PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[kennedy]

Date: 4/9/2010 9:35:18 AM
Author: vizsla

when i first heard about donor milk/milk banks i was taken aback and thought the whole thing was a bit 'odd' - but then thought, 'wait, WE drink milk that comes from *another* animal for their babies.'

disclaimer: the whole concept of meat/animal by products grosses me out if i think about it too much, i'm hyper-sensitive to that stuff.

i was by no means trying to springboard a debate on animal rights or being a vegetarian etc - but it put the whole donor milk thing in perspective for me. didn't seem weird anymore - at least it's from a human to a human, KWIM?

___________


SO, for the past few nights i have been really studying what c does as he falls asleep. i want to understand his process and how i can help him go back to sleep in the middle of the night. anyhoo, i noticed that he really doesn't need to be rocked or shhhhhhed or bounced etc. to go to sleep (because when i put him down i just hold him - and surf FB on my phone

- i'm not moving - i'm not doing anything).


i decided that he just needs 'someone' there - for security. so, last night i tried a few different things - i tried putting him in his PNP after he had closed his eyes... of course, he immediately woke up the second i put him down

but thought if i continued to hold him he would eventually fall asleep - 30mins later, nope.


OK, back up viz.. you are moving too fast for the kid. baby steps. he ends up in our bed most nights, and seems to sleep better there - rearrange.


so i put him down in bed - i was next to him, but not holding him. he would roll over - grab my face, roll to the other side, roll back to me etc. and i just laid there. i know he's struggling to get used to being free at night - having his arms out is a new sensation. i had to totally resist the urge to pin his arms to his side - the boy needs to learn, right?


so we just laid there - c rolled around for about 10-15 mins and eventually i saw his eyes getting heavy (note: he NEVER cried or fussed or anything.. just kinda rolled from side to side)


after another 3 mins or so he rolled super close to my face - so close i could feel his little exhale on my face

and about 2 mins later was asleep

!! i almost cried.


only then did i realize i had gotten myself into quite the pickle. it was only 8, and c was asleep in the middle of the bed - so i txt'd DH from the bedroom and told him i wouldn't be back down

and i went to sleep too.


at 10:30 he woke up to eat - DH fed him AND.... are you ready for this?!?!?!?!? DH put him back down next to me (again, i wasn't holding him - just laying next to him) AND AND AND..... he didn't wake up until 4 O'CLOCK THIS MORNING!!!!

i couldn't believe the clock..


can i get a whoop whoop??


yeah, so he pretty much didn't go to sleep after that but let's count that up... that's FIVE HOURS!


FIVE!

FIVE!

FIVE!

ahhhhhhh, it's the small victories that make my day

I had a similar reaction to the idea of donor milk until I realized that, had I not been able to breastfeed, I'd much rather my daughter have milk intended for a human baby than for a bovine baby, especially given how heavily processed formula is to make it digestible. And milk banking is really no different than blood banking -- I wouldn't hesitate to give my daughter human blood if she needed it, so why should milk be any different? Unfortunately, there isn't enough human milk to go around to every baby who is currently formula fed, but at least it's available for those vulnerable babies for whom breastmilk is of critical importance.

Huge congrats on getting 5 hours of sleep!! Sounds like co-sleeping really agrees with C! Do mind if I ask why you were trapped in bed after he fell asleep? Is it because you were worried about leaving him alone on the bed? Or you thought he might wake up? Hope last night was even better!

 

[steph72276]

Viz, 5 hours that''s great

. Hopefully this is just the beginning and he will continue for you! Congrats!

 

[cdt1101]

Date: 4/9/2010 10:34:04 AM
Author: fiery
Yes, blotchy that''s the term I was looking for

. With the exception of the turning purple, most of the time her legs look blotchy when she''s carried.

Glad I could help w/ the term

Lex''s legs never look purple, but definitely darker and blotchy. But it''s not all the time...for some reason I never thought it was something to be concerened about, I''m going to bring it up to my pedi next visit now.

 

[vizsla]

ohhh c's legs do this too.. and it's super noticeable because he's, like, see-thru it's always when DH carries him facing out in a sitting position. and then i yell at him.. "you're cutting off his circulation!!!" as soon as he switches positions it gets better so i haven't been too worried about it.

thanks ladies

- although i'm quite perplexed what to do tonight. i'm not opposed to going to bed at 8

but i certainly don't want to make that a habit.. i still have a husband that i need to convince i love as much as c

...

i'd like to keep working on having c fall asleep 'on his own' - or, rather, w/out someone holding him.. but it's not like i can get into his PNP or crib with him.. what to do????

ETA: kennedy - yeah, i was worried about him being in bed and rolling off - is that crazy talk? from the co-sleeping things i've read they mention NOT leaving them bed w/out you in it... so i obliged last night..

and i agree totally about the milk banking. i did an internship at a dairy, so i have some deep seeded ideas about the bovine industry as a whole

- i'm kinda glad C has MSPI as i didn't really want to give him milk - now i have a 'medical' reason not to

ETA again: steph, what did the pedi say about e

dr.google... hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

 

[fieryred33143]

It''s probably nothing. Dr. Google tends to be an alarmist

.

 

[anchor31]

Woohoo, viz! Yay for longer sleeping!

Bilingual talk - DH and I are both primarily French-speaking. DH isn''t bilingual, but he''s learning. We really want our kids to learn both languages, but speaking English to J doesn''t quite come naturally. I try, though.My books are all packed up for now, but once we''ve moved I think what I''ll do is read to him from my English-written books.

Sleeping - We had a bit of a relapse last night, for some reason J worked himself up and it took over an hour to get him to sleep, at which point he was so overtired even the boob pissed him off. But it wasn''t as bad as some other nights we had. At 9:30ish he finally passed out, woke up at 5:30AM to eat, the 8-somethingAM for the day. What was nice is that he just babbled and sighed and kicked his legs for a bit, so I had time to make myself some toast before nursing him.

 

[steph72276]

Viz, still waiting on them to call me back...guess a cough isn''t high on the priority list

 

[vizsla]

i''m such a freak about any type of cough right now.. i immediately think cough = ear infection = FUSSTASTIC baby.

so, DH just called after the pedi apt. c does not have an ear infection anymore!!!!

guess that last round of antibiotics did the trick!

the doc also said that he''s right on the money when it comes to his weight and his daily oz (even tho he''s all over the place with eating). apparently at 5+ months they do not need to gain weight as rapidly as when they are little. so, if he only wants to eat 4 oz or 3 oz or whatever i can stop worrying that he isn''t getting enough - he will eat when he''s hungry. i do hate that about bottles tho.. i wish i wasn''t so fixated on oz.

as a super duper awesome friday bonus DH is bringing c to meet me for lunch!!! a mid-day c break... ahhhhhhhhhhh what a good day!

 

[Mara]

viz...yay for 5 hours!! that is awesome!! as for how to get him to fall asleep without you, take it in baby steps! you guys are doing the right thing that seems to work for him now, so maybe don't move too fast for C. do this for a little while, esp since as you said he is still trying to get used to his hands being free. i love experimenting with J to see what works, but yeah when sleep is involved, not really so much. i don't know if you have ever said but how does C go down for naps at daycare? do you know that? i guess i'm wondering if you can use the daycare people to help further what you are doing with him yanno.

steph...sorry E has a cold..boo!! but it sounds like at least he is sleeping well and not struggling too much. i hope he gets better soon. and E is so cute i love his kimono.

cdt...yay for Lex being better!! and sleeping better as well! sooo cute...love his shirt.

i'm going to see the bumbleride today so i hope i like it! this local place has the 2009's on sale for $419 so i might try to see if they will match online pricing for it so i can just buy it locally. but if not we'll see. they only have black too and i wanted orange.

i think J is growing as last nite he was so hard to put down and kind of crying in a low whine, diff than normal. and this morning he woke up screeching, just from dead silence to all out screaming. poor kid. and he's eating more than usual and G felt like his ribcage was bigger. who knows. but i'm sure it doesn't feel good.

here is our pic for today... i just love his po'd expression... mom i HATE tummy time! and also why are you taking a photo of me. you are sooo going into the nursing home!!! hehee.

i had more to say but i can't remember it and someone is waking up. happy friday all!

 

[so cal girl]

I am so far behind, I am not even going to attempt to catch up. Things have been crazy here. E turned 6 months last week, and he is doing great with everything except sleeping. The doctor told us NOT to feed him anymore at night, so we have been doing CIO for th past week. That has been super awful. He cries for up to 2 hours every time he wakes up at night, although it is only once a night. He was STTN at one point, but I think he is going through a growth spurt and teething, so he is not sleeping well. I changed his bottle from 6oz to 7oz, and he is slurping them down no problem. We also started giving him cereal last week, which he seems to like, but has issues with the spoon. He tries to suck on it like a bottle. And he also tried to jam his hand in his mouth at the same time as the spoon.

I love all the pics that people have posted so far. I''m going to post one of E from the park last weekend. He had a great time on the swing and going down the slide with DH. But the cutest one I have of him is just him sitting in the grass. I can''t resist that face!

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/9/2010 10:46:03 AM
Author: vizsla
ohhh c's legs do this too.. and it's super noticeable because he's, like, see-thru it's always when DH carries him facing out in a sitting position. and then i yell at him.. 'you're cutting off his circulation!!!' as soon as he switches positions it gets better so i haven't been too worried about it.

thanks ladies

- although i'm quite perplexed what to do tonight. i'm not opposed to going to bed at 8

but i certainly don't want to make that a habit.. i still have a husband that i need to convince i love as much as c

...

i'd like to keep working on having c fall asleep 'on his own' - or, rather, w/out someone holding him.. but it's not like i can get into his PNP or crib with him.. what to do????

ETA: kennedy - yeah, i was worried about him being in bed and rolling off - is that crazy talk? from the co-sleeping things i've read they mention NOT leaving them bed w/out you in it... so i obliged last night..

and i agree totally about the milk banking. i did an internship at a dairy, so i have some deep seeded ideas about the bovine industry as a whole

- i'm kinda glad C has MSPI as i didn't really want to give him milk - now i have a 'medical' reason not to

ETA again: steph, what did the pedi say about e

dr.google... hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

No, not crazy talk at all... we have exactly this issue.

On my side of our bed I have a bed-guard, then a pillow above where her head is and a pillow on DH's side - they're memory foam and too heavy for her to move them so no danger of them falling on her or anything. Our flat is pretty small and our bedroom is right next door to the sittingroom, so I have the baby monitor on and if I hear her wake-up I nip in asap and put her back down to sleep again. I also have rubber matting on the floor on my side just in case as we have wooden floors.

So far she's only fallen off the bed 3 times and all of them was when I was there... ooooppps. When I'm not in the room, she'll cry and then wait for me - I come in and find her sitting up looking towards the door, although a couple of times I have gone in and found her sitting there reading a book or one of DH's magazines that she's swiped off HIS bedside table. Which means that she's capable of waking up and doing things before crying.

With any luck she'll learn how to climb down on her own soon and I won't worry anymore! I thought about putting her in her crib to sleep and bringing her in with us when we went to bed, but she nearly always needs to be fed or be held down/hugged tightly to go to sleep and that wouldn't be possible with the crib - plus it's a very useful storage place right now...

Anyway, my advice is barriers and a baby alarm - or putting the mattress on the floor. I have this bed-guard which can be swung up and down.


So Cal - just wondering why did your doctor tell you not to feed him at night anymore?

 

[fieryred33143]

Mara-that''s a great pic lol! So cute!

Socal-Eli is adorable! Love those big eyes

Date: 4/9/2010 1:07:29 PM
Author: Pandora II

So far she''s only fallen off the bed 3 times and all of them was when I was there... ooooppps. When I''m not in the room, she''ll cry and then wait for me - I come in and find her sitting up looking towards the door, although a couple of times I have gone in and found her sitting there reading a book or one of DH''s magazines that she''s swiped off HIS bedside table. Which means that she''s capable of waking up and doing things before crying.

I /www.pricescope.com/idealbb/images/smilies/5.gif[/img]

 

[cdt1101]

Viz - yay for no ear infection!!

Mara - LOVE the pic of J...hehehe....so funny.

so cal - WOW..what blue eyes!!! He is such a cutie!

 

[so cal girl]

Pandora - Basically she said that he is not eating at night because he is hungry anymore, but just out of habit. And if we keep feeding him at night, we are just going to enforce that habit. She said if we wanted to continue waking up at night to feed him, then fine, keep feeding him. But if we want to break the habit now, don''t feed him at night anymore. She said he is old enough and big enough (17lb 4oz, 27.5 inches) that he does not NEED to eat at night. Based on the fact that when I go in and pick him up to soothe him he is fine and goes back to sleep, I tend to agree with her. But once you put him back down, he starts screaming again. I think he just likes the contact. But I can''t keep it up indefinitely. Getting up every night and then trying to function at work the next day is not working out so well for me!

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/9/2010 1:20:48 PM
Author: so cal girl
Pandora - Basically she said that he is not eating at night because he is hungry anymore, but just out of habit. And if we keep feeding him at night, we are just going to enforce that habit. She said if we wanted to continue waking up at night to feed him, then fine, keep feeding him. But if we want to break the habit now, don''t feed him at night anymore. She said he is old enough and big enough (17lb 4oz, 27.5 inches) that he does not NEED to eat at night. Based on the fact that when I go in and pick him up to soothe him he is fine and goes back to sleep, I tend to agree with her. But once you put him back down, he starts screaming again. I think he just likes the contact. But I can''t keep it up indefinitely. Getting up every night and then trying to function at work the next day is not working out so well for me!

Ah, that makes sense - just wondered if there was some weird reason or something.

He''s so cute in that photo and beautiful blue eyes!

 

[vizsla]

pandora- gotcha.. i thought about putting up a pillow barrier (we have some memory foam too) but then got all freaked out about him suffocating in the pillows

.
he doesn''t tend to move too much after he''s asleep, only when he''s going to sleep or up and flopping around. and i''d LIKE for this to be an entry into c sleeping on his own in his crib, but i think we probably have a few months of baby steps before that happens. so in the meantime i''m trying to think of how to make this work as i don''t want to put him down in the PNP and then move to our bed and then the crib... if this is the way we are going to teach him how to fall asleep on his own i''d like to at LEAST be consistent in where he is sleeping. we might have to move the mattress to the floor for a few months (although DH may have a coronary when i tell him he has to haul our super heavy bed to the basement and back up

oh, at daycare when he naps he''s either in a bouncy seat or swing.. and i think they are still swaddling one arm. gonna have to talk to them on monday about that.... thanks for the reminder.

have a great weekend everyone!

 

[fieryred33143]

Awe Charlie is adorable

.

I think we decided on taking Sophia to the aquarium tomorrow. There''s a stupid party I have to go to at night

.

When Sophia was waking up a bunch at night, I didn''t mind taking her out late or mind going out places because I figured it wouldn''t interrupt her crazy sleep pattern anyway. Now that she is sleeping, I hate going out at night. It''s my coworkers birthday and I''ve blown off 4 invitations to do stuff with my team so I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 4/9/2010 3:35:49 PM
Author: fiery
Awe Charlie is adorable

.

I think we decided on taking Sophia to the aquarium tomorrow. There''s a stupid party I have to go to at night

.

When Sophia was waking up a bunch at night, I didn''t mind taking her out late or mind going out places because I figured it wouldn''t interrupt her crazy sleep pattern anyway. Now that she is sleeping, I hate going out at night. It''s my coworkers birthday and I''ve blown off 4 invitations to do stuff with my team so I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

Do you have to take Sophia? I am sorry if I missed something... can''t she stay home and sleep and you go out to party?

 

[fieryred33143]

Date: 4/9/2010 5:12:44 PM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 4/9/2010 3:35:49 PM
Author: fiery
Awe Charlie is adorable

.

I think we decided on taking Sophia to the aquarium tomorrow. There''s a stupid party I have to go to at night

.

When Sophia was waking up a bunch at night, I didn''t mind taking her out late or mind going out places because I figured it wouldn''t interrupt her crazy sleep pattern anyway. Now that she is sleeping, I hate going out at night. It''s my coworkers birthday and I''ve blown off 4 invitations to do stuff with my team so I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

I can''t say no.

Do you have to take Sophia? I am sorry if I missed something... can''t she stay home and sleep and you go out to party?

Oh sorry! No Sophia won''t be going. She''ll be at MILs but we won''t be leaving her there all night. I don''t anticipate staying out late. I''m hoping to be home by midnight the latest. It''s not a big deal but when she''s at MILs she doesn''t sleep well. Her normal bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:30 (unless she decides to sing all night like she did yesterday

) but whenever we have taken her to MILs before her bedtime, they can''t put her down until close to 11pm, we pick her up an hour or two later, and the rest of the night she''s tossing/turning. Then the next day she''s grumpy. We could probably leave here there until the morning but if I''m in town, I want her to be home with me KWIM?

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 4/9/2010 5:16:41 PM
Author: fiery

Date: 4/9/2010 5:12:44 PM
Author: dreamer_d


Do you have to take Sophia? I am sorry if I missed something... can''t she stay home and sleep and you go out to party?

Oh sorry! No Sophia won''t be going. She''ll be at MILs but we won''t be leaving her there all night. I don''t anticipate staying out late. I''m hoping to be home by midnight the latest. It''s not a big deal but when she''s at MILs she doesn''t sleep well. Her normal bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:30 (unless she decides to sing all night like she did yesterday

) but whenever we have taken her to MILs before her bedtime, they can''t put her down until close to 11pm, we pick her up an hour or two later, and the rest of the night she''s tossing/turning. Then the next day she''s grumpy. We could probably leave here there until the morning but if I''m in town, I want her to be home with me KWIM?

What if you stay there until she goes down to sleep?

I would throttle my in laws if they let Hunter stay up until 11 on purpose

 

[fieryred33143]

I may have to do that.

And LOL.

I told MIL yesterday that when it''s bedtime I give a kiss, put her in the crib, and walk away. She almost started crying.

Apparently only "modern" mothers would leave their child alone in a crib.

If only she knew that she''s alone in the crib and sometimes she cries.

Or that sometimes I let her "fuss it out" so that I can finish eating a very delicious dinner

 

[mtjoya]

Happy friday ladies!

Hey FL steph!

Here is Ms. Jacky before her bath the other day! She looks so serious! I hope that the pic doesn''t come out huge! I am trying to learn to re-size, I am a newb!

 

[fieryred33143]

Awe Jacky''s so beautiful!!!!! I think this may be the first picture I''ve seen of her! Where are you guys from? She reminds me of Sophia

 

[mtjoya]

LOL thanks fiery! Yes, I posted a small pic of when she was born and that was it! LOL...I was trying to resize and didnt want it to come out huge lol! I think Sophia is beautiful too! We are 10 mins. from pasadena, ca!

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/9/2010 3:35:49 PM
Author: fiery
Awe Charlie is adorable

.

I think we decided on taking Sophia to the aquarium tomorrow. There's a stupid party I have to go to at night

.

When Sophia was waking up a bunch at night, I didn't mind taking her out late or mind going out places because I figured it wouldn't interrupt her crazy sleep pattern anyway. Now that she is sleeping, I hate going out at night. It's my coworkers birthday and I've blown off 4 invitations to do stuff with my team so I can't say no.

I can't say no.

I can't say no.

I can't say no.

Fun! We took Daisy a few weeks ago and it was a big success - I wasn't sure that she'd be into fish, but she really enjoyed it... hope you all enjoy yourselves!

Here's a pic for my BPF

 

[Pandora II]

>>>

 

[fieryred33143]

Pandora-You and Daisy look great! I''m excited about the aquarium. We''ve been trying to go for weeks!

Mtj-Are you guys Hispanic by chance? I ask because of her features.

 

[mtjoya]

Yes, we are both mexican. I am a little on the med. tan skin with brown eyes and my hubby is the opposite. He is fair skin with green eyes. Jacky has light eyes, some ppl say they look blue or green sometimes gray.

I need to take a good pic of us together lol...She looks more like daddy than me!

Her personality matches me though! LOL!

 

[gingerB]

happy BPF ladies!! lovin all the pics! busy day for us so a quick crive-by but i do have to pause and say:

5 hours viz!!!

you give me hope

here''s a pic of my chunky monkey during our daily morning conversation. after he wakes up and had his breakfast bottle he likes to regale us with his stories from the previous night

he looooooves having long converstaions and titally flirts and laughs and smiles the whole time. note the serious case of bedhead.

 

[mtjoya]

What a cutie gingerB!

I love the early morning babble! Of course all of these bebes are adorable!