PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[Pandora II]

Wow - baby-pic Friday... love it... and loving all the pics so far. Definitely a beautiful bunch of babies!

Sabine - have you tried using Burt''s Bees Baby Bee Wash. D had a tiny bit of cradle cap when we first came home from the hospital and this cleared it up in days and haven''t seen any since.

Baby Food - I''m doin BLW, but even if I hadn''t decided to do that from the start Daisy is absolutely not going to be fed anything by anyone. It all has to go in her mouth with her putting it there. She''ll pretty much try anything but prefers solid foods to puree type things. I don''t cook anything special for her - just use a bit less salt.

More kids - No desires at all. I miss Daisy being teeny right up until I spend time with my friends with newborns and then I''m sooooo happy that she''s 8 months!

I''m celebrating that the ''waking up before the alarm'' seems to have been a blip - yesterday she woke at 7.45 even though the alarm went off at 7 and today at 9 am. Hooray!

Plus, best of all, I left her with my SIL last night learning how to say ''Mommy'' with a USA accent while DH and I went to the ballet (Sleeping Beauty, so pretty...). Apparently there wasn''t a single tear for the first half hour, then she fell over and clonked her head and had a bit of a melt-down and then... went to bed for the rest of the evening. Unbelievable! She''s normally so badly behaved with other people and so this is a major improvement.

Monday night I''m taking her round to DH''s office before I go to my class and he has her for the evening, ditto on Tuesday, otherwise BIL has offered to babysit on a regular basis.

I''m thinking of sending Daisy to nursery for one day a week just so I can have some quality ''me'' time. It was my mental-health worker''s idea and I can see the sense in it. I think D is emotionally ready for something like that and it would be good for her to have some experience before it becomes more full-time. I have friends going back to work now at 14 months and the kids are finding it very hard. Also, if it turns out that she''s not ready then we can take it slower before having another go...

Here''s a pic of D...

 

[taovandel]

Gah! I''m loving all the cuteness on this thread

Mandy: Thanks for the links for food and for letting me know about the baby cubes Mela (Romy is such a cutie!).

PG: So cute! That outfit is crazy, love the built in shoes.

Pandora: She looks so excited to tear that paper towel up!

LL: We also love E''s pouty face....I actually get super happy when he makes it even though I know he is upset about something.....

Sorry I''m about to post another picture because of the mention of pouty face...

 

[anchor31]

Everyone's babies are SO CUTE!!!

I friended sunkist, DD and tao on FB... I have a very French name and my initials are RPF, so if others want to friend me, go ahead.

Mandy - Jacob's hair gets greasy too, so I bathe him every other day.

Here's my contribution to BPF! Jacob is not so cute with his pimply face...

 

[Blenheim]

We seriously have a bunch of cute babies over here.

CDT - one of my friends first word was, um, "fudge". Only... in a Christmas Story way, not in a yummy way.

Honest to God. We keep using bad words around him as he can''t talk and so we forget he''s a little sponge in the making, but then I keep thinking of her and thinking that we need to watch it.

PG - That outfit is hilarous.

Pandora - Oh dear, I saw Daisy''s picture and had this instinctual lunge towards the computer screen while starting to say "Not for George!" LOL. Then I had to remind myself (a) not my kid, and (b) it''s only a picture. But he keeps trying to grab kleenex from me as I am using them and they are hence dirty (I have a cold) and then proceeds to try to tear them up and eat them, and that''s just gross. Plus we have the toilet paper issues right now. Hence all that kind of stuff is solidly on the "Not for George" list in our house. I cannot believe that I reacted that way though.

Baths - we only did one every few days, until he got mobile and started food and was otherwise doing things that got him dirty.

Another confession, since Tao mentioned laughing at her crying kid - George was crying earlier because he didn''t want his diaper changed, and then he started clapping. And he was still crying. It was hilarious. I couldn''t help myself. He has the clapping mechanics down, but not the "is clapping appropriate at this given time?" thing down. And how could he?

Oh, and I''ve never even thought of needing to wash hands when putting him in a high chair after crawling on the ground - eep!

Here''s my contribution - bathtime!

