January & February 2006 Moms - The first year!

[angelgirl8]

jules...there are different charts for boys and girls, so that's why there's a discrepancy! my two are measured on different charts.

thanks all for your thoughts on napping/sleeping and doing what works. very little works, but sometimes the swings do and that's what has to get done!

i just posted this on the mothers of multiples thread, but i thought i'd put it here, too!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a210/angelgirl8/IMG_5223.jpg

[tray622]

jules Boy and girl charts are different. Boys are allowed to weigh more ;) Both my kids are off the charts!! If they were boys they would be 90-95th.

Nikki What a handsome little man!

angelgirl I never had any idea how much sleep consumed ones life until having a baby... and you have 2! Hang in there. Even newborns who are difficult sleepers have to sleep better as they get older!

jen Thanks for sharing your detailed experience! It is a great reference for others!

Joining the sleep-crap bandwagon :) Jocie was 10-12 hours until the last 2 nights. She has busted out of her swaddle both nights and even after reswaddling her she is up multiple times... sigh... Her baptism is Sunday though and should be fun :p

ETA: angelgirl Those precious babies cant be difficult ;) hehe... thats what people always say about my "high-needs" baby!! They are gorgeous though :D

[Nikkid]

Thank you Jules and Tray we think he's pretty cute too. :p

Angelgirl your babies are too cute. I love all their hair!

I'm sorry to ask this question and I've been trying to figure this out on my own but it's driving me nuts. What does CIO stand for? :o

TIA ladies

[michiganbride]

nikki First off your little man is a cutie. Secondly I was wondering the same thing. (CIO) I have been saying cry it off. :D

[jules1025]

What does CIO stand for? Cry It Out :)

angelgirl & tray622 - Thank you for the clarification! That makes sense. I swear, I would be so ignorant and lost without this thread!! :)

ETA - angelgirl M & J are SOOOO cute!!

[Nikkid]

Ahhhhhhh......I figured C stood for crying but I just couldn't get the rest. Thanks ladies.

Thanks Michiganbride.

Sorry to hog with pics but I have one more of him with his sister, can you find her in the picture?
http://www.stacydruse.com/main%20pics/kids/051806/images/picture_047.jpg

[tray622]

Nikki LMAO :) I cant wait for these moments!!

[tsmom]

angelgirl - Those are some darling babies - Hats off to you, there is no way I can complain about ds sleep patterns when you have 2 to deal with. Do whatever you need to do to get some shut eye. I friended you on lj ;)

Jen - glad that you found something that worked for you... I dont think that could do it. I am a big whimp and still run to dd, and she is 2, when she cries for too long.

Nikki - looks like your little man liked his first cereal!

Tracy - have a great time at the baptism on Sunday. I have got to get on this.

******

Sleep -mmmmm still nothing significant to talk about he goes down about 8:30 or so and will sometimes get up at 11 and eat and maybe at like 1am then up at 6-7am again.

Still no poop from the little man - I spoke to the GI spec again yesterday and he said to stop using the suppositories and just continue with the juice. Said to call him if we hit over 14 days again. Poor little guy seems like he is just in pain with the gas. The GI did call in a script for Zantac as he said it sounds like DS has a bit of acid reflux too. Hope it makes him feel better and he starts to poop :) ok sorry for tmi!

Have a great weekend!

[tsmom]

OMG Nikki ---that is hysterical!!!

[KRL626]

angelgirl So adorable! Hang in there! I'm with you. I think I literally had J. attached to my boob all night last night. I was so delirious I would fall asleep with him eating and wake up with him still there an hour later! It will get better eventually and until then I am part of the eternally exhausted club!:)

NikkiD Hilarious! It took me a minute to find her in the pic!

[Anon25]

Nikki-Haha! Loving that picture!

[sophonisba9]

Jack sleeps for crap at night. At 3 months he was doing 4 hours at a stretch and then he went back to 2 hours and then he'd want to nurse continuously after 3 am. At our 4 month wbv the ped said that he is just using me as a pacifer, which I knew, and that if I don't want that to continue we need to stop it now. So I've been cutting him off at the half hour mark, which seems to help a little. It seems like he gets madder if I let him go 40 minutes and then take him off. He never actually delatches on his own, ever, day or night.

Last night he woke up less than 3 hours after he went to bed. I couldn't take it and just closed the bedroom doors. Next thing I knew it was 6 am. I feel so rested. I feel bad about him crying in there by himself, but from past experience checking on him, without nursing him, just pisses him off. Hubby and I really don't function well on not enough sleep. Day before yesterday we were at each other's throats and I can definitely tell that my day time parenting suffers when I don't get a decent amount of sleep. I just don't have any patience.

[jules1025]

sophonisba9 - I take it you're not cosleeping anymore? I guess I'm the only one left then! :o I'm working on getting her in her crib though. How'd you do it?

[KRL626]

Jules We sort of are. J. has outgrown his PNP (we have a travel size) and so he was back in our bed. We'll hopefully be closing on our new apartment in a few weeks. but I hate co-sleeping because he wakes up so much more. So last night we just let him sleep in the playpen of the PNP and he slept so much better! Anyway, I'm still there with you at least for a few more weeks!

sophonisba We really have this problem too. I'm just so paranoid. I want to know that if I am letting him cry a bit it's not because he's hungry.

[sophonisba9]

We've been trying for about a month to get him out of our bed. At least half the time he ends up back with us by morning. Thats DH though, I'm a little more strict. As for how we get him to sleep in his crib, I have to nurse him to sleep. When we co-slept we'd put him down awake and quite often we would fall asleep before Jack. Going down in the crib awake is the next battle. Actually the next one is napping in the crib. He only sleeps during the day time in the swing. We're going to tackle that after we get back from the in laws next week. They don't have a swing for him, but there are plenty of people willing to walk rock or jiggle to sleep. we'll be gone for 5 days and when we come back I'll just start putting him down for naps in his crib. Hopefully he'll either learn to sleep when not in the swing or it'll he enough of a disruption to his routine that he'll transition more easily.

[sophonisba9]

krl- I know he's not wanting to nurse for hours straight because of hunger, but my issue is that if he's nursing for comfort, then should I deny him that comfort at this age. The tipping factor is that I'm a really terrible person if I'm chronically sleep deprived. I'm super impatient and snappy. I'm not nice to dh and just can't deal with all the little aggrivations of caring for an infant all day. I don't mind doing a couple of over night feedings right now, but I need to sleep in between. I can only catnap if I'm nursing in bed or in the recliner.

[meggers]

Co-sleeping--we still have Owyn sleeping in the co-sleeper next to our bed. I really enjoy having him there. I'll be sad when we move him into his crib. DH has rules about when we move him into the crib. He says that as soon as Owyn is sleeping through the night, we move him into his crib. I don't think that he'll be sleeping through the night anytime soon. :)

Speaking of sleeping through the night... Does anyone not mind that their baby doesn't sleep through the night? I am a WOHM and am breastfeeding, so I sort of feel like if Owyn did sleep through the night (and I didn't get that middle of the night feed) that I would have more of a relationship with my pump than Owyn. I think I would feel different about sleeping through the night if we were formula feeding though.

[sophonisba9]

It not that I mind that he doesn't sleep through the night it's that I mind that he won't go back to sleep after a feed. I don't really expect a breastfed baby to sleep for 12 hours straight at 4 months. I just wish he'd eat and sleep more smoothly at night.

[jules1025]

Speaking of sleeping through the night... Does anyone not mind that their baby doesn't sleep through the night? I don't mind it if she sleeps at least a 4 hour stretch between feedings. It's when I only get 2 hours of sleep before she's up again that I start to mind.

[meggers]

sophonisba9 & jules1025-- Thanks for answering. The whole STTN thing has been bugging me lately (people around me IRL seemed to be obessed with STTN). MIL likes to ask if Owyn is sleeping through the night yet. SIL, who has a baby about 3 weeks younger than Owyn, started using Babywise at 6 weeks to try and get her DD to sleep through the night.

[elladee]

I have a lot of catching up to do. For now I just wanted to say that, meggers, I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night, either. I guess by definition, DD is STTN - she goes 8 hours. But we put her down at 8 pm so she's up at 4 am to eat. I'm not usually happy when I have to drag myself out of bed to get her, but once we settle back down to nurse, I really enjoy our cuddle time.

[jennapeach]

Meggers and elladee, I'm with you. I can't say I wouldn't love an occasional uninterrupted night of sleep, but Micki sleeps from 8pm til anywhere between 2-4am. I do like our cuddles on the couch for her early morning feedings. I wonder how much I'll continue to like them when I go back to work next month? ;) If sleep becomes a problem once I'm working, we'll probably CIO.

Nothing much to report. She's trying so hard to roll over front-to-back, but she still needs a little nudge from mommy. Her head/neck control is really good now. Her disposition is so much more cheerful now. I guess she's growing out of that crying-baby phase? She's much slower to cry and much more tolerant of being put down while I fold laundry, cook, etc. She's so smiley and coo-ey now... of course, just in time before I go back to work.

Here are some pics:
http://images16.fotki.com/v316/photos/4/42358/3262049/DSC00115-vi.jpg?375500http://images17.fotki.com/v308/photos/4/42358/3262049/DSC01500-vi.jpg?334500

[smanley]

HI Everyone. I don't post here much but always keep up reading about your beautiful babies. Lily is 4 months old and is my second child - I also have Olivia who is almost 2. The reason I'm chiming in now is that I was obsessed with sleep and naps with Olivia and figured out a few things that might help those of you struggling with getting good sleep. First, every baby is different but they all need good sleep, right? So here's what I've learned through my two (very different) children and working off the HSHHC book (and the familysleep.com website). I have no idea if this stuff is right - it's just what worked for us and I thought I'd throw it out there.

By 4 months is it recommended that babies go to bed early - and I mean 6:30 or 7:00 at the very latest. Sounds crazy, huh? What happens is that when you put them down late around 8 or so, they are overtired and don't drop off to sleep easily, instead they fight it and will also wake up easier at night. I put Lily down usually right at 7 or a little before depending on her last nap by BF'ing, reading a book, swaddle and a kiss. Sometimes she's very very sleepy and sometimes she's wide awake. Either way I walk out and within 10 minutes she's asleep on her own. The first couple times I did this - around 2 months old, she'd fuss for a bit and then go to sleep, but now she knows exactly what's happening and that it's time for bed. She either STTN or wakes up around 3:30/4 to eat and then back to sleep till 6:30. Then we stick to the 2-hour rule for naps - babies typically can't stay up much past two hours before needing a nap. If you go over that, they get overtired again and have a hard time getting and staying to sleep. Again, I'm just telling you what works best for us. With two kids, under 2, we need our sleep and it's not always easy to come by! :) Naps are typically around 9, 12, and 3 but certainly will vary in length and timing every day. Olivia took 45 minute (sometimes 30 minute) naps until she started crawling at 7 months and they magically became 1 hour! I thought I was destined for 30 minute naps forever!

With Olivia too, at 5 months, she started waking 2 hours after I put her down, and after trying everything to get her back to sleep, we decided to let her CIO. My ped said just to wait 10 minutes to see what happens. At exactly the 10 minute mark she went to sleep and slept till morning. We had some setbacks along the way, but that was the best thing I could've done for her because I was interrupting her sleep by always going in to try and pacify/feed her. It was a LONG 10 minutes but I'm glad I did it as her sleeping patterns just got better from there on out.

As far as the swaddle goes, I swaddled Olivia (miracle blanket) until she was 6 months old - I thought she was going to go to preschool in that thing! But then one night my DH just didn't put her in it (he's better with change than I am :)) and she did just fine. In fact, she flipped on her belly with her knees tucked under her and that became her favorite sleeping position. So, don't worry about the swaddling - one day it just won't feel right anymore for both of you and they'll be on their way without it. Lily doesn't like the swaddle too much as she's recently found her thumb and two finger for sucking so I just wrap her lightly in it so she can get out when she wakes up at night. Seems to work just fine.

Another note - if you can put a little buffer of time - even just a few minutes - after you feed them before putting them to sleep - that's a real good thing. If they get used to falling asleep at your boob/bottle every single time, they'll want that when they wake up in the middle of the night. With Olivia - who fell asleep at the boob every night - I finally figured this out and i would just tickle her cheek to get her to look at me and we'd sing quick song before I put her in the crib. This also seemed to help with the nightwaking.

Anyways, sorry for the long post - but the sleep subject is a favorite of mine since I think I've read every book under the sun and have been through it with two darling babies. We're by no means perfect - as Lily will sleep in the car and swing sometimes - but we try to follow her cues and keep her bedtime as early as possible so that she can be well rested and sleep like a baby! :)

Just my $.02.

Shannon

[angelgirl8]

meggers...i feel the same way about STTN. it's like the only thing people seem to ask me about! and, of course they're not! i have to admit, i don't need them to sleep through. one night waking would work for me, though! i think i'd miss the nice bedtime nursing time we all get!

jules...we still have both babies in a cosleeper next to our bed, so we're in the same boat! will be there for a long time, too, since there's no other room in the apartment!

[jules1025]

smanley - Thanks for the advice! I read HSHHC, too, and am trying to follow those guidelines. DD goes to be at 7pm and sleeps until about 11:30pm (when we go to bed), eats, then wakes up every 2-3 hours after that to eat! This is my next issue to tackle after we get her naps in her crib established - which seems to be going pretty well. (I should mention that we cosleep at night.) It's just hard for me not to offer the bb if she's laying right next to it and putting her mouth on it. I have a feeling that once we move her to her crib at night, she'll sleep much longer.

meggers - I constantly get asked that question too! She's only 4 months old! Of course, she's not! :rolleyes:

angelgirl, KRL, meggers - Good to see I'm not the only one cosleeping! :)

[michiganbride]

jenna micki is so adorable.

nikki that pic was so cute.

smanley thanks for the advice.

[froggie]

smanley Thanks for the advice! I read about putting a baby to sleep early (around 7pm). It's just so hard because I come back from work around 6. If JR goes to bed at 7, I only have one hour to play with him. :( I usually play with him till 8:30 to 9 and put him to sleep. It might be why he resists so much to fall asleep, but I want some time with JR before he goes to sleep. Sigh..

[michiganbride]

Bedtime This might seem weird, but we just went to time change. (I live in Michigan-work in Indiana-go by Indiana) If I was to put Alex & Katy to bed at 7 there would be at least 2 hours of light left in the day. Also I figure that at this point when I put him to bed at 8, it is like 7 anyhow....until next time change. I have read that children and infants should have a early bedtime routine, but like froggie said if they went to bed any earlier I wouldn't really get to spend time with them. :(

STTN I would rather have Alex wake up once vs. all night. I still get up to pump, so I would rather him pump. He usually goes back to bed. STTN to me means like 4-6 hours at a time.:)

Here is Alex's 3 month pics:

http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3B55%3B87%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3282%3E853%3E4%3B%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233767946924nu0mrj

The picture people do a great job.

http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3B55%3B87%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3282%3E853%3E4%3B%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233767946525nu0mrj

enjoying his first and last spoon feeding for a while.

http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3B55%3B87%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3282%3E853%3E4%3B%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D32337678%3C6785nu0mrj

[smanley]

Early Bedtime - I know...it's hard. I work full-time and get home at 5:30, then I have an hour with the girls (usually fixing dinner) and then it's bath and bedtime by 7. But we just do the early bedtime because they go down so much easier...especially my 2-year old...she's so pooped from playing hard all day that she practically asks to go to bed. :) I SO look forward to the weekends to have the whole day with them. Anyways, just do what works best for you...that's all that matters.

[terrys wifey]

By 4 months is it recommended that babies go to bed early - and I mean 6:30 or 7:00 at the very latest. Sounds crazy, huh? What happens is that when you put them down late around 8 or so, they are overtired and don't drop off to sleep easily, instead they fight it and will also wake up easier at night.
Shannon


I can vouch for this, my daughter is 4 months and she is already on her on scedule. Every evening when we get home I feed her, bathe her and have play time. Between 7-7:30 she is winding down and I just cuddle her and she's out. Sleeps in her crib pretty much all night she may get up once but for the most part she sleeps all night.

[KRL626]

smanley Out of curiosity, does the early bedtime correlate with an early wakeup time? My DH is home with my DS during the day and they wake up together around 9-9:30am. So I put DS down to sleep at 9pm. Eventually I plan to bump him to an earlier bedtime when he starts going to a babysitter in September and has to get up early. So does it really matter what time they go to bed or that they get a sufficient stretch of sleep?

Not STTN I don't think this would bother me except for the fact that I am completely exhausted. I feel like I get no time to myself as I go to bed when DS does and my DH and I work opposite schedules for now so I'm on my own in the evening. I just want to sleep!

[lovin'it]

I am floored to see how many of us are dealing with the nap thing and the STTN. My girls are very sporadic when it comes to STTN. Some nights they do it, others they don't.

My DH and I are exhausted regardless....

Being a parent is fun! :o

[ginadc]

Soooo excited--Annika rolled over from back to front today! It was so funny. We were lying on our bed and she was grabbing at one of her toys. I kind of held it off to the side toward me, and she started reaching for it in my direction, and then just got really focused on turning over, toy or no toy. Her right arm was just pumping away, and she got herself over to one side pretty easily, but getting over the rest of the way took more work. I didn't think she'd make it, but I gave her a little more time and she got all the way over, and then even got her right arm pulled out from under her. Of course, then she immediately started hollering because she doesn't like being on her tummy, and I turned her over again--all that work for a position she hates! But I was ridiculously proud. (God help me when she goes to school.)

Another little milestone: she learned about splashing in the tub! We took a bath together today--second time we've done that. She's getting a little big for the infant tub hammock, and yet I'm not comfortable sitting her up in the infant tub itself yet, as she's not got the trunk control to sit independently, she's slippery and wiggly, and our tub (in which the infant tub sits) is rather deep, making the angle awkward for me. So we're temporarily doing mommy-and-baby bathing, which I must say is a hoot. She didn't show any interest in splashing the first time, but today I showed her again and she started plonking at the water with her hand, over and over again, with such a rapt expression.

It's amazing how such little things can totally make your day!

[jasonsgal]

michiganbride - that beach tent is awesome! Thanks for posting - we are definitely going to look into it.

Nikkid - I love that picture! Too cute :)

Jen309 - wow, thanks for the post on sleeping!!

jules1025 - I was wondering the difference in percentile as well -- girl/boy makes sense though.

angelgirl8 - I love the photo - they are just so sweet!

michiganbride and jennapeach - LOVE the photos!

smanley - thanks for your post! we are trying it this evening to see what happens <keeping fingers crossed>
---

All this sleep talk got me thinking that Noble doesn't really have a schedule nor is he able to fall asleep on his own. So tonight we tried to put him to bed early. I know he was tired (showing all the signs) so I thought it would be a good night to start. I put him in bed around 6:30'ish and let him CIO for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes I went up to check on him and he had pooped! I felt SOOO bad. I went to go change him and he just looked up at me and gave me a huge smile. My heart melted and I felt even more awful. I put him back in his crib and put his mobile on.. he fell asleep. 45-60 minutes later he started screaming (the kind of scream when he has a bad dream) and I ran up there, put the mobile on and popped the paci back in and I haven't heard a peep. I really want to be able to put him in bed without him being asleep (completely zonked out) and I guess it's better (for us) to start now.

BUMBO: I feel like someone was talking about this way back and I never responded?? Anyways, we love our bumbo! Noble likes it too :p

We are still researching options on where Noble should sleep while we are away. If anyone has any ideas please post away! This would be for an extended period of time (4-5 weeks). Bringing a PNP is not an option.

DH and I have our 4 year anniversary in 2 days - it seems like yesterday and forever ago all at the same time. :D

BTW: DS is still sleeping -- hopefully it lasts thru the night.

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions and for taking the time to post about what works for you.

Karen

[Nikkid]

I just wanted to quickly say that smanly's post inspired me to try and start putting him to bed while awake routine. I have two toddlers so it's not possible to get him to bed that early but I thought I could at least get him to start going to sleep on his own. My DH is out of town all week and this is the first time I'm alone with all four kids by myself. Bedtime is the part I dread the most because I have to sit in DD room until she falls asleep and that can take up to over an hour some nights. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with Jaxson during that time because I usually bounce him to sleep in his bouncy while DH puts DD to bed. So I decided to try and put him in his crib while he was awake and then sit in DD's room while she goes to sleep next door. It has only been about 45 min but he went right to sleep on his own! I just put his little fish music on and turned on the vibrator we have attached to his crib and he went right out. Now lets see if he stays asleep!

Thanks for all the comments on the picture, I have it on my desktop at work and laugh every time I look at it.

[Taurus]

Just checking in.

As for sleep, I can't complain. Now we can put him to sleep on his back even when he's sleepy but awake and he will fall asleep within minutes on his own. We usually do a bath at 6:30, then a bottle and a few quiet moments with either mommy or daddy, and he goes down between 7:00-7:30. We usually don't hear a sound from him until anywhere from 5:00-7:00 am. I realize that a few factors make this possible (we formula feed, I only work one day/week, and DH often works from home so we both have lots of time with him) so I'm not posting to compare but rather to say that in my experience the sleep thing can change dramatically in a short period of time. It feels like T just matured and that our routine helped--and, man, it would have been nice to know that this was just around the corner! This was a baby who hated back sleeping, needed the car seat or a swaddle to sleep, and needed the pacifier put back in over and over. And now on most nights we are able to put him on his back, awake, and walk away!

On the other hand, T is not a great napper. He mostly catnaps here and there, sometimes in his crib, sometimes not. Usually needs a bit of rocking/bouncing. But I kinda don't worry about that too much because he's sleeping wonderfully at night. I'm only sort of working on it.

ETA: I should have said that we put him down when he's sleepy, not "wide awake." I changed the wording in this post.

[smanley]

KRL626 - Yes, the earlier bedtime does correlate with an earlier waketime. She goes down between 6:30 and 7 and wakes up between 6 and 6:30 (maybe waking once a night). Then she is ready for her first nap between 8 and 8:30. HSHHC recommends this pattern because the hours of sleep before midnight are actually the most restorative for babies...interesting, huh? Then as far as naps go, the 9-12-3 pattern is actually based on babies biological clocks so they go down easier because their brains look to sleep around these times. But you're right in that it's the amount of time that the babies get at night - around 11 or 12 hours - this most important. Sleep begets sleep - the more and better sleep they get, the easier it is for them to go to sleep and the less interrupted their sleep will be. I had a hard time believing this, but it's true!

Jasonsgal - Very smart to start now with putting Noble to sleep somewhat awake now. The earlier the better since these little buggers learn pretty quick what to expect at bedtime and they actually thrive on ritual. Even if he does wake up at night, that's okay, it's more important for him to learn to go to sleep on his own when you first put him to bed and that will eventually lead to STTN.

NikkiD - I hear ya about trying to do bedtime with more than one kid - not easy! How old is your DD? Does she sleep in a big girl bed now? We went thru that transition recently and used to sit in her room till she fell asleep but did some things where she goes down on her own now - but it took awhile to get there...that's for sure!

To summarize the typical sleep trends for a 4 months old - try to shoot for an early bedtime, putting them to bed drowsy but awake, they may still wake once or twice a night to eat (even up until 9 months old - it's perfectly okay and normal), and nap lengths will vary in length. The key things to do are to help them know when it's time to sleep so they know what to expect and can start to learn to put themselves to sleep. It's totally normal not to STTN until 6+ months - even up till 9 months - but as long as they are drifting off on their own, you're setting up good habits for the coming months.

Again, sorry for the long post - just want to share my experiences in hopes that it might help one of you get a little more zzz's at night. Exhaustion makes me miserable... :)

[KRL626]

smanley Thank you so much! You really are encouraging. I keep thinking my DS is a horrible sleeper because he wakes up once or twice to eat and doesn't STTN. He really is great about going down for naps though and can put himself to sleep then and at night. So I guess we're not doing too bad! I really wish people wouldn't make you feel like something is wrong if your baby isn't STTN. My DS is small (15th %) for weight so I never want to deny him the opportunity to eat (as much as it is killing me :) to wake up)

[Nikkid]

smanley I'm interested to know what things you did to get your DD to go to sleep on her own? She will be 2 in July and has been in a toddler bed for about 5 or 6 months now since she started crawling out of her crib at an early age. You don't have to post in here but if you want you can PM me. I'm so tired of sitting in her room for sometimes hours at a time waiting for her to fall asleep.

Oh and Jaxson did get up at 1:30 for a bottle which is early for him but then he went back to sleep until 6:30 or so. He did wake a few times in between but I just gave him his paci and he went back to sleep. Overall I think he did well his first night.

[jasonsgal]

Oh and Jaxson did get up at 1:30 for a bottle which is early for him but then he went back to sleep until 6:30 or so. He did wake a few times in between but I just gave him his paci and he went back to sleep. Overall I think he did well his first night.

This is exactly what Noble did. EXCEPT he wanted a bottle at 10pm and then he woke up again around 2:30 or 3 for another bottle. He also woke up several times and we had to put the paci back in. Usually we put him to bed between 7 or 8 and he sleeps till 2 or 3 and wants a bottle. Maybe it doesn't have to do with us putting him to bed early but a 4 mos. growth spurt???

today we put him down for all of his naps awake and he fell asleep on his own! :D

Hoping tonight is better in terms of waking up for his paci. Our master bedroom is downstairs and his room is upstairs so it's a pain to run up and down all night.

Thanks smanley for all your help.

[Twyla]

Hi everyone. Just popping in to drop off some pics. We went to a BBQ this weekend and Caedan went for his first swim. He was NOT thrilled :lol
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/FariesByte/CaedanPool1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/FariesByte/CaedanPool2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/FariesByte/CaedanPool3.jpg

[jjohm]

ryan is 4 months!

we are still cosleeping, but my grandma who is staying with us is leaving for korea in a few weeks, and DS will transition to his own room. thank goodness because he sure is growing out of his mini cosleeper!

DS sleeps from 8pm to 2am and then till 5 or 6. i don't mind getting up to nurse. he used to fuss a little and i'd hear him and get up, but now...as soon as he's up, he'll start doing this yelling thing, really loudly and wakes DH up too.

as far as getting to sleep, ryan has eczema and he tries to scratch his head and legs forever which keeps him awake. so i tried a light swaddle, and nursing to sleep, and so far the past 2 days, he's done well! it took about 15 minutes vs. the usual hour. i think we are going to try that for a while. i may even see if i can start putting him down drowsy instead of totally asleep. i'm going to read my HSHHC book again, and in another month if his sleep doesn't get better on its own, we will try the CIO method. my best friend did it (her baby is 6 months) and was very successful. she has so much time in the evenings that she never had before and is wondering what to do with herself!!

so sad that i am probably going to have to switch to formula. i know he will be fine healthwise and probably start gaining more weight, but i will miss nursing! my goal was for a year, but i just don't have the time to nurse or pump while i'm working, and i will have to start doing travel again soon :( is it possible to nurse just at night time?

[Taurus]

Twyla - I couldn't view your pics but we also took DS in a pool for the first time this weekend. The day was hot but the water was a bit cold and he cried for a few seconds then was really calm in the water, looking around and happily sucking his hand. He seemed really relaxed after, too. We kept joking that he looked like he was at Club Med!

KRL - I can second what smanley said since I found that an earlier bedtime correlated to an earlier wake time. When DS made this schedule change to earlier bed time, I myself had to get used to waking up earlier with him, but it was worth it because it seemed more in sync with his needs and it easily turned into this routine that is going so well for us.

smanley - thanks, your advice is what we've found ourselves doing these past couple of weeks and i'm finding that what you wrote about the time for the first morning nap and the other nap times is really true for DS, even though the naps aren't always long ones. In fact, this morning we had the doctor so I wasn't able to put him down for his usual morning nap, and when I was getting the diaper bag ready at around 8:30 (about 1.5 - 2 hours from the time he had woken up), I looked over and he had fallen asleep on his play mat!! I haven't read any sleep books, but it sounds like DS has "taught" us what it talks about in HSHHC. :)

jasonsgal - we just recently found that gradually we had to do the pacifier in/out routine less and less. The last two nights, for example, he hasn't even needed it. We put him down, he turns his head to one side and falls asleep. Congrats on the successful naps today!

We just had our 4 mo WBV. The doc said we can start solids if we want. I don't have a strong feeling one way or another about it so I'll start to research the topic a little bit now.

4 months
16 lbs 12 oz
23.75 inches

His stats (80% for weight and 10-25% for length) crack me up but I was expecting it since all his pants are snug around the tummy but waaay too long!). The doc must get a lot of dads who are concerned with their sons' height because even though I had no reaction to his stats, she immediately said, "Tell Daddy these percentages are very temporary!!"

[lynnh]

Hello ladies. Sorry I'm such a slacker in here (I think I say that every time I post). I do try to keep up though!

Nathan rolled over for the first time yesterday! At first I thought it was a fluke, Aaron did the same. But, he's done it over and over, so it's not! Whoo little guy!

Sleep - After having a hard time putting our oldest to sleep this young I'm getting a treat with Nate. We put him down around 8:00, awake, and he wakes up around 6:00. He's also very good at taking (monster) naps. I'm a lucky mommy!

Nikkid - We moved our 2yo to a toddler bed around 18 months, so a little later than your DD. He will (now) mostly just go to bed w/o any fuss after we do our routine (diapers/pj's, brush teeth, he turns out the lights, prayer and bed). In the begining he didn't want to go to sleep so we just would let him play in there. We do have a few things for him to play with. At first he fell asleep on the floor, but he learned that the bed was more comfy! And, yes, there were times where he didn't want to do either even though he was really tired. We let him CIO at this point. I know most don't want to do this, but it didn't take long before he realized that bedtime is bedtime. I didn't feel too bad for letting an older child CIO, but I didn't do it when he was younger. I don't know if any of this helps.

Nate just woke up! I just wanted to let jjohm know that I'm pretty sure you can only nurse at night. I think I remember my LC saying that your body learns when it needs milk and will produce it then. Don't hold me to it though! If you want to nurse only when you are home, I would just give it a try!

[KRL626]

jjohm Yes you can definitely do this. Your body will adjust to it and make milk for that time. I'm not totally decided but when I go back to teaching in September I am really not wanting to drag the pump with me. So I'm debating just nursing in the morning and evening when I'm with him and on weekends. I also read on the BF support thread that you can nurse on the weekend if you want also because your body will even know that those days you are with DS.

[aligirl]

Alex had his 4mo WBV today.

Weight: 14 lbs, 15 oz ~ 75%(ok, so let's just round up to 15 lbs!)
Height: 24.5 in ~ 50%
Head: 17 in ~75%

I think we may give him some rice cereal this weekend. He's been spitting up a ton so we're thickening his formula with a little bit of the rice cereal. We may have to put him on a PPI instead of nothing (ran out of Zantac and he was doing OK until 2 days ago). We'll see. He was refusing the bottle from Jay (he's been 100% FF for 6 weeks now) which isn't good because he doesn't really have any other way to eat! Plus, he's only having a BM every 3 days now and it's slightly formed. Dr told me to give him prune juice - YUCK - but I will. I bought some for him already. Poor little guy!

He's not STTN and we're not CIO because he just passes out at 7 and wakes up around 1 and is starving. I tried CIO a few nights and he was seriously hungry so I fed him and he passed out again. Then he wakes up again around 6 and is hungry again. He's such a porker! It's all good though - he's gained 6 lbs in 2 months and is back on track! :)

He's one cool dude :cool:
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3B668%3C7%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3263%3E6%3A8%3E9%3B8% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233763984757nu0mrj

[jjohm]

here's our little dude, a new member of Lifetime Fitness!
http://files.blog-city.com/files/J04/60871/p/f/952309595303_0_alb.jpg

oh yeah, last wednesday at his 4 month checkup
weight: 14 lb 5 oz
height: 24 3/4 inches
head: um, i forgot...but it's growing!

[lovin'it]

so sad that i am probably going to have to switch to formula. i know he will be fine healthwise and probably start gaining more weight, but i will miss nursing! my goal was for a year, but i just don't have the time to nurse or pump while i'm working, and i will have to start doing travel again soon :( is it possible to nurse just at night time?

JJohm - I only nurse my girls in the first part of the morning...because I work full-time too. Yet...I am like a milking cow :D It's possible...and super doable...He will only need formula during the time he is away from you. I do pump Friday-Sunday....so they can get some of my milk when I am away. They are Breastfed, Formula fed and Expressed Breast Fed :D Lucky girls of mine!

[jjohm]

krl, lynnh, lovin'it: wow ladies! thanks for the breastfeeding advice. it's amazing what our bodies can do.

3 days in a row of no crying to get to sleep! the swaddle must be working.

lately, DS has been crying in the daytime when left with my grandma or DH. not the whole time, but long enough for it to be difficult for them. once i return, he's as happy as can be. i love that he knows me, and prefers mama, but i feel bad for both of them. they are the other primary caretakers, and i can't be with him all the time. i don't want them to suffer through his crying, so if i'm working upstairs, i'll come down to calm him, but am i creating a bad habit? i don't want DS to think that if he cries long enough, that i will come "save" him...but if he wants me, i want to be there for him. kwim??

[KRL626]

jasonsgal I know you said a PNP is not an option to bring with you. However...we have a Graco travel lite PNP which is basically just the bassinette/playpen. It's really light and comes in the carry bag with handles that is really not that big. I'm sure you could check it onto an airplane. Jeremiah sleeps in the playpen now as he has outgrown the bassinette (I'm patiently waiting for our new apartment so that we can get a crib for him) Anyway, it's just an idea. Oh yeah and I think it costs around $70 or $80. We got it at BRU.

[KRL626]

Anyone know why I can't seem to post pictures with Snapfish?

[michiganbride]

Big News Last night we got home around 8pm and Alex took a bath. At around 8:45pm I started nursing him and around 9pm he was done and wanting to play. So I tried to stick the paci in, but he wanted nothing to do with it and of course just smiled at me. I decide to lay him down in his bassinet and walked out of the room. I didn't hear a peep from him, so I went in to check on him at 9:30pm he was sound to sleep. YAY, he can put himself to sleep. By the way he didn't wake up until 4am, which is really good considering we usually put him to be at 8pm and he wakes up at 1-2 for a feeding.

So of course what smanley posted is what the "books say", I feel that it is completly up to us "the parents". I feel as though Alex got just as good sleep from 9-4 as the other infants that go down from 7pm-12am. So to me it really doesn't make since that the best sleep is from 7pm-12am. I know that probably some tests proved that this works best, but that is a test on probably small percentage of babies. If you are a first time mom you should try it, but don't over do yourself trying to make it work. Not worth the stress! Sometimes babies just make their own schedule and we follow it. I might be a little selfish, but I want to spend more time with my baby when I get home from work. Also this give me an extra nursing for the day.

[froggie]

All the baby pictures are so adorable.

I took JR to the doctor today because of his bad rash. He started having it a few days ago, and now it's spreading all over his chest and some on his belly. The doctor said it's just dry skin and prescribed hydrocortison cream (2.5%). The doctor asked all the questions like how often we bathe him and what soap we are using and etc. But seems like we are doing all the right thing. JR just has dry sensitive skin. It's so sad to see his used-to-be-so-smooth skin became rough red patches. Hopefully he will get better. BTW, does anyone know what's the difference between rash and eczema?

JR is getting better at falling asleep. (or we are getting better, should i say?) There were a couple of times he was able to put himself sleep when I left him in the crib. Last two nights, he also slept through the night from 10pm to 6am. He usually gets up once around 3-4am to eat. I hope it will continue.

Swimming. I noticed from jjohm's picture that ryan went to swimming pool. Can our babies already enjoy being in the pool? Do they have to be able to have a good neck control? JR loves bath time, so I feel like he will like pool as well. But I worry that lower water temperature and chlorine may irritate him. What do they wear in the pool btw? What about diaper? I have no clue.

[smanley]

michiganbride - I totally agree that you have to do what works best for your family and baby as far as schedules go. I was just throwing out some ideas about what worked for us in hopes that it might work for another baby out there and give a mom some much-needed rest. Anyways, sorry...I'll leave the sleep subject alone.

nikkid - I sent you a PM about how we moved Olivia to a big girl bed and what did and didn't work.

Have a good day everyone.

[Taurus]

So I tried to stick the paci in, but he wanted nothing to do with it and of course just smiled at me.

When this has happened at night, DH and I have had to keep ourselves from laughing out loud. It always seems like DS is trying to turn on the charm and get us to pick him up!

That's great news about Alex falling asleep on his own. Oh, and I'm pretty sure we'd have a different routine than we do if I worked full time!

[Taurus]

froggie - I had heard that after 3 months babies can go in a pool and my sister's ped gave her the OK for her son (same age as mine, 4 months old) so we went ahead and did it. DH and I just each stood in the shallow end holding DS against our bodies and with most of his body in the water. We had bought the Little Swimmers diaper things for the boys to try this summer, but this time we tried these little swim trunks that we found that have an absorbant diaper built in. What can I say, the trunks made for adorable photos. The boys weren't in there long enough to have done much damage in the diaper (and my DS had already had his one morning poop! :) Anyway, you can't use sunscreen until 6 mos so we had wide-brimmed hats on them and kept it fairly short. As I posted above, DS really liked it!! My sister's baby has eczema so her doc said to give her son a sponge bath after to rinse the chlorine off, and both my sis and her doc thought that her son must have loved the cool water on his sensitive skin. HTH!

[michiganbride]

smanley I think that every mom is thankful for the information that you gave us, I know that I am. I just know that with my DD I wanted to do everything by "the book", and that really gave me/us stress issues with her. I don't want the mommies to think that they aren't treating their baby fair by not getting them to bed at that specific time and that their babies aren't getting proper sleep. I am sure that you didn't mean to give that impression, but that is how I was starting to feel. Well at least DH would comment when I would want to discuss this with him. I even thought about trying it, but really now it doesn't work out for our family. :)

froggie YAY for sleeping.

[michiganbride]

Anyway, you can't use sunscreen until 6 mos so we had wide-brimmed hats on them and kept it fairly short.

Thank you so much for this info. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful here and we planned to be outside most of the day. I was going to use sunscreen. I never had this issue with DD, I just didn't take her outside.;)

[KRL626]

froggie For the most part excema looks like a red ring of dryness. It looks like ringworm but it isn't.

[angelgirl8]

swimming...my ped said that the thing about swimming is that they get cold really easily. it's a surface area thing. so she said for now, we can dip their legs in the water but she wouldn't submerge them or anything. as for sunscreen, i always thought we had to wait until 6 months but my ped said that that's the rule for sunscreen everywhere. she said it was okay now for small exposed areas (legs, arms) but to avoid sun as much as possible! definitely big hats, though!

[Twyla]

Ok tring this whole thing again LOL Did it work now?
Hi everyone. Just popping in to drop off some pics. We went to a BBQ this weekend and Caedan went for his first swim. He was NOT thrilled :lol
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/FariesByte/CaedanPool1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/FariesByte/CaedanPool2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/FariesByte/CaedanPool3.jpg

[tray622]

twyla It worked! He is so cute :) I love his mad face... hehe...

[michiganbride]

Hope everyone has a good a safe weekend. Enjoy another 1st holiday with our new babies.

Q? How do you know if your baby is overheated?

[elladee]

DD had her 4 month WBV this week. DH took her, so I only got secondhand info. :( Here are her stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 10 oz
Height: 25 1/4 in

michiganbride, I don't really know. DD gets super sweaty sometimes. I assume that means she's too hot...

aligirl, jjohm and Twyla, cute babies!

[michiganbride]

twyla How cute is he.

elladee She's getting big!

I feel so bad cause Alex sweats all the time. I can't just put him in nothing....can I? When I am not home.

[Twyla]

Over heating-My Dr. always said the baby is as hot or cool s you are. So if your hot the baby likely is too. Does that make sense?

Thanks! I think I like the angry face to LOL

Q-What do you all use when your little ones get congested? Caedan seems like he is having an alregy attack this week. And is so stuff and sneezy. Poor guy.

[jeninef]

Twyla - Too cute! I can't wait to take our little guy into the pool soon!

I just wanted to drop off a pic of Josh and DH on his baptism day. It went great, no crying...
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3B9%3A95%3B%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3238%3E834%3E248%3E WSNRCG%3D3233774%3A47735nu0mrj

Also, we took Josh on his first "real" adventure to Tombstone for the day. It went good as well. Here is Josh and I on the streets of Tombstone!
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3B9%3A95%3B%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3233%3E685%3E%3A68% 3E2324685%3B598%3C3ot1lsi

As for congestion...we haven't been faced with that yet, so I'm not sure what we would do? :confused: I'm curious to see what others have done.

[catandmouse]

Jordyn has been sick with a super runny/stuffy nose for 5 weeks now. I've been using saline drops & the snot sucker. The Dr told me that if her nose isn't draining, then you can use a humidifier. Poor baby has an ear infection now & is on her first antibiotics. We've all just been passing various illnesses around for over a month.
Hope everyone is doing well. I don't have time to get on here anymore :(

[Taurus]

Twyla - Ditto what catandmouse said! When DS got his first ear infection, the illness started and ended with nasal congestion. We used Ocean for Kids saline nose spray/drops (it works both ways). We would tip his head back, apply a couple of drops into each nostril, wait a sec, then torture him with the bulb syringe. :rolleyes: Then we'd have a tissue handy and blow out the syringe onto the tissue after each suck so that whatever we got didn't go back in. It doesn't always come out on the tissue, though, so if you don't see much coming out it doesn't mean you aren't getting snot out. He hated it every time, but we had to do it so often. Our ped showed us how to block one nostril with your finger to get good suction on the nostril you are suctioning, but this was often hard as DS would squirm so much and try to push our hands away, we'd almost poke his eyes. Sometimes one of us would have to gently hold his hands down. It was awful but he always felt better after. When you hear a lot of the sucking sound in the syringe, it is pulling stuff out. We'd do each nostril until we didn't hear that suction sound anymore or until our instinct was that it was better to stop and soothe him and try again later. (I've read in one place that it's not good to use the syringe too much, but I've never read that anywhere else, and IMO it was essential that we help him breathe better and make him more comfortable.) He also slept in his car seat during this time. Hope he feels better soon!

Jeninef - Cute pictures. My dad's (very large) family lives throughout AZ, and I'm sure somewhere there is a pic of me at about the same age taken in Tombstone. Glad the baptism went well too.

[tray622]

CUTE BABIES :D

jeninf I lol when you said that your babptism went great "no crying." That is exactly how I would describe ours... no crying thank goodness ;)

[michiganbride]

jeninf cute pics. I am glad to hear that the baptism went good.

This weekend we went camping and I found out how to tell when Alex gets overheated. He broke out in heat rash and began spitting up a lot more. I am not sure if it is because I had cereal w/milk, which I don't usually have, or the heat. I am going to test the milk. Even though it was really hot Alex did really well. He sttn and went to sleep at 8pm every night. It was great.:D

Alex has is 4mo WBV tomorrow. We see what the DR says about the rash.

[Nikkid]

Great pics everyone! It's fun seeing how big the babies are getting.

michiganbride I had to point out that I just noticed that you were married on my birthday, our DD's have the same name and your son was born on my anniversary. How weird is that?

[michiganbride]

nikkid That is too weird.:p That means your Birthday is coming up. Got any plans?

[jeninef]

michiganbride- O.k., I'll throw one in there also, you were married on my sister's birthday! :)

Did you guys go camping in a designated campground or primitive? My DH and I love camping, but I guess I am hesitant to take DS with us. Typically we go primitive, no running water or bathrooms, but if we take DS I think we would need to go somewhere which at least has running water. We don't have any plans to go anytime soon because of the fire restrictions out here, but maybe by the end of summer, around August or so. DS would be about 6 months by then. Where did you put DS to sleep?

tray622- Yes, I think it's too funny that a good day "out", or in this case his baptism, is good if there is no crying!

[jeninef]

Anyone join Gymboree with this child or previous? If so, was it beneficial? Also, has anyone joined any mommy groups locally? Did you find it beneficial?

I'm debating joining Gymboree and am not sure if it's worth the $$. If it gets me and DS out of the house and I make some new mommy friends it'll be worth it, but I'm just not sure I want to spend the $$ to make friends!

I did join a mommy group locally, but they haven't met yet, first meeting in June...so the jury's still out on that one!

[tray622]

gymboree We did it with Zoey and I really liked it. I am 50/50 on if it is "worth" it. We didnt really meet any long lasting mommy friends there but had a great time. Try the free trial class!

[Nikkid]

michiganbride nope, no plans. My mom is out of town this weekend and she is really our only babysitter so I don't plan on doing anything fun. Any plans for your 1st anniversary?

[elladee]

jeninef, we're primative kinds of campers, too. Mostly backpacking. Except for this little heat wave we've got now, our nights are still pretty chilly, so we've yet to take DD out. May I ask why you'd need running water? We plan to have DD sleep with me, on my open sleeping bag with a sheet and blanket (if necessary).

michiganbride, sorry about the heat rash. We gave that to DD back when she was like a week old. Couldn't blame that one on the weather, though. Just crazy parenting. Oops.

catandmouse, sorry to hear about Jordyn being sick. I hope you all get better soon.

[michiganbride]

jeninef My parents have a motor home, so we took the bassinet and pnp. He slept next to us in the bassinet and for naps we wanted him to sleep in the pnp, but he decided otherwise. We also took his bath and let him use it like a pool.

I don't like to be hot and dirty so I don't think that I could camp w/out running water. I could be one or the other but not both at once. :D DH and I love to tent camp. When we go to Cedar Point we usually camp at a close by campground. I don't know that I could do that with DS at this age.

nikkid We don't have any big plans. We are going to go to dinner and maybe a movie. My mom is really our only babysitter as well. My MIL won't watch him for an extended period of time until he is not nursing. She nursed DH and his sister until they were 2 years old and never gave them a bottle. So she is real apprehensive about giving DS a bottle. Weird:rolleyes: Anyway thankfully my mom and dad don't have plans so we can get a evening alone.

[michiganbride]

Just got back from Alex's 4mo WBV here are the results:

weight: 16lbs 1oz (75%)
height: 24.25 inches (25%)
head: 16.5 inches (50%)

Short and Stocky

He did really good with the shots. They put the first in his left leg and he didn't even flinch. The put the other two in the right and he screamed until we picked him up and he was fine. Wow my DD would of cried all the way to the car. :D

Q? Anyone know when babies should start crawling? My friends DD is 10mo and still is not crawling.

[Taurus]

michiganbride - welcome to the Short and Stocky Sons club! (DS was 16 lbs 12 oz and 23.75 inches last week at his 4 mos checkup!) :)

[jeninef]

Elladee- I guess I was thinking of needing water for any possible blow outs? H2O would help with the clean up, but I guess is not necessary...for some reason having running water seems to make me feel better mentally, not really sure why? :o

michiganbride - Thanks for the info. Sounds like you guys had a good time! My DH and I have talked about getting a popup camper in the future, but we really are tent campers. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes with the weather here and maybe try it at the end of the summer.

[meggers]

Owyn's 4 month WBV was last week. Here are his stats:

Length: 26.75 (96%)
Weight: 16lbs 9oz (80%)

He is getting to be such a big boy!

michiganbride-- I think my nephew was around 11 months when he started crawling.

QOTD: Is anyone doing a delayed vaccination schedule? I was thinking of talking to Owyn's ped at the 6 month visit about changing our vaccine schedule so he doesn't get so many at once and spread the shots out a bit.

[jules1025]

Looks like we've got a lot of big babies in here! :)

Big development in our house! Audrey is now sleeping in her crib at night!! :D We were cosleeping until this point. It wasn't even that hard to transition her. She has been taking her naps in her crib for over a month now, and on Monday night she would not go to sleep in our bed (I would lay with her till she fell asleep). So, I just put her in her crib using the same routine for naps and she slept from 7:30pm-2:30am!! I was amazed! Same thing last night except she woke up at 12:30am. I thought the transition would be much harder. Still not STTN, but I'm glad to have my bed back. :)

Other things...

thumb sucking - Audrey's found her thumb! LOL. It's so adorable. She's never been interested in it before, but just over the past few days she's been sucking on it non-stop. I'm so glad b/c she won't take a paci and can finally soothe herself!

teething - I think she's started teething. I can feel the teeth bulging in her gums, and she's been chewing on things non-stop and pulling on her right ear. Not to mention she's super cranky. I think I need to get some teething tablets (hyland's??). Anyone know where to get them??

sitting - She's also starting to learn how to sit up! Still can't completely sit up on her own, but she'll lean on her legs for a few minutes before falling over. Here's a pic...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/juliebeth13/ed986fca.jpg

qotd - delayed vax - I probably won't do it unless she's getting an insane amount of shots at one appt. She's gotten 4 at each of her last appts and I think she's getting only 2 or 3 at her 6 month. She's handled the shots well so far, so hopefully that will continue. Is there a month that they get more than 4 shots?

[KRL626]

thumbsucking I don't know if I answered this yet, but J. does this and it is wonderful. He is so good at putting himself to sleep and I think that is why.

Jules I was just reading through the posts and scrolled down to your pic. of Audrey. Jeremiah was standing on my lap and saw her and let out the biggest squeal and smile. Hmm...maybe he's got a little crush on your pretty lady?

[meggers]

Hylands--I bought the teething tablets at Walgreens. If you go to their website (http://www.hylands.com) and click on store locator, it will tell you where you can buy them.

sitting--Owyn doesn't like to sit yet (even in his Bumbo). He just falls forward.

vaccines--I didn't really like Owyn's reaction to the shots he got at the 4 month visit. That night he was very irritable and it was hard to get him calmed down. The next day at daycare he developed a fever of 101 and was refusing to eat. I know 101 isn't a very high fever, but I was hoping he would be able to get these shots with the least discomfort as possible.

[jules1025]

meggers - I would definitely be discussing delaying vaccs if DD wasn't responding to them well. Seems like you have a valid concern!

KRL - Awww... what a sweetie he is! :D

[elladee]

Sitting - Esther sort of sits, too! Here's my proof:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/lisaanne14/2006%20Summer/06052903.jpg

thumbsucking - Esther would rather suck on her fingers for now. Or chew on them. She's doing a lot of chewing these days. For soothing herself, we've got her hooked on the pacifier.

[jules1025]

Yay Esther! :D

[Nikkid]

Wow Jules and Elladee, your girls look a lot alike in the sitting photos you posted of them. At first I thought it was the same baby. Too cute.

Jaxson can sit up a little bit too but don't have proof yet. :p I'll have to get a pic one of these days.

Thumb sucking he is my first child to ever suck there thumb. It's so cute yet I don't want him to get hooked on it. I think he's too little to get hooked on it now, I think he's doing it more so because he is teething.

Vaccines we are staying with the same schedule. My DC haven't had any problems with there vaccines but if your DS isn't responding well I would discuss it with your ped.

Crawling I really don't remember my DS#1 ever crawling. :o It seems like he scooted around on his butt everywhere and the next thing I knew he was walking. I think my other two crawled later on, like around 10 mos but I don't remember. :confused:

[tray622]

Gosh, I just love the baby pictures :)

vaccines With Zoey we followed the basic schedule minus Hep B until 12 months. We have not done the 12 month mmr, chicken pox, or flu and we wont be doing anything but the mmr when she turns 2.

We officially have great sleeper #2 on our hands :p She is easily going 10-12 hours a night! Now before I get too excited we arent doing it "right." She is swaddled and either in her swing or in her crib. It is kinda hit or miss and I am not sure if we will ever be able to unswaddle her :(

[jjohm]

ryan said "um-ma" (korean word for mama) today! twice! yep, he is only 4 months old. ok, so it was a total accident. and it was more like "oo-mah" than "um-ma". he usually says "oo-ah" and his lips touched together this time between vowels. but still...

here's the latest pics of our ryan. we're going to try to take a picture of him in this chair every month to see how much he's growing. compared to last month, he didn't grow much in size, but he can stay on that chair longer without falling over!

http://files.blog-city.com/files/J04/60871/p/f/101890976303_0_alb.jpg

[Anon25]

I can't believe how fun this age has been. Brendan is doing so many new and amazing things like transferring toys from one hand to the other, holding his own bottle (only for a min. or so at a time), and discovering his toes. Of course, with the good comes the bad--he's been a lot more fussy lately and FURIOUSLY chewing on anything he can get his hands on.

Teething tablets-We got some of these yesterday. Had to go to the homeopathic section of our local grocery/pharmacy store.

STTN-Brendan has gone five nights without a midnight feeding which I'm happy about. He does wake periodically but knocks out as soon as he gets the paci again. I've been using the pacifier as a tool to keep him asleep and avoid a feeding but am wondering if he's too young to do this? I figure if he doesn't scream his head off, he's ok without a bottle - but I'm not sure.

For those of you that have great sleepers- do your babies wake up at all? Or are they out for the entire night straight?

Haha!! I've always thought Audrey and Esther look a lot alike!! Too cute! Congrats on the sitting up! Yay for crib sleeping and thumb sucking! Also, Ryan is freaking adooorable! I'm totally crushing on him. :p

[tray622]

anon She usually sleeps straight through. My oldest would usually wake up once. To me a great sleeper can still wake up, just eat and go right back down :)

[KRL626]

Anon Well my DS has just this week been sleeping wonderfully. He goes down at 8 pm and has gone about 7 or 8 hours before waking fully for a feeding. Then he sleeps another 4 or 5 hours before waking up. He does wake up sometimes and cries a little. My DH comforts him and he usually goes back to sleep. This has really helped us because before I was just sticking him right on the boob the minute he fussed. I realize now he probably wasn't hungry. If my DS really cries and won't be settled by DH then I assume he is hungry and feed him. I think your DS will let you know if he is hungry. If the paci helps him fall back asleep then I would assume he isn't hungry. HTH :)

[elladee]

Thanks guys.

jjohm, I have to agree with Anon, Ryan is way too cute. :)

Anon, for the most part, I consider Esther a good sleeper. She goes down at 8 pm and is usually asleep within 10 minutes. Wakes up about 7 hours later, around 3, to eat and goes right back to sleep. She wakes up again when I get up for work around 6 to eat and then goes back to sleep in bed with DH until maybe 8 in the morning. I expect her to wake up to eat and (usually) don't mind it. I consider it a bad night when she doesn't go to sleep or back to sleep easily.

[michiganbride]

jjohm you take wonderful pictures. How could you not he is sooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!

audrey and esther look adorable. They could almost be sisters! :)

Have a wonderful weekend everybody. :p

[Anon25]

Tray, KRL and elladee- Thanks for the input! For a while, I considered Brendan an excellent sleeper. He also went to bed at 8pm, would wake for a feeding between 1 and 3am, and go right back to sleep. Just recently though, I've realized how many times I have to get up at night to give him the pacifier...he wakes and cries easily 5-7 times a night. Granted, he falls right back to sleep...but that darn binky is wearing me out. I think I'm realizing he doesn't know how to self-soothe. I wondered if the other kiddos were doing this as well, or if I'm in the minority. I've contemplated weaning him from the paci but DH doesn't agree. He believes DS still needs it.

[AusMarchBride]

We're pretty lucky with the sleeping. Sarah goes down for the night at around 7.30pm and we no longer have to wake her for a later feed (she was a small baby so the ped had us waking her for an extra feed). She sleeps through until around 6.30am when my DH wakes her for a feed and then she goes back to sleep until around 9am. After that she only has a couple of naps during the day, not lasting more than half an hour.

Last night she woke up around 10.30pm crying. I know she can settle herself back to sleep during the day, but this was the first time we let her soothe herself back to sleep during the night. It was the hardest thing I've done, listen to her crying and not go to her. I was in tears and her crying only lasted for about 4 minutes. But she settled herself without her dummy (pacifier as you guys call it ;) ) and she was fine.

So I'm pleased that she could do it all by herself but I hope it doesn't happen too often.

She's having fun playing with the toys, and as Anon25 said, furiously biting and chewing on everything she can get in her mouth. Fingers (her own) are her favourite, but she's not too selective, any toy will do also :)

Still loathes tummy time, I can get her to do about 4 minutes maximum before she starts crying and just puts her head on the floor. But when she does do it she's pushing up as she should be and her control is very good. I'm a little wishy washy about the whole tummy time thing. A friend of mine had her baby 2.5 years ago and the bub was in a hip brace for 12 months due to hip problems. So she never had tummy time, and crawled and walked normally and is now a very active toddler. So the complete lack of tummy time did her no harm.

I can't believe it's a year since I had my IVF cycle that gave us our beautiful little girl. It seems to have flown by.

And here's a pic of my beautiful little girl (just a slight amount of maternal bias ;) )
http://static.flickr.com/52/159013259_30f134481e.jpg?v=0

[AusMarchBride]

I just wanted to comment on something tray622 said about the swaddling. We had Sarah swaddled up until about 4 weeks ago. I hadn't been swaddling her during the day for her naps, and she seemed to be doing fine. So we tried not swaddling her at night.

I was prepared for it to be a hideous few nights while she got used to it, and the first night she did wake herself up a few times (I'm sure that she probably hit her face or something while asleep). I checked her, put the pacifier back in and then left the room. Did this maybe 4 times the first night (and it was in the first couple of hours after she'd been put to bed, not later on) and for the next couple of nights.

I think my DD was ready to be unswaddled because she was soothing herself during the day with her hands, and yet couldn't get to them at night. Now she's fine, sleeps without being swaddled at all.

I figure, try not swaddling and if it's a complete disaster, then swaddle her and try again in another week or so.

[Taurus]

QOTD- Has anyone noticed their DC leaning/slumping forward in the infant seat? DS is still within the weight and height limit, but when we are driving, he looks like he's trying to pull himself up/out of the seat, or as if he's pulling his head forward to "explore" but then doesn't know how to settle back into the seat. We have the straps on the highest holes, and there is no headrest or anything else in the seat anymore. We have the Snugride. Any suggestions or feedback for me? I'm not sure if it's voluntary or not. He makes similar-looking attempts at sitting up when he's propped up for playtime or bathtime. Just signs of a baby on the way to sitting up?

[KRL626]

Taurus My DS does that too in his stroller. I think they are just trying to sit up. I never thought of it as strange. HTH

[Taurus]

Thanks KRL. My nephew (same age) is doing it too so maybe it's just a transitional thing to sitting up. It looks uncomfortable to me but DS doesn't complain so he must be OK.

[Lobeth]

Have not been here in a while. I love seeing all of the kids photos!

At Nick's 4 month WBV 3 weeks ago, he was:

Weight: 20lb 10oz
Length: 27in
Head: 16in?- Dont remember.

Vaccines: Nick had three shots at his WBV that left hard lumps on his legs. I can still feel them, but the doctor said that was normal. I can still see the bruise from his 2 month shots. Since he is in daycare, I have to keep his shots up to date.

Nick is not thumbsucking, but he is teething. He chews on his fingers, his bib, and anything he can get his hands on.

As for STTN, we are not there yet. I want to do some sleep traing of some sort, probably NCSS, since that is closest to my personal style. I dont want him to be like his 18 month older sister, who still gets up at night (out of habit) for a drink of water. He goes to sleep around 7:30 and wakes up at 11:00 and 2:30ish to have a bottle and goes right back to sleep. I wake him up for the day at 5:15. Whe he wakes up, I do let him fuss a little to see if he'll put himself back to sleep, but if he starts to cry, I'll go and tend to him. I have the NCSS the book for toddlers, but have not had the time to finish reading it. I thought he was doing well, until I came here and saw that several babies were sttn!

Sitting Up - It looks as if Nick is right in line with the others. When he is reclined, he leans forward like he is trying to sit up. He cannot sit up by himself for more than 30 seconds without tipping forward or to the side. Hopefully he will be doing that soon.

Here is a sort of recent pic of Nick at 4.5 months:

http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C84332%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3269%3E732%3E836%3EWSNR CG%3D32337958%3A6%3A46nu0mrj

[tsmom]

Love seeing all the beautiful babies in here!! I dont comment much but I do read along and keep up.

We had Drakes
4 month WBV last week
13 lbs 2 oz (up to 40th % from the 25th so we are happy)
26" long

Knocking on wood here - his poop problems seem to be getting a wee bit better - he has gone 3 times in the last week which is a HUGE imporvment over once every 14 days. We are just praying that it keeps up!

STTN - Nope not us - he wakes up about 2 times a night still ... DD was sleeping through the night at 2 months -I guess all babies are different!

He is not sucking his thumb either another DD was doing all the time!

He is trying to sit up and loves his Bumbo! He just started laughing this week and it is so cute!!!

[aligirl]

Alex slept through the night last night -- 7:30PM to 5:30AM. WOW! :D I'm not sure about tonight. We'll see. I just put him done at 7:45. If he even comes close to what he did last night I'll be happy.

He's still not impressed with cereal so we're not forcing the issue. I think he choked down 3 or 4 spoonfuls yesterday before getting really irritated with me. I guess it just isn't tasty enough or easy enough for him yet. I'm going to keep trying though.

[Twyla]

He's still not impressed with cereal so we're not forcing the issue. I think he choked down 3 or 4 spoonfuls yesterday before getting really irritated with me. I guess it just isn't tasty enough or easy enough for him yet. I'm going to keep trying though.

Caedan hated the cereal stuff. But Sunday we mashed up a piece of banana and mixed in a little brest milk and he LOVED it. He was so excited about it that if I didn't get the spoon back to his mouth fast enough, he'd scream. LOL I waited a couple days to see if he had a reaction and he didn't. So we fed it to him again today. He had 1/3 of a banana today and if I'd have let him he'd would have eaten more. :D

Next week we will try a new food. Not sure what though ;)

[jjohm]

twyla: that is so cute, i can just picture the excitement! i can't wait for DS to try real food.

we go to the allergist tomorrow to see if we can figure out what's causing Ryan's eczema. i just got some acid mantle cream that the doc recommended and it seems to be working better than any of the lotions i had before. aquaphor was just too greasy and not much different than vaseline. one of my friend's baby is allergic to eggs which they found out at the allergist, so we'll wait to start solids after the appointment.

last night, ryan slept in his own room for the first time! we just moved the co-sleeper into that room next to the twin bed instead of putting him in the crib...i dunno, to make it more of a smooth transition i guess (but who knows if he even notices, because he can't see anything but the ceiling from the cosleeper) i had to go in there at 3:30 am to feed him, and then of course i missed having him next to me and slept in the nursury till 6am.:rolleyes: once he gets used to sleeping in his own room, we are going to try the CIO method for him to fall asleep on his own. i am so hoping he figures it out before we have to use that method.

[aligirl]

Twyla -- thanks for the thoughts on the bananas! Maybe we'll try that this weekend. I'll probably try the cereal again and see what happens...possibly mix it with some apple sauce or something.

Major milestone: the little man STTN AGAIN! YIPPEE :D :D

[Medako]

Not sure if we're the minority or not, but we haven't started any cereal at all. At his last WBV the doctor didn't mention anything about starting cereal, so we're holding off for a while still. I guess part of me just isn't ready to accept that my little boy is getting old enough for that just yet. I figure that as long as he's satisfied for now he's fine, then in another month or so we'll start giving him a little cereal now and then.

[tray622]

We started cereal at 5 months with our first because I was so excited to see her reaction to something new. This time I know that for us popping in a bottle is much easier than having to feed her, so we are waiting probably into adolescence ;)

aligirl Yay for STTN! :D

jjohnm I hope they are able to figure out the allergy! Yay for sleeping in his crib :)

[angelgirl8]

sttn...nope! not even close. they're up about 5 times a night and they eat twice. it's awful.

solids...we're not starting them yet, either! my ped didn't think we needed to and i'd rather not deal with it at all, so that's good!


they are doing more fun things, like rolling over both ways now! so that's cool. and like most babies here, they LOVE their hands...chew on them all day. although they don't soothe them at all, which is frustrating.

sorry i don't have more to say...we're just having a really hard time with sleep and naps here. and ds has a bad staph infection from a rash/excema he has and it's been pretty crappy.

but, lest you believe they never sleep...here they are asleep for 20 minutes in their stroller:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a210/angelgirl8/IMG_5307.jpg

[elladee]

angelgirl8, what a sweet picture!

jjohm, good luck at the allergist. I hope they figure it out.

Solids, at her 4 mo WBV, the doc said we could start cereal. But I'd rather wait until 6 months. I want to skip cereal altogether, anyway. Maybe we'll do oatmeal, but not rice cereal. She has started showing interest in food, so we do sometimes give her tastes (like tiny dabs of sauce off our fingers) of things we're eating. I let her lick my lime popsicle last night. That was pretty funny.

[michiganbride]

I am looking for a good sling/wrap any ideas?

[jjohm]

here is me in my podegi (it's from korea). it takes some practice to get used to putting a baby on your back and tying the string around, but once he's on, it's so comfortable and you have both hands!
http://files.blog-city.com/files/J04/60871/p/f/670402976303_0_alb.jpg
i have the ring sling that never really worked for me except when DS was tiny, i'm thinking when his legs are longer and wrap around my hip that it will become useful again. i am also looking into getting a mei tai.

angelgirl8: LOVE that pic of your kiddos!

[froggie]

angelgirl8 What a lovely photo!
jjohm Love your DS's hair. I have a mei tai and I love it - you can have both hands and it's not as hot as podegi.

4 month WBV today
height: 25.5 inches (75%)
weight: 15 lbs 5 oz (50%)
head: 42 cm

Cereal The doctor told me I can start giving cereal anytime if I want to. I don't know if I want to though. Part of me wants to start now because I am so curious to see DS eating solids. But then it seems like there are some good reasons to start late - allergy, more work to prepare and feed, and moreover smellier poop! :)

DS has a dry, sensitive, rash prone skin. His once-soft skin is now rough and red. The doctor recommend me to put a lotion frequently and not use any soap (which I don't anyway). But DS is also very prone to heat rash, which putting a lotion can make it worse. I have to really careful to keep him cool. Hydrocortison cream makes it better too, but I'd like to limit the usage as much as possible. Does anybody's DC have similar problem?

[Taurus]

angelgirl8- adorable picture!
jjohm- i love seeing photos of your handsome little guy!

cereal- we got the go ahead for cereal/solids at our 4 mo WBV but are undecided about when to start. our ped was adamant about starting with oatmeal, not rice, cereal but like everything else i have heard conflicting info about that. my sister and I just love comparing when our peds give us opposite advice!! not sure what we'll do. DS is starting to follow food into my mouth with his eyes, and i am not concerned about him taking to solids. i think he is going to eat anything we offer him...just a feeling i have. i'm not sure when to start or what to start with (rice vs. oatmeal). i'm sure there's info on that debate if i search these boards, but for a couple reasons i'm not in a hurry to research/start solids until at least his 5 mo bday (the 19th).

skin- i was very surprised at our last WBV when the ped said DS had eczema on his cheeks. it looked nothing like my nephew's eczema and was no where else on his body. she prescribed a lotion that she said is going to become very popular for treating skin. it's called Atopiclair. our pharmacist said it was new and they were even out of the small tube, had to give me a larger one. i think we used it *twice* and DS's cheeks were as soft and clear as can be! just thought i'd pass on the name of the Rx.

[tray622]

angelgirl They are absoutely the cutest :)

sling I have a kangeroo pouch and a hotsling and love them both :D

[meggers]

solids-- We aren't starting solids until 6 months. IMO there is no hurry to start solids. Originally, I was thinking that I would start with oatmeal but now I am thinking that we will skip cereal altogether and start with avocado.

sling-- I have a hotsling, but never really used it. I tried it a few times when DS was a newborn, but didn't really use it. I have a Mei Tai now and really like it.

[lynnh]

I'm alive! Sorry I don't post much. I do read along, for the most part. It's just that I don't have a whole lot of time to type. (Yeah, I know. Same old story.) I get to my LJ first and then Aaron pulls me away....

Solids - not until 6 months for Nathan. When I had Aaron the ped told me that he didn't want me to start until then. I was perfectly happy not to. Once you start solids it's just so much trouble - bringing food with you and such. I think I'm going to start w/ sweet potato or avacado. (If I remember correctly, that's what LLL recommends? Not sure.) I tried that with Aaron and I believe the tastes were too strong so we switched to cereal and mixed in flavors quickly. Does that make sense? I do enjoy making my own food though!

Slings - I use a ring sling mostly. I've learned how to carry him FF now and Nate likes it again. I also have a rosiebaby Mai Tai, but I haven't tried it in a while. He just felt to small in it before, even when I folded the bottom over. But I need to play with it again. I really need to work on getting him on my back with it! I have a hotsling, which I loved for Aaron, but I shrunk it and im the process of finding another. I won't pay full retail for it though and all I've seen on the swap is tan but I want some color this time! The KKAFP interests me, but I want to be able to use it in the summer too, so I probably won't get it. DH already rolls his eyes at how many I have. :p It's not that many!

Nathan has been a great baby so far. He is still rolling over, but not so often. Yesterday he didn't move his arms so he was able to roll over to his back again. I don't count it, but I liked seeing it all the same. He is really using his hands to play with his dangly toys on his gymni type thing. He'll even turn on the music! He has his 4 month WBV tomorrow.

Hope you are all doing well!

[tsmom]

angelgirl8 - that is just a precious picture!!! going to friend you over yonder :)

STTN - Not there yet either -

Slings - I have a New Native which D liked a bit when he was smaller - I have not tried it recently.

jjohm - that is a great pix of you guys! Looks comfy!

Solids - Not starting yet and wont till at least 6 months or so... We did the same with T and it has worked well - so far she is not allergic to anything!

[terrys wifey]

Hey Ladies,
Wowo I haven't been in here in sooooo long. Right now we are dealing with a very bad diaper rash (well that's what we think it is) I am taking her to the doctor. Looking on babycenter and other baby web sites her symptons look like a yeast infection.


QOTD???? Has anyone baby had a diaper rash yet and if so what did it look like and what treatment did you use, how long did it take to go away?

[jeninef]

terrys wifey- DS had a diaper infection around 6 days old that looked like a yeast infection which is what they treated him for. The Dr. prescribed Nystatin cream and it cleared up in 3-4 days. No diaper rash since then, and we have two tubes of the stuff!!:)

[tray622]

diaper rash We were always told to only use cream with 40% zinc oxide. The destin creamy only has 10% I believe, so we had to use the regular thick Destin. We still only use that when we have rashes, which is very rarely and it clears up almost immediately. HTH

[Twyla]

Diaper Rash - I haven't needed it yet. But after all of my friends raved about it I ordered myself a tube from Burts Bees. I like all the natural stuff. And since my friedns all like it I figured I would give it a try. ;)

jjohm - That is so cute! I was looking on www.thebabywearer.com and there are girls on there who make their own mai tais. They are so cute! But I think all the ties are too much for me. I can't even work a ring sling LOL I'll stick to making my pouch slings hehe

BTW those with pouch style slings... Caedan had a few weeks where he hated it. He is now facing forward in it and loves it. YAY!

Caedan finally figured out how to get his arm out from under him after he rolls over. it was so cute tonight. He go so excited when his hand got free LOL

[Jen309]

Wow, it amazes me how fast these little bundles are growing... and to think only a year ago we were all fretting about our GD tests and such... -sigh-

So, I'm taking Matt to have pro pics done tomorrow (at Penny's) and just wondered if there's any info or advice anyone's got to share. I've been a bad mom and haven't gotten any done yet (though our computer is overloaded with digital shots!!). TIA!

[jennapeach]

Just popping in before we go to Micki's 4 mo WBV

Diaper Rash We use original Desitin every night after her bath, before bed. We also went through a bout of what my LC called thrush. Micki didn't have any mouth patches, but she had a mean-looking diaper rash. I bombed my system with mega supplements of acidophilus (from Whole Foods) and treated her diaper area with this stuff:
http://www.motherlove.com/images/product_diaper_rash_relief_th.jpg

It's got calendula oil in it, which is a natural anti-fungal. The rash and nipple irritation cleared up within a few days.

Solids We'll see what the ped says today, but I'm in no hurry. M is weaning herself off the breast, which is OK I guess, since I return to work on Monday, but I'm kind of bummed about it. I just kept supplementing more and more until she started to prefer the fast flow of the bottle over waiting for my breasts to let down. :( I'm still going to take my pump to work and try pumping whatever I can. I bought her some organic rice cereal at BRU the other day, and some organic jarred foods, but I'm really in no hurry to get her started - just stocked up for when we'll need it.

Sling I have a Baby Bjorn Air carrier. It's made out of mesh to keep us both cooler. M loves it. I take her out every day in it and now that she's facing outward, she really gets a kick out of exploring the world. I also have a Moby Wrap that she liked, but I had to stop using it after I had abdominal surgery when she was a month old. I should try using it again to see if she enjoys it. I have to admit, I love the Bjorn cause it's SO easy to put on and take off. The Moby is just yards and yards and yards of fabric.

[Tommy's Mommy]

It's been a while since I posted so here are Tommy's 4 month WBV stats:
14 pounds 3 ounces
26 inches

Solids-We started him on cereal and jar foods, he likes the fruits better than veggies.

Rolling over-Does anyone else's child not roll from back to tummy yet? He can almost do it, he gets to his side and then stops.

STTNTommy goes to sleep between 8:30-9:30 and sometimes wakes at 2am and usually just takes a paci and goes back down until 6am. But then there are other nights where he wakes up 2-3 times I guess it all depends on his mood.

Did anyone else enter their child in the Evenflo photo contest? If not do you mind voting for Tommy he is pic #1984, they can win a $10,000 scholarship and a chance to appear in an ad. ( If this is not allowed to be on here feel free to remove it) Thanks

[sophonisba9]

Jack has now joined the ranks of reflux babies. He has been on Zantac for 4 days now and the difference is amazing. He had lost weight since the middle of May, which was really troubling, as he had already fallen off his growth curve a little.

STTN- Starting the last week in May J has been going anywhere from 9ish to 10ish until 4:30-5:30am. We let him CIO because he was waking up at 2am and wanting to nurse from then until 9 am. Before 2 am he was only going less than 2 hours between wakings. DH and I were both dying, especially me. I didn't mind doing a couple of over night feedings, but I couldn't deal with him not going back to sleep resonably. Once he sttn, he hasn't reverted since. He has sttn every night since. Traveling to see the in laws in Iowa didn't even mess him up.

Rolling over- Jack just managed tummy to back this week, but he has been rolling on to his side from his back for a couple of weeks. Once he gets on his side he pulls his legs up to play with his toes, so he never goes on to his tummy.

[Medako]

My Jack just rolled from belly to back last night! I was so excited! :)

He's been rolling back to belly for the most part for a few days. His only problem is that he can get all the way over, but he gets his bottom hand stuck under his body and instead of pulling it free, he flips himself back over. Guess that's what happens when you're in the 21 pound range....body's too heavy to pick up to get your arm out! :)

[aligirl]

Alex just rolled over from back to belly last night :D And, then he did it over and over and over.... He managed a few belly to back rolls. He'd been doing the roll to the side for weeks and weeks. Last night, I guess he just decided was the night to complete the roll. We're so proud of the little dude - even got it on the camcorder :)

[jeninef]

So we had our 4 mo WBV visit yesterday. Here are Joshua's stats

height: 26 inches (80%)
weight: 14 lbs 6 oz (40%)
head: 16 3/4 in. (65%)

I think we're gonna call him our string bean baby! :p

STTN - Nope, not yet, still...he was doing really good, waking up only once after about 7 hours, but now we're back to twice a night...I'm hoping it's a growth spurt and we'll be back to sleeping better next week! Who knows!

Solids - Still EBM, no rush to start solids until he is at least 6 months...

Rolling Over - Congrats to everyone's babies who are rolling over! It's so exciting! Josh will roll from tummy to back, but when going from back to tummy, he gets stuck on his side. Like sophonisba9 DS,Jack, Josh will bring his hands to his feet or his hands to his mouth and play!

Jen309 - We are taking Josh for his first professional portraits the weekend after Father's Day. I feel bad for waiting, but I do have digital pics galore as well! Be sure to let us all know how they go!

[Twyla]

Hi girls!

Caedan started rolling over continuosly the other day. Suprised me how fast he causght on, last weel he would roll from his back to his tummy, but his arm would get stuck under him and he's be back on his back. Once he figured out how to move that arem. He is non stop. No more laying him on my bed and such anymore LOL It is so funny though, we will lay him on a blanket and in like a minute he is off it completely. He thinks it's the funniest thing ever, he laughs and smiles the whole time. I firgot how funt this age is! My daughter is nearly 5 now LOL

[tray622]

Dropping off some 4 month pics :)

https://www.searsphotos.com/ImageServer/dep_show_line_item.aspx?I=33E67D9B-C652-411C-8754-7E29D5759E7F&C=Nat

https://www.searsphotos.com/ImageServer/dep_show_line_item.aspx?I=806DAB58-94EB-4D82-91C0-F1D4541F15A4&C=Nat

[ginadc]

Rolling Over - Annika started rolling over about 2 weeks ago. She did back to belly first, and is still much better at that, but she's been doing belly to back too. She really seems to like it and looks adorably proud of herself every time she rolls over!

STTN - she was doing very well at this until the rolling over started. Now she'll sometimes get herself rolled up against the side of the crib and not be able to get back, and wake up crying--sometimes she can just be quickly soothed back to sleep but sometimes she needs a little bottle and cuddlingl for consolation.

Solids - not yet. We'll probably start between 5 and 6 months.

[jules1025]

Congrats to everyone who's babies are rolling! :) We're that much closer to crawling!!

tray622 - What adorable pictures!

solids - Starting a week ago, I've been trying to give Audrey some rice cereal mixed with BM every morning. She'll only take about two bites before turning away. So, she doesn't seem too interested. I think we're going to stop the cereal for a while and try again in a month or so.

STTN - Yes! :D We are finally sttn! After moving Audrey to her crib at night, she started sttn after a few days. She now sleeps from 7pm-6:30am. It's great!

[Twyla]

Tray - That mirror pic is adorable!

We still haven't had any pro. portraits of Caedan done. LOL That picture makes me wanna run out right now hehe

[lovin'it]

Here are Ella and Nina on their Blessing Dresses (it's the Mormon equivalent to a Christening)... Sorry...so big!

**Pics removed

[terrys wifey]

Awww beautiful pics!!!!

Well I took Ashley to the doctor on Saturday and he said it appears to be a yeast diaper rash so he told me to use a cream ahich is basically Lotramin and hydrocotisone and to also stop giving her solids for a week b/c somtimes the acid in fruit can irritate the area with she BM.

I am just giving her cereal in the bowl for now it's so funny b/c she gives me this look like okay where is the sweet stuff?

She is rolling from fron tto back and back to front, she's so active, my older son (10yrs old) plays with her alot so she's trying to keep up with him.

[sophonisba9]

Jack rolled on to his tummy from his back today. Again, I missed seeing the first one. Nothing like him getting really mad at being left alone for a few minutes to make him roll over. That's what happened with the tummy to back rolling.

[ginadc]

Is anyone else's baby really into standing? Annika loves standing up on our laps. DH or I keep her balanced, of course, she's hardly standing independently--but her full weight is on her legs and a lot of the time we can keep her balanced with just one hand. We don't have to actually hold her up. She's gotten to the point where she often gets impatient with lying on her back, and really wants to be in that upright position. I think we may have to get her an Exersaucer soon; I know they're not supposed to be in them for long periods, but she looooooves to stand so much that it may be the only way I can keep her happy when I have to put her down for short breaks!

A couple of new pictures:

http://static.flickr.com/49/166451926_f105da5ecf.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/62/166452006_c8bd0c652a.jpg?v=0

[Twyla]

Caedan likes standing too! We have a Jumperoo and he loves it. We just started putting him in it. He doean't stay in there too long LOL But he is happy while he is in it.

Ginadc - Those pics are adorable! And all that hair! Caedan had a full head of hair and he is now bald LOL When he was a month old we could do a mohawk now there is barely enough to do anything. I so hoped he would be like my daughter and keep it all Oh well it is growing back a blondish red rather then the brown he had. If he were to have dark hair he would look like his father and nothing like me hehe

Oh just a little idea I ran across the other day. It has been very hot here and I know with summer it will just get hotter. I was on a site that said if you take melon (no seeds ;) ) freeze it then run it through a blender it makes a nice healthy sweet and cool snack for babies! I am so eager to try this with Caedan. I am sure he'll like it. He loves everything we have fed him so far. :D

I think I finally talked DH into a bumbo seat. He likes the idea of taking it with us places so Caedan can sit and look around rather then sitting in his carrier or on our laps. So i think we're getting one this week. Those of you who have them. Care to share any pro's and con's about them?

[Amie]

Hey Guys!!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in like 20 years...you know how busy you get and I just mainly post over in my LJ. Anyway, an update and pics of Mr. Sam.

STTN: I wish!!! On most nights, he goes down at 7pm, has one wake up and then gets up for the day about 6. On bad nights he wakes up twice in that period. It's really not bad b/c my husband gets up with him in the mornings and they have 'daddy/sam' time and i get to sleep in. It rocks! But I'm anxiously awaiting the day....

Standing: Sam loves to stand! LOVES it.

Rolling: He's just started rolling from back to front and when I put him on his stomach he'll roll to his back about 60% of the time.

He loves toys and he loves his jumperoo.

Solids: We started solids at 4 months as my ped reccomended it. He loves all veggies and has them in the mornings.

But best of all, he LOVES to smile!!! It's so awesome!

Here are some pics:

We took him swimming for the first time the other day!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/mrsrittler/swim3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/mrsrittler/swim6.jpg

Love playing with his feet!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/mrsrittler/june3.jpg

And loves to stand!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/mrsrittler/samstanding.jpg

Have a great day, ladies!

[michiganbride]

All the babies are just adorable.

Well I finally had AF it has been 1 year and 2 months. I have heard that when you are nursing you may have a one and then go months without one. I am a little upset.:mad: Has anyone else had theirs since they have been nursing?

Alex loves his bumbo. It has really helped him in gaining strength to sit up alone. He sits at the table with us when we eat meals. I definately think it was a good investment for us.

Standing Its time for an exersaucer!!!!

Solids Our DR told us to start solids at 4mo. Start with cereal and then add orange veggies. Basically to start with cereal until he is good enough not to waste the veggies. I am not sure about this, so I haven't started giving him any solids really. He introduce it and then take it away. I just don't want it to mess up our nursings.

Rolling Over Nothing yet. He is really close, but no cigar. He will scoot around the floor on his belly though. Not sure why he won't roll over. Any suggestions?

[meggers]

michiganbride--Funny you should bring up AF coming. Mine just started yesterday for the first time. So far, this AF has been ok. I have had no cramps except for a few minor cramps a couple of days before AF came. The part that I'm most upset with is that our anniversary is today, so no DTD since AF is here. :mad:

[Medako]

Join me to the list of those who AF has returned to. It's only been spotting so far, but I'm not looking forward to the returning monthly cycle. The past year has been kinda nice without it. :)

Jack still isn't rolling from his belly to his back, but he's turning into a belly to back pro. :) I still get so excited when he does it. It's like the first time, everytime.

[KRL626]

AF Not yet. Still waiting and not missing!

QOTD Sitting up yet? Are any one else's little ones sitting up or getting ready to? Jeremiah can do it for a few seconds before he tips over. I'm really not sure it that counts!:)

[elladee]

Yikes, I haven't been here in a while either. I do lots of rambling and picture posting in LJ, too, so if anyone wants to be friended let me know.

No AF for me either. I keep thinking she's on her way, and then it never happens. I have to admit, a part of me almost wishes it would come back so I could get back on a cycle (I always had very regular cycles) and stop wondering.

Standing - Esther LOVES to stand.

Sitting - Esther's doing really well here. She can sit up pretty straight now for a few minutes at a time.

Rolling over - happened once. She usually gets stuck on the arm, though.

Love the pictures everyone!

[michiganbride]

meggers That really sucks!!! I guess you will have to have a post anniversary party.:p Happy anniversary!

Sitting Up Alex just started sitting up this week. He likes it alot. Is it okay that he can't roll over but can sit up? I guess he just doesn't have any where to get. He'll learn.:)

BTW I just got my moby wrap on monday and I LOVE IT! It really helps out a lot. Thanks for the advice ladies.

Any cool toys out there that I might want to invest in for Alex? I don't want him to get bored with the toys he has now.

[Anon25]

Holy Crap!! Amie- In the standing picture, is anybody holding him or is Sam standing like that all by himself!!? How long does he stay that way before falling over? Brendan will stand on my lap and kinda bounces but nothing solid enough to stand on the floor! I'm amazed. That's pretty