PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[turtledazzle]

lulu while deswaddling is def not fun it's prob easier in the long run you know...?!

re: toys at 1mo... J was also not really interested in much. we had all these toys that said like 0m+ but of course he didn't like any of them. it was maybe around 2m+ he started getting into things. he loved looking at our paintings and wall hangings (contrast) and out the window but that was about it.

also he would sometimes cry in the car as well if it wasnt moving. i tried to usually just load him up with food so that he was satiated and most times that would help him fall asleep in the car. but eventually he got better with it and now i think he realizes if he goes in the car it means something 'fun' on the other end so he's fine with it.

I always feed him before putting in the car seat as well (sometimes, unfort it has caused him to spit up ... oops). His first few trips in the car seat were to the pedi's office where he would cry b/c of being weighed, examined, etc. so I thought he might have a negative association with it because of that (if they can even form true associations at less than 1 month). That's why I have been trying to only put him in it when happy, but sometimes you have to be somewhere at a certain time!

 

[E B]

Quickly popping in to address anchor's post-

FWIW, my MIL is a PA, and she says that the vast majority of the men that come into her office with UTIs are un-circ'ed. I don't know exactly know how one causes the other, but I can ask her if you'd like. Your urologist will go into more detail too. I agree with the others- if you decide to do it, better sooner than later. It's a difficult decision, I know.

 

[jcrow]

turtle - those flashcards reminded me that we bought em this mobile [http://www.babyearth.com/manhattan-toy-wimmer-ferguson-infant-stim-mobile.html] and she loved it. we initially bought it to put on her co-sleeper as she had a pretty pb one on her crib but wasn't sleeping there yet. she loved it so that we'd use it during play time too. hold it over her for her to look at. she really enjoyed it.

 

[taovandel]

I just need a place to post this The crazy neighbor across the street (and when I mean crazy, I mean Bat Sh*t crazy...like has been arrested 30 times and I'm not lying, her latest arrest was for pointing a speargun at the neighbors....yup a spear gun...for fishing....) started ranting at my Dad and sister today...calling my sister a "dyke" and then proceeded to throw my name into the mix (I wasn't even there) and called me a fat slob!! Okay, I'm not the skinniest person out there (Um I'm also pregnant...with baby number 2 in a very short time period) but I wouldn't say I'm a fat slob.

And I know she is super duper crazy and maybe it's my pregnancy hormones but I almost cried at work because of it. It just really hurt my feelings.

I'm thinking I'm going to stop going around my parents house...and not just because of this, apparently she has a Child rapist living with her now (He is a registered sex offender and was convicted in 1994). It's going to kill my parents not being around Evan as much--but I don't want him around that stuff and I don't want to show up there so that she can yell mean things at me. A week before when I was heading into my parents house she yelled that my baby was illegit?!?!?!

It's been a rough day in general...My FIL had surgery on his bladder today because he had cancer there. They said they got it all they think...but I hate seeing my husband cry.

I also had to go in for a 3 hour glucola test...and got tunnel vision while driving on the way home and starting to get real clammy and wanting to vomit.

Okay.....I'm good now. Sorry for putting this here...didn't know where else to say it.

 

[mtjoya]

tao-WTF? Who is this b*tch to even say anything about you and your family? NO ONE! Don't pay attention to this dumb b*tch and mind your own business. I thought there were rules on where sex offenders can live. They have restrictions on what areas in the city they can live. I thought so. Don't let crazy dumb people like this get to you. That sux that your parents have to live nearby a crazy person like this. ugh!

 

[mtjoya]

I was checking out at Fresh & Easy and this lady that works there asked how big was J. I told her she was 7 months. She kept telling me how tiny she was and that her 9 month old was 4x bigger than J. I gave her the look and told her really? WOW! That's kewl! She asked how much did J weigh. I told her that I took her to her doc appt and weighed almost 18 lbs she might be almost 20 now. She was like NO!!! I was like OK, bye now. Mind you this was a teen mom talking to me and acting like a lil brat. Her comments didn't offend me because I have gotten them before. I was just like Ok..bye bye! people and their weird comments

Pic of my tiny diva bebe J eating her carrots...

 

[somethingshiny]

Oh, tao! Don't apologize for venting. What an awful day! Crazy a$$ neighbor for sure! Lots of prayers for your FIL.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Whoa, tao! What a crazy b*tch! Can you not just stay away from her since she is just a neighbor? Or does she try and invite herself into the yard/house?

Happy Friday ladies!

 

[Sha]

Re: toys at 1 month - Dalila had a few stuffed toys at that age, although she kind of stared at them most of the time. She started getting more interactive with her toys after about 7-8 weeks or so. I bought her a crinkly elephant toy with a mirror, rattle, and lots of dfferent textures to feel, and she enjoyed that a lot - still does.

mtjoya - cute pic!

tao - That lady has ISSUES.........!! Sorry you and your family have to endure that kind of torment on a regular basis.

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

AFM- So my lovelybaby has taken to standing up in her crib in the middle of the night, and then crying because she can't get back down. She started crying at 5:30 this morning, and when I checked in on her she was standing up and holding on to the rails, wailing her heart out. I thought that if I gave her some time she would figure out to get back down on her own, especially since I've seen her sort of do it before, and plus, I really didn't want to reinforce the 'standing' ....but she cried for 40 minutes!! So I eventually went in and plopped her back down with her pacifier. She fell asleep in about 5 minutes. I guess she really didn't know how to get down in her crib. I'll probably have to continue plopping her back down until she figures out how to go about it, or at least until she figures out that standing in the middle of the night doesn't make much sense.

Other than that, she's being such a treat. Soo much fun. I really love this age!

 

[Burk]

Hey mommies! I miss reading about all the adorable babies but hope to at least pop back in later today to see the pics. LOVE the pics! Things are just too crazy around here for me to have any PS time! I'm working mornings, get home with the kids by noon, play, naps and then when they nap I either do work or workout, then I have volleyball for a couple hours, come home to get dinner ready, then baths and bed. No PS time. Booooo

Kade turned 7 months last weekend. Some of you saw the elephant pic on the other site. I just can't believe how big he's getting and all the crazy stuff he's doing....he's one busy boy. He's been crawling for a couple months but he's now in full-on supper fast crazy crawl. He's into EVERYTHING. He also pulls up onto everything. I come in to his crib every morning to him standing waiting for me smiling (makes me nervous standing while in a sleep sack). He's "talking" constantly and LOUDLY but it's so darn funny. He also just finally figured out how to get the darn puffs in his mouth by himself. He seems so proud! Oh and he has 1 tooth through on the bottom but the other one is still working its way through and that's been making sleep tough. Poor baby. That's about it. He's happy as can be, though, tooth and all.

Hopefully I'll be able to read back and catch up this weekend. Hope you're all doing well!

 

[Laila619]

Those of you with babies who hate their infant car seats...do you all have Graco Snugrides? My girlfriend's baby daughter absolutely HATED being in her infant seat (we're talking nonstop screaming/crying), and it was a Snugride. Finally, as a last resort she bought a different infant seat and it solved the problem. Weird! Maybe it just wasn't comfy?

 

[Mara]

Tao ... consider the source of the crazy speak. Don't let it get to you but sorry you have to deal with it!

MTJ ... miss J is soo cute! i love her expressions. J is super expressive too, we love it. no wondering what he's thinking! oh and UMM that woman is on crack!! J being 18lbs for her age is great. our J is about 17.5-18 now and he's almost 8mo...and that is not SMALL by any means. he's wearing 12-18mo onesies. people are so weird.

MP...have fun with the pics!! can't wait to see them.

Sha... J started doing that a week ago and he DOES know how to get down but I think at night sometimes they tend to forget things they know until it's super ingrained in them. Like I have seen him get down from standing up but sometimes he will just stand there and cry. And if I let him cry for 5 min then walk in and put him down and give paci he totally just passes out. It's so weird, like a ritual we have to go through every time.

Laila...we have a Snugride and J has never hated it. There were instances when he def didn't love going into it but I think that was just more a function of the seat itself vs a body.

I think he is also teething, he's been kinda crabby and rubbing his gums on everything, esp the crib rail (which thankfully is covered in plastic). I don't mind him not having teeth yet but I think we may have one soon. He woke up at 3:30 last nite and was a little congested and guzzled 8 oz then stood up and laid down 3-4x then fell asleep til 8am.

We are also having some prof pics taken of him today, I am so excited to have our photographer back here.

And after sleeping 12 hours last nite I feel slightly better, but oh my gosh this cold is just trying to keep me down. I still don't feel all that great. My SIL comes in today and she hasn't seen J since he was 6W so i really wanted to be perky and fun for this wkd and it's so not gonna happen. I just hope she doesn't get sick. UGH! At least the weather should be nice so she'll have some CA Sunshine to enjoy.

 

[meresal]

Hey girls... thanks for the comments on the earmuffs. I love how they on him!
Ok, I am going to try and cover as much as possible:

Carseat: We have the Gradopedic. (Snugride is a VERY popular brand, and I don't think that has anything to do with it. It's just that most moms have that carseat.)
C screamed bloody murder for the first 3 months of his life when we put him in the carseat. I didn't drive ANYWHERE! It does get better. He is doing better now that he can see himself in the mirror and can really interact with his toys. I also put him in about 10-15 minutes before his nap, so he sleeps almost immediately after getting in. My son has always been a cuddler and hated being put down anywhere (even for naps), and so I think that was our problem. It had nothing to do with the carseat.
He is now 5 months and is doing soooooooo much better. Also, the older they are the more ways they can verbalize their discomfort with things, which means it wont always be mind blowing screams.

Toys: C didn't play with anything at one month. I don't think babies can even focus at 4 weeks. I would say not until C was about 2 months did he really start noticing his toys. (from what I can remember) My son loved being outside and staring at the sun. .. but I got a great tan, so no complaints here.

Tao- I'm so sorry to hear about that situation! Nobody wants to be yelled at, and I would hope your parents would understand the issue with going over there. Just ridiculous.

MTJ- So cute! I don't see anything wrong with that weight, and man do people need to get over themselves. C is just over 15lbs at 5 months.

Ally- If you all go to loud events I would invest in them. They are great!
Re: Your DH this morning, is there anyway that she fell back asleep after the bottle and he laid her down?

MP- Congrats on the sleeping at night! That is awesome! I hope he pictures go great this weekend

AFM... we are on a weekend getwaway. C slept really well last night in his hotel crib, so hopefully that will happen again tonight, since MIL and DH will be watching him (I am going to spend the night with a bunch of my girlfriends from highschool for a bachelorette party. I'm so excited to see them!). He's also doing really well with his naps, and we even got a 20 minute swim in at the pool after breakfast. As much as I may eat my words in about 2 months, I love that this kid enjoys being active! Except for the drive to get places, he loves being out and about.
Tomorrow C turns 5 months! I am just loving every minute of this little guy. Each day gets better and better!

 

[curiousaboutdiamonds]

Lulu - re: deswaddling - we had to deswaddle around 4 months when A learned how to roll over. We tried to do it cold turkey and that was a major FAIL. So we started doing one-arm for both naps and evening. I think it took 2 weeks for A to finally deswaddle.

re: car seat - A hated hated hated it. She screamed bloody murder when we put her in there for doctor visits. I remember we attempted to take her for a walk after 1 month and we went about 50 feet and had to turn back because she screamed so hard. I don't think she was okay with the seat until about 3 months. I thought babies liked being in the carseat in the car because it put them to sleep. Nope, not my child, she was always awake and looking around. I really like putting the mirror in the back so I can see her - I think she liked looking at herself too. Hang in there!

Turtle - re: toys - the first 2 months all we had were a rattle and play mat for tummy time. A wasn't interested in any of it until about 3 months when she started to touch and see more colors. I think at 1 month, babies can only see black and white??

re: fussiness - I think there is a growth spurt at 3 and 6 weeks. A was extra fussy during those times as well.

re: waiting for DH - for the first 2 months, I would also watch the time to see how much longer before DH got home from work. It really is tiring to watch the LO all day. We need a break too!

Mara - Boo on still being sick. Sending you more healthy thoughts ...

Tao - Wow, how crazy is that woman! Don't listen to her, well, because she's CRAZY! I hope you don't have to stay away from your parents. Hope your FIL recovers well!

Mtj - Miss J is C-U-T-E! She must love carrots. lol

MP - Have a great weekend. Can't wait to see the family pics.

Sha - Oh no, another baby standing up already!?! Hope she learns to sit back down soon.

Burk - K sounds so fun and super adorable.

Mere - Happy 5 months to C! Time has just flown by. My DH told me he put her in her crib because she was moving all over the bed and he was afraid she'd fall so he just put her in her crib. He's forgiven though, because he helped me clean up my coffee mess. Have a great time with the girlfriends!

AFM - Alyson has learned how to sit up, so we'll be lowering her crib this weekend. Sometimes I see her in the monitor reaching her hands over the railing to try to pull herself up. We finally have a weekend with no plans, so I'm looking forward to just hanging out.

Be back with a picture ...

 

[curiousaboutdiamonds]

Here's Miss A ... Can't believe she'll be 6 months next week!

 

[somethingshiny]

RE: carseat Lily loves her carseat. (we have the snugride) JT loved his too. I can't imagine a child NOT liking it. How do you get anywhere??

RE: deswaddle Lily was never into swaddling to begin with. I think it was due to all the needles and IVs at birth. Both of her arms and hands were all bruised up and I think the swaddle was painful. We just swaddled from the armpits down. About 3 weeks ago I stopped swaddling her during her daytime naps (she'd kick out of it) and would just throw a blanket over her (I wasn't concerned with her moving). Then we started putting her in the sleep sack at night and haven't had a problem. Last night, she went 5 hrs between feedings so about 4.5 hrs sleeping, woke up and ate and went back to sleep for another 3. 5 hrs. We went cold turkey with JT too and he did fine in his sleep sack too. (he was actually a much better sleeper than Lily is.)

 

[lovelylulu]

mtjoya - miss j is such a pretty one! love that photo.

ally - I'm hoping that the hatred of the car seat lessens over time. I think once she's able to be a bit more engaged, she won't be as bored in her seat. we shall see. and thanks for the advice on the deswaddling.

today was day one and so far we've had/having three one arm naps without much of a problem - though I still am rocking the babe to near sleep/sleep before putting her down in the crib. unlike andrew, nora doesn't exactly drift peacefully off to sleep - she has more of a fight really.

mara - hope that the rest kicks the remaining cold to the curb! enjoy your visitor

tao - nonsense pure and simple.

something - let me help you imagine - picture a screaming baby. a very loud screaming baby. glad the deswaddle is going well

jcrow - if you can't but em in a sleep sack what will you use to keep her warm?

 

[jcrow]

lulu - we started sacking her again. this time we're using the halo which is thicker than the thin muslin a+a one. i haven't caught her doing it again. i think the a+a one is just more loosey goosey on her so she can grab and pull it more?

 

[MonkeyPie]

I expected some huge fight over deswaddling since Micah looooved to be swaddled, but one night I just laid him down without it and he was fine. Never swaddled again. He occasionally wears a sleep sack now, footie pajamas the rest of the time. God I love footie pajamas...so cute.

 

[mtjoya]

Thank u so much ladies!

Do any of your babies hate a certain veggy? J hates sweet pea & winter squash... What do I do since I am trying my best to introduce new veggies? hhmmmm!

ally-what a cute mama!

 

[Mara]

i am a footie lover too but with our tall boy, he doesn't fit in them for long so it's easier to get no footie and sleep sack him. plus he's a crazy blanket kicker so putting a blanket on him always ends up balled at his feet and his legs exposed.

i got a pink XL halo sack at diapers.com for like $9 so i figured he wont' care if its pink HAHA. he is already growing out of the medium sacks.

we just had our photo shoot and it went so wonderfully. it was super hard to keep J from crawling all over but we got some cute ones of him. i also friggin love our photographer, she's so easy to work with and she sells the whole CD of images which is basically all i want, we make our own prints. we're already planning his 12mo cake smash!

mtj... J hates peas! i can mix up like 4 veggies and he will know there are peas in there. since i hate peas too i can't fault him for it haha. but he LOVES my veggie mixtures. i also am giving him quinoa with the veggies and he loves it. there are also so many veggies i figure it doesn't matter if he dislikes 1-2. so far he seems to really like cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes, zucchini and corn.

lysser...forgot to say thank you for the tip on the fish. i am thinking of trying it this wkd or next week if i have time. he def loves our veggies so mixing it up with a little cheese sounds yummy.

off to pick up SIL. hope everyone has a great evening!!!

oh and our volo came but i haven't opened it yet. hoping to do so this wkd!

ally super cute pic!! when i get some of the sneak peek ones from our shoot today i'll post of J.

 

[mtjoya]

mara-hehe kewl! J is so darling! Luff that lil cutie! I am going to try something new. I am going to BRU in a bit. J is just like her daddy....so picky!

 

[lovelylulu]

so here's a question - what do your babies sleep in when you put them in a sleep sack if it's not footies?

 

[taovandel]

When we used sleep sacks we would put him in a onesie...sometimes in pj pants and a short sleeve onesie/bodysuit. Depends on the temp of the house normally.


Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. The neighbor was arrested yesterday so I was able to go visit my parents. She'll probably be locked up over the weekend so my parents are thrilled. haha. I looked her up online and she has 4 pending court dates for all of her arrests over the next 2 1/2 months. Hopefully they will lock her up for a while like before (She was in jail for awhile because she had two dui's). And a neighbor got in contact with her mother (Her mother owns her house) and told her about the man living there and the mother said she would take care of it and he would be moving out soon.


Evan is being so wonderful lately....He's just such a sweet natured baby who loves to laugh. My husband said at Target the other day he kept waving at everyone and rocking around in the cart....so cute!

 

[Puppmom]

Tao, sorry about the nutty neighbor. She sounds hellish! I'm glad E keeps you smiling!

Re: swaddling - Nolan is on and off with the swaddle which is very strange. Maybe it's our weak swaddling skills but sometimes after hours of sleeping he's still tightly wrapped and other types he busts loose and is laying with his arms and legs wide open.

Re: toys for a 1 month old. Nolan has changed A TON in the last few weeks since turning 1 month and is really into his play gym. At 5 weeks, he was just staring at it. Now, at 7 weeks, he hits the toys and smiles and coos. It's the greatest!

Re: carseat. When N hears the three clicks, he usually starts fussing but the ride in the car isn't bad. I wish they made those dang buckles quieter!

As for us, things are good. Nolan is growing so fast and literally changes daily. Today, he discovered his thumb. It is too cute when he sucks his thumb. MIL came over for another "lesson". She's so mesmerized by the baby that she doesn't listen to anything I say. So, my new tactic is to have her *do* while I walk her through it. Good news is she raised 3 kids and knows how to take care of a baby. I mostly have to just show her how to work all of the gadgets and gear. Another funny thing - she seriously speaks to N in a some made up language. I can't understand anything she says!

Here's my BPF contribution. MIL sewed N booties that he unfortunately won't fit in winter. So...we just did a little photo shoot in them for her.

 

[Puppmom]

double post

 

[Puppmom]

Oh, and Anchor, I don't know J's background but I just wanted to say I'm sending positive thoughts your way. I hope you find a solution that's right for him.

 

[junebug17]

Puppmom!!! I didn't know you had your baby! Baby Nolan is absolutely precious, I'm so happy things are going well! Congrats to you and your family, and hang in there with mil, she means well!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Mommies I need some advice.

Does anyone else have experience with cluster feeding? Aidan has developed this, and while I know it's normal, it seems super early. He's a little guy, under 6 lbs and was 2 weeks early. He eats 2 oz every 2 hours-so 12 times a day. Today the lactation consultant said that was too much and we should do 2 oz every 3 hours or 8 times a day. We're pumping and bottle feeding right now while he develops his nursing skills a little more. So I have two questions. How much did you feed your LO early on (he's only 8 days) and do you feed on demand or on schedule and how are you or have you managed cluster feeding in your LO? I'm thinking of stretching the 2 oz out over the hours he wants to eat all the time so he gets the same amount over the scheduled period vs all at once. So grazing vs large meals.

I think I've got the baby blues in the most major way, I spent 20 minutes sobbing by myself in the nursery last night because I couldn't sleep and felt super overwhelmed and jealous of my snoring husband. My incision also still hurts, though it's getting better. I still haven't figured out my limits with it. Things like taking a shower are really tough still, but I can walk around a good deal. Oh, and as if that weren't bad enough, I have a stomach bug and have only been able to eat bits and pieces of rice cakes and a banana all day. Even water makes my stomach cramp and I've been this way for two days now. So I feel like a$$ in general.

But we're dealing-I guess. I had a follow up call with my OB practice so they at least know about my blues and stomach problems. If I'm still sick on Monday I have to go in and give a sample for testing. The nurse thinks I could have picked up something in the hospital. I think I could have forgotten to wash my hands after a middle of the night diaper change or gotten sick off of chicken DH cooked for dinner last night and the night before. Who knows though. The good news is that he's slowly improving on his nursing skills and he's gaining weight. When we left the hospital he was 5 lbs 1 oz and today he was 5 lbs 8 oz. So we're making progress.

I should be online more often from now on. DH and I made an agreement that we'd take baby duty in shifts so the other person can sleep. I've got the early shift because I'm more of a night owl. DH can operate on about 4 hours and is very used to being up early. I can't shut of my brain when Aidan is in the room and DH is doing his lumberjack impression and when the only thing in your life is your kid and the hell that is keeping him alive it's hard to think about anything else, ya know?

OMG he's asleep! YAY!!! fingers crossed that it lasts until 10!

Oh, and here's your BPF from our house.

 

[junebug17]

HH, I first want to offer my congratulations on the birth of your baby boy, he's so beautiful. Secondly, I want to offer you an extremely big (((hug))) because I understand what you are going through right now. My daughter barely slept for the first few months and I remember feeling so tired, overwhelmed, depressed and even scared at times. I remember feeling cut off from the rest of life, and there were nursing issues that totally stressed me out. But I'm here to assure you that it will get easier, I promise! Your little guy is just trying to adjust to life outside, and in just a little while he will be on more of a schedule and sleeping better. It certainly isn't helping that you're not feeling well. Things will also be easier to deal with when you are feeling more like yourself. Hang in there, the first few months can be chaotic, but I promise it will pass!

I'm sorry I can't be of more help with the feeding schedule, but it's been a long time. I do remember trying hard to make it to two and a half hours between feedings. I'm sure the newer moms will be along with suggestions. I just wanted to let you know I can totally relate to how you are feeling, and I'll be keeping you in my thoughts. And there are times I really miss holding my newborn in my arms, you are so lucky you can do that!