 

[cdt1101]

Blen - love the pic of George! he''s so cute! His arms look so long! I definitely worry about what Lex hears since they are such sponges at this age. We definitely have to stop listening to Howard ASAP. As for cursing, yeah, I wish I could say we never cursed, but not the case. We are REALLY trying to not use the f-bomb, but sometimes it just slips out and then we''re like sh*t, no I mean crap

My DH and I need a lot of training

 

[taovandel]

We checked the mail a few hours ago and received two canisters of formula in the mail and a bunch of coupons! Someone had tipped us off about signing up on the website (Similac) and they send stuff. Woohoo! One of the canisters is the pink one (Isomil Advanced Soy I think) we don''t use that....can''t decide if I''ll keep it for emergencies---if anyone on here uses it let me know I might try and mail it out.

 

[fieryred33143]

I am loving all the pics!! Anchor I think that''s the first pic I see of Jacob! He''s soooooo bute and I love his outfit! Adorable! He looks really long, may be angle of the pic though.

Blen- Great pic of George. I cannot wait until Sophia can bathe in the regular tub.

Mela- love Romy!

LL-I was thinking of you! Calvin is adorable!!

Pandora and PG-Beautiful girls!

CDT-did you add one of Lex? My phone is acting up and can''t see anymore

Sophia is finally asleep. She normally goes to bed at 730 but took a late nap. I was feeding her and as I was burping her she grabbed on to my nose and started laughing. So I brought her out to the living room to wear her out and then put her in her crib. For about 10 mins she just had her tush in the air and was scraping the side of the crib. She finally fell asleep but now I think she may have pooped and I''m tempted to wake her up to check. I''ll confess to being a butt sniffer lol

 

[sunkist]

Oh Anchor, I don''t remember if I''d seen a picture of Jacob yet; he''s so handsome! And don''t worry about the acne. I think most babies get it. Wes had it by his second week and as soon as I remembered to wash his face with a warm wet washcloth everyday if eventually went away.

 

[sunkist]

OH, PG, I thought those were tights underneath her dress, but it's more like pants, huh? heehee. It actually does look cute on her. But a pretty girl can get away with any outfit, right??

 

[Blenheim]

I''m not sure if his arms actually are long or if it''s just that they''re coming towards the camera, but he could have inherited DH''s ape arms. We''re the same height but DH''s reach is a few inches longer than mine, and so I get him to reach things on high shelves and used to have him swat at the smoke detector on the ceiling to reset it if it went off when we were cooking dinner. (Not that we''re bad cooks! It was just the most sensitive smoke detector ever.)

Anchor, Jacob truly is adorable. He has a lot of hair for a newborn, too.

 

[mela lu]

I was inspired by BabyPicFriday and I updated Romeo's album on FB

Blen - George is gorgeous. He's bald as the day he was born, but man is he ever handsome!

Anchor - Awww. Jacob is very cute!!! There is nothing like that new-newborn stage, enjoy it acne and all

ETA: Pan, Daisy is as beautiful as ever

Sunkist - What a cutie pie Wes is! I haven't seen him in a while...great pics
PG - hilarious outfit. I'm glad she sent it and glad you played dress up. Those tights are hilarious.
Fiery - shouldn't FL be warm enough for that cute dress

. I'm just kidding. I'm bitter because I'm coming there soon and its cold!

K, off to bed. LOVED this Friday on PS!

 

[Blenheim]

No, no, no. He is not bald. He just has a prematurely receding hairline. (Can it be receding if it was never there to begin with?) In fact, he had his first haircut two days ago, in which I tried to tame the back of his head. I have attached a helpful photo to illustrate.

He was too wiggly to get a good picture...

I must now go to FB and check out your handsome guy.

 

[snlee]

Love all the baby pictures! PS definitely has the cutest babies! Baby Pic Friday is a great idea! Thanks for sharing everyone!

 

[lili]

Ooo....BPF on the mommy thread

Loving all the gorgeous babies.
Thanks for sharing the pictures and your confessions!

