PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[jas]

Hi all -- I''m so sleepy. Had a short rehearsal after a long day of cleaning for a showing that took about 5 minutes. I think the good people from S.C. Johnson should come to my house and give me a tiara if I clean like such a mofo and the showing lasts less time than it takes to reheat a good frozen meal.

Tomorrow is the nine month check up and more shots. Ugh. Poor L. screams and screams and screams after his shots, like he''s in pain. J. just sobs a little, as though he''s insulted by the indignity of it all. It''s hard knowing that''s coming.

L. is now starting to explore, since he''s been crawling for 1.5 days now...spurred on by a trail of Puffs. We''ve been baby proofing, obviously, but there are lots of opportunities to teach him "no!" like when he tries to cruise by pulling up on his brother like J. is some sort of couch.

Spent a lot of time at the new house this past weekend. Got sunburned. So much for trying to bleach out my freckles before my brother''s wedding. Oh well. I''ll be all splotchy.

I am sorry I am too pooped to respond to everyone right now, but I wanted to say BLEN -- I love love love the pictures!!!!

G''night. Wish me luck at the ped tomorrow. Actually, wish the boys luck.

 

[Pandora II]

Looking for a bit of advice:

Feeding: Daisy is pretty much off the formula now - mainly because she''s decided she doesn''t like it and just spits it out, and if I do get any into her she just throws it up ten minutes later... joy...

However, I don''t seem to have enough to keep her totally happy - I have to use both breasts each time and sometimes twice over in the same feed or else take a 10-15 minute gap and then try again. She never seems to spit up breast milk so what goes in does stay in and she''s doing the right number of nappies each day, but I hate it when I don''t seem to have any more to give her and yet she''s still making hungry faces at me! She has no problem with latching on correctly, so it''s not that.

When she does get enough she goes to sleep for a good 4-5 hours at a time and I''ll express whilst she''s asleep - I can manage about 70ml at a time. But if I bottle feed her, she''s wide awake afterwards and wanting more, whereas bfing she''ll always drop off to sleep. I never seem to get that engorged feeling people talk about and constantly worry that I don''t have enough - especially now that she won''t drink formula. Is it still a bit early to have had the milk come in properly or am I going to be one of these people who just never managed to produce enough?

The car: We took her down to see my parents yesterday as my father hadn''t seen her yet and she screamed solidly for 2 hours each way. I tried feeding her, a paci (which she spat out every time), music, talking to her, ignoring her, sitting in the front, sitting in the back - you name it: I tried it and she didn''t even cry herself to sleep.

We''re going to see DH''s mother tomorrow which will be 4-5 hours each way and I would love any tips on getting her to sleep!

My parents were a bit freaked out by her - apparently it was a complete deja vue in that she looks almost exactly like I did as a baby. They got my old baby photos out and it really was quite weird as we really do/did look identical.

Otherwise, I may have cracked the ''I won''t sleep in my cot'' problem - seems that she just hates lying flat, so I put some jumpers under one end of the mattress so that it is raised up at one end and she went in twice last night and slept for an hour each time, so I may be getting somewhere. Why she can sleep 4-5 hours in the daytime and yet only go for an hour or two at night I do not understand, although she was always nocturnal before she was born.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Pandora I will tell you what my midwives said to me: Input equals output. If she has enough nappies and they are heavy wet, then she is getting enough milk! My guess is that she is wanting to nurse all the time in large part because, well... she likes to nurse! Lots of babies are like that! If you can handle her being latched all the time then it is good to let her just nurse all she wants. It will increase your supply even more, and that''s a good thing. Hunter still does this now on occassion. I let him do it most of the time but then sometimes I just pop him off and stick a binky in his mouth. If he is hungry he spits the binky out. But I think that with Daisy since she is so little and you have supply concerns, maybe try to avoid the binky for now.

I never really felt or feel engorged. I had maybe 2-3 times like that early on and very very occassionally at night now.

I think making the hungry mouth/face isn''t the best indicator of if she is getting enough. A hungry baby at the breast will pull and paw at the breast, wiggle her head back and forth and pull of and cry and fuss. That means she isn''t getting any milk. If she sucks happily she is getting enough. Have you learned to recognize when she is swallowing? There are good videos of it here http://www.nbcionline.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=13 If you hear her swallowing she is fine. A baby who is sucking for comfort will make little fluttery sucks and won''t latch as deep.

