PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[sunkist]

Hi Ladies!

Sorry I''m such a lurker these days

I feel like I don''t have enough time to post or even read every single post, but I do skim as best I can and try to keep up with how everyone is doing

Ginger - wow, I''m so glad that the good news is no cancer, take care!
Mandy - haha! I love the picture you painted of your Drool Monster! I can''t imagine sleeping in a pool of drool like a baby can. But then again, I can''t imagine wearing a diaper either... ewww.

JCrow - congratulations on little Emily!! I saw her pic over in the Pregnant Thread. Adorable!

Anchor - oooo, congrats on moving into your new house!!! That is SO exciting

I''m sorry to everyone I''m missing, but I love reading how everyone is doing.



A quick update on Wesley and me, I am so thrilled, he just basically put himself to sleep for the second time today!! Both naps so far, I put him down while he was whining and within 5-10 mins he stopped whining and fell asleep!! As soon as he did I went back in there and swaddled his arms down or else they wake him up immediately, but I''m SOOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of him!

I hope he keeps it up.

He''s also learning to sit up. Still wobbly, but it''s fun seeing him learn to balance. He''s getting so big.

I''m starting to research about feeding him solids. I''m reading on that baby food website that you recommended Mandy! I just hope I can do a good job at this. BF is so easy for me!

No need to worry if he''s getting a balanced meal

Amber, have you started feeding Piper solids yet??

 

[phoenixgirl]

OK, so to whoever asked about solids . . . we have started, well, DH has. He''s really taken charge, and whenever he wants to feed her is when she''s probably hungry for BM too, so I usually stay away so she doesn''t get confused. So she''s had maybe 3 successful meals of oatmeal + BM + pears, but I''ve only fed her once. Our Graco Blossom 4-in-1 seating system arrived in the mail today, yay! I hope we like it; right now we''re just putting her in the Bumbo on top of the dining room table. The one area with the feeding where I do feel necessary is with the cleaning of Claire''s face . . . DH just doesn''t seem to notice the oatmeal caked to her cheek.

I love how Claire can roll herself all over the place. You put her sitting up with a toy in the Boppy, and then she''s half on her back/half on the Boppy, and then she''s all on the floor, and then she''s perpendicular to where she just was. She actually moved about 3 feet in this manner. I finally picked her up when she was trying to bang her head on the hardwood floor and wedge herself under the couch. Now she''s living it up in the Jumperoo.

 

[fieryred33143]

Can''t catch up right now but forgot ut forgot to tell socal that the link didn''t work for me

Also, we officially have a crawler

She went all the way across the living room floor after my keys and has now made various trips back and forth for different toys. She''s still content with sitting and playing with a toy but she totally gets how to move her arms and legs now

 

[sunkist]

Pheonix - wow, Claire is starting to get mobile! cool What kind of jumperoo did you guys get? The doorway kind or the stand alone kind? I wish we had a doorway that would work, those kinds take up so much less space!

 

[Mara]

thanks for the well wishes on the trip ladies... i am so excited to get away for a few days and trying to ignore the fact that i will miss J horribly. i spend all day with him. but i don't think he will miss me that much...and he knows my mom and sis so well that i think it will be ok. the times he might really notice i am gone is at night when he goes down to sleep and when he wakes up at night since i am always the one who is there.

and i plan to drink a lot of fruity drinks since i won't have to BF! yay. but pumping won't be fun LOL. i gave my mom 80oz of milk today and was like PROTECT THIS WITH YOUR LIFE. hehe. it took me over a month to produce that extra.

the funny thing is that J is getting to be so good with his sleeping, even with his naps, and here we go with shaking him all up. irony. oh well.

fiery, yay for crawling!! did you kiddie proof? i am DREADING that day hehee. we have a ton of glass and wood furniture, i don't know what we'll do.

jcrow, welcome!!! emily is such a darling cutie.

sunkist, huge yay for W putting himself to sleep!! we are doing that with J where he will let us..sometimes it works, sometimes not.

ginger, hope things get better for you...and that it's not an abcess! i want to see more pics of cutie A. and LOVE the giggle don't you?? i swear the best moments of my entire day are when J wakes up and i go in and unwrap him and talk to him and he starts smiling and giggling and talking to me, my heart just melts.

mand, yay for controlled freedom, lol. that will definitely be me in the future. hope the boys continue to be fab sleepers.

kim, awesome for growth and a great appt!

