakes me up to eat, then maybe it will put him to sleep faster. But I never have more than 2 glasses, not b/c of him but b/c I'm always too tired to continue drinking.

And my worst: DH and I are planning a mini-break to Mexico and I am planning on stopping BF around that time just so I don't have to take the pump. Selfish selfish mommy. But in my defense, I am pushing the trip till he's 6 months old.

And I often make things seem worse to DH so he'll feel bad and do things for me. But I figure he owes me since he was MIA since October with his trial. Speaking of, he won his trial!!!

Very big deal for his firm and for him.

ETA: I should say regarding DH, I just let him think I am more tired than I am sometimes. I don't lie or anything, but I can exaggerate.

 

[sunkist]

Hi All! There is always so much I want to respond to but by the time I''m done reading I forget what I wanted to say and to who!

First of, Mandy congrats on the good sleep schedule from the boys last night!!

That''s awesome and I''ll cross my fingers and hope it''s not jinxed You must be feeling at least a little better today. I''m so glad.

Thanks All for the comments about my driving Wes around last night to put him to bed is not "being a bad mom". At least not at this age. He actually did a pretty good schedule last night. Was up at 2am for a feed and 6am for a feed, and then up at 9am. Then we slept again with him in my bed till 11am. But to try and get things going right, I am being VERY diligent in looking for his sleepy cues. So I''ve already put him down for naps twice after only him being awake for 45 minutes!! Then he slept for 45 minutes. Now his second nap this afternoon he woke up after 20 minutes but I got him to go to sleep again and that makes this nap an hour long and counting!!

AND I finally thought to try out putting a muzzle on my dog while Wes is sleeping!

I was seriously about to kill my dog because he always barks at the UPS/FedEx man and I think it brings Wes out of his deep sleep. So, muzzle it is during naps!

Awww, I started this post so long ago and now I can''t remember who to reply to

HI Anchor glad to see you surviving these days with a new little one. Yay for pacifiers!

haha, I finally let my mom give Wes one the first night we came home. It put him to sleep, so I decided paci''s couldn''t be all that bad

 

[littlelysser]

I like the confessions!

Okay, here is mine. Um, Calvin watched the finale of Jersey Shore with me this afternoon. Of course, inherent in that confession is the fact that I watch Jersey Shore...I made Calvin solemnly swear he''d never go to that "Jersey Shore."

 

[sbde]

Date: 1/22/2010 1:25:59 PM
Author: Sabine
Quick question...did any of your LO''s have really bad cradle cap? Jacks has had it since I think2 months (he''s almost 6 months!) and NOTHING seems to help it! I''ve tried oil, but it was really messy so now we put ''Disney Cradle Cap Care'' on his head to comb out the flakes every night and use dandruff shampoo every 3 nights, but it doesn''t EVER seem to get any better.

sabine, my son had this too and what worked for us was wetting his head and using regular baby bath wash (the johnsons one) and gently exfoliating his head using a soft bristle toothbrush. the bath wash helped the toothbrush glide along and we could actually see the flakes coming off in the suds. we did this at each bath for about 2 weeks (we only bathed him twice a week when he was that little) and it took care of the problem. HTH!

btw, hilarious confessions ladies!

 

[fieryred33143]

YAY China that''s wonderful

 

[MustangGal]

OK, I''ll add to the confessions

Kyle will only eat cheerios with sugar on them (the multi-grain ones at least), and it doesn''t really bother me that he''s getting a bit of sugar.

We also let him watch TV as an infant, but he pays no attention to it now, so he can''t be too messed up!

He wears the same pjs 2 nights at least, and gets bathed 2-3 times per week.

I usually forget to wash his hands before putting him in the highchair (which means he''s probably eating lots of dog fur from crawling on the floor)

 

[sunkist]

I''m loving everyone''s confessions!

PG I''m with you on only bathing every 4-5 days

Another confession- I''m not the most diligent about washing the pacifier. Hubs will tell me, you need to wash that first, and I''m like, why? ohhh yaaa, cause it fell on the carpet. But I just vacuumed the carpet yesterday!

oops!

 

[lizzard]

Date: 1/22/2010 5:53:54 PM
Author: littlelysser
I like the confessions!

Okay, here is mine. Um, Calvin watched the finale of Jersey Shore with me this afternoon. Of course, inherent in that confession is the fact that I watch Jersey Shore...I made Calvin solemnly swear he'd never go to that 'Jersey Shore.'

Ha ha! My hubby and I got sucked into this show, and as a result, the little guy also watches. Our family jokes that he might be developing a crush on Snooky because he doesn't take his eyes off the tv screen when she's on it...

 

[ChinaCat]

Jersey Shore scares me...I''m afraid to watch. That little one freaks me out.

 

[so cal girl]

I''m LOVING everyone''s confessions. I do a lot of the same ones as everyone else. It''s nice to know I''m not the only one. Especially with the bathing thing. It''s just such a production, so E only gets a bath about twice a week. Although he''s had so many poop explosions lately, he''s gotten a bath almost every day

To try and get Baby Pic Friday rolling, I''ll post a pic of little E. It''s the same one I have as my profile pic on Facebook. It was taken at Disneyland last week for my DH''s 35th birthday.

 

[E B]

Loving the confessions! I can't think of anything to confess because you've confessed it all for me!

Like the 2x week baths? Totally us. I used to feel like we were odd since almost everyone mentioned bathing their babies nightly, but H gets a bath, um, when we remember (or when he has a blowout). Usually works out to ~2 a week. I figure it's okay since he doesn't really get dirty. And yesterday, he (sort of) watched two episodes of 'Teen Mom' with me. He was more interested in his toy, but def. got some viewing time in. He gets a little bit of viewing time in almost every day.

Sort of baby-related confession: I've had TWO 'quarter pounders' from Wendy's today, one at noon and one at three. Some days I have a normal appetite, and other I eat everything in sight. Today is one of those days. Since I'm feeding the both of us, I give into my cravings far more than I probably should. I tell myself, "Maybe I need a second hamburger because I'm not getting enough zinc? Gotta zinc-load."

We went to his first baby gym class today. It was a combined class of level 2 (6-10 months) and level 3, so there were several kids crawling and walking with ease. I think H was the youngest, actually, but he was also one of the biggest. He made a "friend," too- a little peanut named Sophia, who was 3 months older and about 5 lbs lighter, came over and rubbed his head. And tried to honk his nose. All in all, a fun experience. Anyone else do the baby gym thing?