HTH!

 

[Courtneylub]

Ditto to what Dreamer says, Pandora. Alila acts like she''s hungry all the time, but she''s gained over 2 lbs in 2 weeks and 5 days!! The diaper count is the way to tell...that and weighing her of course.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/2/2009 10:20:10 AM
Author: Courtneylub
Ditto to what Dreamer says, Pandora. Alila acts like she''s hungry all the time, but she''s gained over 2 lbs in 2 weeks and 5 days!! The diaper count is the way to tell...that and weighing her of course.

Wha ta great weight gain!! You know, given this and the fact that you feel engorged, she is probably getting enoug hfrom one breast. How long does she feed on each side? Just wondering... no harm in feeding off both if that''s what she likes and wants, but less time spent feeding is sometimes nice too!

I find at times H wants both... like today... but then he will just hang out forever even after I know there is no more milk. I will pop him off and he will fuss for about 2 seconds and then when I burmp him he is satisfied!

That makes me think of something... I have noticed that sometimes H wants to fuss and eat forever but if I burp him he is calm and satisfied! I think the feeling of gasi n the tummy may make them want to eat! So if your baby wants to nurse all the time try burping when she seems done and maybe she will be ready to stop!

 

[Burk]

There is no way I can keep up with both threads but wanted to pop in and say I love looking at the pics! Such cutie pies! I miss having a baby.....

Dreamer~How did the new sleep schedule go? T is still on the 7 bed time (sometimes earlier) 9am and 1:30pm nap schedule at 16 months. Works great!

Pandora~I agree with dreamer. It''s amazing how a woman''s body works! Baby sucking and drinking dictates how much milk you make.

 

[qtiekiki]

I am having a hard time keeping up since I''ve a lot of things on my mind lately.

I am busy planning M''s 1st bday party, mainly designing the invite, looking for cake and cupcake ideas, decoration and favor ideas. We''ll be having a BBQ in our backyard. I am going to let MIL handle all the food, which usually what happens at all our parties. I am planning to make the cuppies, cookies, brownies and cream puffs. We''ll order a small cake also for picture.

Thanks to everyone who asked. I am feeling ok. I am getting a lot of bloating in my belly. By the end of the day, I look 20 weeks pregnant (I am guessing it''s because my stomach muscle are weak). Yuck.

Sorry for the selfish post.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Burk Thanks for asking! He went down last night at 7:30pm, woke for a feed at 2:30 and then woke for the day at 7am!

Apparently it was the sunshine in the morning that was waking him up, so blocking it seemed to help! It sure makes a big difference to have uninterrupted sleep in the morning hours rarher than waking at 6am and then again at 7:30. I tried giving him a binky at 2:30 but he was hungry and ate a fair bit, so I think he still needs that feed.

Naps are another matter

He went down at 9am this morning for about an hour but then at 11:30 he was tired again so he is napping again now. He should have just slept longer at the first nap! Oh well, it will sort itself out. Some day!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/2/2009 11:31:46 AM
Author: qtiekiki
I am having a hard time keeping up since I''ve a lot of things on my mind lately.

I am busy planning M''s 1st bday party, mainly designing the invite, looking for cake and cupcake ideas, decoration and favor ideas. We''ll be having a BBQ in our backyard. I am going to let MIL handle all the food, which usually what happens at all our parties. I am planning to make the cuppies, cookies, brownies and cream puffs. We''ll order a small cake also for picture.

Thanks to everyone who asked. I am feeling ok. I am getting a lot of bloating in my belly. By the end of the day, I look 20 weeks pregnant (I am guessing it''s because my stomach muscle are weak). Yuck.

Sorry for the selfish post.

QT it sounds like it will be a fun party! I can''t believe M is one already, time flies. Glad you are feeling well. Has it sunk in yet that you are having another one?

 

[fabienne]

Hell everyone! I''m going to admit that I haven''t read any posts prior to this one. I''m just going to jump right in over here if it is okay with you guys because I am tired. I had a baby boy on Friday 5/29. He was 8 lbs 11 ounces; 20 inches. It was supposed to be a scheduled c-section but I ended up going in on Friday instead. When I feel better, I will try to be a better poster. In the meantime, I''ll be trying to get this breastfeeding thing going better this time around.

Enjoy your children everyone!

 

[TravelingGal]

Blen, forgot to say how cute your pics of George are! You did good getting some great photos!!

Pandora, I have no advice for you, but I hope you find something that works. Hang in there!

QT, can''t believe Meena is going to be one. Holy smokes. I''m sorry you are not feeling well.

DD, honestly, it sounds like what he is doing is great. An hour nap is the morning is great...it''s just supposed to be a short extension of their night sleep. Amelia often slept only an hour in the morning from 9-10 and went back down for midday - I think early on it was 11:30 as well, since I know I only kept her up 1.5 hours between naps. He''s too young to be only napping twice, so it might be something like 9-10, 11:30-1ish, 3-4:30 and back down to bed for the night. Those are just loose times.

Just mentioning this because it seems you think he is not napping well if it''s only an hour. As far as I know, that''s normal. Amelia was on the above nap schedule for ages...Definitely past the 9 month mark because I remember putting her down for 3 naps while we were in Australia.

 

[Burk]

Date: 6/2/2009 11:54:08 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Burk Thanks for asking! He went down last night at 7:30pm, woke for a feed at 2:30 and then woke for the day at 7am!

Apparently it was the sunshine in the morning that was waking him up, so blocking it seemed to help! It sure makes a big difference to have uninterrupted sleep in the morning hours rarher than waking at 6am and then again at 7:30. I tried giving him a binky at 2:30 but he was hungry and ate a fair bit, so I think he still needs that feed.


Naps are another matter

He went down at 9am this morning for about an hour but then at 11:30 he was tired again so he is napping again now. He should have just slept longer at the first nap! Oh well, it will sort itself out. Some day!

Sounds like success to me!! Tgal is right...he''s still so young that 3 or more naps is probably "normal." My T''s morning nap is usually a "catnap" and her afternoon is the longer one (when she''s at home....daycare is a whole other ball game).

 

[Burk]

Date: 6/2/2009 11:55:47 AM
Author: fabienne
Hell everyone! I''m going to admit that I haven''t read any posts prior to this one. I''m just going to jump right in over here if it is okay with you guys because I am tired. I had a baby boy on Friday 5/29. He was 8 lbs 11 ounces; 20 inches. It was supposed to be a scheduled c-section but I ended up going in on Friday instead. When I feel better, I will try to be a better poster. In the meantime, I''ll be trying to get this breastfeeding thing going better this time around.


Enjoy your children everyone!

Congrats!

 

[lili]

Date: 6/2/2009 11:55:47 AM
Author: fabienne
Hell everyone! I''m going to admit that I haven''t read any posts prior to this one. I''m just going to jump right in over here if it is okay with you guys because I am tired. I had a baby boy on Friday 5/29. He was 8 lbs 11 ounces; 20 inches. It was supposed to be a scheduled c-section but I ended up going in on Friday instead. When I feel better, I will try to be a better poster. In the meantime, I''ll be trying to get this breastfeeding thing going better this time around.


Enjoy your children everyone!

Oh wow, congrats fabienne!

Can''t wait to meet your little guy!
Rest up and hope you get back on your feet soon.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/2/2009 12:11:44 PM
Author: TravelingGal
DD, honestly, it sounds like what he is doing is great. An hour nap is the morning is great...it''s just supposed to be a short extension of their night sleep. Amelia often slept only an hour in the morning from 9-10 and went back down for midday - I think early on it was 11:30 as well, since I know I only kept her up 1.5 hours between naps. He''s too young to be only napping twice, so it might be something like 9-10, 11:30-1ish, 3-4:30 and back down to bed for the night. Those are just loose times.

Just mentioning this because it seems you think he is not napping well if it''s only an hour. As far as I know, that''s normal. Amelia was on the above nap schedule for ages...Definitely past the 9 month mark because I remember putting her down for 3 naps while we were in Australia.

Thanks TGal and Blen! Too funny, I didn''t really know that about the cat nap thing, I thought it was just a bad habit he had

It''s funny you mentioned this particular schedule TGal because Hunter slept from 9-10 this morning then went back down at 11:30 and is just stirring now! I would guess he will do another cat nap at around 4:30 and then bedtime at 7. Here''s hoping anyways!

It sure was nice today to get 2.5 hours to myself in a row! Honetly I find the neverending nature of motherhood the most difficult. I would just like 4 hours in a row to myself! DH is more than willing to take over for a longer stretch, this may just motivate me to pump.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/2/2009 1:32:17 PM
Author: lili

Date: 6/2/2009 11:55:47 AM
Author: fabienne
Hell everyone! I''m going to admit that I haven''t read any posts prior to this one. I''m just going to jump right in over here if it is okay with you guys because I am tired. I had a baby boy on Friday 5/29. He was 8 lbs 11 ounces; 20 inches. It was supposed to be a scheduled c-section but I ended up going in on Friday instead. When I feel better, I will try to be a better poster. In the meantime, I''ll be trying to get this breastfeeding thing going better this time around.


Enjoy your children everyone!

Oh wow, congrats fabienne!

Can''t wait to meet your little guy!
Rest up and hope you get back on your feet soon.

Ditto!!

 

[MustangGal]

I quickly read up on everything from the past 4 days, sorry I went MIA! My work computer died on my Friday, then we went camping over the weekend, and then Kyle got sick

We made it up to the camping trip just fine, and Kyle did great! I had him bundled up most of the time, and he slept in both days and was happy just hanging out in the forest.

Then when we got home at 1am he woke up crying in a pool of nasty spit up. He spit up again all over his head at 6am, but I didn't think to much of it and dropped him off at the sitter. She called me an hour later and said he vomited all over himself, the carseat, and the carpet. I left work and got him and called the doc. He wasn't crying and seemed fine, but I was worried about loosing soo much fluid. They had me bring him in at 2pm, and he didn't vomit any more, so I thought he was over it. Then he drenched me in the exam room before the doc came in

He didn't have a fever, and everyhting checked out fine (he's 14 pounds 11 ounces, 2 pounds more than he was 1.5 months ago), so the doc had me give him pedialyte only until the evening. Kyle made lots of faces at the pedialyte, but he drank it and it stayed down. He was sleeping more than normal, but was still smiling and laughing. I gave him a little formula before bed, and it stayed down too. I dropped him off with the sitter again today, and she hasn't called yet, so I think he's over it. I think he might have had air bubbles backed up in his system, he was farting a bunch last night

 

[Tacori E-ring]

DD, we have a black out shade in T''s nursery. I think it does help. I agree he needs more than just 2 naps at this age. Honestly he sounds like he is doing great. At 5 months T was STILL waking up for a feeding around 3 am. I really would try the bottle trick when you want to try to lose the middle of the night feeding. Just start pumping (1x) during the day to build a small stash (which every BFing mom should have anyways).

 

[jas]

Pandora -- I hope things get better for you.
QT -- It sounds like a wonderful party. I hope you are feeling better now. I''m sending non-morning sickness vibes your way!
DD -- sounds like you are on the right track!
Welcome and congratulations Fabienne!

Got back from the 9 month checkup. Happy, healthy babies. Got some good advice for J. (who is only STTN irregularly...he''ll only get up once if he gets up, which is less and less frequent, so I am so happy for you all who have babies on the right track, sleeping-wise.) The dr. did NOT recommend CIO for J., based on what she knows about him. CIO worked for L., who cried one night, one time, for about 1 minute.

Got their shots and are very fussy due to them. I''m not a crying kinda gal, but I wanted to cry for L., who was in so much pain. The needle was 2 inches long! But the nurses and doctors cooed over my guys, who were very flirty and charming (up until the vaccination stabbings).

L. got into the dog''s kibble this morning...had a piece in his mouth before Dh got to him and got it out. I''m more freaked out that he went back for seconds. The dog is displeased. I guess on the upside, he won''t complain too much about my cooking as he gets older.

 

[Burk]

mustang~Sorry Kyle was sick. Glad he seems to be doing better!

jas~LOL about the dog food! Sounds like the boys are doing great!

 

[puffy]

fabienne CONGRATS!!!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Jewelry related post sorry to threadjack a little So I don''t want to post about this in the main forums because I don''t want to make a big hullabaloo, so I thought I''d post here and see what you all think. I am getting a baby ring made and I finally decided what I wanted to make. I was getting quotes from BGD and WF and got lots of quotes from both vendors for different options. In the end I decided on the particular style and chose to go with BGD for a variety of reasons, the main one being that I just like the looks of the product they have been creating and I trust them to be as OCD as I am about things like prongs... anyways, I e-mailed WF to tell them about my decision and thank them for all the time they took giving me quotes and helping me out, and my rep first expressed his dismay at losing out and his "confusions" about my decision and then asked who I was going with. I thought about ignorign the e-mail since it is none of their business, but I told them it was BGD and that I was getting a better deal (though money was not the deciding factor) and now I just got a phone call (didn''t answer) from my rep and he left me a message saying he wants to talk to me about anything he can do to retain my "commitment" to WF and maintain my business! I am not happy about the phone call, this is all very reminiscent of the thread Maisie started a while back when she switched...

Though I will admit a part of me is curious about what they would offer to maintain my committment

haha... but I am not going to go there, I already told BGD I was working with them and they are making CADs for me.

Funny thing is, this response to my decision is more off-putting than anything else. I would work with either company in future, but this makes me a little uncomfortable.

And now back to your regular baby-related programming!

 

[TravelingGal]

I can understand why that would be offputting, and if the management at WF is OK with more aggressive sales tactics, they will lose customers who aren''t receptive to them.

IMHO, there is no problem with a salesperson following up politely to thank the customer for the opportunity and to ask if there is anything s/he can do for the business one last time. They key is how to do it well. Saying they are confused at the decision (thereby forcing the customer to clarify) and making the customer feel guilty is not a good sales technique. And it shouldn''t matter whether they customer chose BGD, ERD or ABC.

He should have called, thanked you for the opportunity, hoped to do business again in the future and mentioned that if you change your mind, he will be happy do make his best effort at making you their best product at the most competitive price.

Smart salespeople know that people want to do business with people they like. Never make anyone feel defensive. Unless you''re Leon, plainly not a salesguy and doesn''t give a sh*t since his product makes up (to many) for any lack of schmooziness.

Personally, I find some of the over schmooziness of some PS vendors equally as disconcerting. Some try too hard to be your buddy. It''s a fine line. I think my PS vendor of choice lately would be ERD. He never posts here...too busy making sure his customers are happy offline.

 

[Pandora II]

I''d feel uncomfortable too DD.

I''m someone who hates having to call people to say I''m not planning to work with them and I would find it very awkward if they then started chasing up my decision especially when I''d already committed to the other vendor. I would definitely avoid any future contact with someone who applied pressure in that way in case it happened again and because I''d then feel that I would ''have to'' use them to avoid a repeat situation.

It does seem to be a problem that keeps arising recently with this particular vendor and I don''t think it''s doing them any favours - especially amongst PS members who tend to think out most of their purchases down to the last detail.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/2/2009 4:51:56 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I can understand why that would be offputting, and if the management at WF is OK with more aggressive sales tactics, they will lose customers who aren''t receptive to them.

IMHO, there is no problem with a salesperson following up politely to thank the customer for the opportunity and to ask if there is anything s/he can do for the business one last time. They key is how to do it well. Saying they are confused at the decision (thereby forcing the customer to clarify) and making the customer feel guilty is not a good sales technique. And it shouldn''t matter whether they customer chose BGD, ERD or ABC.

He should have called, thanked you for the opportunity, hoped to do business again in the future and mentioned that if you change your mind, he will be happy do make his best effort at making you their best product at the most competitive price.

Smart salespeople know that people want to do business with people they like. Never make anyone feel defensive. Unless you''re Leon, plainly not a salesguy and doesn''t give a sh*t since his product makes up (to many) for any lack of schmooziness.

Personally, I find some of the over schmooziness of some PS vendors equally as disconcerting. Some try too hard to be your buddy. It''s a fine line. I think my PS vendor of choice lately would be ERD. He never posts here...too busy making sure his customers are happy offline.

I feel exactly the same way. I do like my rep and I know he is just trying to do his job and not quite walking the line the way I would like. I''m going to e-mail him back and let him know that I am not lost! LOL! I won''t play favourites. On this project BGD won but on another it could be any number of PS verndors. AND LOL at Leon. I don''t think I would work with him from what I have heard

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/2/2009 4:58:17 PM
Author: Pandora II
I''d feel uncomfortable too DD.

I''m someone who hates having to call people to say I''m not planning to work with them and I would find it very awkward if they then started chasing up my decision especially when I''d already committed to the other vendor. I would definitely avoid any future contact with someone who applied pressure in that way in case it happened again and because I''d then feel that I would ''have to'' use them to avoid a repeat situation.

It does seem to be a problem that keeps arising recently with this particular vendor and I don''t think it''s doing them any favours - especially amongst PS members who tend to think out most of their purchases down to the last detail.

I am that type of person too Pandora. But in this case I am going to suck up my discomfort and e-mail my rep and let him know what I am happy with WF and that I plan to work with them in the future -- which is true -- but that I also will work with other vendors at some point too. I make the decision on a project by project basis! I want to be able to contact my rep again in the future so I hope that this isn''t going to be a pattern.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 6/2/2009 4:51:56 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I can understand why that would be offputting, and if the management at WF is OK with more aggressive sales tactics, they will lose customers who aren''t receptive to them.


IMHO, there is no problem with a salesperson following up politely to thank the customer for the opportunity and to ask if there is anything s/he can do for the business one last time. They key is how to do it well. Saying they are confused at the decision (thereby forcing the customer to clarify) and making the customer feel guilty is not a good sales technique. And it shouldn''t matter whether they customer chose BGD, ERD or ABC.


He should have called, thanked you for the opportunity, hoped to do business again in the future and mentioned that if you change your mind, he will be happy do make his best effort at making you their best product at the most competitive price.


Smart salespeople know that people want to do business with people they like. Never make anyone feel defensive. Unless you''re Leon, plainly not a salesguy and doesn''t give a sh*t since his product makes up (to many) for any lack of schmooziness.


Personally, I find some of the over schmooziness of some PS vendors equally as disconcerting. Some try too hard to be your buddy. It''s a fine line. I think my PS vendor of choice lately would be ERD. He never posts here...too busy making sure his customers are happy offline.

Well said well said. I agree-it''s not the call that was the problem-it''s making DD feel defensive about her choice. I reaaaaally don''t like that about some sales reps at WF. FWIW-I have worked with Tracy A. in the past and found that she does not do any of these things to me-so I would highly recommend her to anyone who wants a WF rep minus the guilt trip!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Here is an excerpt of the e-mail I sent addressing this issue:

"As a side note, while I am very appreciative of the efforts you are going to to maintain my business and loyalty, I think you have to be careful not to put forth your efforts in such a way as to make the customer feel that he or she must justify the decision to use another vendor (e.g., with language like "confusion" or just a general tone). It can make the customer feel a little uncomfortable or guilty about their decision, and that could cause customers to avoid WF for future projects, because no one likes to feel guilty or uncomfortable. Your e-mails made me feel like this a little, but I know you mean it in the best way so I am giving your feedback instead of just disappearing into the night "

Despite this misstep I like my rep so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt Still, most others would have just walked away from an uncomfortable situation.

 

[neatfreak]

I hope everyone is well. Sorry for the lack of posts-it''s been a long week here. The job my DH thought he had (because they TOLD us REPEATEDLY it was his) might not be his after all. Which really blows because he withdrew other applications after hearing he had this job, we''re under contract on a house (it''s contingent on this job offer-but still), and we need to be out of our current place Aug. 15.

So stress stress stress is the name of the game over here. Apparently they are interviewing someone else on Thursday and will let us know after that. My DH is really upset-I think he''s taking it really personally. I am just royally ticked off that they are going back on their word and annoyed that I spent so much time househunting for a move we might not even be making now.

Sorry for the self centered post. I just was ready (and needed to) vent about it. Grrrr.

 

[Dreamer_D]

NF

That is terrible! Still hoping it owrks out but my sympathies are with you!