EB, swim trunks! i got J some for 3-6 months then was like 'where is he supposed to wear these' ...seriously i don't know what i was thinking.

china, i also took a while to 'bond' with J. i can see how some moms might freak out thinking 'what is wrong with me' but it's natural, i have talked to all types of moms and some had that instant bond and some did not. of course i knew he was my son, i loved him, protected him, etc... and when they put him on me it was a feeling of amazing awe at what we had done. but it wasn't until a few weeks later that i was really falling in crazy love, i think it was when he finally started to 'see' me. it mostly was just surreal to me that he was in my body and now he was out. it was like mentally i needed a few weeks to catch up haha.

re: pics in the labor room, not sure who i would have had to come take them actually lol. my mom and sis were outside until after the birth and honestly i don't think i would have wanted anyone else in there just to take pics hehe. and NO vag pics thank you very much. i was like... umm keep the camera away from ME at all costs.

and gee i wish i had reminded myself like kim did that women do it all the time. i swear before i got the epi i kept thinking i was not going to make it and the back labor would kill me. of course i didn't post that in the preggo thread lol, didn't want to freak the girls out because i am sure i'm just a big wuss.

_____________

we've been making progress over here on naps with J, he goes down more easily and kind of seems to know what it's time for when i put him in the crib and put on the BCM (and play the same tune for naps every day). sometimes he struggles a bit and sometimes he just falls to sleep. and i am not swaddling him for naps at all UNLESS he is overtired then i have to or else he won't fall asleep. but like right now he went down after about 10 'light fuss mixed with quiet times' minutes and 2 re-entries for me to put the paci back in and he's been sleeping for 45 min with arms out. yay. i am hoping that him being used to naps with arms out will help us in another 1-2 months when we try to unswaddle at night.

i also go back to work in 3 weeks. i am so bummed and yet kind of looking fwd to it at the same time. our new boss was named and he's external and won't even start til i am back so who knows what is going to happen still, there are a lot of changes going on. i had my first 'back at work' dream the other night where it was the first day and i was walking around talking to people and thinking 'how can i get out of here and go visit J'...yikes. hahaha.

re: hair loss, i think mine is starting. for the first time in many months today in the shower i pulled out a lot of hair. i've always been a shedder and my hair is super thick so hopeflly it won't be too obvious.

random Q... re sunscreen. i know no sunscreen til 6 months but what do you do in the meantime? its sunny here almost all the time and i take J out for walks a lot. sometimes the sun cannot be TOTALLY kept off him, esp on hot days here...so what do you do for the 10 min he might get sun on his hands or arms? i imagine you don't want to put anything on their hands anyway as he puts them in his mouth...but is it ok for him to get that bit of sun.

 

[Pandora II]

I am way behind here, so will just reply to what caught my memory such as it is these days...

MP/Mara - hahaha on having a super-alert baby. You will come to wish that you have a nice quiet placid one. I thought it was great that D was always on the go and it was from the point of having a slightly more interesting pot-plant. But... then they get mobile. I have friends whose kids don''t crawl or walk till they''re over an year old. Every kid walks and talks eventually, some just have less exhausted mothers. I spend my life chasing Daisy - she has a new big bruise on her forehead: she insists on walking out of our back door onto the terrace which involves a step. She doesn''t want to sit down and negotiated the step safely, nope she wants to walk down it ON HER OWN - despite only really walking most of the time for less than 48 hours. So, after the nth row about it, I let her walk down it. Now she has a big bruise and perhaps will sit down next time (but I doubt it).

EB - What happened when he shoved the whole lot in? Did he sort it out himself? D did exactly the same the first time she had banana and just coughed it baack out - now she just sucks it or bites off small pieces.

Blen - Glad that helped - I was always a sheath dress person as well, never really liked myself in most other styles, but the wraps actually look pretty nice.

...................................

Am exhausted - D decided to have a big fight with me at 4am... she wanted to bite one nipple while trying to wrench the other one off with her hand and got furious when I kept moving it. In the end I got up, stuck her on the sitting room floor while I tried to get some sleep on the sofa. She went and played with her toys for about 3 nanoseconds before deciding that beating me up with a fishing rod and trying to stuff a rubber duck up my nose was way more fun. Then she decided she wanted to sit on my knee and had a complete melt-down because I wouldn''t let her...

She then melted my heart and I felt bad for wondering if you can send your child to boarding school at one...

She has this thing where if she''s holding her ducks or her teddies and I say ''Ahhhh, love teddy'' or similar she will clasp it to her cheek in a big hug and go ''Ahhhhh''. The last few weeks she just does it automatically without my saying anything. However she''s not a very affectionate child in the sense of wanting to sit and be cuddled - or at least not for more than a few seconds. Anyway, I eventually gave in and pulled her up on the sofa, she instantly flung her arms round my neck, put her cheek on mine and stopped sobbing long enough to go ''Ahhhhhh''. It was one of those moments where you forget how po''d, tired and irritable you are and remember how lucky you really are.

She''s loving walking and it seems to have had a magical effect on her separation anxiety. And I mean INCREDIBLE! I have been able to go into another room and she hasn''t flipped out and wanted to follow me or had a meltdown and just sits and carries on with what she was doing.

I took her to the baby group on Monday and it was a complete 360 degrees from the week before. The Child Development Specialist could hardly believe it - D was barely interested in me, just wanted to be off playing with all the toys and other children - she even managed to pick her up without causing a total scene. Seems that she definitely has a big personal space thing and while she likes to touch other people she doesn''t like to be touched herself - they''ve told me to make sure and try to cuddle and hug her as much as possible as it''s easy to let them just opt out of accepting physical contact which can be a problem in developing relationships later in life.

I so hope that this is the beginning of the end of this phase as it has been extremely wearing!

I''m going to Normandy in France on Saturday for a week - we''ve hired a gorgeous gite in an 18th century cider barn and plan to eat large amounts of butter, cream and all things bad as well as visiting some of the D-Day landing sites, the Bayeux tapestry and general pottering. We wanted to avoid the whole General Election thing after all that happened last year, but being the politics nuts that we are we haven''t really managed it, so I''m very glad we''ve got satellite TV so I can get my fix - supposedly there is wireless internet access but if not that is why I''m offline.

 

[drk]

Don''t need words for this:

Thanks Ginger. I''m pumping 8-9 times a day after feeds and giving her the pumped milk at the next feed. Still no major increase in production though.

 

[fieryred33143]

OhEmGee DRK what a gorgeous little girl! She put a huge smile on my face! Love the photo! Sorry about your supply issues, wish I had some tips. When I was bfing, my LC swore by more milk plus.

Mara-have an Awesome time!! Pump and dump!! LOL

Pandora-love that daisy has found new independence that she feels comfortable with. That''s awesome. She''s such a rockstar. Have a wonderful time!

I''m jealous of these trips!

 

[Blenheim]

I only have five minutes before leaving to work...

Pandora and Mara, have fun on your upcoming vacations!

Fiery - yay for crawling! And boo for baby-proofing.

DRK - awwww!

Viz - Since we''ve moved, my middie''s 500 miles away. Hence the new doc. I talked with her on the phone yesterday though, and she gave me a couple of ideas I hadn''t tried. Like taking the flat end of a comb and using it (hard) to comb out the ducts while in the shower, as that makes it harder for the clumps to escape to the side than just using hands. Finally got lecithin and started taking it. She also recommended fitting in pumping on the way to work, but I told her that might be a tad bit awkward on the metro. But - maybe people would give me more space if I started doing it?

Also - did heating/icing at work yesterday. I''ve been taking frequent pump breaks this week. Did pressure massage every half an hour or so yesterday. I got new, bigger, non-underwire bras over the weekend, which is another thing that the middie mentioned, so I''ve been wearing those this week. More water. More sleep.
As of last night, I thought that they had gotten a little bit smaller, but then G did not nurse from 1-6 am and this morning they feel bigger again. Like, not bigger overall, but back to where they were. Scratch that, I think the left one''s now actually bigger than it was. (Yes, I''m feeling myself up right now.

)
I''m calling the advice nurse today and ask about the u/s.
We switch insurance on Saturday, and both are HMOs with non-overlapping doctors, so this is a PITA time for this to happen. Plus we''re planning on going out of town this weekend. Grrr.

 

[steph72276]

Re: Suncreen on babies....why is it that it is not safe to put sunscreen on babies until 6 months and what exactly happens at 6 months that makes it safe compared to say 3 months? I know Nov. said docs have changed their stance on it, but mine still said none until 6 months. I''m pretty positive I used it on Andrew younger than that b/c we went to the beach and I had never heard this rule until now. My friend did say their is a special kind you can order online that is safe, anybody heard of it? Off to google it now...

 

[Mandarine]

Ginger I''m so happy you''re feeling better Hang in there and we''re here for any venting you need to do!!!

Sunkist Goooo Wes!!!!!!!!! That''s great he put himself to sleep!!!! Isn''t it crazy how fast they are growing!!!? You''ll do a great job with solids! and don''t worry about keeping it "balanced" for now...most of his nutrition is still going to come from you!
Phoenix Sounds like Claire and Lucas are on the same page as far as moving is concerned!!!. They both LOVE their jumperoo!!
Fiery GOOOOO SOPHIA!!!!!

Mara I missed when you''re leaving...so just in case: HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!. Awesome news on the nap front! and yay for not swaddling for naps!.
A little sun in the late afternoon or early morning won''t do him harm (like 10-15 minutes). I live in FL and it''s SUNNY here! I dress them to cover...and if they fall sleep and have their legs uncovered and I cover them with a very light burp cloth. I walk them late afternoon or early morning only. I have heard you can start sunscreen before then though..
PandoraSorry for the overnight meltdown!!!....but yay for improvement on the separation anxiety front!
Drk - HOW CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**

As for us, napping is MUCH better since I started separating them!!!!!!!

They both went down easy last night at bedtime and didn''t make a sound until 6:20am! Yyyy Lucas!. Of course when I went in there this morning (they had been chatting for like 20 minutes), Lucas was with his head facing the bottom of the crib and hugging his positioner

...so much for keeping him contained!!! haha. It''s a breathable positioner so I''m not really too concerned that he can break free. He also tried to bring down his mobile!

I have no idea how he reached that far up...but we had to take it down and this weekend we will be lowering the cribs!. Lucas, Lucas, Lucas...

Yesterday was my birthday!. I had such a great day!!!. Quiet morning with my little guys, lunch alone with the hubs in an outdoor resturant, coffee with my mommy friends in the afternoon, quick shopping at Zara, then Mexican (made my moi) for dinner with hubs and MIL...and key lime for dessert

This Saturday MIL will come over so hubs and I can go alone to dinner! yay!!!

 

[fieryred33143]

Real quick before a meeting

Date: 4/29/2010 8:35:02 AM
Author: FL Steph
Re: Suncreen on babies....why is it that it is not safe to put sunscreen on babies until 6 months and what exactly happens at 6 months that makes it safe compared to say 3 months? I know Nov. said docs have changed their stance on it, but mine still said none until 6 months. I''m pretty positive I used it on Andrew younger than that b/c we went to the beach and I had never heard this rule until now. My friend did say their is a special kind you can order online that is safe, anybody heard of it? Off to google it now...

There was a discussion on this very topic on another forum I am a member of. One of our members who is a derm nurse practitioner gave her input and I thought it was VERY helpful so I''m going to copy/paste it here. The basic summary is that most of the sunblocks out there aren''t really sunblocks and those specifically are not recommended or good for babies younger than 6 months. But she does provide recommendations that are safe for those younger than 6 months. We have Aveeno sunblock with the ingredients she listed and then went and bought the Neutrogena Pure and Free after her post. It''s SPF60. Another one of our pedi derms that is on the board agreed with what she wrote.

**************

It seems everyday someone asks about sunscreen. So I thought I would give my 2 cents since well skin is my profession. I am a dermatology Nurse Practitioner and have been practicing dermatology for 12 years thus I see children and adults everyday in regards to skin, skin cancer etc and this includes being in the know in regards to the safety of sunscreen.

First let me start by saying there is a big difference between Sunscreen and Sunblock

Suncreen is 100% NOT safe for infants under 6 months old. Honestly I would never put sunscreen on my child at any age Period. Sunscreen is a chemical blocker that use simply gets absorbed into the top of the skin in a chemical thus reflecting the suns rays and not allowing them to penetrate. These chemicals however are not safe for infants.

Sunblock is a Physical sunblocker which is 100% safe from the day your child is born up to the very elderly. Sunblock is a product that literally creates a shield on the top of your skin and get absorbed and will block out the harmful rays.

Many companies Mislabel their products calling themselves sunscreen and sunblock interchangebly. You need to look for the active ingredient.

Avobenzont; Homosalate; Octisalate, Octocrylene and Oxybenzone, : ARE CHEMICAL BLOCKERS aka Sunscreen. NEVER use this on your child this is what pediatricians do not want you to use on your children.

Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide as the active ingredients is a PHYSICAL BLOCKER and this is absolutely safe for your child at birth. As noted with the American Academy of Dermatology. THe active ingredients are actually pretty much the same as diaper rash paste.

The key is putting it on 30 minutes before going outside. Physical blockers need time to get absorbed into the top layers of the skin. ALso you must reapply every 2 hours of continuous sun exposure. Long sleeve shirts, wide brim hats and sunglasses are also recommended. They sell bathing suit coverups and bathing suits with a UV protection.

Recommended Sunblocks by the AAD are as Follows:

Neutrogena Sensitive Skin

Neutrogena Pure and Free

Blue Lizard

California Baby

That is pretty much it and its a short list. Most of the issue with sunscreen and babies origionally came from PABA however that is rarely if ever used. The use of chemical sunscreens nowadays can cause your child to develop a contact allergy.

 

[Puppmom]

DRK, that is the BEST.PICTURE.EVER.

 

[steph72276]

Fiery, thanks girl...you rock!

 

[E B]

Thank you, fiery! We use California Baby wash and love it, so we'll go with the California Baby sunscreen.

drk, Kara is adorable!

 

[littlelysser]

Ginger - I'm so glad to hear it is not cancer...but sorry to hear about all the other stuff you are dealing with. What a crap sandwich. I'm just sorry. Feh and meh.

CC - I LOVE O! That is all. That is the duck tub! Calvin freaking LOVES IT! It is slightly odd to have a giant blow up duck in the bathroom at all times, but luckily it is pretty cute!

DrK - Holy cute baby pic! I love it!

Fiery - So sorry about the MIL issues. My MIL is the absolute devil, but luckily she lives across the ocean...so I don't have to see her that often. Blergh. Good info on the sunblock. We use Mustela on Calvin...I'll have to look into it! And YAY for crawling! I'm actually loving the crawling stage. They get so proud of themselves!

CDT - Thanks for the sippy cup recommendation. I got Calvin some fancy ones and he doesn't seem to love them, so maybe we'll try those next! When are you done with work?

Mandy - I'm sorry to hear about the nap issues you've been having. That just stinks. I would LOVE to know why babies fight sleep. PUt me in a dark room, all comfy and fed, covered in a sleep sack and I can pretty much guarantee I'd be out in like 2.2 seconds. Yet the babies...they fight it. I wonder why? Anyway, it is so not your fault when they don't nap well...who knows why...but don't blame yourself! As for the tummy sleeping/waking up issue, my bestie had that problem with her little girl and they basically did tummy time bootcamp. She spent some time each day really encouraging her daughter to roll from her back to her tummy so she could do it on her own...after a couple days they knew she could do it, so they let her cry when she woke up freaking out...and she totally got past it.

Amber - sorry to hear about the work sitch. Although I did slightly LOL at the idea of punching a dog in the ear...hehee

Monkey - How are you feeling? So odd to hear your description of Micah as a newborn...you really could be describing Calvin! He was super super alert. First thing the doc and nurses said at all of his pediatrician visits. Even strangers would comment on it! He had head control from like 2-3 weeks on...I think it was because he wants to see what he wants to see, and well, you can't do that if someone else is deciding on what you are going to look at. He never went through that blobby newborn stage...he was always really present, if that makes sense. Calvin was rolling over from about 3 weeks on too! Our pediatrician had difficulty believing that he did it intentionally, until he did it on the exam table. I think he hated tummy time so much he learned to roll to get out of it! And Calvin was a really really good night sleeper (started going 12 hours at about 3 months) but man, he was a crap napper. Never more than 30 minutes a time, but he was really pleasant and not tired when he was awake. Anyway, moral of the story, Micah sounds a lot like Calvin. And the babymoon, so to speak, never ended with him. He was/is a happy baby...

Welcome jcrow!

LuLu - I'm a little late to the party...but thought I'd share...things I wish I knew...well, when your water breaks, it KEEPS coming. Until the baby moves low enough to block the flow. I thought it was one gush, and done...but it isn't...it is a constant flow type thing. Not so pleasant. And I'd also say that despite all of the really rough labor stories, there are many women that have easy labors...definitely be prepared for anything, but know that things could be really great. Ok, great may be overstating it...but MUCH easier than you could have anticipated.

PG - I swear, DH is unable to see the crap all over Calvin's face when he feeds him. One time he had so much sweet potato on his face he was the color of an oompa loompa...DH didn't seem to notice!

Everyone else - HELLO!!!

Sheesh, I've written a book! Anyway...Calvin is doing well. Starting to try to pull up on stuff, crawling EVERYWHERE...

His new thing is that when I put him down for a nap I always rock him in his room for 5 minutes...just sort of soothe him before he goes down. Well, 1/2 the time he falls asleep in that 5 minute period...the other 1/2 he is wide awake when I put him down. Yesterday he played in his crib for an HOUR AND A HALF before he finally fell asleep. I could tell he was tired, but he was enjoying some Calvin time, I guess. I guess that is alright? Anyone have any thoughts?

eta - if anyone uses the Mustela sunblock, it is also a sunblock and not a sunscreen. Uses the titanium dioxide!

 

[so cal girl]

phoenix - Glad solids are going well for you guys. We''ve recently started, too. So far we''ve tried cereal, peas, and sweet potatoes. He HATES peas, but loves the sweet potatoes. Not sure when we should be adding in breakfast as well as dinner...

fiery - Yay for Sophia crawling! I bet she looks so cute. E is trying to crawl. He just gets on all fours and sticks his butt in the air and rocks back and forth. But he can only push himself backward. Here is the link to the pics again. Hopefully it works. (I can''t seem to make it a clickable link, so you may have to copy and paste)
http://michellejohnsonphotography.com/elihertz/

mara - Have fun on your trip! We went on just an overnight trip this last weekend. I pumped and dumped the whole time, and although I was a little sad, I was okay with it. I even had to pump twice while we were in the (moving) car! That was interesting

. It ends up that E sleeps better at my parents'' house than at my house, so I''m sure J will be fine.

pandora - I just love all your D stories. She sounds like so much fun!

drk - That picture is so adorable! I love it!!!

mandy - Glad you had a good birthday yesterday. And I''m glad the naps are going better as well.

Nothing too exciting going on over here. Just trying to figure out why my kid won''t sleep. That seems to be a recurring topic on this thread!

 

[fieryred33143]

SoCal-I loved all of the pictures! All.of.them!!! I can''t believe he stayed smiling throughout the entire thing. What a happy baby!! And his eyes are killer

 

[ChinaCat]

DRK-

that picture!!!!! Frame it, ASAP.

Pandora- Ok, so I''ll admit that Daisy is "spirited" but she is just so fun and fiesty. I love reading about her adventures. Your night sounds slightly similar to my night Tuesday night. Wanted to kill him, but then one sweet moment of his little hands on my face and ahhhh! So sweet, so worth it. And I LOVE Normandy, what a great trip! Enjoy.

Sunscreen- Now see, by me being a negligent mom and NOT putting sunscreen on him I actually was being a GOOD mom cause I''m sure I would have put the wrong thing on him.

Thanks Fiery. Also, just a little PSA- if you are exclusively breast feeding, your babies aren''t getting Vitamin D- it''s like the only thing they don''t get. My ped recommended these vitamin drops, but this is why I also didn''t freak out about O getting a tiny bit of sun (like covered in the stroller but obviously you can''t completely shield them from ALL sun). A little vitamin D from the sun is a good thing, I think. We did finally get him a hat, and keep him in the shade but I''m getting some California Baby or Neutrogena Pure since it''s getting warmer and is sunny here all the time.

Lysser- I know you already know this, but you just described O to a T. And Calvin is pretty much on schedule to do everything O is doing! So keep tuned to see what''s ahead for you! I''m hoping NOT to have an early walker, but it''s not looking good. As for Calvin just playing in his bed, that''s awesome. As far as I''m concerned, as long as they know it''s "crib time", and stay quiet and in their crib, then you can''t make them sleep.

So Cal- Rocking is what O did right before he crawled.

Question:
Anyone notice their little ones eating less at around 8.5 months? O gets at least 4 full 8 oz bottles a day, plus sometimes another one at bedtime if he''s already had 4. The 5th bottle is usually like 4 oz. He consistently gets 2 "meals" a day- cereal/fruit in the mornings, plus veggies 1x a day. Now we are trying to do another veggie later in the day (moving towards breakfast/lunch/dinner). But the past few days he gulps down about half the bottle and then wants to play. My nanny said he''ll eventually eat all of the bottle, but it''s taking a lot longer (drinks, play, repeat ad nauseaum until he finishes bottle). He also has refused the 5th bottle at bedtime. He''s been out of sorts this week (teething, first fever) so of course it could be related. But should he be dropping a bottle around now?

 

[fieryred33143]

China-It could be related to the teething. I''ve read that when they are teething, they don''t want to drink from a bottle as much because it hurts them. He''s probably not showing any signs of discomfort though, right? I think I have read before that they start to get a little picky with what they eat/drink. It''s probably that he wants to play or see what''s going on around him. When I try to give Sophia a bottle when we''re out, it takes at least an hour for her to finish because she wants to be able to sit up and see everything.

 

[ChinaCat]

Thanks Fiery. Seems back to normal with the eating.

Um, where is everyone?????? Hello?

 

[mtjoya]

Happy Friday!

 

[mtjoya]

where is everyone? lol..

 

[fieryred33143]

I guess everyone is in hiding

MTJ-Jackie is gorgeous!!!

China-glad to hear it''s back to normal!

 

[steph72276]

It is quiet in here today. I''ve been on a cleaning rampage at my house the last few days. I''m going to relax this weekend and hang out with my boys. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

DRK and MTJ, great photos!

Here is E...he turned 3 months this week!

 

[Kaleigh]

DRK, MTJ and Steph... Your babies are SOOOOOO cute!!!!

 

[AmberWaves]

Hi everyone, real quick drop in, I''m leaving work with a beastly Piper- totally crabby and sick or teething. Drooly, suuuuuper runny nose, no fever. Chewing a lot. Cranky. Been sleeping okay. I wish I knew what it was, so I could fix it.

I''m extra tired today, feel a bit faint and headachey. Blah. Kind of a crap day overall.

Sunkist: No solids yet, we''ve got the rice cereal (Earth''s Best) at home for when we do (two weeks or less). I''m nervous!

We got P a jumperoo (from the door frame) and she just DIES in it laughing. It''s so funny.

P can sit by herself for a minute or so now! It''s crazy. The pedi asked if she was able to and I was like, well, let''s see... and she did it! She also props herself up on her arms and does this rocking thing, it''s funny because she can''t yet get to her knees while in this position.

Okay, gotta run.

Love to everyone!

 

[Sabine]

Ok, my eyes are drooping so I''ve only read the last page...but from what I''ve gathered...

PG, rolling is so fun!

Congrats Fiery on a mobile baby! Let me know what Sophia is like as a crawler. I first thought Jacks was going to still be laid back, but then he took off and had a period where he wouldn''t sit still at ALL, but then today he spent 30 minutes playing with toys independently again, so maybe it was just the novelty. I also bookmarked that post on sunscreen.

Pandora, soooo glad walking is helping with the separation anxiety!

Sunkist, we have hte precious planet rainforest jumperoo and it was by FAR ds''s favorite thing from 3.5 months until recently. Now that he can stand he doesn''t like it as much, but it was sooooo worth it!

China, Jacks has been going back and forth with his eating. He was downing 4 8 oz. bottles and eating 3 solid meals for a while, then he dropped off on the bottles majorly but it turns out that that was due to the hand, foot, and mouth as well as teething, and now he eats 4 7-8 oz. bottles a day again with 3 solid meals.

Seriously cute baby pics all, seriously!

And before I totally pass out (sorry, dh has been working weird hours again and I''m having so much trouble sleeping), my question...

for those whose lo''s are off purees and on finger foods, what do you feed for breakfast? We''re starting to transition to JUST finger foods, but I really hate preparing foods in the morning. Jacks will eat pancakes, egg yolks, muffins, etc., I just don''t want to have to make them for him every day. I''m a big cereal eater in the morning. Currently he eats baby oatmeal, a fruit puree, and a handful of cheerios. He gets fresh fruit later in the day, so I don''t know what else to give him if I drop the fruit puree.

And Jacks is 9 months old today! Yikes, 9 months seems like SUCH a milestone...somehow I really never thought we would make it this far! Here''s his 9 month pic!

 

[taovandel]

Hi everyone! Been crazy with work....so haven''t had the time to do much of anything.

Cute Pictures everyone! I don''t have any new pictures to share...hopefully I''ll get the chance to take some..here is one I posted on facebook.

Solids are super fun!!

Oh, Evan is obsessed with pears. I had to feed him the entire little container because he flipped out if I stopped.

 

[Blenheim]

Ack... post just got eaten.

I love all of the pictures!!

EB, I don''t think I ever responded to you? You''re not doing anything wrong. It took George a few times to figure out what was an appropriate size to put in his mouth and what was too much. He''d sometimes put too much in his mouth (still does if he gets really excited about what he''s eating), and then work it back out and take a more manageable bite. The two times that we actually had choking problems with him (choking, not gagging) were from him eating things that were large enough to choke on but quite a bit smaller than the fist-size that BLW recommends. (By the way, I''d really recommend that you know how to do the infant Heimlich manuever, if you don''t already. Not just for solids, but in case you accidently drop something small on the floor and he goes after it.)

More boob stuffs... I had the worst OB appt yesterday. Highlights included: (1) being asked if I had problems with urinary incontinence and him expressing surprise when the answer was no, as my pelvic floor is evidently incredibly weak for only having one baby (and my lady parts are still sulking today

); (2) arguing about whether I should take the minipill (I feel like crap on hbc and we have no issues with condoms and I have a really hard time consistently taking pills, all of which makes me think that the minipill is not for me); and (3) being asked repeatedly if I wanted to continue BFing, and then finally how long I intended to continue BFing. I was getting more than irritated at this point and told him that I planned on BFing for the two years that WHO recommends, figuring that the support of an official guideline might make him back off of the "still nursing" thing, but then he looked shocked and asked if we had started supplementing with formula yet. It turned out that he thought I was going to EXCLUSIVELY BF for TWO YEARS. WTF.
As far as the plugged ducts go, he told me that the risk of them turning into mastitis or abcesses was extremely low and he would not do an u/s. I told him that Jack Newman recommends therapeutic use of ultrasound for plugs that last longer than 48 hours and I was at 9 days at that point, and he told me that was nonsense as it was no different than heating them. (Then why have I gotten therapeutic u/s to break up scar tissue after surgery before? That''s similar in theory to therapeutic ultrasound on plugged ducts, right?) He wanted to give me pitocin, but then couldn''t find anything in the medical literature to support that, so he told me just to keep doing what I''m doing. Plus kegels. Sigh...
Despite my terribly helpful appointment

, I think that the ducts actually feel a little better today. They''re still there, but feel softer and a little bit smaller. I''m going to keep going at them and if progress doesn''t continue, I got a recommendation for a BFing clinic in the area staffed with IBCLCs that''s supposed to be really good. My pseudo-step-sis also recommended her OB should I need one.