PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[Mandarine]

Thanks

oh Mara, mine don''t like the rocking chair either...when they want to be rocked they want you standing up, dancing like a mad woman and shhh''ing or singing!. My back was killing me and that''s why I decided it was time to stop. I''m glad I stopped that early because I think the habit was definitely getting stronger and stronger. I waited longer to deswaddle and had a tough time...

Aren''t they little deceptive little guys? they look so happy!. Well, they are happy babies now...we''re over colds and over the shots (until the next ones!)...so my happier babies are actually back!!!

And speaking of swaddles... BOTH ALEX AND LUCAS sleep on SLEEP SACKS now!!!. I''m not sure what to do with the miracle blankets now.....hmmm...burn them? bury them? I feel like they deserve a special ceremony!

China You''re back!!!

Sounds like O is keeping you on your toes!!! hehe...I can''t imagine when these two start getting on everything too!!! I gotta buy them a cage big play yard!

 

[ChinaCat]

Mara- I was so worried about habits/breaking them too, but honestly I think (for the most part) at J's age you should just do what works to get him into a routine. If he needs rocking, rock him. I think around 3 months is a good time to start worrying about habits, but even then I am not too sure it's that big a deal. They CHANGE so much, including what they need. O pretty much grew out of most of the "habits" on his own. Swaddling, rocking, etc.

And I'm afraid for you.

J sounds like O on the trying to be "big" thing. From a very young age O would strain to sit up, he hated being laid flat, even in the carseat. He also always held his head "up" when on my shoulder even as an infant, and would stand and jump in my lap as soon as he could. He is definitely more physical faster than a lot of the kids his age. Which is funny cause he's much smaller than them so it looks wrong when he's crawling all over this much bigger kid that just sits there. He is a maniac now. The minute he learned to sit up, he tried to crawl. The minute he learned to crawl, he tried to pull up. He's EVERYWHERE and I really didn't get much of that perfect age where they could sit on their own and play with toys but not go anywhere. THAT is the best. He won't even sit in my lap anymore and he's only 7 months. The minute I put him on my lap he squirms and arches his back and tries to slither down or crawl over me.

Mandy- I hate to say it, but I'm even more afraid for YOU once the boys get mobile.

They are going to be so cute though!!!!! And I love the onesies.

ETA- Mara, yeah, I would wait till 3 months to go up to the next flow nipple. BUT just for future reference the other day I was trying to give him a bottle and he was not having it AND it sounded like he was choking so I thought I must have accidentally used the 3 nipple rather than the 2. Nope, it was the 1 and it was frustrating him. But it sounded like choking, so who knows.

 

[puffy]

fiery how cute is your new sophia AV!!! she''s just beautiful!!

noah is officially a rolling machine!!! i went to get him this morning in his room and he was on his belly. so i flipped him over and went to answer the phone, kid is back on his belly. and all day today when i put him down, he''s been rolling. kinda funny since B will get on the floor and roll with him. haha.

and if i put him on a hard surface, he is definitely sitting, but supporting himself with his arms in front of him. the sitting thing is funny since he''s such a chunky baby, you can see all his belly rolls much easier.

 

[KimberlyH]

DrK, it sounds like you''re getting the assistance you need. For what it''s worth, Jane weighed 5 lbs 8 oz at birth and left the hospital weighing 5 lbs 4 oz. She had three appts. with her OB for weight checks following her discharge from the hospital. At the first, four days post birth, she weighed 5 lbs 4 oz. At the second, one week later she weighed 5 lbs 7 oz. At the third, again a week later, she weighed 5 lbs 13 oz. She''s a few days past the one month mark now and weighs approximately 7 lbs. I never had to supplement, though it was a condsideration and her pedetrician was concerned, obviously as she was small to begin with. I went to a lactaction support group and was told/did the following:

> feed on demand or every 2-3 hours, whichever came first
> feed on both sides every time she eat, when she started to get sleepy and stop eating I''d pull her off I sat her up and did one/severa/all of the following: patted her back, took off all her clothes, changed her diaper, tickled her feet. Anything to stimulate her
> rub her head while she eats, harder than you think you should, it stimulates sucking
> once her eating habits seemed established I was given the go ahead to feed every 4 hours at night

I love the name you and your husband chose, just beautiful.

 

[Mara]

oh thanks CC about the nipple flow... that seems so puzzling right? we do have a #2 nipple i can try once we clean and sterilize it. last nite though he was totally freaking me out with all his sloppy eating techniques which resulted in a lot of gagging and choking sounds and a few of those ''eyes fly open'' freaky breath sucks...ugh!!! kid is going to give me a heart attack.

FWIW i am not too worried we are creating ''bad habits'' with J yet...just trying to get an idea of when is the right time to start weaning him off it and what age seems ''average''. he goes down enough by himself or without us that i feel like he''ll take to doing that more of the time soon. i would be way more worried if EVERY time he went down for a nap or sleep at night that we spent 15 min rocking him and he screamed when we put him down or something.

right now i just swaddled him, put the sheep on and patted him a few times then left him in his crib and he passed out a minute later. yay.

and yep CC i hear ya re: the active boys... i am expecting that J is the same way. and the whole putting him in your lap and he''s trying to crawl out, YEP. J has never been a ''cuddly'' baby...he''s too busy wiggling or being active..there are relatively few times that i can just sit here with him on my shoulder or in my lap with him totally limp and it''s usually right before bed or right after getting him up from a nap. the rest of the time if i put him on my shoulder he is squirming off or banging his head into my chin or banging his head on my shoulder. if i put him in my lap he squirms and fights to get ''free''...haha.

i am not a huge cuddly person in general, so i guess it''s fitting that i have some squirmy independent boy that doesn''t want a ton of cuddles but sometimes i am like awww just stay here for a second ok...hehee. so when he DOES want to cuddle up from nap or in the middle of the night, i figure i will take it while i can get it.

puffy...yay for N rolling over like mad!! and LOL re belly rolls. i want to see a pic!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 3/30/2010 12:28:39 PM
Author: drk
Thanks for the encouragement, and especially to DD for letting me know we''re not so far off the desired weight gain. I left a message for our BF clinic this morning, and they didn''t sem too concerned when they called back. 15-30g per day is what they want to see her gaining, and they said to only relly keep her at the breas when she''s actively eating - if its just comfort sucking, pop her off till she''s more alert and hungry-looking again. They also gave me an appointment tomorrow morning to have them watch a feed and o do pre and post feed weights to see how she''s doing at drinking. It will be nice to get that feedback, and hopefully reassurance.

Good to hear! Thgey don''t want them sucking when they are done feeding if weight gain is a concern because it wastes calories. She is doing great it sounds like and you have lots of supports.

Medela pumps are the most recommended.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 3/30/2010 4:32:18 PM
Author: ChinaCat
Mara- I was so worried about habits/breaking them too, but honestly I think (for the most part) at J''s age you should just do what works to get him into a routine. If he needs rocking, rock him. I think around 3 months is a good time to start worrying about habits, but even then I am not too sure it''s that big a deal. They CHANGE so much, including what they need. O pretty much grew out of most of the ''habits'' on his own. Swaddling, rocking, etc.

And I''m afraid for you.

J sounds like O on the trying to be ''big'' thing. From a very young age O would strain to sit up, he hated being laid flat, even in the carseat. He also always held his head ''up'' when on my shoulder even as an infant, and would stand and jump in my lap as soon as he could. He is definitely more physical faster than a lot of the kids his age. Which is funny cause he''s much smaller than them so it looks wrong when he''s crawling all over this much bigger kid that just sits there. He is a maniac now. The minute he learned to sit up, he tried to crawl. The minute he learned to crawl, he tried to pull up. He''s EVERYWHERE and I really didn''t get much of that perfect age where they could sit on their own and play with toys but not go anywhere. THAT is the best. He won''t even sit in my lap anymore and he''s only 7 months. The minute I put him on my lap he squirms and arches his back and tries to slither down or crawl over me.

Mandy- I hate to say it, but I''m even more afraid for YOU once the boys get mobile.

They are going to be so cute though!!!!! And I love the onesies.

ETA- Mara, yeah, I would wait till 3 months to go up to the next flow nipple. BUT just for future reference the other day I was trying to give him a bottle and he was not having it AND it sounded like he was choking so I thought I must have accidentally used the 3 nipple rather than the 2. Nope, it was the 1 and it was frustrating him. But it sounded like choking, so who knows.

LOL, I have one of those... and despite my total neglect of ''tummy time'' she was off before she even got to 6 months. I''m convinced that early mobility is not something to aspire to - I would like a nice quiet baby who sleeps 4 hours each day and then sits on the floor and plays quietly with toys, rather than one who I can''t even go to the bathroom without them tagging along!

She took her first step today - and then fell over and whacked her head on the floor poor thing. I''m sorely tempted to hide her VTech Walker - it''s driving me nuts... she drives it up and down the house, crashing into walls, doors, furniture, all at high speed. Thank goodness I haven''t had the place painted yet!

Saw one of my mental health team today and had a good talk about things. She thinks that madam is being so difficult and waking up so much with the nightmares because of her pre-molars coming in. She''s a bit worried about my mood and whether I''m getting enough support and regular breaks at the moment, especially as this time of year is a bad one for me in terms of getting very depressed.

As a result I had a talk with DH tonight about our parenting - I explained that he didn''t ''baby sit'' Daisy on Mondays and Tuesdays while I was at my course anymore than I ''babysit'' while he''s at work. I also explained that being constantly sleep-deprived over the last month is taking it''s toll on me and he needs to be a bit more understanding and not feel like it''s my job to do all the housework as well as look after Daisy. It wasn''t confrontational or anything like that, more just a discussion of how we both feel and what can be done to improve things.

Tomorrow I''m off to the seaside to visit my baby sister. She''s also bipolar and has been very ill recently so I''m hoping to cheer her up a bit, I wish she could find a med that works for her like mine do for me.

 

[steph72276]

Fiery, luv your little bunny! How cute is she?!?

Amber, sorry you guys are having a hard time. Hopefully she will start sleeping well again soon.

Viz, I think the ear infections could be a HUGE reason for the lack of sleep. Andrew only ever got a couple, but I remember him not being able to sleep b/c his ear would hurt when we put him down. I think if you can get the ear problem solved, you could get the sleep problem solved as well. Have they talked to you about putting tubes in his ear? I have no idea about them other than I have had friends that have had to get them for their babies due to lots of ear infections.

Mara, haha I know I thought it was pretty funny when I thought about how I do the same thing with Adam and Andrew on the choices thing. Makes them both feel like they are in control, but I really just get what I want out of it and they think it''s their idea

Mandi, yea for Lucas rolling! And the pics are too cute!

Hi, CC!

Puffy, yea for your rolling machine!

Hi, Kim! Good to see you here! How''s your little one?

Pandora, yea for D''s first step...sorry she bumped her head though! Good for you for having a conversation with your DH. Sleep deprivation really alters a person''s mood. I also hate it when people say the dad "babysat"...they are the parent just like we are so it''s called parenting. Have fun on your visit to your sister.

 

[Sha]

Date: 3/30/2010 8:47:24 PM
Author: Pandora II

Date: 3/30/2010 4:32:18 PM
Author: ChinaCat
Mara- I was so worried about habits/breaking them too, but honestly I think (for the most part) at J''s age you should just do what works to get him into a routine. If he needs rocking, rock him. I think around 3 months is a good time to start worrying about habits, but even then I am not too sure it''s that big a deal. They CHANGE so much, including what they need. O pretty much grew out of most of the ''habits'' on his own. Swaddling, rocking, etc.

And I''m afraid for you.

J sounds like O on the trying to be ''big'' thing. From a very young age O would strain to sit up, he hated being laid flat, even in the carseat. He also always held his head ''up'' when on my shoulder even as an infant, and would stand and jump in my lap as soon as he could. He is definitely more physical faster than a lot of the kids his age. Which is funny cause he''s much smaller than them so it looks wrong when he''s crawling all over this much bigger kid that just sits there. He is a maniac now. The minute he learned to sit up, he tried to crawl. The minute he learned to crawl, he tried to pull up. He''s EVERYWHERE and I really didn''t get much of that perfect age where they could sit on their own and play with toys but not go anywhere. THAT is the best. He won''t even sit in my lap anymore and he''s only 7 months. The minute I put him on my lap he squirms and arches his back and tries to slither down or crawl over me.

Mandy- I hate to say it, but I''m even more afraid for YOU once the boys get mobile.

They are going to be so cute though!!!!! And I love the onesies.

ETA- Mara, yeah, I would wait till 3 months to go up to the next flow nipple. BUT just for future reference the other day I was trying to give him a bottle and he was not having it AND it sounded like he was choking so I thought I must have accidentally used the 3 nipple rather than the 2. Nope, it was the 1 and it was frustrating him. But it sounded like choking, so who knows.

LOL, I have one of those... and despite my total neglect of ''tummy time'' she was off before she even got to 6 months. I''m convinced that early mobility is not something to aspire to - I would like a nice quiet baby who sleeps 4 hours each day and then sits on the floor and plays quietly with toys, rather than one who I can''t even go to the bathroom without them tagging along!

She took her first step today - and then fell over and whacked her head on the floor poor thing. I''m sorely tempted to hide her VTech Walker - it''s driving me nuts... she drives it up and down the house, crashing into walls, doors, furniture, all at high speed. Thank goodness I haven''t had the place painted yet!

Saw one of my mental health team today and had a good talk about things. She thinks that madam is being so difficult and waking up so much with the nightmares because of her pre-molars coming in. She''s a bit worried about my mood and whether I''m getting enough support and regular breaks at the moment, especially as this time of year is a bad one for me in terms of getting very depressed.

As a result I had a talk with DH tonight about our parenting - I explained that he didn''t ''baby sit'' Daisy on Mondays and Tuesdays while I was at my course anymore than I ''babysit'' while he''s at work. I also explained that being constantly sleep-deprived over the last month is taking it''s toll on me and he needs to be a bit more understanding and not feel like it''s my job to do all the housework as well as look after Daisy. It wasn''t confrontational or anything like that, more just a discussion of how we both feel and what can be done to improve things.

