PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/24/2010 9:05:33 PM
Author: 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.

Hunter is like this too. He is only really a mommy suck when he is sick. Otherwise he is off exploring.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Viz If you think CIO is something you want to try, then full throttle 100% is the only way to go. Do it exactly like your doctor mentioned. If you are not ready eyt, don't do it. I was nto ready when Hunter was 7 months and we waiting until 9 months. He was sleeping in his own crib though. In my humble opinion based on learning theory, if you half-a$$ it you are creating more troubles for the future. It is sort of an all or nothing thing. I found it easier to be as far away as possible when he was crying, ear plugs and all, NO video to torture yourself watching him, and we had two terrible night and then BOOM sleeping 12 hours a night. Load him up with 5 binkies, white noise, bumpers to keep the binkies in the crib and his arms and legs inside. He still sleeps through now. Though it was tough I do think he is better for it -- he is a happy healthy kiddo and unless teething is in the way he is very pleasant. I do think a part of it is that he gets a lot of sleep. So if you do opt to CIO you are not torturing your son, you are teaching him something that will benefit him in the long run. Anyways, not telling you to do it, just saying *if* you decide you need to gird your loins and just do it no matter what.

 

[phoenixgirl]

You guys are making me think about getting a video monitor. Our 100 year old floors squeak like crazy . . . no way to sneak up on Claire and peek in undetected.

So . . . I went for the crib with no bumper. She seems like she's gotten used to the crib here, and I didn't want to then introduce another strange place to sleep (the PNP). I decided against the bumper because she's sticking her leg out precisely because she's turning perpendicular in the crib, so her head would likely end up against the bumper. When I checked on her at 2:30 a.m., indeed, her head was against the slats, so much so that she couldn't turn it to the side. She's so new to sleeping on her stomach that I'm not sure of her ability to move that way, and I figured the greater chance of leg injury was still more palatable to me than the lesser chance of face smooshing.

When I checked on her in the middle of the night, she smelled of a big vinegary (like the old EBF) poo, and I wished someone would tell me what to do again . . . change her or let her sleep. Luckily, I chose option A and she didn't even wake up.

We did have a rough night, though. She went down at 8:15 but woke up at 10:30 and kept crying (teething -- I rubbed some Orajel on her gums), and I was just too tired to stay up with no DH to take turns (my mom can sleep through anything, and I wouldn't have wanted her to be up after a full day of babysitting). So I did CIO after two or three attempts to soothe her. I thought she would never fall asleep, so I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up at 2:30 to realize she must have fallen asleep and so did I. Now my crazy girl is still sleeping at 8 a.m.


So VIZ . . . what happened last night? Worst night ever? Some success? I hope you got some rest and accomplished whatever you wanted!

 

[vizsla]

hey ladies!

let me catch up before i get into our night.

PG - glad claire decided to keep her arms and limbs inside the ride at all times i remember reading posts from CC and fiery about ''should i change?, not change?'' something like that would bother me to no end and i wouldn''t be able to get comfortable - i''d opt to change too

cc - i hear ya! while it can be a PIA sometimes when c just waaaaaannnnnntttttssss mommy, it also makes me feel like he doesn''t hate me too much for working all of the time. OTOH it also makes me feel like *because* i work all of the time he is extra clingy. umm yeah, so this mom guilt isn''t going to go away is it?

how are things going on your work situation? did you decided to cut your hours??

sabine - good luck on your move!! i''m get very jealous of people who have the opportunity to live by water DH has a chronic illness that is exacerbated by our location, he always feels like a million bucks when he is near the salt and surf - i''ve thought about moving to FLA more times than i care to admit..... someday. i could *totally* live where people vacation.

crappity crap... we started a new page and now i can''t scroll to see who else i''ve missed...

mara - any more word on the cupcake bizz?

fiery- hey girl!!! are you on vacation yet??? what did you decided to do/go? enjoy your time off and your time with your little lady!!! mmuuuaaaahhhhhh! ((hugs))

mt, kim, sha, drk

mandy, you out there??

