Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?

[Colesmom]

Hayley  Unless our los conform to an exact 2 hour sleep and activity schedule the 4 hour eating schedule won't work either.  I usually have to tweak it as much as half an hour (3.5 hours) in order to make it work.  For instance, Cole, my darling little boy ate at 4:10 am then went back to sleep til 6:15!  So this is likely what today will look like:

6:15 A
7:00-7:30 E (knew he wouldn't be hungry right away so that threw me off first thing)
8:00-8:45 S (likely 45 min. but maybe he'll surprise me)
8:45-10:30 A
10:30-11:00 E...only 3.5 hours because he'll be S again at 11:00!
11:00 S hopefully 1.5 hours
12:30-2:15 A
2:15-2:45 E
3:00-3:45 S
3:45-5:30 A
5:30-6:00 F
6:15 S

Obviously if he hadn't fed at 4:00am it would have made things easier as he would have fed right at 6:15.  Another reason I fed at 7:00 is that I'm going for a massage   from 9-10 and didn't want him getting too fussy while I was gone.  You'll notice that this ends up with a day where most of the feeding is before sleep.  I don't worry about this with DS because he rarely falls asleep on the boob anymore and if he does now and again it's no big deal.  usually by the time I go upstairs and lay him down he's awake again anyway and takes his usual 10 min. to settle!

My main focus is on the sleep schedule and I fit the eating around it.  This may become more difficult with solids...but I'll deal with that at the time.

HTH

Traci

[Arwyn's mom]

Way to go Judy!! Your DH handled it okay then, I take it? Let that be a lesson learned. My DH only had to do it once before he "smartened up". I constantly tell him that "Daddy games" can only happen (and finish) a full hour before any sleep time. He doesn't like if cuz he wants to play with his baby girl but... trade offs right?

I'm glad to hear you had a good night. I don't know how you do it with 4 little darlings. Your household sounds like it is very busy and very full of love.

Hayley, I also do what Traci does and "tweak" her schedule due to her short naps (and occasionally, I need to adjust for when she first ate). Arwyn is able to stretch her feeding schedule now too... sometimes she can wait 4.5 hours. I do tend to do a top up first thing in the morning (at 7) so that we can try to be on our regular feeding schedule.

Traci... Aaahhh... enjoy your massage!

[Colesmom]

my massage was AWESOME.  I extended his pm nap and he should wake up refreshed.  did i mention he slept until 6:15!  woo hoo!

I have another bath question ladies.  I have got to get Cole out of his infant bath thing because yesterday he reached forward and almost pulled himself to standing (using the front part of the tub) and also nearly whacked his head on the tap.  So, I want to put him right in the bathtub itself.  How much water?  He rolls over a lot...and I'm afraid he'll roll in the tub and get a facefull of water.  Is this okay as long as I'm there?  I can also adjust the infant tub so that he can sit up in it...but he seems to want to have more freedom to move.  Is this one instance where I have to just be firm and not let him move?  If right in the tub...do you ladies have a rubber mat thingy so it's not too slippery?  I'm heading out to Home Outfitters (similar to Bed, Bath and Beyond for those south of the border) so maybe I'll pick one up.

Help, bath time is about 4 hours away!

Judy-silly of me to suggest you going to bed early...of course you would try but with your little army of girls it must be very hard.

Thanks

Traci

[mickymuscles]

colesmom: we are in the big bath....what i do is i have a reclining style of chair/sling that he can rest against for the most part of the bath. i have him facing me so that he is perpendicular to the bath.  then i hold him sitting upright to play with some toys after i'm done bathing.  Jack is also quite squirmy and tries to roll every now and again.  He has gotten a face full of water twice...it scared him and me both!!  It made him a little apprehensive to lie back in the water after that for the next bath...but we worked thru it.  I'm putting the sticky non-slip things in the bottom of the bath so that his little butt doesn't go sliding all over the place.  But you should try to look for the reclining mesh seat....i see you are in canada so i got mine at zellers or i also saw it at toys r us.  definitely much easier to have them reclining still since he's not to stable yet to sit in the bath without one hand to support him at all times. hope this helps!

[Little Bear's Mum]

Hi - isn't it funny how our bubs react differently when dad's are around. They just know dad's are for playing with. :lol:

Traci, we've had Daniel in the bath since very early on. We used the cloth seat/angled support thing too. This made this easy. Now he's too big for it he just sits and I still hold him with one hand around his back/shoulder. Sometimes daddy lets him sit by himself though. He also loves 'swimming' on his tummy with me holding his chest up out of the water. When he has done something to scare himself, like face planting the water, we just pick him up, give him a cuddle and put him straight back in the water so he knows it's okay. Oh and we have quite a full bath, sometimes, it can be half way up his middle! A few toys in the bath to splash around with make it fun too.

Thanks for your routines and tweaking ideas. This is basically what I do too so that's fine.

We were looking like we were getting into some sort of routine and it got all stuffed up today as I think Daniel woke about 5.30am (although I didn't hear him). Because after getting him up at 6.30am by 7.30am he was ready for bed. He slept about an hour, we think, but was really tired even when he'd only been up for 1/2 an hour after that. Tried to put him down again, but he wasn't interested. He's now in the jolly jumper and happy.

Last night I left him unwrapped and darn it, he woke at 11.30pm. We settled him again without feeding though, so pleased about that. We wrapped him though but when we got him up thismorning he was totally unwrapped and out of his sleeping bag! I think I"ll wrap again tonight, no matter what his hands do! That's why I didn't last night, cos I couldn't.
  Hubby and MIL say to wrap even if he gets out, just so he gets used to sleeping through.) If he escapes that's up to him.

[Jayri]

well things are good here..Jay seems to be in a mood for contsant crying and screaming, I don't know whether it is a phase, because dh is at work for very long hours, usually 14hr days 6days a week, so he is rarely home.
Riley is harder to pd as well, it has been going on for a while but I reaching my limit of how much crying and screaming I can take.
Judy and Nikki - how do you intergrate you older ones with your lo's routine?
I hate to just blab out, but it feels like I am losing the routine that I have worked so hard to maintain.
I just keep going through everyday hoping that it will be better than the last.
Is anyone else's lo not really into solids, she will take it and I have kept going with it thinking that she simply needs to get used to the taste of it all, but she is simply holding out for either me or a bottle. She will take a few spoonfuls but other than that she has no interest.
Well I should go, thanks for the shoulder girls.
Talk to you soon....

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Naomi, sorry you're having a rough time.  Nathan also has days lately which are particularly whiny/crying/screaming and he's even started hitting us - not in total anger, but he knows it gets attention, so we really have to give a lot more attention to him I think, some days I just feel I'm being tugged in both directions (Judy, I struggle with having only two arms and two knees, how do you cope with four girls vying for your attention at once?).  He was really good when I toilet trained him a few weeks back and I think it was all the positive attention just being LOADED on him, it really made a huge difference, it's just so draining being in "praise" mode all the time (although a worse kind of draining being in whine mode all the time too  :roll: ).

Fortunately Nathan is really good about playing independently and I spend one on one time with him in the morning while Danielle is having her 1st nap.  I do feel though that Danielle doesn't get the right amount of stimulation since she is so undemanding and isn't really interested in moving around at all - but that probably comes down to personality more than my lack of skills so spends a lot of time lying on her back and rolling onto her tummy but doesn't push herself up on her arms at all and prefers to "fly" instead. 

I tried solids out with Danielle during the week but she's not ready yet, keeps spitting out and even when she did quite like the taste of pumpkin it made her gag the first time she tried to swallow and she had a little vomit, so I've stopped again and will try in another week or so.

She's been waking up twice in the night again so I know she's getting hungry, so will just have to hang in there I think.

Sorry I haven't replied to anyone else, I've had trouble keeping up with the chat. :oops:

[Arwyn's mom]

Naomi... Sorry you are having a rough spell right now. I'll send my good day vibes over there.

I just started rice cereal with Arwyn a week ago. The first day, I mixed it like the instructions... 1 tbsp rice cereal to 3-4 tbsp of water. Well, it was quite runny and Arwyn didn't want very much of it. I tried it again the next day but with the "add EBM or formula" kind. I found that the different cereals mix up differently. Arwyn definitely prefers her cereal thicker. So now, I go 1 to 1 on the EBM kind and I haven't yet used the water kind again. If it is too runny, Arwyn will tire of it very quickly. Maybe Riley would like a different texture too?

Judy... my little girl reacts differently to daddy too. She is almost always more active when he is around too. I like your idea of letting the girls know what is coming up next. That probably really helps them "get ready" for it. I keep telling my husband I want 4 kids... your house seems so alive!

Ladies... some of you have mentioned wearable sleeping blankets. Any recomendations? I am thinking of getting one. Arwyn wakes up with freezing hands and feet and I am worried about when the weather gets even cooler.

[Little Bear's Mum]

Hi, just wrote a bit of a blurb then lost it. OOps.

Naomi, I'm feeding Daniel his minute amount of solids after a b/feed so that he's basically full. I was told to begin with the solids is just like dessert, not sure when I'm meant to change to giving it to him as a separte meal but not straight away.

Arwyn's mum, I"ve just got a cheapie sleeping bag from a baby shop in NZ. Not one of the flash 'grobags' that cost the earth. I guess they're better because you can buy different weights. But I figure it's better than nothing and it (sometimes) helps him to keep the covers on too, so they do the work of keeping him warm. He can kick his legs up in the s/bag though and still manage to get the covers off sometimes. Infact, earlier today we found he'd kicked off the covers, the sleeping bag and his wrap!  :lol:  :? Very funny, but how did he manage it??? If only rolling over and moving was so easy!

[james030405]

Littlebearsmum, in regards to 7am wake up, it use to be 8!! I have only had the odd occasion where he has woken at 6:30am but he has never been earlier than this (he is in bed by 7pm). I don't know how it happened, it just did. As James is on solids for breakfast and dinner now and 4 milk feeds a day, he is now sleeping through the night (fingers crossed). He did wake at 4:30am today but when I went to him he had turned himself around and I don't think he knew how to get back :lol: I put him the right way and patted a few times and he went back to sleep.  It is now 6:50am and I haven't heard a thing.  Often when he wakes at 6:30, he plays for about 20mins by himself and then I go and get him.  We are coming up to summer here so I am hoping the sun coming up earlier doesn't change anything. 

We bathe james in the big bath and he loves it.  I just hold onto him as he "practices" a lot of his new moves in the bath ie sitting, rolling over etc.  He would also practice going from his tummy to sitting position and I have noticed that he now does that on the floor, although he cannot get all the way around.  He goes up onto his toes and twists his bottom around. 

I am feeling a little sad today  as I am no longer breastfeeding.  I was okay with him bottle feeding during the day and bf at night, but now he has dropped these feeds as well.  I really liked that time at 2am just the 2 of us, he would rub his little hand over my chest.

Oh well, I can here my koala bear now.  The start of another day.  Hope everyone else has a lovely day.  Take care and keep smiling.

Lisa - mum to james my textbook/spirited koala bear

[Jayri]

How is everyone, things are settling down here, a little bit.
The room sharing thing is nice, we have decided to change the bed times, Riley at 7pm but Jay is now at 8. We figured Jay is never calmed down by 7:30, so by 8 Riley should be in a deep enough sleep then any slight noises Jay makes shouldn't really bother her.
I am contemplating stopping bf, I say contemplating as the thought of it makes me rather sad, but I am kinda wanting my body back. That and it is really handy in the middle of the night.
We decided to hold off once again on the solids, if she is not ready then no biggie.
Thanks for the support guys, it really did help and still does everyday knowing that I am not alone in this situation.
Oh yes! one thing that has happened lately, Jay has realised that Riley can move, albeit rolling around on her belly, she can do two complete rolls at a time. Not sure if he likes it, he is a little miffed that he doesn't have run of the house any more.
Well I should go, I have just heard little coo's coming from the bedroom and I am in the middle of making supper.
Toodles everyone, have you all seen the post in the lounge of the suishy baby pics, oh! and if you need a good laugh I posted a belly pic of me in the pg forum as belly pics were being requested.
Okay I am done, Hey all you new posters how are your lo's doing?
Oops! kids are going crazy........

[Little Bear's Mum]

Hi, I've just tried to add an Avatar but it didn't work  :? What am I meant to do? I selected the photo through the 'browse' option then clicked on submit.

Well done J&R's mum on the room sharing. I've always thought this must be tricky to avoid one disturbing the other. We tried it for 1 1/2 nights while on holiday with my cousins 2 yr old daughter and they both constantly woke each other up. 1/2 way through the second night the portacot came out and Daniel was transfered into another room! :lol:

Lisa, I nearly know what you mean about feeling sad. Only nearly cos it didn't happen. My MIL was here in the weekend and we were trying to get Daniel to take the bottle. It didn't work, but for a little while I was thinking I may never feed him again :cry:  We decided that we'd stick with introducing the solids first and get him settled into those then pursue the bottle/formula. It actually seems that he's going to take it for me, but nobody else. As I managed to get him to take 20mls after feeding from me, from a sippy cup with valve so he controls the flow.

Gotta go, Daniels just woken up after 1 hour 10 nap. Yay!

[kate585]

Hey, girls!  We survived the weekend away...barely!  Ryan took 4 30 minute naps throughout the day yesterday...all in the car.   :?   He seemed to rally, though, with not too much whining.  We even went to a football game at my alma mater (My team is 4-0, which is unheard of!).  I must say, it was sort of nice for my sil to see him whine and cry...she's forever telling me how nice it must be to stay home all day with such an easy baby...implying that my life is a breeze.  Glad she got a few hours of it in the car on the way home.   :twisted:   Overall, a good time was had by all...although we're struggling here this afternoon.

Nikki and Naomi---love the new avatars!  So fun to see some updates and to see the sibs together.

Well, since Ryan is finally down for the catnap (at 5:30!) I should go unpack and prepare to start the laundry?  How does going away for a few days triple the size of your laundry pile?    :cry:

[Jayri]

lbm-hayley right, you have to make sure that the photo is the right size, it is right picky, if it is not the right size then you have to re edit your photo.
HTH
Kate - good going on the vacation, my MIL found out my life isn't exactly roses with the two kids. Riley was up past her bedtime and she was wondering why she was crying :shock: .
Well must go, they are battling bedtime, plus Jay has recently developed a talent for not knowing what my voice sounds like...discapline is getting to be a real issue, talking, time out, bargining to show positive results, all don't work. That and he is getting really mad when i follow through on my actions.
Oh well...tis life I suppose.
TTFN

[Little Bear's Mum]

Thanks I'm now trying a Lilypie. Not sure if I've selected the right code though. Let's find out.

EDIT: Okay, so I just have no idea what to do unless it involves straight typing    HOw do I make my Lilypie work. Which code am I meant to select, UBB or EZcode or whaterver it's called? It's all too hard, raising babies is easier! :lol: