PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[vizsla]

fiery.... so sweet!!! and i agree! if it didn''t scare the poo out of me to co-sleep we would do it every night. now, only when i get desperate do i pull him into bed with us. and just this morning i sat down for one more c cuddle before work and he fell asleep on my chest... i sat there for another 30mins because i couldn''t bear to pull him off of me and go to work....

confession... i blamed being late on the snow.......

 

[Mandarine]

I wish the boys would nap with me in bed!!!. I guess since we never co-slept, they are not used to falling sleep with anyone (other than each other!). Very rarely do they fall sleep on top of me anymore

When they were little, they would both fall sleep for naps on top of me sometimes and I lvoed it...as they got bigger, that just got to be logistically impossible and now I think they''re over sleeping on top of mommy!

 

[steph72276]

Hey, girls. Just a quick fly by as E finally laid down for a nap so I can get a quick shower and maybe get my house straightened up. He is awake more during the day, which is good since he was asleep more at night the past few nights. He actually went 3 hour stretches instead of up every hour to eat which is awesome...I feel like a new woman getting a few hours of sleep! All the baby pics are so cute! We are having E''s pic taken this week sometime, but he is having some skin peeling on his face and I was going to see if it went away soon first. Hope everyone is having a great week!

 

[steph72276]

TDM, I can''t remember if I told you thanks or not for the scrapbook links, so thank you...I''m going to decide this week and order one of those.

Mara, you look great already! You will be back in your old clothes in no time. I wore my pre preg. jeans out to the mall on a quick trip this weekend and had to come home and take them off right away, they were hurting my belly! I really need to lose the last 5 lbs before I wear them out I guess. Oh well, back to the velour track pants for a bit

 

[taovandel]

Just a short vent post while I am at work.

I am at work--my husband is watching the baby...he barely sees the baby that much because of his work schedule and the baby''s bedtime.

I just got a message from my husband that he is at the movies...he dropped the baby off at his mother''s.

Is it wrong that I''m pissed? Why couldn''t he go the whole day with him? If I take the baby to my mother''s house--I''m there the entire time, I do the diaper changes, etc.

Also, our finances aren''t the greatest right now because of hospital bills and other bills. We are basically pay check to pay check for right now because of some unexpected bills (Towing for one!!). I scrimp and save--I haven''t cut my hair since before my wedding in June of last year....I struggled to afford work clothes after my maternity leave, etc. So how is it that he is okay with just blowing money on movies and video games while I''m sacrificing things? He traded in two video games so he could get a new one....that place also trades in video games for money---why wouldn''t he get the money instead of the video game????!!!

Sorry, that my post these last few days have all been Debbie Downers....hopefully I''ll get over it soon enough.

 

[Mara]

TDM and viz...yeah i am already anticipating next week being the hardest one so far with greg being gone..and esp with J in the new fussy mcfuss stage. but at least i know it's coming so i can mentally prep for some trying times. the one thing i remind myself (just like with pregnancy) is FINITE PERIOD OF TIME... like it can't stay one way forever.

so last nite J was fussula at bedtime, even though we knew he wasn't hungry, he had 2oz in a bottle and ate off BOTH boobs for 40 min. i swear this kid is an oinker. pushing the boob away when he is 'full' has only happened once ever and that is just because he was passing out and about to choke. you can tell he is so tired, yawning, eyes opening and closing, etc but he just fights it and keeps jerking out of the lulls into like full on screaming. we figure his brain must be growing or something and it must be PAINFUL because he jerks out of his lulls into 'i am so red i might explode screaming'. he has always been a screamer since day one...so he was never like some SUPER mellow baby, but now his screaming has taken on new shades of redness hehe.

anyway he fussed and cried for about 20 min and then passed out for 15 min and then woke up again and cried. so we reswaddled him and then greg took him out of the room into the living room and put the oven fan on. well i guess he fussed and then passed out and slept 5 hours! greg stayed with him in the living room. he said he had to wake him up at 3am for a feeding. then he went back to sleep and slept 4 hours.

i almost feel like he's more fussy with me IF he is not feeding, and esp more so since i have started giving him more boob. is this the whole 'they can smell the mom's milk' thing?? it's funny because my mom will come over and she soothes him and greg can soothe him pretty easily and i can too with the BOOB. but even though i know he is full (like spitting up full)... he will fuss with me a lot of the time.

re: white noise...yeah we are finding he really likes it too. the sound of the heater, the bathroom fans, the oven fan. i will have to experiment and see what works...i like the idea of a little fan for his room eventually but fiery i will check out that lullaby thing. i personally am not a fan of white noise as i tend to find it distracting, but i am about to be!!

re: soothing.. any moms have crazy tips for what soothes their fussy kids? esp in the first stages? right now he doesn't seem to be interested in things like toys or mobiles or anything like that. he likes to be rocked a little but if he is in a full snit it won't really work. we've got the white noise down, but any other suggestions are appreciated. does anyone have the sleep sheep? some parents i know rave about the thing.

also... and i think this might just be normal but like i mentioned up above, the kid will be tired, yawning, eyes closing and breathing slowing for about 30 seconds and then all of a sudden breathing starts getting really fast and agitated, then his eyes fly open and he's waving around and red and agitated within 5 seconds. if he is swaddled it is the same as unswaddled. anyone know what might be going on with that? or is it just 'every baby does it and they grow out of it' kinda thing? we assume something crucial is growing, like his brain and it hurts.

the bummer about the soothing is that he used to love the bouncer and the swing for hours, and now they only work for about 20-30 min at a time. the only thing that seems to soothe him for longer is the BOOB. darn you boob addiction!

steph... lol re: the pants. there is 'fitting' and then there is FITTING where you can actually wear them. thanks to my hips i can't wear any of my non stretchy pants, i am living in juicy and charlotte pants right now hahaa. i prob should just get some AE jeans in a larger size so i have something to wear out in public other than velour. on the flip side, i don't really care right now anyway hahaa.

mandarine...gotta love what the kiddos do to our 30+ year old bodies right? hehee. i am like damn i should have had this kid earlier when my body was more pliable. btw good for you on the 4 mile runs, you are my workout heroine!

viz...oh this kid has had a bit of personality since day one...he has been a good baby but def not as comatose as some of my friend's kids the first 2 weeks hehe. i think he will be a little handful, but i put my mom through her paces when i was little so i guess it's only fitting!

re: cosleeping and the cuddlies... i admit to also being a little tempted sometimes, but i am too paranoid and i don't want to start a habit we'd have to break. but i could see how it's so sweet to sleep with your little one.

i am going to bust out my sleep books, but at what age did you moms start sleep training? since the kid has gone 4 and 5 hours at night with sleep already, i feel like maybe we can start training him within a few weeks. my friend has a 2 month old who sleeps 8-10 hours a nite! i want some of that magic.

 

[TravelingGal]

Mara: re swing...try swaddling him tight and THEN putting him in the swing. Just fasten him in over the swaddle. Paci too if he''ll take it.

 

[ChinaCat]

Dreamer- Hunter is almost 1???????????????

Where does the time go???? We need another pic for sure before you skedaddle off to the toddler thread. He is the prettiest baby.

RPS- So happy to hear that my little one isn't the only mini baby around. 15 lbs at 1 year is definitely on the small side, but who cares???? I know O is getting enough food and thriving, and hitting his milestones, usually early even. Also, it really has nothing to do with how big they will be as adults. They'll all even out. But other mothers don't seem to follow this logic and it wears me out. I've stopped "defending" O's weight and I just change the conversation after the IRL mother brags about how big their baby is. I

chubby babies, but I think skinny mini O is just as cute.

Oh, and what Roberto Coin necklace did you get? DH gave me a RC necklace that is an "O" with small diamonds. Very cute.

Mtjoya- Welcome to the other side!!!!!!How are you feeling??? Remind me how old your J is? Pumping is a PITA and an acquired art. I think they need to have a pumping class along with the BF class!!!! You'll get the hang of it. I really didn't pump much at all in the first months, only if I needed a bottle for O if I was going to be away from him and miss a feeding.

Mara- Why do you need to pump, remind me? If you are nursing him whenever he's hungry, your milk supply should keep up. Just curious, I didn't pump much at all in the beginning.

Co-sleeping- I am glad O easily goes to sleep in his crib, but I sometimes wish he'd sleep with me. He will take the occasional nap ON me, which I love, but he sleeps much better on his own.

I post at work.

AFM- Long weekend at my parents' house, lots of family = riled up O all weekend. He was great, so social and flirting with everyone, but way too distracted to do something so boring as to actually EAT enough. We drove back yesterday. I went to work around noon, got home at 6 pm. O went down for a nap at 5 pm (which he never does anymore) so I kept waiting for him to wake up for his last feeding at 7 pm. NOPE. The little bugger slept from 5 pm till 10:30, woke up, ate, went right back down, then got up again at 3:30, ate, went right back down and didn't wake up again till 7 am.

His normal routine is "bedtime" routine at 6:45 or 7, nurse from 7- 7:30, then down for the night, usually wakes up b/w 6 and 7 am. So I was terrified that since he basically went to bed at 5 pm, he would get up for the day at 3 am or something!!! MANDARINE, I totally thought of you. DH and I were all "Do we wake him? Do we NOT wake him?"

For some reason I kept saying, but he doesn't have his pajamas on! So silly, HE doesn't care if he's wearing PJ's.

I guess the little one was just tired.

This morning was so cute though. He woke up around 7 am, and I watched him play in his crib till about 7:30. He totally turned on the mobile by himself, and was just lying on his back, kicking his feet and "talking" to his mobile and listening to the music.

I

this age. 6 months is awesome.

OH- general interest question. For those of you that did solids BEFORE 6 months, just curious as to why? Not in a judging way, truly in a curious way. My cousin has a 4 month old and they were excited that her ped said they could start solids. For me personally, I am in no hurry, just because 1) I'm lazy

and it seems like a lot of work b/c I want to make my own; and 2) gross poopy diapers; and 3) there is no real "need" for him as far as I know. He is definitely "ready" in that he tries to eat EVERYTHING but I don't think it's harming him to wait. Just curious as to what the PROS are for starting solids. I don't want to ask my cousin b/c I don't want it to come off sounding judgemental. So PS peeps, what do you think????

 

[ChinaCat]

Mara- DITTO TGal. Swaddle and swing worked for us everytime. Also, have you tried the 5 S's thing? Swaddle him, lay him on his SIDE longwise on your arm (so his head is cradled in your palm, he is facing out from your body, feet at your waist, his body lying lenghtwise down your arm); SHUSH him really really loud, louder than he is crying; SWAY and SWING him back and forth; and then SOOTHE (stick a paci in, you can hold it in his mouth with your hand while you cradle his head). There is a book and DVD that shows how to do this, can't remember but sure someone will chime in. When O was a newborn this worked like magic. He doesn't care abou the paci at all, but the paci in conjunction with the swaying/shushing was awesome. He would calm right down.

As far as sleep training- you are going to get a million different responses. For me, I kept thinking/worrying about starting it, but in retrospect, I don't think you can do it that early. If I was to do it again, I would not worry about much in the first 6 weeks or so, just watch them and try to let them ease into a natural schedule. That way when you do try to sleep train, you know what you are dealing with. The only thing I did the first few weeks was wake him up EVERY 3 hours to eat. For us I really think that worked wonders to get him into a pattern and get him to eat enough so that when we were ready he could go longer at night. Then at around 6 weeks or so, we started letting him sleep as long as he wanted at night. By 8 weeks, O was sleeping 8-10 hours at night. But then he started getting up again when I went back to work.

BUT be warned. They change ALL THE TIME. Unless you are going to hardcore CIO, which I personally think they are too young to do at 2 months, it's mostly luck and what your baby is naturally going to do.

For us, we semi followed Baby Wise in the beginning (woke up to eat every 3 hours, but would feed him earlier if he wanted to, but we didn't let him CIO, especially at night, he's too skinny so I always feed him if he wakes up at night). Then just followed his natural pattern and our instincts. O slept 8-10 hours from 2 months till 4 months. (Go to bed b/w 8:30 and 10 pm, got up around 7 am). THEN at 4 months, started waking up again 1x a night to eat (like 3 am). At 5.5 months, went back to sleeping from 7:30 pm till 6 am. But then this weekend, got up 1x to eat each night. You never know.

I totally was so proud that he STTN early (not proud b/c I did anything, but happy b/c I was exhausted) but it rarely lasts. They change all the time.

FWIW, I do have one friend whose kid has consistently slept 10 hours or so since he was a newborn. She hired a baby nurse that strictly followed Baby Wise and didn't leave until the kid slept. It works, but it's kind of hardcore to let a newborn CIO, especially if you are nursing.

ETA: Totally admit, when O STTN early, there was talk of the "4 month wakeful" and I was convinced O wasn't going to do that.

Just because I thought well he clearly CAN sleep all night, so he doesn't NEED to wake up. I specifically remember DD saying that Hunter was a great sleeper and then it all changed at 4 months. Didn't think it would happen to us, but it did. By the time Fiery was talking about it, I got worried. And yep, that 4 month wakeful thing totally got us!

And btw, he did need to eat, either b/c he wasn't eating enough during the day or having a growth spurt or whatever.

ETAA: Gah!!! Why can't I be short and to the point???? Trying this again: O naturally was a great sleeper early, so we didn't "do" anything. Therefore when he started getting up again, we didn't have a plan b/c we had never needed one. So we haven't "sleep trained" him yet. Now that he's 6 months, if we have to, we will implement something.

 

[Mara]

Thx TG and CC... I just had him in the swing and it took almost 40 min and 5 restarts of the rainforest sounds but he finally fell asleep. With the swaddle, it depends on what mood he's in. If he is already slightly comatose and I swaddle him tight, he gets pissed about his arms being trapped and will fight and struggle til they come out. So we might leave one arm out. But usually he wants TWO. But if he is already kind of comatose we can swaddle with arms in and he is fine. But next time I will try a tight swaddle to start and see how he goes.

He likes to sleep like me, with hands by face. I sleep like that today, with a hand fisted under my cheek. So I can't really fault him but on the other hand I think he just freaks himself out with the free arm hahaa.

China... I started pumping more than feeding because we wre having probs with latching and I wasn't feeding much off boob. But now I am feeding more off boob. BUT my nipples are really sore in general. So the pump feels better than him on the boob for 40 min. So I am doing kind of this combo pump boob thing right now where I feed him mostly off boob during the day but I pump 2x as well, and then at night he gets BM in bottles, so I give my boobs a rest (and pump at night before bed and again about 6-7 hours later). Also Greg mostly feeds him at night then. But I seriously feel like he never gets FULL from boob. Or he never lets himself 'fall off' the boob. We joke now that he is on the boob and latching pretty well that is is OBSESSED with them never going away and leaving him. He just loves it. Also eventually when I go back to work I will pump mostly anyway so that's why I don't mind keeping the habit up.

Oh and we have tried a loose method of the S's...but not all of them at once, I will def try that next time.

re: sleep training, yeah i don't know what we will do yet honestly, and i know there are a bunch of methods, just was wondering if it was too early to think about it in a few weeks, maybe when he is 4 weeks. and i def agree re: things changing... i was kind of hoping 'oh well maybe he won't go through this 2 week wakeful thing' but not so much!! i just should take that as a mini lesson and know that no matter what he will prob hit every milestone and brace ourselves hehe.

 

[fieryred33143]

Mara Sophia still fights sleep so I''m no help. There are times when I''m like "lady, just close your eyes and everything will be better!!!" but instead she keeps them open and cries

. What has always worked for us when she''s beyond tired and crying is to put her face on my shoulder and press on it with my face, say ''shh shh shh'' over and over, rock back and forth while bouncing. Essentially, I become the swing, bouncer, swaddle, and white noise machine lol. It still works to this day. If she''s being impossible, I stick her in her tub with some really warm water.

Funny--I don''t remember what I did when she fussed/cried/screamed at Julian''s age. Crazy how the mind works. The white noise was a HUGE distraction in the beginning but we are so used to it now since we hear it over the monitor every night.

As for sleep training, it depends on your definition. CIO is recommended for babies over the age of 4 months but there are a lot of other things you can do. 4 to 5 hours at 2 weeks is pretty fantastic. At 2 weeks Sophia was doing 2 to 3 hours. I had started EASY around 6 weeks and did a modified version of it. I followed the eat-activity-sleep routine but I didn''t do it on a time schedule. That''s her routine now. She wakes, eats, plays, and takes a nap. It eliminates the need to eat in order to sleep which is great for us.

Tao-I had the same problem with FI in the beginning. He would have a day off from work and I still had to take Sophia to his mom''s house. Made no sense. He explained to me once that he just needs his day off. I explained that I don''t get days off. So now he takes care of her almost every time he has off. There are days when he''ll mention a couple of things he has to do and I try to respect that he needs his alone time as well. As a trade off, I do my own thing when I want to and he doesn''t argue with me (he used to fight it in the beginning out of fear of being alone with Sophia for too long, he''s gotten over it).

China-We didn''t do solids before 6 months but I agree that 6 months is an awesome age! That''s cool that O knows how to turn on the mobile! Sophia can''t figure out how to turn on her crib aquarium thing but she loves it.

 

[AmberWaves]

MTJ: I heard about the peeling, too. Piper didn't get it, but I was prepared! Does the new skin look nice and fresh? Congrats on the little one!!

RE: nursing tanks. Tried the Target side sling, SO does not work for the F cups. The sling part digs into the side of my boob so I have a weird boob sandwich going on on the sides. It hurts, too!! And, if I move weird the snap opens- and this is just after feeding so I'm not engorged.

Re: white noise. Piper has the fisher price soothing sea horse (or something) we bought it at Target. Its belly glows and it plays something like 5/6 songs and ocean noises. I turn it on for all naps and nighttime sleep. Seems to work well! Her crib also has the Baby Einstein Ocean crib attacher thing (bought it for the remote and now the remote doesn't work), and we were given the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders swing as a gift, so she's got the fish all around her.

Speaking of cribs: When did you mommies move from the bedside to the crib? I know it's getting time (she'll be 3 mos next week), but I really do like having her beside me, and her noises soothe me (shocking, I know).

Question regarding EBF baby being watched for a night... I know we'll need to drop off at least one bottle (probably more, but we'll use playtex drop ins) but I'm so not sure how to go about it. Freeze it or refrigerate it, pump before we leave and bring it or just build up a freezer stash and bring that?? That, coupled with the fact that I haven't left her ever for more than three minutes at a time (seriously) I am freaking out. It'll be a month from today. Yikes.

ETA: I've lost 45 pounds, 19 of that was from the pregnancy. I can fit into my pre-preg pants, but they're super loose. The next size down is too tight. This SUCKS. My body is just super different now.

ETA 2: I keep forgetting to take my BC pill. Since it's a mini and progestin only, that is SO not good.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 2/16/2010 1:09:10 PM
Author: Mara
Thx TG and CC... I just had him in the swing and it took almost 40 min and 5 restarts of the rainforest sounds but he finally fell asleep. With the swaddle, it depends on what mood he''s in. If he is already slightly comatose and I swaddle him tight, he gets pissed about his arms being trapped and will fight and struggle til they come out. So we might leave one arm out. But usually he wants TWO. But if he is already kind of comatose we can swaddle with arms in and he is fine. But next time I will try a tight swaddle to start and see how he goes.

He likes to sleep like me, with hands by face. I sleep like that today, with a hand fisted under my cheek. So I can''t really fault him but on the other hand I think he just freaks himself out with the free arm hahaa.

China... I started pumping more than feeding because we wre having probs with latching and I wasn''t feeding much off boob. But now I am feeding more off boob. BUT my nipples are really sore in general. So the pump feels better than him on the boob for 40 min. So I am doing kind of this combo pump boob thing right now where I feed him mostly off boob during the day but I pump 2x as well, and then at night he gets BM in bottles, so I give my boobs a rest (and pump at night before bed and again about 6-7 hours later). Also Greg mostly feeds him at night then. But I seriously feel like he never gets FULL from boob. Or he never lets himself ''fall off'' the boob. We joke now that he is on the boob and latching pretty well that is is OBSESSED with them never going away and leaving him. He just loves it. Also eventually when I go back to work I will pump mostly anyway so that''s why I don''t mind keeping the habit up.

Oh and we have tried a loose method of the S''s...but not all of them at once, I will def try that next time.

re: sleep training, yeah i don''t know what we will do yet honestly, and i know there are a bunch of methods, just was wondering if it was too early to think about it in a few weeks, maybe when he is 4 weeks. and i def agree re: things changing... i was kind of hoping ''oh well maybe he won''t go through this 2 week wakeful thing'' but not so much!! i just should take that as a mini lesson and know that no matter what he will prob hit every milestone and brace ourselves hehe.

Mara, re: swaddle, Amelia totally fought us when we switched to the miracle blanket a few weeks after she was born. TGuy was fixated on swaddling her the traditional way and I just decided to let him have his weird snit. Of course, we soon found out it didn''t work, she wanted out, but as time goes on and they have a harder time going to sleep, it''s REALLY a bummer to have them jerk themselves awake. So I persisted with the miracle blanket and won...she learned to love it.

Some babies don''t like the swaddle, I''m sure. But for us it was worth trying, because it made sleep conditioning so much easier. Once she was swaddled tight, she knew it was time to pass out. However, weaning from the swaddle is definitely no fun.

 

[Mandarine]

Mara,

At 2 weeks mine were waking up every 1.5-2 hours. I don't actually remember any of this, but I was keeping a log and have gone back to look!. The first few weeks are sort of a blur for me, but I know they couldn't go longer than 2 hours between eating. Even now, the 3 hours during the day is a stretch sometimes!.

Mine fight sleep (during the day more than at night at this point). Now I just try to put them down and let them work it out (so they cry a bit and eventually falls sleep!). At 2 weeks though I was a rocker...so I would rock, sing, walk, etc....They loved falling sleep on our legs (legs up in the coffee table moving from side to side and the baby laying there at an angle). I remember we would this from 5pm to 7pm...because they were impossible during that time!. SO DH would grab one, and I the other and we would just sit there, doing the windshield move with our legs back and forth, holding the paci in and doing the shhh, shhh, shhhh..

As far as leep training...I really think each baby will do their own thing when they are ready (unless you use CIO)....I have treated my babies the exact same way since birth. Lucas has slept 12 hours like 6-7 times and can go from 7pm-4am on a regular basis...while Alex has been all over the place.

What I did start early (like 3 or 4 weeks) was starting a bed time routine. I truly think that made a huge difference!. Everyday, at the same time, I would bathe them (every other day for the bath), then PJs, then quiet time in the couch, lights down and TV very low, everyone in the house was also to quiet down...then bottle, swaddle and upstairs to the nursery. Back then I was rocking. I would rock them to sleep. I started trying to put them in bed at 8pm, and they gradually moved it up -on their own- and now are out cold by 7pm!

I am trying to wait to do any CIO until they are 6 months. What I have done now, is reduce the amount of food I give them at night (gradually). Now, their day time bottles are 6 oz (they drink5-6 oz 5x/day) and at night they get 3 or less when they wake up.



ETA: To add to the swaddling. I loved the miracle blankets and still use them. I would not wean them off it if they made a bigger/stronger one!. However, weaning them off the swaddle has been a complete nightmare...and I haven't even begun to tackle nights!. If I had another baby (DH laughs when I say this and corrects "there won't be another baby!") I would try other things rather before I swaddled them so much. But that's just me and my babies. I don't thinks most babies are as addicted as these guys are...hehe

 

[Mara]

i have to check out this miracle blanket, i had 2 other mom friends recommend it to me as well. we tried these organic velcro swaddlers from ''the first years'' that someone gave us from target and J is almost too long for them already at 2 weeks! so he just looks uncomfortable in the swaddle AND he still managed to get an arm out later anyway. the best swaddles we have gotten so far are with the A&A wraps but he will always be able to get at least an arm out. he is houdini!

re: swaddling, yep i also am thinking well swaddle now for peace but have to wean later??? mandarine, your boys weaning off the swaddle are a little bit of a cautionary tale for STARTING to get him hooked on swaddle. it''s like which is the lesser of two evils?!? hehe.

and umm random note but the kid is so freaking cute when he is not screaming. why can''t he be like that more often??? i want to eat him up.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 2/16/2010 1:42:43 PM
Author: Mara
i have to check out this miracle blanket, i had 2 other mom friends recommend it to me as well. we tried these organic velcro swaddlers from ''the first years'' that someone gave us from target and J is almost too long for them already at 2 weeks! so he just looks uncomfortable in the swaddle AND he still managed to get an arm out later anyway. the best swaddles we have gotten so far are with the A&A wraps but he will always be able to get at least an arm out. he is houdini!

re: swaddling, yep i also am thinking well swaddle now for peace but have to wean later??? mandarine, your boys weaning off the swaddle are a little bit of a cautionary tale for STARTING to get him hooked on swaddle. it''s like which is the lesser of two evils?!? hehe.

and umm random note but the kid is so freaking cute when he is not screaming. why can''t he be like that more often??? i want to eat him up.

The miracle blanket is a PS fave. Nothing works better IMHO and I''ve seen my friends try. You don''t even have to cover the feet...just straitjacketing the arms work.

We had a tough time weaning her off...probably not as tough as Mandarine has it (and I would imagine it would be freaky hard with twins!). But it was worth it. It made so many transitions easy for us...from bassinet to crib (which can be a tough one). In those early months she needed security and it helped establish routine. Weaning her out of the swaddle was easily the most "scary" thing we had to do...especially frustrating because if we didn''t, it would end up around her head. It meant a few starts AND stops, where I just gave in and figured I''d try again the next day. It meant missing the sleep we worked so hard to get because she was beginning to wake up more and become frustrated. So yeah, if you want to try other things, sure. But for us it took a week or so (felt like a lifetime) but it happened and she ended up fine. There''s always an adjustment period and it''s hard not to panic, but with persistence, things usually work out.

 

[Mandarine]

Mara, mine are screamers too...always have been...so I''m no help there. It''s actually funny (in a non funny kind of way) because when I''m around other babies I realize just how loud they are!!!. I thought all babies were like mine (because my nephews were the same way) until I started going to "playdates" with this mommy group I found. My guys are VOCAL. There is no middle ground with them. They get a "little" hungry...and you will know it, a "little" sleepy, you will hear it!. All the other babies are so calm!..when I start getting horrified looks, I know it''s time for me and my boys to get going...hehe

Sometimes it drives me nuts and I really need to just step outside for a second (leave them safe in the house) and take a few deep breaths!. I keep telling myself, a little crying won''t kill them and they won''t remember!...so every time I feel like I may lose it, I try to tell myself that it is OK if I can''t get them to quiet down. I can only try, but sometimes nothing works. On days like this, I suaully end up putting them in the car and driving around like a crazy woman.....ending my drive at Starbucks

(sometimes wishing they would put a little Baileys in my coffee!)

Now, there is a positive to them being so vocal (at least I think so anyway). They talk all day long...which is so cute!. They talk to each other, to me, to the mobiles, etc. They are always talking. They even sing themselves to sleep (they make this funny sounds to self soothe and it sounds so cute over the monitor because they each have their own sound!).

So hang in there...just now that it is OK if they cry/scream...and if you need a breather, it''s ok to step outside for a couple of minutes. J won''t remember

 

[Mandarine]

Date: 2/16/2010 1:50:25 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 2/16/2010 1:42:43 PM

Author: Mara

i have to check out this miracle blanket, i had 2 other mom friends recommend it to me as well. we tried these organic velcro swaddlers from ''the first years'' that someone gave us from target and J is almost too long for them already at 2 weeks! so he just looks uncomfortable in the swaddle AND he still managed to get an arm out later anyway. the best swaddles we have gotten so far are with the A&A wraps but he will always be able to get at least an arm out. he is houdini!


re: swaddling, yep i also am thinking well swaddle now for peace but have to wean later??? mandarine, your boys weaning off the swaddle are a little bit of a cautionary tale for STARTING to get him hooked on swaddle. it''s like which is the lesser of two evils?!? hehe.


and umm random note but the kid is so freaking cute when he is not screaming. why can''t he be like that more often??? i want to eat him up.

The miracle blanket is a PS fave. Nothing works better IMHO and I''ve seen my friends try. You don''t even have to cover the feet...just straitjacketing the arms work.


We had a tough time weaning her off...probably not as tough as Mandarine has it (and I would imagine it would be freaky hard with twins!). But it was worth it. It made so many transitions easy for us...from bassinet to crib (which can be a tough one). In those early months she needed security and it helped establish routine. Weaning her out of the swaddle was easily the most ''scary'' thing we had to do...especially frustrating because if we didn''t, it would end up around her head. It meant a few starts AND stops, where I just gave in and figured I''d try again the next day. It meant missing the sleep we worked so hard to get because she was beginning to wake up more and become frustrated. So yeah, if you want to try other things, sure. But for us it took a week or so (felt like a lifetime) but it happened and she ended up fine. There''s always an adjustment period and it''s hard not to panic, but with persistence, things usually work out.

I agree with TGal. There is NOTHING like the miracle blanket. NOTHING. That''s why it''s so hard to wean...it''s like baby crack! haha
I tried different swaddles and nothing really worked to keep my houdinis in like the miracle blankets...

I swaddle with their feet off since they are too tall and it works...but they do break free now (they never did as newborns though!). That is why I want to stop...because I have found them unswaddled in ways I think are not safe. This is new and the reason why I''m weaning. Otherwise, I would let them be because as soon as you put that thing on, they know it''s time to sleep!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 2/16/2010 1:54:27 PM
Author: Mandarine

Date: 2/16/2010 1:50:25 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 2/16/2010 1:42:43 PM

Author: Mara

i have to check out this miracle blanket, i had 2 other mom friends recommend it to me as well. we tried these organic velcro swaddlers from ''the first years'' that someone gave us from target and J is almost too long for them already at 2 weeks! so he just looks uncomfortable in the swaddle AND he still managed to get an arm out later anyway. the best swaddles we have gotten so far are with the A&A wraps but he will always be able to get at least an arm out. he is houdini!


re: swaddling, yep i also am thinking well swaddle now for peace but have to wean later??? mandarine, your boys weaning off the swaddle are a little bit of a cautionary tale for STARTING to get him hooked on swaddle. it''s like which is the lesser of two evils?!? hehe.


and umm random note but the kid is so freaking cute when he is not screaming. why can''t he be like that more often??? i want to eat him up.

The miracle blanket is a PS fave. Nothing works better IMHO and I''ve seen my friends try. You don''t even have to cover the feet...just straitjacketing the arms work.


We had a tough time weaning her off...probably not as tough as Mandarine has it (and I would imagine it would be freaky hard with twins!). But it was worth it. It made so many transitions easy for us...from bassinet to crib (which can be a tough one). In those early months she needed security and it helped establish routine. Weaning her out of the swaddle was easily the most ''scary'' thing we had to do...especially frustrating because if we didn''t, it would end up around her head. It meant a few starts AND stops, where I just gave in and figured I''d try again the next day. It meant missing the sleep we worked so hard to get because she was beginning to wake up more and become frustrated. So yeah, if you want to try other things, sure. But for us it took a week or so (felt like a lifetime) but it happened and she ended up fine. There''s always an adjustment period and it''s hard not to panic, but with persistence, things usually work out.

I agree with TGal. There is NOTHING like the miracle blanket. NOTHING. That''s why it''s so hard to wean...it''s like baby crack! haha
I tried different swaddles and nothing really worked to keep my houdinis in like the miracle blankets...

I swaddle with their feet off since they are too tall and it works...but they do break free now (they never did as newborns though!). That is why I want to stop...because I have found them unswaddled in ways I think are not safe. This is new and the reason why I''m weaning. Otherwise, I would let them be because as soon as you put that thing on, they know it''s time to sleep!

Ha Mandy...I swear, I thought about making giant ones of my own (although I remember someone saying they make them?) But I grit my teeth and decided to wean. We went to the sleep sack for a security blanket, and it worked well. Now we are on XL size and I''m concerned what we will do when she grows out of it. She loves her sleepsacks. The miracle blankets were also good to have her feet free, because it made it easier to strap her into the swing.

Miracle blankets are just not cute. My new mommy friends love the cute/stylish blankets for swaddling, and I''m like...ha, if you REALLY want to swaddle, that isn''t going to last long. I''ve seen more expensive blankets become burp cloths than I care to mention!

 

[ChinaCat]

Mara- TRY the 5 S's thing. I think it might be Happiest Baby on the Block or something. I was skeptical, but it worked every time with O. Now the shoulder thing that Fiery is talking about works wonders, but I don't think so much when he was a newborn. Totally get it on the pumping thing, just couldn't remember what you were doing. I think whatever works and keeps new moms from going crazy is the way to go. You have a GREAT attitude, it's going to serve you well when things get dicey. I did not, and kept trying to "manage" O so that my "normal" life could return. The minute I realized that this WAS my new normal and that O was not an "inconvenience to be managed" but something joyful that I needed to appreciate b/c he will NOT be this little for long, my world got so much better. Sounds like you are already there, which is awesome.

Fiery- I'm not sure O "knows" how to turn on his mobile, I think he just lucked into pushing the buttons.

We'll see if he does it again!

My DH is all excited b/c my baby development emails say O is ready to start "throwing" things. DH can't wait to start playing baseball with O. His response when I told him was "Great! When can he start catching things?"

Ummm, I think it will be awhile before O is catching a baseball. Men are so funny.

Tao- Been there. Being a mom is a whole different thing than being a dad. I've learned to try not to resent DH when he does stuff like that, but try to let go of my own guilt and allow myself some time for me too.

ETA: It's called a MIRACLE blanket for a reason!!!! I was so scared to stop with the MB, it was his "cue" to go to sleep. But we really didn't have a problem. Now we did wait a really long time (4.5 months maybe) and he was really ready, so I think that helped. We also (BAD MOMMY CONFESSION) kept him swaddled and in his Moses basket for about a month after he was probably ready. He pretty much was too big for the Moses basket, but when we unswaddled him, he couldn't really "move" around much so it kept him from waking up. Part of the problem is they start practicing rolling over in their sleep, which wakes them up. I am an evil mom and kept him in his basket b/c of this. I knew he'd roll anyways and my sleep was too important at the time! And yes, he did "kick" out of this MB by the end, which was why we had to stop.

Mara- Have you tried the Halo sleep sacks with the wings? Sort of like the MB, but not tight, but we would use these for naps with O. Basically it's a sack, but you can "swaddle" their arms in it like a MB, but it's looser, so we would let one of O's hands stay up by his mouth. So he was "swaddled" but he had one hand almost free.

 

[so cal girl]

Okay, there are a ton of topics in here I had responses to, but I think I already forgot about most of them. Damn mommy brain! I''ll try and remember some of them.

Overfeeding when you are breastfeeding: I know they say it is impossible, but I swear E never actually acts full. For the first couple of months I had to pry him off the boob. He would eat until he puked every time. A little bit of that had to do with his reflux, but I found that if I pulled him off after les and less time, he was still gaining plenty of weight and doing his usual peeing and pooping. My kid is just an oinker!

White noise: We discovered the joy of white noise by a fluke. E had jaundice early on and had to have those light paddle things. The fan on the machine really seemed to soothe him, so my mom bought hom a white noise machine. I think it is Graco, and it''s got three settings. Nature sounds, womb sounds, or music. we usually just use the music. It plays like 5 lullabies on repeat.

RPS funny re: quiet pooper, ours is the total opposite ... he has such loud squirty farty poops...we totally start laughing every time he farts or poops. and the look on his face is usually concentrated while it''s happening. haha.
E sounds much more like your J, Mara. I swear you can hear him from across the room. And he always smiles after. It is hilarious!

Weird baby skin problems: Why do you never notice any of this stuff with other people''s babies? E has had every skin problem there is. He has baby acne, horrible cradle cap, and has a huge patch of excema over his eye that he scrathes at constantly. We are still dealing with is at 4 and half months.

Sleep training: We still haven''t done this at 4 and half months. I half-ass tried it at 4 months, but was just so exhausted we gave up. E still falls asleep nursing every night. I know that is bad, but otherwise he fusses for over an hour. And now that he can roll over, fussing turns into him rolling onto his tummy, which turns into him screaming uncontrollably. Last week, he only got up once every night, and I thought it was getting better, but he has been up twice every night every day since Thursday. I only feed him once, and I seriously don''t even know that he needs that. We were considering giving him rice cereal before bed thinking it might fill him up longer for the night, but I am still scared of the poop that come with solids. I am seriously jealous of everyone who''s baby slept through the night early on on their own. E has always been a horrible sleeper, and even though hsi schedule is pretty good during the day, his nights are always gamble. The longest her ever sleeps in a stretch is about 5 hours. Even if he did that consistently, I''d be happy.

Cosleeping: In the beginning I really wanted to avoid this, since I know a lot of people who have had trouble breaking the habit and get frustrated when their toddler is in bed with them when they want alone time. But, I started doing it in emergencies when I couldn''t get E back to sleep, since that always seems to soothe him. DH thought it was totally unsafe and would always yell at me when I did it. Well, last night, when E was fussing from 3:00 until 5:00 AM, DH told me to get him and put him in bed with us. I think the lack of sleep has got jim changing his mind on the whole cosleeping thing, but i still would prefer not to make it a habit.

Cribs: E went in his at 3 months. When he slept in the co-sleeper right next to our bed, I would wake up at every nosie he made, and consequently pick him up to soothe him, which I ond''t think he really needed. I thought that moving him to his crib would help us both sleep better. It helped out for a bit, but he still sleeps horribly.

Amber, when you say leaving for the night, how long will you be gone? I would pump a little bit each day starting a week before, since you''re not sure how much you will get. It stays good in the fridge for 5-7 days. If you will be gone overnight, I''d start bulding a freezer stash.

RPS: I didn''t take a pic of my neckalce yet, but maybe I''ll do it at lunch time and post it later. I still want to see your RC necklace.

 

[ChinaCat]

Amber- When we would leave O with a babysitter, I would make sure to pump enough bottles for how many feedings he "should" take while gone, and then always add an extra bottle (or two) to be safe. So I would take how many times Piper usually feeds at night, then add a bottle or two.

Just the bottle in the fridge should be fine. Don''t stress, she''ll be fine! We started leaving O with a babysitter early and we found that he actually did great and slept much better on the nights we had a sitter, go figure!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Tao, that would annoy me too. DH had Claire yesterday and he was planning to drop her off at daycare for part of the day until he found out it was closed. Oops! It''s true that we all need time off, though. As long as it goes both ways, I guess it''s ok. Take some time for you!


Today was one of those day . . . late to work, slipped on black ice getting out of my car and wound up on my butt, rushing to make copies and pump before school started. Ugh. I managed to get organized, so that''s good.

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Tao, I don''t think you''re wrong to be upset that your DH took E to his moms''. I don''t think that behavior is that unusual for men, though, ''cause it seems from my experience that (most) guys don''t get into babies the way (a lot of) women do. Babies aren''t much fun for guys so they get bored easily. It''s a shame because I think they miss out on a lot.

I''m sorry that things are rough financially. I *totally* understand about the video game thing. My ex was terrible with money; we''d have bills piling up and he''d go spend a boatload of money on some toy for him. So frustrating!

Mara, I had to laugh at your "new shades of redness" description! Do J''s eyebrows get all red, too? When my 9 year old cries (yes, yes, she does), her eyebrows turn all red while the rest of her face is regular color. It''s been like this since she was born and always cracks me up.

The fussiness WILL get better. And then it might get worse again when J''s teething. But it''ll get better again! This is a really tough time for fussiness because newborns are so disordered. Once they mature a little bit, they fuss much less.

We had the sleep sheep with Will (and it''s still around here somewhere!) and we liked it, but we didn''t have a white noise machine back then. I don''t think it really helped him, but we figured out that we sleep much better with white noise. The heartbeat sound really sounded weird to us so we never used that or the whale song; we stuck with the rain and the waves.
For soothing, I have the best luck with the sling when the boob isn''t working. I put Ben in it and start walking around...and soon he''s OUT. I can lay him down and back out of the sling so he stays in it and doesn''t wake up.

China, honestly, I *like* having small kids except for the comments! If I had a 1 year old that weighed 25 lbs., I''d never be able to carry him around for any length of time and I love carrying my kids. Plus, they don''t grow out of clothes that fast so we definitely get our money''s worth. I''m much more likely to buy more expensive stuff because I know it will get used, whereas if I expected a baby only to wear something for a month or two, I''d go cheap all the way.

Since I have several of these skinny kids that are older, I can see what happens down the line. My 16 year old daughter is almost 5''6" and weighs about 110...and she eats like a horse. It''s SCARY how much food she can put down! She just has a really good metabolism, and I''m greatful for it because she has a healthy relationship with food. The older boys are the same way. My 9 year old is the picky eater, but I guess overall she does ok. She''s tall and only weighs like 55 lbs. but this serves her very well -- when she was in cheerleading, she was a flyer, and now she''s in gymnastics and is the perfect build for it.

The Roberto Coin necklace is the floating heart in white gold. It''s a bit bigger than the tiny treasures which I love and I might not have picked this myself, but I love that SO did this all on his own! I bet your O is gorgeous -- I love love love RC stuff!

About co-sleeping: I''m probably one of the few on here that is totally into co-sleeping.

I admit -- part of it is selfish because I sleep so much better if I can cuddle up to my baby instead of fretting about him being in another room. I have some utterly irrational fears about SIDS so being able to wake up and check on Ben without actually having to get up works well for me.

 

[taovandel]

Thanks everyone---I think I was more upset about the whole money situation. I''m a planner and a cheapskate...lol....so to find out he was blowing money on a silly movie (when we just went the other day for Valentine''s Day) kinda pissed me off. We talked and things are good now....

I worked out for an hour last night! Be proud of me everyone--I NEVER work out...actually the last time I really worked out was for about two weeks before I found out I was pregnant and I got scared and stopped when I found out I was knocked up.

Mara: Evan hated to be swaddled early on. Then around 2 months he started liking it (and so did we!) We used the Halo Kiddopatomas or whatever it''s called. IT''s a sleep sack and swaddle with velcro. It''s at Babies R us. And it really helped with E''s sleeping.

As for sleep training--he kinda went into the three hour cycle all by himself and with that came sleeping later and later. He used to get up every three hours at night and I think around 8 weeks (maybe even with the intro of the swaddle) he dropped his 1 am feeding and started sleeping from 9ish to 4 a.m. and for the past month now probably about 90% of the time he sleeps from 8ish to 630 a.m. He has a few nights where we are like "What!!!'' when he gets up at like 2 a.m. but they are so rare. I think each baby just gets on their own cycle and it eventually will work out.

 

[anchor31]

tao - I can relate on the money and video games/movies issue with DH. Mine can do that too. He buys them and then wonders where the money is going...

I sacrifice a lot too since I''m on a reduced income with mat leave, and things aren''t so great for us either, I''m even looking to sell some jewellery I don''t wear for a little extra... so we had to have a long talk.

Solids before 6 months - I don''t know if we''ll do this, sometimes I think we might have too, Jacob is one hugry dude. I heard about a woman who refused to give solids to her constantly crying daughter until six months, and once she did, she stopped crying. The little girl was just too hungry!

Getting pregnant while BFing - Yeah, I was told this could happen! Not that anything that could potentially lead to conception is happening around here... I''m still pretty sensitive down there. I''m having a IUD put in on the 24th.

 

[Pandora II]

Geez, this thread just goes faster and faster so a few bits and bobs from moi I''m afraid...

RPS - Did you ever find a solution to "acrobatic nursing"? Daisy has been doing this for a couple of months now and it drives me crazy - plus how can she actually eat while standing up (and as you say holding one leg up in the air) or trying to walk round in a circle without letting go!

At the moment I just take her off the boob and tell her that if she''s not hungry enough to concentrate then she''s not hungry enough to eat - we have had a few meltdowns over this.

TDM - I think seeing other mothers probably does help. Here in the UK there are quite a lot. Big department stores like John Lewis have parent rooms with a room for breastfeeding and another room for bottle-feeding as well as changing areas which is great when you are starting out and still learning how to do it all discreetly.

I think Europeans are possibly more comfortable with nudity in general than the USA. Going topless on the beach etc is totally normal - not so much in the UK as it''s just too darn chilly!

One thing I will say is that I have noticed that there are ways of breastfeeding discretely and ways of not - even unintentionally. I''m happy to nurse DD anywhere and can even do it walking down the street or in a sling. However the clothes that I wear make it easy to latch her on without showing much at all - I mainly wear these kind of tops and I just fold my bra back on itself.

But I was out with a friend the other day and by the time she''d latched the baby on, she''d had to hoik up her whole jumper, unclip a load of bits on her bra etc and the whole world got a full display of everything and then some for a good few minutes.

ETA: have just noticed that my FATHER has become a fan of "If breastfeeding offends you, put a blanket over YOUR head!" on facebook which is a little odd... although it could be because he is a little bit ticked off at my brother''s wife - despite having no problems with breast-feeding at all and a lot of good reasons to do so (allergies etc) she''s given up after less than two weeks because it ''hurts a bit'' (her words). He watched me struggle at the beginning with Daisy and my sister struggle for 6 months to EBF a baby with a severe cleft palate, so he is unimpressed to say the least.

Co-sleeping - have to say that I do love it. Will be interested to see when she moves out...

D wasn''t feeling very well last night and woke up crying a few times (she NEVER does this normally, just turns over and roots around when she''s hungry) and finally settled at around 5.30am. DH was a star and turned the alarm off really fast and we woke up at 10am. Was so sweet, she sat up, rubbed her eyes, looked around and then collapsed back onto me for a cuddle (narrowly missing breaking my nose in the process!).

I''ve been thinking about things like ''bad habits'' etc and honestly I am becoming unconvinced. I started out doing Baby Whisperer and then just got fed up with trying to put a screaming baby down to soothe themselves to sleep when it was easier to feed her to sleep and no-one got stressed out. So, we had a phase where she just conked out on the breast. Then she would eat and then mess about till I hugged her very firmly and then she would go to sleep. Currently we are in a phase where if I put her to bed then she feeds to sleep, but if DH puts her to sleep he just sits with her till she drifts off - and she''s always asleep quicker with him than me...

So, it appears that habits change and evolve along with the kid rather than being anything that I have instilled.

Quick question - I''ve noticed that Daisy doesn''t do any self-soothing things ie no sucking hands/thumbs, no paci, no attachment to teddies or blankies or anything. Is this usual? I thought maybe she was too young but noticed a couple of friends have babies younger than D who have definite attachments - paci for one, thumb for other.

 

[Sha]

Date: 2/16/2010 9:54:21 AM
Author: fiery
Viz-Went through the same thing with the bf vs ff so I totally understand.

I''m officially jealous of anyone that cosleeps. Yesterday I was off from work. Sophia didn''t get enough to eat on Sunday (weird day) so she woke up at 5:30 to eat and then was up for the day at 7:30. I was exhausted so I put her in bed with me to read a book (i.e. me pointing to pictures and saying what it is, she doesn''t know the difference lol) and play with her toys. Once it was time for her nap, around 9am, I just put her on her belly and she instantly fell asleep. Two hours later I felt a little hand on my nose. I could fall asleep and wake up like that every day if possible!

Yeah, co-sleeping can be really cozy. I co-sleep with Dalila someitmes when she''s congested, or when the four big dogs

next door disturb her sleep. It''s nice...I love to watch her peaceful sleeping face...

, and the way she turns her little body towards mine as she sleeps. Breastfeeding while co-sleeping is also so efficient - I can feed her and sleep at the same time...when she''s done she also drifts back off to sleep.

I also love being the first thing she sees when she wakes up.

 

[ChinaCat]

Date: 2/16/2010 6:17:35 PM
Author: Pandora II

Geez, this thread just goes faster and faster so a few bits and bobs from moi I''m afraid...

RPS - Did you ever find a solution to ''acrobatic nursing''? Daisy has been doing this for a couple of months now and it drives me crazy - plus how can she actually eat while standing up (and as you say holding one leg up in the air) or trying to walk round in a circle without letting go!

At the moment I just take her off the boob and tell her that if she''s not hungry enough to concentrate then she''s not hungry enough to eat - we have had a few meltdowns over this.

TDM - I think seeing other mothers probably does help. Here in the UK there are quite a lot. Big department stores like John Lewis have parent rooms with a room for breastfeeding and another room for bottle-feeding as well as changing areas which is great when you are starting out and still learning how to do it all discreetly.

I think Europeans are possibly more comfortable with nudity in general than the USA. Going topless on the beach etc is totally normal - not so much in the UK as it''s just too darn chilly!

One thing I will say is that I have noticed that there are ways of breastfeeding discretely and ways of not - even unintentionally. I''m happy to nurse DD anywhere and can even do it walking down the street or in a sling. However the clothes that I wear make it easy to latch her on without showing much at all - I mainly wear these kind of tops and I just fold my bra back on itself.

But I was out with a friend the other day and by the time she''d latched the baby on, she''d had to hoik up her whole jumper, unclip a load of bits on her bra etc and the whole world got a full display of everything and then some for a good few minutes.

ETA: have just noticed that my FATHER has become a fan of ''If breastfeeding offends you, put a blanket over YOUR head!'' on facebook which is a little odd... although it could be because he is a little bit ticked off at my brother''s wife - despite having no problems with breast-feeding at all and a lot of good reasons to do so (allergies etc) she''s given up after less than two weeks because it ''hurts a bit'' (her words). He watched me struggle at the beginning with Daisy and my sister struggle for 6 months to EBF a baby with a severe cleft palate, so he is unimpressed to say the least.

Co-sleeping - have to say that I do love it. Will be interested to see when she moves out...

D wasn''t feeling very well last night and woke up crying a few times (she NEVER does this normally, just turns over and roots around when she''s hungry) and finally settled at around 5.30am. DH was a star and turned the alarm off really fast and we woke up at 10am. Was so sweet, she sat up, rubbed her eyes, looked around and then collapsed back onto me for a cuddle (narrowly missing breaking my nose in the process!).

I''ve been thinking about things like ''bad habits'' etc and honestly I am becoming unconvinced. I started out doing Baby Whisperer and then just got fed up with trying to put a screaming baby down to soothe themselves to sleep when it was easier to feed her to sleep and no-one got stressed out. So, we had a phase where she just conked out on the breast. Then she would eat and then mess about till I hugged her very firmly and then she would go to sleep. Currently we are in a phase where if I put her to bed then she feeds to sleep, but if DH puts her to sleep he just sits with her till she drifts off - and she''s always asleep quicker with him than me...

So, it appears that habits change and evolve along with the kid rather than being anything that I have instilled.

Quick question - I''ve noticed that Daisy doesn''t do any self-soothing things ie no sucking hands/thumbs, no paci, no attachment to teddies or blankies or anything. Is this usual? I thought maybe she was too young but noticed a couple of friends have babies younger than D who have definite attachments - paci for one, thumb for other.

Pandora- I am starting to agree with you here. I was very worried the whole time O was a newborn that we were going to create "bad" habits. Some of the "bad" habits I just don''t mind (rocking him to sleep in the middle of the night) and some just go away on their own. O changes his habits/patterns every month or so anyways. For awhile there I was worried we created a monster b/c we had to rock him to sleep every night, but that only lasted a month or so. Now I nurse him to sleep most nights, but Saturday night he had a babysitter who just put him in his pj''s, gave him a bottle, then put him down and he went right to sleep. Everything changes and changes often. And you know, worse case scenario, it might result in a bad few nights down the road when we have to wean him off something, but for me the peace of mind is so worth it.

Just an example of things I worried would become "bad habits":
1) Needing the swing to fall asleep
2) Needing to be swaddled to fall asleep
3) Letting him nap ON me
4) Rocking him to sleep
5) Nursing him to sleep.

So far none of these have really "stuck". For me sanity and a sleeping baby was worth the potential bad habit.

And O doesn''t really have anything he is attached to. He always stuffs his hands in his mouth while awake, but he doesn''t do it to self-soothe or fall asleep. No interest in pacis or stuffed animals to sleep. He has a few favorite toys to play with, but nothing he "needs" to fall asleep or anything. I find it interesting b/c I was a thumb sucker.

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 2/16/2010 6:02:29 PM
Author: anchor31
Getting pregnant while BFing - Yeah, I was told this could happen! Not that anything that could potentially lead to conception is happening around here... I''m still pretty sensitive down there. I''m having a IUD put in on the 24th.

I was just skimming,and this caught my attention. I got pregnant when I was still breastfeeding Meena. She was 9 months old. I got my period back for 3 months already by then. We planned the pregnancy and started TTC early since it took us a year of active trying to conceive M, but we got pregnant after two months of not preventing.