August 2008/September 2008 Mommies -- The Babies Are All Here!

[September08Moms]

Welcome August 2008 and September 2008 Moms!!!

http://www.kdla.ky.gov/Images/BBBBClipart/clip_art_baby-1_copy.jpg


To join please post the following:

Username:
Me: Name, age, occupation:
DH: Name, age, occupation:
Your new arrival's name:
New arrival's birthdate:
New Arrival's Birth Stats:
Any other children:

We invite you to share a photo of your new arrival for our photo section!



Please post updates in red for ease of finding! If we can't see it, we can't add it.

[September08Moms]

August 2008 Moms

Username:Annette
Me: Annette, 31, engineer
DH: Mike, 31, engineer
Your new arrival's name: Ryan Alexander
New arrival's birthdate:8-28-08
New Arrival's Birth Stats:6lb 8oz; 20.5in
Any other children: my 2 angel babies

Me: Countrymouse, age 35, SAHM
DH: Mr. Mouse, age 41
DS: August 26
Stats: 8 lbs, 8 oz, 20.5 inches
No other children, just a neglected dog!

Username: emjay
Your new arrival's name: Calvin James
New arrival's birthdate: 8/28/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8lbs 1oz, 21 inches
Any other children: nope

Username: Eric's Wife
Me: Name, age, occupation:Jen, 33, teacher
DH: Name, age, occupation: Eric, 31, teacher
Your new arrival's name: Gabriella Irene
New arrival's birthdate: 8/23/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats:7 lbs, 8 oz
Any other children: none

Username: foxyboo751
Me: Sarah, 27, SAHM/Teacher
DH: Will, 29, Marine Technician
Your new arrival's name: William "Westley" Jr.
New arrival's birthdate: 08/27/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8lb 12 oz, 20-1/2 in
Any other children: Big Sister: Felicity, 18 months

Username: Jeninef
Me: Jenine, 32, SAHM
DH: Dan, 33, Equity Trader
Your new arrival's name: Logan Michael
New arrival's birthdate:8.23.08
New Arrival's Birth Stats:7lbs. 4 oz. 19.5 in.
Any other children: DS1 Joshua Daniel 2.23.06

Username:katiems118
Me: Name, age, occupation: Katie, 29
DH: Name, age, occupation: Eric, 32
Your new arrival's name: Madelyn
New arrival's birthdate: 8/31/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 6 pounds 10 oz
Any other children: none

Username: Karlatta
Me: Karla, 28, SAHM
DH: Scott, 29
DS: 8/2/08
Any other children: DS (5/10/06) and DD (8/4/07)

Username: linekelei
Me: Name, age, occupation: Lindley, 32, attorney
DH: Name, age, occupation: Steve, 32, attorney
Your new arrival's name: Logan Sophia
New arrival's birthdate: 8/5/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 3:59 pm, 5 pounds, 6 ounces, 17 inches
Any other children: Two poodles -- Daphne, our toy poodle, and Buster, our mini poodle

Username:So In Love
Me: Name, age, occupation: Wendy, 27, SAHM
DH: Name, age, occupation: Paul, 28, self employed
Your new arrival's name: Abigail Grace
New arrival's birthdate: 8/27/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 6lbz 5oz 19 inches
Any other children: Evan 2/17/06

[September08Moms]

September 2008 Moms

Username: Alanna
Me: Alanna, 35, SAHM
DH: J.
Your new arrival's name: Miles
New arrival's birthdate: 9/2/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 9.5 lbs, 21 inches
Any other children: Molly, 3

Username: Angelcookie2002
Me: Danielle, 25, SAHM
DH: Benji, 27
Your new arrival's name: Kiara Rose Lorilee
New arrival's birthdate: 9/18/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8 lbs 4 oz 20 inches
Any other children: no

Username: cayso
Me: Kristin, 37, teacher
DH: Steve, 39, student (not mine!)
Your new arrival's name: Kellan
New arrival's birthdate: 9/9/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8 lbs, 8 oz; 20in
Any other children: furbaby Rusty, a retired Greyhound

Username:chi
Me: Name, age, occupation: Anne, 33
DH: Name, age, occupation: B, 36
Your new arrival's name: Sophie
New arrival's birthdate: 9/20/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 7 pounds 11 oz
Any other children: furchild, Charlie the pug

Username: chiclady815
Me: Name, age, occupation: Elizabeth, 28, accountant
DH: Name, age, occupation: Matt, 30, attorney
Your new arrival's name: Michael
New arrival's birthdate: 9/1/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 4:12 PM, 8 lbs. 13 ounces, 20.5 inches
Any other children: Nope

Username: Chylynn
Me: Chylynn, 31, SAHM/Insurance
DH: Dave, 33, Internal Auditor
Your new arrival's name: Emily Kathryn
New arrival's birthdate: 09/24/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 7lb 1 oz, 20-1/2 in
Any other children: Big Sister: Rebecca Ainsley, 3 1/2

Username: jennylou
Me: Name, age, occupation:Jenny, 29, SAHM
DH: Name, age, occupation: Sean, 39
Your new arrival's name: Joshua Edward
New arrival's birthdate: 9/13/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats:8 lbs, 4 oz
Any other children: Nora (8/10/06) and Andrew (5/20/05-5/22/05)

Username: Julss05
Me: Julie, 31, city clerk
Your new arrival's name: Christopher Joseph
New arrival's birthdate: 9/9/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8 lbs 2 oz, 22 inches
Any other children: nope

Username: Lizzy
Me: Name, age, occupation: Liz, 27, SAHM/part-time CPA
DH: Name, age, occupation: 27
Your new arrival's name: Calvin David
New arrival's birthdate: 9/3/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 9 lbs 14 oz, 21 inches
Any other children: He's the first.

Username: smurf
Me: Name, age, occupation: Brooke, 29, SAHM
DH: Name, age, occupation: Josh, 29, engineer
Your new arrival's name: Avery Claire
New arrival's birthdate: 9/3/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8:48 am, 8 pounds, 2 ounces, 21 inches
Any other children: Kate, 7/3/06

Username: surftraitor, age 35, Retail Planner
Your new arrival's name: Lila Catherine
New arrival's birthdate: 9/17/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 7lbs 13oz, 21 inches
Any other children: DS (10/8/05)

Username: Taylandra
Me: Name, age, occupation: Cassie, 25
DH: Name, age, occupation: Michael, 26
Your new arrival's name: Marek Rhodes
New arrival's birthdate: 9/16/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 9lbs, 5oz., 21.5 inches
Any other children: Just a furbaby, Sabin

[September08Moms]

Baby Pictures

Baby Logan
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/fraleylp/DSC_0326.jpg

Baby Avery
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/jblogan1/100_3879.jpg

Baby Westley
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j153/sarah082281/CIMG7360.jpg

Baby Abby
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m264/wendy2002/100_2889-3-1.jpg

Baby Madelyn
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/3077134979_8f6bec567f_o.jpg

[September08Moms]

More Baby Pictures

[September08Moms]

And More Baby Pictures

[jennylou]

Thanks for setting up the new thread! :)

ETA: Info :)

Username: jennylou
Me: Name, age, occupation:Jenny, 29, SAHM
DH: Name, age, occupation: Sean, 39
Your new arrival's name: Joshua Edward
New arrival's birthdate: 9/13/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats:8 lbs, 4 oz
Any other children: Nora (8/10/06) and Andrew (5/20/05-5/22/05)

[Alanna]

Username: Alanna
Me: Alanna, 35, SAHM
DH: J.
Your new arrival's name: Miles
New arrival's birthdate: 9/2/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 9.5 lbs, 21 inches
Any other children: Molly, 3

Thanks so much for the new thread I am looking forward to getting to know all the August Moms.... (I used to lurk like crazy in there - so I feel like I know a lot of you already :) )

[countrymouse]

Thanks for setting this up! I'm a Sept. mom that ended up with an August baby, so I lurked all the time in the august thread!

Me: Countrymouse, age 35, SAHM
DH: Mr. Mouse, age 41
DS: August 26
Stats: 8 lbs, 8 oz, 20.5 inches
No other children, just a neglected dog!

[karlatta]

Thanks for setting this up!

Username: Karlatta
Me: Karla, 28, SAHM
DH: Scott, 29
DS: 8/2/08
Any other children: DS (5/10/06) and DD (8/4/07)

[cayso]

...and I'm an August Mom that ended up with a September Baby, so this is really cool for me too!

Username: cayso
Me: Kristin, 37, teacher
DH: Steve, 39, student (not mine!:eek:)
Your new arrival's name: Kellan
New arrival's birthdate: 9/9/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8 lbs, 8 oz; 20in
Any other children: furbaby Rusty, a retired Greyhound

[jeninef]

Thanks for getting all this together! It will be nice to "see" our babies grow together!

Username: Jeninef
Me: Jenine, 32, SAHM
DH: Dan, 33, Equity Trader
Your new arrival's name: Logan Michael
New arrival's birthdate:8.23.08
New Arrival's Birth Stats:7lbs. 4 oz. 19.5 in.
Any other children: DS1 Joshua Daniel 2.08.06

[emjay]

Yay for a new thread!

Username: emjay
Your new arrival's name: Calvin James
New arrival's birthdate: 8/28/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8lbs 1oz, 21 inches
Any other children: nope

[Surftraitor]

Username: surftraitor, age 35, Retail Planner
Your new arrival's name: Lila Catherine
New arrival's birthdate: 9/17/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 7lbs 13oz, 21 inches
Any other children: DS (10/8/05)

[Julss05]

Thanks for the new thread!

Username: Julss05
Me: Julie, 31, city clerk
Your new arrival's name: Christopher Joseph
New arrival's birthdate: 9/9/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8 lbs 2 oz, 22 inches
Any other children: nope

[foxyboo751]

Username: foxyboo751
Me: Sarah, 27, SAHM/Teacher
DH: Will, 29, Marine Technician
Your new arrival's name: William "Westley" Jr.
New arrival's birthdate: 08/27/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8lb 12 oz, 20-1/2 in
Any other children: Big Sister: Felicity, 18 months

Yeah! I can't wait! Hope all had a great Thanksgiving! I sure did, and Westley rolled over from back to tummy to back last night at 4 am right before a feeding! He's definitely off his SSTN schedule with our trip. Now that we're back, hopefully it will get back to normal! :)

Here are my little munchkins:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j153/sarah082281/CIMG7023.jpg

[Taylandra]

Hurray! Maybe I'll have more time online now that we're settling into a routine of sorts...

Username: Taylandra
Me: Name, age, occupation: Cassie, 25
DH: Name, age, occupation: Michael, 26
Your new arrival's name: Marek
New arrival's birthdate: 9/16/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 9lbs, 5oz., 21.5 inches
Any other children: Just a furbaby, Sabin

[Lizzy]

I thought I was going to be an August mom, but my babe came two weeks late!

Username: Lizzy
Me: Name, age, occupation: Liz, 27, SAHM/part-time CPA
DH: Name, age, occupation: 27
Your new arrival's name: Calvin David
New arrival's birthdate: 9/3/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 9 lbs 14 oz, 21 inches
Any other children: He's the first.

[angelcookie2002]

Username: Angelcookie2002
Me: Danielle, 25, SAHM
DH: Benji, 27
Your new arrival's name: Kiara Rose Lorilee
New arrival's birthdate: 9/18/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8 lbs 4 oz 20 inches
Any other children: no

[September08Moms]

Updated to here!

[linekelei]

Username: linekelei
Me: Name, age, occupation: Lindley, 32, attorney
DH: Name, age, occupation: Steve, 32, attorney
Your new arrival's name: Logan Sophia
New arrival's birthdate: 8/5/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 3:59 pm, 5 pounds, 6 ounces, 17 inches
Any other children: Two poodles -- Daphne, our toy poodle, and Buster, our mini poodle

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/fraleylp/DSC_0326.jpg

[cayso]

I love the pics!

I'm still trying to figure out an easy way to post pics...I've tried a couple different times and never been able to just have a pic show up...if anyone can give me a good suggestion??? (Bear in mind, *obviously*, I'm not the most computer saavy person...)

[Eric's Wife]

Username: Eric's Wife
Me: Name, age, occupation:Jen, 33, teacher
DH: Name, age, occupation: Eric, 31, teacher
Your new arrival's name: Gabriella Irene
New arrival's birthdate: 8/23/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats:7 lbs, 8 oz
Any other children: none

[katiems118]

Username:katiems118
Me: Name, age, occupation: Katie, 29
DH: Name, age, occupation: Eric, 32
Your new arrival's name: Madelyn
New arrival's birthdate: 8/31/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 6 pounds 10 oz
Any other children: none

[chi]

Username:chi
Me: Name, age, occupation: Anne, 33
DH: Name, age, occupation: B, 36
Your new arrival's name: Sophie
New arrival's birthdate: 9/20/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 7 pounds 11 oz
Any other children: furchild, Charlie the pug

Hope everyone is well. Sophie surprised us the other day by rolling over. We were SO excited, but realized the days of turning our backs for just a moment are now gone!!

[Annette]

Thanks for setting this up.

Username:Annette
Me: Annette, 31, engineer
DH: Mike, 31, engineer
Your new arrival's name: Ryan Alexander
New arrival's birthdate:8-28-08
New Arrival's Birth Stats:6lb 8oz; 20.5in
Any other children: my 2 angel babies

[smurf]

Username: smurf
Me: Name, age, occupation: Brooke, 29, SAHM
DH: Name, age, occupation: Josh, 29, engineer
Your new arrival's name: Avery Claire
New arrival's birthdate: 9/3/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8:48 am, 8 pounds, 2 ounces, 21 inches
Any other children: Kate, 7/3/06

Here's a pic of her trying out the Bumbo...

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/jblogan1/100_3879.jpg

[Annette]

STTN: Anyone else's LO still not STTN?

Ryan still gets up every 3 hours to eat. Once in awhile he'll skip the midnight feeding, but that's only happened 3 times in his life.

[karlatta]

STTN - DS sleeps most of the night. He wakes up around 4 or so to eat, but he'll go back down until 7 or 8, when the big kids wake him up.

[emjay]

DS will sleep about 7-8 hours now but is still up about 3 or 4am to eat. He'll go back down til 6 or 7am.

We moved him into his crib on Sunday night and he is scooting all over the place in it! I don't know if it's because he has more room to move or because we have him in a bigger swaddle blanket so he can move more in that. This morning he was at the opposite end of the crib completely turned around!

Speaking of swaddling, anyone still swaddle their baby? I want to stop swaddling DS but I don't think he's ready. He gets this big grin on his face when he's getting wrapped up and it instantly calms him down and he usually goes right to sleep. I worry that we'll be swaddling for a long time!

[karlatta]

I still swaddle DS. I will probably do it for quite some time. It's the only way he stays settled.

[cayso]

emjay - I just *started* swaddling DS just over a week ago because he was sleeping so badly and *no way* will I stop until I absolutely have to because it makes such a difference!

We just had our 2 month WBV yesterday and my doctor okayed the swaddle and told me the best way to encourage STTN was to do bedtime routine (we do), have bedtime be the exact same time each night (we have) and to separate the last nursing from bedtime (Yikes! But we tried it for the first time last night - DS was very tired/cranky so I had to use pacifier for a few minutes then I took it and he was able to fall asleep.) Now that he's in the swaddle, he's been sleeping from 8PM - 1AM, nurses, goes back to sleep until 5-5:30AM and then I try to give pacifier until 6-7AM which usually works but not always, if not I nurse and get up. He slept longer stretches when he was younger and still sleeping in the car seat, but this is a good night, so I'm not complaining! He's learning how to put himself to sleep/back to sleep so I have hope for my night future.

Annette - Have you asked your doctor if Ryan is big enough to go more than 3 hours? If so, have you considered trying to give him a pacifier instead to wean him off one of the night feeds? Also, are you still getting a 3 hour nap prior to bedtime and then waking him for bed? I wonder if that's his long sleep stretch and he would do better with an earlier bedtime instead of that long nap? (My doctor suggested this too when I told him sometimes DS likes to nap in the evening like that.)

[jennylou]

annette - he's still really little. Remember, sttn is really just five hours before they're up, are you far off from that?

[foxyboo751]

We're going through something here. Westley was STTN at 8 wks, but for the past couple of days, he's been up at 2:30, 4, 5:30 and 6:30. We think it's a growth spurt. I just pray he goes back to STTN. It was so nice to have a full night's sleep.

linkelei- Logan is getting so big!

smurf- Avery looks so cute in her bumbo!

Here's Westley in his:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j153/sarah082281/CIMG7360.jpg

Felicity helping out her little brother:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j153/sarah082281/CIMG7364.jpg

Felicity holding her little brother:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j153/sarah082281/CIMG7352.jpg

ETA: We only swaddle Westley at night. And the only reason we can is because he is so zonked out from his last feeding. Otherwise, he will fight his way out of the swaddle so that he can suck on his hand. The only other time we swaddle is when we're out and he's craky, that's the only way he'll sleep. He likes to be part of everything going on. :)

[jeninef]

Annette- Is Ryan actually eating every three hours? Meaning eating and not playing? Some babies need to eat that often and it is totally normal. You can try to offer the breast more often during the day and see if he will eat more...or try to tank him up closer to bedtime so he is more full when he goes down. Occasionally we get a super long stretch, like last night 7 hours! Woo-hoo, but typically he will sleep 5 hours and then is up every 2-3 hours after that to eat. I don't think you guys are that far off base...it just stinks for us who are sleep deprived!

[chiclady815]

Username: chiclady815
Me: Name, age, occupation: Elizabeth, 28, accountant
DH: Name, age, occupation: Matt, 30, attorney
Your new arrival's name: Michael
New arrival's birthdate: 9/1/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 4:12 PM, 8 lbs. 13 ounces, 20.5 inches
Any other children: Nope!

STTN: DS had been doing it from 7:00 to 6:00 but he has had a cold so he wasn't eating much. He's trying to get back to it, but he also just started daycare so he's out of whack with his day sleeping. Still he's only up once at night and he's pushing that wake up later. It was 2:00 AM last night, 1:00 the night before.

Swaddling - We still swaddle because DS is so curious about everything and doesn't settle well without it. with it, he is asleep within 2 minutes of going in his crib, without fail. We joke that we will have to teach his college roommate how to swaddle him! :) Although he is about 15.5 lbs now so he will outgrow the large size of swaddle me soon enough so I'm sure that we will be done soon.

[So In Love]

I'm a sept mommy with an august baby :)

Username:So In Love
Me: Name, age, occupation: Wendy, 27, SAHM
DH: Name, age, occupation: Paul, 28, self employed
Your new arrival's name: Abigail Grace
New arrival's birthdate: 8/27/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 6lbz 5oz 19 inches
Any other children: Evan 2/17/06

Here is Abby on her 3 month birthday
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m264/wendy2002/100_2889-3-1.jpg

It's been 2 nights that my little girl wakes up at 3:30 am, eats and wants to play! By the time she settles down and falls asleep I only get an hour of sleep before DS wakes up. Fun.

I still swaddle her, it helps her settle down and keeps her warm at night.

[katiems118]

STTN- DD slept 12 hours last night, but normally she goes to bed between 7-7:30 wakes up at 2 am or 4am to eat, then sleeps til 7am...

She eats 6 oz of formula at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm, then she has a 2 ounce bottle and falls asleep. She is 3 months old and 12 pounds.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/3077134979_8f6bec567f_o.jpg

[linekelei]

STTN-I read that STTN is 5 hours. Ha!!! I'd consider it more like 7 or 8. Anyway, DD typically falls asleep around 10 pm, after fighting sleep for an hour or two, gets up to eat around 2:30 or 3, goes right back to sleep, and sleeps until 7 or 7:30. However, I did get 8 hours of sleep in a row from her on Sunday night, but that was after she refused to nap the entire day. DD does not like sleeping! Also, there are still nights when she gets up every 3 hours to eat. It seems to happen mostly during growth spurts.

Swaddling-Still swaddling here, but we've never swaddled her arms. The NICU nurses told us not to because preemies are at a higher risk for SIDs and swaddling the arms puts the baby in a deeper sleep. We probably don't need to swaddle anymore, but I just like the velcro swaddle blanket-don't have to worry about any choking hazard when I use a blanket on her at night.

DD is having a rough couple of days. After some good naps last week, she is back to fighting sleep all day long. It's really exhausting. I have a cold, though, and I think she might have it, too. Fun times here. :rolleyes:

I'm also getting really sad about going back to work. I started counting down the days on Sunday. Less than 5 weeks now. :( I go back on reduced hours, but my job can be really demanding and I don't know exactly how it will work. For those who have gone back to work, how are you handling it? We're still not on a routine here because of DD's weird cycle of hating naps one week and loving them the next. I've left DD with our daycare person a few times, and will be doing so over the next few weeks to get her used to it, but I'm nervous about her refusal to nap and the fact that she spends so much time with me and no one else.

[Lizzy]

STTN - DS does this based on the definition of 5 hours. He goes down by 8, sleeps til about 1, then wakes every 2-3 hours after that. I co-sleep so feeding him in the middle of the night doesn't bother me much. I latch him on and usually we're both back asleep in 5-10 minutes.

Swaddling - I never started. It was still so hot outside when he was born, I think he would have overheated in the swaddle. We learned to manage without it, though in retrospect it might have saved us from some frustrating bedtimes.

[Taylandra]

STTN- Marek will sleep from 9/10pm until 2am and then until 6/7am. However, getting him to sleep is difficult. He fights sleep (no daytime naps for us most days, so I feel for you, linekelei) and he really likes to nurse right before bed. He usually starts off in the bassinet for the night and then winds up in bed with us after his 2am feeding. Maybe we should try swaddling again...

Swaddling- He always pulls his arms out and kicks enough that the swaddle comes undone, so I have done this in ages.

Bedtime routines- Would you ladies care to share yours? We're still BF, with the exception of one bottle that DH gives DS around dinnertime. I just can't seem to get one in place.

Rolling over- Marek really doesn't like tummy time, so he's been pushing himself onto his side for a few weeks. Yesterday was the first time he completely rolled himself onto his back though!

[chi]

STTN- DD is a great sleeper so far (knock wood). She is BF all day except for her last feeding before bed which is around 9:30-10pm. I let DH handle that feeding, and she gets 4 oz of formula with rice cereal (per doctor's instructions due to her hernia and severe reflux). She has been sleeping until 6 or 7am. I have asked the doctor if this is okay since she has not been a great weight gainer due to the reflux, and he assures me that it is fine, and that I should say thank you, which I do every morning!

I only hope that this continues. I am not sure when/how to put her down earlier. Also, due to the reflux she has to be held upright for 30 minutes after each feeding, so she falls asleep in our arms and then we put her in her crib. She squawks a few times for her pacifier, which we put in, and then she is asleep for the night. Are we setting up a bad habit?

Swaddling- DD has been swaddled from day one, and will only sleep swaddled, so we will continue to swaddle until she shows us that she no longer needs it, or doesn't want it!

Rolling- Also, DD has begun to roll over from tummy to back. Pretty funny to watch, because she hates being on her tummy and then rolls over and is so proud of herself, super cute to watch!

[smurf]

Swaddling--Oh yes, she'd never sleep if we didn't. Like Chiclady's DS, our DD is out like a light within a couple of minutes of swaddling. DD1 hated the swaddle, so this is totally new to use. She's starting to bust out of the swaddle in the middle of the night lately, so I need to get my hands on some bigger blankets!

STTN-Not here...well, maybe based on the 5 hour definition. She usually goes down around 7, wakes between 12 and 1, and then again at 4 and then up for the day at 8. I just wish that her longest stretch was while I was actually sleeping too. Oh well, I don't feel terribly sleep-deprived, so I guess it's okay.

Naps--I really feel for you ladies that don't get naps during the day. I would go insane if Avery didn't nap. I've somehow managed to get her and DD1 on the same schedule so that I have a good uninterrupted 2-3 hours in the middle of the day. Love it.

DD had her 2-month appt today (even though she'll be 3 months tomorrow!) Her stats:
Weight: 13 lbs, 3 oz (75th%)
Height: 25" (97th%)
She got 4 shots, and boy did that tick her off. Even nursing wouldn't calm her down--she was MAD!

[emjay]

Thanks for all the replies on swaddling. Seems like I'm not the only one who will be doing it for quite some time!

linekelei - I started back to work last week after three months off. I only worked 3 days due to Thanksgiving and now I'm in my first full week. It hasn't been too bad but I was losing my patience this morning. I guess I'm so used to my morning get ready for work routine that now that I have a baby I need to learn that it will get interrupted quite often. I've been having to get up a good bit earlier than I used to which is not fun. DS is staying with either my mom or my sister (and I'll work a 1/2 day once a week) so they are both pretty used to him, but I was still nervous that they wouldn't be able to calm him down like I can. I think it's just a matter of getting used to it. Enjoy your last weeks!

Naps - DS is a total catnapper which drives me crazy. We will swaddle him for naps and he'll still only sleep for 30 minutes or so. If he's in the carseat (which he formerly HATED) he'll sleep for 2 or 3 hours. The one thing I can't figure out is how to keep him up in the evening. He usually eats around 4pm and then zonks out from 5:30 to 6:00 or 6:30 and then is back up for another feeding and a bath and then it's bedtime. I guess it's not really affecting his nighttime sleep but I wish he'd make it from one feeding to the next without losing his mind and needing a nap!

Lizzy - I love your son's name! :D My Calvin was named after his great-grandpa but he still has his Daddy's initials!

We are going to a Christmas festival tonight and I'm excited to take DS even though he'll probably sleep in the Moby the whole time (at least I hope he does)!

[Surftraitor]

STTN--If the rule is 5 hours, then I guess we are but barely. DD goes from 11-4 (last night was 3 :mad:). This is in sharp contrast to older brother who STTN 11-7 at 9 weeks. Needless to say she isn't the favorite right now ;)

swaddle--No way. DD loses her cool if she can't have access to hands. She's been in a sleep sack since week 2 of life.

naps--DD seems to nap after 1.5 hours of being awake.

[Lizzy]

emjay - it's not a very common name, is it? I hope we aren't starting a trend! ;)

[Annette]

swaddling-We had to stop swaddling because he was able to roll over in it. The swaddling didn't really make a difference in the length of his sleep stretches. He eats at all his wakings. Although last night he woke up at 2:30, but when I got to him he fell back asleep and slept till 5.

Naps-DS naps well most of the time especially in the car or in the swing. His awake time is at most 2 hours before he needs a nap.

rolling over-He's accidentally rolled over while sleeping, but while he's awake he'll roll to his side from his back.

[Eric's Wife]

swaddle:stopped awhile ago. We only use it if she's having a very fussy time which is rare.
STTN:We are very lucky with her. She STTN from about 11:00-7:00. Now that I'm back to work, we're trying to get her to go from 10-6 instead since we have to wake her up at 6 to get her ready to tkae to MIL's.
work:I've adjusted nicely (even though it's only day 2). I like my change in job duties...(for those who are aug mommies, I'm a teacher and my principal gave me a chance to help students in small group settings. Basically same pay, less stress and paperwork). I am able to pump BM at work without any problems. DD is doing great during the day at my MIL's.
naps:doing great with those.
rolling over:still only can go back to belly. She hates being on her tummy so she doesn't roll over as much as she used to.

[countrymouse]

STTN- DS sleeps about 11-12 hours at night. Last night was 8pm-8am, which I love! He's gone to bed as early as 6pm and slept through the night. He's been a great night sleeper since day 1.

Naps- Very inconsistant. I put him down for a morning and afternoon nap, and they vary from 30 min to 2 hours, though today he took a 3 hour afternoon nap, which is very strange for him.

Swaddling- DS is still swaddled at 3 months, and I don't see any reason to stop any time soon. He isn't showing any interest in rolling over yet either. He's still in our room in an Arms Reach co-sleeper, though we will probably move him to his own room after Christmas. I really like having him close by, so I'm dreading the move.

[Surftraitor]

Anyone else's DC HATE the carseat? DD screams in the car for most of every drive. Needless to say its quite unnerving. Any tricks to survival? So far, singing is about all I can do to keep my sanity in the car. Its the WORST.

[Julss05]

STTN- DS STTN twice before he got his vaccines. What I mean by STTN is him going to bed around 9-10 and getting up when we do in the morning without getting up at all during the night. He's sleeping through the night for the most part except getting up around 3 or 4 a.m. to eat and then going right back to sleep and sleeps until we get him up around 6:30 a.m.

Naps-Inconsistent. 30 minutes up to 2 hours. Varying times from day to day although he always takes about an hour nap in the evening after I bring him home.

swaddling-none here. DS never liked swaddling from the get-go. He loves his arms free and sleeps with them above his head most times.

rolling over-not doing it yet but he did pull himself up from a laying position which I couldn't believe:eek: He also scoots himself along the floor by pushing with his feet if I put him on his stomach.

Work-OMG going back to work and taking him to the babysitters was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do! For me it was harder than going through a divorce:p. I pleaded with DH to quit and stay home after a week but we agreed to give it more time. One thing about me working is that we have enough money coming in to save for when he goes to college or anything else he might want/need unlike our parents were able to. Still may stay home with him eventually though. Things that helped: having pictures of him at work, DH bringing him by for lunch, calling at lunch just to hear his voice and ask what he was doing.

Bedtime routine
7-8 p.m. playtime
8:00 p.m. bath if we are giving him one that night, diaper change, pjs
8:30-9 p.m. last feeding for the evening
Usually asleep by 9:30 p.m., would like for him to be up a little longer in hopes of eliminating early 3-4a.m. feeding!

carseat-no problems here, been lucky. I try to make sure he's fed and changed right before taking him anywhere. I always have a pacifier attached to the carseat in case he fusses, usually it holds him off until I get home.

How much is your baby eating? DS is 12 weeks today and eating 5-6 oz. every 3 hours during the day. Just curious. He was at 5 oz. for the longest time but lately doesn't seem satisfied unless he gets 6 oz.

The bumbo chairs look great! Hmm maybe I'll get one for DS for x-mas. Love all the cute pics! I'll be back to add a recent one of Christopher.

[foxyboo751]

surftraitor- DD hated her carseat, and DS HATES his too. As soon as we pull his arm through the strap, he screams. DD grew out of the stage after a couple of months. It is unnerving, but they'll definitely grow out of it. One thing I sometimes put the window down about 1 inch. That way I don't have to pass out from ssssshhhhing for so long. :) But the sssshhhhing also works.

[smurf]

Car seat-DD hated the car seat so much that it got to the point that I didn't even want to take her anywhere b/c she screamed bloody murder the entire time. DD1 was the same way, so I thought that's just how my kids were. On a whim one day, I asked my friend if I could borrow her car seat for a few days to see if it made a difference. I tell you what--it's like I have a different baby now. She actually smiles and coos when she's in the seat now--very rarely cries. FWIW, we had the Safeseat and now are using a Combi.

[emjay]

Wow, three posts in one day. I think I'm setting a new record.

Lizzy - I hope we aren't starting a trend either!

Carseat - DS HATED HATED HATED his seat, but lately he's coming around to it a little more. My trick is to get him calm (preferably asleep) in it before I leave. I'll put him in it and jiggle it back and forth while trying to give him the paci or I'll walk around the house with him in it. I think he likes the motion. Usually he'll fall asleep or calm down enough to last for part of the ride. Trust me, I know how stressful it is!

Bedtime routine - We've started this in the past couple weeks. I usually feed him around 7 or 7:30, give him a bath, read a story (if he's not fussy) and put him to bed about 8:00. He has been going to sleep really well. I can now lay him in the crib and I put on a musical lighted toy and he falls asleep on his own. I'm so excited!

Feeding - DS takes a 5 oz bottle about every 3 hours from 7am til 7pm then one bottle around 3 or 4am. I've tried bumping him up to 6 oz a couple times b/c he screams bloody murder for about 5 minutes after his bottle, but he spits up a ton with a 6 oz bottle so I've kept it at 5 oz.

Bumbo - We love ours. We have the tray that attaches to it and it works really well.

[Chylynn]

Username: Chylynn
Me: Chylynn, 31, SAHM/Insurance
DH: Dave, 33, Internal Auditor
Your new arrival's name: Emily Kathryn
New arrival's birthdate: 09/24/08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 7lb 1 oz, 20-1/2 in
Any other children: Big Sister: Rebecca Ainsley, 3 1/2



STTN -Yes, she goes down around 8pm and wakes at 4am to eat and then back down until 7:30 the next morning.

Swaddling -We leave one arm out for her so she can move around and not be so restricted. She hated having both arms in and constantly fought her way out, so we just statrted leaving one out and she sleeps fine. I have tried to not swaddle her and she woke every three hours like clockwork, so we will be swaddling for a while.

[cayso]

STTN - Wow, lots of babies sleeping long stretches! Do you ladies think that is just individual temperament and there isn't much we can control about it? I'm still mystified by the fact that DS used to sleep 6-8 hour stretches before I moved him from sleeping in his car seat to sleeping in the crib and now the best I get is 5...

Naps - mine are inconsistent as well. Do you all think there is anything wrong with letting DS sleep on the fly in the car seat or in his swing? Is it pretty important that I move towards him napping consistently in the crib?

Bedtime Routine - I just changed ours from nurse, bath, massage, swaddle, nurse, bed to omitting the last nurse. Unfortunately, he isn't as calm when we put him to bed the two nights I've tried this and I've had to give him the pacifier and then pull it after a couple minutes when he's relaxed so he can put himself to sleep. We shoot for bed by 8PM.

surftraiter - We went through a horrible car seat *phase* and then it passed. One thing that helped was nursing right before we left.

Posting Pics - I think my question got buried in introductions...can anyone give me their secret as to a good way to post pics? Thanks!

[chiclady815]

STTN - Well Michael is back to sleeping well! He had been sick so he was waking up a few times a night which he hadn't done since he was 3 weeks old. He went from 7PM to 4 AM with a quick nurse and then back to bed. We had to wake him up to go to daycare this morning!

feeding - The kid eats so much! We normally nurse when he gets up, and then eats 6 ounces every three hours at daycare, then a 6 ounce bottle at bedtime and occasionally over night a nursing session. I'm guessing that he's eating close to 35 ounces a day! Now that I'm back at work, I'm having trouble keeping up with what he needs pumping! I introduced some formula at 12 weeks so if i'm short, they just give him that, but I think that I'll be done pumping at work by the end of the year. It's just too hard.

rolling - DS has been rolling tummy to back since six days old - CRAZY! He has done back to tummy a few times, but not consistently. But based on how he's moving himself these days, I'm guessing that he will be rolling consistently soon!

naps - They were great before I went back to work, but the daycare is having trouble getting him to nap. He's naturally very curious so he keeps himself awake. They usually get him just one good nap and a few cat naps, instead of the 2.5 hour and 2 hour naps each day that he was getting when I was home. I guess I was boring for him. :)

bedtime routine - We have been doing one consistently since about 4 weeks old. It's bath, lotion, jammies, vitamins, story (unless fussy), prayers, bottle, rock and sing, put him down drowsy if possible. He usually is asleep in minutes. What can I say, the kid loves his sleep!

work - It stinks but we're figuring it out. Luckily, I'm really busy at work so the days fly by.

[September08Moms]

Updated to here.

Posting Pics-I upload my pictures to Photobucket, which will give you a direct link. Then, when you create a post, all you need to do is click on the picture icon and a pop-up box will appear. Copy and paste the direct link of the picture from Photobucket into the pop-up box and voila, you will be able to post a picture.

[cayso]

Thank you! I'm trying it now. If it works, this should be a picture of my little guy!

http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr145/cayso2/100_1419-1.jpg

Got it!!! Yaay! Thank you!

[Goddess Tiff]

Username: Goddess Tiff
Me: Tiffany, 29, RN
DH: Ted, 31, manager
Your new arrival's name: Benjamin Theodore
New arrival's birthdate: 8.20.08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8 lbs, 2 oz; 21.5 in
Any other children: no

http://www.winkflash.com/photo/imagew2.aspx?c=6345547&i=307662872&z=0

[alootikki]

Hello everyone! I fell off the posting bandwagon with our old thread, but good to see everyone here!

Username: Alootikki
Me: 32, VP Marketing
DH: 33, Consultant
New arrival's birthdate: DD born 8-8-08
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 8lb 10 oz, 22 in


SSTTN I am so jealous of all the good sleepers I'm reading about here! DD still has to be nursed, bounced, rocked to sleep, and she seems to only go for one 4 hour stretch. All of the sleep books say to put her to bed earlier - so her current bedtime is technically 6 pm - but she wakes up again and again until about 8 or 9 pm, then goes till about midnight. After that point, she's up every couple of hours until up for good at 7 am. I'm wondering if we should make her bedtime later?

carseat DD HATES the carseat and screams bloody murder every single time she's in it. Now I want to run out and try the Combi!

My maternity leave ends next week - I am looking forward to being back but stressing about DD's current bottle aversion.

[emjay]

I am SO excited. DS slept for 11 straight hours last night. It was probably a fluke, but I'm excited nonetheless. Just had to share!

[Annette]

alootiki-I can definitely sympathize with you. Last night I put DS to bed at 9 and then he was up around 11,2,4,6 and 8.
I tried to get him to just take a pacifier, but he wanted to eat at all those times.

bedtime routine help
I want to institute a bedtime routine, but I'm finding it difficult because he refuses to be topped up if he's full. For instance, say he eats around 6pm, he'll stay up a bit and then at 8pm when he's getting fussy and ready for sleep, I'll try to feed him but he'll cry at the boob instead. He does this during the day too if I misinterpret his fussiness as hunger. So if I put him to bed without eating, he'll be up 2 hours later hungry. Sometimes I'll put him in the swing and then after 3 hours after his last meal, I'll top him up and then put him to bed, so then he doesn't go into his crib until 9 or 10pm. Then he wakes up every 3 hours to eat and he'll easily down a whole bottle when DH feeds him. Is he too young to start eliminating his nighttime feedings, like give him a bottle but gradually reduce the amount of food in it? I would like to eliminate the 2-3am feeding if possible.

[chi]

Quick fly by post...

DD hated the carseat until I got this:

http://store.babycenter.com/product/car+seats/car+seat+accessories/swaddleme+traveler.do?asc=false

it is a swaddle me blanket that allows you to swaddle them in the car. She LOVES it, and will almost always fall asleep for me in the car, or just be calm.

[Bliss]

Username:
Me: Adrienne, 33, occupation:SAHM
DH: David, 34
Your new arrival's name: Rachel Mary
New arrival's birthdate: Sept 2, 2008
New Arrival's Birth Stats: 7lbs 2 oz, 20 3/4" long
Any other children Dylan age 3

Hi all, I finally found the thread :)

Miss Rachel is doing v. well, she is growing well and sleeping well at night (thank goodness). My little night owl is still up until about 12mid-1a, but last night she went to sleep at 10:30 woohoo! DH and I were so excited you would think it was 8pm lol. We had both kids sleeping at the same time, it was nice. I think the bath helped her settle, so we may be doing a quick bath every night as part of our routine.

Rachel does have a bit of reflux, so she is taking prevacid for that, and I had to put her on formula for all feeds except the AM one since she is v. sensitive to my milk (probably the milk protiens). I am still pumping and hope to reinstitute the BFding as the meds help her. I was having to walk the floors w. her screaming from 9p-1a before, the meds/formula mix have really helped.

She is SO the little princess/diva of the house. I have been helping my friend out w. her 2 kids, and if I hold her 6 month old son Rachel has a fit. Its too cute.

[cayso]

Annette - I wish I had advice! He *does* seem to really be hungry!

Bliss - My Kellan takes Prevacid too. He has been on it for 2 months and in fact, as I did last month, I am about to do a trial run without it. Did you just start it? I found that it helped almost immediately and all signs of reflux were pretty much gone within just a few days. It was like black and white the difference it made. We'll see if he is old enough to go without it, my doctor said it could be up to 6 months before the esophogeal sphincter tightens enough to go without it, but not always so he liked us trying each month to go without it. It took about 3-4 days last month and then we knew! :eek:

[Lizzy]

Here's my guy at 3 months old... he's 17 lbs!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a115/lizblog/rockingchair.jpg?t=1228493360

[cayso]

Lizzy - OMG, he's adorable! Those eyes - he's gonna be a lady killer! And he is humungous! People comment to me that Kellan is "a bruiser" and he's only 14, 3! Of course, Calvin started off much bigger, but 17 pounds is amazing!

[emjay]

So cute Lizzy! My Calvin was 8,1 at birth and was 16,1 at the doctor last week (3 days shy of three months). I love chubby babies!

Here's a pic of us on Thanksgiving.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/mindyfae/fam.jpg

[smurf]

Cute pics, Lizzy & emjay! You guys have some big guys!

Question: Is anyone else having a super hard time getting the baby weight off? It fell right off after DD1, but I'm having a heck of a time getting it to go away this time. I have this awful pot belly--it's disgusting. I can't wear any of my pre-pregnancy tops b/c they make me look like I'm still 4 months pregnant. I'm going to join a gym tomorrow, I just hope I can find time/energy to go regularly!

[Julss05]

smurf I lost a bunch of weight right after I had him but I've actually gained some back! I too have a pooch plus stretch marks. I feel like a big blob. Boob size never went down either, already had big boobs to begin with. I'm getting a haircut and massage next week. Won't help with the weight but it's one thing I can do to feel good;). I'm not torturing myself with a diet right before the holidays but plan to get back on Weight Watchers the beginning of the year. My work has a Weight Watchers group that gets a big discount on memberships. No time for exercise since my maternity leave has been up. Good luck!

[karlatta]

Baby weight - DS2 is adopted, so obviously I don't have anything to lose. But with DD, I gained 42 pounds. I lost 20 in the hospital with delivery, and then I didn't lose another pound (at all!) until she was 9 months old. Then it just started melting off. I'm now back to my previous size and shape, but I weigh about 10 pounds more than before I got pregnant (DD is 16 months old now). I think it's because I have more muscle mass from lifting and carrying so many kids around.

[cayso]

Sleep Question (the Hot Topic!) - My little guy is getting better and better at putting himself to sleep which has me super excited. The swaddle helps, as does the fact that he can now lock on securely to his thumb. Are any of you working on this to help sleep habits? I'm wondering: I know you are supposed to separate the nighttime nursing from sleep (not nurse them to sleep). But, if I do my bedtime routine (bath and massage) and then nurse (not to sleep just to relaxation) and swaddle and put him to bed, he is relaxed enough to put himself to sleep. If I nurse first, then do bedtime routine and swaddle, he's still amped up and can be fussy when I put him down. If I don't give him a pacifier he'll cry. If I do, he'll suck on it for 2-3 minutes, drop it and go to sleep. Is that putting himself to sleep? Or is that just as bad as nursing him to sleep?

[smurf]

cayso-IMO, giving the paci to go to sleep isn't creating a bad habit. Babies have the natural urge to suck, and if that helps them go to sleep on their own, that's great. DD1 refused a paci, so I always nursed her to sleep. 12 months later, I was still nursing her multiple times a night b/c she didn't have the ability to put herself back to sleep. DD2 is a pacifier baby, and while she wakes up a couple of times a night looking for her paci, that's okay with me. At least I can just stick it back in a go back to bed instead of going through the whole nursing routine. Eventually, they will be old enough to find their pacifiers themselves and go back to sleep (hopefully!)

[chiclady815]

cayso - In my opinion, nursing to relax is not nursing to sleep. DS takes a bottle at night and it definitely calms him down. Once he's full, he usually tucks himself in for the night really easily. I say either a paci or nursing to settle is fine. But I'm no expert at all...

baby weight - I have about 3 lbs left to lose so I'm happy about that. It's definitely slowed and it is distributed a little differently than before, but all in all, I'm pretty happy about it. The nursing has helped but we also live in Chicago so we walk all the time. Since DS was three days old, we were taking really long walks in the stroller. They are slowing down a little with the little guy because of the cold. And I need to get to the gym to tone up, but I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things while working and being a mom.

[alootikki]

baby weight Of the 30 lbs I gained, I lost 20 really quickly. The last 10 seem to fluctuate - I really need to get to the gym to tone up!


Annette - I wonder if it would help if you made the last bottle before bed the biggest? I think it's easier to "overeat" with a bottle, so maybe that would help him sleep a little longer? Of course, I have no medical degree or real advice since DD is not sleeping that long either! ;)

[Annette]

alooktiki-I tend to top him off with a bottle before bed anyway, but when he's full he'll just swish the nipple around in his mouth.

baby weight-I am such a slacker.... I still have 10 lbs to go and I feel so flabby. I am kicking myself for not taking advantage of going to the gym while I was off. I go back to work in 3 weeks and I am definitely not going to have time then.

[linekelei]

Annette-I have tried "topping off" Logan so many times, but she refuses to eat when she's not hungry (which is actually a good thing, IMO). Anyway, it does make for a lot of wake-ups if she eats around 8 and then falls asleep right away. I feel your pain!

cayso-I think the paci is fine. Logan seems to like it after her middle fo the night wake-up(s), and it always puts her back to sleep right away. I read in my Weissbluth sleep book that it's a form of self-soothing (Weissbluth encourages pacifiers if they work for you).

Baby weight-Mine fell off in dramatic fashion (like in two weeks), but I also had my baby 6 weeks early and had only gained 22 pounds at that point. Plus, it's my first and I've heard that it gets a lot harder with each child to lose the baby weight and return to normal. But for me, BFing and an enormous milk supply has worked wonders. I do wish I had more time to workout. Now that Logan is awake and doesn't take good naps, I almost never have time to exercise and by the time DH gets home at night, all I want to do is rest and/or go to bed. I'm sure it will be even worse once I go back to work on the 5th.

[smurf]

ugh....my formerly good sleeper has taken a turn for the worse. We've basically been up since 2:30 this morning. It's been bad for the past week, but last night was ridiculous. Before, I was able to feed her and then stick her paci back in after nighttime wake-ups, but now after she wakes up, she's impossible to get back to sleep. I know it's a normal newborn thing to go through sleep issues, I just wanted to complain a bit....

[countrymouse]

baby weight- I lost a lot right away, but am hanging on to an extra 10-15 lbs and a belly pouch that will only go away with diet and exercise...which I haven't quite been motivated by yet. I've eaten horribly in the past month or so, and DS naps too sporadically during the day to do any exercise. At least that's my excuse for now.

Question- what kind of car seats are you ladies using once your DC outgrows the infant carrier? My IL's are buying us a convertable car seat for xmas, but I don't know what kind to get. I know there is a car seat thread, but I don't have time to go through it all. I just want a good, mid-range car seat. Does the kind of car you have make a difference?

[Surftraitor]

carseat--DD will be in a Britax Marathon and DS will move to a 5 pt booster. The marathon has been great, but it is expensive.

sleep--still rather crappy here. After she (we) survives the 12 week growth spurt its going to be a tough love CIO approach. Her naps have been good lately, but I'd much rather swap them for a full night's sleep. If anyone is interested I have the notes from the sleep nurse we hired when DS was born. It outlines when DC should be napping and eating. It isn't terribly strict, just guidelines. DD is currently following the nap schedule really well. PM me with your email addy if you want the notes.

eating--How much is your DC eating at a time? DD seems to be stuck at 4 ounce bottles for about a month. Even worse is that she drinks 2 ounces and then pushes bottle away. About 1/2 hour later she takes the second 2 ounces.

baby weight--I'm not sure what my weight is right now, but I still have some pounds in my butt and thighs. Belly looks pretty much back to normal. I'm convinced that all my weight loss came from BBs. They are tiny now :(

[Lizzy]

weight loss - I probably have about 10 lbs. to go. But I can fit into the jeans I was wearing before pregnancy, they just don't fit quite right yet.

car seat - I haven't decided but I need to do so soon, since Calvin will soon outgrow the current seat.

eating - I can't say with absolute certainty since I nurse on demand. However I WOH two days a week, and during that time he takes 4 bottles of approximately 4 oz. of BM. According to kellymom.com milk intake stays about the same through 6 months, expect for periods of growth spurts.

Bouncer/exersaucer - does anyone have one? I think DS is almost ready for one and I'm wondering if he would enjoy it. Any other toys that your little one really likes? We have the Boppy play gym which he enjoys.

[Annette]

carseat-We have the safeseat now which goes up to 30lbs, so we have some time before getting to the next carseat. DS just hit 13lbs.

weight loss-I've stalled with 10lbs to go. I have not been motivated and of course after I go back to work in 3 weeks, I won't have time. I feel flabby and I really need to tone up especially on my butt.

eating-I nurse on demand too, but when DH feeds him at night, he takes between 3-4 ounces.

toys-DS loves his Jumperoo and he finally figured out how to jump in it. Its the cutest thing. He likes his floormat with the toys that hang down and he tries to grab them and bat at them. He also has a tummy time mat. We just got the Leapfrog Learn and Groove table for when he's a little older. Craigslist is a great place for getting used toys.

[Annette]

Some pics

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/3099732296_62c60061e5.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/3099729882_536b41a739.jpg?v=0

[karlatta]

carseat - I'm buying a Radian, I just don't know if DS2 will get it or if he'll move into one of the older kids' seats and they'll get the Radian. I don't have a lot of options since I have to do three across in my Saturn VUE. I have a Marathon that I love that I can't even use because it's too wide.

[jeninef]

carseat-DS1 is in the Britax Marathon...and DS2 is in a Snugride...I'm hoping by the time I need to move DS2 out of the Snugride, I can move him into DS1's marathon, but we'll see...

weight loss-Well, with the no soy, no dairy diet and bfeeding on demand, I'm currently 5 lbs. below pre-pregnancy weight! But still have all this flab around the middle...I'm definitely in the market for a tummy tuck in the future!

eating-Can't answer this one because DS has decided he doesn't like the bottle these days and just screams bloody murder when you come near him with it!

toys- I just got an exercauser from a friend which we will pull out after the holidays...I need to clean it up a bit...but I think he'll like it...he also likes his Gymni playmat and bouncy seat.

naps- This kid hates to nap!! I can only get like 30 minute naps out of him in his swing...the only time he likes to nap longer is when he's laying on his boppy right next to my boob! The minute I try to move him he wakes up and won't settle back down...I try to put him down drowsy but awake, no go...we have terrible nap habits here, but whatever...we'll figure it out somehow, I guess! Hopefully I won't pull all my hair out first!

[foxyboo751]

sleep- We're doing ok here. I know some of you are against it, but DS is a stomach sleeper, just like DD. He is rolling over both ways though, so he should be fine. I still check on him like every 10 minutes though. At night, he is only on his back. He usually takes 2 two-hour naps a day, then little cat-naps throughout the day. This is nice because DD (18 mos) does the same.

weight loss- I had hit a plateau, with about 18 lbs to go. However, I started weight watchers again 2 weeks ago, and have lost just over 6 lbs. My goal is to lose 19 total, that way I will be back to pre-pg weight, and also back to an "average weight" for my height. That will put me at 5'11" and 160. I know I can do it! I loooove WW and would recommend it to anyone! It's so easy and I lost my first 5 lbs Thanksgiving week!

carseat- We already have 2 graco comfortsports. DD grew out of the Snugride at about 8 months. Since she was too tall, she went straight into facing forward in the Comfortsport. DS will probably do the same (you have to read carefully in the directions, but it does mention that if their knees are bent up against the back seat, they can sit forward before the 20 pound rule.

toys- My mom sent me home with her exersaucer this past weekend. (She bought it when she was babysitting DD). My SIL will take hers to my mom's house until her son is born in Jan. By the time he needs the exersaucer, Westley will probably be crawling and not too interested in it. He loves the playmat his uncle just bought him for Christmas. He also has an over the door jumper! I can't wait for him to get to use that. His legs are so strong and he is always kicking! I know he'll love it.

eating- Not sure here either. He is EBF. However, he is an efficient eater, and therefor over eats ALL the time! He is a massive spitter, and I can't wash burp clothes fast enough! :eek:

[karlatta]

you have to read carefully in the directions, but it does mention that if their knees are bent up against the back seat, they can sit forward before the 20 pound rule.

:eek: I'll have to check that out (I have a ComfortSport too, and don't remember reading anything like that). I can't imagine that it's right. It is not unsafe at all to have a child's legs bent when they're riding rear-facing.

Edit: I pulled up my manual, and this is what is says (I bolded):
...some children approaching 30 lbs. may be too tall to fit comfortably rear-facing. When child can no longer comfortably fit and knees remain bent, child should use car seat forward-facing only if child is over 20 pounds.

[emjay]

weight - I am just at my pre-pregnancy weight, but definitely have some loose skin around the middle. I never thought I'd get plastic surgery, but after I'm done having kids, the first order of business will be a tummy tuck and a boob job!

carseat - DS is in the Keyfit30 and will be as long as he can. I imagine we'll get a Britax when he's ready to move up. Which Britax is the best? What's the difference? The carseat thread overwhelms me sometimes. :o

sleep - Pretty decent here. He goes down between 7 and 8 most nights and is up about 4 to eat (we have started making his middle of the night bottle smaller in hopes that he'll eventually drop it) and then is usually up for the day around 6:30. His naps are very spotty though. He only wants to nap in his crib for about 45 minutes. If he's in his carseat I may get 2 hours or so. Drives me crazy. Another thing I haven't figured out yet is how to get him to stay up for a longer period in the evening. He loses his mind if he is up for more than 2 hours at a time so he usually naps from 5-6pm or so and then gets up to eat and get a bath before he turns right around to go to bed. I really wish he could drop that evening nap, but I don't know how to do that.

eating - Calvin LOVES to eat. He is eating five 6 oz bottles during the day and one 4 oz bottle at night. Seems to work pretty well right now. I can't wait to start solid food! I bought the Super Baby Food book and am really excited to make his food.

toys - We have been using the Exersaucer for a few weeks now. We have to put a blanket in behind him to help hold him steady, but he will play in it for about 20 minutes or so. We've tried him in the Johnny Jump-up but he doesn't have enough upper body control yet. I know he'll love it when he's ready. We also have a floor mat and a tummy time mat that he plays on sometimes.

What are everyone's holiday plans? My FIL and stepmother-in-law are coming in from Salt Lake City. This will be their first time to see Calvin and I'm excited!

Here's our a pic of DS in his Christmas outfit:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/mindyfae/JordanChristmasEdited-21.jpg

[foxyboo751]

:eek: I'll have to check that out (I have a ComfortSport too, and don't remember reading anything like that). I can't imagine that it's right. It is not unsafe at all to have a child's legs bent when they're riding rear-facing.

Edit: I pulled up my manual, and this is what is says (I bolded):

Thanks for checking! I went back and re-read my post. I meant the 1-year rule. She was 20 pounds. I had a huge discussion about this on my other mom's thread when she was younger and got reamed out for it, but since she was 20 pounds (just not quite 1 year) I did it anyways. DD's legs were bent up quite high, and she would scream and hold her legs. I'm not going to have my child be in pain, especially if it's ok to be forward facing at 20 pounds. But again, thanks for checking.

[cayso]

Annette - Ryan is adorable! He has grown so much!!!

emjay - Your Calvin is super cute! I love his big boy outfit.

carseats - Okay, call me clueless... I use a Graco Snugride Infant Carseat. DS is probably about 14 1/2 pounds now. I thought this would last me for at least a year? And yet you are all transferring over to a convertible or talking about doing it soon? Did I miss something? Do I need to add a carseat to my Christmas Wish list???:eek:

[karlatta]

Thanks for checking! I went back and re-read my post. I meant the 1-year rule. She was 20 pounds. I had a huge discussion about this on my other mom's thread when she was younger and got reamed out for it, but since she was 20 pounds (just not quite 1 year) I did it anyways. DD's legs were bent up quite high, and she would scream and hold her legs. I'm not going to have my child be in pain, especially if it's ok to be forward facing at 20 pounds. But again, thanks for checking.
Hopefully your DS won't mind his legs being bent, so you can RF longer this time. :)

[karlatta]

carseats - Okay, call me clueless... I use a Graco Snugride Infant Carseat. DS is probably about 14 1/2 pounds now. I thought this would last me for at least a year? And yet you are all transferring over to a convertible or talking about doing it soon? Did I miss something? Do I need to add a carseat to my Christmas Wish list???:eek:
A lot of people (myself included) move infants to convertibles before they really outgrow the infant seat. I'll probably move DS in 2-3 months just because by that point, I know he'll be wanting to sit slightly more upright than the Snugride allows him to, and he'll be too heavy to comfortably carry in his carseat. He could probably make it close to 12 months in his Snugride if I chose not to move him.

[foxyboo751]

Hopefully your DS won't mind his legs being bent, so you can RF longer this time. :)

We'll see! :D

cayso- No need to rush anything. My BF's DD was in her Snugride until 15 months. But, it is always nice to not have to pay for a car seat! :) They can be quite expensive.

[Lizzy]

cayso- The SnugRide is good up to 22 lbs/29 inches. I guess it could last a year, depending on how fast he grows.

[Taylandra]

Weight loss-I lost most of my weight really fast...I think I had gained about 42 pounds, but about 12-15 pounds of that was water weight at the end. I've had the last 7-9 pounds and my pooch since week 4. I really need to do some sit-ups, but like some of you, find it hard to find the time!

Toys- Marek has been grabbing at toys for two weeks now, but there are only a few that he likes. Otherwise, he's on his play mat a bit and likes to see human faces.

Eating- He's primarily breastfed, but when he gets a bottle, he eats about 3-3.5 oz. Sometimes he eats 4oz. I'm happy to read that he's about where other kids are since I was wondering about that today. I just need to get enough of a stash built up before daycare starts on the 5th, but that's another struggle in and of itself.

Carseats- Haven't thought about a different one yet since DS is about 12 pounds and the Chicco Keyfit goes up to 30 pounds/30 inches. He's on the taller side though, so I'll have to look into getting one around his first birthday.

Sleep- DS will sometimes go down for naps now. Usually when he's had a car ride, though. At night, he tends to freak out when he goes into his crib if he's still awake at all. I wind up nursing him and then laying him next to me until he's pretty sleepy, then moving him into the crib. Sometimes he stays with us after he wakes up to nurse the first time, but he's gone back into the crib a few times. We have to work on this, but he will not take a pacifier so we'll just have to work on the bedtime routine...

[Julss05]

Chicco Keyfit goes up to 30 pounds/30 inches. He's on the taller side though, so I'll have to look into getting one around his first birthday.

same here, not sure what the next carseat will be yet.

Annette- MIL just sent us a jumperoo, it's great! His feet can barely touch the ground but he managed to jump around in it. Good idea putting the bouncy seat in front of the tree.

Eating- Eats 6 oz. every 3 hours during the day and one during the night. 13 weeks old.

Love seeing all the baby pics, my have they grown!

[Annette]

Everyone's babies are adorable.

julss5-we put the Wii fit under his feet and that helps.

[Daniel's Kitty]

carseats We will be moving him soon as we have an older snugride (20 pounds and 26 inches) and he is 17 pounds and almost 26 inches last time I checked. He probably has outgrown the height by now and the weight will follow soon.
I am just hoping he doesn't outgrow our convertable seat by a year. Mikey was 30 pounds and we had the straps extended fully around 11 months, then he started walking and hasn't gained much since it is a lot slower since he runs nonstop with his brother.

He is going into 12 month clothes on some of them 9 month on other outfits.

[Surftraitor]

carseat--We're using the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio system. The reason we'll be transitioning is because a)height limit is and DD is inches. and b)she hates her car seat. Let's hope the Britax is more to her liking :rolleyes:

giggle--DD gave me a giggle yesterday. Absolutely melted my heart. I guess my tickling her belly and panting like a dog with my tongue out is hilarious. She's definitely engaging more every day. She's mesmerized by her older brother and loves to coo.

toys--I was stunned when I put her on her playmat at 6 weeks and she started batting at the hanging toys. Older DS didn't do that for a loooooong time. Ped said that girls seem to develop sooner than boys at this age. Now she grabs onto the toys and yanks them.

tummy time--HATES it

[cayso]

giggle - I am *sooo* waiting for the giggle! DS is so close - he will make a laugh that *sounds* more like a jerky cry or suck his breath in as a quasi-laugh, but he doesn't quite have it. I have been trying to crack him up several times a day. We are so close, I can't wait!

Taylandra - I keep forgetting to tell you I actually know another Marek! I love the name and yours and the other one I know are the only times I've ever heard it.

[Bliss]

Bliss - My Kellan takes Prevacid too. He has been on it for 2 months and in fact, as I did last month, I am about to do a trial run without it. Did you just start it? I found that it helped almost immediately and all signs of reflux were pretty much gone within just a few days. It was like black and white the difference it made. We'll see if he is old enough to go without it, my doctor said it could be up to 6 months before the esophogeal sphincter tightens enough to go without it, but not always so he liked us trying each month to go without it. It took about 3-4 days last month and then we knew! :eek:

Hi, oh yeah Rachel is like a different kid now on it. I give it to her first thing in the morning, and only BF her for the first feeding, and she is doing great. We can actually lay her down after meals now, where before she could not be put down at all after eating w.out screaming. And I am not up from 9p-1a walking the floors w. her anymore. I am so happy I pursued it w. my ped, they were resistant about giving her meds but they really helped.

Giggle- Rachel loves to giggle, mostly at her brother lol. DS loves to make her laugh, and he is such a great big brother she gives him huge smiles/laughs that I swear she reserves just for him. Its too cute :) Of course, not as cute when he is waking her up from her nap so he can play w/ her :)

Naps- We are getting about 30-45 mins in the crib, which I am happy with at this point. DS did not really nap at this age, so I will take what I can get. Today both were sleeping at the same time for about 20 mins, I did not know what to do w. myself lol.

Carseat- DS is in the Britax Decathalon in my car, and we have a Graco convertible in DHs. DD will move into the Britax and I am planning on getting the Britax Frontier, which is a 5 pt harness carseat to booster convertible for DS. My friend has it now, and its great- much easier to get the toddlers in/out of. And it has cupholders, woo hoo, no more rolling cups to reach blindly for as I am driving!
All the pics of babies are so cute!

[linekelei]

Carseat-We have the Graco Safeseat and will use it until DD is 30 pounds. We also have a Britax Decathlon which we will switch to after the 30 pound mark, or unless DD starts to hate her carseat. Fortunately, DD loves the carseat as long as the car is moving.

Giggling-Lots of laughing, giggling, and noises here. Logan loves to make noises and will laugh at lots of people. It's so cute.

Tummy Time-She hates it. Sometimes I wonder if she'll ever roll over since she spends about 1 or 2 minutes a day on her stomach, at the most. :o

Grabbing things-Logan has been batting at the toys on her Gymini mat for awhile now, but not really grabbing them. However, today I put a rattle cube toy in front of her and she grabbed it. Twice! And then proceeded to shake it and play with it! I was impressed!

Today DD totally faceplanted into the couch. It didn't hurt her, but DH and I were very surprised. We had her sitting up against some pillows, and next thing you know, she's kind of sitting up on her own, and then she falls forward and faceplants. Good thing the couch is soft and she wasn't near the edge!

[Annette]

Poor DS is sick with a cold which I gave to him last week. His stuffy nose seems to be clearing up but now he has a cough. Any idea when the cough will go away and what I can do to help him feel better? Sometimes his cough will induce his gag reflex and he'll throw up (not fun).

[linekelei]

Annette-Try a cool mist humidifier. That's what our ped recommended when Logan has been sick (two colds already!). They also sell Baby Vicks Vapor rub-we used it last week and it seemed to help a bit.

[Annette]

Is the baby vicks vapor rub the same as the regular one? I have some regular vapor rub at home or is it too strong?

Ryan finally STTN in his swing. He went from midnight to 7:30. He did 8pm to midnight in the crib, but then due to his congestion he had trouble staying asleep in the crib so we moved him to the swing. I love the swing. I don't know when I should wean him off of it though. He naps in there too.

[cayso]

Yaaay, Annette! Aren't swings the bomb?:D I would die without my swing.

Question: I'd love some opinions on this: We have been doing a thing with Kellan where we lift him up from lying on his back (to practice head control) and then continue to a standing position (he will sometimes bear weight for a few seconds and I've heard this is a good thing to practice). BUT we are doing this by holding his hands and lifting him that way. So, by the time he is standing we are holding his hands above his head and sort of picking up his whole body weight by his arms until he bears some weight on his legs. Is this okay from an arm/shoulder standpoint or is that too much strain do you think?

[karlatta]

cayso - I wouldn't do it holding his hands above his hand that way. I think you can accomplish the same thing (head control and weight bearing practice) by supporting him under his arms as you pick him up or holding him around his torso.

[alootikki]

linekelei - we never do tummy time either :o since DD hates it, but she's starting to roll anyway! She likes to be held sitting up (never liked the cradle position), so I think that's how she is building up neck strength.

Annette so sorry Ryan is sick, but that is awesome about SSTTN!! How did you do it??

I was super excited bc last night DD slept from 9 pm - 1 am, and then again until 4:30 am. Two wake-ups is better than 4!

[linekelei]

Annette-It's specifically Vicks for babies. You can get it at the drugstore (and yes, it's a lot weaker than regular Vicks).

[chiclady815]

tummy time - DS really likes being on his tummy now. He rolled from his tummy though for the first time at six days old!!!!:eek::eek:Now it seems that he likes it the best when he has a mirror in front of him because he seems to be his own favorite sight. And he is a cutie, so I don't blame him. :)

toys - In the last few weeks, DS has become interested in toys. He would still prefer to look at faces and they really make him giggle but he will grab a toy and put it in his mouth just to give it a quick taste.

Vicks - Just another perspective. My ped told me not to use it until he's a little older when he had his cough last month. He recommended the humidifier and elevating the head of the mattress.

swings - DS will not sleep in a swing. He will not sit in a swing. The mere sight of the swing makes him really give us the business and he's a pretty content baby. We finally just put it away and are going to start the exersaucer soon.

[smurf]

tummy time--DD hates it, so she's very rarely on her tummy. Maybe a couple of minutes a day, but that's about all she'll allow.

toys-DD's become very interested in toys the past week. She's started grabbing them and putting them in her mouth.

swings-I don't know what we'd do without ours. That's the only place she'll nap. In fact, she's so addicted to it, that I asked my mom to buy one to have at her house while we're there for 2 weeks over the holidays!

sleeping-She's finally back to sleeping better, I don't know what her deal was that week that she was up all the time. We finally moved her into her crib, and the past two nights she's slept from 7:30-3 and then 3:30-7:30. I did have to go in there once last night at around 1 to put her paci back in, but that's better than having to stay up 20 minutes to nurse her.

[karlatta]

tummy time - DS is teething something fierce, so he sees tummy time as an opportunity to force his hands into his mouth and shake, shake, shake his head so that his fingers rub his gums. So there's no practice holding his head up or rolling over right now.

[Annette]

tummy time-DS can only stand TT for a few minutes. It helps when I put his mirror in front of him or shake a rattle near him.

alootiki-yay for only 2 wake ups. I seriously believe the swing is allowing him to STTN.

cayso-It was so funny. Last week his swing broke and we were like OMG we need to buy a new one now! It was like what are we going to do without a swing. Luckily someone listed the rainforest swing on craigslist for a good price so we bought it. We had the aquarium swing which DH had rewired to take a/c power but because the power brick was 9v instead of 6, we think it wore out the motor.

[Lizzy]

tummy time- Calvin will tolerate it for about 2 minutes! I'll have to put the mirror where he can see it.

swing- we never tried it! I was against having too much baby gear at first, though oddly I insisted on both a crib and a PNP - neither of which have seen more than a few minutes of use! Next time around I am definitely getting a swing!

[countrymouse]

tummy time- DS is not a fan. I put him on his tummy maybe twice a day and depending on his mood, he'll tolerate it for maybe 5 minutes. He has great head control, so I'm not too worried. He isn't showing any interest in rolling over, though I 'practice' rolling over with him to show him what it's like.

swing- It's hit or miss...usually miss. It only works if DS is really tired and fighting a nap. I really thought he would like it more but it seems to be the one thing he doesn't really dig.

toys- He's just started grabbing at toys in the past 2 weeks or so. Today I took him to DH's office and I walked in to find him sitting on DH's lap at his computer, clutching a pen! I don't know if DH gave it to him or if he grabbed it off the desk himself. It looked like he was going to write a letter:D

sleeping- Still STTN, though the past week or so he has not settled as quickly and I've had to go in there to soothe him before he fell asleep. Tonight he went right to sleep, so maybe it was just a phase. Still terrible at daytime naps...the past few days he's just taken quick catnaps.

He's about outgrown his Arms Reach mini-cosleeper, so whether I like it or not, we will have to move him into his crib soon. I will miss being able to roll over and look at him whenever I want, but I know we need to do it.

DS and I are going to a new mom's group playdate tomorrow and I'm so excited. I'm desperate for new friends who I can relate to, so I have very high hopes that I'll really click with at least one of the moms there.

[emjay]

tummy time - DS used to LOVE being on his belly. It would instantly calm him but now he'll only tolerate it for a few minutes. I think his tummy used to bother him some and now that he feels better he doesn't need pressure on it anymore.

swing - Calvin was firmly in the hate camp so we put it away. I may try him in it again soon to see if he's come around.

sleeping - We seem to be in a good routine. He goes down pretty well about 7:30 or so and will wake once to eat about 3:00 or 4:00. He's up for the day between 5:30 and 6:00. Sometimes he'll wake up and need the paci. He has become quite the swaddle escape artist and I think when he gets his arms out it wakes him up. I'm really hoping to wean him off the swaddle soon so maybe he'll do it on his own.

friends - countrymouse, I know what you mean about needing friends you can relate to. My two best friends don't have children and one of them has no desire to EVER have kids and the other one keeps postponing TTC. I think me having a baby has really affected our friendship and it makes me sad. I've made a few friends at work who have LO's and a couple of my other friends are either pregnant or TTC. I guess friendships just evolve and having a baby certainly speeds that up!

We took Calvin on his first road trip this weekend. We visited some family about two hours from us and he slept in the car the whole way, both ways! I was so happy! He didn't sleep very well that night, but you can't win them all!

[Taylandra]

cayso- Thanks for the compliment! We kind of stumbled across the name d/t a hockey player that was on the Predators last year. Some people look at us like we're nuts, so it helps that it's a form of Mark which is my dad's middle name.

swings- Marek can do about 15 minutes in the swing *if* he's in a good mood since he's been tracking toys. Otherwise, forget it! I'm glad we borrowed it from someone and didn't buy one!

Growth spurt- How long, on average, does the 3 month growth spurt last? I feel like DS has been nursing every 1.5 hours for two weeks now. He's sleeps longer at night, but I'm lucky if it's been a solid two hours since his last feeding.

Feedings- DS is still eating only a 4oz. bottle at most when he gets a supplement. At night he'll take a couple of oz. after he's BF sometimes, but he seems good on 3.5-4oz/feeding. Is 4-6oz/feeding the norm at this age? I'm just trying to get the correct amounts of BM frozen. Must remember to ask ped at next visit...

[Lizzy]

Taylandra - kellymom.com has a calculator (http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html) to help figure out how much milk baby needs. When I pump I store 4 oz. at a time.

[Taylandra]

Lizzy- Thanks for that link. I also read that growth spurts last anywhere from 2-7 days. Hmmm....I may be talking to the LC soon just to ease my worries.

[Taylandra]

I really should read Kellymom.com more often. It has calmed my fears about the amount I pump and other things immensely! I know now that it's normal for me to only get 1/2-1oz. of milk per breast per session. Whew!

[cayso]

Taylandra - on *average*, Kellan takes 4 oz. each bottle feed. He's almost 15 pounds and 14 weeks old.

I'm so excited I have to share: I've gotten K to nap in his crib (instead of the swing). AND he puts himself to sleep! I've started doing a little "routine" for naptime in which we go into the nursery, turn on the humidifier and heater (white noise), his lullaby music and then I read a tiny book, then rock him on my shoulder and sing for a minute and then put him down. He will often suck on his thumb or coo and talk himself to sleep. That has become the ending of our night routine that includes bath and massage and he'll usually put himself to sleep at bedtime too. Mind you, we are still not STTN or anything, but I've heard/read that putting themselves to sleep is a key behavior for that ability, so maybe someday! :)

[chiclady815]

cayso - congratulations on K napping in his crib and putting himself to sleep! I am always amazed that the books tend to be accurate most of the time that if you start a routine with him (or her) they adapt to it and get themselves to sleep! DS gets himself to sleep most of the time at night, but sometimes it takes him a little while to get settled.

Taylandra - DS is 15 weeks old and about 16.5 lbs. He takes about 6-7 ounces each bottle feeding. It's unusual from what I've talked to other people about, but he doesn't spit up and would probably take more if I offered it to him. And remember - he's eating enough if he has enough wet diapers.

Question - I think that the daycare rocks DS to sleep for npas whereas we used to rock to drowsy and he would fall asleep on his own. Before he started there, he was fine at getting to sleep with some short rocking and a song and then to bed. He would fuss for a few minutes (nothing bad, just squawking). This weekend it took me an hour of soothing to get him to sleep for a nap, which it never had before. I know that they can't let him cry open-ended because of the other babies there, but I think a few minutes is okay because I've seen that it is just what it takes. I don't want him to get used to rocking to sleep for naps. He still goes to sleep fine at night on his own most nights and still STTN. It could be that he's still getting used to the different styles, but I want to bring it up sooner rather than later. They should be supporting my parenting style not me supporting theirs. How would you bring it up? Would you wait a little while longer to see if it corrects itself?

[Lizzy]

Taylandra - have you tried pumping until you get a second letdown? I just learned about this. I get a second letdown about 3-5 minutes after the milk stops flowing. For me it's not a ton of additional milk - maybe 1 oz. But every little bit helps!

[Taylandra]

Lizzy- Sometimes I can get a second letdown, other times not so much. I'm more successful in the morning, but I really need to focus on a set pumping(s) time during the day. It seems so hard sometimes! I'll keep working on it...

[cayso]

chiclady - I feel for your situation with the daycare. I will be going back to work in Feb., and I am already worried about how things like that will work! :rolleyes: I would bring it up - especially since it appears to be affecting your DS's ability to nap. I would be gentle but blunt and ask them if they have the *ability* to let him fall asleep on his own even if he makes a little noise first, and if not, is there anything that could be arranged? Or, maybe they just need to hear that it would only be for a few minutes - they may be afraid that he doesn't have the ability to put himself to sleep and think they are doing the right thing. Good luck! I'll be stressing over this stuff in the near future and asking for your insight, I'm sure.

[chiclady815]

cayso - Thank you for the input. I went there to pick him up yesterday and he was napping in one of the teachers arms. I had to calm down and I decided to address it this morning. I informed them that he sometimes just needs to protest a little but he will end up sleeping better. They were receptive so i was really pleased. They won't let him cry open-ended, which I'm not okay with either, but they will sipport whatever we are doing at home. I was really glad to have the response I did. Now if I come in there tonight and he's sleeping in someone's arms, they will have some explaining to do...

[cayso]

[I went there to pick him up yesterday and he was napping in one of the teachers arms.

Whoa!:eek: That's a little beyond rocking him to sleep, isn't it??? I'm glad they were receptive and I hope things will go better now.

[Julss05]

For anyone who's baby is having congestion issues, putting a humidifier in the room has done wonders.

chiclady- Glad you had a good experience with the daycare. When we did the interview she asked whether we rocked him to sleep or not and we said no. It's great when caregivers are interested in provided similiar care to what would be received at home. Makes both our lives easier!

cayso- Congrats on him sleeping better!

Tummy Time - hates it. I still put him on his tummy though for a little bit hoping he'll like it eventually.

Friends - It's tough. A good friend of mine who doesn't have kids due to infertility has been distant ever since DS was born. I know it pains her to see me with him. Don't know what to do. All other friends have kids a lot older than DS, no friends with babies or toddlers. Only person I can relate to is a coworker who has a 1-year-old. Even though she's much younger than I, I pick her brain for helpful baby tips!

giggle - Just started laughing a few weeks ago. It's so funny! If something tickles him or he gets kisses he'll giggle away:).

toys - interested in rattles. starting to hang onto and shake them.

swing - loves swing. great for naps. lets mommy do things!

[chiclady815]

Julss - when we first filled out our paperwork, we were still rocking him to sleep. I'm guessing that they were waiting for me to tell them differently. Whoops! Anyway, I went there last night and he had taken three GREAT naps and had gotten himself to sleep on his own each time. They mentioned how much easier it was to do it that way! Anyway, he was in such a great mood and I know that it was because he slept SO much better.

giggling - DS does this all the time when we sing Christmas carols to him. We also each grab one of his feet to use as microphones and he just laughs and laughs. The things that we all do to make our DC smile!

toys - DS is interested in two stuffed animals and his rattle. He mostly likes to just stick the stuffed animals in his mouth but this morning, he wouldn't put "Eddie" down when I picked him up! It was so cute!

congestion - I hadn't been sick in years but DS has picked a cold and congestion up from baby school and I'm now sick as a dog. Oh man...

friends - I have two groups of friends. One groups is a bunch of single ladies who go out all the time. The other is a bunch of parents. I felt like I didn't fit entirely into either camp before I had DS. Now I am definitely congregating more toward the parents because they definitely get what I'm going through more. I try to still have girlfriend time, but I am having such a hard time not going on and on about Michael!

[Goddess Tiff]

Just wanted to show you guys our Christmas pics. Ben did so well!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/TiffanyC/scan0002.jpg?t=1229730639

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/TiffanyC/scan0003.jpg?t=1229730697

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/TiffanyC/scan0001.jpg?t=1229730734

[Annette]

goddess tiff-Awww.. Ben is cute! I love the Santa suit!

me: I am shocked that DS slept an 8 hour stretch in his crib last night from 8-4. He woke up starving though and then went back to sleep until 7ish. I didn't sleep that well because I kept expecting the monitor to go off. I hope he continues with this trend. I have been trying to put him to bed around 7 this week, so maybe the consistent bedtime helped? His cold is gone so I'm sure that has helped as well.

[karlatta]

DS is still doing a late bedtime (9 or 10), but he started STTN this week. I'm so happy! Since we didn't get him until he was 3 months old, I've been worried about it taking longer for him to get to certain points with us (STTN, self-soothing, etc.) than it would have if we'd had him since birth. It looks like he's right on track. :)

Goddess Tiff - Your pictures came out so well! I am impressed!

[linekelei]

goddess tiff-What adorable pictures. Ben is such a cutie!

Oh, you ladies are killing me with all of the STTN stories. DD has been up three times a night for the past 4 nights. Ugh, ugh, and more UGH!!! I have no idea how I am going to function once I go back to work on the 5th. :eek:

[Annette]

subscribing

[emjay]

Goddess Tiff - Cute pics! What a sweet smiley boy!

Annette - That's great about DS STTN! Hopefully it continues for you.

linekelei - Do you swaddle Logan? I have a friend whose baby never slept more than 2 hours at a time until she swaddled him when he was about 12 weeks old. She said the first night she did, he slept for 5 hours straight. Good luck!

Well it appears that Calvin has his first cold. He seems to be handling it pretty well and he is definitely sleeping more. He slept in til 8 this morning! :eek:

Gotta go, he's waking up from his nap!

[cayso]

Annette - That's awesome! You deserve it, I know Ryan has been sleeping in small chunks for a long time.

linekelei - I'm right there with you. DS used to nurse once a night as much as twice. Now, its twice a night AND he will often wake up another time in the night too but just go back down once he finds his thumb (or I unswaddle an arm so he can get at it.) I thought this type of scenario was actually a more common one at 3-4 months than *truly* STTN (when I say STTN I mean *asleep*, *all night*, *until morning", not this 5 hour rule, BTW.) But I'm also bummed because DS has been self-soothing and putting himself to sleep at night and for naps and everything that he is "supposed to" be doing to sleep well and so far it has not improved his night sleep any.

karlatta - How did you work with your DS to get him to sleep well? Kellan is still being swaddled, although I am questioning whether to leave arm(s) out lately. He will suck on his thumb and that helps him fall asleep but it also seems to distract him sometimes too (I'll wake up and see him flailing his arms and he doesn't seem to realize he can access his thumb to comfort himself).

[karlatta]

cayso - I don't really have any sort of plan for helping babies to sleep. I just kind of do what feels natural, and so far it's worked. It's like my one great skill as a mother - getting kids to go to sleep. Everything else I'm just so-so at. DS1 and DD are also great sleepers. We do swaddle DS2 and he sleeps in a swing (at night). Normally I would have weaned him off by now, but since we've only had him a month and a half, I'm going to let him sleep there for a little while longer.

[linekelei]

emjay-We swaddle her, but it doesn't seem to do any good. She just wakes up and wants to eat! I'm seriously hoping it's a growth spurt and she goes back to once a night wake-ups within a week.

[Julss05]

Goddess- He's SO adorable! I tried taking a picture of DS in his Christmas outfit but gave up after 30 frowns. Family is getting a frowny Christmas one and a regular smiling one:rolleyes:.

teething already? DS has seemed grumpier lately between feedings and chewing on his hands. Not sucking like he's hungry but gnawing on them like his gums hurt. I looked and felt around in his mouth and haven't seen anything.

[karlatta]

Teething - We definitely have teething going on. Lots of biting anything that gets near his mouth, lots of drool, and lots of shoving his hands in his mouth and rubbing his gums. It still could be months, though, before anything breaks through.

[jh124]

I keep forgetting to subscribe, then weeks go by and I'm so far behind. Which describes the state of my life lately, behind. I'm so far behind in laundry, holiday preparations, feeding those in my family who aren't breastfed.

Holden is 11w4d now. He was hospitalized at five weeks for a fever and in the ER at 10 weeks for a fever. #1 brings home every virus from school and the baby's immune system is really getting a workout. Poor guy. The peds are concerned but also noted he gained seven ounces in four days, and decided as long as he's gaining weight like that and otherwise seems normal, we can have some breathing room. And the little dude is getting older/bigger, so that's working in our favor. We can keep him home, but we can't control what #1 does.

Teething - I've been wondering about this. He's drooling and chewing/sucking on his fist, but he's been doing that for awhile now.

Sleeping - He's better and better about sleeping for eight hours at a stretch, waking to eat, then going back down for awhile. He's stitll swaddled. We swaddled #1 for nearly five months. Maybe that was extreme, but it was more important that he slept. Have the same feeling about #2. He's still in the PNP now, but we are going to move him to the crib soon.

[Annette]

So much for STTN. He's up every 3-4 hours again. At least I got 2 days.

[cayso]

Annette - Remember, baby development isn't linear...its two steps forward, one step back (sometimes it feels like a giant fall back, at least here) but then forward again. He can do it! He will do it again. Good luck and Happy Holidays!

[cayso]

Those of you that don't swaddle...How do you get blankets to stay on top of baby and not get kicked off???

[karlatta]

blankets - We still swaddle, but when we stop we'll use sleep sacks. I'm not comfortable with infants sleeping with blankets that could get on their faces.

[Annette]

We don't swaddle anymore. We use sleep sacks or blanket sleepers. DS moves around his crib too much.

Ugh, last night was awful. He was up every 2 hours. He hasn't been napping long enough either.

[jh124]

Merry First Christmas to all our new babies!


We still swaddle, but will use sleep sacks when it's time to move to a blanket.

[Annette]

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their LOs.

I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping you all can help me with.

Is 2 hours of awake time between naps still the rule of thumb for a 4 month old? I've been reading Weissbluth's book and he stresses this point. He also stresses that naps should be at least an hour.
DS has been trying to push this awake time to 3 hours and his naps the past week or so haven't been longer than 30-45 mins. His evening nap which is around 3-4pm has only lasted 20 mins, so this leaves him exhausted much earlier in the evening. Tonight, I started his bedtime routine at 6 and he was too tired to nurse, so I gave him a bottle and he fell asleep rather quickly. I don't mind the 6pm bedtime now, but when I start back at work next week, I don't get home till around 6 and I want to at least be able to do his bedtime routine with him.

So how do I lengthen his naps?

When does the evening nap get dropped?

I have also noticed he's been getting distracted a lot lately while he's eating. He'll start eating and once he's getting full, he'll pop off and look around, coo and smile. It takes a lot longer to feed him and I don't know if he's getting full. He wants to play and I think its also distracting him from napping. Any advice?

[cayso]

Sleep sacks! (Duh! :p) Thanks everyone, I will look into getting a couple.

Annette - I don't know if I have any advice - my baby has the opposite issue with sleep...he needs to nap every hour and a half, sometimes I swear he can barely stay awake for an hour without getting cranky and it freaks me out that he sleeps so much during the day sometimes because I wonder then how he will sleep at night. Then, I have a friend who's baby *rarely* naps. It seems to have a lot to do with the temperament of the baby. I can say I have gotten Kellan to sleep better since doing a sleep routine and allowing him to put himself to sleep. Do you do that with Ryan? Also, do you hesitate to intervene when he wakes himself up? If K wakes up from a nap and I *don't* go right in and get him, sometimes he will coo or even fuss a little and then *go back to sleep.* Don't know if that's helpful or not...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

[Annette]

cayso-We do a routine, albeit its a bit short. I change him, nurse and/or bottle and put him down and he goes to sleep pretty quickly. For naps, he rarely falls back asleep once he's up. I don't go in right away unless he's crying.

[Lizzy]

Annette, I like to nurse in the side-lying position because I think it cuts down on the distractions. There's not much to look at in that position! :) He still pops on and off a few times, but overall it's much easier to hold his attention.

[countrymouse]

Hope everyone had a great first Christmas with their babies- it was so much fun this year opening DS's gifts. Our families went overboard with him, but we really didn't buy him anything.

For the past 2 weeks or so DS is getting harder to put to bed. He'll cry and we have to go in a few times to soothe him or put his paci back in before he'll fall asleep. Once asleep, he's good until morning, but last night for some reason he was up 3 times, which he's never ever done before. At 10:30 his diaper leaked and his PJs were soaked, so that is understandable, but then he was up again at 12:30 (I had to nurse him back to sleep), then crying again at 4:30 (I just put his paci back in). I'm scared that this will become a pattern, but maybe he was just uncomfortable b/c he hadn't pooped since Sunday- he pooped first thing this morning so that is why we are trying to make the link.

Naps- We've been really busy and out of the house for the past week or so, so i haven't really tried to nap him in his crib during the day. He's always been a horrible napper (but STTN so I can't complain) but in the last few days I've gotten him to take some pretty good naps on my bed. If I lay w/ him and sing or talk to him or just watch TV while he sucks on his paci and plays w/ a toy, he'll usually fall asleep. I hope I'm not establishing a bad pattern, but he has taken some really good naps this way and I'm able to leave him to go do other stuff (He's not rolling over yet and he's surrounded by pillows so I'm not worried about him falling off the bet etc.) He also sleeps in the car if we're out, which is the only way I can guarantee a daytime nap.

He's 4 months today and has really outgrown the mini-cosleeper so we're moving him into his own room and crip on New Year's Eve. I'm dreading it!

[Annette]

lizzy-For some reason, the side lying position doesn't work for me. I can't seem to get the position right without being in an awkward position.

countrymouse-That's great that your DS STTN. Hopefully his tummy feels better after pooping. Your DS was born on my due date.

me: Yay, for progress on the sleep front. I put him down for a nap last night around 5 and he slept till 8. I then gave him a bath and fed him and he only got up once at 1am between 8pm to 8am. I finally got a full night sleep since DH did the 1am feeding. I've been following the whole putting him down drowsy while awake even for naps and he's been falling asleep on him own. Monday is his 4m WBV. I hope he's okay after his shots. I go back to work after New Years and I'm dreading it. I'm going to miss him so much since I get home at 6 and he goes to bed between 6-7.

[Surftraitor]

Hi all,
I've been incommunicado thanks to two sick kids. DS came home with it two mondays ago. DD picked it up by Tuesday. Off to the ped on Weds. DS finally improved by Saturday. My parents and brother arrived on Sunday. DD went back to ped on Monday. And there you have it...

Thankfully just a virus for both, but I felt like I was trapped in a cough/sneeze car wash. It was nasty. Of course, DDs sleep suffered immensely. She was waking at 2, 4 and 5. BRUTAL!!!!!! Last night she seemed to be getting back in the groove. She woke at 5. I gave her a pacifier and she crashed until 6. Then I pulled her in bed with me and she snoozed until I woke her at 7:30.

rolling over--DD has been rolling over in her crib. The problem is that she gets angry when she gets on her belly and she can't roll back yet. Thus, screaming ensues. I'm considering using a sleep positioner to keep her on her back.

sleep training--over the next week we are going to take her a step further in her sleep training. Currently, she goes down for the night at 11 (although she usually sleeps from 8-11 when we wake her for a bottle). First, we'll move her back to 10:00 and then we'll move her back to a 7:00 bed time. :eek: We'll see how it goes. We just hope there's no middle of the night wakings that go along with it.

naps--DD is still going every 1.5 hours for a nap. They usually linger around an hour long. I think she's on the verge of stretching it though.

[Goddess Tiff]

Ben's getting his first tooth! We can see it and feel it clearly. I cannot believe my baby boy is getting teeth already.

[linekelei]

I see that a lot of babies are teething, but is anyone going through teething HELL? Because we are! Poor Logan has been drooling for at least 2 months, and it's now to the point where she is super uncomfortable all day long and unable to nap more than 20 minutes. Coupled with all of the holiday hoopla and family events, DH and I haven't had a good nap out of her in weeks. She is also waking a lot in the middle of the night and is unable to go back to sleep unless she's in my arms. We've tried teething tablets and Baby Tylenol, but nothing seems to help that much.

Logan was already a bad napper, but this teething is killing us. She is fussy almost all day long and we're exhausted. I am seriously freaked out about going back to work on the 5th with a baby who barely sleeps. She went from waking up once a night to three times a night and I am sure it's because of the teething. I am so tired that I had to take a nap at 6:30 tonight. I don't know how you all have such great sleepers. I am SO envious!!!

[Annette]

linekelei-Poor Logan. Maybe her tooth will pop up soon. I don't have any advice for you since Ryan's not teething yet, but I can sympathize with the going back to work part. I'm dreading it.

teething-I don't think Ryan's teething at all yet. If he takes after me, he'll get his first tooth at 8 months old.

solids-Anyone start solids yet? I'm going to ask the doctor tomorrow about it at his WBV. I just wanted to see what others were doing. I have some IRL friends who started solids at 4 months and others who waited till 6 months.

[Lizzy]

Teething - I don't think we're there yet. Tons of drool. He has been more cranky lately, and his sleep has suffered a little but I think that's due to growth spurts. linekelei, you're not alone, I don't have a great sleeper. He'll take short naps during the day and I can get a long nap only by nursing him throughout the nap. He wakes about 3 times at night to eat. Somedays it's really difficult to get him down for the night, and he's waking at 6am regardless of what time he went to sleep.

Solids - I'm not in a hurry. I want to wait until at least six months. I plan on doing "baby led solids" and not starting until he shows readiness signs. I want his nutrition to come from breastmilk during the first year.

Holidays - Were not much fun. Calvin was way overstimulated. We've spent the past few days recovering. He's still having a hard time falling asleep at night and I wonder if it's due to the change in routine.

rolling over - He is so close but still not there.

[karlatta]

solids - I'm not planning to start until he shows interest. Right now he sits in a high chair when we eat and couldn't care less about what we're doing, so I know he's not ready. I also don't spoon-feed (no purees or cereals), so I have to wait until he has the coordination to pick up small pieces of food and put them in his own mouth. I'm expecting to start somewhere between 6-10 months, just depending on when he's ready.

[cayso]

sleeping - I have what I feel is a pretty good sleeper. He naps well now (my paying attention and getting him down after about 1:15 of awake time and allowing him to put himself to sleep in his crib has been the most positive thing for his naptime.) And while he completely freaked us out by sleeping 11 hours *straight* a few days ago, his normal MO is to wake up twice in the night for nursing (over the 12 hour period that he sleeps), which I feel is okay for his age right now and I expect it to just slowly improve, I guess.

teething - We have all the drool and chewing on stuff, but no teeth or signs of physical discomfort. Not looking forward to that...

rolling over - Maybe I don't do enough tummy time, but also when we do, he's not interested in trying to roll over, he kicks his legs and butt up and tries to crawl, I think!

solids - Clueless. No plans here. Karlatta, I'm intrigued, why do you wait until they can feed themselves and forgo the pureed and spooned stuff?

[karlatta]

Mostly because I'm lazy and don't want to deal with the mess. :D

But really, there's no nutritional reason why kids should need to eat off of a spoon at 4 or 6 months. At that age, eating is just for practice anyway, since nutrition needs to come from formula and/or breastmilk for the first year. I think that allowing them to self-feed helps them develop healthy eating habits and prevents overeating (or overfeeding).

Both DS1 and DD were self-feeding chunks of food (well-cooked veggies, puffs, etc.) by 8 months - I think DD was right around 6 months - and could use a spoon independently by 12-14 months. DD was earlier because she was VERY into food. At 6 months she sat in her high chair and opened her mouth every time I took a bite of my food, so I knew she was ready to try. Both kids have really healthy appetites and good eating habits now, so I don't think waiting or skipping cereal hurt them at all.

[Annette]

cayso-That's great progress in the sleep department. I think for us letting him nap in the crib as opposed to the swing every 1 1/2 to 2 hours has really helped with his nighttime sleep. Yesterday he napped 2 hours in the swing, but then he was up every 3-4 hours. Ryan does the same thing with tummy time. He's rolled over a few times both ways, but I think he's more interested in crawling. He likes to stand too and loves the jumperoo.

karlatta-I was going to ask you the same thing but cayso beat me to it. Your method is worth considering.

DS had his WBV today. He got his DTaP and Prevnar shot today. We're delaying the others and there's an HiB shortage. Poor thing cried and I felt so bad. He now weighs 14lb (below 50%) and is 25.5in (50%) with a 15.75in head circumference.

[chiclady815]

sleeping - DS has been STTN (from 6:30 to 6:30!!!) for the last several weeks. And if he does wake up, he eats and goes immediately back to sleep. It's been great and he is sleeping really well during the day too. He has been going about 1.5 hours to 2 hours between naps and goes to sleep on his own, which is great. I definitely can't complain even a little bit.

solids - DS is in my opinion ready for solid foods. Although I initially wanted to hold off on starting solids until he was 6 months old, I'm thinking that it's best for him to start right now. So I'm talking to the doctor on Tuesday at his WBV. He is so intrigued by everything that we're eating and he's eating 6 6.5 ounce bottles a day, which means he's eating about 39 ounces! Once we're on exclusively formula, he will be going through a large can in under a week! I also will have better stats next week but based on our scientific measurements, he's about 17.5 lbs and 27 inches long. All of those things are what makes me think that he is probably ready for solids. CRAZY!!!

Annette - I think you're probably right about the motionless sleep in the crib being better than the swing. I think I read in Weissbluth that at some point motionless sleep is better for them. Every baby is different as to the point where that is. Anyway, congratulations on the better sleep!

cayso - Congratulations on the good sleeping!

rolling over - DS is flirting with rolling over from the back but as soon as he gets to his side, we get so excited and we clap and hoot and holler that he rolls himself back over to figure out what the big deal was all about.

teething - Nothing has broken through but our little guy is munching on his hands (or ours) like crazy! He's also drooling through about two or three bibs a day.

[jh124]

Teething - We are having a horrible time over here. #1 didn't start teething this early. I don't see or feel anything in there, but the drooling, grumpy/screaming, and chomping on his hands and my breast are driving me mad. Sleeping was going well until teething began.

Solids - Won't start for ages and ages.

Holidays - Christmas was like crack for our three year old, so the baby went with the flow. Because #1 has a pretty set schedule, we just fit #2 in there and it seems to work out. Frankly, he didn't care much about anything. He got a few gifts but not much, since we have nearly every baby toy, gadget, or item of clothing known to man.:rolleyes:

[cayso]

karlatta - I like your theories - laziness driven or not! ;) I'll have to talk to my doctor about the whole intro to solids thing.

chiclady - I like hearing that your DS is STTN as it seems your routine is similar to mine - napping every 1.5 hours or so and putting himself to sleep for naps and bedtime. But mine is not STTN yet as you could see from the earlier post. How long did he put himself to sleep successfully before you started to see STTN? I keep wondering when I'm going to "cash in" on that! :) Mine sleeps 8-8 though and I've often thought of trying an earlier bedtime, especially since I will be returning to work in Feb and will have to get up earlier anyway. That's the other reason I like hearing that you are doing well with sleep - I like knowing that taking him to daycare didn't screw everything up! That's my biggest fear. We are starting him on small chunks with his daycare provider tomorrow and will work up to 2x a week by the end of January so we will all be accustomed to the changes by the time I go back to work.

[Julss05]

solids- maybe after 6 months? Ped seems to be of the same mind, no reason to start early unless they are showing signs they could benefit from it.

Teething- I could tell his gums were hurting after I fed him this evening so I gave him some orajel and his pacifier and he took a good nap after that.

Prolonging naps- If he wakes from a short one I'll rub his head and talk to him in a soothing way, maybe offer a pacifier and he'll sometimes go back to sleep.

linekelei- not teething hell luckily. It's not affecting his night sleep but his naps during the day are being affected somewhat. He's also fussier between feedings and naps when he used to be happier. Hope it gets better with Logan!

Annette- He's getting distracted more when eating too. He loves to watch TV so I'm having to turn it off or go in another room to feed.

chiclady815 Good luck. Yeah DS goes through a large can of formula a week! It's crazy. Can't imagine how much solid food he'll go through.

Congrats Goddess on the first tooth!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. DH had to work so we celebrated the next day. DS had no idea what was going on but loved interacting with his new toys. His favorite is the caterpillar Leap Frog toy. Never took him to see Santa, does that make me a bad mom? I figure he won't know any different. The only reason I'd be taking him is so I could get a picture of him which seems silly to me.

What's everyone doing for New Years? We are going to friends who throw a party every year. They have kids and no big deal for us to bring DS. He's usually asleep by 9 p.m. so I figure I'd get him ready for bed right before we leave then feed him his bottle while we are there and put him to bed upstairs while we are downstairs partying. My only concern is we plan on staying up late and I'm pretty sure if he wakes up when we go home he's still going to be up around his normal waking time around 5:30-6 a.m.

[foxyboo751]

solids- We won't start solids until 6 months with DS. We started at 4 mos with DD, but she was already sitting up, and trying to grab at our food during dinner. I like the idea of just starting with chunks.

teething- OMG! Holy Hell! We are definitely going through something here. DS is drooling non-stop, and always chewing on something. I'm pretty sure we can see white in his bottom gums, and he has had 2 indents on the bottom gum for about a month now. But, nothing has actually cut through. I remember DD started teething about now, but her first tooth didn't cut through until about 6 months.

sleeping- Westley is an awful napper. Definitely each child is different. DD still takes two 2-3 hour naps each day and sleeps from 8p-7a. DS barely naps, although yesterday slept for 3 hours straight! He does almost STTN, usually from about 8/8:30 to 4/4:30, nurses, then back to sleep til 7/8.

distractions- Westley LOVES the TV. If I have it on and he is on his playmat, he will turn his body so that he can see the TV. I'm going to have to start turning it off if I'm not watching it. :)

Christmas- Christmas was great, but it was really more about DD. She is 19 mos now, and knows who Santa Claus is, so she had a blast. Grandmommy went way overboard (my niece is 2, so they got a lot of the same toys). DS basically got a rattle and a ball that makes noise when you roll it (it looks like a cat toy :o).

rolling over- Westley did this both ways at 3 months, but really shows no interest in doing it anymore. He will just get really mad and kick around until he gets picked up. When he's on his tummy (rare occasion because he hates it), he'll pick up his butt just like he wants to crawl. Sometimes almost pushing up on his arms too.

talking- DS is so boistrous! DD never made as much noise as he does. He will coo and giggle and "talk" for hours. And what a cry! It's so funny as he will just be playing on his mat and all of a sudden yell (just to make noise). :p

New Year's- My cousin and his wife are coming over for dinner. They just found out they are expecting. They've been trying for a while, with a miscarraige already this year. With 2 kids, we won't go anywhere, and it'll be fun for my cousin to see what it's like to have kids. :)

We'll be going to get 4 month vaccines as soon as I find out when the vaccine bus will be close to us. I just had to cancel my insurance, and won't be getting any until we know we can afford it. Oh well. At least we have the vaccine bus here. It's free! :) And my Peds office visits are around $70 in an emergency.

Not much else going on here. I've been babysitting a little girl since November, but that ends this week. I've got to find someone else soon. It's the only way I can stay home.

[linekelei]

Solids-We're holding off until 6 months. Don't want to deal with the mess right when I go back to work and plus, with Logan arriving so early, I don't want to push the solids on her. The ped also says no solids for her until 6 months, so we're waiting until February.

Teething-As I said, lots of painful teething going on here. Glad to know we're not the only ones suffering through it.

Sleep-Naps are hit or miss (but mostly miss). Typically, Logan is up just once a night to eat, but with the teething, it's sometimes been two or three times. The last two nights was back just to once, thank goodness. I really wish she could make it the entire night, though.

TV-foxyboo, Logan loves the tv, too. It's almost disturbing how much she likes it!

Rolling over-Nope. But she's definitely strong enough now. Just not interested.

Talking-Lots of "talking" here. She's really verbal. I think we have a chatterbox!

New Year's-Headed to my sister's, but we plan to leave around 8/8:30 when Logan has a meltdown (this is her typical bedtime). I'm sure I'll be asleep before midnight.

[alootikki]

Sleep - I have to say I'm glad that not EVERY baby is SSTTN! I have been really stressed about DD not doing this yet, and feeling like we must be doing something wrong. On a good night, she wakes up 2x - Sunday was horrible and she was up continuously. Last night we tried doing the Baby Whisperer pick-up/put down method and it was painful. She was up every hour. I'm trying it again tonight, but honestly I am ready to just say screw it all and throw out all the books! It's hard to function at work with her getting up so often, but maybe she just needs more time? I may just ask the nanny (we have a live-in) to try to take over at 2 am for a couple of nights during the week. Of course, then I have major mommy guilt that I'm not taking care of my own baby. :( I think I'm really ready to get a less stressful job with fewer hours!

On a good note - two nights ago she slept for 6 hours straight - first time ever! So she can do it. And her naps are usually stellar!

Teething Yup, definitely going on over here! She's putting everything in her mouth, does this panting noise all the time, and I think it's contributing to her sleep troubles.

Solids waiting till 6 months.

[emjay]

Sounds like everyone had a great holiday with their babies!

Solids - I'm anxious to start for some reason. Calvin has his 4 month visit on Monday so I'll see what the Dr. has to say.

Teething - Major drool and hand-munching going on over here. He doesn't seem to be in any pain though. The funniest thing is when I put him in the Exersaucer he hunches over and gums the edge of the seat. It's pretty funny looking.

Sleep - DS was doing pretty well, but I think him being sick has set us back a good bit. Last night he was up every hour on the hour after midnight and the night before that it was every two hours. I'm hoping this is just a phase and not related to teething or anything else.

Rolling over - He is pretty meh on it. When he's on his back he arches really hard and can get on his side but that's about it. My mom works with kids with developmental delays and she insists he's supposed to roll from tummy to back first but I think he may prove her wrong.

Talking - Very vocal. I think he gets that from me. :)

TV - Loves it. Guess it's the colors and the motion.

Christmas - We had a good time. DS got some crib toys and a bunch of clothes. He's in 6-9 month sizes already!

NYE - Well, my parents are going to Atlanta so we don't have a babysitter. We'll probably just cook something fancy and stay home.

[chiclady815]

ladies - we have a tooth! No wonder he was so cranky on Monday! At least it was only one day and it didn't affect his sleep at all. I was surprised to say the least when I reached my finger in there this morning and felt it.

emjay - Sorry to hear about the sleeping regression. DS did that when he got his cold but he's back to his old self. Hang in there!

cayso - I would say that taking him to daycare full time screwed up his sleep for about a week, but that was also coupled with the above mentioned cold too so I don't really know which one caused it. He got back to normal. And as for the earlier bedtime, I would say that DS decided what time he wanted to go to bed. I think that you HAVE to take your cues from them because they will let you know when they are ready for an earlier bedtime. I remember at 7 weeks, we put DS down for what we thought was a nap at 6:30 and he slept until 2:00 AM. We figured out that what was probably causing his evening fussiness was that he was tired! We never really had to "CIO" because he just grunted for a few minutes before going to sleep. He still grunts a little at bedtime, but it's no more than a minute or so. He finds his delicious hand and settles himself into sleep really quickly. Good luck at trying out the daycare. I'm sure that your DS will do great - and trust me, it's much harder on you than it is on him.


alootikki - Congratulations on the good sleeping a few nights ago! Here's hoping that it's going to become the new normal.

foxyboo and linekelei - We are in the same TV obsession as you are. DS will literally crane his little neck to see the TV. I was playing with him and he was turning his whole body around to watch TV. DH got a great picture of the whole thing, but I can't get it to post. :(

Happy New Years everyone!

[Annette]

alootiki-thats nice that you have a live in nanny. Can your DH also help you at night? Mine does and it's helped me keep my sanity.

emjay-When my DS had his cold a few weeks ago, we let him sleep in the swing and it helped a lot. Try elevating the crib mattress or let him sleep in the carseat or swing.

cayso-I too am hoping the daycare doesn't screw up his sleep. He starts there this Friday.

DS has been cranky and won't nap since he had his shots on Monday. I don't know if he's still in pain from the shots or what. It's so hard not knowing what's wrong. He's also rolling over from his back to his tummy more frequently especially at night and it wakes him up. He wakes up crying cause he's on his stomach.

[cayso]

Daycare - WHOA! That was hard! He stayed with my daycare provider (she does it in-home) for 4 hours and I was a wreck! Felt I'd had my insides ripped out. I felt I'd abandonded him. I started wondering things like "can I really trust this woman?" (I know her socially and she is a good friend of a long-time friend of my family who is a very solid person, so I never questioned anything like that before, you know?) Later, she told me that he did great - slept for 2 hour AM nap! At first I thought, "Yaay!" but I continued to have thoughts like "I want to make sure this happens and that happens and that she does things with him just so"... This is a woman who has 20 years of childcare experience and 2 grown kids of her own that are wonderful human beings...I could probably learn from HER! I am having some serious trouble letting go! :eek: :confused: :(

[Annette]

cayso-I'm so nervous about dropping him off at daycare. I've actually typed out a document with information regarding his naps, feedings, etc.

[Lizzy]

Cayso, that's so normal. We'd worry about you if you didn't have any issue dropping him off! :) I've only left Calvin with my mom or my MIL, both of whom I know are completely competent. But it was still very, very hard those first few days/weeks. I still feel bad about it, especially when he doesn't have a good day (he's been cranky lately).

Annette, I wrote out detailed instructions too. I felt a little silly about it, but it made me feel a lot better knowing that it was there to use as a reference.

[cayso]

Annette, Lizzy - I wrote out instructions too!!! Oh thank you for helping me feel normal! ;)

[Annette]

DS has been irritable these last 2 days. I've never seen him cry this much before. He was getting better at napping and then yesterday and today he napped a total of about an hour. Could he be teething? Is it from the shots? I don't feel anything on his gums, but he does like to chew on his hands and he's been drooling and spitting up some. I go back to work tomorrow, so DH is watching him and I hope he's not cranky.

[cayso]

Annette - Maybe some tylenol would help regardless of whether the problem is teething or shots. If it does, you'll know its physical pain of some kind, if it doesn't you'll know its something else?? Have you tried a sleep positioner for nighttime to keep him from rolling over? I use one only because I was initially trying to replicate the car seat feeling in his crib, but I've continued to use it (with a blanket inside of it) because it seems to cozy and he sleeps so well. I'm going to buy another one to leave at my daycare provider's house too.

[Annette]

I was hesitant on the sleep positioner because I was afraid of him suffocating. He moved around a lot. I place him in the center of the crib, and when I get to him when he wakes up, he's wedged in the corner.

Is it normal for the babies not to eat much when the mom is away? I had to work today, so DH took care of Ryan, and he ate 5oz total between 7 & 2:30. He normally eats 4oz at a feeding and he should have had 2 feedings.

[alootikki]

Annette - DD does the same thing while I'm at work - she once just took 8 ounces between 8 am and 5 pm! I think they make up for it by nursing all night :rolleyes: Hopefully they will get used to it soon!

btw - DD has a new thing where she cries and yells if DH goes in to her at night (only at night, during the day she's all smiles for Daddy!) - so unfortunately he can't help much with the night wakings.

cayso, you are so normal with writing out the instructions! :) And your daycare provider may know a ton about kids, but you will always know your baby best!

[countrymouse]

Tonight is the first night we moved DS into his own room to sleep. I hope I don't end up sleeping on the floor of his room due to my own separation anxiety!

We're in nap hell over here. DS has never been a good daytime napper, but the last few days have been especially horrible. He gets so tired and cranky, but for the life of me I can't get him to sleep! He'll fall asleep in his carseat if we go somewhere, but the days I'm home alone with him, forget it. It is so draining on me. Yesterday I decided to try to let him CIO and he cried for an hour (I checked on him every 15 minutes, rocked him, sang to him, etc). By the end we were both exhausted and I promised him I'll never do that again. What's making it worse is I'm starting to get 'advice' from unsolicited sources about how to get him to sleep. My SIL told me today that it's "not good for his heart not to nap" :confused:

TV- So glad to see my DS is not the only one who loves TV. He'll crane his neck to watch. I usually have it on all day, and it's not exactly kid friendly programming he's watching. DH is not thrilled to find his son glued to The Young and the Restless!

Solids- probably waiting until 6 months. I'm in no hurry, since it seems like one more thing to have to pack in a bag when we go out.

Teething- I can't believe Chiclady's baby has a tooth! I felt DS's gums and there is a tiny bump, but I can't be certain it's a tooth. He sucks his hands a lot, but doesn't seem to be in too much pain.

[Lizzy]

countrymouse - you might want to check out The No Cry Sleep Solution (http://www.amazon.com/No-Cry-Sleep-Solution-Gentle-Through/dp/0071381392/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230862901&sr=8-1). I read this book when I couldn't get DS to nap. At the time he was sleeping well at night, but he would often go all day without napping. Now I realize that he was chronically overtired. This book might give you some ideas... I hope so, because it certainly is hellish when they won't nap!

[Annette]

Lizzy-Is the no-cry sleep solution book similar to Weissbluth's book? I've been trying to follow Weissbluth's methods except for the CIO portion. DS gets so worked up when he cries and the more he cries, the harder it is to calm him. Tonight I put him to bed at 6:15. He got up at 8:30 to eat so far.

Countrymouse-I can sympathize! We're in nap hell too this week. I'm hoping he naps at daycare tomorrow. After I got home from work I nursed him and he fell asleep for about an hour in my lap. The 5 hours I was gone, he napped 20 mins. Then I tried to move him to the crib. Big mistake. Weird thing is, he goes down at night in his crib without a problem.

As for teething, my friend swears by Hylands teething tablets. Has anyone else tried these? Does it work?

DD has a new thing where she cries and yells if DH goes in to her at night (only at night, during the day she's all smiles for Daddy!) - so unfortunately he can't help much with the night wakings.


DS does this from time to time as well, but I don't know if its because DH is trying to feed him when he's not hungry.

[Red'sGirl]

Not sure I put my infor on this new thread, but..............

STTN I wish. He's asleep generally by 7:30pm and I gently wake him and feed him around 11pm (he goes right back to sleep, if he wakes up). Then he stays in the pack N play with DH in the living room until around 2:30-3am. He usually wakes then and DH changes him and brings him in to me. I feed him and get him back to sleep within 45mins. But then, he's up every 2 hours. It's killing me. I need him to STTN. We talked today about feeding him a bottle of formula at the 11pm feeding, so it will stay with him a bit longer and maybe he'll sleep longer. I'll try anything.

solids I want to wait until 6 months, but we might not make it. He is so intrigued by our food, and tries to grab our plate or glass. I can tell that I might not be enough for him anymore, so I've been introducing formula. He's about to go to daycare Jan. 5th, so I'm supplementing with formula so he doesn't kill the frozen supply.

Naps I forget which book I read, but I've been trying to follow the nap times for Julian. He takes his first nap 2 hours after waking, then every nap after is 2.5 hours after waking. The only thing that does not work, is gently waking him at that 5am feeding because he doesn't go back to sleep. So I might as well wait until he wakes up to feed, so I get more sleep.

teething no sign of teeth yet, but he's a drooling machine and gnaws on his fingers. I was wondering if he was working on a tooth, so I'm glad just about everyone else is going through it, too. I'll also keep an eye out to see if his gums seem to be hurting him.

I think that's it. He's a sweet, smiley boy and we are so enjoying him. But I have to go back to work now (full time) and I hate the thought of taking him to daycare with his naps and inability to self-soothe. He does NOT go to sleep unless someone is holding him. :eek: The daycare person is going to hate us. Oh well.

[Annette]

It seems there are quite a few of us whose DCs are starting daycare today or next week.

Red'sgirl-How large is your freezer stash? Do you pump when you give him formula? For DS's nighttime feeding, I'll nurse him, but he's super tired at that point and then I'll top him off with a bottle of EBM. It helps him sleep longer cause he can easily take more from the bottle if he's tired. Be ready to nurse him a lot when you get home from work. I missed only 2 feedings yesterday, but after I got home around 2, I still managed to get in 6 nursing sessions until 10pm.

Last night DS was put to bed at 6:15, he got up at 8, 10 and then 4. He's still sleeping as a type this as DH will bring him to daycare today.

[Lizzy]

Annette, I don't really know if it's similar because I haven't read Weissbluth. I've read that he's very pro-CIO, is that right? I don't want to do CIO so I've never checked out his book. The No-Cry Sleep Solution has pretty basic ideas... but they were still helpful to me. I was really bad at recognizing his sleep cues for some reason. Now I try to put him down every two hours or before if he is giving cues. I try to time his feedings so that I nurse him right before he goes down. Like I said, pretty basic stuff. Our main problem is him getting overtired, so I really try to watch out for that. He needs the right mix of stimulation and sleep. I read the book 2 months ago so I can't remember much other than it helped me get my routine together. It also has tips for older babies, though at the time I was concentrating on the very basics of getting baby to sleep.

I think babies not STTN is pretty normal, and it doesn't really bother me that he wakes to eat... but it drives me crazy when he fights naps, since I know he is tired and he needs the sleep.

[foxyboo751]

Help! OMG! Does anyone else have a massive spitter? I've already asked the Dr, and none of them (I think there are 4 in my ped's office) think DS has reflux. But, he spits up almost immediately after EVERY meal, then during the day he spits up a massive amount about 1-2 hours later. I think he's just overeating, but the laundry is killing me. I'm starting to just wipe off his clothes with a wet wipe, because I don't have that many outfits for him. Oh, and it's not projectile spitting. I hear a little hiccup, and then it just comes dripping out of his mouth. And, a lot of times it's curdled, which I think means it's been in his stomach, he's just not digesting it. He's growing fine, 1 pound in the past week and is already 17.5 pounds. It's new to me because DD NEVER even burped after a feeding, let alone spit-up. Please tell me I'm not the only one having this. And for any RO's, how long does this last?

TV- I'm so thankful that so many of you have TV addicts! :) DS also does the neck craning thing. It's so cute. I'm not worried, because he is SO social.

napping- We're having napping problems here too. I think DS's teeth are really bothering him and starting to come through. He only takes little cat-naps during the day, with maybe one 3 hour nap a week. As far as STTN, he goes to sleep usually between 7:30-8:30 and sleeps til about 4/4:30. Then I just feed him in bed and he sleeps until about 7. Although, I think we're having another growth spurt because we've had 2 three-hour naps this week, and he's been up more often at night.

Hyland's Tablets- My cousin worked in a daycare and recommended these as all the parents of the children she watched used them and swore by them. I will probably try them this time around. Orajel was only a temporary solution for DD.

teeth- Nothing poking through, but DS is chewing away, drooling, and there are indents on his bottom gum where his teeth will eventually come through. They are also starting to get a "little" swollen, and I can see the "white" under them.

FYI: If any of you have the plant called "Crown of Thorns" (they are in the poinsetta family which are all poisonous if ingested) do NOT let your child/ren play with it. I normally wouldn't let DD touch them anyways because of the thorns on the stems, but DH let her pick the flowers off of them. Needless to say, the sap causes a massive allergic reaction. If ingested, they could cause death due to swelling of the throat and tongue. DD now has a finger sized "burn" mark on her face where she wiped her finger on her nose. It started as a red mark, then bubbled, blistered and pussed, and now looks like a burn. Thankfully, she is ok. We have learned our lesson about letting her pick flowers. :eek:

Hope everyone had a great New Year!

[karlatta]

foxyboo751 - DS is a big spitter, too. He's FF, so we switched him to Similac Sensitive RS and it's helped things dramatically. His ped didn't diagnose him with reflux, but agreed that something needed to be done to stop the spitting up so much, so we did the formula change. I can't remember if you BF or FF, but I'd try either switching formula or looking at your diet for things that might be causing a problem.

[foxyboo751]

karlatta- I am BF, but I haven't had anything more or less in my diet than I normally did/do. I've tried taking things away, and it's still the same. He is growing, he just spits a lot. I think he's just overeating, and since he's BFing, it's hard for me to gauge how much he's actually eating. I think I'm going to try timing his eating, so he'll have more time to digest, and hopefully eat less. Thanks for the advice though! :)

[Annette]

So today was DS's first day of daycare. I went to pick him up and found out they have to dispose of any milk he doesn't drink after an hour. WTF? Breastmilk doesn't go bad after an hour sitting out. We give him used bottles after several hours from the fridge. Do your daycares have similar policies?

[cayso]

Annette - I had an experience a while back in which my mom gave DS a bottle and there were a couple ounces leftover that he didn't drink so she put it back in the fridge. I know BM is fine in the fridge for *at least* 5 days and so I went to give him the other 2 oz. a couple days later. Luckily, I smelled it first - PEE-OOO, it stank! So, I asked a LC in the BF support group that I went to about it - why did it go bad after only a couple days after I pumped it? She said that if *the baby touches the bottle* that the BM is in, you have to throw it out within an hour of when they touch it. Bacteria can go from their mouth, through the nipple of the bottle and into the milk and make it go bad *fast*. So, if this is your nursery's policy, that's probably good. Maybe you could ask them to start with smaller amounts in the bottle so that he finishes it all rather than having a lot of leftover that ends up being pitched? On the other hand, if they are throwing away milk that was *not* in a bottle that the baby touched, I would say they need to respect your wishes to not do that and *leave it in the fridge* so that they don't have to pitch it per "their policy."

[cayso]

Annette - I forgot to ask: other than that, how was it leaving him at daycare? Did you feel like you had had a limb removed? :(

[Annette]

They only threw out the leftovers from the bottle. Apparently it's a state law of some sort. At home, he'll drink some milk cold and we'll put it back in the fridge and he'll gladly take it from 3 hours to the next day after.

I was actually okay today. It was an easy day since I left work before 2. Next week will be tough since I'll most likely stay till 5. It was nice to have a little break since he was being super difficult earlier in the week. Yay, he finally napped for an hour just now.

[jh124]

Annette - That's our law/regulation in VA, as well. Went through that with #1. Very frustrating!! Also, they had to throw out any left overnight, so be sure to gather any extra bottles each evening. They would insist he needed 7-8oz per feeding, and #1 ate 4-5 oz a t a time and spit up the rest. So they would warm up two 4oz bottles and about 3oz would go to waste. I was furious! Our solution was so send smaller bottles (4-5 oz) then a couple 2oz bottles, in case he was still hungry after a bottle. Probably different from your situation, but thought I'd share.

TV - #2 watched Caillou with #1 this afternoon. {shrug} Second kid, I'm over the guilt. In a month or two, I will start sitting him in front of Baby Signing Times while I get ready for work.

Gas/spitting up - #2 is much gassier than #1. I'm trying to eliminate things from my diet, using gripe water, still having screaming fits and spitting up.

Daddy Day Care starts Monday.

[Taylandra]

Annette- The law is similar in TN as well, so I'm really trying to figure out what to send to daycare with him. The rules they have say that I need to send thawed/fresh bottles of breastmilk (if it was formula, it would have to be already mixed) so I hate the idea of sending too much and then it going to waste. I guess I could always pump while DH was feeding a leftover bottle. Anyhow, I think we'll be having a massive pity party on here next week for everyone starting daycare!

Sleep- Marek is much better now about daytime naps. He may only nap for an hour, but he is taking two during the day. He wakes up three times during the night usually, but we have transitioned to the crib and then co-sleeping after the second feeding so I get a bit more sleep.

Teeth- Marek has been drooling and eating his hands a lot more so I'm also on the lookout for any teeth!

Solids- No hurry here....Complimentary foods can start six months or later as far as I'm concerned. It'll be more like playtime than mealtime at first from what I've been told.

TV- Little boy *loves* to watch hockey and really likes to pause to watch tv now that we have an LCD screen. He doesn't watch for too long though.

[jeninef]

Hi everyone! I am just getting back to the boards after being out of town for the holidays! I have a bunch to catch up on! The plane travel with two little one's actually went better than expected. Logan slept every flight for the entire time! Josh (the toddler) was pretty good as well and only a bit difficult on the 4 hour flight home. I was certainly surprised!

Naps - After vacation I'm trying to get him back on schedule...whatever that means! Some days are better than others. It's great when they are both napping at the same time!

Teething - Definitely going on over here. Some days are good and some are not so good. I can usually tell when they are bothering him as he really fists his mouth, and drools alot. I don't ever remember Joshua soaking a bib from drool the way Logan does!

Solids - Not planning on starting until 6 months and am going to tread lightly because he has a milk intolerance at this point.

Annette - I was also going to suggest to send bottles in smaller amts. That way hopefully they won't waste any. I used bottles with bm the next day with DS1 all the time. DS2 won't have anything to do with a bottle, so we've gotta work on that. I hope the transition to daycare goes easy for you!

[Annette]

Just wanted to send good thoughts to everyone who is headed back to work today and whose DC's are going to daycare for the first time. I'll BBL with an update.

What time does your DC go to bed?

Ryan's been going to bed anywhere between 6 & 7pm. I really hope my boss lets me skew my work hours so I can spend more than an hour at night with him. With my sucky commute, I don't get home till 6.

I am shocked. I put him to bed around 6 last night. He got up at 7:30p to eat again and then slept all the way through to 5am. This worked out great since it was a work night and I was able to nurse him this morning. Unfortunately he's having lots of trouble falling back asleep.

[chi]

Hi everyone. Glad to hear that everyone's DC are doing well. Hugs to all of you who returned to work today, I go back next week and am dreading it. :( I have been crying every day thinking about it. I wish staying at home, or working part time was an option.

DD is doing better with her reflux. She is spitting up less (she was spitting up massive amounts about 30 times/day), but seems to be in more discomfort. We are seeing the GI specialist again this week for a check up, so we'll see about what other options are out there for medicine since the zantac doesn't seem to be doing much.

We went on a road trip last week which totally screwed up her sleep schedule. She had been STTN until 7:30 am for the last 6 weeks, but now she is having trouble going to sleep, staying asleep and has been waking up around 4am for another feeding. UGH.

QOTD: Annette, great question, I was wondering the same thing. We had been giving DD her last feeding around 8:30, and then made it earlier because we were following her cues (we are following Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child). We try to feed her around 7/7:30 and have her in bed about 40-60 minutes later (since she has reflux she has to be held upright for 30 minutes). We probably should move it up, but if we do, we will be feeding her one less feeding a day, and since she is small I don't want to do that...don't know what to do.

We went for a three month check up and she was 11lbs, 22.5 inches (25% percentile). The ped was satisfied given her severe reflux since she is maintaining on her 25% curve.

The nanny starts on Wednesday. I don't know how I am going to trust this woman ( I know, I know, I have to), as I haven't left DD with a stranger yet. I'll have to leave for increasing hours at a time so that I get used to it.

[linekelei]

Well, I'm at work today. I cried a little bit in the car after I dropped Logan off with our daycare person. She is already having separation anxiety, even though she's been to our daycare person's house 4 times prior to this morning (she cried while I went out to get her back and bouncy chair). I know she will be fine, but I feel SO sad. I am also really, really tired. Logan was up at midnight (and it took an hour to get her back to bed), and then again at 3:30 (back to sleep by 4, thank goodness) to eat. I got up at 5:30. I'm really hoping that more stimulation at daycare will help her sleep better at night. Either that, or Logan is the world's crappiest sleeper (which just might be the case).

Hugs to everyone else who is back at work today, too.

[alootikki]

Hi everyone - I'm back at work too, and for my first full week. I'm exhausted! DD got up last night at 11, 1, 3:30-5, and then I got up (late) at 7 and had to rush out. I hate leaving her all day long, too. I hope this gets easier.

I'm trying not to stress about the sleeping issues and just keep thinking that "this too shall pass".

[chiclady815]

[QUOTE=Annette;1841407]

What time does your DC go to bed?

Ryan's been going to bed anywhere between 6 & 7pm. I really hope my boss lets me skew my work hours so I can spend more than an hour at night with him. With my sucky commute, I don't get home till 6.
[QUOTE]

DS goes to bed at around 6:30 or 7:00. I have noticed in the last few weeks he's pushing it a little, which is welcome. When I first went back to work, I was so sad that I was going to get such a short time with him after work. I asked in the WOHM group (which is great if you haven't joined it) if there was a way to push him towards a later bedtime, but everyone there strongly suggested letting him dictate when he wants to go to sleep because it helps them develop healthy sleeping habits. I think it's definitely true in our case since DS STTN six nights out of seven if we follow his cues when he goes to bed. My SIL told me once, you have to remember it's quality of time, not quantity.

Many hugs for those of you that are back at work for the first time. I'm thinking about all of you!

[cayso]

Oh my heart is with all of you at work today! I'm still weaning into daycare here prepping for work in four weeks...ugh, ugh, ugh.

Annette - DS goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00. That seems to work as it gives us enough time to do his bath and bedtime routine in the evening and he gets up about 12 hours later, which will work well when I go back to work so I hope that stays the same. Then I can get ready while he is still sleeping, then get him up, nurse and go!

chi - I strongly recommend Prevacid. My ped likes it better than Zantac. Apparently it has a different action: it keeps stomach acid from forming in the first place rather than reducing or neutralizing it or whatever the Zantac does. He says it tastes better too - its an adult table that is meant to dissolve under the tongue, but we give half and dissolve it in water in a syringe and then give it that way. The other problem is that it is expensive (and we had to get "pre-approval" from the insurance company, blah, blah) but it works *like magic*, like 48 hours after starting it, *problem solved*, I mean, not better, GONE. I take him off it monthly to see if it is still needed and I freak out every time because his symptoms are still there so strongly. The Prevacid is so effective I keep thinking surely he's outgrown the reflux, but not yet, just darn effective drug.

[karlatta]

Bedtime - DS2 goes to bed between 8 and 8:30. It depends on how successful we are at getting the other two to bed between 7:30 and 8. He's been sleeping a good 10-11 hour stretch at night, too, which is SO nice.

[Surftraitor]

Its been a while since I've been here. We had company over the holidays and did lots of entertaining. I'll just dive into all the topics...

bedtime--DD officially goes to her crib between 10:30 and 11. Her usual routine is to eat at 7, fall asleep in her swing by 8:30 and then we wake her at 10-ish for a dream feed. Next week we'll start trying to eliminate the 10-ish feed and get her to bed after 7:00 feed. This was the sleep routine we followed with DS as well.

sleep--DD is all over the board lately. Last night she was up at 3 and 4. The night before she slept through to 7:00. The night before that she was up at 4:00. How is it that she manages to wake up right on the hour mark?!?

spitup--Thankfully DD isn't like her older brother was. DS spit up after 98% of his bottles. It was so annoying. His 'faucet' stopped abruptly once he hit 6 months old. I hope you all get relief soon. I have many stained shirts from our experience.

teething--No whining or pain yet, but fist is constantly in her mouth and drooling more. Our dentist friend advised us against using Ambesol. He said the numbing can be a problem if it works its way to the throat. Baby can be choking and not feel it. We used Hylands tablets, frozen wash cloths and Tylenol when it got bad for DS.

naps--She usually goes down at 8:30, 11:30, 2:30 and a small catnap around 6-ish. The catnap is the hardest one for her to go down to since DS is home from preschool so my time/attention is split.

tv--DD loves it so we try to position her and her swing away from it. I feel less guilty when I turn on the Food network since I figure she's learning something and it isn't so wild. :rolleyes:

solids--probably not until 5 or 6 months. We'll see how her weight is at the 4 month wbv. I'm in no hurry. It takes a lot of time, attention and patience (which I have none of).

daycare dropoff--believe me, it gets easier. It is so hard at first. I was so sad when I took DS to daycare the first time, but this time around I'm totally ready. I think the biggest challenge will be for DH to get both kids up, dressed and out the door in the morning and make it to work at a reasonable hour. I'm taking DD to daycare for some test runs tomorrow and Thursday. I return to work next Monday. Before you know it, you'll have some weekends when you'll be ready to send DC back to daycare.

I think DD knows this is our last week together. She's been so snuggly and cute today. It hasn't been just the two of us home together since Dec 16th. Its nice to have a little less insanity in the house.

[emjay]

Calvin had his 4 month WBV today. He is 16 lbs 15 oz and 26 1/4 inches long. He's a chunker! He got his boosters and handled them pretty well. The Doctor gave us the go-ahead to start cereal when we want to. Not sure when that will be yet.

bedtime - Calvin goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00. He gets his last feeding around 7, then it's bathtime, a story and into the crib. Last night he slept through til 3:30 which was nice since he's been up a lot lately with his cold. Granted, he was up every hour after that but you can't win them all.

work - I've been back at work since Thanksgiving and it's been going pretty well. I only work 1/2 days on Wednesdays so I really treasure the time I get to spend with him those afternoons. He stays with my mom three days and she lives right by my work so I go visit at lunch a lot. He's with my sister the fourth day and she keeps him at our house. It's working out pretty well.

spit-up - DS spits a good bit. After most of his bottles, once he burps you get a bit afterwards. I'm hoping he grows out of it soon.

[Annette]

First full day back update
I am so tired. It was a very long day today.
Please tell me that DS will eventually eat more and sleep more at daycare. Today was his first full day there. I nursed him when he woke up at 5am and then he only at 7oz total at daycare. He ate well again when I got home around 6pm. He took only 2 20 min naps. He was so overtired when I got home. He also fussed a lot and was held almost all day. When will it get better. I'm worried about him not eating enough especially since he's sleeping longer at night.

[Julss05]

daycare- Toughest thing I've ever had to do! He's been in daycare since he was 7 weeks old. I had all the same feelings you all are. I was ready to quit work my first week back. With time I was able to trust our daycare lady and not be mad for having to leave him. Still feel like I should stay home with him but it's getting easier. I wake up at 5:30 a.m. to be able to get to work by 8 a.m. No problems with him eating or sleeping at daycare thankfully, never did change his night schedule, pretty smooth transition. He seems happy there which makes me happy and still knows who mom/dad is. He smiles when we pick him up which makes it seem worthwhile.

spit-up Not bad, only if he gets moved around a lot after eating. BUT last night I experienced what I guess you'd call projectile spitting (vomiting)! OMG it went all over him, me, the couch, and floor. Kind of scared me but he seemed fine after, smiling and as happy as can be with no signs of sickness. Hasn't happened since. Not sure what caused it. I was feeding him, about half way through a bottle, burped him, continued feeding and then he spit up the whole amount!

bedtime 6:30 nap, 8:30-9:00 sleeping through the night (just started, crossing fingers it sticks)

I taught him to blow raspberries:D. I know probably not a good thing to teach a kid but at least I know he can be taught;). Now that's all he'll do hehe!

[linekelei]

Daycare-First day wasn't so bad. DD had already been there four other times (for practice), so she knew what to expect. She even took four 30-45 minute naps-I was very surprised. She seemed happy tonight, too. DH is putting her to bed right now. Just hoping that all of the stimulation from today helps her sleep better tonight. As for me, I'm exhausted. I have to get up at 5:30 every morning to pump and get myself ready for work. I'm only working 70%, so I get to leave early tomorrow and I get Fridays off. Not looking forward, however, to my two fulls days on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm also convinced that my life would be so much better if I could find a work-at-home job. Now if I could just find one.

Annette-I'm sorry your DS is having a hard time adjusting to daycare. Everyone has told me it takes about 2 weeks and then your child will be fine. As long as he's eating something, I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe ask your daycare provider to offer the bottle more often until he's back to his regular intake.

[cayso]

Annette - Sorry Ryan is having a hard time! I have faith that he will adjust...easy for me to say, if it were K I'd be obsessing horribly. ;) I'm surprised he didn't eat well...you give him bottles frequently, don't you? In fact, I have a question (for anyone who pumps and gives bottles actually):

When I give K a bottle, he eats around 6oz! But when I pump, I can only get about 3oz from a breast. Is he eating *more* from the bottle than he would from my breast or is he just more efficient on the breast than the pump is? Regardless, since he is eating more of my frozen stock than I am able to put back in, my stock is dwindling due to him going to daycare a couple times a week. How am I going to be able to have enough milk when I go back to work? How will my pumping at work sustain him? I know people do this and it works fine, but I don't get it!!!:confused:

[Lizzy]

bedtime - He goes down around 6:30 or 7. Every so often he'll have a night where he can't fall asleep until 8 or so.

wbv - I've rescheduled his visit because he's been a little under the weather. I don't want him to get DTaP until he's 100%. He weighs around 18 lbs. according to the bathroom scale. I hope he's growth levels off soon, I want to keep him rear-facing in his carseat for as long as possible.

cayso - You should check out the MWP (moms with pumps) thread if you haven't already. Also check out kellymom.com. There's so many possibilities here... he could be eating more from the bottle than from the breast -sometimes breastfed babies will overeat from a bottle because they just want to suck. If he's nursing, he can nurse for comfort without getting much milk. He can't do that with a bottle.

He definitely is more efficient on your breast than the pump. You will probably need to add in extra pumping sessions if you want him to remain exclusively breastfed. On the days I work I pump 3 times and I get about 12 oz. total. I need to leave him with 15 or 16 oz. so I have to pump later that night to get to my quota. If I were to work every day, I think I would pump 4 times throughout the day so that I wouldn't have to spend my evenings worrying about pumping.

[smurf]

Hi ladies! We just got back into town after a 2 week vacation. It was nice seeing all our family, but boy did it throw DD's schedule off!!

Bedtime: sometime between 6:45 and 7:30.

sleep: Avery was a great sleeper until about 3 weeks ago, now it's crap. Yesterday she napped for a total of 1 hour all day, then didn't go to bed until 8:30. It took me 1.5 hours just to get her to go to sleep, when generally she will go down drowsy. After I finally put her down, she was back up at least 4 times.

Lizzy-You can keep him RF until 35 lb, I think, in the Marathon and it'll be quite a while before he reaches that. DD1 is 2.5 and only weighs 30 (and she's in the 90th percentile)

spit-up: Maybe once a day

teething: She's drooling and chomping on things like crazy, but no teeth yet. I'm wondering if that's part of her sleep issue. Who knows.

TV-oh, yes, she loves the TV. She watches Mickey Mouse every morning with her sister while I get breakfast ready :o

solids-We won't start until at least 6 months. It's such a hassle, and I'm admittedly lazy :)

Question: Have any of your kiddos started the separation anxiety phase? It seems awfully early for this, but Avery has been crying anytime someone else takes her. She does okay with DH, but will even cry when he's holding her if I'm within her line of vision. It's so hard to get things done and spend adequate time with DD1 when Avery is so clingy.

[Annette]

Day 2 update: Thanks for the support. He did better today. He at 9oz today while I was gone and he took an hour nap. He was much happier there today and actually played. I missed him doing barrel rolls. I feel a little relieved but at the same time I want to burst into tears because its so hard and I missed him so much. I really wish I could stay home (I'm currently the breadwinner and have the health bennies) or work part time. I'm moving into a different group and I don't know if I should ask for a skewed shift or reduced hours. I'm so exhausted right now too. He slept good last night. I had thought he would be up every 3 hours, but he got up at 10 and then slept till around 5:30. He's in bed for the night already. I only got to spend an hour with him tonight :(

Julss-You went back at 7 weeks? You are so strong for doing that. I was totally not ready then. What time do you get home from work? I'm glad to know it gets better.

linekelei-Thats great that Logan napped so well. I hope your full days go well.

cayso-We've given him bottles at night, but he mainly nursed during the day. As for pumping, can you pump after you feed him in the morning? I find I get the most milk in the AM when I wake up even after he eats. Plus I kind of have to pump since I wake up engorged most days. I pump 3x at work.

smurf-No separation anxiety yet here. My friend's baby has that and he's 5 months old. She has to be in full view of him all the time so he doesn't cry.

[Julss05]

I pick him up around 5:20 and get home by 5:40 p.m.

No separation anxiety yet.

I'd like to work from home too but so far the only options I've seen is daycare or customer service. Hoping I can find a local company I can process work for without having to be tied to a phone all day.

Glad to hear the babies new to daycare are doing better.

[Bliss]

chi - I strongly recommend Prevacid. My ped likes it better than Zantac. Apparently it has a different action: it keeps stomach acid from forming in the first place rather than reducing or neutralizing it or whatever the Zantac does. He says it tastes better too - its an adult table that is meant to dissolve under the tongue, but we give half and dissolve it in water in a syringe and then give it that way. The other problem is that it is expensive (and we had to get "pre-approval" from the insurance company, blah, blah) but it works *like magic*, like 48 hours after starting it, *problem solved*, I mean, not better, GONE. I take him off it monthly to see if it is still needed and I freak out every time because his symptoms are still there so strongly. The Prevacid is so effective I keep thinking surely he's outgrown the reflux, but not yet, just darn effective drug.

I second the Prevacid, Rachel has been on it for about a month now, and she is like a different baby. She has thankfully done v. well on it. I basically refused to leave my peds office until they gave me an Rx for it, but I am so happy I did. She still spits up a lot, but we can lay her down after feedings now which is a big improvement.

Bedtime - I have a little night owl, she doesnt go down until 930p at the earliest.

4 month visit- Rachel is 13 lbs 5 oz (50%) and 25" long (90%). Its funny, that is what my DS weighed at his 2 month visit lol. She is so alert and loves her brother, as soon as he wakes up she is wiggling all over to see him. I swear she says mama when she is crying, but DH still thinks she will say dada first like DS did :)

[cayso]

Annette - I'm right there with ya - the breadwinner/bennies here too! No option but to go back to work. :(

Yesterday was my Day 2 with daycare too...another half day. I was *much* better and actually enjoyed my time away - went shopping and went to a nice lunch with DH! He napped well there again, BUT...

Second BAD NIGHT in a row! Up every three hours like clockwork - last night it was 10PM, 1AM, and 3AM. (And yes, how *do* they do that so perfectly on the hour???) He did that night before too but we were able to comfort him without nursing at the first, early wake-up. Last night, no dice, we tried *everything* for 20 minutes and finally I ended up nursing at 10:20. I even tried to pull him off once he stopped swallowing and closed his eyes and he threw another fit! Then nursed again at 1 and 3. That's not about hunger - he barely eats that often during the day and he is capable of going much longer than that at night. So, he was seeking comfort, I think. ??? I'm so disheartened because I've worked hard to set up the good sleep habits - he's got a routine, a consistent bedtime, he naps every 1 1/2 hours to not get overtired during the day, and he puts himself to sleep for every nap and every bedtime and after nursing in the night. So, what the heck is going on???? :(

[linekelei]

cayso-Don't have any advice on the sleep issue other than to say that my DD has a similar sleeping pattern. Sometimes, she's up once a night (like last night), and other times, it's four times a night (like the night before). When she was up four times, she couldn't be settled until I fed her, but she only ate about one ounce at each feeding. I've given up trying to figure out what's going on. But then again, she's never been a great sleeper, either day or night, since she got out of the preemie stage.

Today is day 3 of work. I am EXHAUSTED. Yesterday was supposed to be my half day/work from home day, but I ended up coming in so that I could try to build up some work (it's basically like starting over since I was gone for 5 months and most of my cases settled). Also, today is my "single parent" day because DH has to take the train up to LA for his job on Wednesdays. I cried to DH about how tired I was last night. My eyes won't stop twitching from lack of sleep. I really hope it gets better. I actually applied for a work from home job last night (an attorney editing position), and both DH and I are trying to figure out if there's any way I can work even less (I'm already on 70% of my hours) or maybe stay home. My job and billing hours is just not conducive to family life, and truth be told, I don't love practicing law. I am definitely on the lookout for something new, or hoping that if we continue saving for the next 6 months, I might be able to stay home when DD hits one.

[emjay]

separation anxiety - I wouldn't really call it anxiety, but he definitely knows who Mama and Daddy are.

Annette - That's good that Ryan did better on his 2nd day. Hopefully the trend continues!

cayso - Could he be teething? Maybe that's why his sleep is erratic? Glad to hear you enjoyed shopping and lunch!

linekelei - Ugh. I feel for you. I'm a CPA but I don't work in public accounting anymore because it's just not conducive to the kind of family life I want to have. Hopefully you can figure out something soon!

Well we tried to give Calvin some rice cereal last night. He was NOT having it. I'm not sure if he was just overly-hungry and wanted the food coming fast like he's used to from his bottle or if he didn't like the taste of it. We'll probably try again soon when he's not so hungry.

We got across-the-board pay cuts yesterday at work. Gotta love the economy. It's 5% which really sucks because both DH and I work for the same company. The only upside is that they told us we only had to work 95% of 40 hours which means we leave at 3pm on Fridays. I'm already on a flex schedule where I work 1/2 days on Wednesdays so now I'll get two afternoons with DS.

We also booked a trip to visit my in-laws in Salt Lake City at the end of February. I'm pretty nervous about flying with Calvin. We don't have to change planes, but the flight makes two stops. Hopefully the take-off and landing don't bother him too much. Anyone got any tricks for flying with babies?

[Surftraitor]

Tricks for flying with babies--Don't board the plane until the end. Otherwise you're stuck sitting on a plane for a very long time. Also, try to nurse or give a pacifier during takeoff and landing. It helps the ears/pressure.

daycare--DD had a trial run yesterday. It went great. She napped, ate and didn't scream her face off. All in all, a good day.

Well, we made it two weeks without a cold. Poor DD has another one!! She's a sneezing congested mess. I'm so bummed as she's been sleeping really well for the past two nights. Crap!

work--I return on Monday. I work for a large retail company so I was a bit nervous about my role. I used to work in womens accessories and now they're moving me to womens denim. I'm a financial planner. The opportunity should be good but challenging. Even better, my director returned to work from mat leave last month so she is totally on board with work hours. I have to leave by 4:00 every day and I work from home on Fridays. I'm so happy that isn't changing.

[Lizzy]

emjay - we both have Calvins and we're both CPAs! What are the odds?! ;)

cayso - maybe it's a growth spurt. It's hard to say how much they need to eat when they're this little. I'm sure he'll get back to normal, but he has a lot of changes going on!

linekelei - I feel for you. I have a friend who quit practicing law and now she teaches a paralegal program at an online university. There's no benefits and the pay isn't incredible, but she can work anytime of day. I hope you find something that works for you.

[cayso]

Lizzy/emjay - I suppose it could be a growth spurt...that possibility is part of why I do go ahead and nurse (that, and I don't know what else TO do!) I've also wondered about teething...my ped said he was teething back in November but said it didn't mean anything about when he would actually pop a tooth. How do you tell when its making them uncomfortable? And, what do you do? Try giving Tylenol at night to see if that helps? I've thought of trying that, but of course, I hate turning to drugs if they aren't neccesary. Speaking of that, this is Day 4 off the Prevacid and no return of symptoms! Both times in the past two months when we tried him off it he had symptoms by Day 4 at the latest. It's looking very possible that his esophageal sphincter may have finally grown up and is doing its job! That's exciting. Hey, maybe it *is* a growth spurt! Regardless, I know I need to say positive in my attitude.

linekelei - Hugs to you. Struggles with sleep and work are very much on my mind, as I prepare to return myself. I hope things improve for you in both arenas and soon!

[Taylandra]

Where to begin? It's been an exhausting three days since I started back at work. DS does great there-he'll even play in/fall asleep in their swing! I almost wish that he wouldn't eat everything that I send (4 4oz. bottles of EBM) because I can't keep up with him. Today was a sad day for me as I called the Lactation Consultant to see if I had other options. I'm going to add some flax seed to cereal/oatmeal to see if that helps and after that, there's not much I can do. *sigh* Darn hypoplastic breasts!

Sleep- Now that DS is at daycare, he falls asleep about 8pm. It's sad, since we don't get much time with him before that, but he is a busy boy at daycare and we get up super early now.

Teething- I'm asking my ped about this next week b/c I think he's definitely getting close and I want to know what I can do for him.

linekelei- I'm sorry you are so tired-I think I'm right there with you! Last night I couldn't even pump at 10pm because I just needed sleep. I hope that you can get some extra rest soon!

cayso- Ditto what the others said about pumping. I've heard that you start to get more as your breasts get "used" to the pump as well. And babies are *far* more efficient than pumps!

[Red'sGirl]

Two posts in two days - lost. So I'm doing this quickly this time.

daycare Started Monday. Hasn't been good. He's been crying a lot. Yesterday was better, and he is napping pretty well. But today was apparently pretty bad. Then, in the midst, he had a monster poop! And was fine after that, so hopefully tomorrow will be better. We were waiting for that poop, as he hadn't gone in 3 days! :eek:

solids We're starting in a few weeks. I don't think my bm is lasting him long enough. And he literally tries to grab food out of our hands! He wants FOOD. So we'll start at the end of January.

STTN Or lack there of. The good thing about daycare is that he's worn out at night. We get two + good hours to play (though it's usually through dinner) and then he's pretty much down. It's good, since he needs his sleep. He's down around 7:30pm, and I wake to feed him around 11pm (he falls back asleep easily). But then he's up at 3am, and every 2-3 hours thereafter. For me, that's 3am, 5:30am and 7:30am (for good). I'm really tired. I don't know how to help him sleep longer.

[Annette]

cayso-We started having the same sleeping issue as you starting on Tuesday night. And last night, DH said Ryan ate a ton of milk, which is good cause he only had 8oz at daycare. So much for continuing the STTN trend. Maybe once our boys start eating more at daycare, they'll get better at STTN again. I'm going to try feeding him more frequently on the weekends and see what happens.

linekelei-I hear you on the exhaustion. I am so ready for the weekend. I hope DS is better for the next 3 weeks, because DH is going on a business trip. He's gone all next week and then the following two weeks. Ugh!

emjay-That totally sucks about the paycuts. I've read its best to give them solids an hour after a bottle. Our DSs' have the same birthday.

surf & taylandra-glad to hear your DCs did well at daycare.

red'sgirl-Glad to hear daycare is going better for you. I hope his tummy feels better.

me: I don't know if this is ironic or a coincidence. After only 3 days of work, PPAF decided to make an appearance this morning. It's been an emotional roller coaster these past few days so I wonder if it was PMS. DS is doing much better at daycare, but he's still not interested in eating more. He has made up for it at night though. I woke up around 4 to feed him, but apparently DH said that he was up several times before then and had several bottles. I had lots of milk in the fridge last night and this morning there's only 2 bottles left.

How do I get him to eat more during the day?

[cayso]

UGH! Another bad night - premature wake ups again, at 9 *and* 10:45.

Has anyone read the 3 sleep experts that Baby 411 recommends? That would be Ferber, Weissbluth and Mindell. If so, does anyone have thoughts or recommendations? I am becoming more and more curious to read Ferber, not because I want to do CIO, but because I *don't*. I know he has a lot of theory on setting up good habits and how to deal with not intervening too much or nursing too much in the night, as he believes that causes problems. I'm wondering if it would be helpful to read now, so I don't have to "Ferberize" later, you know?

Also, I had been nursing in bed as of late November (and then putting him right back in his crib and he would put himself to sleep, so I wasn't letting him sleep with me or nursing him to sleep) and a few days ago my air mattress bed died and so I'm back to nursing in the glider. The first night was fine and actually he seemed to nurse/finish faster, so I thought that might actually be a good change, but it was the next night that all this started. Surely where I am nursing him isn't the problem???...if anything it would be nursing him in bed that would cause the problem, I would think, not the other way around. I miss nursing in bed actually and am looking for a twin bed to put in nursery so I could continue unless that is a bad habit???

[chiclady815]

linekelei/Annette- I know exactly what you feel like because the first two weeks back to work are a total blur. I was up from 5:30 AM and nonstop going at work for 8 hours and then back home, get Michael in bed, then boot computer back up to work a few hours. And then crawl into bed at 11:00 and cross my fingers and toes that DS didn't wake up so I could get a little sleep. I couldn't keep up with BFing and pumping so I eventually weaned him a little early to give myself a little extra time during the workday. Anyway, I think it's just a total adjustment as you get to find your new routine. I am happy to say that a month in, I think we're fairly smooth sailing at this point and DS has adapted to the routine really well.

Sleep books - We read HSHHC and I love it. But I think that DS is a good sleeper in general, but it definitely helped us. It talks about how a lot of children that have difficulty sleeping can actually be over-tired and can't be settled easily. I read it early in my pregnancy and have read parts of it throughout the pregnancy and since DS was born. I think that part of what may have made DS a good sleeper is that we have been trying to adopt his tips from the beginning. We never had to CIO and DS gets himself down for naps and bedtimes every time without much of a peep. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But it seems to have worked for us.

DS had his WBV Tuesday and he's 17 lbs 7 ounces and 26.5 inches long! He's growing like crazy! I was just looking back at some old pictures and it's crazy to see how much he's changed!

solids - we started solids last night and as it turns out, DS loves them. He wasn't sure what to do with the first few spoonfuls but he ended up figuring it out and he would smile and open his mouth for more! It was so cute!

[karlatta]

Sleep Books - I follow Karp (HSHHC) pretty religiously up until about 6 months. Then after that I use Weissbluth to make sure that my kids are getting the right amount of sleep for their ages, but I don't necessarily use all of Weissbluth's methods to get them to sleep. I think the idea is HSHHC really lend themselves to having a child who's eventually able to put himself to sleep without the need for CIO or Ferberizing.

[countrymouse]

DS had his 4 month WBV yesterday. He only gained just over a pound in 2 months, and is now 12 lbs, 11 ounces...in the 6th percentile :eek: He grew 2 inches in length, so he is officially a stringbean. I've suspected in the last few weeks that DS is just not getting full or satisfied with BM alone, and the ped. said he wants me to continue nursing, but supplement w/ formula after each feeding. I did that yesterday and DS slept 8pm-8am with no wake ups...something he hadn't done in a week. He is generally a happier baby after a bottle so hopefully we will be able to get into a schedule where he naps and can stretch out feedings to every 3 hours instead of 2.

We went to our first Gymboree class today. Overall he liked it but the the timing was off with his new feeding schedule so I think he got hungry about halfway into it. Better luck next week. The best part was seeing other babies his age. They were all so cute!

Sleep books- I have No Cry Sleep Solution but haven't read it yet. I'm hoping it might help with naps.

Solids- We got the ok to start solids, but I think we'll hold off for another month or so. We may introduce cereal in a few weeks.

[jh124]

Sleep - We have HSHHC and it worked well for #1. (Karlatta, it's Weissbluth, not Karp. Karp is Happiest Baby.) #2 seems just a bit too little for it. It sounds to me like a lot of the babies are reverse cycling. Meaning since mama isnt' there to feed during the day, they get by and then eat all night. #1 did that when I went back to work.

Work - I love my job. I'm a much better mother when I go to work. I get to be around adults, get some time alone without hearing "Mommy, mommy, mommy" or "waaahhhh" every 20 seconds. It gives me the opportunity to miss my children and appreciate the miracles that they are. I forget that when I'm around them 24/7. I'm extremely impatient with them if/when I don't get a break. And, again, I love what I do for a living. I'm lucky in that aspect. We could live without my salary. It would be a sacrifice, but we could do it. I know some people feel the calling to SAH. I respect that. So, anyway, I'm happy to be back. Which leads to...

Daycare - I'm dreading dropping off both kids at daycare next month. #1 just changed rooms last month and it's been a tough time for him. Adding the baby on top of that is going to take serious time. Daddy daycare is going well. As well as sweet revenge can go. ;) DH did this with #1 and it was wonderful for his confidence as a father and the bond between the two of them. And he had a whole new appreciation for me. :) So far, so good. However...

Pumping - I love breastfeeding, despise pumping. It's a serious time suck. I hate setting it up, I hate cleaning the parts. Hate it!:mad: But plan to do it until October.

[karlatta]

Ah, then it's not HSHHC that I follow, then. It's Happiest Baby on the Block. Definitely Karp.

[Lizzy]

We had our WBV today. Calvin is 19 lbs! I forget how long he is but he was off the charts there too. I don't know how I made such a giant baby.

cayso - don't hate me for saying this, but I think you have a pretty good sleeper! When Calvin has premature wake-ups, it usually means that he wakes up every 15 minutes for 2 hours. Did he sleep well after that? Calvin will still go a 5 hour stretch at most.

I don't see how nursing in bed is that much different from nursing in your arms. I definitely am a fan of nursing in bed... way more comfortable for me and less distracting for him.

jh124 - we've had a couple of days of Daddy daycare, too. You're right, it is such a good opportunity for dad and baby! And DH really has a lot of renewed respect for all that I do.

[jennylou]

Tricks for flying with babies--Don't board the plane until the end. Otherwise you're stuck sitting on a plane for a very long time. Also, try to nurse or give a pacifier during takeoff and landing. It helps the ears/pressure.


Unless you're flying SW, and then get on asap - like with the A group if you manage to check in that early, or with the family boarding before the B group. Then, start nursing when you get on board - even with a nearly full flight, you won't have anyone sitting next to you. :p Only if it's entirely filled up or if a pro-BFer gets on board and doesn't want to be squished in the middle.

[Annette]

So DS was up 4 times last night, from when I went to bed a little before 10 till around 3:30 when I took that feeding. I put him in the swing after that and he's still asleep. He does sound a bit stuffed up. He makes a snorting sound when he eats. I wonder if its cause he has a cold that he's waking up or because he's hungry. My DH is so wonderful for getting up at night with him. I hate that he'll be gone for 3 weeks.

[emjay]

Lizzy - That is too weird! We both have giant babies too! Your Calvin is a little bigger than mine, but most people I see out think he's at least 6 months old. Crazy!

[jh124]

Ah, then it's not HSHHC that I follow, then. It's Happiest Baby on the Block. Definitely Karp.

I really like Karp for the early days, birth through maybe 6months. After that, I prefer Weissbluth. Just seems to work that way for our family/babies/preferences.

Naps - #2 is such a cat napper. Wakes up the minute you put him down. Twice this week I have swaddled, nursed, and put him down and he sleeps for an hour. However, my daycare provider (ahem, Daddy) complains that he only sleeps for an hour. Then he doesn't swaddle him for the rest of the naps, and complains the kid wakes up too early. So we have 1) unrealistic expectations for length of nap - DH loved the toddler years of 2-3hr naps, and 2) not swaddling the kid when it clearly works.

I know that when #2 starts big boy daycare next month that he won't be swaddled, and that we should be working on him napping unswaddled. However, parental sanity is extremely important, too.:o But at nighttime, I'm going to swaddle that kid until he's five, if that helps him sleep through the night...

[karlatta]

My new way of putting DS to bed?

I start vacuuming the room while holding him in my arms, then lay him in bed with the vacuum still running and vacuum my way out the door. Works like a charm! (And DS now has the cleanest floors in North America!) I really need to get a new CD player so I can just use the white noise CD I have, but until now this will work.

[karlatta]

I know that when #2 starts big boy daycare next month that he won't be swaddled, and that we should be working on him napping unswaddled. However, parental sanity is extremely important, too.:o But at nighttime, I'm going to swaddle that kid until he's five, if that helps him sleep through the night...
I feel the same way. We swaddle at night and I don't have any plans to stop soon.

[smurf]

But at nighttime, I'm going to swaddle that kid until he's five, if that helps him sleep through the night...

Me too. My friend couldn't believe that I'm still swaddling Avery at 4 months--imagine how she'll react when I'm still swaddling at 8 :p I swear, the kid CANNOT sleep without being swaddled. The minute her arm pops out of there, she's awake and mad.

[foxyboo751]

Ok...I have an important question for anyone who had a boy and had him circumcised. My SIL just had my nephew circumcised on Monday by the same Dr who did Westley. I have been intrigued by how Westley's does NOT look like daddy's, and now my SIL says Jacobs is the same as Westley's. So...after circumcision, should the head of the penis always be visible? Most of the time when I change Westley's diaper, there is still skin that kind've "rolls" up over the head. Is that normal, or did the dr not cut enough skin? The peds office I went to said that it looked fine, and he is not having any type of build up in there like an uncircumcised penis would have, but now that she mentioned it, it kind've bothers me too. Please help!

[emjay]

foxyboo - My son's circed penis does that sometimes, but not always. There is definitely some skin that needs pulling back to make sure it's cleaned well. My DH had to show me that it needed to be done that way and he didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with it. Maybe it's something they have to grow into?

[cayso]

Lizzy - No offense taken, I do think I do have a fairly good sleeper overall. I definitely get obsessive about the sleep stuff. I'm also getting really anxious because of my impending return to work. I want things to be predictable and routine and that's just not how it works, I guess. You even warned me about a 4 month regression and I still didn't listen/accept or something! WOW that Calvin is *19 pounds*! Definitely thriving!

jh124 - I hope that my return to work will be positive in the ways you describe. I'm really not looking forward to going back. I feel like it is going to be hectic and tiring.

karlatta - You ARE a sleep goddess! The things you think of and make work are amazing. I've stopped swaddling now - DS gets so much comfort from his thumbs.

foxyboo - We're circumsized here. The head of his penis is always visible, but he also has a lot of wrinkly skin underneath. I could see that if he had much more it would roll up and over. Maybe its not about how much foreskin was removed but more about how much wrinkly skin there is on the shaft, you know?

[Red'sGirl]

foxyboo DS is circumsized, and the head is not usually totally visible behind lots of wrinkly skinn. I take care to push it back and clean.

work I hate to say it, but I've never been happier at work! Mind you, I'm the boss, and I"ve been trying to work 2 days a week in the office WITH DS. Too hard. Now, I can actually concentrate.

sleep DS tried to sleep through the night two nights ago-DH woke him up(!). They sleep in the living room until DS wakes up, and DH wanted to come to bed. I told him that next time, to just wake me up and I'll go to the couch, not the baby. I think I might try swaddling Julian now. He didn't take to it when younger, but Karp(?) mentions that it might be helpful even at 5 months. I fed Julian "early" last night, because he wasn't sleeping well. So I BF at 9:30pm in stead of our usual 11pm. He was up again at 1am in stead of 3am. Not great. But I fed him and put him down, and he slept until 5:30am. At that point, I put him in bed with us and nursed him there. He slept there until 7:30am

Daycare Still having a tough time, though there are moments of good. The provider suggested giving him more time alone (not in arms) at home, which we agree with. She also wants us to stop "jiggling" him, which we do to help him sleep. Mainly because she can't jiggle him for so long with her other kids. So we're trying to wean him from that. He does spend more time with us, but in his bouncy chair or bumble seat - and he's pretty good. I think he'll be fine, but I HATE that, just when he should be getting used to daycare, I have to take him on a trip for a week! We leave for Utah next Thursday. Then, a week later, we'll get to start all over again. :mad:

[Annette]

DS did much better on Friday. He was finally able to finish off 3 4ox bottles. He woke up only 3x last night. I was so tired I went to bed at 8:30.

[cayso]

Annette - Glad to hear things are going better!

Things getting worse here...whatever is happening seems to be affecting naps now - only short, catnaps yesterday. Then, up SIX times in the night. I alternated putting him in the swing (which oddly comforts/quiets him very quickly and he finds his thumb - why he doesn't do this in bed, I don't know) and nursing him. I wondered if I should have just left him in the swing for the night - maybe I'll try that tonight if it starts again. He definitely does better towards morning - sleeping his longest stretch (almost 3 hours!) and at the last wake up at 6AM he actually put himself back to sleep until 7:45. I wanna see a tooth or something soon, this is so weird and crazy. I don't like getting up 6x a night obviously, but I'm starting to realize that for me, its the feeling that things are *out of control* that so awful for me. That's definitely my issue. I guess this is called a growth opportunity... :rolleyes:

[Julss05]

after circumcision, should the head of the penis always be visible?
For my DS not always, but usually. When I change his diaper or he's taking a bath everything kind of "shrinks" and is not as visible. I usually have to push back the skin a little to make sure I clean everything properly. On a side note if it gets red or infected neosporen helps. I thought DH was crazy for suggesting that but it worked.

Daycare We just found out our daycare person's husband got laid off and may be relocating:(. Hopefully not. We interviewed like 10-12 people before finding her.

Work Not going so well. A lady thats been there a long time doesn't want me to share my ideas even though we were all asked for suggestions on improvement.Got to love people who never want change even if it would make things run a lot better.:rolleyes: All the more reason to work from home and own my own business! I've become less tolerant of people's BS since I have to get up earlier.

Anyone have upper back pain? I've had it ever since he was born. Not sure if it's just from carrying him around or what.

I guess we are going to try feeding him rice cereal after we get the go ahead from the ped on Monday. He meets all the requirements. We feed him 6-7 oz. every 3 hours (6 times a day) so hoping by supplementing a little with the cereal he won't need to eat as often.

I'm sorry for those who are having sleep troubles. Luckily DS is doing good at night but is a poor napper during the day. Hopefully things get better.

[jeninef]

Sleep - We're on a crappy sleep cycle here too for the last 3 nights. DS has been waking up at around 11:30 every evening after going to sleep at around 9:30. He used to fall asleep around 8:30 and sleep for at least 5 hours...but not lately. He's definitely been teething and today has a runny nose and bad cough. I started the humidifier last night, but it didn't seem to help much. Oh well...if there's one thing I learned from having DS1 was that as soon as you think they are "predictable" they go and mess things up! It's just so difficult when you have a toddler who is on a schedule. I keep telling myself that this too shall pass.

Circ.- DS is circumcised as well and I would agree with all the previous posts...sometimes it is not visible, but typically it is.

Back Pain - No back pain here...could be from holding the little one...I know that I feel it in my back and neck after extended periods of holding DS2.

Annette - I'm glad it's getting better and Ryan is eating more at daycare. I could go to sleep at 8:30 myself most nights! And I try to be in bed by 9:30pm on most nights! I used to be such a night owl before I had kids!!!

[linekelei]

Well, after I said that I would never do it, we did some sleep training yesterday and it worked wonders on the first day. Who knows if it will last, but I am so happy right now. With DD being over 5 months (though adjusted for her preemie status, not quite 4 months), DH kept mentioning a sleep training program. I've read Weissbluth and he said that around 4 months, many babies are ready for sleep training. Anyway, we let Logan CIO for her first nap yesterday morning (we normally put her in her bouncy seat and bounce her and feed her until she falls asleep for naps). It took 20 minutes and I felt sick the entire time. However, she did fall asleep. For the rest of her naps, we had just a few minutes of minor fussing and then she fell asleep unassisted. For bedtime, we did the bedtime routine and then put her down and again, she fell asleep after 5 minutes of a little fussing. AND, she only woke up once -- at 2:40 -- ate, and fell asleep again, not waking until 6:45. I was very impressed!

[Surftraitor]

sleep--DD was doing great! Every day, she was sleeping from 8-10 and then wake for feeding and then through until 7! That was until Friday night. Every time we get DD on a good sleeping routine, she gets sick and all hell breaks loose. Last night she was up at 2:00, 4:30 and 5 :eek: Then I brought her in bed with us and she slept until 6:30. This is soooo not cool since I return to work tomorrow. The only good-ish thing is that she's napping like a fool. She's taken at least one 2.5 nap each day, with the other naps being around 1-1.5 hours. I'd trade the naps for a full night's sleep any day though.

eating--I'm not sure if its her cold or what but we can't get DD to drink much. She used to drink 4-5 ounces about 7 times a day. Right now we can barely get her to drink 3 ounces per bottle. And she drags it out over the course of an hour.

constipated--For the past week DD has been pretty constipated. For the past two days I gave her 1 ounce of water/prune juice mix. She screams in pain when she has a BM. I've got two constipated kids right now. NOT FUN :mad::(

[jennylou]

Ok...I have an important question for anyone who had a boy and had him circumcised. My SIL just had my nephew circumcised on Monday by the same Dr who did Westley. I have been intrigued by how Westley's does NOT look like daddy's, and now my SIL says Jacobs is the same as Westley's. So...after circumcision, should the head of the penis always be visible? Most of the time when I change Westley's diaper, there is still skin that kind've "rolls" up over the head. Is that normal, or did the dr not cut enough skin? The peds office I went to said that it looked fine, and he is not having any type of build up in there like an uncircumcised penis would have, but now that she mentioned it, it kind've bothers me too. Please help!

I'm just curious what type of build up you think an uncirced penis has?

[karlatta]

I wondered the same thing as JennyLou. Both of my boys are uncirc'ed, and I've never had any buildup. :confused: