PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[JGator]

Jfo, Lila is beautiful! Glad to hear K is not the only 7.5 month old scratching he ears. Good luck with your house hunt. We were very interested in a house and sent an email to our realtor to place an offer at the same time she emailed us saying the house across the street from that one was going on the market the next day. We went to see it the first day it was listed and placed an offer that night as it was more updated and the incremental cost was less than what it would cost us to update the first house. It was great timing and we did all our research on the house across the street before that one was even on the market! Hopefully you will have good timing. What are you doing with the solids as far as time and quantity for 3 solid meals a day. K currently has 1 fruit puree packet in the AM, 1 veggie puree in the afternoon, and 3 tbs oatmeal cereal with breast milk or formula at night around 8pm. We thought the cereal at night would help her sleep, but I am not sure if it is helping or hurting.

MP, I hope Ev is feeling better today. K did better last night without Zantac. She just gets so worked up - arching her back, screaming, and squirming. Maybe we'll try to give it to her today. I feel like we went through something similar back in February...hope this passes soon!

AFU, K was fussy at night again last night. I tried a new tactic. I took the bottle out and put the paci in. She leaned forward, and I started rubbing her back, and she relaxed and stopped crying. About 10 minutes into the back rub, I swapped the paci for the bottle and she drank the bottle and fell asleep quickly. She seemed to sleep a bit better. She was still up for her next bottle at 345am, but did not wake up numerous times right after falling asleep. So, I have another trick up my sleeve for her fussiness now. Oh, and K rolled over 3 times yesterday from tummy to back! Still no teeth!

 

[jfo]

Thanks, ladies. DH and I think she's pretty cute too

MP, I'm sorry to hear that Ev is still having tummy troubles. Blowouts are NO fun. It's good that he doesn't seem to have any other symptoms, so I hope he feels better soon and you don't have to take more time off work.

JGator, that's awesome how it worked out timing-wise with your house! You have a good agent too. I'm definitely thinking that what will have to happen is good timing and just some luck! It's just a bit discouraging right now because we actually had made an offer on a place a few months ago that was accepted and then the inspection did not go well, so we walked away. From all appearances the place was great for us and in the location we wanted and for the right price... And now, rates have gone up. Oh well.

I'm sorry that K has still been fussy at night, but it sounds like you may have found a good way to help her relax. I hope that it continues to work and that she gets over this soon! At times like these, don't you wish they could just tell you what the problem is?

So we're still on 2 solid meals a day right now, but I'm hoping to move to 3 meals by the end of the month. She's having a breakfast of 2 tablespoons of oatmeal mixed with 2-3 ounces of fruit puree for her second meal of the day (around 9am) and then i think that daycare is feeding her "lunch" of a 2-3 ounces of veggie puree at her next meal around noon. When I have her home on the weekends, I usually feed her a liquid lunch and then the next meal in mid-afternoon is her second solid meal of the day. I've also been dabbling in giving her organic meat purees (from a jar) mixed with veggies instead of just veggies for her second meal. When I move to 3 meals, I will give her a dinner sometime around 6pm.

Have any of you had any luck with having your lo drink from a sippy cup, and then specifically water from a sippy cup? L really has almost no interest in either. I can get her to take a swallow of water from a water bottle, but she clearly is thinking, this has no taste--what good is to me? And the sippy cup is a new toy that she gets to bang about and toss to the floor. I'm not overly concerned about it yet, but her stool is getting more solid and it seems like she strains a lot more these days and will have only a little bit in her diaper multiple times a day because she's having some difficulty passing it out. Ha... TMI. I can only imagine what she will think about me posting about her bowel movements on a public forum when she's old enough to understand!

 

[mlk]

Jgator I have been having similar problems with Lucas. He was diagnosed with reflux at 4 weeks and put on Zantac. My supply was quite bad too and was put on domperidone (not sure if that's what you were on). Anyway my dr made we wean off it to s point where my supply practically dried up. At that point I increased the formula from 1-2 bottles a day to all feeds. That is when the trouble began and all the symptoms k is having started. His reflux got worse, he was refusing the bottle only taking 200ml a day, screaming and arching his back, constipation, stopped sttn etc. Turns out he has a milk protein allergy/intolerance and the formula made it worse. He is now on pepti jr (not sure if you can get it there) and is slowly doing a little better. I have also read that domperidone helps with reflux so if that's what you have been weaning off that could be why k's reflux seems worse. Oh and the allergy causes reflux or certainally makes it worse. Does k snore or have eczema? That is also a sign of an allergy. I have also put him on baby probiotics which is supposed to help with reflux colic and eczema. I know what you are going through, it has got to the stage where I am too embarrassed to go out because of the show L puts on when I try to feed him!

 

[JGator]

Jfo, we started giving K water in a sippy cup with her rice cereal at either 4 or 5 months. She has gotten better at getting the water out - a lot of it still dribbles down her face. But, she seems to like the water every 3 or 4 bites - I think it helps with swallowing the cereal which is kind of thick. We also now give it to her when she has purees. She tries to lift the cup and put it in her mouth, but she is usually not that successful. I think she also likes biting it for her teething. Yes, I often wish K could talk and tell me what the problem is. I am really torn on whether its teething or an upset stomach. Good luck with the house hunt. We had our inspection yesterday, and there were a few items to fix, but nothing too major. We are hoping the owners will fix or pay for the fixes on the larger items.

MLK, thanks for chiming in. How old is Lucas? I am glad that things seem to be improving for him. The thing with K is she has her screaming fits at her before bed feeding at night, but during the middle of the night, she takes the bottle without crying. So, I am really not sure what the problem is. My husband thinks we should just let her cry it out, but I think that she's in pain and I don't want to put her to bed without having a bottle because I know she will wake up sooner. I gave her Zantac yesterday during the day, and she still had a screaming fit at night. The last 2 nights, I have had to walk her around her room upright on my shoulder and soothe her that way, and then she will settle down and take the bottle when she's more relaxed. Reglan is different than the drug you took, but I think similar in that it's really intended for digestive issues so you may be on to something there where K is not getting that anymore from the breast milk. I'm sorry you are going through this also. It is really stressful when you can't make things better for your baby. I really hope Lucas and K grow out of this soon!

MP, how does Ev sleep? Do you have to feed him in the middle of the night? Any successful tactics on dealing with the night time wake ups? K goes to bed around 9 (and falls asleep between 930 and 1030 depending on the night), and then she's up around 3ish and again around 6ish for bottles. The 3am is killing me.

AFU, K has mastered rolling from tummy to back. I feel like she won't want to learn how to go from back to tummy since she hates being on her tummy. She now immediately rolls to her back as soon as we put her down on her tummy. She is still saying DA DA DA DA DA DA....

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, that is odd that the screaming/bottle refusal only happens at night. Argh, how frustrating. Hope you find a solution. Ev's nighttime sleep has actually been pretty good lately. Last night, he woke up at midnight and really needed a bottle, but that is the first time in weeks we have had to get up with him in the middle of the night. He usually sleeps from about 9 or so until 6. That said, he does wake up for brief periods most nights. We have a video monitor, so we let him fuss a bit, and he usually falls back asleep after 5 minutes or so of fussing. If he continues to cry or he sounds particularly upset we go in to assess the situation. DH and I were both in a deep sleep when he woke up last night, and I was so annoyed that DH slept through the crying, so I held the monitor right at his ear until he woke up. But it turns out Ev had a really wet diaper and had gone through his diaper.

I'm getting frustrated because he still has the yucky diapers, and is having about 6-8 dirty diapers a day. Normally he only has 1-2. If it is not better this weekend, I'm taking him in on Monday.

 

[JGator]

MP, glad to hear Ev is sleeping so well. I will strive for K to get there too! 6-8 dirty diapers sounds insane. Poor guy. Hope he's not getting dehydrated. Also, K does cry and swat the bottle away during the day with the bottle too, but we don't force it on her so I think that's why she doesn't have the meltdowns. At night, I know she has to have the bottle to fall asleep so I repeatedly try and she gets really mad and the meltdowns happen. In the middle of the night (3am), it's her idea so she's okay with it! I think we have a stubborn girl on our hands!

Jfo, I thought of something else. With the constipation/hard stools, the water should definitely help. You can also try prunes - it's an option in the baby purees. I would think apples would also be a good puree to help with that. Our pediatrician told us not to give K meat until after her 9 month appointment, and to stick with stage 1 and 2 foods until then.

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, I know, it's like having a newborn again. I don't think Everett is dehydrated because he still has several wet diapers a day, and we're giving him pedialyte a couple times a day too just in case. But I'm thinking his little bottom must be sore because it red, and he screams whenever I set him on the changing pad. I'm using a ton of diaper cream. Just ready to have him back to himself.

I forgot to say this in my last post, but it's great that K is rolling over now! Ev first rolled from front to back at like 3-4 months, but he didn't start rolling from back to front consistently until 7 months. He won't stay on his tummy for more than a few seconds before he rolls right back. I bet K will try getting onto her tummy when she starts figuring out it is necessary to get anywhere!

jfo, we haven't even tried giving Ev a sippy cup, but I should probably get on that. I feel like I'm so behind when I hear how much other kids are eating/drinking at this age! And now with his stomach issues, I havne't been giving him anything other than formula. And I laughed at your bowel movement comment. It's so true! And it's something I would never even imagine talking about before having a baby. Hopefully Ev will never know about this forum!

 

[stephbolt]

Hi mamas! Long time no post, but I thought I'd pop in before Nora ages out of here in a few days and say hi!

N will be one on Friday! Can't believe how fast this year has gone. I love this age so much, she's fantastic, such a silly little girl. She seems to be learning new things every day and I love watching her mind develop. She loves music and "dancing" and is crazy about the pets especially our cats. Bathtime is her favorite, she loves water. We are getting her a water table for her birthday, I think it will be a hit!

She took her first few steps this week, but is not really walking around yet. She loves to eat especially all fruits, we have to save them for the end of the meal if we are giving them to her or she won't eat anything else! She's still BF, I feel so lucky that it was easy for us and we have made it to a year. Trying to figure out what I'm going to do moving forward as far as transitioning her off of bottles at daycare and when/how I want to move her to cow's milk or another alternative during the day. I'm ready to be done pumping, but may keep her on BM during the day until I use up my freezer stash, and I'm hoping to keep BF morning/evening as long as she is still interested.

I'm sorry I haven't been posting here much lately, but have been popping in to read and keep up with all of you. Work has been insane, but hoping that changes soon as I am in final stages of interviews for a job much closer to home. I'd get an hour of time back every day. Fingers crossed! Welcome to the new mamas, you have so many wonderful times ahead of you in the next few months!

Here's a recent pic. Love this sweet girl so much!

 

[jfo]

Argh, I had typed up a lengthy post and my session expired and I lost it.

JGator, I wonder if despite the fact that you gave K Zantac and she still had problems at beditme, she may have just *anticipated* she would feel bad when she had to drink the bottle and got upset? Not sure, but it may be worth trying to give her Zantac a few days in a row to see if it helps. Either, I hope you can get to the bottom of it and you can get some well deserved rest and K feels better.

That's great news about your inspection. How long until you close? No luck on our end right now. A house was listed on Wednesday evening. I contacted our realtor that night to see if we could see it Thursday evening after work or otherwise Friday afternoon. She said she tried for Thursday evening, but couldn't get one set up and so we were scheduled for Friday afternoon. By Thursday late night, our realtor told us that the showing was cancelled because the seller accepted an offer from a buyer who saw the house that evening. Extremely frustrating!

I bet K will be rolling from back to tummy before you know it. That sort of stuff always seems to happen out of nowhere overnight.

MP, how is Ev feeling today? I hope he feels better soon. I can see how he has a raw bum and that sucks. It's heartbreaking hearing them cry because of diaper rash.

Ha, I am glad I'm not the only one who feels behind on the eating/drinking front. I tried to give her a tiny piece of scrambled egg today and she opened her mouth to eat it and then immediately looked disgusted once she had it in her mouth. She eventually started making a gagging sound and it fell out of her mouth. Oy. I guess she's not ready for finger foods. I wonder when that happens?

stephb0lt, Nora is beautiful! So glad that you all are doing well. How awesome that you have been able to BF for so long! What are you planning to do to celebrate her first birthday?

 

[amc80]

Jfo- B is 10 months and is still very picky about his solids. For him it's a very gradual process. His gag reflex is still really strong.


Just a quick post to show everyone what I woke up to this morning. It was everywhere.

 

[jfo]

amc, OMG. I see it on his hands! So sorry, that's not a way to wake up!

Good to know that it's been a gradual process for you guys. I just need to be patient. I know she won't be a kid who only eats purees or something.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Okay AMC, that picture made me gag a little bit. We've been dealing with runny diapers for a week now, but I'm relieved it has thus far stayed in the diapers and clothes. Babies can be so gross!

Hi Steph, happy almost birthday to Nora! That sure went fast. She's such a cutie. I love her fuzzy blond hair. Ev has those jammies too! Good luck on the job front. I hope it works out for you.

AFU, Ev is finally feeling better I think. I've been giving him the probiotic Culturelle since Friday, and I think that must have helped because he only had 2 dirty diapers yesterday. The little man has made a habit of getting up between 12-1, which is no bueno for mommy and daddy because that is right when we are both in a deep sleep.

Funny/mortifying story. Yesterday, we got to church about 5 minutes late and had to sneak in as they were starting a baptism of a 6 year old girl. Anyway, we had to stand up and Ev starting talking, so I shoved a paci in his mouth. Not wanting to be silenced, he grabbed it out and dropped it on the floor, and I watched in slow motion as the pacifier started rolling down the aisle right to the baptismal font in front of the little girl. And of course, she decides to pick it up and look around trying to decide what to do with it. I tried to motion for her just to put it down, but she wasn't understanding, so finally, the guy sitting behind us grabbed it from her and gave it us. Then Ev started making more noise, so I grabbed him and did the walk of shame to the back of the church. To make matters worse, Ev decided he must have a bottle right as they had the vacation bible school kids sing a song, and we couldn't get it to him fast enough. What a troublemaker.

 

[amc80]

Well we had an trip to the ER last night. We were eating dinner and all if a sudden B started having trouble breathing, like he was choking. He sounded like a seal barking. We were debating what to do when he started throwing up and holding his breath for a really long time. DH decided to call an ambulance. Of course the 5 minutes it took to for it to get her lasted an eternity. He got worse and worse and by the time we were on our way I was really happy we decided to call. They gave him some oxygen and an epi breathing treatment and he calmed down. Turns out it was croup. Have any of you dealt with that? It's so scary. It comes on suddenly. The ER doc said he sees at least one case a night during the winter but it pretty uncommon in June. Luckily we have an awesome children's ER and we were in and out pretty fast. He's much better today. Kids are so scary!

 

[lliang_chi]

AMC, yes, Ethan got croup quite young, at maybe 4 or 5 months. It sounds exactly like a seal barking. If it escalates to Stridor, where it sounds like he's cannot breathe (something like a mix of snoring and Darth Vader mask breathing), they need to go to the hospital/urgent care. I think Dr. Google said they can get a steroid shot or oxygen to help overcome it. I YouTubed Croup/Stridor to get an idea of what it sounded like, then slept in Ethan's room for the next few nights. DH thought I was overreacting. Better safe than sorry.
I'm glad you went in for B, sounded like you made the right call. The good news is after that first night Ethan didn't have croup subsequent nights. Hoping the same happens for B.

 

[amc80]

AMC, yes, Ethan got croup quite young, at maybe 4 or 5 months. It sounds exactly like a seal barking. If it escalates to Stridor, where it sounds like he's cannot breathe (something like a mix of snoring and Darth Vader mask breathing), they need to go to the hospital/urgent care. I think Dr. Google said they can get a steroid shot or oxygen to help overcome it. I YouTubed Croup/Stridor to get an idea of what it sounded like, then slept in Ethan's room for the next few nights. DH thought I was overreacting. Better safe than sorry.
I'm glad you went in for B, sounded like you made the right call. The good news is after that first night Ethan didn't have croup subsequent nights. Hoping the same happens for B.

Stridor! Yep, he had that. So so scary. That's exactly what he got- steroids and oxygen. It's just scary how quickly the onset is. And yes he's much better. He even took a step today!!

 

[jfo]

amc, wow, how terrifying that must have been! Glad that you and DH acted quickly--it definitely sounds like you did the right thing. I had heard of croup before, but hadn't realized that there was a sudden onset type scenario that could happen. So glad that he is fine today and congrats on taking his first step!

MP, that's good news that Ev is feeling better. I hope that he gets over the waking up between midnight and 1am though. Whenever L does something like that (e.g., last night she woke up crying at 1am and couldn't go back to sleep on her own, but she has been SSTN consistently for a while now and usually settles herself quickly if she wakes up at night), I get worried that it's going to be the "new norm" for a while! She is cutting another bottom tooth right now, so that might have something to do with it.

Your church story is hilarious! Embarassing at the time, I'm sure, but what can you do but laugh? Do you find that Ev is pretty noisy these days? When L is feeling "talkative", I sometimes find myself really having to raise my voice to speak to DH so he can hear me!

AFU, L started waving hello (and goodbye?) in the past few days. It's pretty awesome. She grins from ear to ear when she does it because I think she's proud she can do it!

 

[monkeyprincess]

MP, that's good news that Ev is feeling better. I hope that he gets over the waking up between midnight and 1am though. Whenever L does something like that (e.g., last night she woke up crying at 1am and couldn't go back to sleep on her own, but she has been SSTN consistently for a while now and usually settles herself quickly if she wakes up at night), I get worried that it's going to be the "new norm" for a while! She is cutting another bottom tooth right now, so that might have something to do with it.

Your church story is hilarious! Embarassing at the time, I'm sure, but what can you do but laugh? Do you find that Ev is pretty noisy these days? When L is feeling "talkative", I sometimes find myself really having to raise my voice to speak to DH so he can hear me!

Ha, yes! He is SO loud lately. We were trying to watch a tv show last night before he went to bed, and I think he could sense we weren't paying attention to him, so he just went off on a minute long yelling rant of ma ba ga da, blowing raspberries and every other sound he knows. It was hilarious, but I think we need to try to curb that behavior before it becomes a habit. Ev slept better last night, and I think he would have slept through the night, except at about 3:30 or 4, the monitor went off. Only it wasn't the baby, it was the cat meowing. I think he had been hiding under the crib and spent most of the night in the baby's room. Oops, we're usually more careful about keeping them out of there.

amc, that is SO scary. Hope the little guy is feeling better today.

 

[JGator]

AMC, hope B is recovering. Thanks for sharing your experience in case we ever have something similar happen we'll know what to do now. I can't believe what you woke up to the other day - he is such a cutie though!

MP, your church story reminds me of my venture to a concert at church with a special guest singer around Easter. I had to do the walk of shame (carrying K and pushing her stroller) at the back of a dark church with a soloist singing with piano accompaniment and it was a LONG walk. Fortunately, the deacon of the church (who baptized K) came to my rescue since I was by myself. I'm glad Ev is improving.

Jfo, you really are in a hot real estate market. I heard it was like that here in the Spring, but it has slowed down. We are planning to close in early August. We are submitting our request of repairs from the inspection today so hopefully they will be okay fixing a few items. Also, we got the appraisal back and it's higher than our purchase price so we are in good shape there - I was worried about what we would do if that came in low. That's great that L is waving now - I tried to teach K last night and she's not ready yet!

AFU, we have been trying to get K to sleep better. We tried CIO one night and that was a disaster - my DH was in charge and caved in and fed her after a scream fest even with him holding her. We moved around her feedings. We started feeding her the cereal earlier - it was the last meal before her bed time meal and I think it was just too close so she really wasn't hungry at bed time. That seems to have helped, but she has still had her crying fits, and we have to get her calmed down for her bottle, but she's a little more receptive to the bottle now - not every night but some nights. So, 2 nights ago she woke up at 530am for her bottle - which was a huge difference for us. Last night, she woke up at 330am, but I was able to pat her to sleep and then she got up at 7am! Huge win. I am really hoping she can keep this up. We will keep trying. Also, yesterday we had the nanny start putting her down for her naps in her crib. She was previously either holding her or putting her in her bouncy seat and bouncing her to sleep. Her naps are not as long in the crib, but she can't be in the bouncy seat forever, and I think it will help her get used to sleeping in the crib.

 

[jfo]

MP, that is too funny about Ev going on his loud rant while you guys were trying to watch a show. These little ones sure like to be the center of attention Good to hear that he's sleeping better again. Fortunately for us, L's wake up the other night was an anomaly because she slept from 8:30pm until 4:45am last night before needing a pacifier and eventually a bottle before snoozing until 6:45am (yes!!). She normally wakes up between 5 and 5:45am and wont go back to sleep, so her "sleeping in" this morning was fantastic.

JGator, it sounds like you are moving in the right direction with K's sleep. The fact that she woke up at 5:30am for her bottle the other night or even last night when you just patted her back to sleep is great news! I also think that the nanny putting her down for naps in her crib is really good too.

You are not kidding that we're in a hot real estate market right now. I hope that things continue to go well for you guys and the seller agrees to fix those items needing repair!

Question for you mom's with LO's who have teeth... how often do you clean your LO's teeth? Once/twice a day or after each meal (e.g. solids or bottle)? Are you using a toothbrush or wiping them with a wet washcloth or using something else? Have you brought your LO to the dentist yet? We have an infant banana toothbrush made out of silicone for her that I try to give her to gum and play with at least once a day right now and I just bought another baby toothbrush that seems to have good reviews and some dental wipes. I'm sure I'm being a freak about all of this, but both my mom and myself have teeth that are prone to issues despite the fact that I diligently brush/floss/rinse with fluoride mouthwash daily. Meanwhile, DH has perfect teeth and never develops cavities despite being much more erratic about cleaning his teeth!

Anyway, I just want to give L the best possible start to develop good dental hygiene habits and avoid any tooth decay as much as possible in case she has the same tendencies that I do. My main concern is that the last thing I do before putting L down for bed is feed her a bottle of formula. We have a bedtime routine of a bath and reading books, but the last thing is always the bottle. I'd say that 90% of the time, she's just drowsy and not totally asleep when I put her down, and the other 10%, she falls asleep while drinking her bottle. I always take it out of her mouth as soon as I realize that she's not really drinking anymore and wait a few minutes before putting her down so that there may be a better chance that she's swallowed everything. However, I recently read from multiple sources that putting the baby to bed by giving them a bottle is the worst culprit for tooth decay because the sugars from the milk turn acidic and work to break down the enamel, especially if they don't swallow all the milk before falling asleep and the milk pools around their teeth.

For us, giving her a bottle before going to bed is definitely something she expects and she has almost always gone to bed without any fuss when she has her bedtime bottle. I kind of don't want to change something that's not broken, if you know what I mean. Any advice? Should I try to quickly wipe down her teeth after she finishes her bottle before putting her down which may disrupt her drowsy state? Should I start to dilute the formula so that it's more water than formula until it's eventually just a bottle of water? When do people stop giving a bottle before bed?

 

[amc80]

Question for you mom's with LO's who have teeth... how often do you clean your LO's teeth? Once/twice a day or after each meal (e.g. solids or bottle)? Are you using a toothbrush or wiping them with a wet washcloth or using something else? Have you brought your LO to the dentist yet? We have an infant banana toothbrush made out of silicone for her that I try to give her to gum and play with at least once a day right now and I just bought another baby toothbrush that seems to have good reviews and some dental wipes. I'm sure I'm being a freak about all of this, but both my mom and myself have teeth that are prone to issues despite the fact that I diligently brush/floss/rinse with fluoride mouthwash daily. Meanwhile, DH has perfect teeth and never develops cavities despite being much more erratic about cleaning his teeth!

Anyway, I just want to give L the best possible start to develop good dental hygiene habits and avoid any tooth decay as much as possible in case she has the same tendencies that I do. My main concern is that the last thing I do before putting L down for bed is feed her a bottle of formula. We have a bedtime routine of a bath and reading books, but the last thing is always the bottle. I'd say that 90% of the time, she's just drowsy and not totally asleep when I put her down, and the other 10%, she falls asleep while drinking her bottle. I always take it out of her mouth as soon as I realize that she's not really drinking anymore and wait a few minutes before putting her down so that there may be a better chance that she's swallowed everything. However, I recently read from multiple sources that putting the baby to bed by giving them a bottle is the worst culprit for tooth decay because the sugars from the milk turn acidic and work to break down the enamel, especially if they don't swallow all the milk before falling asleep and the milk pools around their teeth.

I was using one of those glove things but he hated it. I bought an infant toothbrush with trainer (non-flouride) toothpaste and he actually loves it. I tell him it's time to brush a teeth and he opens his mouth as soon as he sees the brush. He also goes to bed with a bottle. Everything I've read says formula is okay but not to do it with juice or milk...I guess those have more sugar?

As far as the dentist, ours wants to see him when he has 10 teeth or so. The official recommendation I think is 12 or 18 months, but he said that's a bit young. He did say to start bringing B in to my appointments just so he gets used to the office.

 

[jfo]

Thanks, amc, that is helpful. I didn't bother trying to get one of those glove things because I don't think she'd like it either.
I don't think my dentist sees babies, so I was looking to schedule an appointment with a pediatric dentist. Maybe I'll just bring this up with our pediatrician at L's 9 month appointment and see what she recommends. For now, I'll just do what I can to get L used to me wiping her teeth down and having her use her toothbrush on her own. Thanks again!

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Hello, mamas!

Glad to hear you ladies aren't too strict about toothbrushing... We more or less let Eloise play with her toothbrush and flouride-free training paste when we remember to. But the kiddo only has two teeth, so...

It's finally summer, so I have the time to catch up on this thread (just as Eloise approaches her 1st bday!) Time has truly flown by... I can hardly believe how big these babies have become, and it's a joy to see photos of the newer additions.

E is 11 months old and we're having a blast, though her stubbornness and fearlessness can be exhausting. She's starting to walk, and she climbs on just about everything. She says "Mama" and "Dada" and meows and growls like our pets. Our half-assed attempts of teaching her ASL have resulted in her knowing how to sign milk, which looks just like her wave, and so... it's pretty much worthless She's a fun little girl but WOOOWEEE the tantrums have already started. Toddlerhood is gonna be killer. Still not STTN, still nursing. Not a huge fan of food- depends on the day- but she loves meat and blueberries!

We're starting to think about a #2. My period still hasn't returned, and probably won't for a little while yet. Ideally we'd start trying around her 2nd birthday, a full year from now, but DH finds some amusement in being risky. Whenever I express reservations about a second baby, he says, "You'll have nine months to get used to the idea!" Ellie is just so much fun, and I want to dedicate more time to her, and only her... She's also exhausting at times, and I think she's going to test us in the years to come. Not sure how I feel about juggling a baby and a barely two-year-old. I feel like the chances of conceiving now are VERY slim, but after AF returns it seems like we'll just go with the flow, and do the NPNT thing and see what happens. I'm still not back to my pre-baby body, to boot.

ETA: Just re-read an older post of mine on the WBW thread, where I said DH wanted to wait 4 to 5 years. HA! Oh, how the tables have turned in a matter of months. Daddy is a pushover and baby-crazy, and now I am the one who's hesitant!

 

[jfo]

Hi PPM! So nice to hear an update on E! I'm sure she's a ton of fun right now with all the things that she can do, say and understand! That's interesting about the tantrums... I hope it's just a short-lived phase for you.

I hear you on maybe not wanting to be pregnant *right now* even though you want to have another one soon. I'm 35 and we'd like to have 1, maybe 2 more, so I know I don't have much time to waste... I do think though (for me anyway) there's something to be said about having your body being pretty much recovered as well as being mentally prepared for another one (and handling a spirited toddler too)! I think my DH isn't in a huge rush yet but who knows how he'll feel in a couple of months, especially considering how long it took us to get pregnant with one!

 

[monkeyprincess]

jfo, you're ahead of us on the toothbrushing thing. Ev has that banana practice toothbrush thing, but I've never bothered to get any of the baby toothpaste. Now that he's almost got 4 teeth, we should probably get on that. Looks like we were posting at the same time. How long did it take you to have your little one, if you don't mind my asking. We're actually already TTC #2 because we struggled to conceive for almost a year before we were successful on our first IUI attempt. DH is ten years older than me (I'm 32), and I'd love another baby or two, so we figured we would just go for it, knowing it will probably take awhile. I'm hoping I get pregnant by this fall or winter.

PPM, E sounds like a little character. I'm right there with you on the temper tantrums. Ev is only 8 months, and he has already started doing this thing where he grunts and jerks his arms like 3 or 4 times when he is frustrated. It is cute now, but I worry about what it means for us when he's a toddler. Enjoy your summer with her!

JGator, hope the feeding and sleeping is continuing to improve. Sounds like you were taking steps in the right direction. Ev has been hard to get down lately. It seems like it takes 2-3 tries before he is in his crib for the night, but he at least stays down until 6 or so once he is finally out for the night. I know that he is probably forming bad habits and realizing that if he cries loud and long enough, he can gets us to take him out of the crib. Just not sure if I'm ready to fight that battle yet. But I do know we need to get him to the point where we can put him crib awake, so he doesn't automatically scream and panic when he wakes up in the crib.

amc, hope B is feeling better!

So, do any of your husbands get a bit jealous or irritated when the baby wants mommy instead of daddy? Ev loves playing with his daddy, but lately, he gets really upset when I hand him to his daddy and walk away to do something. He just wants to know that I'm nearby, and he would rather be with me when he is done playing and just wants to cuddle. I try hard not intervene, but my husband kind of gives up and hands him back to me. I can tell it irritates my husband when the baby starts crying when I hand him to him and then stops crying when I take him back. I know it's just a phase, and pretty soon, he'll go through a phase where he'll prefer daddy over me

 

[jfo]

MP, we aren't using toothpaste yet either, and I may hold off on that until she has more teeth, but I just wanted to make sure that I don't inadvertantly neglect her dental health. To me it just seems like one of those things that other moms make sure are taken care of, but you don't ever hear about it when your a FTM until sometimes it's too late, if that makes any sense. I mean, I don't think I've ever had a conversation IRL with a mom about wiping their baby's teeth or gums before they have teeth or when they first go to the dentist!

We spent about 3 years trying to get pregnant. We moreso were "not trying not to get pregnant" for that first year, if you know what I mean. I had gone off BC and we were just having fun and not being careful and saying whatever happens happens. Then after realizing that we didn't just "happen" to get pregnant, we started really trying... and then really really trying. We met with specialists in our area, took all the tests for his and my fertility (we were both considered normal and healthy), reading TTOYF, charting, ovulation kits, etc. We eventually did 3 IUI's--none of them were successful. Our specialist said that we fell into the small percentage of couples with "unexplained infertility". We were just starting to consider IVF when I ended up pregnant naturally. We felt very lucky that it happened for us that way, but I don't know if and when we'll be that lucky again. Here's to hoping!

Yes! L loves her daddy, and just beams whenever she sees him and he can make her belly laugh in the most delightful way... but after a few minutes, her head is on a swivel for me. If I'm not in sight, she starts to fuss. And if I AM in sight, she sometimes starts to fuss and then eventually has a bit of a meltdown until he passes her over to me. She'll stop crying immediately and then start smiling really big at her dad... I'm sure it's a phase too, but I know it probably bugs DH a bit. I also think that our LO's definitely prefer mommy whenever they're tired/not feeling good and need comfort. But yeah, I imagine there will be a time very soon where I will be thinking, hey, what about me?

 

[JGator]

Jfo, K has no teeth yet, but I'm going to order her a banana toothbrush now. Sorry to hear you had such a journey TTC L. It took us a year and some help from an RE so we feel very blessed.

MP, the problem DH and I have is that I can calm K more easily. He'll try to calm her down and I can just come in the room and take her, and she'll be fine. I think that drives DH nuts! And, usually, when I leave a room, she will start to cry.

PPM, I can't believe E is 11 months old. Good luck TTC #2 whenever you decide it's right for you. K is mostly getting formula and I'm pumping a few times a day, and AF just returned for me today after 18 months!

AMC, how is B doing?

AFU, K turned 8 months on Saturday. We got a cake like we normally do. This time she lunged for it, and she got her finger on a lit candle while we were taking her picture! Oh, boy! She recovered quickly, but we felt terrible. Her sleep has been up and down. She had a few 130am wake ups in a row followed by closer to 4am the last 2 nights. I heard from the nanny that she napped horribly today so I'm sure we are in for a long night tonight.

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, oh my goodness, K is such a beauty! Seriously beautiful little girl. Sorry to hear about the candle incident. Hopefully it was worse for you than it was for her. I accidently washed Ev's hands in too warm of water this weekend. It felt warm but not too hot to me, but he disagreed, and freaked out. I felt terrible, but he was fine after about 30 seconds of crying.

Jfo, wow, that's a great story. When things like that happen (surprise natural conception after infertility), I always think about how that particular baby was so meant to be. I hope you have a much easier time when you TTC #2. We've only tried a few months, so it's probably too soon for me to assume it can't happen naturally, but I'm really tempted to start getting fertility testing and/or treatment in the next few months. It would be so nice to be able to take fertility for granted!

 

[amc80]

JGator- look at those arm rolls! How cute is she! Love the eyes. B is doing much better, thanks for asking.

Well, B's sleep was back to being less than ideal and I was ready to start sleep training (again)....and then he STTN for two nights in a row....almost all night, at least. One night he woke up at 11pm or so and then slept until 7, then next night he slept through until 5 am, got a bottle, and went back to sleep for 90 minutes. But then yesterday happened. He is pretty good about the 2-3-4 schedule during the weekends. I don't know what happened but 4pm hit and he was super tired. I thought he'd take a 30 minute catnap but he ended up sleeping for about two hours....so bedtime was pushed back to 9ish and then it was a freaking dance party at 2am. I picked him up out of his crib and he immediately fell asleep while I was holding him. Then he woke 5 minutes later and wanted to play. I finally just gave him a bottle and let him sort it out.

He is SOOO close to walking. He can walk perfectly just holding on to one of my hands. He has taken one step a bunch of times. I really do think he could do it if he wanted to...

Day care asked us to start using stage 3 foods....but he HATES them. He hates the chunks. Anyone else have this problem? He will eat table food just fine. I gave him some spaghetti noodles last night fully expecting him to throw them on the floor, but sure enough he ate them. He also loves bread and cheese. And ice cream, go figure.

I've started sending out his 1st bday invitations. How is he almost a year old?

 

[jfo]

JGator, happy 8 months birthday to K! She is just absolutely gorgeous! I'm so sorry about the candle incident--like MP said, hopefully it was worse for you guys than for her. I hear you on the sleep being up and down--L has been pretty bad lately. Resisting daytime naps vehemently. I'm lucky if she takes 2 35-minute naps all day long. And she's been waking up more at night and needing help going back to sleep or else waking up almost an hour earlier than she normally does--like 4am.

MP, thanks! We hope that we'll get lucky again, but only time will tell. We're not getting any younger, that's for sure. Best wishes to you guys on the TTC #2 *dust* *dust* I hear you on how great it would be to take fertility for granted!

AMC, wow, how exciting that you're already planning for B's 1 year old b-day. Time FLIES! I'm going to bet he is going to start taking more steps on his own by this weekend...

As for Stage 3 baby foods--I don't have any experience there yet, but my feeling is that if B doesn't care of them, but will eat table food, then I'd skip the Stage 3 stuff and just offer table food? Or is it that daycare will only feed him Stage 3, but not table food? Hmm, our daycare has never asked us to do anything one way or the other for L. I don't know if that's good or bad?

AFU, L has been with her grandparents since Sunday and we'll get her back tomorrow. We're really lucky that they close enough to be able to help us out. Our daycare is closed this entire week for the holiday, but DH and I still have to work, although we both get Thursday off and I am taking Friday off. Well, of course, on Sunday morning, she woke up with yellow sticky goop coming out of both eyes. She's had a cold for the past week and a half, so I think they may be related, but not sure. She still has it according to my parents and she wakes up in the morning and her eyes are all crusty. I guess after wiping them, she looks good and her eyes aren't red, so hopefully it's not pinkeye. I really hope the issue goes away on its own, but if not, it's back to the pediatrician!

Otherwise, she's doing all right. She keeps getting in the position to crawl, but hasn't figured out how to move her legs to go forward. She will get up on her hands and knees and rock though and she can push herself backwards on her belly on our hardwood floors, but she whines while she does it because she either is a little freaked out by what's going on or else mad that she's not going in the way she wants to. Oh, and I offered her puffs again this past weekend and she finally has tried to pick a couple of them up and put them in her mouth. She keeps missing, but I did offer her the puffs from my hand and now she'll eat a few without gagging. Progress!

 

[amc80]

As for Stage 3 baby foods--I don't have any experience there yet, but my feeling is that if B doesn't care of them, but will eat table food, then I'd skip the Stage 3 stuff and just offer table food? Or is it that daycare will only feed him Stage 3, but not table food? Hmm, our daycare has never asked us to do anything one way or the other for L. I don't know if that's good or bad?

He basically refuses to eat table food at day care. They try every day and haven't had luck. I don't know if it's the technique they use or what. I've told them many times what I do....that he always hates the first bite, but if you try again and make a very exaggerated chewing motion he gets it. But no luck. I should probably go over there at lunch time and see if I can make it work....

As for the walking...sheesh. This morning he was standing and lifted one leg up and set it in front, like he was going to take a step...then he took it back and was laughing. THEN he freaking JUMPED in the air and landed balanced. I have no doubt he can walk just fine, he just chooses to torture us.

Speaking of torturing us...this morning he was in the front room "playing" the piano while I was gathering up everything to leave for work. I realized I hadn't heard him in 20 seconds or so, so I went to check....and he was over half way up the stair case. We have the type that flips the other direction half way up....he was on the second step of the upper stairs. OMG. That could have been a major disaster.