 

[Pandora II]

LOL Blen - that is so funny! She was tearing up a paper napkin in a restaurant - and eating it of course! BTW George is just gorgeous, what a huge smile he always has in photos. Daisy has gorilla arms (as my father calls them) as do I and my mother - total PITA when it comes to clothes (all my jackets and tops are 4" too short in the sleeves) but useful for reaching high things -

Fiery - I''ve had Daisy in the big bath since she was about 8 weeks. I just get in too. Since she could sit up alone I get out and let her splash about on her own while the water drains away - she''s fascinated by the plughole

...

Confessions - not that many but they are bad sins...

- I have let Daisy eat junk food and things with sugar in - and DH lets her have diet coke out of his can

- I rarely wipe her hands

She does get bathed or showered every day and clean sleepsuits but that''s because she gets pretty dirty roaming around on the floor, plus she has very fine hair and it looks greasy and mats badly if it''s not washed daily.

 

[Mandarine]

Alex woke up at 12:30am

Then Lucas at 4:15am...and I was too tired so I woke Alex up to feed him a bit too, just in case he decided to wake up 20 minutes later...

It''s definitely a "food" thing...but how do I get them to eat more? Yesterday they didn''t eat as much as the day before...and it showed in the night''s "performance".

How do I get them to eat more? Should I try faster nipples? They eat like 5 oz every 3 hours (5 times per day). The night they slept really good, they each took 6oz in two of the feedings...but I tried yesterday and they just weren''t into drinking that extra oz

Tomorrow is my day to sleep in!!!! I can''t wait!! Actually DH woke up today (after I was already up and about to change a diaper) and said I could go back to bed. I was already up...so I said no, we agreed on tomorrow. I want a day I can sleep THROUGH, not wake up and then try to fall back sleep.

So tomorrow it is!

 

[lizzard]

Mandy - we recently changed M''s nipples to a size "2" and it has made a big difference. I think it was becoming more and more difficult for him to get a satisfying feed with the smaller nipples and he would become frustrated and just stop eating altogether. Maybe try going up a size and see how they respond? Keep in mind, they might need a few days to adjust to the faster flow. Good luck and enjoy your rest tomorrow!

 

[cdt1101]

fiery - I did post a pic yesterday, but it was before Baby Pic Friday began

So here''s another..a day late!

He''s been sick all week, but still the happiest little guy

 

[Sabine]

Holy post storm! Love it! I''m a day late and a dollar short, but here''re my contributions to the Friday fun!

Confession...I''m sad Jackson doesn''t really like to watch tv (he often looks at it when it''s on, but won''t sit and be entertained by it for longer than 5 minutes) because now that he''s awake for 2.5 hours at a time, I am really running out of ways to keep him entertained.

I forget whose idea the confessions were...but this is something we do over on that other baby site that shall not be named...I know fiery is over there as well as me, but is anyone else?

I LOVE the pouty face pics!!! Jacks used to do it a bunch and I kept trying to get pics, but I only got one that isn''t that clear. Now he almost never does it.

I also love the all bundled up pics, so that''s what I''m posting too! We only use the bundleme when taking the dog out for a walk when it''s really cold, but he looks so snuggly in it!

And I totally crack up when Jacks cries sometimes. He''s also done the "I hurt myself, looks stunned, face melts, then total meltdown" a time or two and it''s adorable and heartbreaking at the same time.

Pandora, I''m going to have to try the Burts Bees stuff...I just bought Muestela, but if it doesn''t work that will be next on my list. I''m also hoping it will help with his eczema...poor kid is scratching himself a TON lately even with the prescription cream and using all "sensitive skin" type products.

And today is dh''s one day off this week, and I told him he needs to take a whole "shift" with Jacks. He''s normally good at entertaining him for a half hour or so just playing on his lap, but when Jacks gets fussy I always take him to entertain him with toys, etc. But today I told him he was totally on duty from one nap till the next. I''m very much looking forward to some time off.

 

[AllieLuv83]

Date: 1/22/2010 8:01:17 PM
Author: mela lu
trying that again, not so little this time:

OMG He is sooooo precious.. All the babies on here are!!!

 

[mela lu]

Thanks AllieLuv!

Blen - Good Chaaaab on the hair cut! That is quite a feat in itself. I''m laughing about the receding hairline, lol. He''s so cute!!!

 

[sunkist]

Ooo way to go Blen! Attempting a haircut on a baby, heehee! It looks great

Help Regarding Breastfeeding- I think I have a boob that could feed the world. Seriously this thing will not stop producing milk! Wes has not been feeding till empty the last couple days and I still feel slightly engorged on one side. Then when he does feed on that side, he gets upset and pulls off, I'm assuming cause it squirts and sprays. So I try to hand express till it stops spraying, but it never stops!! What should I do?

My main concern though is that Wes is getting enough to eat. Can he be getting enough if he's not feeding till I'm empty? Sometimes he's only eating off one side now.

 

[vizsla]

sunkist - i too suffered from lopsided boob. i also had a LC on call 24/7 because BF was so difficult for me. i think she recommended having c do a full feed on the other side then pump the "producer" - but i can''t remember now. does your hospital have a lactation help line? seems like something they could help you with over the phone. i know ours has LC at the hospital 24/7. or try dr. jack newman''s site.

lol about all of the confessions, makes me feel like not such a bad mom after all.
c is having a wicked time sleeping at night.. last night, he was up at 1, 3, 5, 7 to eat.... please please please let this be a growth thing. mommy is soooo tired.

confession: sometimes i pretend to be ''asleep'' and not hear c when he stirs (even tho the bassinet is 2 inches from my head) just so DH will get up and give him a bottle.

another confession: i hate washing, drying, sanitizing bottles... i mean i LOATHE it! seems like that is all i do, wash pump equipt. and bottles. maybe i have a crappy system - what do you all do? right now c is eating 10-12 times a day, all bottles - there has to be a more efficient way, i just haven''t thought of it.

also, at night, i take up to the bedroom 3 bottles with just the water (since c doesn''t get BM at night) and just mix it up as needed, do you all actually get up and make bottles, or do you bring your "stuff" to the room at night too?

 

[taovandel]

Evan sleeps in his own room now but when he was with us in our room we would take E into the living room to feed. He grunts and makes noises when he is eating so we wouldn''t want to wake up eachother. Plus, Evan can sometimes take forever to finish a bottle so I would get bored and would want the tv on or a computer on. We would make the bottles before we went to bed and refrigerate them (E likes cold formula)

I''m with you on the bottles! Especially now that I''m hearing I can''t make an 8 ounce bottle and make it last for two feedings! Now I have to wash the bottles more often. It''s annoying...I know when I was pumping I was getting annoyed having to clean the system every time. Can''t wait for any advice on that.


Ohh, never really updated you ladies on taking Evan out.

The first day we went to Babies R Us...I figured I should go somewhere safe. They would understand a crying baby if it were to happen. He was an absolute angel---not a peep.

Yesterday I took him to Michael''s to buy Envelopes for his Birth Announcements (yup, that is right...I''m just now announcing his birth and he is 3 months olds!) he got a little fussy but I just rocked him in his carrier and he was fine....then I went to Kmart (figured it would be deserted..I was right) and he was an angel in there also. Soo woohoo, and he got a ton of compliments on how adorable he is...

Blen/CDT: Super cute babies!

Sabine: Nice on making the husband take over a shift. I do that with my husband all the time...it''s a mind saver really. I''m actually doing that today because I have to run out and find some work pants. The other day he made the comment that he can''t do things as good as me. I was able to get E to take his nap within a minute...and my husband had been trying for over 20 minutes. It kinda made me feel bad but also good...I think he appreciates what I''ve been doing for the last 12 weeks if he tries it out for a day.


Mandarine: You should have went back to sleep---or at least I would have (and did about 3 days ago..hehe), Unless that meant you would have forfeited your straight through sleep--then I completely understand why you made that choice.

 

[ChinaCat]

Loving all the pictures!

Quickly-

Viz- What are you doing to clean everything? For pumping, I bought these Medela sanitary wipes that I use while at work so you don''t have to wash them every time. For bottles, I just bought enough so I always had a few handy and then I just clean a bunch at once. I BF at night, so I just take him into another room.

Tao- Oh I have you beat. And this goes under another "confession"- I STILL haven''t sent out my birth announcements and O is 5 months already. Still sitting in my desk drawer.

Also, request- when mommas are posting about help regarding feeding or sleeping or anything else that can be affected by age/development, it would be really helpful to always put how old your little one is. I know it can get repetitive, but often it helps me know how to answer if I know the baby is 3 months versus 8 weeks or something. I mean I can keep straight who''s older or younger than O, but that''s about it! Just a thought.

AFM- We often have a babysitter on Friday nights. And everytime O sleeps 12 hours. But when I am home/put him to bed, he usually gets up around 4 am to eat. Interesting!!!!

So O has moved his bedtime from 8:30 to 7:15. Past 2 nights just conked out and that was that. So I guess he has a new bedtime!

Except that I haven''t been getting home from work till 6 or so, which means I won''t see him but for an hour at night.

Need to work something out there.

Also, O just does NOT want to eat first thing in the morning. Anyone else''s do this? It''s pretty consistent now, no matter what time he wakes up or how long it''s been since he''s eaten, he eats for like 3 minutes and then is finished. Weird.

QUESTION: Those of you that have stopped BF, how did you wean? Cold turkey? I can''t decide if I should feed him till 6 months and then just stop pumping and only feed him while I''m home till the milk dries up? Or slowly start by not pumping for 1 feeding each week, until he gradually goes to all formula?

I am not doing this yet, but want a plan for when I do. And if you did go cold turkey, how long did it hurt? I can miss a pumping, but more than one and I get engorged and it''s kinda painful still.

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Awww...I love all the pics you all have posted of your gorgeous babies! I''m still an illegitimate poster on this thread since my baby has no desire to come out -- I''m at roughly 40 weeks + 3 days -- but I have to cruise through here and see what''s going on with the babies.

About making your own baby food: I decided with #4 to make my own since I was a SAHM and kind of bored. I found a book called Super Baby Food that I really loved. I used it for #5 and will do the same for #6 -- and I work full time, so if I can handle it, I think anyone can.

I highly recommend this book!

 

[Mandarine]

China , their first bottle in the morning is always a disaster! They never want to eat! This is true whether they ate at midnight or at 4am, doesn''t matter. I hate it!

VizI have enough bottles to last a full 24 hours for both boys...so like 18-20 bottles (they eat 6-7 times per day). What I do is:

- Fill up the dishwasher throughout the day. Pedi said dishwasher was better than washing by hand. I never sterilized anything either. I use the "green" dishwashing soaps.
- Before going to bed every night I turn on the dishwasher...this means it''s half empty most days, but I don''t care...I got too tired of washing bottles! It''s all I did!!!
- Morning, take all the bottles/parts out and let them dry in the racks (they never get toodry in the dishwasher).
- Mid-morning I assemble ALL the bottles (fun!) and I pre-measure the water in all of them...set them in a tray in the kitchen.
- Throughout the day I just add the scoops, and mix!
- At night I bring up 4 bottles with pre-measured water and a little formula dispenser with 4 pre-measured sections. Mix when they are ready to eat...

It used to feel like all I did all day was "bottle duty" now it''s more of a morning thing.


Tao I think if I would have said yes, then my day tomorrow was off the table. I know these tricks! hehe


***


Question about naps/day feedings

My guys sleep 45 minutes or so in between their 3-hour cycles. The thing is it goes something like this:

-10am bottle. Play for a little while.
- Ready for a nap at like 10:45am. Up at 11:30am
- happy/playing for like 30 minutes...a little fussy the next 30 minutes
- Then from 12:30 to 1pm (which is when they would be due to eat) is non-stop screaming!...they are sleepy and hungry!
- Then they eat sleeping...because they are so tired!!!

What am I doing wrong? They should wake up closer to their feeding time...right? how do I do that if their naps are so short??

 

[anchor31]

Thanks everyone! I think I posted a few in the preggo thread, but here are a few pics of Jacob since birth.

A couple of hours after the birth...

 

[anchor31]

1 day old...

 

[anchor31]

1 week old, in the swing my dad got him...