PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[lili]

Date: 6/23/2010 11:55:24 AM
Author: Sha
mtjoya - no, D''s ears aren''t pierced. Not sure when we''ll have them done. Probably a bit later on, though. It would probably help with the ''Is he a boy/girl''? thing. but I''m sure somebody will still ignore them, just like they ignored the pink dress and headband...

Yup.

 

[fieryred33143]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the comments on the photo comparison!

EB-I love, love, love that photo! I''m glad you guys had a good time.

STTN: Well, Sophia didn''t start until she was 6 months. Before then it was every x hours. She went through phases: every 2, then every 5, then every 3, etc.

Prettyblues: Almost the same thing happened here. We didn''t swaddle once she got home because she had a biliblanket and it was a pain to swaddle with that thing under her. She was a pretty awesome newborn. She would wake and then fall back to sleep after nursing pretty easily (I had a harder time because I didn''t get that I needed to sleep too...took me 6 weeks to figure that out

). Anyway, around 3 weeks it was so difficult to get her back to sleep and to stay asleep. After about 10 days, I decided to swaddle just to see if it would work and of course it did

OH and Alarm clocks: we have cell phone alarms. When she was in our room and FI would go to work, he''d have his cell on under his pillow.

 

[Burk]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words, thoughts and prayers! Things have been busy (funeral is tomorrow) but I hope to be back and catch up soon!

Lysser~So sorry about the break in! Scary!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Burk, I'll be thinking about you today. Glad you had time to pop by.


Question re bumpers: So, I'm at my mom's house, and as a grandmother of 6 she has her own crib permanently set up. She removed the bumper at my sister's request, but at home we have a breathable bumper. Claire often rolls onto her side with one leg in the air against the bumper and has just started rolling onto her stomach in her sleep, so I anticipated this might be a problem . . . I just woke up to pee and went in there, and she was on her stomach with her leg through the slat, I'd say 80% of the way up her calf. It did not look comfortable! But the biggest problem is that I don't think she could have gotten her leg back in by herself if she'd been awake and may have hurt herself when she realized she was stuck.

So, what should we do tonight? Use the old plush bumper? Claire is 8 months old . . . is she past the age where we worry about pressing her face into it? I just checked, and I'd have to drive a considerable way to get a breathable bumper by tonight.

I just thought of a third option . . . we can set up the Pack N Play and have her sleep in that tonight. So what's your vote?

A) crib with no bumper
B) crib with plush bumper
C) Pack N Play

Sometimes I just want somebody else to tell me what to do (like when I couldn't remember how to fold my stroller at Target, and I was like, I wish my mom was here to save the day . . .). That's where you come in!

 

[mtjoya]

Sha-My husband doesn''t want me to get her ears pierced just yet. But I am going to do it without him knowing!

Mara-Aww.sux! I would be like hello wtf? lol. People are clueless. Once, a lady asked me what the babies name was, I said, "Jacqueline." She asked, "Chocolate?" LOL. I tried hard not to bust out laughing!

 

[KimberlyH]

pg, i''m overly cautious, i''d get a mesh bumper and use the pnp until then, probably, unless i felt totally sure claire could get herself out of a bad position w/ the plush bumper.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Date: 6/24/2010 7:39:58 AM
Author: KimberlyH
pg, i''m overly cautious, i''d get a mesh bumper and use the pnp until then, probably, unless i felt totally sure claire could get herself out of a bad position w/ the plush bumper.

Most will say this, because it is a concern depending on your baby. If you feel that Claire could keep herself from getting her face into the bumper and smothering, then by all means, put the plush bumper back on. It really depends on your little one

Micah has already poked a leg through the slats of his crib so I intend on buying a bumper this weekend myself - the plush kind. But I know that most people think that''s a big no-no.

I may be the wrong person to respond to this lol. I have done a lot of things that are no-nos!

 

[Sha]

Phoenixgirl - I would just use the old plush bumper. At 8 months, C should be pretty mobile, so there's less of a risk of smothering or pressing up her face to the bumper unknowingly, I think. Maybe you could use the plush bumper for now and get a breathable one as well later on, if that makes you feel more comfortable?

I'm going to put bumpers on Dalila's crib this weekend myself. Got some plush ones for a baby shower gift but didn't plan to use them, because of the suffocation risk. Now that she's more mobile I think the bumpers should be fine.

 

[fieryred33143]

Ditto Sha. But we've had bumpers in there since she was 2 months.

I think PS ate my last post and I closed the browser before realizing. I meant to tell LL that I'm really sorry about the break in. I'm glad you guys are ok!

Re: ear piercing-we are not doing it mostly because I'm lazy. FI would love to get them done but I have to drive alllllll the way to the place and then sit there and then drive allllll the way home

. Sophia gets confused for a boy all.the.time. Doesn't matter what she's wearing. She's such a cute little BOY to everyone. That's why I stock up on hair clips

.

 

[vizsla]

quick fly by

i feel like such a bad PSr lately... work is crazy nuts-o

boo hiss...

i have been trying to read and keep up...

welcome new mommies!!!

pg - totally put the plush bumper on! by 8 months she can roll her way out of an uncomfortable situation. i wouldn't worry about it at all. c sleeps in between dh and i (and our pillows) and actually prefers to bury his face in them (or my armpit and when he gets uncomfortable i'll wake up and he will be on his back sprawled out.

burk - ((hugs)) thinking about you today!

who else am i missing?

everyone? good... don't want to be exclusive

hahahahaha.

so now that i'm caught up

i'll go ahead and talk about me....

well, c went ahead and rolled off the bed last night... awesome

. i heard him start to stir on the monitor and while DH and i were drawing straws as to who was going to go up and get him.. we heard the thumpty thump and subsequent wail. we raced upstairs - and i think, at one point, i actually used DH as leverage to get up the stairs faster. there c was, laying face up on the floor (carpeted crying - but as soon as i picked him up he whimpered for, like, 30 seconds and fell back asleep. i was surprisingly calm about the whole thing... DH, OTOH, was freaking out about checking his limbs and body for abrasions and breaks

. which bring me to...........

we went to the pedi yesterday (whom i love and trust implicitly). she basically said we need to sleep train. part of me was relieved but the larger part of me is scared sh**less.

i took him leaping off the bed as a sign ... he's too mobile and it's simply not safe (without DH or me there with him) for him to be in our bed now. she gave me all the pointers, knows his history and temperament and said once he learns how to sleep he is going to be healthier all around. she also mentioned that his immune system *needs* sleep in order to work properly. and that his wishy washy eating is almost certainly related to his sleep, or lack there of. chronically tired babies don't eat as well as well rested kids (well, dur).

anyhoodles... i still don't know what we are going to do. fiery, i have to totally giggle at your "viz-hybrid" comment.

she told us to put him down as we always do for bed (but in his crib) and wait until he wakes at 12a to let him CIO. <- did i just write that???
and that's that.. no going back in, no changing him if he poops or vomits - and no getting him until between 6-7a in the morning - even if he falls asleep at 6:30... he's up for the day at 7:00a. then we put him down for his first nap at 10:30a - he's up by 12:30 no matter what, down for afternoon nap at 2:30p - up by 4:30 no matter what and then nighttime routine again - rinse, wash repeat saturday and, she promises by sunday i will have a different baby.

i'm trying to digest the whole thing and still on the fence... but i have about 10 hours to decide

ETA: who could think that BEAUTIFUL sophia is a boy... blind people i guess

 

[fieryred33143]

Sounds like a plan Viz. It''s going to be hard. You just have to remind yourself that the doc said he''s in good health to go through it and all of his needs will be fulfilled before bed. He''s crying because he wants someone to hold him which is ok. You''ll just hold him in the morning.

Do you have a video monitor?

 

[Mara]

oooh viz, hugs. i know i could do hard-core CIO if i HAD to (greg might have to get me industrial strength earplugs so i could be oblivious), but i would exhaust other efforts first. however with C's background, maybe it's worth a try. he might take to it and surprise you guys now that he feels better.

if you don't have a video monitor, BUY ONE today. it will really bring you so much peace of mind if you do CIO. the times i have let J cry or fuss it out, i can always look in the monitor to make sure that he's not suffocating or hasn't launched himself out of the crib or something. sometimes i think about not being able to see what is happening, esp in a closed, dark room where you aren't supposed to re enter and i think i'd be nutso imagining all sorts of bad things.

but YAY for C being well enough to sleep train. i think if you guys can make it work, you will have a little boy who is sooo much happier (and parents too)...i know C is really chipper already so just imagine how crazy happy he will be with lots of sleep under his belt.

PG... i would put the plush bumper back in. J is already mobile and rolling around but he doesn't quite entirely get that he can roll one way, roll back, rinse and repeat. or he will jam himself into a corner of the crib and only try to go one way which doesn't work. so i am not comfortable putting the plush back in yet...maybe in another 2 months or so. but C is 8 months so i would think if she is pretty mobile in general she should be fine..it really is how comfortable you feel though.

on a flip side you could always sleep sack her then there are no legs to stick out.

my mom and sis bought J a A&A sleep sack, i am excited to try it. its just one layer whereas the halo ones we have are thicker, so it will be perfect for summer here in our hot little non A/C'd house. and speaking of summer, where the heck is it. last nite i had J in a long sleeve T and a velboa sleep sack and his hands were cold at 5am.

mtj...lol re: chocolate. sometimes people are so friggin weird eh?!? the vaccine lady called J a 'she' THREE times even after every time we said HE. then she looked at his chart and goes 'oh Julian is a girl's name right'. W.T.F? i was like 'you mean Julianne'??? BIG DIFF! and now my mom is calling him Jules which i am not a big fan of.

day 3 of apples with no allergies...so now we'll move onto pears i guess. this wkd i plan to try a veggie just to see if he makes a crazy face like Stephs' E did...I hope so! hehe. i need some new pics.

J woke once last nite at 5am and i paci'd him. 15 min later he popped it out, fussing. i just let him fuss it out and he was back asleep within 10 min. yay.

for mom's with LO's past 5 months, when did your babe's drop or consolidate a feeding? right now J takes 9oz at wake, then 4oz 3 hours later, and 4oz 3 hours after that. when he comes home about 5pm i feed him 4oz, and then his bedtime bottle of 3-5oz (depending on what he'll eat) at 7pm before bed. it's not very much for his weight (15-16lbs) but that is really all he will eat. i am hoping to consolidate the 2 4oz daytime feeds at some point but not sure when.

 

[ChinaCat]

VIZ- First, YAY for doc thinking C is healthy enough to even think about CIO!

That''s GREAT news. Second, try not to overwhelm yourself with CIO and think of it in small increments of what you can handle. Baby steps, right?

For example, think about the first night and ONLY the first night. And just decide how much you can handle for the first night and stick with it. So for example, say you decide that you will let him cry for 20 minutes. No matter how hard it is, stick to your 20 mins. I found that half the time O stopped way before my time limits. I do think it will probably go a lot faster if you suck it up and do it over 3-5 days or whatever, BUT I know that can be hard. So just figure out what works for YOU and C. Some people say don''t go in at all, some say go in every x minutes but increase those minutes every time, some say stay in the room and slowly move further and further away. There are all kinds of CIO, so find one that works for you. And DEFINITELY get a monitor!!!! If O is ever fussing I can just look on the monitor and see that he''s lying there and I know he''s ok, it''s so much easier to let him soothe himself to sleep.

Mara- Hmmm. Not sure I am much help b/c O ate/drank way more than that at 5/6 months. But I will say that he went from 6 bottles to 4 around 6/7 months, IIRC. The more solids I gave him, the less he drank and he pretty much dictated when we dropped a bottle. If he''s resisting some of those 4 oz, I would try to consolidate and see what he does.

Bumpers- I just put O''s back on because 1) he got both of his legs stuck up to his thighs during a nap and couldn''t get them out; and 2) he is way too busy and curious and the bumpers stop him from trying to touch things outside his crib. I hope. I do get nervous if I think about it, but he''s so mobile and can definitely move himself and/or anything out of his way.

ADVICE FOR UPCOMING PLANE RIDE: I know this has been discussed but it''s been awhile. Taking O on his first plane ride next week. What do we bring on the plane to entertain him????? Any tips that worked for you? Did you change diapers in the bathroom? Esp tips on what to do with a mobile one who refuses to stay in laps.

 

[Sha]

viz - wow, so is your pedi recommending that C go for a full night without feedings? From his bedtime to the next morning? That's pretty hardcore.

Just curious and wondering how you think he'll adjust. How many feedings was he having before?

Just to give you some encouragement -I'm using CIO right now with Dalila and so far it's been going well. ( I'm trying to stretch her to 4-5 hour sleep stretches instead of 2 hours). I feel so muich rested today. Sleep really makes a huge difference. Just make sure you're consistent with it and that you and your DH are on the same page.

 

[vizsla]

i know... it''s a little too hard core for me....

we don''t have a video monitor... i don''t know if i *could* watch him up there crying... it''s like watching one of those oil covered pelicans - too sad because i can''t help. i know he''s safe in his crib... and i have to trust that

.

in my modified-hybrid viz mind i''m leaning towards feeding him per usual when he wakes up at 12a - back down in the crib... and if he wakes up between 12:30a-6ish then toooo bad. i know he can go 6 hours (and i''m comfortable with that) without eating - and hopefully once he learns to fall asleep totally on his own he will eventually just go longer stretches w/out eating for comfort.

c is definitely a different baby now than he was at 5-6 months old, so i''m hoping we will have better success (or any at all).

wish us luck!

 

[TravelingGal]

Good luck Viz. As much as I love the video monitor (and it does make it easier to see if something is really wrong) I have to say for me personally it would be hard to actually watch. I''d probably cave if I had to see it, vs just turning the monitor off and listening to the cries through the door. But with C''s history, it might make it better for you to know he''s actually OK.

 

[ChinaCat]

Tgal- That's interesting b/c hearing it for me is way worse than seeing it. Maybe b/c when I see it he's not doing anything but lying there playing with his toys so it's obvious it's just for attention. Maybe if he was seriously screaming and I could see his little face it would be different. For example, I can't remember the last time O woke up at night. Until last night! Of course, right? But he woke up at 1:30 am and started screaming/crying. I bolted up and just felt my heart wrench like "oh no, my poor baby". But I turned on the monitor and he was just rolling around and I watched him do it for less than 5 minutes and he went back to sleep. But if I had to just lie there and listen, not knowing if he was really upset or just making noise, I don't think I could stand it for long.

OTOH, I guess I'm talking about normal fussing and not full-blown CIO/sleep training, which I admit is a whole different drama.

But anyways, what I really wanted to say to you is did your avatar always leave little traces of itself when it bangs its head against the wall? I've never noticed the traces, but I think it's cool.

Viz- Sounds like a plan. I admit upon hearing your doc's plan, I did think it was a little extreme, especially for a first time! Mucho mucho mucho dust, please keep us posted!

 

[Mara]

re: the video monitor, it is way worse for me to hear it and imagine it than to see it in the screen.

like you CC...sometimes i am jolted out of sleep by a shrill scream and then i frantically look, and he''s just chillin'' playing with his feet or something but screaming like he''s about to perish. umm ok. so it would be harder for me to not see what is happening and just ''imagine'' it..yanno. because the hormonal mom mind can totally play tricks on us sometimes.

anyway...viz if you don''t want to do hard core CIO--you can also do the lighter versions like gradual extinction kind of thing. personally while having a totally sleep trained kid in 3 days sounds GREAT, i don''t know it will be that cut and dry...but i hope so!!

 

[MonkeyPie]

I was all for CIO before but now I think I would be a total pushover. I absolutely HATE to hear or see Micah cry - he makes the most sad, pitiful cries and his wide open mouth makes me want to cry, too. Shoot, I''m tearing up now just picturing him. Crap, I''m such a wuss!

Has anybody else noticed that you cry/tear up for what appears to be no reason? Sometimes when Micah is being super cute and I''m laughing at him I start tearing up like mad, like rivers down my face. It''s ridiculous. This has to be a mommy syndrome.

 

[vizsla]

ha! i know right? she's one tough cookie. buuuuuttttt c is a clone of her son. she has always provided us with super awesome and sound advice. i trust that c could handle her 'take no prisoner' regimen, but i need to be comfortable with it as well.

mara- i'm not expecting a total 180 in 3 days - that's crazy talk ..... but i know my kid is wicked smart - he will *get it* the second we put him in his crib, he's just not gonna like it

.

and that's the whole conundrum (also the name of a fantastic wine).
now that he's feeling so so so so so much better, i can see that my presence actually makes it WORSE for him to fall asleep - i'm his crutch.
for example, if he's happily playing etc. and i come into the room, he sticks his hands up in the air and wimpers, and HATES when i put him down. i oblige 90% of the time because i only get a limited amount of time with him each day.... where it gets tricky is that he also expects this at night. our biggest problem comes after he wakes and eats he doesn't fall back asleep...

for example, for the past 2+ weeks when he wakes up, we feed him, try to comfort him to sleep afterwards but he just rolls around and plays with our faces (dh and i play 'dead' for about an hour) when he really starts in with the crying we have to sit up and hold him etc. to get him to go back to sleep.
pat/shhh, pu/pd and all of the other sleep tactics worked when he was sick, and they sorta work now, but we haven't been able to scale back our efforts. it's exhausting 8 months later.
obvs he is, at this juncture, in dire need to sleep more and too smart to fall for our comforting measures - he wants more and more and more

i hope he surprises us tonight.... a girl can dream right?

ETA: mp - yeah i hear ya! FWIW i would NEVER even think/consider/utter the words before c was 6 months old and even *then* i wasn't confident that it would work.. but he's a different baby now... mamma's got to roll with the punches...

 

[mtjoya]

Mara-LOL..wtf crazy people I tell ya! That story is funny! My mom actually wanted me to use Jules as a middle name for J. I thought it was cute but it would be weird cuz it would sound funny with my last name.

MP-I get like that ALLL the friggin time! I hate the music that plays on her swing. I get depressed just hearing it. Even when I see her pic I get all teary eyed and wanna just hug her and kiss her!

 

[fieryred33143]

I don't have a video monitor. BUT I want one now for two reasons. One, sometimes when she's crying I want to see where she is. If she's standing, it's much easier for me to go in there and lay her back down than it is for her to stop being a drama queen and sit. And the second reason is that sometimes she'll stop crying, get very quiet, won't make a single peep for a good 30 minutes, I think it's totally ok for me to go in and check that all limbs are inside of the crib and she isn't in a funky position, go in there and bam...she's awake

.

That said though, my therapist shot down the idea. She didn't think it would do well for breaking the OCD behaviors. I still want to get one when my anxiety issues are better because the girl tricks me every single time.

Not that it matters now since R will be in charge of bedtime going forward. I don't know what it is about him vs me. I know most of you read my status but seriously, I don't know how he does it. For those not on my FB, picture going through 45m of screaming cries whenever I put S down to sleep and all R has to do is walk out of the room

. He gives her a bottle and walks right out. She passes out. No crying, no complaining

.

ETA: Yeah, viz, see above. Sophia held a family meeting with her stuffed animals and they all decided mommy is the sucker. I'm sure she has meeting minutes and everything.

MP-The tears stopped for normal stuff for me, like I can see commercials now. But what will completely crush me are sad stories of children. There was an article being emailed around that talked about leaving children in the car. I cried at work, on the way home, and I couldn't sleep. I don't want to hear sad stories about children. I think it's important to hear the stories and learn from them but I just don't want to know.

 

[Mara]

Fiery I read that article in Parenting, it was so sad. I posted about another article about lithium cell batteries. It''s horrible. But I try not to obsess over it (I also have OCD tendencies) because I know there''s only so much about his life I *can* control and that we all do the best we can.

What about getting a video monitor and having R be in charge of looking and giving you the thumbs up re going into her room etc. Though, surprisingly...given said tendencies, the monitor helps me rather than hurts me.

re: being a sap...I also get really weirdly emotional sometimes, usually when J is laughing or giggling up a storm and it just strikes me to the heart how friggin adorable my child is and that I even have a child and blah blah blah. And that he will never be this age again. But I don''t cry, I just tear up. And I''m tearing up now writing this...LOL!

 

[ChinaCat]

Fiery- It''s that they know we are suckers. I''ve mentioned before that I rocked O to sleep for a time. Well I wasn''t home for bedtime one night and DH just put O down and walked out and O put himself to sleep. So I knew he could do it, he just didn''t want to. So he squawked a bit when I tried it, but 2 nights later it was done.

Viz- Sounds like C is READY.

Like I said, I used to rock O but at a certain age he started "playing" with my face, the chair, trying to make me smile, flipping his head back and forth on my shoulder and I just "knew" that he was tired and needed to lie down and put himself to sleep. And he did. Those cues tell me to just put him down. That''s GREAT that your pedi is someone you trust and had a kiddo like C.

The video monitor can definitely be a crutch if you are a bit neurotic. I turn it on until I know he''s asleep and then I keep it by my bedside but off. I only turn it on in the middle of the night if I hear him, or I turn it on when I wake up to check on him. But esp since O is upstairs and we are downstairs, it''s a huge help.

And Fiery, your therapist might be right. Like I said, I''m not very neurotic BUT I can''t say that I never wake up at night convinced that someone has quietly broken into our house and has stolen him from his crib and have to turn on the monitor and check.

Nevermind that our large dog would bark at ANYTHING that comes near our house and we have alarms on every door and window AND I can hear EVERYTHING in our house- walking, doors, etc. But still.

 

[phoenixgirl]

Viz, good luck tonight! Drink some Conundrum beforehand to steal yourself, or afterward as a reward, or both!!!

I am in no way in the same position as Claire has resumed STTN, but her daytime nap schedule is all over the place, and she has had difficulty falling asleep recently. I am wondering if I am doing something "wrong." With daycare, as long as she was happy, I wasn''t going to impose any routine on them to follow. A couple of times she had only had one short nap and was cranky-pants at home, but usually she got in her naps whether they were one long one, three short ones, two medium ones, etc.

But now my mom friends are trying to make plans with me, and they''re like, "When does Claire nap? Can you do 2:00?" And I''m like, "I have no idea. Am I supposed to know this?" I just figure things out based on when she wakes up. Seriously, I''m just grateful she''s STTN. I don''t want to get greedy! I also like that I can be flexible -- if I have a 2:00 playdate, I can make sure she stays up right after breakfast and naps before. If I have lunch at 12:00, I can adjust our schedule accordingly. Are there any reasons why I should aim for more regular naps? Enlighten me, Moms Who Know More Than PG!

MP, I am surprised at how much of a push-over I am. Seriously . . .

 

[Sabine]

Mara, Jacks dropped to 4 daytime feedings at the same time that he started going to 2 naps a day, which I think was around 5 months. It also coincided with him taking 2-3 solids feedings a day. It happened because his old 5 bottle a day schedule didn''t work with his nap schedule anymore...he would get up at 6 and eat, then I would go to feed him 3 hours later, but he''d be ready for a nap at 8:30. So we went to an every 4-4.5 hours instead of 3.

Viz, good luck tonight, I really hope it goes smoothly for you. Stay strong! I couldn''t have done it (and don''t think I could function now even) without the video monitor. Sometimes when Jacks was crying I needed to just sit in front of the monitor and watch him and rock...couldn''t talk, couldn''t read, couldn''t do anything. Other times, I would do the dishes/do laundry/take a walk while dh was home so that I wouldn''t have to hear it.

As for the video monitor, seriously, best investment ever. Jacks has a door that sticks, so if I tried to open it and he was in light sleep, it would definitely wake him, and I''ve always hated not being able to tell if he was just being quiet or actually asleep.

Fiery, it''s definitely a mommy thing. When Jacks is being fussy, dh can calm him/get him to go to sleep by just going in and rocking him for a second and laying him down. If I go in, all hell breaks loose and I can''t leave unless he''s in a deep sleep, which is why I NEVER go in anymore. But oppositely, if dh is putting him to bed, he''s fine, UNLESS he sees me, and then all he does is scream for dh cause he wants me. If he doesn''t see me, he''s fine though.

Things have been a bit crazy here. We''re moving a week from today! But apparently our stuff isn''t guaranteed to arrive until July 15th!!! Apparently that''s normal for the Navy, but even if we take our sweet time getting to Florida, we''re going to be in our house up to 10 days without stuff. Not fun.

We also had the joint early bday party for all the babies in our mommies group, which was fantastic, and did one last group photo shoot. I''m guessing most of you saw the pictures I put on fb, but if anyone didn''t and wants to see, I can post some here

And finally, I''ve been ruminating on CIO...I really felt it was necessary to do sleep training on Jacks when we did, at 4 months, even though I felt it was early. I used to tell myself that if I had a good sleeper, I never would have done it so early. But now I see how much he has benefited from being so well rested and so good at putting himself to sleep, how easy he gets over setbacks from being sick, separation anxiety, etc., and it just makes me so glad that I did it when I did, and it also makes me think that maybe in the future I''d do the same thing even if future LOs weren''t TERRIBLE sleepers. It''s odd to admit that because I felt so guilty about doing it when I did, but now I really feel happy that I did.

I''m not saying this to make it seem like anyone else should do it, I was just surprised by my change of heart.

 

[ChinaCat]

Hi Sabine! Those pics of all of the kiddos in the denim diapers was hysterical. And Jacks is so handsome. Good luck on your move. Are you happy to be moving? Are you going to be near Fiery at all?

So my early confession is that unlike all of you, O doesn''t seem to have ANY separation anxiety towards me. I am glad he''s so well-adjusted but I do confess that it makes me a bit sad. I *know* it''s not b/c I work, it''s just his personality but I can''t help but feel a bit wistful about it. He''s perfectly happy to see me, but doesn''t get over-excited and barely pays attention when I leave. I think he''d be this way regardless and there are definitely times when he only wants me, etc. But still.

 

[Sha]

Sabine - yes! please post pics!

China - awwww....((HUGS)). I hear where you''re coming from. It''s nice to feel ''missed'' and wanted by your LO. I guess O''s just going to be an independent little guy....

 

[Mara]

China...aww...I hear what you are saying about O being independent. J is like that too. Sure he smiles when I come home and he sees me, but he isn''t snuggly and he doesn''t reach for me or anything (maybe it''s too early), he doesn''t cuddle, and he doesn''t cry when I leave him or anything. I am happy he is so well-adjusted, esp since I work so someone else has to watch him...but sometimes I wish maybe he''d cry just a little or get super excited when he hears my voice or something, hehe. Overall he just seems pretty good natured and he wants to be with ''someone'' ... whoever it is.

BUT...and I don''t know he just does this with me but maybe it''s because I am pretty much always there when he wakes..but when he wakes he is all smiley and giggly and it''s just the cutest thing ever.

Sabine...I hope the move goes well!!

PG... When I was home with J and even on wkds now, I pretty much just want him to get 2 naps a day. He has never been a huge napper anyway, so if I get 2 one hour naps out of him I am happy. That assumes he sleeps his regular hours at ninght. So I try to nap him ''near'' the same time daily but if it''s off one or two hours it''s ok for the most part for him. But I think it really depends on the babe.

oh and CC .. sometimes I wake up convinced of something too...I think even without the monitor it''d be the same thing!!

 

[TravelingGal]

Chinacat, I think it''s because I didn''t have a video monitor for a long time. We didn''t get one until we moved to our current house, so Amelia had to be over 1.5 years old. I can tune out the noise and the crying when I hear it (I''m used to it) but seeing her standing in her crib looking for me crying? Uh, lots tougher.

I do think it does make it easier in general to be able to see what''s going on though.

Hearing or hearing and seeing, it doesn''t make a difference...if you aren''t generally for CIO and make a go of it, it''s going to be hellacious either way.