Tomorrow I''m off to the seaside to visit my baby sister. She''s also bipolar and has been very ill recently so I''m hoping to cheer her up a bit, I wish she could find a med that works for her like mine do for me.

Pandora, this is off-topic, but may I ask what meds work for you? I have a relative who is bipolar but doesn''t want to take any meds. He was prescribed Seroquel in the past but stopped abruptly and had a bad reaction - hence his not wanting to take any more.

 

[steph72276]

Quick fly-by. Andrew was up sick last night. He has had a cough, but last night it got really bad and was in his chest and he had trouble breathing. I thought I was going to have to take him to the ER and Adam was out of town (coming home today thankfully) so I would have had to drag the baby to the ER...no fun! Luckily, when I gave him some med. he started feeling better and could breath better. I took him to the doc and it is just a viral thing luckily. I put him in our bed so I could keep a watch on his breathing, so I''ve literally been up since 1:30 am b/c I was so worried about him. The baby got up at his normal 3am time for a quick feeding, then right back to sleep thankfully. Whew, this motherhood thing is difficult! I don''t know how the single moms out there do it, I have so much respect for them even when I had to do it 1 night! Hope everyone has a good day!

 

[AmberWaves]

Is it possible for a 4 month old to have nightmares? Last night I put Piper down as per usual, she was fine. Totally silent. An hour later she wakes up crying, total weird sobbing crying. Usually she wakes up and makes complaining sounds, not actual cries- I don''t think I have ever heard her cry like that. When I picked her up she was inconsolable for ten minutes or so. She''d start to put her head down on my shoulder then pick it back up and start crying again! I finally had to bring her into the nursery to rock in the dark and it put her back to sleep with no more incidents like that, but whew, Scared me!

 

[Mandarine]

Date: 3/31/2010 11:05:45 AM
Author: AmberWaves
Is it possible for a 4 month old to have nightmares? Last night I put Piper down as per usual, she was fine. Totally silent. An hour later she wakes up crying, total weird sobbing crying. Usually she wakes up and makes complaining sounds, not actual cries- I don''t think I have ever heard her cry like that. When I picked her up she was inconsolable for ten minutes or so. She''d start to put her head down on my shoulder then pick it back up and start crying again! I finally had to bring her into the nursery to rock in the dark and it put her back to sleep with no more incidents like that, but whew, Scared me!

Mine do this all the time. I always think it''s bad dreams...but I guess more likely is a colic pain or something that bothered them while they were sleeping. Who knows though.

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Sorry for the drive-by...argh, all of a sudden I''ve gotten really busy. Trying to juggle work, baby and possibly buying a house is making me nuts! But now I have software problems and have to wait for someone to fix them.

DRK, I know how weight gain can be a huge concern, but IMHO slow gaining is in the realm of normal. Some EBF babies simply don''t gain quickly, so you have to look at the overall picture. Ben is gaining 3 oz a week. I finally bought a scale a couple of weeks ago and I weigh him on Fridays. At 5 weeks, he''d finally regained his birth weight. At 8 weeks, he''s about 7 lb. 12 oz. If he showed any signs of having a problem, I''d be all over it, but he''s peeing a ton and looks and acts healthy. Now, in the past 2 weeks, he''s taken to not pooping every day, which is fine for EBF babies, and then OMG he has a GIANT nasty poop. I''m thinking I would rather he poop every day.


It looks like we''re getting close to when Ben needs to go to day care. He''s awake much more of the day, and while he''s content to spend some time lying next to me, talking to me (and the ceiling fan), he also needs me more than he did as a new baby.

Now here''s the rub...I''m not sure what to do about day care. If Ben goes to the same place as Will, we''ll be spending $1600 a month on day care. This wouldn''t be terrible if we weren''t having issues with some of the kids in Will''s class. Over the past couple of months, Will has been displaying behavior that we really can''t stand and it seems like the teacher is overwhelmed so she can''t stop the roughhousing that''s going on. Will''s been coming home with various scratches and bruises and while I know that he''s getting some of them because he won''t slow down, I also know that some are from other kids.

I''ve considered an in home day care, but I''m not sure that I can trust someone to meet Ben''s needs while also dealing with toddlers. I don''t know what we''ll do.

 

[gingerB]

need some thoughts/opinions here. For the past few days, A''s sleeping pattern has been changing again, and not in a good way.

So for some back grond info, he is 6 weeks old and here''s his approx daily schedule recently. He''s on a EASYish schedule (give or take 30-60 minutes either way for the times):

7 AM - wake up, bottle, activity/awake
8:30 A - nap
10 A - wake up, bottle, activity/awake
11:30 A - nap
1 PM - wake up, bottle, activity/awake
2:30 P - nap
4 PM - wake up, bottle, activity/awake
5 PM - nap
6:30 P - wake up, bottle, activiyt awake,
7 p - bedtime routine (bath on bath days, PJs, one parent rocks while other parent reads out loud)
10 p - wakes for bottle, rock to sleep
1/2 A - wakes for bottle, rock to sleep

now here, before he would go to:
5 A for a bottle band back down
7-8 A for bottle/wake up for the day rinse and repeat

NOW he does
4 A - wakes up super fussy, soothing doesn''t work, gets a bottle, falls asleep getting bottle and sleeps super fidgety, constantly waking himself up
6 A - wakes up super fussy, soothing doesn''t work, gets a bottle, falls asleep getting bottle and sleeps super fidgety, constantly waking himself up
7:30 - wakes up super fussy, soothing doesn''t work

So pretty much between 3 AMish or so one of us is up with him pretty much the whole time because he sleeps so fitfully and keeps waking up crying. We''re tired.

the first day we thought it was a growth spurt and he just needed more bottles, but then during the day he was doing four hour blocks between bottles so that theory went kaput

each bottle he was getting 3 oz. i think the early

morning fussiness/fidgety sleep may be due to reflux as we can hear it coming up and him swallowing and grimacing. So today i plan to experiment by trying to shift to more milk during the day --
3.5 oz at 10A, 1P, 4P, 7P then
2.5 oz at 10 P, 2A, 5A, 7A

hoping to decrease the reflux by decreasing the night time intake. Any thoughts? Is my logic flawed somehow? any other ideas? please?

his pedi appt is in 2 weeks, should i call for an earlier appt? if it is his reflux, it''s now really astarting to affect his night sleep. naps not so bad because we''re usually holding him (that''s another can of worms to attack at a later date -- soon). so ne''s exhausted duirn the day due to decreased night sleep and take super long naps (going 2-3 hours) and his activity awake tolerance is lower. i''m worried his day/night sleep are going to flip on us if this keeps up.

sorry to be me-centric

 

[sunkist]

Date: 3/31/2010 12:20:50 PM
Author: Mandarine

Date: 3/31/2010 11:05:45 AM

Author: AmberWaves

Is it possible for a 4 month old to have nightmares? Last night I put Piper down as per usual, she was fine. Totally silent. An hour later she wakes up crying, total weird sobbing crying. Usually she wakes up and makes complaining sounds, not actual cries- I don''t think I have ever heard her cry like that. When I picked her up she was inconsolable for ten minutes or so. She''d start to put her head down on my shoulder then pick it back up and start crying again! I finally had to bring her into the nursery to rock in the dark and it put her back to sleep with no more incidents like that, but whew, Scared me!

Mine do this all the time. I always think it''s bad dreams...but I guess more likely is a colic pain or something that bothered them while they were sleeping. Who knows though.

I wonder that too, but also think, what could they be having nightmares about??? - Uh oh the milk is gone!! Noooooooooo!

 

[steph72276]

Ginger, we kind of did the opposite....we increased his last bottle for the night and it seemed to work for us. Ever since we did that, he goes 6-7 hour stretches. I just make sure to stop every few minutes for burp breaks. E was doing the same to us, waking all night then making up for it by sleeping all day and this seemed to do the trick for us. We are following the easy method too.

 

[ChinaCat]

Ginger- Hmm, not sure since I don''t have experience with reflux issues. BUT- does he take the whole bottle when he wakes up fussy? Sounds like he doesn''t. I do think you may want to try to increase the amount he eats during the day, and then do a big top off at 10 pm. Maybe adjust the other bottles in the middle of the night to be less. I don''t really remember 6 weeks, but I DO remember that everything got a ton better for me at 8 weeks. It could still be a growth spurt- O seemed to do his in 2-3-4 days. Just when I would think it was his new routine, he''d stop waking up again. BUT if you think it''s reflux, then maybe call the doctor and just see what they say. Can''t hurt.

Hi ladies. I am having a day.

And I''m so busy I can''t even take the time to vent/complain/bitch about it here! Suffice it to say that last night sucked, work sucks today, and tonight will probably suck again. There, I properly complained. Hope to be back later, but if not, hope somebody is having a better day than me. And I really hope that somebody is VIZ for a change!

Also- I will NOT be discussing O''s sleeping habits in specifics ever again!!!! EVERY time I do, he makes me pay for it that night.

No more. I will say what works/doesn''t work for us, but I will never again say he sleeps through the night. Somebody slap me if I do!

 

[fieryred33143]

Ginger-I hate to just dismiss things and blame it on a growth spurt but what A is going through sounds so similar to Sophia''s 6 week growth spurt that it leads me to believe that is what''s going on.

I found the page link to where I sort of talked about what was going on. Basically, she was sleeping all day and up all.night.long. At one point she had stayed awake from 10pm until 6am.

Starts here where she was just eating a lot more than usual.

And then here where she had a similar schedule:

"11:15PM nurse and scream
12:30am she falls asleep after spending all that time crying
1:15am wake to feed and cry again. I pumped but only able to pump less than 2oz. She eventually falls asleep at 3:38 but wakes again at 4:05.
We do the same thing again until 5:30 but she wakes again at 6am"

And towards the bottom I write about her being awake for the 7 hours straight. We went through it for about 5 days.

What I would do is make sure to feed him every 2 to 3 hours during the day even if he is asleep. The growth spurts make them really hungry so they want to eat all the time. Some babies give mama''s a break by sleeping through the whole thing and others, like Sophia, want to be PITB

So again, don''t want to dismiss it based on just being a growth spurt but I really think that''s it. I don''t have experience with reflux so I can''t comment on that aspect but I would think if it were due to his reflux, he would be spitting up.

 

[phoenixgirl]

Seems like a blah week for a lot of us on here. Is it at least sunny and spring-like where you are? It is here!

Pan, have a nice time at the beach with your sister. I''m glad you can be there for her and sounds like you''re making sure to let others be there for you too. And yay on Daisy''s first step!

Steph, so sorry Andrew was sick! And I always think the same thing about single moms.

Amber, sorry about Piper''s bad dream. That must have been scary.

RPS, I hope everything works out with daycare the way you want it to.

Ginger, I think 6 weeks is a growth/change time . . . hope the night time gets better soon.

China, boo, sorry about the bad day! Sending you "get better stupid day!" vibes!

Drk, congrats! And yeah, you''re really close to birth weight. Claire didn''t regain hers until 3 weeks. I found the whole pumping/supplementing thing very stressful (and was told to give formula, which in retrospect I''m not sure was necessary), but the important thing is she''s happy and healthy and even getting chubby now at 5 months! Plus we are still EBFing (except for that little bit of formula in the early weeks).

Things are good here except Claire has been weird with her sleeping so I am a bit crazed from sleep deprivation (last night she woke up shrieking at 10:45 p.m. so I fed her, but I think it was a night terror or teething pain, not hunger that woke her up. Then she woke up again at 5, so my night was cut short on both ends.). But spring break is two days away . . . I think I can make it until then.

 

[Mara]

ginger..while i am stuffing food in my face and J is taking a cat nap ... here''s what i think.

if its reflux, are you guys doing the elevated sleeping, elevated eating, lots of burps etc kind of thing already? if not i would totally suggest it..it helped a lot for J. and when he has bad reflux we feed him almost sitting totally up and it seems to help (harder on the boob that way but it''s doable too...this is mostly with bottles).

if its growth spurt, J does his in 2-4 days too..just depends. AND i felt like he wasn''t doing it at 6 weeks but more like 7 weeks, so the whole 6/9/12 growth spurt thing--i think it just depends on your kid and his growth patterns. but they are supposed to go GS at week 6.

that said..has it just been a few days? i would totally let it go for now and just go with it. if it turns into 4 or 5 or 7 days then worry about it. i know it''s easy for me to say when it''s not happening to ME (yet) and you want to be sure you aren''t creating a ''bad habit'' but def give it a few days before worrying.

sometimes J''s night sleep drops back a few hours for 2 nights and i kind of mentally freak out but then usually it starts re-regulating again after 2-3 nights.

also Js'' reflux seems to get better then worse depending... A''s might be doing the same thing. also do you guys have other soothing techniques besides you guys holding him? white noise? or a swing? i would totally recommend to ''switch it up'' as often as you can... as someone once said here and it stuck with me--don''t start a ''habit'' you don''t want to have to break later...aka bedtime routine is a good habit but rocking to sleep could turn into PITA habit. so even if J is super fussy a few days, i don''t just do one thing consistently, i am trying to always switch it up so that he doesn''t get too used to ''falling asleep in moms arms'' or ''swing rocking me to sleep''...but rather do something diff every time so that i don''t have to break a habit a week later. anyway, just a tip.

____________

i am super happy... i just put J in the bjorn and went out to BRU for the first time by myself and his first bjorn outing. he was fussy in the car so i thought uh oh he will fuss in BRU (but what better place to fuss??) but once in the bjorn and the paci in his mouth he was mesmerized by being outside and in a new place. then i iphoned til i found a drive through taco bell (HAHA my guilty pleasure) and then we came home and now someone is napping in his car seat.

and so far i love the bjorn and J seems to like it too, he fell asleep while i was checking out the FP Precious Planet stuff. i still don''t know if i should get anything...the options are so overwhelming. does anyone have the soothing seahorse?

and like you CC i don''t want to talk about J''s sleeping habits anymore because i''m too afraid to jinx ourselves, BUT he continues to head towards a hopeful-eventual-12 hour stretch. knock on lots of wood. i know we''ll have regressions and growth spurts or teething or whatever. and crib transition for the morning wake has been going well as well. knock on wood.

so our weird news of the day is that J hasn''t poo''d in over 36 hours. he typically does 2 per day and they are big and explosive and usually towards the end of the day. but none at all yesterday. and none so far today. but he is farting so i know there''s no blockage. i am wondering if this is evidence he isnt getting ''enough'' food to create poo, his pees are totally fine and just as plentify, but so weird no poo. or maybe it''s because i am bf''ing him a little bit more ... i dunno. he is acting fine though sometimes he gets fussy then farts...so i dont know if he''s constipated but he''s surely not screaming and throwing fits. sooo i am not worrying just yet since i read that BF babies can have instances of no poo (except about 25% of his food is formula..sooo). plus we have pedi appt tomorrow so we''ll see. i am hoping we have a massive poo today.

 

[Mara]

oh and re: reflux..fiery there is also the silent reflux which is where they just swallow and sound ''wet'' and kind of chew their mouth a bit but don''t spit up... what happens a lot of the time is they spit up but it never makes it out. J does that sometimes.

random Q for any moms who might know. J is taking the paci more even though we try not to just stick it in and we don''t give it to him when he sleeps since i don''t want to deal with breaking THAT habit later (or worrying about when it falls out), BUT if they do fall asleep with it in their mouth aka like right now he has it in the carseat...and they sleep for 20-30 min then is it really SLEEP ? aka if he''s still sucking on it? it seems like that''s not really sleep right? or lite sleep?

 

[ChinaCat]

Mara- "i am hoping we have a massive poo today". THIS made me laugh!!!!! The things we say that we NEVER thought we''d say!

 

[Mara]

Date: 3/31/2010 6:21:29 PM
Author: ChinaCat
Mara- ''i am hoping we have a massive poo today''. THIS made me laugh!!!!! The things we say that we NEVER thought we''d say!

LOL I know right?? Kind of like last evening when G fed J and he barfed up on his shirt...he goes honey we need a new shirt for him! I was like nahh its ok he''s getting bathed in an hour. Why waste a whole new shirt?!?! It''s just a little barf. hahaha. He was like GROSS!!!

Well right after I wrote this I went to feed him and thought mmm I smell something! Sure enough we had some poo. Not what I am waiting for because there''s gotta be more in there but it''s good enough for me (for now)..!!

 

[drk]

Me update (since I''m too overwhelmed/freaked to comment on much else and really don''t have anything useful to add at this stage anyhow!):

Went to the lactation consultant. In 2 days, she''d only gained 14g. Though she did feed just before the weight on Monday and was starved in preparation for the appointment today. They did a pre and post feed weight check, and by going back and forth twice on each side, she only got 30mL in (1 fl oz). They said they want to see her getting 60mL every 3h. Told me to get some fenugreek and blessed thistle to supplement with, and to get a pump on the way home and start pumping 15min after every feed to help build up my supply. Then she gets that via finger feeding with the next round of feeding/pumping.

She''s supposedly got a "weak" suck for a 2 week old, and may possibly have an issue with a mildish tongue tie. I''m going to ask about that when I''m in seeing the nurse for a weight check tomorrow. Despite all the issues and her being totally lazy at the breast (I''m lucky to get a decent 5min period on each side where she''s actively sucking and swallowing), she''s still peeing and pooing lots, has lots of tears when she cries if she''s really upset, and is pretty alert.

I''m supposed to go back on Sunday to see the lactation consultants for another check to see how things are going. Hopefully the pumping and supplementing will be helping lots by then. If not, it sounds like they''re going to end up asking me to add in some formula supplementation, which I really don''t want to do if I can avoid it.

Boy, do I feel like a cow with my Freestyle pump hooked up and buzzing away. At least it''s a little reassuring to know at least part of what she''s getting. I just hope I start being able to pump more than a measly 8-19mL (usually less than 1/2 an oz) each time!

Thanks for all the words of support. I''m glad to know I''m not the only one who has dealt with this!

 

[mtjoya]

Yay! I am starting to freeze my milk for when I go back to work. Today, I pumped in 15 mins. almosttt.... 5 oz! I feel so proud of myself. So far, I have 4 baggies! LOL. I may sound silly but I am so proud of myself!

 

[taovandel]

Drive by posting...

Worst week ever at work....good week with baby...hehe.

 

[vizsla]

hi ladies - quick post before i head into this poo storm today at work. must be something about the end of the quarter, right? sounds like everyone is having a rough week.

#1 mandy -

did you say sleep sack??

YIP YIP YIPPPEEEEEE!!!!!
congrats mamma! i know that was a tough one for you... good thing those boys are so freaking adorables!!!

agreed steph! now that i look back over the course of the past 2.5 months i DO think that a LOT of our sleep issues can be attributed to c''s recurring ear infections (or the same one??). the more i read up on ear infections the more i think that he has had one that never really went away. i''m going to follow up with the dr after this course of antibiotics and see if it is *really* gone or if we need to look into tubes or something. i''d like to see an ENT if, in fact, he doesn''t shake this latest infection.

this whole ear infection/constant sickness has really affirmed my stance on my ''night time parenting''. the first 3 rounds of ear infections, i just assumed after the antibiotic was finished, c was ''better''. had i tried CIO, i shutter to think that i would have left my babe cry alone in pain because i couldn''t take another night of waking up every 45 mins. i''m not saying it is any better, although i am getting 1.5 hr stretches of sleep buuuuttttt i guess i just wanted to reiterate that as parents we should have confidence in our instincts.

oh, last friday as i was putting c to sleep he felt cold and clammy - word to the wise.. do NOT look up cold and clammy on your phone as you are holding your baby

the things that came up were: SIDS, heart disease and that your baby is in shock

- when *now* i realize that he must have had a low grade fever that broke from his ear infection. gah, the internet is so not my friend sometimes. guess who got NO sleep on friday?

and pish posh jinxing anything

babies are just so weird and unpredictable.. i think the day you think you can figure out your baby is the day they will throw you for a loop - regardless if you tell people what worked or are proud of them sleeping 12 hours... heck, you should be... that''s awesome! sometimes i do wonder what it would be like to have a healthy baby

i went from 3.5 months of ''colic'' to 2 month of ear infections and colds... GAH... i''m ov-ah that.

i wanted to post this little ditty from erma bombeck ... i know it''s seems a little sappy (and it''s SO not me to post sap) but with all of this talk about ''habits'' and what we ''should'' be doing chatter i think it''s important to put this time in our babies life into perspective. because they will only be "babies" for such tiny speck of their life. i do think it''s important to give them the tools to succeed later on, but maybe - just maybe - some of these ''bad'' habits aren''t so bad after all, and are actually super important to their development just playing the

advocate....

******************
If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the ''good'' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren''t there for the day.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn''t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I''d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside m.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more "I love you''s".. More "I''m sorrys" ...
But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.
**************

personally, i don''t ever want to miss an opportunity to have my little cuddle every morning before work) - all because i ''should'' put him down to sleep

 

[fieryred33143]

Charlie looks like he''s exactly where he wants to be

Sophia is 9 months today

. We had a conversation this morning on our way to MIL''s house. I don''t know what she was telling me but it sounded really interesting. I think she may have been complaining about me since she would say mama in a high pitched voice lol!

Sophia and I are supposed to be on our way to Orlando right now but instead I''m at work waiting for a meeting

. My boss scheduled a meeting while he was on vacation because he figured he wouldn''t have to go and his boss asked that I be there

. So now instead of getting there at noon, I''ll be leaving work at noon, probably be on the road at 2, and get there around 6

 

[vizsla]

9 months.. say whhhhhaaaaaaa???????
tee hee your new pic is, like, beYOND precious.

and p.s. i hate corporate crap like that

DIS-like for you!

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Aw, Viz, CUTE pic!! I agree 100% with what you posted -- life can pass you by while you''re doing all the "shoulds."

China, I hope that things are getting better for you! I''m sorry things were sucking.

Fiery, that pic of Sophia with the bunny ears is totally adorable! Love it! BTW, your FB pics with the 3 of you are lovely -- you all look so incredibly happy.

DRK, hang in there. It sounds like you''re moving in the right direction and getting help, which is great! I laughed at your saying you feel like a cow -- when I pull out the pump, I sometimes announce "Milking time!" You have to keep your sense of humor.

MTJ,

on pumping so much!! Good for you!

Tao, sorry you''re having a bad work week. At least you get to go home to E every night, right?

Mara, re: poops, Ben is one of those babies that doesn''t poop every day, but then has a massive explosion. I''d much rather he pooped every day because cleaning up the explosions isn''t fun. Plus, OMG, he has the most horrid stinky gas. Last night I thought he was going to kill me! He truly is more noxious than my 14 year old son.

The day care issue *might* be resolved! I found a posting on craigslist for a local babysitter that could take both boys. I''ve been emailing back and forth with her and she sounds great. She has 17 years of experience doing day care, and currently has 1 little 3 year old girl. If she took the boys, that would be all of the kids she''s watching, so the boys would definitely get the attention they need. We''re meeting this weekend, so my fingers are crossed. Her rates are very, very reasonable, so we''d be increasing day care costs only by $100 a month instead of $800 -- not that it''s all about money, but I''m trying really hard to cut our budget where I can. Fingers crossed!