AFM- well, last night wasn''t as bad as i was expecting.

DD, i *totally* understand where you are coming from - if we don''t see improvement in the next few days doing our version of sleep ''training'' (modified hybrid viz-style) then we will go 100% no intervention. DH and i discussed it at length, and felt it a bit cruel to go from 2-3 feedings a night AND c in our bed to zero feedings AND his crib all night - that was our only hiccup in the hard-core CIO plan... well that, and my nagging anti-CIO feelings.

anyhoodles, our night went like so:

typically c takes a nap after he gets home from daycare b/c he''s sooo exhausted (from not sleeping all day

) this was a

according to the pedi, so we kept him up until bedtime. DH and i both had to take him on a walk to calm his fussy ''tude - but even during my walk he was READY for bed. around 6:45p i gave him a bath, made a bottle and we went to *his* room to read books and have a bottle before bed. after the first book he was READY to sleep so i fed him, burped him and he almost zonked out on my shoulder. i snuggled with him a little more and then laid him in his crib. he opened his eyes, tried to be pissed that he was in his crib, but closed them and fell asleep. i scattered 5 pacis around him - white noise going and left the room. i was enjoying the summer evening and chatting with DH by 7:25p - early success!

@ 8:30p c woke up and started to cry - i made the executive decision (since he typically sleeps until 12a) to pop in, pat his tush, pop the paci back in and say good night - he instantly fell back asleep!

@ 9:30 c woke up and started to cry again - we decided this was the time to let him cry. i knew he wasn''t hungry, and i wasn''t planning on going in and pacifying him all night - game ON! DH and i laid in bed and watched ''30 rock'' while c cried and cried and cried and cried. at one point the dog came into our room and literally stared us down like, "ummm, are you going to do something about that crying baby over there?" ...... but by 10:00p all i heard was a sniffle, gulp, sniffle, gulp, gulp, sniffle... then nothing.

@ 12:15a c woke up and started to cry - i had decided that i would feed him at this time b/c it was 5 hours since his last feeding and i wasn''t comfortable letting him go 12 hours without eating. the funny thing was by the time i made the bottle c had stopped whining and was sleeping - what to do?? so i went back to sleep, cursing myself for wasting a bottle.

however, @ 1:00 c woke up again and *really* started to cry. since he didn''t go back to sleep for a long stretch of time i *knew* he was hungry (and my bottle was good for an hour. i went in and fed him, put him back in the crib and i was back in my bed by 1:15a.

@ 4:25 c woke up (his typically early morning wake up - grrrrrr). and we let him cry, and cry, and cry and cry.... by 4:45a i heard sniffle, gulp, sniffle, gulp, gulp gulp, sniffle... then nothing.

@ 6:00a he woke up again. DH and i decided this was enough for the night. DH changed him while i made a bottle. he ate *most* of the bottle, but didn''t finish it! i assumed he would be famished, but wasn''t? or he was just so tired he didn''t feel like eating.

he was getting pretty tired and crabby already by the time i left for work this morning, and DH just called me saying that he doesn''t know if he can wait all the way until 10:00a to put him down for his first nap - they had already been on an hour walk. i told him i was totally cool with a 9:00a first nap and we can push that as we see fit once the nighttime sleeping gets better.

i know it sounds like an awful lot last night, but DH and i considered it pretty successful. #1 he slept ALONE in his room in his crib all night - this is the first time he''s ever done *that* and he only cried for 30mins each time... i''m still exhausted today, but encouraged for the weekend.

so, how was YOUR thursday night? tee hee

 

[fieryred33143]

Date: 6/25/2010 9:13:15 AM
Author: vizsla

i know it sounds like an awful lot last night, but DH and i considered it pretty successful. #1 he slept ALONE in his room in his crib all night - this is the first time he''s ever done *that* and he only cried for 30mins each time... i''m still exhausted today, but encouraged for the weekend.

so, how was YOUR thursday night? tee hee

Actually, I think it was pretty successful too. 20-30 minutes of crying before falling back to sleep? On night 1 of CIO? Um, AWESOME! Only eating once overnight AND being in his own crib? AWESOME AWESOME.

Regarding the overnight feeding. C is almost 8 months, right? Going 12 hours without a bottle is actually pretty normal. Once he gets used to his routine, you may be able to eliminate that bottle.

Also, for napping I would go based on his cues that way you can see what kind of schedule comes from it. I''ve mentioned before that Sophia won''t go 2-3 hours without a nap when she was younger. Now it''s more like 3-4 hours. I think *most* babies are like this. They''re awake for a certain amount of time and then need a nap. If C woke up at 6am and is already sleepy by 9am, chances are that he really does need/want a nap.

Great job Viz and Mr. Viz

 

[fieryred33143]

PG-I''ve mastered the overnight changing of a diaper without waking her up. I don''t like her to sleep in poo either. Not to mention that with girls, it can lead to UTIs. That''s awesome that CIO worked for you too

 

[Bella_mezzo]

YAY VIZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[curlygirl]

viz, I''ve been silently following your story and I want to applaud you!! I think you (and DH and C) did great for your first night of CIO. Big accomplishment and it''s only going to get better. You should be proud of yourself!

 

[drk]

Viz - wow, sounds like an unqualified success to me! Glad you''re all getting a little more sleep, and that the ears are so much better.

I''ve lost track of everything else I was thinking of commenting on. I keep reading the thread late at night while feeding K, and have trouble typing well with one hand, so I just don''t comment.

AFM, K''s sleeping longer at night now. The last couple nights I''ve had to wake her up because it''s been over 6 hours from her last feed, and we''re still struggling with weight issues. I BF her, sometimes manage to get some extra EBM into her, and then she''s asleep again. I''ve also started putting her in her bassinet beside the bed because it was getting too annoying to have her get restless beside me in bed in the mornings. She wouldn''t really be awake or crying for food, she''d just start shifting around in bed when it starts to get light out (still don''t have blackout shades for our room or hers, but have finally ordered them). She went down at 6:45pm three nights ago, but more like 9:30pm the last two nights. I think she''s starting to slowly shift her sleep time a little earlier now.

I''m back at work now, and it''s been a struggle to get 7 feeds into her a day. 6 seems to be where we''re ending up now (14.5 weeks). She''ll take somewhere between 3-4oz from DH during the day at two feeds while I''m at work, and a good amount of supplement after I leave her to go to work (after feeding her at 6:30am) and after I feed her when I get home. I have no idea what she''s getting out of me during feeds though. Must weigh her tomorrow morning to see how our weight gain is going. She was up to about the 5th percentile last time I weighed her.

It''s normal for them to stop having daily BMs at this stage, right? She''s still having lots of wet diapers each day, but sometimes skips one or two days with the BMs. Then has a big blowout.

We were told we can start trying solids at around the 4 month mark, so I''m planning to try a little avocado or banana after next weekend when she hits 3.5 months, since she was 1.5 weeks overdue. That might help us get a few more calories into her, though we are slowly working through my mini freezer stash as we try to give her more. Are you supposed to separate the times when you BF and give solids, like give solids as a snack in between feeds?

Work''s going ok. I miss her when I''m here, but am enjoying doing something other than feed, pump and change diapers again. I''m pumping in the OR, used to try to power pump the first couple days, but I don''t know that it made much difference. Now I pump in the car on the way to work after feeding her, then I try to pump every 2 hours after that, finishing up around 2pm, and plan to feed her again around 4pm when I get home. I seem to get 7-8oz over that time period in general. I''m still so jealous of everyone with a better supply! I''m lucky to get 2oz at a session, and I think this is about all the production I''m capable of. The poor boobs are getting sick of being fed upon, pumped, and squeezed with breast compressions to try to eke out a little more.

Hope everyone else is well! No pic at work to share for BPF, sadly.

 

[littlelysser]

Hey ladies. Thanks for the kind words about the robbery. I still can't believe what a crap sandwich the past 6 weeks have been.

The topper? Last night we discovered that the robbers took our TOILET PAPER!!! We had a giant sized, costco package of toilet paper. DH went to the basement to get some TP and it was gone. WHO STEALS TOILET PAPER????

Anyhoodle...

CC - You'll probably be VERY unsurprised to learn that C has nothing even close to separation anxiety. And I'm home with him - so don't beat yourself up at all. I think it is just their personalities. We take C to a music class on Saturday and as soon as we put him on the floor, he's off. Crawling up to people, banging on drums and pretty much ignoring us. When we were in Chicago, he warmed up immediately to my bestie, and had NO problem with me leaving the room pretty much right after we got there.

As for food - funny you should ask. I just made Calvin two dishes from First Meals that are for older babies. One is a mild lentil curry dish and the other is a salmon, peas, carrots and cheese thing. They both require spoons, but are not purees. It'll be interesting to see what he likes. I'm going to make him some butternut squash pasta tonight and some chicken couscous. When we go out, I order him a scrambled egg and avocado or whatever I think he'd eat - grilled cheese, mac 'n cheese and a few other things. Yesterday I made him an egg with cheese and scallions and a piece of toast. Cut the toast into leeeetle pieces and he seemed to enjoy it. I try to make sure he's got finger food at ever meal, even if it is just some cut up cheese.

Oh, and get this. My kid does not like sweet things. I gave him some ripe and delicious mango, and he acted like I was trying to poison him. But I gave him a taste of my balsamic tofu from wholefoods, and he went NUTS. Loved that. So, to recap, Mango = poison. Tofo with Balsamic vinegar, basil and roasted red peppers = awesome. He's a weirdo.

Viz - YAY for STTN success! I'll be sending many many many many many good sleeping thoughts your way!!!

EB - Adorable pictures and happy birthday to Henry! How is he a year old???

Sha - Good luck with the sleep training to you too!

Sabine - Yay on Florida! How exciting!

Dr.K - C was EBF'ed and literally went 9 days without a poop once. And he wasn't constipated. When he finally went, it was a normal size and consistency poop. I think some kids just use BM very efficiently. Freaked the heck out of me, but he was fine!

PG - Calvin naps around 9 and 2, give or take a half hour. It works pretty well for us because I can schedule things around his naps, and I find that if he doesn't nap, he gets uber crankster and tired.

MP - I still get teary sometimes when I think of how much I love C. He just makes my heart hurt. And the CIO thing is hard. Luckily, we haven't had to do it - C has always been a good sleeper (it is just his nature, I guess...got that from his dad) - but I wouldn't worry too much about it until you have to!

Fiery - I tend towards anxiety as well, but I really enjoy the video monitor. It is fun to watch Calvin move and scoot in his sleep...and it is fun now that he'll kind of entertain himself in his crib. I like to spy on him!

Everyone else, Hello!

And here are two pics from BPF. Calvin is all about reading books. And standing. So his favorite thing is to stand near the coffee table and read his books.

First pic, serious calvin. Baby animals is some heavy stuff.

 

[littlelysser]

And although books are serious business, apparently, upside down books are HYSTERICAL!

 

[littlelysser]

Okay, I lied. Here is one more pic, that makes me LOL.

Like all men, C has taken to reading while on the "toilet."

Here he is, getting his diaper changed, enjoying some dr.suess.

 

[fieryred33143]

I love pics of Calvin LL

 

[jcrow]

viz - yay! day one of cio done.

littlelysser - c is so cute!!

funny timing about the little ones not popping. yesterday we called the pedi because e hadn''t gone for 2 days. the pedi said to give her a bit of apple juice with water. sure enough, she pooped! funny what makes us happy these days! haha.

this weekend, e will get to meet her great grandparents. i''m really looking forward to it!

 

[cdt1101]

VIZ - THAT''S AWESOME!! I think Charlie did soooooooooo great last night!! I''m really so happy for all of you!

LL - that last pic of Calvin is hysterical!!! Absolutey LOVE it!

Hello to everyone else

Can''t wait to see the new pics today

 

[MonkeyPie]

Lysser, LOL @ Calvin reading during a diaper change! Hey, whatever works, right? I can''t wait until Micah gets distracted enough during diaper changes to not notice me. Sometimes in the middle of the night I can do it without waking him up completely, but during the day he tends to pull his legs toward his chest while laughing hysterically. It''s funny, but makes me take twice as long!

drk, I bet K starts gaining weight if she likes avocado - those things are calorie city and most babies love them. I hope that helps, I know you''ve really struggled with the weight gain. She may just end up being a skinny girl!

As for BM, Micah used to skip days a LOT until we switched his formula to the Gentlease. Now he does great. A friend told me to put about a teaspoon of the Gerber apple-prune juice in his bottle to get things moving along, and it really works.

I''m hoping we never have to do CIO. Micah is a great sleeper and he usually only wakes up once between 9pm and 6am. Not a bad deal so far, though he usually doesn''t get the recommended 12 hours a night. And he rarely naps. So hopefully we can just skip the sleep training altogether, he''s such a happy baby.

 

[Sha]

littlelysser - ha ha!!

You're hilarious! I love the way you write. Those pics of Calvin are precious!! What a cutie. Dalila has a few board books like that Baby Animals one, but every time I read it to her she tries to eat it! Silly girl.

drk - sounds like you're doing a great job with the feedings!

It must be tough working and pumping, working and pumping....I don't think I could keep up with that schedule. You're doing a great job!

viz - yayy for good sleep progress!!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Viz I think it was a very good night! One of the things that made me know Hunter was ready to go 12 hours without feeding was that when he ate at night, he was not hungry in the morning

So the fact that c was not hungry in the am makes me think that it is possible he is ready to go all night. Something to keep in mind! Also, when Hunter was that age he woke at 6am too and he had his first nap at 9am for an hour and a half then his secodn nap around 1pm for an hour and a half then was in bed by 6:30 *at the latest*. Again, something to think about as you work on finding a schedule that works for you.

 

[Mara]

i love reading about how diff all the babies are.

ll...calvin is adorable, love the one of the upside book and the big smile. and umm TP stealing bastards..right. i would love it if J liked weird acidic treats instead of sweet, my sweet tooth is the bane of my jeans fitting existence!

drk...hope K is still gaining well and i hear you re: liking being something other than a mommy back at work. just wish i had more flexibility. and the boobs over here are like limp washcloths now. sooo charming.

viz....yay..it sounds successful to me! i agree with fiery, 30 min or less of crying and him spending the whole night in crib without someone in there=big success!!! and yay for you guys on being able to let him CIO at all...i know how against it you were. re: the cupcake biz..still mulling it over. i would really have to go hard core on marketing and i am just not there yet. i am hoping to also find something else to do from home--like a contract PT or something. but at this point still just trying to figure out WHAT i really want to do. and my darn company pays me enough for me to be greedy about the $$.

question--when are the LO's able to grab/find the pacifiers in their crib? J is mobile but not understanding he can 'take his body' to something yet so just wondering what is typical or average.

dd..lol i loved 'gird your loins'. classic.

re: poop.. sometimes J skips a day but usually goes the next. if he seems a little farty but no poop then we give him a little camomile tea with water and he will usually go. i am trying to stay away from juices as long as possible.

re: food... J liked avocado but didn't love it. i figure it's an acquired taste. but yes it's a great way to get cals in. note..about banana. it can constipate them, esp with rice cereal.

here are two pics for today...the first is J with portia from last weekend, sooo funny. she was going in for the sniff and he was making some noise and rollling his eyes. result is hilarious.

the next one is me and J on father's day. i love his little safari outfit, his huge smile...it cracks me up that my little boy is so pinky and i am so dark. i wish it wasn't blurry though, so sad. my camera doesnt' seem to be taking as crisp of a photo as it used to. i am tempted to get a new one since i don't want to keep taking priceless photos that are BLURRY. ugh.

 

[Mara]

oh forgot to add...

--creaky floors..we''ve got them. and J''s door also sticks, that is as well why we love the video monitor...it really minimizes having to enter his room.

 

[Sha]

My BPF contribution:

 

[vizsla]

dd - that''s interesting.. i didn''t think of it like that, hmmmmmmmmm. i''m sure eliminating the 12a bottle is something that we will eventually work towards - but because i have *those* feelings about CIO already, the softee in me just can''t let him go all night... yet. i knew he was ready to be UP for the day at 6:00a, because he''s typically always up by 6 but i might die if i put him to bed 15mins after i got home from work... totally selfish - maybe he''ll slowly start sleeping until 7:00a

thanks fiery! - logically i think i know c can go 12 hours w/out eating.. but i don''t think i''m ready for that mental game - is he crying b/c he''s hungry? or just b/c he''s ticked he''s in his room? if i can eliminate that one piece of the puzzle then i''m more comfortable putting the pillow over my head and trying to fall back asleep

. and i bow down to you for being able to change sophia without waking her! have a great vay-cay!!

thanks bella!

thanks curly! i hope no one else on this board has to go thru the whole ear infection mumbo jumbo - i''ll take one for the team

thanks drk - boo hiss about going back to work! gah, i swear it seems like yesterday you came over to this board!! we started c on avocado mixed with water.. he LOVED it!

ll- tee hee! you know how i feel about calvin

i wish c-dizzle and c-dog could be friends IRL!

thanks jcrow!! now onto day 2!

cdt!!! there you are! where have you been hiding? on the next board?

we need to know how that itty bitty baby of yours is baking!! and of course, how little lex is doing!!

thanks sha!

mara! thanks!! c started ''finding'' his paci around 6 months maybe?? but now can REALLY work it. if it falls out in the middle of the night he''ll root around and stick it back into his mouth. which is another reason i felt more comfortable letting him cry at this stage. i can tell that he definitely ''gets it'' now, whereas before he was just like "what are you doing to me?" and i know what you mean about the job. i would LOVE to work PT, but can''t find PT work that would even be 1/2 of my salary... boo hiss!!

DH updates from today were encouraging. he put c down in his crib around 9:00a for his first nap and he slept for an hour and a half!! he went back down in his crib! at 1:00p and i haven''t heard if he''s up yet. DH said both times were relatively ''easy''.... which, no offense to my husband, were probably a piece of cake since DH tends to exaggerate when it comes to c.

stay tuned for nights 2 and 3

have a great weekend everyone.

 

[Burk]

Viz~I agree with the others-HUGE success! Yay for you guys!!

So, since we all like projects, I''m gonna add one to the mix!

Feel free to share thoughts on this one:

Background: Since around 10 weeks K was going down at 7pm and waking around 3 to eat and waking around 6-7 for the day. After his 4 month shots (3 weeks ago) he caught a nasty virus and was waking every 1-2 hours because he didn''t feel well. At first I thought it was just 4 month wakeful but quickly figured out he was in pain and needed comfort. Since the virus his night time sleep has gone to h*** in a handbag. Seriously ridiculous. He wakes at least once a night but last night was up 3 times. Every time he wakes I let him fuss for a while first, then try and binky him, pat his back, ect. I even try rocking and bouncing but last night all 3 times he acted like he was starving and would not settle down until I fed him. He at 13 oz over night last night. Ridiculous. So, then this morning he wasn''t hungry and didn''t take his first bottle until 11am

. He was also sooooo crabby this morning. Hmmmm wonder why....try sleeping kid!!

Other info: he can self soothe. Puts himself to sleep probably 50% of the time (other 50 he either falls asleep drinking his bottle or I bounce for a bit)and wakes and fusses, goes back down by himself at least once a night. He is a whopping 16 plus pounds and will be 5 months on the 12th of July.

I need him to sleep better. I think if it was my first I would probably wait until at least 6 months to CIO but I have a 2 year old (who is potty training) and crabby baby during the day while trying to have quality time with Tayva and help her remember to pee on the potty.....it''s just not working.

So, I have let him CIO to go down for both naps. He''s so overtired that he was unable to go down without it. Took him a little under 10 minutes each time. No problems with that. But the question is what to do at night? Do I still do one feeding? He''s still quite young but he does drink usually around 30 oz during the day and I think the fact that he was not hungry this morning means he probably doesn''t need the night feedings? Thoughts? I hate this but it''s necessary.

Here''s a pic of the cute little bugger eating cereal.....

 

[Burk]

Forgot to say how CUTE all the babies are!! LOVE all the pics!

 

[drk]

Burk - no advice here, but sorry you''re dealing with such a change in sleeping habits!

When you feed your babies solids and EBM, do you feed them milk first then solids, or do you separate the two by a certain amount of time? I think I read somewhere that the solids might hinder good absorption of all the nutrients/iron etc in the BM.

Thanks everyone for the votes of encouragement on the feeding thing. I don''t know how long the pumping at work is going to last, but I''m taking it a week at a time. Would love to get to 6 months, but we''ll see. It''s a pain, and it does mean that I earn less money because there are busier lists in the OR that I just don''t pick because they wouldn''t work with pumping. And I don''t think I''m quite keeping up with K''s needs breastmilk-wise. Sometimes when I go home, I just want to relax and enjoy her, rather than having her immediately on the boob and knowing that I''ll have to pump again in 20min. Ugh.

Mara - I think the girls are definitely getting saggier around here too. Darn it. They used to be so nice and small and perky.

Great photos of all the cuties!

 

[vizsla]

burk, do you really want me to weigh in on k's sleeping situation? hahahahahahahahahaha ROTF!

but i DO remember mandy's boys were off kilter for about 6 weeks post shots. you may want to ride it out for another week or so and see if he goes back to eating 1x a night. i always err on the side of eating (obvs) but it's prob b/c i have a peanut and was sooooooo focused on proper weight gain. if you *can* hang in there and soothe at night, i would... but if k can put himself to sleep and you are not opposed to CIO, you could always try it this weekend and see if it gets better.

how are you holding up otherwise??

drk - we feed c a bottle, then wait about an hour later to give him solids.. since he doesn't *need* the nutrition from them yet. if he eats some, great.. if not... no biggie.
i hear ya on the pumping.. i thought it to be a PIA. hang in there for as long as you can muster!! it may get sooo much easier after you've been back to work for a month or so.

where's cc today???

 

[steph72276]

Quick shout out to all the mamas....hello

. Andrew has had me so busy running back and forth this week with a summer camp, I haven''t had much time to be on.

Viz, I think your night last night was very successful! Here''s to more sleep for C and mama!

Mara, can''t really offer any help on getting J to drop a feeding....my little porker still takes 6 oz every 2 hours unless he''s napping! I''m not complaining though b/c he goes 11-12 hours at night, so I just go with his hunger signals.

All the pics are adorable!

AFM, we tried oatmeal, peas, and avocado this week. Oatmeal & avocado were hits...peas, not so much!

Hopefully I''ll have more time this weekend to catch up more. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

[Mara]

burk...i don't remember how much younger K is than J..maybe like 2-3 weeks? anyway J had kind of a pre-4m wakeful...the week before and the week of 4m. he started waking 1x a night and sometimes 2x, binky would work. then at about 2nd week he started getting worse--waking the same 1-2x but not wanting to be bink'd and we had to feed him a few times too.

i read that they also go through a 4m growth spurt so i didn't want to not feed him. could be that K is dealing with something similar. we just kept doing the same thing over and over, aka not changing his routine at all, and within bout 4-5 days he was back to waking 1-2x a night and bink would work. now he is getting even better again, waking 1x a night or sometimes not at all.

anyway i'd give him another night or two and then see if things change., but hugs since i know how hard it is. but re: the food, i wouldn't feed him unless you absolutely felt he needed it. J goes 12 hours at night so if once in a while he tends to NEED to eat..aka nothing else seems to work and crying takes longer than 15 or 20 min with no abatement...i feel like ok maybe he's hungry. and usually he will eat like 5-6oz. that said if he was waking 3-4 hours and wanting to eat each time suddenly then i wouldn't be as into feeding him.

drk... i hear you re; wanting to enjoy the time with babe rather than be worrying about food. that is partially why i had no prob doing 1/2 BM 1/2 FF with J. i was still giving him the nutrients from the BM but i ddin't need to worry about anything other than getting the milk out and having someone give it to him. it's nice to just come home at 5 and know he needs a bottle at 5:30 and just be able to give him the oz he needs and that's it. do what is best for you mentally, but don't feel bad if you decide to do a hybrid model. i am all about QT with the baby and
sometimes that is not necessarily feeding time. i am trying to get to 6m with just some BM but my bb's seem to want to have other ideas!

re: solids..we give J a bottle then solids. usually if he will take 5-6oz at that feeding i'll give 4oz of milk then see what he takes for solids (aka 1oz usually)...then i can always give another oz if he needs it in milk. like viz said we don't rely on food for real nutrition at this point, just trying out diff things to see what he likes. his nutrition comes from what he drinks still.

i forgot to say thanks for the info re: dropping a bottle. i decided to try consolidating his 3 day bottles into 2 so instead of 3 4oz bottles to try for 2 6oz bottles. he drank 9.5oz this morning at 8am, then 5oz at noon. i fed him 1oz of pear puree at 1, now he is napping. i am going to try to give him another 5-6oz at 4pm. then his bedtime bottle at 7pm, we'll see what he takes. he has been averaging maybe 25-27 a day..so as long as i can get him 25oz, i'll be happy if he drops a bottle. also i have a feeling that my mom has not been feeding him on the schedule i used to have him on since yesterday they fed him at 4pm when he normally should eat at 3pm. so this might be easier for them too, to only give him 2 bottles a day instead of 2-3 (depending on my work sched). AND then he won't be starving when i get home at 5:30 and totally crabby.

 

[fieryred33143]

Burk-the 30oz during the day and not being hungry in the morning makes me think that he doesn''t need the overnight bottle. I could be totally wrong but that''s my guess. If you are comfortable doing CIO and are already doing it for naps, I would probably stick with that routine for the evening as well.

The babies are soooo adorable!!

Mara-I love J''s face. He''s so handsome. And you are beautiful!
Sha-Love that pic of D! And I love to see her teeth too

Burk-K is so cute! Those eyes are killer

I need to get a pic of Sophia in here as my last BPF contribution! I told R to send me some pics since he''s home with her and they were both still in pjs at 2pm. And her hair was a mess. He says his vacation started yesterday so there was no need to get dressed

.

 

[cdt1101]

All the pics are sooooooooooooo cute!!!


Viz - thanks for asking about the little bun in the oven. Thing are going well, I've just been a nervous wreck this time around so I'm keeping a low profile

I'm 12w1d and have our NT scan on Monday! The 1st tri went by really fast, but it's just been so tense for me, it doesn't help that I've been spotting (brown) all this week, but I had an appt yesterday w/ my OBGYN and heard the HB via doppler so I need to just relax..yeah right! As for my little man Lex he's taking more and more steps everyday and well on his way to walking on his own. He just seems so grown up to me lately and he's "talking" up a storm! Seriously I can't wait to understand what he is saying because he has full-on conversations w/ us, but it's just a lot of babble and hand gestures...absolutely adroable

And I'm so lame I haven't even made it over to the other thread yet!