BabyWhispererForums.com
ACTIVITY => E.A.S.Y. Forum => Topic started by: Deb_in_oz on May 26, 2005, 07:42:15 am
-
i figure there is a lot of talk about the 4-5 month period being so difficult it might be a good idea to chat with each other as we go through this (some early jan moms might be in it already...?)
we are at 3 mo and 1 week and still not 100% "there", but we have made progress since the early days when she was overtired and wouldl not sleep (i shudder at those days). now we are finally heading toward 3 hourly daytime feeds, but are still struggling with naps. Olivia has a good nap (1-2.5 hrs) after first feed but all others are generally 45 minutes. i have tried extending but it has only worked 1-2 times. i am now trying to extend awake time as she has generally been tired by 45 min - 1 hr.
we are almost finished weaning from breast to bottle and she seems to be getting a full tummy at least. she has started pooping more (sad, but this makes me happy as she was struggling to go 1-2 times each week). she was sleeping through from 10 1/2 weeks, then had a major growth spurt which threw her off and we are starting to see this settle down (1 or no night feeds :D )
would love to hear from you - i have noticed a few jan/feb babies on the other boards... how is it going?
-
Hi there..
I'm Schae, mom to Luka.
Glad to hear you're doing good.
Luka is on 2.5 - 3 hourly EASY, I gave up on trying to get him onto EASY and then he suddenly did it himself! :D
He goes down fairly easy for naps, but only naps for 30 minutes except for one nap that normally lasts about an hour and a half.
Nightime is our problem, he FIGHTS sleep majorly, even with a wind down and slow song, he cries before he sleeps, but once he sleeps, he's out for the count till 3am! Okay, this has only happened twice (hope im not jinxing it!), but i'm enjoying the extra sleep!
Looking forward to hearing from some other jan/feb moms.
ps
Luka was due 19 Feb, but only made his appearance on the 22nd.
-
Hi Schae.
sounds like things are going well - Olivia also fights sleep unless she is truly satisfied with amount of food. i jinxed myself when i posted and last night she woke at 1am and 4am and then 630!!
i am glad to see someone else doing 2.5 - 3 hourly as that is where we are no matter what - most times because of short naps (at least 3 of the 4 are 45 min) she can't make it 3 hours. yesterday i tried to extend her awake time as many people have said that helps get them tired enough to sleep longer (without getting overtired). it did not work for me YET and instead she was overtired and did not feed well at any of her feeds (probably why we ended up with the bad night)
i doubt we will be on 4 hr easy at 4 months... good to see another bub so close in age.
-
Hi there!
I've already introduced myself to Deb by sending a PM rather than Post/reply, but think I have the hang of it now!
I'm Lizzie, mum to Alex- born 18th Feb
Alex is also on a 3hr easy & doubt he'll be on 4 hrs as I have trouble making his activity time longer (any ideas how are welcome!). He will get irritable, overtired & take short naps - it's a visious circle!!
At the mo he seems to have a tummy upset. He's refusing a couple of feeds a day & having explosive green nappies, seems happy most of the time though.. I've been assured that it will pass on its own but EASY is HARD when they're ill!
Would like to start taking him swimming soon - has anyone been brave enough to do this yet??
-
Hiya
I hope Alex feels better soon, are you BF-ing?
Nice to meet you both! Look forward to chatting some more.
-
Hi!
I have a Feb. baby - dd born 2/11/05. In the beginning she was very, very fussy and cried a lot, so I didn't even think about trying EASY until a couple weeks ago.
She can now do 2.5 - 3 hrs between feedings, but the problem is her naps are short. Up until today they were never ever longer than 30-40 min. So I end up feeding 30-45 min. after she wakes up (sometimes sooner if she's grumpy) and then there's not much time between that feeding and sleep. It's been working ok so far but b/c of this little glitch, I've been reluctant to really institute EASY in a strict sense, except that I don't nurse her to sleep. I've been concentrating mainly on just the sleep part, using pat-sh and just today started pu/pd b/c she doesn't fall asleep in the crib and needs a lot of help from me to get to sleep.
Things are going pretty well so far w/ pu/pd. It's only taking 10-15 min. to get her to sleep.
Tanya
Elli 6/26/03
Abigail 2/11/05
-
I was hoping someone would start a thread that included my DD! DD is amost 4 months - next week! :D She also did NOT sleep in the begining of her little life. She is beginning to be on a better schedule, although most of our days go EASAE becuase of her shorter naps. I did implement a naptime routine and that has been helping us extend daytime sleep. She slept thru 7:15-6 (DF at 10) for about a week around 3 months. Then the growth spurt, and now we are trying NOT to feed her a night, seems to be habitual. She is working on rolling over. Had her four month shots last night and the doctor told us to start cereal at 4 months (she's 16 pounds - 26 inches). He suggested just rice cereal until she's 5 months. Then start veggies and fruit at 5 months. (She's formula fed - mommy couldn't breastfeed. :( ) We're working hard on the nighttime sleep issue - lots of wakings - seems to be a four month thing! Last night it was 4 wakings - one soak thru diaper, one dirty diaper, and two for no aparant reason! Just wide awake and smiley! Anyhow, must go. Chat with you all soon!
-
Dear Ladies,
It's so wild how all of our LOs are so similiar. I thought I was reading about my Kelsey. She cried so much for the first 3 months that I wondered what I had gotten myself in to. Until she was about 12 weeks, I couldn't get her to take a nap without me holding her and rocking in the chair. I then did pu/pd and I can put her down in her crib after a 5-10 minute wind down, but she only sleeps for 30 minutes. This, however, is progress because it used to ALWAYS be 20 mins to the dot. I could never extend them, she just transitioned on her own. Sometimes she will get a morning nap of an hour, but sometimes it's only 40-45 minutes. So we, too, are doing EASAE every 2 hours 45 mins - 3 hours. Her nights, though, are wonderful. She goes down by 8:30 and I feed her again at 10, and she sleeps till 8 the next morning. Even as a newborn she never really woke in the night for feedings; I had to wake her at the doctor's suggestion, but only until 8 weeks and she's been sleeping through since. Our doctor is going to have use introduce solids this coming month, starting with cereal. I have been going back and forth on stopping bf and switching to formula only. It's a personal choice, but it's been hard to give it up because she enjoys it, it's good for her, and I just don't know how to give it up completely. She takes supplemental formula almost every day. She started having a real bad time nursing due to reflux and I would have to give her the bottle. Now she's on meds, but still has some hard times. These are the times that make me want to give it up, but at least for now I know that I can switch back and forth when I need to.
We're now starting to really get out and enjoy life together. I thought the day would never come and I was going stir crazy. I'm so glad to read all of your posts and look forward to keeping up with your progress.
Heather
-
Great to har from you all! wow Heather you said it - it is weird how they are all the same. I thought i was the only one and that's why i started the thread as others seemed ahead or behind me so ....
Leah's mom - isn't it annoying how the 3 month growth spurt ruined the just-started sleeping through... we now have 1 or 2 wakings per night and because they are NEVER at the same time i feed her. problem is she is now not taking a good 1st feed because she has had the food... i can't not feed her though - she is obviously hungry and although i am almost totally bottle feeding now i am still BF overnight and 1st feed.
Tanya - both our kids are almost the same age - it will be interesting to see if the 19 month age gap is a good thing. so far Alex loves to cuddle olivia and then she carries on playing. she also has rediscovered all her baby things and makes olivia share with her...
Lizzie - we are also struggling with awake/activity time. olivia struggles after 45 min. I have been trying to extend to 1 hour this week with hopes of increasing more later. so far it has just led to overtiredness and difficulty going down for naps. she also is pooing green after MUCH effort - we are happy to finally having her pooing now - when BF with formula supplement she was going ever 3-5 days and strugglling with tummy problems in between
what type of babies do you all have - a lot sound spirited or mixed types. Heather - with your great nights we'll think that apart from the naps your lo is an Angel...?
-
Debra:
Kelsey is no Angel. I'd say she is touchy because even though she sleeps at night, she gets quite fussy during the day. I have to stretch her activity time so that her short naps will be closer to the next feeding time so that I'm not left with an hour of a fussy baby between nap and feeding.
Of course, she's a mama's girl because I'm home with her and always wants me over others. This causes fussiness as well if someone else tries to hold her. But she is so much better than she used to be. Kelsey's 3 month growth spurt only lasted one night. She woke a few times, I gave paci, she woke a few more times several hours later, and I gave paci again and again until I finally just fed her. Other than that, she just really likes to sleep at night. I hope I don't jinx myself. I'm scared to death of what teething might do to her!!!
-
Oh spirited for sure, with a touch of textbook! You should see those wide, huge eyes and flailing arms and legs when she gets overtired. The blankie HAS to go over the head when we go to sleep otherwise there is way to much to look at!
Heather - Our LO's have the same birthday! :D My DD was born at 6:38 am. She thought it was great fun for me to labor thru the night and then come bright and early in the morning! I think that was what made her such an early riser! 6-6:30 am everyday! To compensate I put her to bed no later than 7! When are you planning on starting cereal? We were told cereal for a month, then introduce veggies and fruit. What's your plan?
-
Christine - you just described OLivia to a tee! how do you put a blanket over the head... b/c she is so alert and hyped up she has such a hard time winding down - we can barely "do" anything with her as she gets giddy from the slilghtest movements and sounds. she was so bright eyed from day one - hyper-alert is the only way to describe her.
would love to hear how you are managing things with a spirited one - wind down routine? activities you do? routine if any for the day? can you tell i am desperate for some knowledge :lol:
-
Dh and I went out with friends last night and Luka behaved!
I left him with my mother and he only woke once (at 2am just before we got back)
Luka is textbook/touchy, much more textbook though. He is awake for about an hour and a half at a time, but if you miss the cue for his nap then he can get quite fussy. These days he 'shouts' at us, doesn't really cry. Gives me an inkling of what we're in for when he's a toddler! LOL!
How are you ladies doing today?
-
i have not had too much success today but Dh was able to extend 2 naps 1 from 45 min to almost 1 hour and another to almost 1hr 10!!!!
now if only i had his magic touch and shhh - he only takes a few minutes - i cantry for 15 and get nowhere. :roll:
since we are on bottles now i was able to get out of the house by myself and miss a feed (and the heavens did not strike me down :lol: it felt good)
would love to go out to dinner but olivia is still unpredictable so even with my mom here now it will be a long term goal. got to love those textbook and angel babies - i do miss those days when we could go out and tell the babysitter - there's nothing to do she won't wake until at least 3!! aren't you amazing staying out until 2am!! i AM impressed. even if i wanted to i know i could not manage more than midnight right now.
-
Deb-
Now that I look back at my post - putting the blankie over the head almost sounds like child abuse! I should have worded that better.... This is what we do for naptime:
After she has been awake for an hour and 20 mintues, I take her into her room, draw the room darkening shades, trun on lullbay music, change diaper, wrap up in blankie, put blankie up over her eyes, and sway in the dark room by the crib. I need a rocking chair in there! I can't take her into the living room becuase she gets wild! She usually fusses for a few minutes and then calms down: The BAD part is I usually have to wait until she is almost sleeping beefore I put her down. If I put her down too soon, the eyes pop open and the arms and legs start going. Then I have to start all over again! Bedtime is basically the same, different music and a bath thrown in there. I still swaddle her at bedtime though - with one arm out.
Last night was difficult - She went down at 7:00, dream fed at 10:00, up at 2, 2:30, 2:45, 3:15, then I finally gave in and fed her around 3:30, but then I think she was so wound up it took her 45 mintues to go back to sleep. Then she was up at 5, then up at 6 for the day! Most of the time I jsut go in, rewrap, give the paci and leave. It's so hard to know whether or not to feed! Somenights the paci and rewrapping is enough, other nights she keeps waking.
She feeds every 3 hours, can stay awake for about an hour and a half, and naps are either 30 min, 45 min, or the occasional 1 hour and 15 mintues (usually I can get this in the afternoon.)
I don't know about you, but this is better than in the beginning. When she was 2 weeks old, she would be awake from 8 am-2 pm, when I would finally drive her aroudn in the car to get her to go to sleep! I thought it was weird that she wasn't sleeping, but I was a first time mom, how was I to know that she was WAY overtired!
Well, this got really long, but it is so nice to talk with people who understand! I must run now, breakfast time here in the states - not sure what time it is for you!
-
Schae-
Good for you for going out last night!!! I'm with Deb though - I don't htink I could make it past midnight! We have graduation parties to attend this afternoon (I'm a teacher). We'll see how that goes! We are bringing Leah with, put I plan on putting her in the baby bjorn (front pack) she loves it and can usually sleep in it! Not such a nice day here today though - about 65 degrees and it looks like rain! Yuck! Take care!
-
Christine-
My labor was induced at 4:45 pm on the 3rd, and Kelsey wasn't born until the 4th at 1:42 pm. It sounds long, but it was okay. A very slow induction was what my doctor planned, and I never had much pain due to a great epidural. I only pushed for 27 minutes and never felt a thing.
Also, I wanted to talked to you about naps. We have similar wind down routines, except that I do use a rocking chair. We change diaper, then sit in the chair. Right away she realizes that it's nap time and starts to fuss, but as soon as she gets her paci she's quiet. I hold her in the chair for about 5-8 minutes and put her in her crib. She, too, is usually very drowsy at this point, but sometimes she wakes up a bit. Now, this used to cause a problem and she would immediately start screaming, but I swear after doing pu/pd for only one day, this has never happened again. If she wakes up as she's going down, she just turns her head and nodds off. However, I still don't get many naps past 30 minutes, and pu/pd has not worked to extend them. She wakes up crying and is usually aggitated, but okay as long as I keep my spirits up and reassure her that everything's okay. No, I don't always succeed and might have a nightmare on my hands until next feeding time. Long story short, you might want to try pu/pd.
Have a great weekend.
-
I'm not sure what kind of baby I have - maybe spirited? I actually skipped that chapter of the book in order to get to EASY and sleep training.
Deb - Elli loves her little sister, although there are times I think she would like me to put her down, which thankfully I can do more and more often these days. I know she also misses that one-on-one time, so I'm hoping to be able to extend Abigail's naps so that we can have more of that.
Things were a little hairy last night at bedtime. I had to do pu/pd for an hour. She cries so hard, even when I'm holding her sometimes. She has now started crying during the wind-down routine too (when I sing her a song) b/c I think she knows what's coming :( . I think it's harder for her at bedtime b/c up until last night I had always nursed her to sleep while at naptime I stopped doing that a while ago.
Last night was the first night w/o swaddling (I had been swaddling for night but not for naps) and I was really worried. But she slept from 9pm to 7:30am! She was up for a bit around 5:30am but didn't cry or fuss and went back to sleep on her own. Before I started pu/pd, she was already doing pretty well at night, waking just once or not at all.
We did get a bit of a longer nap yesterday afternoon - 50 min.! I was then able to re-settle her, although I didn't really do pu/pd for that. I just held/patted/bounced her until she had her eyes closed for a minute and then continued pat/shh in the crib. She slept for another 35 min. after that.
Tanya
Elli 6/26/03
Abigail 2/11/05
-
Debra,
I meant to ask, how do you manage to do the sleep training part with your older dd to take care of? Until yesterday I had only been doing pat-shh for 1-2 naps a day b/c that's all I could manage with Elli around (she doesn't usually play independently for too long). Beginning with yesterday I have 5 days straight where I don't have to worry about my older dd. I'm a little concerned about what happens on the sixth day and the younger one still requires 15-20 min. to go down for a nap. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Tanya
Elli 6/26/03
Abigail 2/11/05
-
Seems all our babies know what the wind down routine means hey? My wind down for Luka is...we go into a darkened room, I sing him a song while he's in my arms and I'm swaying. He's fine then, sucks his hand and looks tired, but as soon as I stop swaying then the screaming starts. :? I actually made a post about it in the general sleep board.
His naps would actually be about 45 minutes after that performance.
But the screaming was getting to me, I don't have infinite patience (unfortunately, coz it seems to be a mom that's exactly what you need)
So I stopped doing the wind down in the room and would do it in the living room (sing the song) then go into the room and bounce..now he sleeps without a problem.
In the evenings Dh does the sleep. HE has infinite patience and thier own wind down routine..don't know what I'll do if Dh were to go away on business.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to (:roll: :D ) is that once I changed the wind down, he went down better. I've also just decided that I won't try and extend the naps, as long as he gets one good long nap in, then we're fine. The less stressed out I am, the better for the whoe family.
As for coming home at 2am..I'm paying for it today..I'm exhausted! Lol!!
-
hi all - it is so funny waking up and seeing so many posts waiting...
so it seems we have a group of touchy and spirited bubs here.
our wind down is short - we just dim lights, nappy change, swaddle, offer top up feed with sound machine playing ocean waves, i hold her and sing 1-2 verses of rockabye baby, in cot, say "nighty night - sleepy time".
i leave the room and only go back in to re-wrap and say this again. it can take several attempts or just straight down. usually goes down easiest at first nap.
we too are so much happier with things now - Christine I am a second time mom and i did not know olivia was overtired - evryone kept saying - she's happy and alert... she did not (and still rarely) cry just got wired and would not sleep - oh how much i cried though :cry: she would be up for 5 hour stretches and at evening after feed we would put her down around 7 or so and sometimes she would still be up at 11pm!!!!
now - she goes down 98% of time for naps (had a 4 hour awake stretch the other day) and if she has a good feed at bedtime goes down straight away. lately though she wakes for food again bet 9-10pm and even with DF has night wakings (last night was 3:30 only so that is no bad - up for day at 6:50am)
Tanya - I haven't been able to really do "sleep training" with Alex underfoot. she is such an angel baby/toddler i never once yelled at her until olivia came along. now it is "stop that, shhh, please go out of her room, be QUIET..." i hate it and she is shocked by it. i use DVDs a lot to keep her distracted while i try to work on settling Liv (less necessary as the weeks go by). now that i have my mom here i plan to TRY to extend naps beyond 45 min. (the only long one she has is the first one which can be 45m - 2.5 hours). let me know how you do and what works.
i wonder about the planets etc at the time of al their births (Feb 4 - 22) as they are all touchy or spirited. anyone into this stuff and know what was up at the time. or maybe it is the star sign stuff because to be honest my bday is Feb 23 & I am a spirited one myself - the health nurse here pointed out that 1 reason i have a hard time dealing with Olivia is because she is just like me (i get overstim, sensitive to environment, super heightened hearing, it is my noise machine that the girls inherited to sleep with :lol: )
-
Deb-
I have a sound machine on for my DD also. I have always slept with a fan on, and still do. It's amazing I hear her in the night, with her sound machine going and my fan - it's pretty noisy at night in our house! Does your spirited one go wild when you lay her in her crib for bed? If so, how do you handle this? I have tried PU/PD a little, but it just seems to make her even wilder. The funny thing is she will never cry, just go wild and make high pitched short screams!
Funny story - we were at gradution parties this afternoon and it was naptime, so I told the people I was talking to that I was going to take her in her stroller for awhile so she could go to sleep. They looked at her and said: She doens't look tired - her eyes are wide open, she seems excited aqnd happy (she had what DH and I call "scary eyes" :shock: , her arms and legs were flailing, and she was making high pitched short yells that people thought were cute! - all the signs of a tired spitited baby.) At least now I know when she is tired, unlike before!
Here - I attached a picture of her "scary eyes" to show you! She gives them to us when she is tired, and whenever we turn out the lights! :D [/quote]
-
Wow! Now that I look at the pic, she does look quite scary. "Scary eyes" sure fits the image!
-
OMG Christine - i keep getting more freaked out by their similarities (and obviously the similarities we share with our lo).
olivia rarely cries even when we put her down in her cot. she fusses and squeals and often fights her swaddle. that's why i go back and rewrap of necessary. it used to be much noisier but she settles herself really well now - i had a visit form one of the family care centres here and the nurse explained that this is the way this type of baby releases all that energy in order to sleep. they do not go quietly. Olivia just does not seem to want to GIVE IN to the tiredness. but i am so optimistic b/c now she is so much better since we started bottle feeding. i just finished a feed and put her down and it took her less than 10 min to settle herself and fall asleep - did not go in even once (and this is nap #2). this morning she woke after 1hr 10 from nap 1 and i left her a bit and she resettled herself (PROGRESS) although only for another 5-10 minutes but i find it encouraging.
your graduation story is our entire first 7 weeks!
part of our problem in those early weeks was that she was not getting enough milk to satisfy her and she almost always seemed to be in pain or uncomfortable... we were always trying to figure her out. we were spoiled first time around with a textbook/angel who always gave very clear cues so as long as we had her in bed by yawn #2 she went down w/out any probs and slept WELL and hardly ever missed a nap.
what i wanted to ask everyone since we all have spirited or touchy: what are you all doing for activities as everything overstimulates olivia withing a few minutes. I am starting to think i CAN extend her awake time gradually if i do the extra time as SUPER low key stuff but am not sure what to do.
also: what are your bubs cues as i still find it hard - i am trying to devote more time to observing her.
so far for us:
cues:
overstim = laughing, jerky limbs / whole body, wide eyed, almost like a "crazy lady"
tired = (hardly ever yawns :roll: ) excessive cooing/babble, jerky limbs
activities:
mostly time on blanket on floor - talking to us/looking around, looking at stuffed toy (sometimes i pretend to have a dog talk to her... :oops: ), very quick stay under gymini - gets very stim.; sit in bouncy seat looking at shadows/light play on walls; tummy time (very good at this at least and is v. happy doing this)
i find i project onto her my feelings that this is boring and she won't develop if she isnt given opportunities to "play" actively. i have been assured by nirses that the key is cuddles/time with us and proper feeding and sleep, BUT can only compare to 1st time experiences and dd1 was doing so much by now - she did a lot early though so i have to remind myself of that.
would love to hear what everyone's lo are doing...
-
Christine-that picture is hilarious!! What a cutie, even if it is a scary face.
With Kelsey being a touchy baby, our activities are short lived. She gets bored quickly, just as I think she's having fun. Due to her reflux, she immediately goes in her bouncy seat after eating (bf and some formula bottles every now and then), and sits there for about 20 minutes. I usually sit on the floor next to her and we "talk", or I show her stuffed animals. She also likes to watch Baby Einstein, or animated cartoons, but, once again, for short spits. I try to get her to play on the floor on her back to encourage her mobility, but she hates tummy time. She'll get cranky, so I'll carry her around the house, we'll go outside, or she'll try her swing for a bit. I just keep alternating her so that she doesn't get mad. After a few activites, she'll stop interacting with me (meaning she won't look at me or toys I put in front of her) and give me a "I'm tired of this and don't want to be bothered anymore" fussy cry. Now that she has more leg power, she'll push off of me and arch her back. This means it's nap time! Sometimes I'll catch her yawning, but she doesn't always. When we're out and she has to sleep in her stroller, she'll fuss for about 10 minutes, and I'll keep trying to get her to keep her paci, and finally she'll nod off. I tell people that she may be fussy, but at least she's predictable.
-
Hi everyone!
Last two days have been a nightmare! Seems like Alex has picked up a tummy bug :cry: & refusing feeds left right & centre. Yesterday he took 18oz & so far today 12oz. I've been making up lots of bottles only to thro them away as he refused to eat sometimes going 6/7 hrs without a bottle. Tried to offer water but screams & screams. Generally he seems happy but the lack of food is making me anxious/stresed. Might stop D/F as he takes in so much air but can never get burps out of him as he's fast asleep... sorry just needed to whinge, i'm sure he'll be ok in a few days..
Deb - i though i'd let you know my LOs tired signs / activities
His tired signs are Eye rubbing & making a very whingy noise in back of throat. I hate the fact that when he goes down for naps/bedtime the only thing that will comfort him is his paci. yet I can't bear to take it away, also may not be fair as I still swaddle him so doesn't have his hands for comfort..
During his awake time he sits on my lap & we look at picture books with different textures. Also he loves nursery rhymes with actions like This little piggy, Head, shoulders, knees & toes!
I also put him in his carseat & take him with me when I wash up, put the washing out etc..
Christine - I too find it hard to know what he wants when he wakes at night. I always try the paci but end up feeding in the end too.
Your little ones all seems to be starting solids soon, I think we're a long way off that yet!
Hope your all having a better day than me!
-
I just found this website yesterday and I love it. All the other sites have ladies who are all into attachment parenting and that is so not us. This theroy just makes so much sense!!! I am so glad you are here experiencing the same parenting style we are.
We had out first baby 2-23-05. His name is Trace and is a Touchy/Spirited baby. We know this because he just thrives on the routine. When we veer from it we pay the price. I am a nap slave!!! My day goes much smoother if his 3 naps a day are in his crib. We are really lucky because we read Tracey's book before we delivered and after a couple of times. So from day one we tried to stick with the routine and he has slept 11 hours at night since 9 1/2 weeks and a couple of weeks ago I got him on a 4 hour routine. But right now we are struggling with 45 minute naps, although he just finally took a two hour nap. Don't know what I did different. He takes 8 oz(usually) at each feed. He is on the chunky side and I occasionally wonder if I am over feeding, but we go for shots at the 4 month visit so I think I will address it there. Btw, I am nervous to start solids next month. Doesn't it seem that the schedule will be feeding or giving a bottle ALL THE TIME? I'm not lazy, but I just think if he doesn't have to have it then maybe I'll wait. What will you girls do?
Yippee. I am so glad you girls are here.
-
Lizzie - so sorry to hear that Alex is unwell - i hope he is better soon. i hate it when kids get ill when they are little since it is so hard to know what they need...
welcome nikki - 2-23 is my birthday!! funny how its another touchy / spirited one - Trace'll fit right in, although i would not know what 11 hours of sleep was like ... lucky you! olivia is 7kg as of today (15.4 pounds) so is putting on so much weight (due to her night wakings and getting extra calories in the evening as well). i have been advised to try to get her off the night feeds that started up again at 3 mo growth spurt. she really should be able to get through with 1 or no night feeds at this age and weight.
we won't be starting solids anytime soon - the rec. in Australia is 6 months. with dd1 we started rice cereal around 5 months or so because after sleeping through since 10 weeks old she started waking hungry and we thought she needed more food. Olivia is on mostly formula (dd1 was EBF) and we'll see how she goes between now and 5 months but are not going to rush in to it.
-
Debra,
To wean Trace off of his night feeds I started to decrease the amount each night by an ounce until there was nothing to give and I just gave a paci that last night. I was thinking the other day also that his first night he slept all the way through was after his first set of shots when I gave him some Tylenol before bed. I preceded to give Tylenol for 2 more nights after this just in case he was uncomfortable or something. I am not sure if any of these factors did it or if maybe he was just ready, but I thought I would share.
Lizzie,
Trace being sick scares the heck out of me. I barely feel like I know what I'm doing and if you throw illness in I would totally be lost. I'll keep you in my prayers.
ACTIVITIES- Every morning right after the first bottle I put Trace in the bouncy seat in front of Baby Mozart for 30 minutes (and occasionally another play of it). I used to have a pack n play in my living room and I put the gymini in it and when he got overstimulated I would just put him under that. He loves looking in the mirror that hangs down. Trace now sits in his exercauser for 30 minutes at a time without freaking out. We also got him a bungee thing that hands him from a doorway. This is his favorite as there isn't too much stimulation right in front of him. Our puppy just sits in front of him and they stare at eachother. He really doesn't like tummy time, but we try anyway. Once he gets fussy AT ALL then it's right to the crib. Lately when I have him in his bouncy seat or lying down he tries to lift his head so I think he likes to be up right more now. That is why I think he really likes the exercauser and bungee thing.
nikki
Trace 2-23-05
-
Ladies,
A few of you posted replies mentioning getting rid of the night feed. Are you speaking of wee hours of the early morning, or say 10-11 pm? Right now I have DD nursing 6 times a day, with the last being at 10 pm. I'm wondering if I should give this up as I'm always having to wake her up from a deep sleep (she goes down between 8-8:30 pm). The doctor says she'll be fine without that feed if she doesn't wake up, but not knowing if she'll wake during the night is what scares me. I hate to mess with a good thing, but it would be a great thing to not have to wake her up. Those of you with older children, what were your experiences?
-
hi - the night feeds i mean are those after DF. lately Olivia was waking looking for food around 9ish (after going down bet 7-7:30) and then DF around 11pm and then waking 1-2 times between 1 and 5am = taking food every time. bottles first and then overnight i was breastfeeding.
my child health nurse said yesterday that she does not need all this food and to try to settle her someof the time. last night when she woke at 9pm (she had great feeds at 4 and 6:30/7pm) we did not rush in and she resettled and Dh did DF around 10:45pm. i fed her at 2am and then heard her between 4-5:30 resettled herself. fed her at 6:20 b/c she was crying and was upset.
UNFORTUNATELY it turns out it was more than hunger. when Dh went to get her up at 730am she was soaking wet from neck down - her nightgown was drenched, swaddle and bedding as well. she was white as a ghost with yellow tinges, her body temp was very low (around 34 celcius / 94 F). we were freaking out needless to say. over the next 1/2 hour we had her changed and wrapped and spome colour returned and her temp was up a little. i finally gave her a bottle which she drank about 120ml. she then napped for 1 h 30 :D and is now having a little more.
i probably should have changed her nappy at either 2:30 or 6 am (did not think it was soaked through but i was half asleep myself). as one must have leaked and caused her clothes to get wet and so on and so forth until she had hypothermia oir something. :cry: i feel guilty but she is doing better and i will start checking carefully i nthe night instead of rushing us both back to bed
-
Wow, so many new messages, it's hard to keep up!
Re. solids: we won't be starting until closer to 6 mo. My pediatrician will prob. say to start at her 4 mo. appt., but the AAP says 6 mo. for BF babies.
My dd does really cry when I put her in the crib for sleep, and when I do PU/PD. We've had two occasions in the past 2 weeks where she's actually fallen asleep herself after just fussing for 5 min., but it's definitely not consistent yet.
I changed the wind-down a bit so that she at least no longer cries during that (song in the rocking chair while she sucks on my finger - won't take a paci). So now she doesn't cry right away when I put her down and I'll let her fuss, but go do PU/PD when she cries.
This morning I didn't even have to pick her up at all! But she's still only doing 35-45 min. naps. We even had a 20-min. nap yesterday afternoon.
Anyone else ever have doubts about whether this is the right thing to do when their dc is crying thru PU/PD? Even though dd usually only cries for 5-10 min., it's pretty intense and I go back and forth between thinking this is working and maybe it's not working and not a good thing b/c she's crying.
Tanya
-
Tanya, the pu/pd worked great for me at the onset. However, now that it's been about 5 weeks since I did that and got her going down easier, it's harder for me to follow through with it. It's rare that she has a hard time with going to sleep now, but if she does I just sit back down with her and she'll usually resettle that way. However, after doing this she is to the point of being extremely overtired and her naps are usually only 20 minutes. Actually, that's not a big difference from the rest of her naps which are only 30 minutes, with an occassional long first nap in the morning.
-
Oops, I wanted to comment on activities and sleepy signs.
For activity we do: gymini, bouncy seat, boppy, go outside (weather permitting) either just in the yard or for a short stroller ride, watch TV (occasionally, but she seems to really like it!). Depending on her mood (and maybe how tired she is), she'll happily sit or lay w/o direct attention for 2-15 min. Of course I intermittently talk or sing to her while she's under the gymini or in the bouncy/boppy. When she's laying flat she loves for me to bicycle her legs. She doesn't much care for tummy-time. When my older dd is at home and awake, a lot of the activity revolves around watching her.
Sleepy signs: she does yawn, but not always; turns away from eye contact; gets quiet; gets fussy; sometimes gets hyper and looks wide awake.
Debra - what part of NY are you from? I grew up about half-way out on Long Island.
-
hwcampbell,
My experience with making the last feed later so he would sleep longer in the morning didn't work. Somehow it didn't matter what time I put him down he always woke up at the same time. I have heard many times that babies sleep better with an earlier bedtime. We put Trace down at 7pm. I never even had any luck with the dream feeds. After a week of trying them I quit. I just put Trace down early and let him sleep until he was ready to get up which started to be 6:30am-7:30am. At first he was waking up at 4:30 am, but I weaned him off of that too.
I firmly believe in the PU/PD. I just wouldn't want to live any other way. I don't want to be stuck with a prop. My pedi said that it's okay to let your baby cry for 5 minutes for every month they are born without reassurance. So, with our 3 month old we could let him cry 15 minutes before checking on him, but really that's hard. We generally let him cry for 5-10 minutes (depending on the intensity of the cry).
-
Just wanted to share my excitement: She rolled from tummy to back during tummy-time today! I couldn't get her to do it again, but it still happened! I guess she hates tummy-time so much that she found a way out of it.
-
Oh that is so exciting. I can't wait to experience that too. Congratulations!!! Be sure to get that in the baby book!!!
Nikki
Trace 2-23-05
-
Well done Kelsey!! :lol:
Sorry to hear Alex is unwell, how is he today?
Hope everyone is doing okay. I'm feeling really despondent today, had a bad one I guess. Luka was attached to me the entire day, perhaps he's going through a growth spurt?
So, all his naps were 30 to 40 minutes long. And he's STILL not asleep now (it's 10pm) and he had his bath at 6.30pm. My dh is getting him off to sleep. We tried: bf-ing to sleep, rocking to sleep, pat/shh and none of it works. There goes my theory that I'll forget all about BW techniques. :roll:
We're going to start afresh tomorrow. I think we might even give pu/pd a try. He doesn't go down quietly, starts crying during the wind down (I have no idea why).. but we'll try.
Wish me luck! :D
Hope everyone has/had a fabulous night.
-
Schae, sorry to hear about your troubles. I know that it is so frustrating when they won't sleep.
Kelsey had her 4 mo check up today. She is 10 lbs, 15.5 oz and 23 1/4 inches. She's a tiny girl. Her ped is not satisfied with her weight, even though she gains a pound each month. She wants me to supp each bf with formula, but I've considered switching to formula entirely except for maybe one or two feedings. How much do your lo's weigh?
-
we are having a hellish day - olivia has been up since 7:20am (now 1:20pm) and has only had 1 x 45 min nap and it took the breast to achieve that :evil: i am so upset i have spent most of the day crying, screaming, banging things, etc and feeling very low. i am so sick of trying to get everything "just right" in order to settle her easily for sleep.
why can she go straight down and settle herself sometimes and other days it is as if she is taunting me - "what? you want me to sleep? i don't think so lady!!" i feel sick with exhaustion and ill from not eating enough - so far had half a bowl of oatmeal. i am just finding it so hard!
i am trying to find the good in the "not AS terrible" days, but can honestly say there are too many stressful days that i find i cannot enjoy myself. i am busy from the second i open my eyes in the morning until after dinner.
Positives: when she is rested Olivia is very friendly, happy and smiley. she really engages you and "talks", she rarely cries, she likes tummy time and has rolled over since 7 weeks old (dd1 started at 5 weeks - they were both born with enormous strength in upper body and head control from early days) so i do know the joy of watching her do something great :D
i am going to see ablout getting blackout curtain material fro her room (and dd1 who seems to be risisting her nap now too - probably too bright in her room too). since we rent i am stuck with the curtains in the room (rigged up with some strange system) but maybe i can use double sided velcro tape to get it up there.
sorry to rant - vent but i am seriously at the end of my rope today.
Tanya - i am from Brooklyn originally and went to school in Manhattan. i was wondering where you are in MA as i graduated from Mount Holyoke in South Hadley MA. where in LI did you grow up?
Heather - Olivia is huge especially since starting the formula (but my breast milk was potent too). she is 15 pounds already! :oops:
-
Oh my! It took me like 10 minutes to catch up on all the chat! It's been awhile! Busy times. I teach and tomorrow is our last day with kids! Then I stay at home for the summer! Yah!!!!!
Oh Debra! Fear not! Leah was almost 16 pounds at her 4 month checkup!!! YIKES! Doc said she is healthy though, so no worries! I feel for you about sleep. I wanted to try putting DD on her tummy for a nap becuase I am willing to try anything to get her to sleep better. But of course since I wanted to try this, she WILL NOT take a nap in her crib for me! Some days are easier than others. Some days I have no choice but to let her sleep in her baby papasan swing - her first love! I know it is not BW to sleep in a swing, but some days I have no choice!
Heather - I thought the DF was disturbing Leah's sleep so two nights ago I didn't do it and she woke at 11:30!!, Then 12:30 and so on.
I see we are all having alot of sleep problems. I wonder if it is a combo of spirited babies and their age. Someday we will look back on these posts and laugh - hopefully!
I posted a question on the PU/PD board today. i think I need to try this with DD as she woke three times last night just to see me, I think. How do you do this with a spirited child? I tried last night and she just got more and more hyper. It was like she was ready to start the day at 3am! It is like she doesn't fall back into a deep sleep after her first night waking. She was up for the day today at 5:15! I just couldn't get her to sleep any longer and she has blackout curtains!!! Oh dear! Any advice on PU/PD would be great!
-
Deb-
I was just reading your posts about spirited babies in the EASY forum. Very interesting! How do you still swaddle Olivia? We used to use the miracle blanket, but she outgrew it. Does Olivia use a paci? I am wondering if Leah is becoming addicted.....
-
Hi everyone!
Deb - Sorry to hear about your hellish day. I find it hard coping with one let alone two, I don't know how people do it!
Schae-
Alex seems alot better thanks, though not eating as much still but will bring it up with my HV next wk when he gets weighed. Unfortunately this illness has seriously disrupted his sleep (& mine!) just when I thought we were getting somewhere!
How much/often do your LO's eat??
I have also taken away the dummy today & started PU/PD to see how he gets on - will keep you posted.
Heather - Can't wait for my LO to roll over. Did you do anything to encourage it. He seems to hate tummy time just eats his hands & then cries after a few mins!
My peace has been broken as LO has just woken up - better go! He made it to a huge 30 mins..
-
Lizzie-I had just put her on her tummy, which she hates, and she cranked her head back, pushed her arms up, and rolled. I guess she's found a way out of tummy time!
She eats 6 times a day, but I'm going to go down to 5x as she seems ready to space her meals out, and I'm going to be giving her cereal 2x a day (just a few spoonfuls). Also, I don't feel that my milk supply is what it used to be, and I have been supplementing with formula more and more (up to 6-8 oz a day). I have replaced one bf for a formula bottle at the meal when my supply is the lowest. Anyone else doing a combo of bf and formula feeding?
-
I formula feed. I had complications after delivery, so DD and I were apart for the first two days of her little life! She wouldn't attach after two days on the bottle. Anyway. Leah eats every three hours
6,9,noon,3,6 and Dream Feed at 10. (Sometimes she feeds in the night, but last night only took 2 ounces at 3:30.) She takes anywhere between 3-5 ounces at each feeding. I would also like to try and move her to a four hour routine with cereal. Doc said start cereal at 4 months - she's a big girl!
Heather - when do you plan on giving her cereal? What do you think your schedule will look like with cereal? This is what I am thinking. Since I am home for the summer, I hope to get her to sleep till 6:30 at least!!
6:30 - Wake and Bottle
8 - Cereal
8:30-10:30 - Nap (Not so sure about these two hour naps with the four hour schedule - pretty sure we won't accomplish them!)
10:30 - Bottle
12:30-2:30 - Nap
2:30 - Bottle
4:00 - Cereal?
4:30-5:15 - Catnap in stroller
5:30 - Cereal ?
6:30 - Bottle
6:50 - Bath and Bed by 7:15
Not so sure when to put the last cereal feeding in at 4 or at 5:30. This just makes me laugh though because there is no way she will follow this schedule, I highly doubt I will get two hour naps out of her and I'm not sure if she is ready to stay awake for 2 hours during the day. But, I am going to take a week and try this. We'll see. I think I will start next Monday.
-
Aimee is 4 months today and the thought of weaning her is really odd. She just seems too little! I couldn't wait to get Joe started on solids, and was introducing a spoon from 3 1/2 months, but she somehow seems too fragile to have anything other than formula.
I feel a little embarressed too after reading all these posts about everyone's lo's not sleeping. Both A&J have been sleeping really well today. Tonight could well be a different matter, though :!:
I'm wondering if I'm maybe cramming too much in to her activity time, which is why she's sleeping liked she's drugged.
So glad this forum is here!
-
Christine, I started that same exact schedule minus the cereal a couple of weeks ago and it seems to work very well for us. DS was born 2-23-05, so I am going to wait awhile longer to start solids. Yes, the naps are rarely long enough, but yesterday was perfect, so we'll see. We have been struggling with the 45 minute naps. Trace eats 6-8 oz for each of the 4 bottles offered. I never had any luck with the dreamfeed so I ditched that early on. He always naps in his bed and has since day one and I think that has saved our lives with him putting himself to sleep. Occasionally he freaks out and I have to PU/PD, but usually I just let him work out what he needs to and he's quiet within 10 minutes. At the beginning I also thought about the blackout shades, but was discouraged because baby might get nights and days mixed up. Not a challenge I want to deal with, thank you.
-
Debra - sorry to hear about your day yesterday. I really hope today is much better. Hopefully this will make you feel a bit better - I'm having a really bad day today so far. We were doing well w/ pu/pd. It was down to 5 min. or less yesterday, but this am it took at least 15 min. Then dd didn't sleep when we took a walk during what should have been her 2nd nap. I got her down when we got home, but it took another 15-20 min. and I took a chance on leaving my older one pretty much unattended. Then she only slept for 30 min. (both naps today). My older dd has been whining almost constantly today and she's tough to get down for naps too, but I did get her down after about 45 min. Ughh! The thing I feel worst about is that I actually lost my temper and yelled in frustration while trying to get the younger one down for her 2nd nap. I try my hardest not to yell at all, but when it happens it's usually the older one that gets it; it feels so much worse to realize I yelled at a 3.5 mo. old. I feel like the worst mom in the world today :cry:. My poor kids, I'm afraid they're going to need therapy when they get older.
I think I might have to change game plans and give up on pu/pd except for bedtime. I just really can't figure out how to do it w/ the older one around. I was hoping that the last 5 days, when I didn't have to worry about the older one, would be enough to train the younger one. She has definitely improved, but I don't think I can keep this up.
BTW Debra, I grew up in Yaphank, it's about half way out, right in the middle of the Island (not too far from Patchogue if you've heard of that one). In MA, we live in Maynard, about half way between Boston and Worcester.
-
it feels so much worse to realize I yelled at a 3.5 mo. old. I feel like the worst mom in the world today :cry:. quote]
Oh my gosh! I did the same thing the other day. In a harsh voice I said this is enough, you need to go to sleep! Then I had to take a quick breath and realize she is only 4 months old and cannot understand anything, but does know the tone of my voice. And she didn't like this tone, it just made her more upset. Don't worry - you're not alone and you're a wonderful mother, otherwise you wouldn't be on this board chatting and figuring out what is best for your children!
-
OMG that's a lot to wake up to - am having a hrd tijme keeping everything straight that is going on - but am VERY happy that you are lal there to chat to and going through similar things.
please don't anyone be embarrassed if you are having a good day or have a good sleeper/eater/whatever. i look forwrad to the positives because it gives me hope especially since none of these lo are angel/textbooks.
thankfully our bad (understatement) day did not carry into night and she woke and resettled self around 9pm (Dh and i are very encouraged by her inctreasing ability to do this in evening butnoit sure why can't do it for daytime sleeps) had DF at 10:45 and then woke before 5 for feed and back to bed.
Tanya - your day sounds similar with the 2 kids. i also got angry with Olivia and a little too forceful with my patting :oops: . i actaully said "just F@!%$*& go to sleep" while crying. i think alex picked up on the mood (and heard me crying off and on) because she was so clingy after she wole from her nap. she was like permanently attached to my leg.
can't remember who asked what and Dh needs me to run him to the train station:
we still swaddle Olivia in spite of her repeated attempts to hget out (she is so strong!!!). if i get the wrap "just right"; and do it before she is overtired, then the world is great and she stays wrapped and goes down easily without pat/shh. not sure when we will stop swaddle probably around 4-5 months when she gets good hand control.
PU/PD and any intense pat/shhh is too much for spirited ones ion my opinion. we keep p/s for last resort if 1) wakes early or 2) is really overtired and won't calm herself down
we are almost totally bottles now and feed 6 times including DF. Olivia takes between 130-180 ml of formula per feed (4.5 - 6.5 oz) and was waking 1-2 times per night except since we started l;eaving her to settle at 9m she has only woken once (knock on wood).
must dash - will check back later
-
Kelsey's dr. said to offer cereal 2x a day of my choosing. Today I only got it in once because she throw me a curveball. I can't tell if her sleepiness today is due to having shots yesterday, but the long morning nap changed our schedule altogether. Let me show you:
Usuall schedule
8:00 bf
10:45 bf
1:30 bf
4:15 bf
7:00 bf
8:15 bed
10:00 bf
Naps were usually only 30 minutes, with an occasional hour nap in the morning.
Today:
8:00 bf
9:45-11:30 slept till I finally woke her
11:30 bf + cereal (bottom of a small bowl full)
1:45-2:30 slept (woke her)
2:30 bf + 4 oz formula
4:40-5:10 slept (usuall 30 minute nap)
5:30 3 oz formula
7:45 put to bed, but plan on bf one last time at 8:30 then letting her sleep. I don't see the point in waking her at 10 or 11, because when she only took 3 oz at 5:30 that told me she is full from the day's feedings because usually at that feeding she would take 6 oz.
Like I said, this has really thrown me today and I don't know what I'm doing. I woke her from those naps because if I didn't feed every 3 hours I wouldn't get enough feedings in. Also, is it possible for her to sleep too much during the day and not sleep well at night? I've never had to worry about this. But again, her sleepiness could be a reaction from shots yesterday. Any advice on this possible change in her schedule would be greatly appreciated. I feel out of control and beside myself that I'll do the wrong thing. I'm so used to her sleeping 11.5 hours with a 10 pm feeding that I'll freak if she wakes all night. What would I do? Feed her?
-
Heather-
Leah had her shots earlier this week and she slept a lot the day after too. She also didn't eat well, so she did wake up in the night. but only once to feed. I think their little bodies just need the sleep to try and get back to normal after being injected with all kinds of stuff. POor babies! Leah screamed bloody murder when she had hers. It didn't help that she was overtired becuase we had to wait so long for the doctor! Let us know how the night goes. I would probobly feed her if she wakes, but I am definitley no expert. Do what you think she needs, I don't think a feed once in the night will make her wake every night. Good Luck!
-
Heather - i agree - don't worry yourself too much about this one - let her sleep and if she wakes and is hungry feed her and put straight back to bed. there may be other times over the next year that she wakes in the night for food and just know it is par for the course even after sleeping through the night...sometimes jusdt need reassurance... (clear b/c won't take food offered)
as far as sleeping too much in the day and being up all night - i don't subscribe to that point of view. i have always been told and seen "sleep begets sleep". alex always slept 5-6 hours during day and another 11 at night. that was her. each lo is different and you get to know where the line is (ie if she would sleep 3 hours at a stretch now, you know to wake her because she needs food, but if she normally takes 45 min and is still asleep at 2 hours i say "yippee" she needed the sleep) :D
hope your night goes well
-
Wow! it's getting hard to keep up with everyone!
Hope things went well last night for you all. :D
Um, I remember reading a question that asked how much our lo's weighed. Luka weighs 6.4kg (14lbs) and he's 3 months and a bit. But my boy EATS!! :lol:
Activity time: we watch telly (he really likes Oprah), but only for 5 minutes or so. Or we go for a walk (but winter is coming here, so the walks might end) Or under the gymini. Or I sing for him and do all the actions to the song (this amuses him! :D )
I think he may have been going through a growth spurt yesterday and the day before, today he's spacing his meals and yesterday he wasn't. I felt like I was BF-ing the entire day. :roll:
He slept okay. Went down at 10pm woke at 2am then at 4am then briefly at 6am and then woke for the day at 8am.
This is an 'okay' night for us! Sad hey?
As for being a bad mom coz you yelled at a baby. Don't beat yourself up about it.. we are human after all. And sleep deprivation combined with hormones and the general life issues can drive anyone insane. I've yelled at Luka before too. I feel sooo bad afterwards, but as I said, we're human!
You ladies with two children, I really don't know how you do it! Do you get enough time on your own? I find that if I haven't had at least 20 minutes in the day where I was on my own just sitting or whatever, I get really aggro... so I make sure I take the time.
Anyway, enough rambling! Hope everyone is doing well!!
ps
We dont' have a schedule anymore, so I can't share just yet!
-
Schae - glad you had a "good" night. after our terrible day yesterday i was terrified of the night but it was fine (although usually when we have a bad day we get a good night and vice versa :roll: ). To answer your question about time to myself - i get very little - even getting on the computer is hard if alex is awake as she wants to sit up here with me and look at pictures we've downloaded. Often there is an overlap of about 30 minutes for their naps and i eat, sort out laundry and watch a little Oprah if possible.
today was a pretty good day - she took 3 naps: 2 1/2 hrs, 45 min and 1 1/2 hours including resetlling herself for the last 10-15 min of that last one. could not get her to do catnap so she was overtired for last feed. will see how night goes (oh great just woke after 45 min :evil: and crying - Dh thankfully offered to go to her).
please think of us tomorrow/ Friday as we have to take olivia on the train to US Embassy to get her citizenship and passport including photos being taken (how to coordinate that when she should be napping :( ) also we have to leave alex with my mom and she has been sooooo clingy the past few days it is scary. mom says she is up for the challenge though.
think i've already mentioned olivia is huge - 7kg (15lbs4oz) at 3 1/2 months.
must go organise the 800 things the gov't need for me to prove olivia's worth to be a US citizen :roll: because i haveTHAT kind of spare time on my hands.
-
Well, I fed Kelsey at 8:30 pm, she was asleep by 9:50, and still sleeping at 8:00 am! Thanks for all the support and reassurance. I just need to go with the flow and watch her cues to guide me in what she needs. I have to say that I am now falling extremely in love with my daughter. It was so hard the first 3 months that I didn't know what I had gotten myself into, but the hard times were so worth it! I, too, have gotten very upset and yelled like she knew what I was saying. I would just take a deep breath, and walk out of the room. Sometimes you need that just to regain composure and remember who you're dealing with. Now when she's so fussy and I can't get to her immediately, I just talk to her reassuringly and do the best I can. Before, I was crazy if she cried for even one minute thinking I had to tend to her immediately. I think babies need some bit of time to realize that they may be upset, but mommy will be there for them even if it's not right away. Maybe this helps them learn independence. :?:
-
It's amazing, I too am falling more in love with my DD everyday. The first few months are really hard, but it is getting easier. Although I believe we have a paci addiction problem on our hands! DD has been crying in her sleep every hour from 2:30 on and the only thing that calms her is the paci. :shock: Time to wean!
-
Heather, I am glad you had a good night. I was reading Kelsey's schedule for yesterday and thought it was great. My ds made a huge turn around right after his first set of shots and started sleeping through the night and then I was able to easily trasition him to the 4 hour EASY routine. I totally believe better sleep during the day = better sleep during the night. This was one reason I switched to 4 hour routine because I felt like I was waking him up all the time to feed him every three hours. If I offer him 8 oz every 4 hours then he gets 32 oz in 24 period that is enough and I don't feel like I need to worry about him starving during the night....he's a chunky monkey. I don't mean to rush you into the 4 hour routine, but maybe she's ready??? Do you girls medicate with Tylenol for your babies shots?
Also, I am not sure if it was from Tracy's book but girls we have to remember BIRDS FLY. BABIES CRY. Period. Sometimes they just need to have a moment or work something out. A good friends doctor asked her "have you ever heard of a baby dying of crying?" It just doesn't happen. A good nap and routine that the baby gets used to usually takes care of all these issues, but sometimes we are not so lucky. I try to remember that if one day sucked then I have tomorrow to try again, Trace really doesn't know the difference. I did notice though that once I got the sleeping through the night and 4 hour easy down then Trace ONLY cries to tell me he's tired. He knows his routine and it works for him. If I stray from it like try to run too many errands then he lets me know by being so touchy and cries at everything then fights a nap or bedtime. Not fun. I am a nap slave.
nikki
Trace 2-23-05
-
Nicki-
I am planning on moving to a four hour routine soon. Did you just jump right in or gradually extend the time? How long can your LO stay awake for activity. It says with a four hour routine they should stay awake for two hours? We are having early waking probelms - with other night waking problems as well - so I am wondering if I need to stretch her awake time during the day. Right now she can stay awake 1 1/2 hours.
About crying - every night no matter if DD is overtired or not. She cries for about 30 seconds after I swaddle her for nightime sleep. Then she stops, relaxes, and goes to sleep! I think it is just her way of venting from the long day. I don't even try to stop her anymore. I jsut let her cry knowing that in a minute she will be calm.
-
Once Trace was sleeping through the night for almost two weeks I was dying for a new milestone to reach. So with encouragment from another BW friend I tried the 4 hour routine. I didn't think it would work right away, but it did. I hear I am lucky though because Trace is a good eater. Yes, sometimes he can't make it with 2 hours of activity, but I try my best before I loose him to crankiness and then naptime. It still works out well because when he does have a good nap it is so worth it because if he was on the 3 hour routine I would have to wake him up in the middle of that nap to feed.
Trace does the same thing about crying when he goes down sometimes. He wakes up every morning talking and super happy so I know he's not mad at me for letting him cry a bit to sleep. And when he cries to sleep it maybe for 10 minutes max and it's not even a real cry. It's more of like a "hey, I'm in here. Come and play with me" type cry. It's definatly not the "I'm hurting" type cry.
-
Hi everyone, I've been reading the pages on this board for past few days...had problems registering, finally gave up and got a new email.
Anyway, my beautiful daughter is touchy/textbook with a bit of grumpy thrown in just for fun. We've been doing EASY for about 2 weeks. Was on a 1 to 1.5 breastfed routine and I was about ready to throw in the towel, and switch to bottles. I thought I was going to die! No one ever said the drawbacks of on demand. We've also struggled with overactive letdown, reflux and constipation...thankfully most of those have lessened with introducing EASY.
Before EASY she wouldn't sleep at all. She is crazy sensitive to emotions and sounds. Even my husband sneezing would send her wailing. Before EASY we lived tip-toeing around our house whispering, but even then whispers are sometimes high pitched. Hates tummy time and in general other people besides me :wink: and of course daddy. Has this big pouty lip which is so cute it is hard not to smile and laugh at her grumpiness.
Anyway, confused about the 4 hour schedule transition and in general confused on awake time. My daughter just can't do 2 hours, sometimes even an hr is the most she can do, especially in the morning and if I don't go by her cues she takes over 40 min with PUPD to get to sleep...eventually she gives up and goes down and then I go cry :cry: too.
Also confused...lately her feeds have gone from 30 min to 15 at the most, sometimes only 10. I worry she is eating enough?
Would love to be part of the thread! I have really enjoyed reading your posts...it is nice to know I'm not struggling alone with my touchy baby girl.
-
hi - it sounds like you two are doing well. we have been up and down...
worst day followed by good day then when she skipped that catnap we had our worst evening in many weeks due to overtiredness (could not feed well, fell asleep, woke realizing hungry, cried on and off for hours until finally fell asleep again around 10:30pm - THEN SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT until after 7am!!).
yesterday we had to do everything out of the house thanks to our visit to the embassy for her citizenship and passport. she did great!! :D we put her down for 1st nap in her capsule so we could transfer her to car - slept for about 1 hr or so, had to wait for next feed until access to embassy and in meantime had her first bus ride, took her passport photos, etc took her bottle in noisy environment (huge relief even if not a full feed). then she had to wait to meet the consul and us answer questions, swear the truth, etc and miraculously after beingn up 2 hrs she fell asleep in pouch for an hour and had a feed at Dhs office, fell asleep in car just before home and stayed in capsule in her room and slept 2 HOURS!!!
it can be done if you need to do something so don't fear it like i did. Dh told me WE needed to be relaxed (easy for a laid back guy to say) and it worked. of course she would not do catnap again and we had problems in the evening - anyone having issues with the catnap?? will post on nap board later.
i am off for a 1/2 day out without kids today - mom and i are going to my old neighborhood to shop and have lunch by the beach... she misses it too. i will try to trust that Dh can handle the 2 kids himself since i have to do it 5 days a week :wink:
-
Kelsey usually has trouble with the evening nap (I'd say catnap, but all her's are catnaps :cry: ). Lately, however, her schedule has changed and she's taking it like a usuall. Life sure is a bear when they get overtired and you just can't do a thing with them.
Welcome, branwen. Have you had any better luck with LO's sensitivity to noise? I used to think Kelsey, also a touchy one, would wake up at the drop of a pin, but even the dog barking in the house hasn't woken her. Her only problem with naps, other than them being short, is if I really missed the mark and she gets overtired, I can pretty much count on her being miserable when she wakes up and sleeping through her feeding, especially if it's bf.
We're doing cereal 2 x a day now, and I offer formula as a supplement after one bf, and then as her feed for another. I'm slowly working on replacing bf for formula one feeding at a time to let my body catch up, or actually slow down :? . I just don't like bf, and I'm a much happier mother when I bottle-feed her, and she's more content with more in her belly.
So, ladies, how many feedings are you lo's taking now? Kelsey's down to 5, which worried me at first, but she's still sleeping through the night. She's been taking her last feeding btw 8-8:30 pm, and sleeping till 8 am. That's the past 2 nights, anyway. She was also taking an 1 hr, 45 min nap in the morning :) , but didn't do that today :( .
-
Hi Branwen and welcome (did not see your post before). another touchy one? at least we can actually help each other.
don't worry that your lo is not able to do 4 hrs yet. they each get there on their own timetable with some help from us.
olivia also gets overstim easily and her awake time stll can't get beyond 1 hour but her naps have been gradually improving so i am hoping that when she gets consistent daytime rest she will be able to stay awake happily for longer. if ii push it she gets o'tired and then nap is hard to do. i choose to preempt (put own, windown earlier rather than later) rather than push her to stretch to longer schedule. You know her so go with her cues (and bless er for having clear enough ones that you CAN follow)
don't worry that feeds are shorter as long as still gainin g weight, sleeping and healthy. they become more efficient eaters and get the same milk in less time.
as we are still doing 3 hourly feeds olivia has 6 including DF.
-
Hi everyone,
We do 5 feeds now, although I'm concerned she is trying to consolidate our evening cluster feed into one. Since we started easy late she has never had a dream feed so I am really not wanting to give that cluster feed up and go to 4 feeds. Since we started EASY we sort of have a 4 hour schedule and work down...
6
10
1
4:30
6:30 or 7
She usually sleeps through the night sometimes has woken at 4 but usually resettles if not I usually feed her and put her back right away.
Morning nap is great! Afternoons suck...spend a lot of time doing PUPD and we only managed 2 cat naps...she went to bed early tonight :-(
Husband and I going out for the first time together alone tomorrow night since her birth! I'm so excited and nervous :lol:
I hope she sleeps through!!
-
Welcome Branwen! Have you ever tried using white noise to help your touchy little one? We use a white noise machine for Leah and we can do anything and she usually doesn't wake up. I have always slept better with a fan on, so we though maybe DD would also.
Deb - I have had trouble with the late afternoon catnap, so I have made this our walking time. Leah will sleep a good half hour-forty-five minutes in the stroller and then I get exersize in. In Tracy's book it says it's OK to do one nap somewhere else.
Heather- We are still at 6 bottles per day, with hopes to transistion to a four hour routine this coming week. I was just waiting for teaching to be done, so I could work on it this summer. Today was my last day of school!!! Yah! Three months off!!!!
We seemed to have had a paci addiction problem.... Leah was waking at 2:30 looking for it, then every hour after :shock: So last night I gave Leah the paci to calm down with and then basically made her fall asleep without it and she slept straight until 5:15 am!!!! We'll see how tonight goes. Anyone having problems with early wakings? Leah seems to think 5 or 5:30 is a good start to the day, unfortunaltey I don't agree! With summer vacation now, I would like to get to sleep in a little!!!
-
Happy 4 month birthday tomorrow Kelsey!!! Hard to believe how fast the time flies!!!!
-
Christine - glad tpo hear you are working on the paci addiction - neither of my girls would take it. all i can say about the early wakings is - treat it like a night feed/waking if you can until she stops wking at that time. i learned this the hard way - with alex anytime after 6:00 on the dot and i figuired ok start the day, this time since alex now sleeps (or plays) in until closer to 7 or later i am refusing to start earlier than 6:45.
if olivia wakes at 6 i feed her and put back to bed to sleep and wake her at 7:30. my hope is that as she starts sleeping lonegr at night she will know it is still night if she stirs around 5:30/6am
our big problem is this damned 4th nap!!! 3 days now and we have had to deal with her being overtired for last feed/bath etc...i would love to go for a walk but 1) it is winter here and dark now from 5/5:30 and 2) so would have 2 girls out in the dark and cold on suburban streets. maybe i'll try it anyway.... any other suggestions??? i think i'd try almost anything.
got to go get alex in the bath... oh the FUN
-
Welcome Branwen!
I'm going to try the transition to 4 hr EASY starting on Monday. Tracy's new book has a detailed way to do this in 15 min increments so that they gradually adjust to longer awake times & don't get too overtired! At the moment my DS can only stay up about an hr too before he cries to be put down for bed!!
Not too sure about the eating Q as Alex has been on bottle since 6 wks old. It could be that your daughter is just an efficient eater. I guess if she's lasting 3 hrs or so between feeds she must be getting enough??
Deb - Hope you had a nice day out with your mum. As much as I love all the time I spend with DS it is good to have a little break every now then!
Heather - We are still on 6 feeds a day (3 hrs) inc DF though more often than not he will refuse at least one of them - I wonder if its his way of telling me he's ready to drop one..??
He has only slept through the night once 8pm - 7am and generally wakes at 5ish but can usually send him back to sleep til 7. He is also starting to break free of his swaddle as twice last night he woke to his flailing arms & legs!
Christine - I too was worried about a possible paci addiction & attempted to wean him off it by going cold turkey & doing PU/PD but this was way harder than I thought & eventually caved in. I probably should have stuck with it but he doesn't wake up when it drops/or I take it out & can settle himself back to sleep (most of the time) so will give it another try once I decide to stop swaddling & he can have his hands for comfort!
I too have problems with the catnap & end up with an irritable baby till bedtime which is so annoying because he loves his baths but has no energy left!
Sorry about the long post just trying to catch up!
Enjoy your weekends!
-
Lizzie - i will be very curious to see how you do the transition since your lo is same as ours - 1 hour max before has to be settled to bed. how long do you try to get lo to take the catnap before you give in? do yhou move bedtime up or let him play a bit...?
if i could get her to be happy and awake longer the 4hrly feeding would eliminate the catnap right?? but i wonder if she would just fight WHATEVER is her last nap...
today was FANTASTIC! Dh took Alex for their swim class at 9am, then came home to Olivia who had woken from first nap after 45 min and would not resettle. i offered to hang back but he said it was fine.
he had a perfect day - all feeds and naps good, alex all taken care of, washing put on the line, kitchen sorted, even sterilised and prepared next 3 bottles :D then i come home after a lovely day at the markets and beach (people were in bikinis - got to love Sydney "winter") and she refuses catnap. since i am battling PPD issues this was not great for my ego - part of me hates it that he had a great day with the 2 girls when i cannot manage it. BUT i did have a great time shopping with my mom and felt like a lady of leisure. apart from 2 loads of laundry and playig with alex and her bed/bath routine I have not had to do anything today. I think Dh is aware that i need a break or i am going to crack in half.
he has gone out for celebratory drinks tonight with several other dads who had bubs in the past few months. i was nice and drove him to the pub. I am afraid to attempt the DF (I am usually in bed) so we will see what happens if we skip it. amazingly she has been fine tonight even though she skipped the catnap. not at all like past 2 nights :? why is there no rhyme or reason - everything is different all the time - my problem is that i cannot predict yet what the day will be like. we are grateful that she is obviously getting better at resettling herself and extending her own naps (good news because we both hate doing Pat/sh ...)
-
Happy 4 months to Leah today, also, and to all the 4 month birthdays coming up this month!!!
-
Hi Christine! Yes we have a little refridgerator in her room and it has a fan built in and it is always on. Darkened room too- replaced all her curtains last week. I was afraid to try closing her door since it has always been open but last week I tried it out and her naps seem to be extending. I'm so sad though, she hates 'baby talk' something about the high-pitched tones that freak her out.
My daughter always wakes between 5:30 or 6:30...I prefer the later of course but 6 in her usual...unless she really cries I try to get her to hang on. Today she woke at 5:45 with hungry cries (made sense she went to bed at 6:30 and we don't dreamfeed) so I got up and I just extended her morning nap so we'd be on track- can't believe it worked. When my baby was 3 months she would wake at 4:30 or 5 and I treated it like night feed- no talking, lights or anything, eat and put back to bed. I think this helped her regulate to a 6pm wake up. Unfortunately I'll probably never get her to go later as my husband goes to work around that time so there is always noise in the house at that time :roll:
Deb- In terms of the 4 hour transition. I have reversed the cat nap to the middle of the day- actually it happened by accident when I started transitioning her to 4 hours and now I'm making it permanent until she can stay awake longer. We have a 2 hr nap in the morning- a 1 hr at mid day and then another 2 hr in the afternoon- so she does 4-3-4 between feeds. It seems to really be working! Then she is up 3 hrs before bed..she is barely making it though and I have moved bedtime earlier the last few days since the cat nap is no longer in the evenings and she has been overtired for her bath. I'm sorry to here you're struggling with PPD - I too have a mild case but have been on meds since before the birth of my daughter. I have found evening primrose oil and a b-complex in addition to help me through last few months.
Lizzie- Good news! Now that I have dropped my 6th feed she goes longer at the breast- we're back to 15 to 20 instead of 5 to 10 and the morning feed has lengthened to 20 or 30. YEAH! I guess all of that suckling was her napping at my breast and using me as a pacifier! Now she uses her thumb :wink:
New issue re: touchy babies- when did your babies start rolling over and grabbing stuff? My daughter still won't roll over at 19 weeks. She hates tummy time which is part of it. She does grab stuff, but toys generally overwhelm her, so I end up taking them away. I don't want to push her but I do have some concerns that she seems so disinterested in toys and so nonphysical at times.
-
Branwen - Olivia rolled over at 7 weeks (i posted earlier about my girls' super upper body strength...so don't compare with us) and does it sometimes - not every day. this is from tummy to back when doing tummy time. 19 weeks is still not a time to get worried about rolling - i have heard of 8 month olds who have not rolled. the key is to keep offering tummy time every day even for 5 min or so.
about the toys - we are in the same boat. olivia's "activity time" is pretty much people oriented / observation plus tummy time and a few min under gym. she really gets whacko from "toys". i expressed concern to the early childhood nurse as i was worried she would not develop the necessary motor skills, etc and was not "batting toys" like other 3-4 mo. and her response was "she does not NEED toys" she needs food, sleep and love. generations of kids were not put in front of DVDs, given rattles and developmental toys, etc and all ended up walking, talking, socialising children. she said it will come in time when she is ready to handle more and will not hurt her to wait. i offer stuffed toys to look at rather than noisy/interactive things. she does seem to be fascinated by tv though when she catches a second when sitting on someone's lap. HTH
-
Branwen- Leah is still not rolling over, she jsut doesn't seem interested. She is also only interested in her toys for a few mintues. She would much rather look at the can lights on our ceiling or at us.
Lizzie- I am also wanting to start the four hour routine tomorrow, but I haven't had time to lay out a plan, so maybe I will start mid-week. I need to take advantage of my three month vacation from teaching. I hope to have her on an awesome schedule for the sitter in the fall - yah right, like that every really happens!! :wink: There is always something that throws things for a loop!
Deb- I completely forgot that you are in the "winter" season. I feel for you! When Leah was born it was winter and it was dark at 4:30 - that didn't help the baby blues!!!! I'll think on the catnap issue...
Last night I shut the night light off in Leah's room and she slept straight thru until 5:15. I have no idea if it was becuase I turned off the night light, but we'll see what happens tonight!!
Glad to hear everyone is doing well! Take care!
-
Hi everyone! Thanks for all the support on the rolling over bit. I know I need to chill on it but I'm tired of my mother exclaiming "why does she hate her tummy...you slept on your tummy...blah blah" as if I am doing something wrong! fortunately she does not live close so I only have to hear this once a month :wink:
Our 4 hr transition is going ok. I'm still struggling with the afternoon nap. She really doesn't like to go the 2 hours.
Her new bedtime is 6:30. She does seem to wake earlier also because of this which is getting us off track for the whole day. I guess I'm stuck on the afternoon evening thing. If she wakes at 4:00 or 4:30 from the last afternoon nap she is supposed to make it through dinner and bath right?
Christine- I am also thinking of turning off the night light- do you close the door also or is there light from another source? I want to try this but am so afraid she will wake up and not know where she is kind of thing, won't see something familiar... Could you keep me posted about your success with it?
New question- are your husband's on board with the whole baby temperament thing? Mine is having a hard time :?
I'm new to boards so I'm going to ask a dumb question too- what is ds, dd and dh- I think this is son, daughter, husband but what is the d?
-
Wow there's allot to read on this site! But I'm so happy to have foun it! It's nice reading about babies the same age as your own. My little one was born on the 13th of january.
She is such a little cuty and she can make me so happy. But we do have our fights! Especially at naptime. She will fuss around, rub her eyes, cry etc and I'll obviously think she needs to sleep. So I put her to bed, and she'll lay there content for ten minutes and then she'll start cooing. When I get to her she gives me a big smile and when I want to put the paci back in her mouth she'll crab my hand and hold on so tight... so cute but leaves me helpless... :roll:
I stopped swaddling her cause she seemes uncomfortable. worked allot better than I thought it would. Think it's cause she got controle over her hands now. The bad thing is she finds it very amusing to take her paci out with her hand when I put her down for a nap. Then she'll lay swaying it around, laughing at it. the sad thing is she still don't know how to get it back in so she'll end up sucking the wrong end... untill I come to rescue
We don't have any structure to our day! But think that's bad. Maybe that's why she is so fussy at nap time?! She's so sweet at bed time but maybe that's cause of a specific time and specific routine?!
Sorry for blabbing on or so long but had so much to get out. still loads in there and you can get thet another time :lol:
see you all
-
Welcome SandrinaMum! I hope we can be of some assistance to you and your Little One!
I had posted resposes last night, but with the new server, I think last nights posts were lost somewhere in the land of the web!
Branwen- I have had the nightlight off now for three nights. Everynight she has slept thru until at least 4:45, somedays straight thru until 5:30. Everytime she has woken, she had a feed and went back to bed until 6:00! Yah!!! I didn't think she would go back to bed becuase the dumb birds were chirping away and it was getting light out at 4:45, pleasures of summer! I think without the night light she really thinks it is night. She hasn't woken up screaming becuase she is scared, this was my fear. She has acttually woken up more cal, maybe she needs the complete dark becuase she is spirited! FYI - DD etc means Dear Daughter or Dearest Daughter. LO means little one. I had no idea when I joined either!
Yesterday was my first day off for summer vacation from teaching. I am hoping to make some excellent strides this summer with scheduling etc. Really hoping to move to a four hour routine soon. Keep us posted Branwen. I would love to see what your day looks like!
-
wow - my post is gone too and so is shae's - she was away for christening... i don't even remember what i posted exactly.
we are struggling this week - as usual she is still up and down: 1 day sleeps well in day and bad at night, next day reverses, then the other day she was eating an insane amount of food (??? growth spurt at 15 weeks??) and today she is feeding little (100-15ml per feed) and often (every 2 hours or so)... :roll: i am so frustrated. how are we ever going to get on a regular routine or attempt 4 hourly if she is so inconsisitent? any oideas? i have tried to extend awake time but her max is stillaround the 1 hr mark give or take 15 minutes depending on nap and food issues of the day. Please help - anyone here or from the rest of the site i need guidance.
amazingly last night i only had to do 1 feed at 3:30 :D i assumed she would wake up nice and hungry for a change but at 7:30 it was a struggle to get 100ml in her (3 1/2 oz).
Welcome SandrinaMum! I am hoping we can get finished with swaddling in the next mont b/c she gets out of oit so much anyway - we are now calling her Houdini.
Christine - sounds like you are doing well - i hope you enjoy your summer off. my sister is a teacher in NY and is coming out for 6 weeks - she has been saving for this trip for 2 years - did not know she was going to be helping me with 2 lo but she is excited.... i have also turned of the nightlight and we recently put up blackout curtains which seem to be helping the daytime sleeps (sometimes!!)
Branwen - we are all watching you and your transition to 4hr so keep us updated on progress and pitfalls!!
-
Welcome Sandrina's Mum (hope i spelt that right).. I was wondering where my post had gone!
Hope everyone is doing well. We did okay last night, i've come to the realisation that Luka's bad sleeping habits are MY fault. Whenever he wakes at night, I automatically feed him (it's a hangover from his newborn days) and to be honest, it's just easier. :oops:
But it means I don't sleep, so I've decided to stop the bad habit. He isn't hungry, but he'll eat for a little bit.
We're going to a sleep workshop this weekend, it is similar to the BW methods, and I hope it works. I need someone to SHOW me what to do! LOL!!
Christine: enjoy the vacation. and if Leah continues sleeping well, you might just get some lie in time too!
Deb: I wish I had some advice for you! Things will get better.
-
Deb- Eirwen went through a growth spurt at 16 weeks. It also might be time for you to start PUPD if you haven't already. It is hard in the beginning but it worked so well for Eirwen even though at the time she was a little under 4 months. I just had a gut feeling she would respond to it. The patting never worked for her. PUPD saved me from 2 hr feeds by extending her NAP time not awake time. The problem with 2 hr feeds is that they get used to it- Tracy calls this snacking I believe. I SOOOO had a snacker!!! If she feeds every 2 hrs her naps are not long enough. So you use PUPD to extend the naps. After 1 week of PUPD hell it worked...really in 3 days it worked. Now I hardly ever have to pick her up after putting her in her crib. If I do it is 2 times or less. You HAVE to be committed though. So Eirwen takes longer naps than Tracy says to at the 4/5 month mark but she is still on a 3 1/2 hr schedule. She cannot survive on 2 naps a day though...so she takes a cat nap mid day around 11:30.
Pitfalls- feeding early- we almost headed back to a 3 hr EASY a couple of days ago- MY fault! I would say during the transition 15 min on either side is OK not more! She just kept going backwards a while there and we had to work back up again! :roll:
I would recommend not progressing to 4 hours until you can get the 3 hr routine consistent- after Eirwen was on a 3 hr EASY for two weeks she seemed to naturally extend to 4 hr between feeds. However, she started sleeping longer not being more awake. I think this just might be a difference in babies- mine is a sleepy baby. Yours might be one too if she can only do 45 min to an hr.
Does any of this make sense? :?
Schae- how are Luka's naps? If his naps are bad too I would also recommend PUPD for you too :wink: This also has saved me in the middle of the night. Eirwen would eat for like two mintues and fall asleep. She didn't want food she just needed help going back to bed. I used PUPD to send her back to sleep. The first night I did it I was afraid I was starving her because I too just fed at night to put back to sleep. I totally stared up at my ceiling for 45 min to see if she would wake up. She never did :shock: and slept right through past her normal waking time. This proved to me that I could completely end night feeds! It was such a relief!
Hi Sandrina's Mum- welcome to the forum :D
-
we're still up and down - yesterday she only had 2 naps :evil: and did not eat too much, woke only at 4am and then slept til 7:30. today she had 3 naps (35min, 2hrs, 45 min) and fed 4hrly!!! and then has not settled well for the night. i wish she would make up her mind and stick with it :roll: i am off to the GP tomorrow as she called me to discuss PPD (early childhood nurse called her to discuss her concerns...) - we are going to talk about my options. i am not sure what i want to do, but definitely need to improve my ability to cope with 2 kids - i love being with them one on one (both are happy, chatty kids) but at the same time it is too hard when i am being pulled in 2 directions opr have a toddler clinging to me when i try to do anything else...
Schae - we still feed whenever she wakes in the night. it always seems like hunger if she cries. i can tell when she isn't needing food b/c then she stirs, coos and resettles herself. if she escalates to crying it is to say "feed me now!". anyone doing bottle feeds - how much does she need to take in order to classify as a night feed rather than a snack?? she seems to always takle 100ml at a night feed. seems like a full feed for 4am to me, but i am used to gauging by my breasts... any help?
-
Well, we had a couple og good nights and now we are back to waking at 3 am and then every half hour to an hour until 5 or 6 am!!! I am not sure if it is a paci addiction problem or something else. I don't feed her becuase she won't eat anything. She was terribly fussy yesterday with tons of painful gas. She has never been a good eater. She fusses at the bottle and arches her back during the feeding. I am thinking about calling her pediatrician. We're not sure if it is a formula intolorance or what. She is also breaking out in a rash on the sides of her face. She's been on the same formula for 3 months though so we're not sure why it is happening now.
Deb- I consider 3 1/2 ounces (100 ml right?) a full night feed. I would think anything less then 3 would be snacking, but a full feed for my DD is maybe 5 ounces max.
Great. DD just woke from her first nap of the day. She slept a whopping 20 mintues! Hardly enought time to log on a check in!!!!!
Later...
-
Christine- could it be dairy or soy intolerance on the formula? Even though I bf when I ate lots of dairy Eirwen would break out with eczema on the face, now that I limit myself to 2 servings a day she doesn't have it anymore...could it be something similiar with formula? Dairy also made my baby have really painful gas and bm's...burping her was also hard. She would grunt and cry, it was so sad :(
-
My baby is saying consonants! Oh my gosh! :shock: It's so exciting! She says "ma" really sharp like and also "wa" and "ka" it's crazy! Sometimes she runs them together. This is so neat! she's becoming such a little person! :D
-
How exciting Branwen! One day they are going to amaze us and speak words clearly! I'm not sure if it is a reaction to the dairy in her formula, I hope not. I'm a little leary of the soy formulas... I don't know much about them. If it continues to get worse we will call the doc.
-
Well done Eirwen!! Wow! :D
Last night wasn't too bad. He woke twice, at 1.10am and at 5.30am (becoz my mother chose that time to phone us, but she was just being helpful so i won't hold it against her :wink: )
He went down at 11pm (we had visitors :roll: ). When he woke at 1am, I fed him but when I put him down he cried..soooo I did pu/pd and it worked!! Only had to do it 3 times. :D
Thanks Branwen for suggesting it, I was wary of trying it (don't know why).
Deb, it's when he wakes every hour and I feed him that there's a problem - me being lazy. :)
Christine, I hope today goes well for you.
What time is it where you guys are? It's 19h20 here.
-
ok - we have been having more ups than downs the past few days and
1) Olivia laughed with me - not smiled or giggled, but actually belly laughed several times back and forth in our "conversation"
2) she slept through the night last night from 11pm DF through to 7:30am with only a stir at 5:15 and resettled herself!! i actually got some sleep.
also - posted on PPD board but have started meds today - 3 days on half dose to ease into it. Branwen i saw you take Lexapro as well - any advice/feedback?
thinhgs still up and down with liv but last night gave me hope (she ate enough during day and slept reasonably well and then took 150ml at DF) it is just so rare that we get it all aligned like that!!
-
Well done to Olivia!! That must've been bliss!!!
Things are going alright here. Got one long stretch of sleep last night.. 5 hours! lol
The sleep workshop was a complete waste of time, they just suggested crying it out. :evil:
We have no routine, which is causing problems (since we came back from our trip) and it's my graduation on Tuesday night, so we're going to be out of whack then too. So, we'll start good and proper on Wednesday. Gees, I've been saying that for ages!! LOL!!
Hope everyone else is doing great! :D
-
Schae - sorry the workshop was not what you expected... i can't imagine a whole workshop on CIO. Is he still waking so often?? i know how important it is to get some sleep as i have been so sleep deprived these past months - Olivia slept through last night as well and i am trying to prepare myself that it might not last, but have to laugh: we are having a long weekend thanks to the Queen and i asked Dh to handle night feeds this weekend so i coudl get some sleep finally. as if on cue she has slept through and he has not had to get up once!! :roll: if she sleeps tonight and then starts back to waking on Mon night i will flip out... :lol:
all the rest and regular feeds (getting more clockwork with 3hrly and today did a 4 hr stretch to last feed) is doing us all a world of good. she is so happy, laughing, chatting and smiling all the time. i really think deep down she is actually spirited/angel as she is never grumpy or crying, and seems to be getting better all the time (i shoudl bite my tongue talking abuot it here usually jinxes people.)
i hope everyone else is doing ok - where is everyone this weekend?
-
Hi everyone
Its nice to read about other mums of babies the same age as mine! I am mum to Madeleine, born on 1st Feb 2005. She inhaled meconium at birth and was not breathing, needed to have heart massage and a tube to help her breathe. Anyway because of this she was in intensive care for 5 days and special care for another 11, so we didn't get to take her home till she was 2 weeks old.
Anyway since then I have to say its been fairly easy! She only used to wake once in the night for a feed, and after about 8 weeks started waking later and later every night for about a week till she was sleeping till 7am! I have to say I read the Baby Whisperer book throughout my pregnancy and DH and I have made sure we followed all the suggestions, and it seems to have worked a treat. DD can settle herself to sleep, sometimes I need to reswaddle her as shes quite active in bed!
Now I am trying to get her onto a four-hour routine, only the second day today and shes been really grumpy, think she may be missing that lost nap but the feeding is working out, she can quite easily go four hours, sometimes longer. Is anyone else trying this yet and if so hows it going?
Sorry this was so long!
-
Welcome Sarah! Ah yes, the four hour schedule! We are all battling moving from three to four hours, but I think Branwen in the only one having much success....! I hope to try soon, but it seems weird to move her from thre to four hour feeds when she still is not sleeping thru the night!!!!
By the way. what I assumed was a paci addiction or gas (multiple wakings) was actually hunger, I think. :shock: I kept giving DD the paci at night and she kept waking every half hour to an hour thereafter till morning. The other night I gave in around 1:30 and fed her, then she slept straight thru until 5:30, whoops! It's so hard to know what they want!!! The problem is I have no idea how to get more good into her during the day, becuase she does not want more than 4 ounces - MAX!
What type of formula does everyone use? If you use it.
-
I've been using Hipp Organic, not sure if you get that in the USA, although it would be useful to know as I'm off to Florida on Saturday! (Not sure how that will affect her routine though)
Christine (Leah's mum) - my DD used to only eat 4oz on the 3 hr routine, and I struggled sometimes to get her to eat that, but now she is polishing off 7!! I guess she is just that bit hungrier now.
-
welcome Sarah - it sounds like you have recovered nicely from a rocky start. are you doing a gradual switch to 4hrly? maybe she needs to adjust a little at a time for the lost sleep.
Christine - i know how hard it is to gauge night wakings for hunger - i usually assume it is unless she just stirs rather than cries. Dh was finally the one to deal with waking this am and he did not do as i asked (wait and see and hang back..) but just went in half asleep (it was 5:50am) and offered food. she only took 60ml, got agitated and will not go back to sleep. i am finally getting her up now (7am) but i did not want to get her up while it was still dark and dd1 asleep.
as far as how much olivia eats - she takes between 4 1/2 - 7oz at each feed (i know - what a range!) we aim for 6-7oz but when she is done she really means it and will not take another drop! FWIW i wouldn't move to 4hrs if she is not taking enough calories in the day - i would think she still needs to get in the extra food - have you tried EAESY - that's what we do - Liv rarely takes 3oz when she has first part of feed. she likes to take a break and play... and then we offer her the rest of the bottle at the end and she will take another 3-4 oz. :D
got to go and get my girls fed - c u later
-
Hi all:
Im new. I tried posting to Jan/Feb baby thread but wound up as a new topic. I hope Im in the right place this time. Here is my post (again):
Im so happy to have found this board. My little guy was born Jan 31, 2005. And he is definitely Spirited!
I read that a few of you said that you had started taking your lo's out around 3 or 4 months of age? We have taken Matthew out here and there but he is usually so fussy, or his reflux kicks in, that we havent ventured out near as much as I would like. Im sometimes envious of mothers out with their babies all the time, Matty would never be able to handle that much outside time. But the good news is that he is getting easier to handle and I think we can take him out more now too.
Christine, I totally empathize with you regarding your lo getting up so often at night. My lo usually has his DF at 11:00 and wakes up at 3:00, then again at 4:30 or 5:00, then again at 6 or 6:30 or so at which time I sh/pat him til' 7:00. He never wakes at exactly the same time though, so I dont think its habit. He is also VERY hungry at the first wake up time (only 3 to 4 hours after DF!) so I BF a full feeding at that time. The other wake ups I have to sh/pat or Pu/Pd. sheesh, alot of abbreviations here.
Anyway, all the books, including Tracy's say that ds should be sleeping through the night by 4 months, but try telling Matthew that!
I've tried her suggestion of feeding more during the day, but he won't take more. There's nothing in the book about how to get a baby to take more
Okay, I've rambled on long enough. Im pleased to meet everyone and looking forward to reading the posts.
Julie
Matthew 1/31/05 Spirited
-
Welcome Julie - amazingly another spirited one - we will definitely be supportive! about sleeping through the night - there is no hard and fast rule. they hopefully get there in the end, but sometimes even when they eat all "they can" during the day it is still not enough. remember that they all have different sleep needs, stomache sizes, food needs, etc.
i have actually tracked when dd2 has slept through and it does not seem to matter how much she takes in total, but really comes down to last feed before bed + dream feed for her. if both of these are good amounts she might sleep through (or at least only wake once for food). it is frustrating when you want them to do "what other babies" are doing, but remember that 6-7 hours of sleep in one block at night technically = sleeping through. dd1 used to sleep from 7pm - 3am from 8 weeks and i had to remind myself that was 8 hours!! some people put their bubs down at 10pm and then they do 8 hours.... so bear all this in mind.
we have not been taking olivia out really - i feel terrible thinking about it - we seem to be doing things in turns unless absolutely necessary b/c i am so afraid of how she will sleep or eat (fussy and needs the right setting to eat). we are still just working on extending her awake time and ability to handle stimulation.
-
Hi, Ladies. I feel bad for not posting for a long time, but I have reread everyone's posts to try and catch back up with things.
Julie, I wouldn't worry about your lo not sleeping through just b/c the books say they should. The books also say lo's should be taking 1.5-2 hour naps, but mine and several others only take 30 minutes. I also used to fret about getting DD out and about, and I was so frustrated not to have a life outside of the house. But I have eased into it and taken it in stride. Once I got her trained to fall asleep without being held and crying, I could get her out so that she would fall asleep in the stroller. Granted, I don't go to many restaurants because she does get fussy, so I try to go to shopping places instead. But I totally understand being envious of moms toting their babies around like it is no big deal. I went to a friend's house today and everyone had their babies, but I left Kelsey at home for fear that she would get overtired and throw a fit and I wouldn't be able to calm her. It all comes with time.
I also wanted to ask about the 4 hour routine for those of you charting into that territory. If we do this, and we don't have a DF anymore, does this mean Kelsey will get 4 feedings only? Is this okay if I just up the amount of intake? I worry about her not getting enough to eat, but I suppose she'll let me know. :?: Plus, her naps are only 30 minutes, and she's tired after 2 hours of waking, which puts us at EASA anyway, so should I just try to increase her A time gradually so that I'm not left with a ton of A time after S? Does what I'm asking make sense? I just don't want to be on 4 hour and her want to sleep after 2 hours, and then after a 30 minute nap have 1.5 hours until next feed. Maybe going longer btw feedings will promote longer naps? Has anyone encountered this yet? I think if I'm going to start 4 hour I will have to devote some serious time into pu/pd to extend her naps or something. Thanks.
-
Deb- That's what I was thinking - not starting the four hour routine until she sleeps the night - hence -is getting enough calories during the day.
Welcome Julie! Your DS and my DD are but a few days apart! It is frustrating to not have them sleeping thru the night, don't you think? We ventured out to a birthday party for our goddaughter last night and there were about three other babies there around the same age as Leah. Of course they were all sleeping 7-7 or 9-9 etc. The most frustrating thing is when I hear: Is she a good baby? Does she sleep thru for you? I usually just tell them she is a great baby and she sleeps well - it's really not a lie I guess.... But what am I suppose to say: Oh she's a bad baby cause she gets up multiple times during the night????? Frustrating!
Glad to hear everyone is doing well! Like I said we went to a b-day party last night past Leah's bedtime. This is the first time we have done this. She took a late night catnap, then we had her in bed by 9. (Usual bedtime is 7) She got up around 12:30, then slept till 5:30, then slept till 7. That was better than what DH and I thought was going to happen. DH was so funny. The whole time at the b-day party he kept coming up to me with this scared look on his face and saying: I'm nervous about what is going to happen tonight. I would just feel better if she were in bed sleeping now. So cute for him to worry! She's got him wrapped around her finger already!
Smiles to all!
-
this is my touchy baby's infamous pouty lip. :lol: just had to share :wink:
-
Oh my god Branwen - too cute!!!!!!! I would love to see pics of everyone else's little ones. I will try to see what I can find to show everyone!
Heather - I worry about moving to the four hour routine becuae of the same thing. Right now we get so messed up because of the 30-45 minute naps. For example: Today she woke early from nap #1, then had 1 and 1/2 hours of activity, then she needed to eat - but she was so tired, she couldn't eat well and kept waking from her nap hungry. It's a vicious cycle! She is a fussy eater so she eats best when she has just woken from a nap. SOme days I think that maybe a four hour routine would cure all, but who knows?!?! At least your DD sleeps the night. MIne was up twice last night to eat!!! I feel like she is a newborn again!
-
I want to see pics too! :D
Ahhh, yes the four hour routine. :roll: My daughter is doing well on it but we aren't on a true 4 hour routine...and some days, like yesterday its all out of whack. According to Tracy you won't have 4 feeds because you keep the dream feed until 7 or 8 months- so 5 feeds. I don't have a dream feed but I cluster in the evenings. This is what we are doing the past few days (except for hellish yesterday) 6, 10, 2, 5:30, 7.
Yes- the whole nap thing. EASY really doesn't work too well without those longer naps or awake time. Even with Eirwen sometimes she'll go down for the nap early and even though she sleeps 2 hrs she will still wake up and have an 1 hr left to a feed. I still don't know how to extend her, esp in the mornings...I mean her cues are so obvious and if I don't put her down when she cues she will take forever! I've learned my lesson with that :wink:
Oh Julie- welcome and also don't worry about the night esp because you're breastfeeding. My LC told me that breastmilk can be digested in 40 min or less! :shock: I couldn't take her out until a month ago- she was such a fussy one! She would cry and want to nurse to tune everything out. When we started EASY everything changed and now I do errands during A time and she loves it :D Give it time! Oh, if you are nursing, and he seems done you could try changing his diaper or taking a "break" and then offer the breast again...that is how I got Eirwen to eat more, eventually she caught on.
-
Thanks for all your input. I'm so glad I found this board.
Branwen, your little one is so cute. I too would like to see everyone else's babies.
As for the four hour routine: we found this book just three weeks ago so Matty has been on it a little over two weeks. We started with the four hour, we try to make it look like this:
A - 7:00 wake
E - 8:00 eat (he usually wont eat right when he gets up)
S - 9-11
E - 11:00
A - 11:30-1
S - 1-3
E - 3
A - 3:30-5
S - 5-6
6-7:30 mellow activity/bath and eat when hungry
This was working out pretty well the first week or so, but Matthew has decided to nap shorter periods of time. so we often wind up doing Eat, Activity, Sleep, Activity, Eat, Activity, Sleep and so on.
For some reason his 1.5 - 2 hour naps are going for 45 - 1.5 and we usually have to pat/sh him or do pu/pd. I think he is starting to teeth so I wonder if that may be whats going on?
Also, get this: We treat ourselves to a night time sitter a few nights a week (otherwise I would not be able to function without those two full nights of sleep!) and with the sitter the last two nights she was here, he slept from DF at 11 all the way through until 5:00 and last night he slept until 6:00 AM!!!!
Before you get too excited at that, the night I had him in between, he had DF at 11:00 and was up at 1:30 (feed, yes he was hungry), 2:45, gave him mylecon and settled him back down, 4:50 (feed again!), then 6:00 (i patted him back to sleep until 7:00). See Christine - you are not the only one :D
Now we'll see what happens tonight. Kind of worried about it as I have a very full work day tomorrow.
If anyone has input on teething, let me know. Im hoping thats what it is with the shorter naps.
Julie
-
Ah thanks Julie! It is so nice to know that I am not the only one up at 1:30 in the morning going: You just ate! You can't possibly be hungry baby!!!
-
Any excuse to show everyone my gorgeous little girl!!
-
She's adorable Sarah!!! Here is my DD Leah.
-
Hi Everyone,
I've been reading your posts and there's so many and there so interesting it's taking me a long time to get thru them all. So I've skipped the last couple of pages so I'd have time to write. I just want to say thank you for everyone who's written because it's such a huge help just knowing other moms and baby's are going thru the same thing. I'll try and answer anyone's questions as I ramble on below.
My dd is 4 months old and weighs about 14 lbs. We started 3 hr easy at 10 weeks doing sh/pat for sleeping. It took a good 5 days before she started getting it and that was without giving in to the breast or bottle once. I was really lucky the my dh is home (currently looking for work) because when I got absolutely fed up I would call him and he'd take over and I made sure he didn't let her fall asleep on him.
At around 12 weeks she wouldn't nap for any longer than 45 mins and I would have to sh/pat for 40 mins until her next E. Also she would only eat 3 oz at a time. So I took the plunge and started trying the 4hr easy. I looked at Tracy's transition schedules in the book but I didn't want to keep changing her schedule so much and I knew she was never overly hungry after 3 hours so this is what I tried.
I basically aim for a 4 hour easy but because activity time is rarely 2 hrs the day ends around 6:30pm. I try not to feed her any sooner than 3.5 hours. So I usually do 15 mins to 1/2 hr activity time after she wakes.
Her naps have improved by leaps and bounds since moving closer to the 4hour easy. She still wakes up at about the 30-45 mins mark but puts herself back to sleep. For the past two days she's had 3 2hour naps w/o a single sh/pat. At night she usually wakes around 3:00, 5:00 and 6:00, but all I have to do is reswaddle or flip her to the other side (she mostly side sleeps). It seems she just wants to know that I'm there if she needs me. So, I'm in and out in 2 mins. flat. Once in awhile she's really good and sleeps straight thru to 6:30.
A 6:45 mobile/diaper while bottle warms & I drink juice for some energy
E 7:00 5 oz Nestle GoodStart Formula with Playtex liner bottles
A 7:15 sit w. pillow, floor play, booster chair while I load dishwasher
S 8:15 sit for 2 mins and pat bum then diaper, swaddle in crib, turn her on side btwn bolsters and she sucks her thumb and falls asleep
A 10:15 delay w. mobile and take extra long diaper so it's at least 3.5 hrs since last feed.
E 10:30 5 oz
A 10:45 stroll/floor play
S 12:00
A 2:00
E 2:15 5 oz
A 2:30 sit w. pillow, floor play, chair in kitchen
S 3:30
A 5:00 sometimes do a bath here if she wakes up too early, this nap is usually hard to make longer than 1 hr.
E 5:45 6 oz
A 6:00 sit w. pillow, floor play
S 6:30
E DF at 10:40 6 oz
Also, I switched two days ago to a fast flow nipple. Her feedings were a nightmare almost all the time before the switch. She would arch her back and push with her legs and move her head all around. It took her a good 1/2 hour to drink 4 oz. Now she only gets fussy after drinking 5 oz in about 15 mins and I know she's done.
Also another thing for those struggling with short naps is that I never gave in. I always would keep sh/patting till she was in the crib for 1.5 hours. This is probably impossible for those moms with toddlers too.
Anyways my dd is starting to stir. And I always like to end her nap on a positive note so I better go.
Have a good day everyone, Tarri
-
I have been reading all your posts for quite some time but didn't find the time to post messages because we have been out on trips and my DD's naps have become 45 mins:(
I saw all your cute babies. They are so adorable. Eirwen's mom, don't worry about your trip. Since your daughter is doing so good, a short trip will not do any harm. My problem was we changed the routine before she got used to it very well. It was nice to read all the schedules. I am going to try some of them.
My DD, Diya is 20 wks old and she is a angel/textbook baby and spirited with respect to sleep. She was addicted to the paci when she was 11 wks old and I had to wean her off that and then she started sleeping on her own sucking her thumb after that. One good thing because of her paci addictions is that she started sleeping on her own. I don't rock her/ pat/shh her except when she is overtired. We went to 4 hr EASY and she started taking 2 2 hr naps and I thought that I had cracked it. And then, I had to got out on errands everyday during her naptime for 4 days and then we went to a trip for 2 days and all her naps went wacko. I have always noticed one thing with my daughter. Whatever we do for days, that becomes a habit for her. So if I can make her nap for 2 hrs for 2 days, then she will do that. But I don't know how to do it because she goes to sleep on her own. Only thing I can change is, her awake time. I tried 1.45 hrs and 2 hrs, they didn't work. Maybe, I have to try 2.15 hrs.
Christine, how is Leah's paci addiction? Try giving it to her until it soothes her for a min and then pull it out. If she cries, repeat the same thing. The key is that you should not let her go beyond stage 2 sleep with that. That's when she'll associate that with going to sleep and look for it. I used to give it to my DD for naps for 3 weeks. After I took it out completely,she started using her thumb. Until then, even though she knew how to suck her thumb, she wouldn't do it to go to sleep.
Tarri, what is your DD's B'day? I want to see if I can use her schedule for my DD
Before I end my novel, what do you guys do for activity with your babies. I don't remember if this has been posted before. Since our babies grow up so much every week, it will be helpful to see what they like now.
Take care
Vidya
Diya(1/25/05)
-
Tarri, that's very interesting about the nipple flow. Maybe that's Leah's problem too. She fusses horribly at the bottle, arching her back and kicking out her legs like you say. Maybe I will try a new nipple size....
-
Hi again everyone,
Christine, Leah is gorgeous, I can never seem to catch my DD smiling on camera like you have!
Tarri, you seem to have done things the same way I did, with similar results! I never bothered with the gradual change from 3 to 4 hours either, because I knew my DD was never starving after 3 hours, and it does seem to have improved her eating. She no longer rolls the teat around in her mouth after a few ounces!! I had her on a fast flow teat from about 3 months and it made a huge difference, she can take 7oz in 10/15 mins now. (My DD weighs 13lb and is now 19 weeks)
I seem to be having days when DD is really tired and will wake for 2 hours then sleep for 2 hours, but today she only had 1.5 hours each time, and then she woke halfway and I had to ssh/pat. That tends to happen when shes overtired, but today I think she was just more awake than usual!
And I agree about not giving in, I never picked her up either as she doesn't cry, just shouts and sings to herself! I've only had to ssh/pat for 20 mins max, usually its a few mins and it acts like hypnosis, I can see her eyelids get heavy and I then leave the room.
Regarding the paci issue, Maddy generally spits hers out after a few minutes sucking so I'm trying not to be too worried. She prefers her fingers anyway (a whole fist sometimes!)
-
Hi everyone,
Maddys mum, my dd is 16 weeks and 4 days old.
Diya's mum, my dd's birthday is Feb. 19, 2005.
Leah's mum, definately give the fast nipple a try. I used to have a very hard time feeding her almost every time and I haven't had a problem since I switched :D . I would keep the slow flow for the dreamfeed though because I tried it for the first time last night and it was a big disaster :x . It was too fast for her to drink while she was half asleep so she kept dribbling so much it soaked her crib sheet and I had to change it. Then while dh was holding her she did this huge burp and spit up a pile so I had to change her too. So much for her sleeping thru the dreamfeed. Luckily she didn't cry and went back to sleep :D .
Have a good day everyone.
-
Hi everyone. I have a quick question. Since 4 months seems to be the mark to attempt a transition to 4 hour EASY, I have a concern. Should I be doing this even though Kelsey's naps are only 30 minutes? I can't extend them, and she's ready for sleep after 2 hours max. What do you think?
Thanks
-
HI everyone:
Heather: Is Kelsey eating okay? if she is not eating enough or tends to snack, I would try the four hour in order to gether to eat better. Thats what we had to do with Matty. Otherwise, if everything else is working okay, perhaps you should wait a few more weeks.
Sarah and Christine: Your lo's are beautiful!
I would post a pic of Matty but it will take me awhile to figure out which picture to retrieve and I have no time!
Okay, so I told you that Matthew had slept through til 6:15 with my sitter. Well, I had him last night and here was his nighttime schedule:
10:30 DF (6 oz, he usually has 8 oz)
2:15!!!! Hungry! Full BF
3:30 - crying, had to change diaper and sh/pat to sleep
4:40!!!! up again!!! sh/pat
5:50 UP AGAIN!! AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! :( This time I gave in and BF him, but only one side hoping he would eat at 7:00
6:20 - sh/pat
at 6:35 He was up again and I just let him get up (wake up time is around 6:45 to 7:00)
I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS!!! I sh/pat him all the time and he still keeps getting frequent wakings (at different times).
The only difference is that when the sitter is with him, he sleeps in his crib in his nursery, and when I have him, he sleeps in a co-sleeper next to the bed in my room.
I've thought about trying him in his nursery when I have him, but if he wakes all those times it will be very hard going in there 5 times a night. As it is, I barely get any sleep!
Sorry to vent, but IM TIRED!!!!!!!!
Julie :lol:
-
Vent away Julie!!!! I feel for you. Leah was up like four times last night, or more...I think I lost track. She also woke hungry - growth spurt maybe?
Heather - I am in the same boat that you are. Leah's naps have become 30-45 minutes latley. I want to transition to four hours, but things get so messed up already with three hours that I could never follow Tracy's guidlines in the book becuase naps are so screwy!!! We are already falling into the bad habit of eating right before sleep becuase that's how it works out with naps. Then she doesn't eat well becuase she is too tired, then she is hungry again 3 hours MAX! It's a vicious cycle.
-
Tarri-
I just tried the fast flow nipple for Leah at this last feed and she downed the entrie bottle (5 ounces) in like 10 minutes with NO fussing! Before we would have to space the bottle out over an hour time period, little by little. Now I know it is too early to be so hopeful, but if this is the answer as to why she was so HORRIBLE come bottle time I am forever in debt to you! :D I am off to buy more nipples, I just bought 2 to try, she uses playtex ventaire bottles, do you use the disposables? Do you like them? They use the same nipples, and I had always considered trying them in hopes that they may reduce DD's gas. I'll keep you updated on our hopeful progess with better feedings! :wink:
-
Hi everyone,
Maddys mum, my dd is 16 weeks and 4 days old.
Diya's mum, my dd's birthday is Feb. 19, 2005.
.
OMG i must really have bad PPD - it was only seeing this that i realized how old Olivia is - Thitz - our dd's share the same birthday - i lost track and thought she was 14 1/2 weeks :oops: i actually responded to someone's post yesterday and mentioned my 14wo.!!
can't write much this week or so b/c Dh has to work from home (don't remember if i explained but we're having visa problems!!) so will try to get on tonight and write and post photos.
BTW - olivia has slept through most nights in the last week so we feel things are really turning around here!! :D
-
Tarri and Christine- even though my dd is bf she gets a bottle with daddy every now and then, we use the faster flow now too. I'm sorry I never thought of this as my dd is most bf.
Christine- your dd is SOOO sweet.
Maddy'smum- those eyes! Gosh I get so weepy now at all these babies!
I will have to attach another one of Eirwen sometime looking a bit happier :wink:
Today was a good day! Will write more later but must go eat and dh just got home!
-
Ok, I just realized the I no longer had this board marked to email me when replies hit :oops: , so I've missed a ton of new posts. Sorry, and thanks to everyone that replied about my concern on transitioning to 4 hour.
Julie, you mentioned that your lo slept well for the sitter while in his crib. Kelsey got to the point where she grunted and groaned all night while in her bassinet beside me and didn't get much sleep (neither did I). At 8 weeks I moved her to her crib and we've both been sleeping great since. I was scared to death to move her to another room, and I would check on her 5 times a night for weeks, but she was always fine. I found it easier on all of us. I might help him sleep better, and you won't have to be up with him. Just a thought.
Kelsey does eat really well, and I'm sure she could go 4 hours if I increased her bottle amount. I'm going to wait just a few more weeks, though, before making the move. Like every change thus far, I'm nervous.
I bought her an exersaucer today even though I thought she was too small for it, but she ended up really liking it. She's only like 12 pounds, but she held herself up pretty well. She kind of got frustrated because she couldn't reach some of the toys to get them in her mouth. Isn't it funny how they are jamming everything into their mouth's now? Anyway, I bought the exersaucer becasue she was becoming really discontent sitting in the bouncer and was always trying to lean forward and "go somewhere".
Hope everyone is doing well. Lots of hugs to those of you not getting enough rest.
-
Kelsey likes to browse BW, too! :lol:
-
Good Morning everyone,
Yesterday we had a very good day. I actually got to sit down and eat my dinner while I watch an entire episode of Y&R :) .
Debinoz, I kind of cheat with keeping track of by dd's age because I write it on the calender at the end of each week. However I did forget my Dad's birthday :oops: . But that not too bad because my Dad forgot it too!
Leah's Mom, glad you had success with the nipple :) . I use the playtex disposables with the natura fast flow nipple. I love the disposables because no matter what angle you hold the bottle at they won't get air in the nipple. Because the bag shrinks as they suck and keeps the nipple full of milk. This is especially helpful if they're fussy or looking around the room too much. I recently tried the Dr.Browns bottles and hated them, I'm going to return them. I found it really hard to keep the liquid from sloshing around and in the nipple.
Have a good day everyone :) !
-
Julie- I was thinking the same thing. Might be time to move her out of your bedroom. I moved Eirwen out at 7 weeks because every little noise she would make would wake me. It was also just too much anxiety for me, jumping up at every sound.
It was hard though, until about 9 weeks we left the bassinet in our room "just in case" until eventually I moved it downstairs because I knew I'd never fully have her in her crib if I didn't get it out of my room! :wink: I was sad for a few days but once I started sleeping better I was happy I did it. She also started sleeping longer once we did that. I think the cats coming into our room in the early morning were waking her and our tossing and turning, snoring, bathroom trips etc. DH really loved it because I wasn't so freaked out all the time about her noises...and we could cuddle more which was a bonus :wink:
Heather- yes, everything in the mouth! Drool everywhere! Any luck with the naps yet? Kelsey is sooo cute and sweet. I love that she has so much hair!!
Deb- I hope everthing is ok! How are the meds working?
Baby Eirwen has toy preferences now :D She didn't before. Are you guys noticing this? Some she smiles at and reaches for...others she looks at and turns her head away- it's so cute.
She is starting to finally enjoy tummy time, doesn't cry like before but just props on her elbows and looks around...I know she has the muscle strength to roll over, I've seen it, but she's just not interested in that I guess!
-
Everyone's babies are so precious. I love it!!! It's such a bond between mothers, isn't it?
Branwen, no luck with naps, but I'm not worried about it. As long as she's content with short naps, I will be, too.
Question: Does tylenol make a baby sleepy? I had to give some to Kelsey yesterday because I believe she is at the beginning stages of teething and she had acted miserable for 2-3 days. After having the tylenol, she took a 1.5 hour nap. I'm not sure if that was the reason because it was her first nap which she has done up to 2 hours here and there. She hasn't had any today, so I'll see how this nap goes.
Have a great day!!
-
Heather-
Kelsey is adorable! It's great to see her at the computer, Leah sits just like that sometimes. The hair!!!! My DD has a hat on in her picture - there is nothing underneath though!!!! I also bought Leah an exersaucer and she loves it. i bought the Leap Frog one, it's great! Just like you, I am soooo nervous to move to a four hour schedule. I have no idea where to begin becuase Tracy's suggestions won't work with naps and such. How many naps does Kelsey take a day? Seeing they're so short, I was just wondering. Leah takes more when she has short naps. Tylenol makes my DD very sleepy. She slept thru the night once when I gave it to her for her shots.
So I just heard this really weird noise so I went into Leah's room (she was napping) and she is sucking so hard on her hands that it's making this smacking sound. :D She's awake, now I jsut wish she would suck on her hands at night instead of waking for the paci :?
EVERYTHING goes in the mouth! The other day DH came home form work and was poking Leah with his tape measure. She grabbed the end of it and tried to put it in her mouth. :shock: DH freaked out and looked at me like I was going to kill him!
DD is still happily sucking away on her fingers in the crib. I wonder how long she will stay in there.... :wink:
-
Hello everyone
sorry i've been a stranger... :)
The babies are so gorgeous!!
Good luck to everyone who is trying the 4 hour transition. Luka is still on 3 hourly, sometimes 3.5 hourly which is a big improvement because a couple of weeks ago (at the start of this thread) he was on 2.5 hourly!
PU/PD has worked for us when I'm not too exhausted in the middle of the night.. so thanks for that suggestion Branwen. :wink:
I must admit that we've been cheating with the naps. We bounce on a birthing ball till he's drowsy and then we put him down in his carry cot (his crib is in our room which is outside..we still live with my parents unfortunately) And if he wakes up mid nap, I try pat/shh first, but usually resort to swinging the carry cot till he goes back to sleep. :oops:
I'm aware that this is going to backfire on me very soon because he is getting too big for the carry cot. I'll be in trouble then! But I think we'll just do PU/PD since it works at night.
Last night he had his last feed at 11pm (not a dreamfeed) and woke at 1am. I knew he wasnt hungry, probably cold since it's winter here, and I gave him my finger and he went back to sleep.
I've decided to not let him regress. He's shown me that he can sleep from 11pm till 4am and then till 8am, so if he wakes before 4am, I simply don't feed him. Do I sound mean?
Congratulations Deb on Olivia sleeping through!
How much does an exersaucer cost over where you ladies live? In South Africa, the only place that has them available is charging ridiculous prices. R1500 which I believe is 125 pounds, or 187 USD. I don't know the exchange rate for SA and Aus.
Expensive eh?
Hope everyone has a lovely night tonight!
I'll click on the email notification too!
-
Schae- Nice to hear from you! No you are NOT mean. I did the same with Eirwen. Once she started sleeping through 9 to 5 at 3 months (yes I'm so lucky! don't hate me!) I would not feed her if she woke in the night, which was very rarely anyway but I felt she had proven that she could go without until morning. The only acception I made to this was when she was giving me obvious hungry cues-usually coincided with growth spurts. She is very easy for me to read so we haven't had any "regressions" which I was so worried about at first.
Oh looks like 60 to 100 USD over here on Amazon.com. I wonder why they are so pricey in SA?! :shock:
Heather- as long as you are happy with the schedule and Kelsey is good I wouldn't worry either! And yes on tylenol and the sleepies. One day Eirwen was so fussy and I didn't know what was up. She seemed warm but had no fever and was mouthing everything frantically but wasn't hungry. I suspect teething so I gave her some and she quieted right down and had a long nap.
I'll be out for awhile- travel to CO to introduce baby to our families. Wish me luck and pray our routine doesn't all go to pot while there! I'll be thinking of everyone!
Here is a much happier picture! :D
-
Christine-It's so funny that our daughters have the same bd and are so much alike. She takes 4 short naps a day; the 1st one is about 40-45 minutes, the rest are 30 mins. I know that when we go back to the ped at 5 months she's going to tell me that she needs to be on 4 hours, but it just won't work yet. Most doctors here don't know about babywise or baby whisperer, but still suggest feeding increments. Also, this morning when Kelsey woke at the 45 minute mark she was cooing and sucking on her hands, and I prayed she would put herself back to sleep, but after 5 mins or so she gave me the "hey I'm up come and get me" fuss. When I do transition to 4 hour, I'm going to try pu/pd to extend her naps. Also, I saw your post about "flat head syndrome", and Kelsey has the same thing. I've heard that once they are sitting up more that it will reshape on it's own regardless of them sleeping on their backs. This is another reason I got the exersaucer.
Schae-I was doing the same "song and dance" to get Kelsey to sleep for naps, but pu/pd really worked in honestly 1 day to get her down with minimal wind down. Most of the time I still put her down drowsy, but she's gone down awake before and still slept. And, no, it's not mean to not feed him when he wakes like that. You did exactly right. Otherwise he'll develop a habit of feeding all night which is what you're trying to move away from. Our exersaucer cost 58 USD, and it has an animal theme. I thought I was buying the kind that converts into a walker with wheels, but only after I had it all together did I realize it doesn't. :( It's still nice, though, and since she hates tummy time at least this way she'll get some time off of her back and head.
Brawen-Good luck on your trip and my prayers for your safety.
-
Heather- Our DD's are alot alike. Leah will also take a "good" morning nap (45 mintues), then the rest are 30-45 minutes. The part that is hard is that she can only stay awake about an hour and a half, MAX two - but she's really overtired then. Then feeds become all over the place and EASY turns into EASAESA etc. Oh well, someone told me it can be modified as long as they are not falling asleep on the bottle or brest. Maybe we'll have to tackle the four hour transistion together. That way we can tell each other our ups and downs etc. :D Not sure I'm ready to start yet altough I know I should..... :wink:
Schae - I will confess too. Leah takes some of her naps in the stroller outside becuase she sleeps so well there. Give it time and it should all fall into place.
Have fun on your trip Branwen. I hope all goes well. We are taking Leah camping next month......I'm very nervous about how that's going to go!
-
I just know that every baby is sooooo different, and they are not going to fall into the routine we would like all the time. The book is just a guideline, a helpful one, in my opinion, and we should use it for what it's worth. I know so many people with babies, and none of us do the same things in terms of feeding, sleeping, etc. I think we are all doing great because 1. they're still alive, 2. we're still alive, and 3. no one has removed the children from our care! :wink:
-
just a quick one as i said i am having limited access to computer lately but:
Olivia has slept through 6 of last 7 nights! :D unfortunately i have been waking and having trouble falling back to sleep (? meds)
Olivia also has flat head and i am trying not to think about it - she loves tummy time but i have not been good about turning her in cot or movinbg her head - hoping it will all be fine later on (naive??)
FWIW I thought i'd give my take on BW since you guys seem to be unnecessarily beating yourself up if you have them nap outside the cot, etc. and i agree with Heather (ignore me if i am out of line) I noticed that a lot on other boards/threads and that people are often trying to follow a timetable/routine set in stone... When i did BW with Alex i did not have a computer at home and had no idea about the boards. I chose to follow BW because it seemed the most balanced approach (not a set routine, but with clear information about cues and obsevation techniques). Dh and I used to run to the book in the first 3 months to decipher what she wanted from the charts on cues and body signs... and we always got her to bed when she yawned - sometimes this was in the car if we were heading out somewhere, sometimes in the stroller and rarely in the pouch. i never once thought BW meant that all sleeps had to happen in the cot - it is more about self settling so as long as you are not USING the car/stroller/etc as a prop to put them to sleep all the time then i think it is fine - if a bub falls asleep on their own and sometimes it is in a different environment it is no big deal in my mind. HTH
Christine i will want to hear all about your camping trip b/c Dh has been desperate to get us all camping agaiin - i have not allowed it since alex was born as i don't see how you do it with under 3yo, but i will be interested to hear from you.
will get online later guys and chat more - glad to hear many of you are having successes (even if some of them are small ones)
-
Oh yes Deb, camping is totally DH's idea. We have done it every year since we've been together (10 years now!!!! - Married 5) He thinks she'll do alright, but I am really nervous! I plan on having her sleep in the pack-n-Play which she is used to from the sitters house, plus I will bring the sound machine. I am hoping to make everything seems like home (even bringing the portable CD player so we can play the sleepy time music!) We'll see, I'll let you know next month. Thanks for the words of advice about following BW to the tee. It's nice to get expert advice from someone whose been there already! Take care!
-
Christine-okay, too weird. Our babies are born on the same day, and we've both been married for 5 years. Not May 20 by any chance :?:
-
Hello everyone
I'm new (just registered), after having heard about the book & this forum on another website. I've got a baby son who's 100% breastfed - born 17 feb, so he's 4mths today.
DS' schedule was OK until we moved from France to China 3 weeks ago, after which his routine seems to have turned haywire - mixture of jet lag & change in environment I suppose. He's now only getting 10hrs sleep in 24hrs & he hardly naps during the day & has started to wake up in the night again. I'm worried about the adequacy of my breastmilk quantity-wise due to move-related stress, so had taken to nursing him whenever he cries - which is often ie every 2hrs or so.
I haven't got the book yet - in your opinion, is it too late to start on EASY ?
-
Hi IsaMum and welcome!
To answer your question, it is never too late to start on EASY.
Happy Monthday to your baby! And I look forward to hearing more from you!
-
Nope, June 24th - But still very close!!!! I don't want to say anything, for fear of jinxing myself - but DD slept from the dream feed till 5 am for the past few nights, then ate and went back to bed till 6:30 or 7!!!! Yah!
-
First of all, Christine, congrats on a few nights sleep. Did you do anything different? Where does Leah sleep?
Welcome Isamum.
All the baby pics are terrific, keep them coming.
I think you guys are right about maybe trying Matty out in his own room for sleep. I've been hesitating because if he wakes up the 4 or 5 times a night and I have to run to the nursery, I will be even MORE EXHAUSTED. But I'm hoping that he sleeps better in there. Im concerned I'll hear every noise on the monitor and keep running in there a million times instead of just being able to peak over at every noise :lol: and see he's fine.
Guess I'll have to do it at some point! Anything to get some sleep.
I've been reading the sleep boards and a couple of mothers mentioned that when they went to the 4 hour easy, the babies slept better. I understand your hesitation with trying it out though.
Julie
Matthew - 1/31/05 Spirited (boy is he!)
-
Christine-I'm sure you're feeling much better having had some decent sleep yourself. Best wishes for more good nights to come.
Julie-Don't fret. I know we worry about our lo's, but just try to hold back from checking on him unless it's an urgent noise. I promise you will feel much better after a few nights. It's best for both of you.
-
Well, our new routine is going well. Thanks for the encouragement about not letting him regress in terms of feeding in the middle of the night. It really makes me feel better!
Thought I'd share a photo of Luka too! :D
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/LukasMom/DSCN2783.jpg)
I don't know quite how to add an attachment yet..give me time! :D
-
Schae- He is sooo cute!!!!!!
Julie- Leah sleeps in the crib in her own room , which is right across the hallway from ours, so I don't even use a monitor - that way I only hear her when she is really awake - I don't want to hear the sleep noises. I really didn't do anything different, I changed to a faster flow nipple which has helped with getting more food into her during the day. That could have been the problem, but I am not hoping for miracles! One day at a time. I would definitley try him in his own room.
-
Schae-too cute!!!
We have had a weird day. Kelsey usually takes her 1st nap at 9:45 am for about 40 minutes (the longest one she takes). However, this morning she cried for an hour and wouldn't sleep. So I fed her at 11 as usuall, and she fell asleep toward the end of the bottle. I sat her up to burp her and she was fast asleep. I put her in her crib thinking she would pop right up awake, but she didn't. She slept from 11:45 am till 2 pm when I woke her! I know she was purely exhausted, but I didn't want her to sleep too long even though that sounds weird because I complain about her 30 minute naps. I just had a fear it would throw off her whole day. Anyway, she took her 2:00 bottle, then we ran out. No nap after that feeding; she wasn't tired obviously. Then she took her 5:00 bottle, and got sleepy, but woke back up and played. I tried to put her down at 6:30 for a quick nap, but she must have been overtired. She got so upset that her nose got stopped up. I had to suction it, which made her even more mad, and I didn't get her calmed down until 6:50. She's sleeping now, it's been about 20 minutes. I still have to feed her at 8, and I pray she sleeps as usuall tonight (9pm-8am). What a weird day, huh?
-
Im concerned I'll hear every noise on the monitor and keep running in there a million times instead of just being able to peak over at every noise :lol: and see he's fine.
Julie - when we were having issues early on the first thing the child nurse said to me was to get her in her own room (olivia had to be THE noisiest sleeper ever - she would grumble and grunt up to 45 min before a feed) so at 7 weeks we did this. she is on the opposite side of the house - we have a monitor and i can hear her, but no longer hear the really quick or low level noises that are really part of sleeping rather than "waking" and needing us. it was amazing how quick it improved things because i kept thinking she was waking for food and was intervening too fast... they are more likely to resettle themselves if we are not right there. also everyone kept reminding me to wait for an actual cry rather than just a stir or grumble. i still struggle with that sometimes. it is freezing cold in our house at night and i dread night feeds, but the monitor really is fine!! you'll probably sleep better :D
I need help with a couple of connected issues - hope someone can offer ideas: although we are not ready for 4 hourly yet we struggle still with the end of the day. in an ideal world olivia would feed around 4:30pm and then go down for a catnap from 5:30-6:15. since she often refuses it we get into a situation where she is overtired after her bath and then doesn't feed well. we put her down knowing we will have to probably top her up 45 min later when she rests and realizes she is hungry. should i be transitioning somehow to 3 naps only?? what kind of timings shoudl, i aim for? she rarely takes a full feed at the first feed even after sleeping through the night (generally takes 4 oz/120 ml or so) so will not go longer than 3 hrly til the next feed (sometimes 2.5hrs), later on she can go 3-3.5... so confusing!!! any ideas?
she has also caught her big sister's cold so we are also suctioning her nose (fun!)
welcome Isamum if i have not said so already - we are getting into a big group and i am terrible keeping track of people. will try to get Dh to upload a photo of the girls to attach - i tried and nothing attached not sure what i am doing wrong (not too technical here :oops: )
-
Deb- I have the same issue as you do. Leah will not take a large morning feed, thus cannot go more than 3 hours till her next feed. I ahve been wanting to transision to a four hour routine, but I keep waiting for the day when she will take a full feed at 6:30. I'll have to think on this one. Maybe it would work out to go 3 hours, 3.5, 3.5, no that wouldn't work either....
So we NEVER set an alarm in our house becuase DD has always been up by 6:30 am at the latest. That's when we start our day. WELL.... yesterday I resettled her at 4 am and then she didn't wake up till 7:15 am. Ahhhh! DH was WAY late for work, but I got some more sleep. The problem was it threw the enitre day off! If it's not one thing, it's another!
-
I think it's okay to have different time lengths between different feeds. Who knows, maybe one day they'll surprise us and go 4 hours on their own. Things change so much and so often, we just have to do the best we can.
-
Leah's mom - your poor dh! but good for you, getting those extra minutes of sleep really makes a difference hey?
Deb - wish I could help with the nap issue. But I can't think of anything. :? I thought that formula fed babies generally go 4 hours between feeds.. shows how knowledgeable I am huh? lol!!
Luka went to sleep on his own tonight! I am over the moon, I'm even having a glass of wine. :lol:
Hope everyone else has/had a good night!
-
Well, I wish I could say I had a good night, but Matty was up about 5 times. Now to make things more interesting, he is refusing my breast during the day (but still taking it at night). Now Im worried he is weaning himself! I hope not.
We had a sitter today and dh and I were looking forward to going out and having lunch and doing some shopping, but even after a morning nap for two hours, I was just too darned tired and went to bad all day!!!
Im very frustrated by this.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.
Julie
Matthew - Spirited 4.5 months
-
Julie, what does Matty do when you try to bf? Is he just too interested in looking around, or does he act mad? Have you checked the bf forum?
-
we also had a bad night and then a bad morning - what a great fathers day gift :roll: we did not get to bed until 2am after the dream feed started at 11 as she would not eat nor would she sleep - it took a team approach from us both and in the end i got another 55ml into her and dh pat/shh her to sleep - we were so exhausted but as usual he fell right to sleep and i tossed and turned until 3 or so and then heard her at 6:30 (i refused to get up and assume she fell back to sleep as i got up to her at 7:30). then after a crappy 1st feed as usual, she would not go down for her 1st nap in spite of tired signs... so was up from 7:30 or earlier until 12:15 :evil: thankfully she then slept for 2hr15 and we are hoping we are back on track
BOTTOM LINE - THEY LIKE TO KEEP US ON OUR TOES!! what fun. how boring would it be if they actually did the same thing every day :lol:
-
Hi Everyone,
Looks like I'm not the only one who had a bad night :( . Although it wasn't nearly as bad as yours Debinoz. My dd woke at 9:30, 2:00 and every hour after that till 6:30am. I was just in and out quick though so I'm sure it wasn't hunger. For some reason she just couldn't get into a deep sleep :? .
Deboniz, I know I might sound like a broken record, but if your bottle feeding, have you tried a fast flow nipple? :idea:
Tomorrow my dd gets her second set of shots. I hope we don't have to wait too long at the doctor's office. And I hope she doesn't get sick.
For those thinking of switching to 4 hr EASY but afraid it won't work cause of the short naps, one good thing is if your willing to perservere with pu/pd or pat/sh, you only have to do it 3 times a day instead of 4 :) . Also, don't worry too much about it only being a 3.5 hr EASY, I would just really try to get at least one 2 hour nap out of them and then the day will probably just end early. Even Tracy's transition schedules have one schedule I think where the baby's in bed by 6:00pm but still gets up at 7:00am.
have a good night everyone, Tarri
-
Tarri - the teats for our bottles come in S/M/L and we use the M - with a colic flow regulator insert. not sure if we should move up to the largest teat yet - isn't that for when they are older?? i thought medium was pretty fast. maybe we'll try it.
-
My name is Deborah, and though I have been browsing the message boards for awhile, I just found this thread. My daughter, Maya, was born Jan 13.
I still have not finished reading all 15 pages of posts, but several of them caught my eye. In particular, several of you mentioned having two children about 19 mos apart. My husband and I were contemplating this, but I was wondering how Maya would take it (would she be ready to give up her crib?, how would a new one in diapers impact potty training?, etc). And from my standpoint, Maya is what I would call a high-maintenance baby, though she has definitely settled down some as she has gotten older. I don't know what I'd do if I had another one like her and a toddler.
How are the older kids taking having a baby around?
Deborah
Maya 01/13/05
-
Hi Everyone,
I am fairly new to this sight and have done a few postings here and there. I have a 19week old dd who is spirited. I have enjoyed reading this thread because it helps me realize how normal my situation is.
Leah's Mom: I have noticed a huge similarity between your little one and mine including sleep times and temperament. They would be one day a part in age. Mine was born Feb 5, 2005. Samantha has been alert from day one and has kept me on my toes with short naps, settling issues, poor night sleep, etc.
I have done lots of accidental parenting including co-sleeping for the last half of the night as well as a few naps per week with her. She can generally do a 4 hour stretch from about 10-10:30 to 2-2:30 AM at which point she needs a feed (she is exclusively b/f). She then wakes again around 4:30 or 5 AM for another feed. Some nights she is up several times after 3 AM and is hard to settle. Anyways, today is a new day and I am trying a 3.5 hour EASY this week. So far so good, she got up at 7 AM for a feed and I put her down at 8:50 AM for a nap and she is just waking now at 10:35 AM which is unusually good so I will feed her now. Gotta go!I will write back later.
Heather
-
Welcome Deborah and Heather! I have no advice for you Deborah, I still only have one child and plan to keep it that way for awhile! :D
Heather- Another spirited baby! As you can see we have lots of them on this post. Your DD does sound very similar to mine. Last night I fed her at 10:30, she woke at 2:30 for a feed, then again at 5. Some days I feel like I am regressing back to when she was first born!
We look forward to hearing from the two of you and hope to help you in any way we can, and maybe you could offer us some advice too! :wink:
-
Wish me luck...I'm starting pu/pd to extend Kelsey's 30 minute naps so we can move to 4 hour EASY. I just spent about 30 minutes with her and she's been lying there maybe asleep for almost 10 minutes. We're 30 minutes shy of 4 hours. I know she can make it, she bf and had 5 oz of formula at 8. I think she's trying to drop the only 2 bf I now do with her-morning and night. Speak of the devil...she's crying. Oh well. :cry:
-
Hi everyone! Thanks Christine for responding to my post. It's nice to know there are other babies like mine out there. I look forward to receiving some input on my situation. I am currently still wrapping my dd and giving her a paci for all naps and nighttime sleep. I tried one arm out a few times but she knocks the paci out of her mouth so I gave up but would like to wean her off of the wrap as it is getting very humid & hot here.
Christine, is Leah on a 4 hourly routine yet? If so, how is it going? Has anyone else tried it? I'm not totally convinced it's going to help her night wakings.
Here is my schedule from yesterday, any input would be greatly appreciated.
7 AM - Feed
8:50 AM - Nap
10:30 AM -wake/Feed
1:30 PM - Feed
2:00 PM - Nap (I couldn't get her down any earlier no matter what I
did)
2:30 PM - wake (only 30min, couldn't extend this one)
3:30 PM - Nap
4:30 PM - Wake/ Feed
5:00 PM - nap
6:00 PM - wake
7:00 PM - bath
8:55 PM - sleep (had trouble getting her down any earlier)
9:45 PM - wake/Feed
10:55 PM - sleep (two night wakings at 1:30 and 4:30 AM after that)
I have a couple of questions:
(1) She has been napping later in the afternoon, usually from 4-6 ish. Is that too late for a nap? Could that be affecting her night sleep?
(2) For the past 3 weeks she has been napping in the evening around 8 or 9 for an hour and then getting up again until 10:30 PM, I'm not sure why.
Thanks for reading this long post and any responses would be greatly appreciated
Heather
-
Sorry, I apologize. I missed that I fed her at 7:30 PM. Thanks
Heather
-
First of all, with regard to the swaddling, continue it if it helps settle her. Just strip her down to her diaper or onesie before you wrap her up. Also, if you know anyone handy with a sewing machine, you can get lighter-weight fabrics than the traditional flannel receiving blankets and hem them square to about the right size. My MIL sent me lightweight cloths that are made out a gauze-like diaper fabric, but they are bigger than cloth diapers, about the size of a receiving blanket. I use them for everything.
But to your questions...
A late afternoon nap will not interfere with night sleep. In fact it often helps them sleep better at night because they're not overtired when you are putting them to bed. I think Tracy talks about this in her second book.
As for evening wakings, I'm not sure about that. Once Maya goes down, she's normally down for the night. Anyone else?
-
Hi Deborah,
Thanks for responding. I have been using the miracle blanket with my dd in her diaper but it is a bit of a thicker fabric. She is outgrowing it anyways so I may check into a lighter fabric. Maya is sure cute in her photo. Is she a spirited baby? It sounds like she keeps you on your toes. Do you have her on a 3 hr or 4 hr EASY? I have been contemplating switching Samantha to a 4 hour EASY but have been hesitant because she still seems to need to eat every 3 hours. This week I have been trying to be a bit stricter with the EASY schedule but then I get depressed because I feel tied to the house more and I start having higher expectations of my dd to conform to a schedule. I'm trying to find a happy medium between going with the flow and following a loose schedule but it's hard some weeks. Thanks again for your response.
Heather
-
For my sake, Heather (Kelsey's mom) will now be referred to as Heather #1 and Samantha's mom, Heather #2 - no preferance, just the way I met you both! :D
Heather #1 - Please let me know how extending the naps goes. I tried to go to four hour feeds today, and was able to stretch the first one out to 3.45, then 3.5, then 3. But that left me with a problem becuase the last feed was at 5:00 and then she didn't want one before bed at 7.
Heather #2 - We are still on a three hour schedule as well, with night wakings at or around 3 and 5:30. My DD has also been waking up for the dream feed at 9:45. This has just started recently, could be their age? As for the late afternoon nap. Like Deborah said, late afternon naps are good for nighttime sleep, but Tracy also says too long of a late afternoon nap can affect nightime sleep. She suggests only a 45 minute nap during that time. This long nap could also be why you cannot get her to sleep any earlier then 9. We have had a lot of success with an early bedtime. Leah takes a catnap from 4:30-5:15, goes down for the night at 7, DF at 10, wake at 3, 5:30 - but then sleeps till almost 7 am. You could try and cut the last nap down to 45 mintues and see if she settles easier?
-
Heather #2 - do you have a bedtime routine established? This helped our DD with settling for the night. Also, a very consistent bedtime, ours is always 7:00. After a week or so of the consistent bedtime and routine she always goes to sleep right away.
-
HOLY COW!! what a great thread... wish i'd found it sooner! could have used some support for my crazy baby :lol: although you all have given me some ideas to try with my lo.
luke was born jan 23... that makes him almost 5 months. :!: when did that happen?! he's a touchy, which makes things oh so much fun.
i too have battled the horrid 45 min nap. we seem to have mostly come out of it now, since converting to a 4-hr routine in this past month. Leah's mom (Christine?), i was able to make the conversion after i read a post about nap training by meg's mom on the nap boards (it's now an announcement) he's a much happier baby now.
deborah, (maya's mom) things are rather crazy with 2 kids 20 mths apart, but if i was doing it all over again i'd still space them this way.
anyhow, howdy to you all.
-
Heather #2 (that's so funny), I think you are doing a great job. I totally understand how short naps affect the EASY routine. You have to do the best you can with Samantha's needs and personality. I agree with the others that a late afternoon cat nap is great so they won't be overtired for bedtime. As for her waking up after her 8 or 9 bedtime, hum, might she need more to eat during the day? I can't remember if she is bf or ff, but if she is on the bottle, you could try increasing her input. Might she not really be hungry and just needs help resettling. I would try pu/pd to get her back to sleep until you want to give her the df. At four months, she should be able to make it until the df after eating at 7:30 I believe. As Christine said, make sure you have a consistent bedtime routine. My only other unprofessional advice would be to try and give her a little activity time after feedings unless she just completely dozes off. I only say this because it might help you to establish a better routine for your sake.
Kelsey has been feeding at 4 hours now, even though her naps are still short. This makes EASY completely undoable, but I'll work on it. I haven't had much opportunity to work on extending her naps because we have been out and about quite often lately. By the 3rd feeding she's so tired because she's only used to being awake for 2 hours that she wanted a nap immediately (see Heather #2, Samantha's not alone in that), and it left 2 hours before the next feed. I just kept her busy and used the time for bath and she ate and has since gone to bed.
-
Welcome Jaime! I love to hear "howdy"; I'm from TN! I have also read that announcement about extending naps, but have been unsuccessful. Any special advice?
-
Christine, I do have a bedtime routine of bath/swaddle/feed, however, lately she can't seem to settle probably because of the long late afternoon nap. I was getting her down by 8 PM for quite awhile and then she started waking at 8:30 PM and not going down until later. I have kind of gone off of the bandwagon because of this. Tonight, for example, she had a late afternoon nap from 4:30-5:45 PM. I gave her a bath at 6:45 and then swaddled and fed her but I cannot get her to go to sleep for the life of me and it is now 8:05 PM. I'm expecting it won't be until close to 9 PM till she goes down. I will try cutting the late afternoon nap back to 45 mins tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.
I just thought of one other strange thing that happened. When I was putting her down at 8 PM (a few weeks back) she would have more night wakings than if I put her down later (ie: 10 PM) in which she would sleep longer (like 4 hours straight from 10-2 AM). When she went down at 8 PM she would wake every 2 hours all night (ie:10, 12,2,4) and then I would get no sleep ...very strange.
Heather#2
-
This is great, I'm glad I joined this thread.
Hi Heather #1, I must have been in the process of posting when you replied to my post. I am exclusively b/f and she feeds for about 15 minutes at a time. She has become more and more distracted during the day while feeding so it is a struggle even getting 15 mins out of her. She does empty me completely though so I have been assuming she is getting enough but then maybe not...
I just had an AHA!! moment. Since she started getting up after an hour in the evenings I have been playing with her assuming that she isn't tired so I'm wondering if she is now waking out of habit.
I have been able to extend her naps lately. In fact today I was able to extend both her morning and afternoon naps. I usually go in at the 25 min mark and sit in the rocking chair waiting for her first peep. I then put both hands on her with a little pressure and shush. That takes about 10 minutes and then she stays down for at least another 45 minutes.
Christine, it sounds like you are having some difficulty getting on to the 4 hour routine as well. I have done the same thing where I have gotten her to 3.5 or 4 hours for the first feed and then the rest of the feeds are 3 hours because of short naps etc. Let me know if you have more success with it.
Heather#2
-
Welcome everyone - when i started this thread i had no idea how huge it would become. i feel i need to go back and re-read it all as i have lost track a bit.
we are still up and down, most recently thanks to oilvia catching her sister's cold - 2 kids with runny noses is not fun and Olivia has been having real trouble with feeding (can't breathe) and then sleeping issues too. we are so frustrated!
i have a question for those with fussy eaters - when olivia was BF she would often fight getting on the breast but i dealt with it. then on the bottle she is even worse and we have ended up pretty much forcing her onto the bottle (physically we have to hold her very tight to our bodies and then shove the bottle in) but then she usually eats fine from it. we have 2 MAJOR issues now:
1) she really only eats well if in her room with dim lighting and occassionally needs us to hush her or put on white noise. she is so senstive to surroundings that everything is a distraction anywhere else. how do i overcome this? she is not portable at all at this stage b/c when we have had to take her out we have accepted that she might only eat 100ml (4 oz or less)
2) since we have had to push more and more to get her to eat (especially with the cold) we feel she is actually starting to get upset at the sight of the bottle now and both Dh and I feel like crap feeding her - it feels like we are torturing her. why would she fight so hard ( a real struggle) and then drink happily after a few seconds on it.
any suggestions would be great as we are both starting to feel like we have no parenting abilities.
-
To Heather #2 - I would say Maya is a touchy baby. She has kept us on our toes since day 1. For the first 10 days of her life, we were lucky to get her to sleep for 3 or 4 hours in the bassinet ine the middle of the night. Other than that, she would not sleep unless she was held. SHe also had weight-gain and digestive issues so there came many a time in those first few weeks when we had to let her sleep in someone arms so I could keep her awake long enough to eat so she wouldn't wind up back in the hospital.
To answer your question...she is on a rough 3-hour EASY, for several reasons. Though she is 5-1/2 mos, she only weighs 12.5 lbs. On the 3-hour EASY, she gets five feeds a day. She does not take a dream feed (it took so long to get her to bed some nights there was NO way I was going to disturb her to eat), so if I went to a 4-hour EASY, she would only get four feeds a day, and with her size, I am concerned that wouldn't be enough, and she'd start to wake it night. She sleeps 7:45pm to 7:45am with no wakings, and I don't want to mess with that.
As for the late afternoon nap, I don't let her sleep past 5pm (though she does occasionally get a 10-15 minute catnap while we take our evening walk). I feed her when she gets up (usually between 4:15pm and 5pm), my husband and I take her for a walk, and we start her bedtime feed at 7pm, and as I said, she's down by 7:45pm.
You're right about finding a happy medium. It took about 2 to 2-1/2 weeks to get her on EASY at about 4 mos. Before than she was on a slightly different schedule that was working for us, but it all went south when the entire extended family showed up for a long weekend for her baptism. She went four days without a nap (everytime we put her down in the crib, my MIL and SIL would go in there, poke her until she cried trying to get her to smile, and then pick her up because she was crying), and the no-napping went on for about two weeks before I said enough is enough. But I digress...the happy medium...I made a commitment to stay home during the day as long as it took to get her on a good schedule. Now we try to run errands during her activity period. If we have to be out during a nap, I try to make it the late afternoon nap, and we start her bedtime routine earlier (by 1/2 hour or so) on those days.
-
Also, Heather #2, you mentioned Samantha get distracted while eating. Maya is also easily distracted while eating (she is exc bf). I feed her in her room with only one blind open, and no lights on. It definitely helps to keep outside stimulation to a minimum. If I have to feed her elsewhere, she doesn't eat as well, and I usually plan to get her home for a proper feeding before her normal 3-hour interval.
However, she has taken to trying to suck her thumb while eating (???). Sometimes, I can tuck her arms down so she can't, but feeding her has always required two hands so I don't have a hand free to hold hers. She can eat while doing it, but she breaks the seal, and it makes a mess of the both of us. She was never a very neat eater, but this is over the top. Has anyone else had this problem?
-
Debra! good job on starting this thread. It's a popular one!
I'm not an expert on bottle feeding but could it be the nipple? Maybe the milk isn't flowing the way she likes it. Maybe she's a baby that likes a faster flow (or slower) or something. Just a guess.
Deborah, It sounds like Maya has been a challenge but it's nice she goes down at 7:30 PM until 7 AM. That gives you a nice break. Samantha hasn't been getting good evening sleep for the past few weeks so I haven't been getting breaks. Samantha has tried to suck on her hands while feeding as well so I have been wrapping her lately to feed.
Just a question regarding extending naps:
Am I correct in that if I keep doing this eventually she will just resettle on her own and sleep past 30 minutes? I was just wondering because this has been going on for weeks now.
By the way, last night was terrible. She had major gas and didn't go down until 10 PM which was a 4 hour stretch since her last nap. She was then up every 2 hours all night farting (can I say that?). The only thing I can think of that I would have consumed lately that would affect her like this would be pink grapefruit pop (she seems to have a sensitivity to citrus). I thought it was simulated flavour but it's not!! OOPS!!!
Once I get going with posts I can't stop!!!!!
Heather#2
-
I just noticed that not only do we have 2 Heathers, but we also have a Debra and a Deborah. I'll try to keep them straight.
Heather #2 Do you feed from both sides? I know that Tracy recommends single-side feeding, but it might help her to get more in and possibly not wake at night. :?: Also, for you and Debra, to get baby to focus while eating, you could try laying a colorful piece of fabric over your shoulder to get their focus. I've done this with Kelsey and it helps. Sometimes, you just have to stop and start again until they are really ready to eat. I know it makes feeding time last forever, but I don't know what else you could do. I attributed Kelsey's pulling off and on my breast to reflux, and it probably mostly was, but it could have also been distraction, gas, or disinterest. Either way, her lack of good feeding made me lose my supply, and now she's almost completely ff with bf in the morning and at night. However, she's starting to drop the morning bf :( .
Deborah I think that if 5 feeds at 3 hours is working for you, then you should keep with it. 4 hourly is just a recommendation, and you have to do what is best for your LO. I understand the low weight concerns. Kelsey is probably just around 12 pounds at 4.5 months. Every check up the doctor told me to supplement bf with formula, and I did until now that she is taking mostly formula all together. And, yes, Kelsey also tries to stick her thumb in while also either bf or bottle feeding. It's a hassle, but it's also cute. :D
Now, my turn. Ha Ha. Kelsey is taking her feedings just fine at 4 hours, giving her just 4 feeds per day. Her naps are still short, except a few times she has fallen asleep while taking the bottle and sleeps a long time (1.5-2 hours). I know that this is not a good habit for her to develop, but I also understand that she is tired and I want her to sleep. What are your opinions about this? I'm not going to have an EASY routine until I can readjust to this 4 hour schedule, but I don't know how to adjust. As it is now, she normally gets tired at 2 hours, has a 30 minute nap, then has 1.5 or more hours until next feeding. Should I just go with the flow?
-
i almost feel i should be taking notes... :lol:
Heather #1 - i've been using pat/shhh to extend ds naps since practically week 1. sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't. i did notice that i began having success in the afternoon nap much sooner - probably cause dd was taking her nap then! he didn't extend the morning nap until this past month. all i can say is, be persistant. the light in their head will finally turn on; if i have to go in there now, it's not for very long cause he's learned it. also make sure they are up long enough, without being overtired. at this age, they really should be able to get closer to 2 hours before that first nap. yes, EASY will be a little wacky until you completely transition her... but i'd be real careful about that feeding before sleep. what you want to make sure is that she doesn't associate eating with sleeping. if you can get a diaper change or something in there, that should help.
Heather #2 - how much daytime sleep is your lo getting? it could attribute to how late she goes down at night. that stinks about the citrus - dd was the same way. if she does need a slight nap late in the afternoon, you might want to try making it a short one - like 45 min or less.
Deborah - i agree with heather #1 - if you are okay on 3-hr feedings, i'd stick with it. are you bf? (don't remember) if you are, that can be fairly normal; you just want to be careful not to associate feeding with sleeping. your EASY schedule will just look a little different, since your lo is heading towards 2-3 naps/day now too. heck, as long as she sleeps all night, right? :)
Debra - luke is one of those goofy eaters too. i've found that i can't hold him to eat (at first i was pumping simultaneously, so he got used to it) i balance him in the boppy pillow. if he starts to play, i take the bottle out. he usually cries when he notices it's gone & gets more serious cause he knows he's hungry. don't know if that will help or not....
-
Heather #1 - I do feed from both sides, however, she tends to favour my right side so I have lost some of my milk supply on the left. In your opinion, does 15 mins seem like too short of a feed?
Jaime - Samantha has been getting 4 to 4.5 hours of sleep per day. She has been taking longer late afternoon naps which I think is why she is going down so late. I'm going to cut her nap short today and see if that helps
Heather#2
-
Jaime-I do take notes before I respond. We've got such a large group. :D
Heather #2-I don't know about the time issue. I always fed Kelsey from both sides, and she usually took 20 minutes on each side. However, I think this is unusually slow. My cousin bf and her dc usually only fed for 10-15 minutes. Sorry I can't really help, I was just trying to brainstorm.
-
WOW!!!! I haven't been on in awhile and it took me a long time to catch up. We're battling a virus on the computer. I have been spending all of Leah's naptimes trying to get it off. I finally got frustrated and decided to check back in here!
Welcome Jamie! I also have to feed my LO not in my arms. :( It's kind of sad not to be able to cuddle, but she feeds so much better if I put her in the boucy chair or her car seat. Then she can stare at my face or something. Glad to hear that you have to do that also. I was starting to feel like a bad mom, not holding my baby!
I will try to respond to problems when I get the change. This dumb virus makes pop-ups windows come up all the time and then I have to close them to get back to typing. This message alone has taken me forever to type!
We have not been having good nights the past two nights. Leah has gotten up somewhere between 3-4 and she is WIDE awake. She will NOT settle down for almost 2 hours. :( We have no idea what is going on. The funny thing is she isn't crying, just slamming down her legs on the crib mattress and playing with her toes. After about 45 minutes she gets mad and yells for someone. Her daytime sleep shoulnd't be an issue since she only takes 30 -45 mintue naps. I'm starting to think the nap thing must be me though becuase before I was off for summer vacation, the sitter had her taking awesome 2 hour naps. Maybe I ought to drop her back off to the sitter so she can "fix" her for me! :wink:
-
Hmmm... Am I going to have to go back to swaddling? I swaddled Leah's arms for her AM nap today for the first time in about a month. I went in at the 30 mintue mark and saw her eyes open and then shut, now she has been sleeping for almost an hour! I hate to regress by starting to swaddle again, but if her arms are free she rubs her eyes at the 30 mintue mark and her paci falls out (I know BAD habit) and then she wakes up. ANyone else still swaddle? What do you use? I LOVE the miracle blanket, but it is too small for her now.
-
Hi Christine,
We are having the same issue. I have continued to swaddle her because she knocks her paci out if we don't. I am still using the miracle blanket dispite the fact it is too small. I often leave her legs free so that they don't pull it down past her shoulders. I have had some luck extending her morning nap to 1.5 hours. I have been going in at the 30 min mark and putting both hands on her and shushing and that has managed to extend it. I am a bit concerned because she started rolling from her back to stomach the other day and she did do it in her crib while wrapped but she started fussing right away which was good. I think we need to get rid of the wrap asap because she is doing this now.
You must be pleased to get off of work now. When did you have to go back after Leah was born? Here in Canada we get a year paid maternity leave so I don't even have to think about it until mid-January of 2006.
Heather #2
-
Heather #2 - A year paid!?!?! That's awesome! I had eight weeks paid leave, and was back teaching for the last eight weeks of school and am now off until the end of August. I have also swaddled Leah in the miracle blanket with just her arms in, but somehow she wiggles down and the blanket then goes over her head. :shock: So I have to think of a different alternative.....
Have you had any more luck with night wakings? If it helps, when you get up at night you can think of me, becusae I am also probobly up! :D
-
CHristine - we still swaddle for every nap and sleep. our girls must be communicating somehow b/c i was going to come on and post today b/c olivia has been up the last 2 nights waking around 4-4:45am and both times has been as you described. yesterday (fri morning) i made the mistake of thinking it was hunger and trying to feed her - got so upset and screamed etc and it took us until 6am to settle her. so whenit happened this morning at 4:20am i sat back and listened more, she settled to quiet noises in minutes so i relaxed assuming she would fall asleep. i woke suddenly at 5 and realiused she was still up, this went on until almost 6am with me worrying wether to go in or no - she never once cried, just "chat" and sucking and noises. sent Dh in to try to settle, ended up giving bottle and she took 85ml.
not sure what to do if oit happens tonight - it is almost 8:30 and i am letting her sleep late b/c she missed out on almost 2 hours sleep!!! this is all on top of her barely eating or sleeping yesterday - her food intake for 5 bottles was closer to 2-3 feeds (2 feeds were 60 and 80ml!)
-
Don't have much time, but Christine, do what you have to. Maybe a little more time being swaddled will help her until she can settle on her own. But what do I know? I'm having no luck extending Kelsey's naps. :cry:
-
HI everyone:
I've been trying to catch up on all the posts.
I stopped co-sleeping and Im sleeping on the futon in Matty's room since if you all recall he was sleeping so much better the nights we had a sitter stay over. Well, I've spent three nights in there and he's had me up and down in his room too! He will cry and I will go over to him pick him up, pat him to burp him and put him right back in with the paci and he goes right back down. this happens about three times a night plus one feeding (where he is really hungry). If I dont go to him, he wont resettle. but he goes right back to sleep and usually doesnt even open his eyes after I pat him. My husband spent one night in there with him (finally! he wont do the overnight thing!) and he only woke to feed and one other time! Maybe its me?
Christine I will be thinking of you when I am up tonight!!!! Last night I got three hours and I was in such a funk all day. Also, we are still using the miracle blanket and Matthew is almost 18 lbs and long!!! So I dont get why Olivia's doesnt fit anymore since I'm sure she isnt bigger than Matty? Is it the same miracle blanket? the one that you secure his arms in and then wrap it around them a few times?
Debra: ME TOO ME TOO ME TOO regarding Matthew rejecting the bottle. I am breast and formula feeding and about a month ago, he decided to be really really fussy about the bottle (he never had a problem before). Now that his nursing strike (breastfeeding) is over, he is fussier than ever and often simply wont take the bottle even though he is starving. what ends up happening is he gets upset and rejects it completely, stays really crabby and fussy and then we try again every 20 minutes or more and suddenly he just downs it like he's starving. Another thing I do is I breast feed him and if I dont have enough milk (which is often) I will slip the bottle in right after I pull my breast out of his mouth. That usually works but not always, and my sitter certainly cant do that when Im at work!!! I just cant figure out why he wont eat when he is so hungry.
Sheesh, just when I think I have things figured out, I find out I havent a clue.
Keep posting everyone, you all really help me feel better about things.
Julie
-
OH yes, I forgot to mention that Matty is a reflux baby and I think that may be why he wakes so often. I've heard that reflux babies will do that.
Julie
-
Deb - TOO WEIRD!!!!!!! If I remember right this is what happened last night. I woke at 3:50 to this sound of slamming feet. Went into her room. She was at the opposite end of the crib and was picking up her feet and slamming them down. She somehow managed to use her feet to turn off the sound machine. I bet that surprised her! :D I coulnd't decide what to do, I didn't want her to get too upset so I changed her diaper and tried to feed - only took a little. I rocked to settle her back down - eyes WIDE open! She was not going back to sleep. I got her calmed down and laid her in the crib. She was WIDE awake, this was like 4:30. I went to bed. Went back in at 5:00 - still awake. At 5:30 she started to get fussy. I went in and picked her up. She got really mad, so I fed her and she took a full bottle and went back to sleep at 5:45 till 7:30 - normal wake up time is 6:30, but I said screw the schedule this morning, I was tired too! So she was up from 3:50 till 5:45! We'll see how tonight goes. It's 8:15 pm here right now and she sleeping for the night. I will let you know tomorrow how things went. I still think this WEIRD they are both doing this!
On a positive note we had AWESOME naps today. 1 1/2 hours this morning and almost 2 1/2 this afternoon. Was it swaddling or just pure exhaustion from last night? We'll see!
Julie - Leah is too long to put her legs in the pouch, the top sits way below her shoulders then. So do you put Matty's legs in or just wrap his arms up?
-
he is fussier than ever and often simply wont take the bottle even though he is starving. what ends up happening is he gets upset and rejects it completely, stays really crabby and fussy and then we try again every 20 minutes or more and suddenly he just downs it like he's starving.
Julie - this is exactly our situation. we offer food every 20-30 min and up until last wek she consistently ate it in 3 "lots" now we are struggling to get food in at all. not sure if it is her cold or reflux or bottle anxiety (she gets agitated as soon as we bring it near her!!). she definitelky feeds better at night, when drowsy / end of awake time, etc which made me think of reflux again (asked ped about it when she was 7 weeks and he said "it is too early we can't diagnose that until after 3 mo b/c most babies under 3 mo show signs of it without it being actual reflux, just digestive system settling down" etc so we let it go and forgot to ask again)
a couple of times i felt bad b/c she seems to want the breast again and that is not possible now.
Sheesh, just when I think I have things figured out, I find out I havent a clue.
this is also the story of our life since olivia was born.
-
Heather #2 - your amount of daytime sleep doesn't sound too bad... you may just want to move that late nap earlier instead of having it be from 4-6. having such a good nap that late in the afternoon makes it hard to go to bed early. as for the feeding times, i'd pay more attention to how you feel after 20 minutes. that really doesn't seem tooo long - does your breast feel empty at that point? what you mainly want to avoid is switching sides just cause a predetermined amount of time has passed, casue then your baby won't get the hindmilk. (btw, a YEAR paid leave?!!! i am so jealous. i got 6 mths unpaid this time, but that's just cause i teach & there was summer vacation involved!)
Debra - not sure if this may apply.. luke sometimes fidgets while eating cause he has gas. he'll wiggle & play with the bottle till he farts. also, have you maybe tried different bottles/nipples?
Christine - about the swaddling.... i have joined the my-baby-is-too-big-for-the-blanket-club. this past week, he started getting out of it by 5am. so for 3 hours, i could hear his feet thumping all over the place. he would chatter, sleep restlessly, but never really cried so i didn't worry too much. but i noticed he was getting crankier & crankier during the day, so it wasn't good.
last night, i tried the twin size bedsheet folded in half. it's huge - takes up the crib - but it seems to have worked. i have only ever swaddled him from the waist down (long story), but this seemed to contain him. he stayed wrapped till sometime in the 7 o'clock hour - and has been much more his normal chipper self this morning. hopefully this does it....
-
Hi Debinoz
I've been thinking about you feeding problem a lot. And just an idea but could it be an ear infection? I read in one book that it hurts them to suck if they have an ear infection. It said that a lot of ear infections go away on their own but some don't. Has he had his ears checked lately?
I hope something works out for you soon:)
Tarri
-
Jaime - My breasts do feel quite empty after 15 mins but I may switch sides too quickly like you said. Samantha still seems to take a full feed at about 1 or 2 AM even though she has been fed at 10 or 10:30 so she must not be getting enough food. She did go down at 8 PM last night and woke at 8:45 PM but I then put her right back to bed instead of keeping her up. She then woke at 12:30 AM because she had become unswaddled but I couldn't get her down again so I ended up feeding her at 1:15 AM in which she seemed quite hungry. She then fed again at about 4:15 AM. What I find when she goes down earlier is she always wakes up in the 12:00 range but when she was going down at 10 ish she wouldn't wake up until 1:30 or 2. I just find this annoying for myself because I go to bed around 10 or 11 and I then get more broken up sleep because of it. It was actually nice for a while there because I was getting a nice 3 to 4 hour stretch myself before she would wake. My theory is that she gets her deep sleep earlier in the evening when she goes down at 8 PM so then she is restless after that.
Heather #2
-
Deb, did you lose your breastmilk because she wouldnt feed? Mine is dwindling right now and Im pumping like crazy trying to bring it back up.
I can tell you that Matty only rarely refuses the bottle or breast due to reflux, and I can tell when thats the reason. I cant figure out the other reasons but I've read other people have this problem too. It just drives me crazy and makes everything so much more difficult :(
Try reading the BF forum where they have a whole post about ways mothers are trying to get their babies to take the bottle, I found it helpful, at least I didnt feel so alone.
Christine: Matthew legs are tucked into the bottome of the swaddle bent, and IM sure it wont be too long before he wont fit. I also use a swaddle blanket that I foudn at the baby store, thats just a big square cotton cloth, but its a pain to use. but honestly, all the swaddle are a pain to use. I tried letting Matty sleep without the swaddle recently and his arms were everywhere! The only way he sleeps is with the swaddle. My friend told me she was able to stop swaddling at about 5 or 6 months, so Im hanging in there.
J
-
A question for everyone:
How many of you are raising your spirited, grumpy or touchy baby without help? And if you are, how are you managing???
I have a sitter here half the week and some nights, and I dont know how I would make it without the help. Sometimes I really feel like an inadequate mom - I feel like I should be able to handle him by myself even though I know he is a very high maintenance baby. Any input from anyone???
Julie
-
Yep, we're doing it all on our own except on Mondays when I work we have a nanny come in for 9 hours. DH works 6 days a week from 3:30 am to 3:30pm. It's a bummer.
If it wasn't for reading the Baby Whisperer once while pregnant and 3 times after, I know we would never have been able to do it. DS just turned 4 months and is on the 4 hour EASY and sleeps through the night since 9 1/2 weeks. I KNOW I would have gone totally crazy if I never learned Tracy's ways. DS really shows his spirited/touchiness when we stray from his expected routine. He has come to know and rely on the structure and is a wonderul baby when he gets his 3 naps with the eat, play, sleep routine. I did have some hard times with 45 minute naps, but now he wakes up and is able to talk himself back to sleep.
Julie, I haven't been to the board in awhile and I missed if you told us why you are sleeping in the same room. Is it the reflux and you're keeping an extra eye on him? Just curious. I was just thinking that maybe he knows you are there and then he thinks it's time to play. I know with my ds that if he is a little bit awake and he senses me in the room then he gets super excited and thinks it's time to get up and play. If it's not time to get up then I just leave the room and he settles himself, but like I said before, we started Tracy's ways almost right away so he knows the routine.
Nikki
Trace 2-23-05
-
OMG - Christine this is too strange. ok before i tell you about our night (it happened again) we also had a great day yesterday. firstly, the other day Dh kept her up for 1 1/2 hrs and i noticed she went to sleep fine so i said let's try it and she has been fine with exactly 1 1/2 hrs awake time for 2 days now. the first day she only did 45 min naps but yesterday went like this:
let her sleep late because of bad night so instead of 7:30 i ended up waking her at 9:00!!!! to make sure she would eat and still only ate at 9:30.
slept 10:30-12
up 12 but did not eat until 12:30
down 13:30 (asleep by 13:45) and up around 15:45+
went to a friend's house so had awake time in car before bottle
down in car on way home and slept 1735 - 1810
up and then had bath and bottle
took ;last feed and down at 1930 for the night and for the first time in days we did not hear a peep and were abloe to reax (i had 2 glasses of wine and watched DVD with DH :D )
took DF (100ml)
THEN - exactly 0420 again she woke up. i kept hoping she would go to sleep but was still up and cooing at 0530. then the fussing started. got Dh up (i actually just got my 1st postnatal period and was now up dyinmg from cramp :oops: :evil: ) and exchanged this time for letting him sleep in.
he came back to bed around 0615 and said she had done a huge poo. then took 85ml.
she is about to get up at 830. i don't know how to crack this new 4am thing - do we do wake to sleep???
-
Julie - 1st we will never really know about true cause of my milk supply issues. i think about it often and lately started thinking about the fact that she always fed better at night, etc so the question becomes was it because my supply was greater at night (as i thought, and due to stress causing decrease in daytime supply) or was it because she gets too distracted in daytime and preferred the night therefore this action on her part caused the decrease in daytime milk...
it just seemed that the further in the day we got the lower my supply and the more dissatisfied she got, so we started supplementing with EBM and formula, and finally had to decide what to do. i am happier with the bottles 90% of the time (hate having to do it outside the house as it is just easier to BF - portable...). she was fussy on the breast too but this is worse, but some days she is fine so we persist.
she is fine with the bottles/teats we use. we also tried the faster flow teat this week but she is not ready for that - she got very upset, took 120ml straight away and then spit most of it up as it happened too fast. we are going to stick with med flow for a bit longer.
about the help - DH has had to work from home a lot to back me up since i was not coping with 2 (partly just issues with balancing needs of 2 kids, but big part was that i could not figure out olilvia's needs so was forever stressing and driving myself insane). he will be back in the office from next week probably though :( to cope better though we hired a mother's helper 2 afternoons a week for alex to have some good playtime..and we hired cleaners who come for 2 hrs every other friday. alex also goes to occassional care mondays for 3 hrs in the morning but this isn't a break for me as it is a stress doing drop off and pick up around olivia's sleep/eat needs We have no family in the country and moved to a new area to give the girls more space so am a lot more isolated than i was when i had alex (out every day, walked every where etc)
-
Nikki:
I was co-sleeping with Matthew in sleeper next to bed and he has always woken frequently through the night. I am sleeping in his room with him so if he gets up five times I am not running into the nursery each time so then i would get NO sleep. Im trying it this way (sleeping on bed in nursery) to see if he will do better, and then I will go back to my room for sleep with the monitor. He cant see me from his crib like he can from the sleeper in my room, so he's not getting excited. He barely even wakes up at night, he cries and cries with his eyes closed and I take care of whatever need it is and he goes back to sleep never having opened his eyes most of the time whether in my room or his room.
Julie
Matthew - Spirited 1/31/05
-
There have been many posts about bf lately, so I thought I would mention what has happened to us. At about 3 months I believed that Kelsey's reflux was starting to really bother her and thus making it hard for her to bf. It was terrible to feed her because she would pull off and on and I worried that she was never getting enough to eat, plus she was obviously miserable. I was having to give her supplement formula after each feeding. I gave formula because I could never get enough bm from pumping to make a good feeding. She would always be able to take the bottle with no problems. Therefore, I figured it was the position of having to lay on her side to bf that triggered her reflux. At first, it was only 1 or 2 of her feedings in the late afternoon that bothered her, so I replaced those with formula all together. She had started zantac, and it seemed to help for the most part. However, around 4 months, her bf got worse, and I was getting miserable. It was such a struggle to feed her. I attributed all of it to the reflux, but now I'm not so sure. Either way, we eventually replaced all but the morning and night feeds with formula. My supply was dwendling anyway because she had lost her ability to nurse well enough to produce the demand on my body. I never liked the breastfeeding, and I only did it for her benefit, but now that she's not doing it as often I feel bad. However, she is still getting some bm, and the important thing is that she is fed no matter how.
Now that she's taking 4 feeds a day, she bf in the morning with 4-5 oz formula, takes 2 bottles of 8 oz during the day, and bf at night with 4-5 oz of formula. She's is not bf very well at either of these feeds anymore, but I'm trying to hang in there a little longer.
-
Julie, you asked who was doing this on their own. Sometimes, I feel like I am. I have my mom around a lot to help me, but it's my husband whom I'd like to be able to rely on. However, he works a lot. Even still, he has no idea what I've gone through to get her to the point she is at, nor does he even know our routine, how much she eats, what her sleepy signs are, etc. For example, this morning I put her down for a nap, and went to lay down myself. I told him she wouldn't eat until noon, but to play with her when she woke. I got back up at 11:30, and asked if he had gotten the bottle out. He had already fed her! An hour before it was time! Putting us back at 3 hours instead of 4. His reply was that she must have been hungry, but I explained that she likes to eat and would eat no matter how long it had been. So frustrating! :evil:
-
Can't post much. I have a MAJOR virus on the computer and the minute I log onto the internet I get bombarded with hundreds of popups. I'm taking it in tomorrow, I have tried everything possible to get it off myself, but it just keeps spreading. So I may be out for awhile. :(
One quick thing - Deb, I tried wake to sleep hoping that would work one night, well it backfired and she was up from 3:00 till 4:30, rather than 4 till 5:30. :shock: Here's wishing you better nights than we've been having! I'll try to touch base again soon. If the computer is out for awhile I can go to my mother's and use her computer.
Take Care!
-
Christine - that sucks - was planning on trying that tonight as it happened again last night/this morning - 0420 again!! and chatter adn sucking until 0530 where after a couple attempts to re-wrap and settle failed Dh fed her (100ml) and she went back down until i woke her around 0745. URGHH! Has Leah been doing anything new - any milestones or developmenet things?? the only new things with OIlivia are: 1) she has started this new thing with sticking out her tongue and "talking" through it almost humming - she must like the feel and sound as she has been doing it a lot (started 2 days ago) and 2) she really wants her hands and is sucking through swaddle so much that her nightgown sleeves are soaked as well! i am afraid to try without swaddle as i fear her not sleeping but maybe we need to try 1 arm free
now i am scared to try wake to sleep. although i'd rather be up at 3-4:30 and get back to sleep - i have a harder time grabbing that last hour at 6am than i do at 4 or so (wheni am actually still so tired thati will fall back to sleep easier)
also she has had diarreah (?sp) it seems - very runny - for the last 2 days as wll - not sure if i shoudl treat it as gastro??? she is still eating just pooing so much. last night she woke before DF to poo at 10:15pm so Dh fed her afterwards instead of 11.
HEATHER: i understand abnout Dh not knowing the routine etc. with Alex my Dh was clued in to BW and new about getting her to bed etc but he still never knew timings or amounts (solids) if i disappeared he would have had no idea about what time she ate etc. and i kept complaining that he needed to learn - his response was that I was wioth her every day so it becomkes automatic and he just could not learn SO i wrote it out specifically and attached it to our fridge! i updated it every time we went through a new stage (ie as we added solid meals or dropped naps) and he knew to ask before deviating if i was not right there. Until recently he still did not know portion size for her - i asked him to throw some frozen peas and corn in a pan for her - enough for 2 portions and he made enough for an army - i said how much did he think she ate - he said "she can eat it over several meals" and i said "if i fed that to her every day she would have enough for the month!!" :roll: BUT HE TRIED
-
Deb-
It's worth a try to attempt wake to sleep. If it fails, you will just be up earlier but Oh well! DD has had one new milestone. She has found her feet. She has always played with them a little over the past month, but lately that is all she does. She tries to get them into her mouth too. :D So I don't know if this has anything to do with it. Last night was better, sort of. She woke at 1:00, paci back to sleep. Woke at 2:50 - fed. Woke at 5:15 - paci. Woke at 5:50 - fed. Woke at 6:15 for the day. She's obviously hungry during the night as the paci just doesn't do it for her. Maybe it's time I look into starting some solids. She is big - 27 inches, 17 pounds.
-
hi CHristine - am up b/c i did not do wake to sleep yet and she woke at 420 again and is still up at 0610 (fed her finally at 0550 and she took 120ml) thought she would fionally sleep but is still doing her thing.
i checked on her several tiumes this morning and she is also lifting her legs. she even had managed to move her arm so much that her hand was inside her nightgown instead of her sleeve. also noticed her moving her head side to side at a weird angle :?
annoyingly she actually woke at 830PM after going down fine for the night and was doing the same chatter thhing for an hour or 2. i toold Dh not to feed her unless she cried out for it - leave her to settle etc.
what the hell do i do - i guess i leave her in there now to see if finally goes to sleep and then start the day at 7 with an exhausted baby? then do wake to sleep tonight - and according to latest book you should do it for 3 nights to see full results :shock:
on a positive note we had a really good day with her - extended awakle time to 1 1/2 hrs and had 3 good naps - 1 1/4 hrs - 2 hrs each!! why can't we have a good 24 hour period?? usually day or night is good!
-
Christine-that's so funny...Kelsey has also starting really holding onto her feet on her own now. It started on Saturday, and now she does it all day. She reaches for them either laying or sitting. She's so proud of herself. Her legs just kick everywhere.
Also, Deb and Christine, have you posted on the night wakings board for help? That may be a stupid question, but just thought I would ask. What is it that your lo's do? Just wake up and chatter, or wake and cry?
-
Heather - i finally posted on night wakings this morning - i have been up since 420 today since could not get back to sleep. she finally went down at 630 until i got her up before 0800.
there is absolutely no crying from dd. she "chats", coos, kicks her feet, rolls her head around, etc. someone suggested leaving her be since she is happy but she is up for 1 1/2 - 2 + hrs doing this and always starts EXACTLY 0420! she (and i) needs that sleep.
Dh has told me to turn down the monitor so i can sleep at least (as the mom i tend to hear even the lowest level cooing whereas he barely hears a cry :roll: ) but i am still concerned about 1) the lost sleep for her 2) the fact that it has been every day all of a sudden and 3) figure out why??? to see if there is soomething she needs.
at least she is feeding well again!
-
Debra, like most things I have encountered with Kelsey, nothing stays the same for long. I would be inclined to leave her alone as well since she's not crying. I think she'll grow out of it. I can't remember your previous posts, but does she nap well? Is she napping too much? Do you ever get her back to sleep after 420? If not, she must not be tired anymore. Tracy mentions several times in her books that babies may talk to themselves for up to an hour. Have you ever left her until normal wake up time to see what she does? I would turn down the monitor and try to get some rest. If she really needs you, you'll hear her.
-
hi again - she usually goes back down after we intervene with bottle (have been too chicken to go in empty handed :oops: ) but won't be doing it tomorrow. sh never had early wakings before - either night feed or up at 6:30-7:30am. this just started the other day (Saturday mornign was first time).
for her naps she has been getting between 3 1/2 - 5 hrs per day during this period. it has really varied.
she has been pooing a lot - some scary ones too.
feeding better than ever so not hunger
strange!!! she is just trying to drive me further around the bend :?
at least Dh was still home today (probably back in the office for good later this week). i actually got the girls down for midday naps within half hour of each other and i took a nap for over an hour. Dh did not wake me when dd2 woke and he gave her bottle until i woke up and took over :lol: i had been up from 0420 - 1320!! and was deliriously tired after 4 mornings of her waking this early.
-
she has been pooing a lot - some scary ones too.
feeding better than ever so not hunger
Could it be either a growth spurt (several books reference one around 4 mos) or a gastrointestinal bug?
Our lo was up several times last night too (something she has never done since she started sleeping 12 hours at a stretch two months ago), but luckily she was able to resettle herself without us having to intervene until about 6:30am (she's usually not up until 7:30am). She wasn't herself last evening or this morning either. I have no clue what it is - growth spurt, illness, visiting MIL?
-
My dd has started teething!!! :shock: (She's 17 weeks and 16 lbs) I had two terrible naps with her yesterday so I read up in my baby books and when she woke up I ran my finger around in her mouth and voila she has a tooth coming thru! Most babies don't teeth till 7 months :? .
Her signs were popping on and off the the bottle by moving her head sideways (no other body squirming), rubbing her cheek/eye area many times during the day, wanting to lay only to one side during sleeping, digging her head into the mattress when laying on the other side and of course very bad naps and making a constant talking/whining cry. I gave her two doses of tylenol last night but I don't think it did much. I hope it doesn't last too long. It looks like she's getting a bottom tooth too :(
Tarri
-
Hi Everyone,
Sounds like everybody is having nightwakings these days including myself. I finally got my dd's bedtime back to a decent time (btwn 7:30 & 8:00 PM) as she was not going down until 10 or 10:30 for a few weeks now. I cut back her late afternoon nap for the past few days and that has seemed to help. My problem at the moment is frequent wakings. Last night she went down at 7:30 PM but then woke at 8:00PM, 9:20PM, 10:50PM, 1:45AM, 2:45AM, 4:45AM, 6AM, 7AM ....BRUTAL!!!! I fed her at the 9:20, 10:50, 1:45 and 4:45 wakings because I was worried she wasn't getting enough food. I was wondering if her evening wakings are hunger or habit? I know that her 1:45 and 4:45 wakings are due to hunger because she takes almost a full feed but I don't understand the rest. Is anyone having a similar problem or have any suggestions?
Thanks
Heather
Mom to Samantha
born Feb 5, 2005
-
DD rolled over from her back to her belly last night! :D Then back to her back, then belly and so on until she crossed the entire living room floor. She thought it was funny and of course I broke out the video camera! They are becoming more mobile! Soon they will be crawling!
Deb- Let me know how the wake to sleep goes for you. I will also check out your post on the night wakings board. I am still trying to figure out if she gets up at an exact same time every night before I try wake to sleep. It seems to be 2:50. Leah also woke last night at 9:00 after being in bed since 7. She was happy and cooing and playing so I left her until her DF at 10:00, then she went back to sleep till 2:50 am. At 2:50 she was happy and I (like you) want her to go back to sleep so I took her to the rocking chair and rocked her till she got REALLY drowsy then laid her back in her crib. May be a bad habit, but I find you really don't care too much in the middle of the night. I TOTALLY understand how accidental parenting begins in the night! She then slept till 5:40 in which she got up for the day. :shock: I have also been having good naps. Two 1 hour naps in the morning, a two hour in the afternon and a half hour catnapt late evening. Hopefully it is all developmental. I keep telling myself that this too shall soon pass. (hopefully :wink: )
Heather #1 - Isn't it fun to watch them play with thier feet. I think that was how Leah figured out how to roll over to her tummy!
Heather #2 - Does your DD have a paci? Is that what you give her to soothe her in the night? I had this problem with Leah (and still do) when she wakes looking for the paci. So I try to put her down for the night without it, though it rarely works. Can't wait till the day she can put it back in herself!
Tarri - Teeth! That's cool, maybe. I had teeth at 3 months, so your DD isn't too young. They grow up so fast! :D
-
Tarri, Kelsey has been doing the exact same things, but her teeth are coming through yet. She has been sooooo whining that it's unbearable. However, tylenol does make her very sleepy, so it seems to give her some relief.
-
Tarri - how exciting about the tooth - not so great to hear the negative bits about pain and bad naps (i remember it all too well!). you made me think and i ran my finger around Olivia's mouth and thought i felt a bump on the bottom but could not get i n there to see if it is just the normal ridge of her gum - can you actually get her to open up to see in there? how?
have a DR appt tomorrow to follow up on my PPD meds, etc and am taking Olivia along to get checked out - the pooing is seriously out of control (to think i posted ages ago about her NOT pooing). not to be too gross but it is like pea soup including little lumps of green in the really runny green poo/soup :roll: :lol: that does not seem OK. it has caused her to wake from naps several times now and she did it 3 times in the space of 3 hrs this afternoon. she does have her sister's cold (her chest sounds bad when she is breathing and coughing - brings up mucus...), but i am worried it could be gastrointestinal.
am off to bed (it is 10pm here) please think about us at 2pm eastern USA time and send sleep vibes to Olivia so she does not wake up early and we finish off this 4am CR*P.
where is everyone else - it has been ages since we heard from some of you guys - assuming it is because everything is going well and you don't want to junx it by writing online.
-
Hi Deboniz, I held my dd so she was facing out and held her head still while my dh lifted her lip up and there was a big white tooth on her upper right side :shock: . Then we did the reverse and I had a look.
Leah's mom, that so awesome about the rolling over :)
Samantha's mom, by dd has the occasional night where she's up a lot. Her usual is 3 to 4 times :( . There's usually a definate reason like her swaddle is completely undone or she has her head up against the crib side or her tooth is hurting or she wants me to shift her to a different position. But so far I've never her fed her in the night except for the dreamfeed. On nights like you've had I start to think maybe it is hunger but I figure if she settles within 10mins it must not be. Maybe only feed her if it takes a long time to settle her. I think if they're really hungry they'll just keep crying and crying even though you're trying to comfort them.
Tarri
-
Hi everyone! This will be a LONG post.
Little Eirwen and I are back from CO. I have been literally DYING to post on this board and I finally have some time to read all the posts and catch up! I have missed the support so much.
First- I will NEVER EVER do an overnight flight again. It was terrible. My baby did not sleep well at all. She was so overtired when we got back that she slept from NOON until 7am the next day!!! and I only woke her to give her feeds which she either mostly slept through or cried hysterically if I tried to get her up. I have never seen my lo so upset.
Parents were very upseting- constantly critizing and being LOUD :evil: and distrespectful of my "touchy" baby's needs. The familiar "you need to be louder" kept popping out of their mouths. It didn't seem to matter to them that I tried that for months and she only napped an hr a day then. Eirwen weathered it better than I. Dh not too helpful on the trip- couldn't remember her schedule- didn't even do diapers and only 1 nap the whole 10 days. I was with baby 24-7 it seemed and on many days I just gave up and went to bed at 5:30 with her (7:30 our time).
We seem to be back on a 3 hr schedule (as I had to add a nap for time change), which is okay for now I guess, until she feels resettled at home. yesterday she could only do an hr of awake time and took 3 2hr naps :shock: But she needed them. Maybe next monday I will start extending again...she's already going a little longer today.
I freaked out when we got home Monday am. I think I was exhausted but I could simply not stop crying. I told dh that I couldn't do this. Even started hyperventilating and shaking a bit. I felt like everything was pulling back. I think it was a real anxiety attack...concerned that I should have gone to hospital but took Ambien instead, crashed and felt more normal the next day. dh was great about it, held me and told me he would help more etc.
LO doing SO MUCH now! I was happy to read postings about the feet because dh and I found her in her crib yesterday morning sucking on her toes. :D She would suck on one and then the other. SOOOO CUTE! She had discovered her feet a few weeks ago but only recently got them to her mouth. She has also started belly chuckling :lol: and squealing. DH and I changed a diaper on the airport floor and he had taken the plastic bag with the diaper and had waved it above her head on accident. SO MANY LAUGHS and then the squealing. It was so great! She still won't roll over but is "swimming" now with arms and legs up waving on her belly. She is also got the most deadly aim with her hands now. I had her on my lap and my purse had been there next too me- I look away and she had the purse strap in her mouth holding it up! :shock: Time to baby proof!!! :shock:
She is also teething...droooling buckets :wink: I think a top tooth is coming but not sure..hard to feel with the normal ridges. You guys make me want to feel around again though!
Now for replies-
Deb- I think your LO is hitting milestones or is in growth spurt. I would really think of not swaddling anymore. When Eirwen found her fingers it was the best ever- or have you tried the swaddle with leaving the arms out- that is what I did for Eirwen at first.
Heather- how did you get to the 4 hr schedule? I'm so jealous. Eirwen and I seemed to stick at the 3.5 mark and now of course she has gone back to 3 b/c of trip. My husband also doesn't know my baby well or her schedule and as soon as I tell him he forgets everything :roll: He can also sleep through her cries. He says its a physical thing that happened to him after the birth. His theory is that he has to be rested to "bring home the bacon" so cliche but it is so common with other fathers I know that maybe he's right? :?
Julie- I am doing it on my own with my touchy lo. It is hell somedays and other days really awesome. Basically my house is a tornado and dishes are hardly ever done and we eat lots of frozen food. I'm even thinking of investing in paper plates. :wink: That is how I do it. Everything else has gone to SH*T. :D And I cry sometimes. But I figure that's okay because it has gotten so much better than in the beginning. I still get online to pay bills but other than that everything is about Eirwen. I also manage to get out once a week usually for Yoga and dh puts her to bed with a bottle. I have to do this or I will go nutty. I'm also thinking that if I can't get the house picked up a bit better in a few weeks I will have a maid come in and scourer everything I can't get too. My dh has resigned himself to digging for clean laundry out of the dryer or the basket. I figure that if it's at least clean it doesn't matter where he gets it from. Do I sound crazy or what?
Christine- I would definitely try solids. Your lo is big I think for her age? Yes? It could be that liquids are just not enough for her anymore. Eirwen is almost 24 weeks and I was going to start solids this week but I'm delaying until we get back on track. If you start let me know how it goes. Oh, did you encourage a lot of tummy time with your lo? That is SO FUN about the rolling around! I love it!
Well- that's all there is from hot humid gray MA.
-
welcome back branwen - sorry to hear you had a difficult time travelling and that people were giving you a hard time. people can be so insensitive! you will get back on track - give yourself and eirwan a little time to get some extra rest and re-orient yourself to home and routine again.
FWIW - just one note about all the drooling - sometimes it is teething, but also between 4-5 months is when the saliva glands kick in and it is just developmental for them to drool a lot until they coordinate swallowiing the extra saliva. with Alex we started giving her teething remedies from 4 months thinking it was definitely teething (had not read about the saliva until recently) and her first tooth did not actually appear until 7 months so we don't know hoe much was teething and how much was normal and should have been ignored!
-
Welcome home Branwen. I would be crying alot! if I didnt have help with Matthew. Its just so exhausting, especially since he is not sleeping through the night. Sounds to me like you are doing a great job.
I wrote awhile ago that baby was sleeping with night sitter but not with me, and we had hoped that was because he was sleeping in my room in cosleeper next to the bed. Well, its been about a week that myself or husband has been sleeping in his room (yes, dh has actually done two nights!!!!! finally!!!!) and he is still waking up 3 or 4 times. So my night sitter was here again and guess what, HE SLEPT THROUGH WITH HER!!!
I just dont get it :x
Also, Deb, I'm happy for you that your lo is taking the bottle again. Matthew is still fighting it, sometimes he'll take it sometimes he wont, and he is still fighting the breast at times. We cant figure out how he can be so big when he is such a fussy eater. sometimes I just want to cry when I cant get him to eat. Its not that Im worried about his health cause he's 17.5 lbs, its that he is soooooooo cranky when he is hungry. I was hoping this was a phase, like it passed for you, but its been over a month now. And Im having a hard time hanging onto my breast milk. sigh
And last night he was really hungry around 1:30 - I BF but didnt have enough and he was still hungry so we gave him a bottle but he wouldnt take it! Therefore he woke twice more last night still hungry.
double sigh
I dont know what to do to get him to eat more consistantly. Tracy doesnt talk about that in her book, at least not that i can find. Its virtually impossible to do EASY when he simply wont eat at regular intervals.
Keep posting everyone
Julie
-
Branwen-One day Kelsey got off track from her 3 hour schedule due to a late nap. She was exhausted from being out and about for awhile, so I let her sleep. It had actually been over 4 hours since her last feeding when she woke, but she was fine. From there on I knew she could make it and just dove into the 4 hour routine. The only part of 4 hour EASY she does, though, is the feedings, because she still only taking 30 minute naps, and sometimes she does this twice in a cycle (EASASE).
I'm so sorry for those of you having so much trouble with irratic night wakings, fussy eaters, etc. I truly wish I could offer some advice, but as a first time mom myself, I'm muddling through as well. I've just been playing it by ear now that I feel more comfortable with my new life as mom, but it's still stressful as I never can feel completely sure of myself. My prayers are with each of you, and I hope we can continue to encourage one another.
My motto has become, "this, too, shall pass." Kelsey is starting to grow out of her fussiness while eating, but I believe it's because she's begun to like the bottle better than breast. Either way, she gained 2.5 pounds in one month and grew 1.5 inches. She's up to 13 lbs, 7 oz. I'm sure it's the formula and cereal.
-
Julie - how often are you offering food? i really believe the reason why she is eating better is because i am trusting her more - if it has not been at least 3 hrs and/or she does not want to take it - i am waiting 20-30 min and then re-offering. she has only fussed once this whole week and has eagerly let me slip the bottle in - whole new experience - no force feeding, no whinging. she comes off and pauses and then happily goes back on for a bit (it still takes several stages to get a feed in over the course of an EASY cycle, but i don't feel like the "pusher" forcing her to eat) maybe try waiting a little longer than usual so he is extra hungry and see if it improves.
also - so sorry he is sleeping for the sitter only. who knows what the reason is - have you watched to see how she is with him - try carefully observing and see if there is something she says or does that makes a difference. what a puzzle :?
-
Heather- I must say that I so LOVE your perspective on things. Maybe it's 'cause you've been through so much med stuff with Kelsey but I really admire your approach. It reminds me to take a step back, realize nothing is perfect, esp me or my dd, take a deep breath and start again. THANK YOU!
Julie- Does the sitter sleep in the room with him too? I think you should let Matty take the lead with eating. That is how originally I knew I could extend Eirwen. I stopped offering and started waiting for her to ask. That is how we got to the 3.5/4 hr EASY. Odd question but does he miss you? I read that babies have an accute sense of smell, actually moms do too, they have unique scents for each other, helps with bonding. Perhaps he senses you there on many levels? Oh, and the babies can actually smell the breast milk too. This is why my friend had so many problems with her ds co-sleeping. He would wake so much at night. Her ped put it "imagine sleeping in a restaurant all night."
Hmmm...not sure how you will feel about this but his weight is up high enough to sleep through and he has proven he can go the night when he wants. I feel that you could probably end night feedings using one of Tracy's back to sleep methods. It might inspire him to eat more during the day. I can't remember if you're offering solids?
I'm sorry you're having these problems. I agree about studying the sitter's routine. Maybe there is something she is doing different?
I'm happy to report that Eirwen is already going back to her 3.5 routine! YEAH!
-
Eirwen is so cute! :lol:
-
Thank you Heather! Kelsey is adorable too! I want more pics everyone! :D
-
Hello ladies!
Sorry I've been so scarce, but I've kept away from forums for a while (my dh was complaining) :)
I haven't had a chance to read all the posts, but it sounds like things are going fairly well with everyone.
Luka is doing well, he rolled over on father's day.. his dad was very chuffed. And we're being pressured to go onto solids (I'm resisting though). The sleeping is going okay, one night waking at 1am which is due to hunger and then he'll sleep till 7am.
Hope everyone is doing well, love to all the jan/feb babies! :D
-
Schae glad to hear you are well and that Luka rolled over - what a nice present for Daddy.
Olivia must be going through a growth spurt - she has been eating like a champion past 2 days (loving the bottle since you just have to add more if they are eating so much :D ) and last night finally slept through again - had to wake her at 0730!!! not sure if she woke at all though to be honest b/c it was only at breakfast that i discovered the monitor was set at "4" instead of "6" where i usually have it. asked Dh if he realized it was so low when he came to bed after DF and he said "that's the point". he wanted to make me sleep until she would reach the point where i could hear her then and know she NEEDED me. i usually wake as soon as she does so unless she was SUPER quiet i will trust that she did not wake.
besides the extra food she DID have extra awake time past 2 days. Thursday when i went to Dr with her she slept in car in both directions but meant 2 naps were 1 hr and then 35min, and she fed poorly at the Dr waiting room ( :roll: ) since it was not her ideal environment. so more awake time PLUS more food = more night sleep?? will see. she is now staying up the 1 1/2 hrs at least half of her cycles. i think we will soon start the transition to 3 1/2 - 4 hrs. she still has a hard time staying up afetr first feed though. i am going to think through the logistics of the 2 kids and come up with my own time table though to see if i can find one that allows me to deal with both with less stress (ie not having to give olivia bottle when alex needs lunch or dinner made/served. if Liv would feed in "public" i could give her the bottle while alex eats, but i hate leaving alex sitting by herself while i take olivia into her room to feed)
-
I wanted to show everyone the new picture of Emily I added to my profile.
Our naps have returned to normal, that is two 1.5-2hr naps then a catnap (the teething upset them for a couple days). Yeaahhh :D .
But for the last two nights she's woken up and was very hard to settle. The first night she woke at 3:00am crying hard, she had a burp and a stuffy nose and maybe teething pain. :? I gave her tylenol and suctioned her nose and finally got her back to sleep by 4:30am. I didn't feed her because I thought since she stopped crying when she was picked up it was discomfort of some kind.
Then last night she woke at 9:20pm (which she's been doing for about 2 weeks now) and was still unsettled by 10:00 at which point I gave her the dreamfeed. I also ended up giving her tylenol and stopping the feed part way to suction her nose again :? .
I'm having a very hard time giving the dreamfeed when she's actually still asleep. She always wakes up. I used to do it at 11:00 and she started waking at 10:30, so then I did 10:30 and she started waking at 10:20, so now I'm doing it at 10:00 and now she's waking at 9:20. I CAN'T WIN :x . So now I'm thinking of giving it anytime after 9:00 if she wakes. So far she's still sleeping till 6:30-7am even with the df getting earlier and earlier.
Oh and I also wanted to share that my dh, dd and I went for a boat ride last week and it was a success. :D My dh played with her in the cabin while I went for a swim with the dog and then we switched places and I put emily to sleep for a 1/2 hour nap. The gentle rocking of the boat is a big help! I can't wait to go again, the water was 74F.
Debinoz, I'm so glad your baby's eating better:)
Branwen, I'm sorry you had to go thru all that ordeal with the travelling. I know I couldn't have done it. And I think you should keep asking your dh for help. I know when my dh helps just a little that it's a big relief for me.
-
I'm having a very hard time giving the dreamfeed when she's actually still asleep. She always wakes up. I used to do it at 11:00 and she started waking at 10:30, so then I did 10:30 and she started waking at 10:20, so now I'm doing it at 10:00 and now she's waking at 9:20. I CAN'T WIN :x . So now I'm thinking of giving it anytime after 9:00 if she wakes. So far she's still sleeping till 6:30-7am even with the df getting earlier and earlier..
this has been our experience for the last month... we finally did exactly what you say - we just prepare to feed her if she wakes after 9pm and now it is moving back to DF times (occassionally now wakes around 10:30 but is back to having DF around 11 most nights :D i think they just like to stir things up regularly :roll: )
Debinoz, I'm so glad your baby's eating better:) ..
thanks for all your concern and suggestions. i think in the end she sorted it out for herself and i just needed to do some better whispering! got to remember that really she is in charge and not me :)
want to write more to everyone but she's up for 2nd feed - will write later when i have a break
-
Oh my! So much to catch up on. I have been on here a little less lately. DH and I bought an elliptical machine (piece of workout equipment) so I have been working out more, we'll see how long that lasts.... :wink:
Welcome back Branwen! Sorry to hear about your problems with the vacation. I commend you for even going, I don't think I would dare! Good for you to go on vacation!!!! Sometimes DH thinks I am a little too anal and complains that we don't get to do anything anymore. :( Oh well, I tell him someday we will go more places again! I too, am struggling with the four hour transition. I know she can go more than 3 hours becuase she only takes 4 ounces every three hours. But if I try and make her wait longer she gets mad.
Deb - Glad to hear things are going better. How are the nights? is Olivia still waking and staying up. I made up my mind NOT to feed Leah in the nights. So the past few nights I have not fed her. She still gets up once, but I just change her diaper, reswaddle and sit with her in the rocking chair. If all goes to pieces, I will give her a bottle of water - not sure if that is alright to do, but it works for us! The waking is becoming later and later. This morning it was almost 4:30 the first time she woke!
Heather - Glad you could make it to four hours! Congrats! The more I think about Kelsey's naps, the more I think she may just be one of those babies who takes short naps! If she's sleeping thru the night and happy druing the day, I guess short naps are her thing! Not so good for you though.... :wink: How are solids going? Are you still just doing cereal? I have been giving Leah cereal twice a day now. She seems to have taken to it well! When do you plan to start veges and such?
Julie- So sorry to hear about your dilema. I guess Matthew just likes to see his mommy and daddy in the night! That is the weirdest and funniest thing. I would probobly be hiring the night sitter for every night! Just kidding...
As for us, Leah is rolling over like a crazy baby! It was cute at first, but now I can't change her diaper or her clothes on the floor, because the second I take my hands off her she flips to her tummy. :? It still is cute. I tell you, it won't be long before our babies learn to crawl. Somedays I can just see it in her eyes...... I WANT to go, go, go, go!!! :D
Take care all. I will check back soon. Hope everyone has a Happy fourth of July weekend, if you celebrate. :D
-
Wow, lots of new posts! I'll try to respond to everyone that I can.
Schae, might I ask why dh is upset with you browsing the forum? I don't mean to get personal, but I explained to mine how much it helps me to chat with other's going through the same things. Also, from whom are you feeling pressure to start solids? He is your baby, you do as you think is best. From all the literature, they don't really need it until after 6 months. Any time before is just practice, or a little extra for larger, more hungry babies. And congrats on Luka rolling over. Kelsey did it once at 4 months, but hasn't since. She seems to be trying, though.
Debra, I bet you feel like a new woman with Olivia sleeping through the night. Cheers to your dh for keeping the monitor down and letting you get some good rest. I guess you needed someone to do that for you so you wouldn't feel guilty. :wink: You will definitely know if she needs you. Also, if she is extending her awake time you very well may be able to reach the 4 hour transition; that is if she can wait for her feedings that long. I have some feedings I do at 3.5 hours. I just switch it up every now and then if she seems to be hungry or overly fussy. Also, I agree that you need to come up with your own schedule/routine, something that suits you and your family. We are totally off of EASY, but we still have routines that help me to read her cues. What we do works for us. That's not to say that I'm not thankful for BW, because I am.
Thitz, Emily is adorable. Glad you shared the picture. I was thinking about her waking situation before the DF. Could she be phasing out the dream feed, and just needing a top-off to fall back to sleep? I really don't have much experience in that area, but I am trying to brainstorm for you. It's a great sign that she's still sleeping until 7ish. I really think you could either add more to her last feeding, or make it later, and establish a new bed time.
Christine, so glad your nights have been better. One waking is tons better than 3 or 4. It's so cute that she's rolling around like that. Does she roll both ways? Does she like to be on her belly? Did you do anything to encourage the rolling? Kelsey is also having rice cereal twice a day, after 1st and 3rd feedings. She's not taking it as well right now as she used to, but I'm trying. Her ped. recommended adding a 3rd meal of veggies (but I think I'll start with fruit) after she really establishes 2 good meals of the cereals. I'm thinking further into this 5th month and onto the 6th month.
As for me, her short naps are showing signs of turning into no naps at all. :cry: Her morning nap used to be 2 hrs, then 1.75, then 1.5, etc...and now is sometimes less than 30 minutes. During the day she may sleep if we're out and she's in the stroller or car. But after 5 pm, well, I can forget it. She gets tired, obviously, around 5:30-6, but screams bloody murder when I try to put her down. I'm sure this is overtiredness, but sometimes I never get her down, and by the 7:30 feeding she's too tired to eat. I had finally come to accept 30 minute naps, but I can't and she can't live with no naps at all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
-
Heather:
See... I don't only browse the babywhisperer... you could call me a forum addict :oops: I'm on the 'net all the time and Dh was complaining. Poor guy! So, I gave him some quality time and now I'm back to my addiction! lol!!!
thitz:
Good to hear the naps are back to normal. Wish Luka could nap that long. I hope she feels better soon, it's horrible to be ill, doubly so for a bubs!
I can relate to the naps becoming non existant. But I'm sure it'll get better.
Hope everyone enjoys the weekend, Luka and I are off to a babyshower! :D
-
Heather:
See... I don't only browse the babywhisperer... you could call me a forum addict :oops: I'm on the 'net all the time and Dh was complaining. Poor guy! So, I gave him some quality time and now I'm back to my addiction! lol!!!
thitz:
Good to hear the naps are back to normal. Wish Luka could nap that long. I hope she feels better soon, it's horrible to be ill, doubly so for a bubs!
I can relate to the naps becoming non existant. But I'm sure it'll get better.
Hope everyone enjoys the weekend, Luka and I are off to a babyshower! :D
-
Heather - Has anything changed recently with regard to your daily routine? I find that when we have been busy (running lots of errands during the day or having houseguests), Maya gets out of whack with her naps. Usually a few days of nap training refresher helps. I plan to spend a few days around the house so I can consistently get her down on time, and she can nap undisturbed. That said, we're completely off schedule now, and we're in a short nap phase. My MIL was visiting last week, and yesterday we drove from FL to NC for a visit with my family.
You also mentioned that you were going to start Kelsey on fruit after the rice cereal. I know the BW book recommended fruit first, but our ped also recommended introducing vegetables before fruit. His reasoning was that babies sometimes fuss about eating veggies if they're used to fruit since the fruit is sweeter. I'm not sure if there's any truth to it, since we haven't started on solids yet, but that was his logic.
We're in NC now for an extended visit with my family. We'll see how it goes. Three weeks sounded like a good idea a month ago, but now I'm not so sure. This is Maya's first trip away from home.
-
Heather- How are the naps going now? I agree with Deborah that bunkering down at home really helps. Eirwen really responds to that. I just decide to stay in and hybernate and at ANY tired sign even a sigh, get her to bed, even if it is off schedule.
Will Kelsey spend "quiet time" in her crib at all? My baby has just started to be able to do this. Now that she's discovered her feet she will lay there and play with them. When we were having nap trouble this past week I would do wind down and then set her in her crib and leave her be as long as she wasn't crying...sometimes she would sleep sometimes not- if she was still awake 30 min later I'd get her up but maybe even encouraging Kelsey to rest would improve her over-exhaustion?
Christine- due to the trip I am now in the same boat as you! I know Eirwen can go the 4 hrs but now she likes the 3 hrs and she is only taking 4 to 5 oz. I know 'cause I did two yeilds and got the same! Argh!
Questions for everyone-
When did you start solids? We just started!! She seemed excited but all of the cereal ended up on her bib and clothes of course! How long did you find spoon training to take?
Also- any exclusive bf mom's try to give a bottle yet? How did this work? I've only tried once and it was disaster! (dh gives a bottle just fine since 5 weeks...so I know she can drink from one)
We have hit the 6 month growth spurt! Anyone else!? My beautiful sleeper has started waking in the night! :shock: I know I know...no right to compalin :wink: I encouraged more nursing yesterday and she only woke once last night! She hasn't had a BM in 4 days! :shock: Any tips on boosting my supply up?
Gosh...how am I going to get her back on the 4 hrs!?
-
Heather - I thought of one other thing. When I was first having trouble with Maya's naps, someone recommended the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" (I think that's the title). The book was kind of tough to get through, lots of research stats and other dry material, but one of the things I got from it was a suggestion to keep the awake interval before the first morning nap super short. The author specifically recommended it for post-colic babies, which Maya is. For Maya, I usually put her back down within an hour of when she gets up in the morning. We do a leisurely bf, and 15 to 20 minutes of quiet play (no toys or books, just face time), and then it's back to bed. At home it really helps us to get the day off to a good start as she goes down for the first nap before she has a chance to get overtired (and she's often still in her pjs).
Branwen - We tried solids (rice cereal thinned with ebm) at about 5 mos, but Maya wasn't quite ready. Then we both got sick so I didn't really stick with it. She's still doing ok with bf, so I figured we'd try again when we got back from our vacation. Keep us posted on how it's going. And I tried to give her a bottle of ebm once, but it didn't go well. She fussed, and half of it wound up on the diaper I was using for a bib. I tried because she doesn't bf well in public, but I've just resigned myself to being home for feedings when at all possible until she starts solid food. And lastly, going 4 days without a BM is normal esp if she is going through a growth spurt - she's just getting every ounce of nutrition she can out of your milk. Maya only goes about every six days.
-
Hi Everyone,
I finally had time to figure out how to add the lilypie ticker. It's soo cute :wink:
Yesterday we went to the boat again. And this time I managed to get a 40 min. nap out of Emily :D . The water was beautiful again.
I've started giving the dreamfeed anywhere after 9:00pm. The earliest has been 9:30pm so far. And she still good to sleep till 7:00a.m.
She wakes almost every night around 9:30pm, 2:00 and 5:00 and 6:00. :? I usually just have to reswaddle her or put my hand on her and she goes back to sleep. But I would really like to get rid of at least the 2:00am waking. I think the key is to get her used to not being swaddled. I'll have to start working on that.
Oh and a little formula tip which may or may not help, is I've started stirring the formula in the bottle instead of shaking, I find that it gets a LOT less air bubbles in it.
One question, what do your babies sleep in when you travel if there's no crib available :?:
Have a good day everyone!
-
Deborah, I must have had it backwards about the first nap. I thought they should be up for 2 hours, but I am definitely willing to try putting her down earlier. The only thing I have to loose is a 25 minute nap, and I'm sure she'll take another later. It makes since, though, because several months ago, she used to wake at 7, and go back to sleep at 8:20 for almost 2 hours. However, she stopped doing that on her own. Do you think she'll go back to sleep now when she wakes at 8 after sleeping for 11 hours? I'll try it soon; dh will have her tomorrow as I'm helping at my old workplace. Thanks for the suggestion.
Thitz, a question about stirring the formula: Does that work with cold or cool water, too? I have only found that to work with hot or just boiled water. I have changed to shaking mine again, but I do it at night and the bubbles dissolve overnight. Sometimes I add mylicon to the bottle if it's still too foamy.
-
Heather - It's just one doctor's recommendation, and every baby is different, but it worked for us. She's out of sync now, but prior ro my MIL's visit and our trip, she would sleep about 12 hours at night, be up for about an hour, then go back down for a 2-hour nap. It's not working so well for us now, but she still goes back down for at least an hour. And I think it has more to do with the extreme schedule disruption she has experienced in the last few days.
-
Christine-Happy 5 Months to Leah. Hope you both are doing well.
-
Thitz- do you have a Pack 'N Play? I used this on my trip with Eirwen. I got the really basic one because she's over 15lbs so can't use all of the do-dads that come with some of them, plus cheaper! I found it really easy to set up and pack away myself. I actually had to instruct my dh on it!
Eirwen is still waking in the night. Not sure what's going on now. I've been boosting my supply but I can't see that much of a change in her yet...I had about an oz left over from a feed this morning that I pumped out. Somewhere on some board there was a posting about starting solids and night wakings, but she literally only takes about an ounce of the cereal and most ends up on her bib anyway...plus I give it to her in the am and so it should all be gone by then one would think? hmmmm....
Deborah and Heather- I have always put Eirwen down an hr from when she wakes in the morning...she will usually sleep 2 hrs or almost 2 1/2. If I miss that early window it is harder to get her down for the first nap. I know it's not BW either but it has always worked the best for us too!
Oh, other maybe dumb question. Eirwen is 24 weeks- does that make her 6 months? I can never figure out if I should be going by weeks or by the date on the calendar...
Also interested to see other peoples schedules now that babies are older!
-
Thanks Heather! Happy 5 months to Kelsey too! What a CUTE new picture of her!!!! She is so adorable!!!! I will have to update my pic soon too!
We went boating yesterday and then to a picnic (Independence Day), so of course Leah had horrible naps and last night she woke at 2 am and would not go back to sleep till 3 am. I NEED to get a rocking chair in her room, the only one I have is in the living room. So when I took her out there at 2 am, she was smiling at everything - her swing, the lamp, her exersaucer. We were gone all day and when we got home she went right to bed, so it was like she was saying Hello friends! I have missed you! Quite funny, for awhile until she wouldn't go back to sleep! :?
Deborah - So if you put your DD down for her first nap an hour after she is awake, then how many naps do you end up with? We are having this problem. I am trying to go to two naps a day (plus the catnap). But what we end up with is two 45 minute morning naps and a two hour afternoon nap.
Branwen - This is our schedule now, altough every day seems different. We are not quite EASY, and not at four hours yet either.....
6:00 or 6:15 - Wake and bottle
7-8:00 - Nap
9 - Eat
10-10:45 - Nap
12:00 - Eat
12:30 - 2:30 - Nap
3:00 - Eat
4:30 - 5 Nap
6:30 - Eat, Bath Bed by 7
Right now she is waking once a night for a diaper change, reswaddle, maybe a few early morning wakings for the paci.
Well, I came on the net to pay bills, so I suppose.....
Talk with everyone later!
-
Oh my god! She didn't sleep for more than 2 hours straight last night :x . I'm pretty sure she's teething again. And almost every time she's out of her swaddle. I gave her some tylenol at 2am but she was awake again at 2:40am :? . She still stops crying when we pick her up or reswaddle so I'm still sure it's not hunger.
This is definately wearing me down. I think part of the problem is she wakes up cold because the swaddle is undone. So this morning's nap I've put her down in her pj's so she's warm, wrapped a cheesecloth swaddle to control her legs and kept her arms free and put a blankie up to her hand for comfort. But again she's started wimpering and over a period of 30 mins has woken up more and more till she started a real cry. So I went in and she was still laying exactly as I put her and nice and warm. I just tucked the blankie around her a bit and now she's falling asleep again. Could it be seperation anxiety already?
Hwcampbell, I've only ever made formula when the water is still warm from boiling. I guess you do have to shake if the water's cold.
Branwen, I don't have a pack'n'play. But maybe I should get one. We're going to my aunt's cottage soon and I have to figure out where's she's going to sleep.
Deborah and Leah's mom, I've also found that if I put my dd down by 8:30 she'll nap for 2 hrs. If I wait till 8:45 she'll nap for 1.5 hours. Here's our current routine (if all goes according to plan):
7:00 diaper/bottle
8:30 nap 1 (2hrs)
10:30 diaper/bottle
12:30 nap 2 (2hrs)
2:30 diaper/bottle
4:15 catnap (1hr)
5:15 mobile in crib
5:30 bath
5:45 bottle
6:30 bed
9:20-10:00 df bottle
-
Ladies, wanted to thank you for the 1 hour up rule in the morning. This morning I did that (well, waited till 1.5 hours) and he had a two hour nap. He NEVER has 2 hour naps. So thank you! :D
We are still on a 3 hourly EASY. And have one night waking at 4am where I feed. We're trying to wean him off of the 1am waking, we just pat him and he goes back to sleep.
Actually quite worried about my milk supply, it seems to be low, although Luka is still following his normal routine. :?
Chat later!
-
Hi everyone!
Thitz- highly recommend pack n play. Ours was 60 USD. Oh, sorry about your night waking...I feel silly complaining about my situation...
Eirwen having nap trouble now too after everything going so well- I'm wondering if she is trying to completely transition to 4 hrs AND have a growth spurt at the same time? I offered at 3 hrs today and she only ate from one side, refused the other? Currently having dilemma on whether or not to feed at night waking. Tonight dh and I have decided to try and see if she will settle on her own. Ugh...I don't know what to do lately...I'm so thrown off by her new behavior. Cried at bath tonight and for bed...never has done this before....
Last night I put her to bed at 5pm :shock: because she wouldn't nap all afternoon? She woke at 12:30am and I fed her but she hardly took anything, fell asleep while eating and then slept until 6... :?
Thanks for your schedules- they really help actually!
Ours WAS:
6:00 or 6:30 bf
7:30 1st nap (2 hrs)
10:00 bf
11:30 or 12 2nd nap (1 1/2)
2:00 bf
3:30 3rd nap (1 to 2 hrs)
5:00 bf
6:00 bath
6:30 bf and bed
-
This is a typical day for us:
8:00 wake and bottle (6-8 oz), used to also bf but has weaned herself
9:00 some cereal
9:45-10:00 put down for nap (it's become 25 minutes lately, dh got 1.5 hours one day; will try putting her down 1 hour after wake up)
activity after waking
12:00 bottle (usually 8 oz)
1:00 some cereal
2:00-3:00 gets sleepy sometime in here after being up 3-4 hours
activity after waking
4:00 bottle (6-8 oz)
5:00-6:00 has to have another nap somewhere in here or is miserable until next bottle; sometimes miserable even after having this nap
activity until next feeding (bath)
7:30 bf and bottle (5-6 oz)
8:30 bed
-
Heather - Did Kelsey start taking that many ounces after you went to four hours? Leah is still only taking three to five and five rarely happens. We really need to go to four hours, but I just don't see how it is going to work with naps right now. BTW I just adore Kelsey's picture. Everytime I look at it I think of Leah. They really don't look alike, it's just they are so close in age and that is exactly what she looks like when I hold her up like that! :D
-
Christine, I think Leah is absolutely precious. With that hat on, she's squeezable!!! Looks like a baby in a magazine ad.
Anyway, Kelsey was ebf until about 3.5 months, so when I started giving her bottles after she stopped bfing well, she would take about 6 oz. Sometimes she would cry after the bottle was done, but I'd give her a paci and she seemed fine. At about 4 months she started taking 8 oz for some of the feedings, and now that's what I fix for the first 3 bottles. Sometimes she only takes 6. At night she bf, then takes 5-6, depending on how well she bf. She has actually started taking less on a regular basis now, but is not taking as much cereal as she used to either. Is this a sign of teething pain maybe?
Leah still rolling all over the place?
-
Christine - Sorry for the delay, but I have been traveling. We are way off schedule at this point, but here is our normal schedule. Everything varies by +/- 1/2 hour depending on how the day is going.
7:30am - Wake and feed
8:30am - Nap (2 hours)
10:30am - Wake and feed
12 noon - Nap (1.5 - 2 hours)
1:30pm/2:00pm - Wake and feed
3:00pm/3:30pm - Nap (1 - 1.5 hours)
4:30 pm - Wake and feed
7:00 pm - Feed
7:45pm - Bedtime
It works out to three naps, but the third one is sometimes as short as 45 minutes. She is a slow eater, so feeds last at least 1/2 hour (she is ebf). After her first morning nap, I try to keep her awake intervals to 1.5 hours - that's about as long as she can go. Her activity time is whatever is left after the feed. After she gets up from the third nap, we try to keep her up until bedtime. We usually go for an hour walk around the neighborhood around 6:00pm. If she's had a bad napping day, we let her catnap during the walk.
When we get back from our trip, I am going to try solid food again, so I am sure things will change.
-
Sorry, that last post from Melanie2 was actually me. I am staying with a friend, and I guess I posted under her login.
-
Pardon me if this is TMI, but Maya is ebf, and usually only poos every 5 to 6 days. But it has been 9 or 10 days now, and still nothing. She has been kind of cranky of late, and I think this may be why (or at least part of the reason why). I have tried everything the doctor has recommended in the past (this is not the first time she has had trouble, but she had NEVER gone this long before) - warm bath, massage, taking a rectal temp, but still no poo. Have any of the bf babies ever gone this long?
I'll post this on the breastfeeding thread too, but any thoughts/ideas would be appreciated.
-
Deborah, have you tried applejuice (half strength mixed with water)? Kelsey's doctor has ok'd this is she becomes constipated.
I tried putting Kelsey down for her first nap this morning an hour after wake up. Well, her nose got stopped up and this makes her mad of course because she can't breathe. So I had to suction her, which makes her even more mad. She was hard to settle, so I figured a good nap was out of the question. She woke after 35-40 minutes. I gave paci, patted her, and left. She cried off and on for 30 minutes, and actually fell back asleep. She had been asleep for another hour ( :D ), but being the worrier that I am, I just had to check on her since it was so out of caracter for her to sleep that long. Well, of course, I woke her up :evil: . I will definitely try again tomorrow.
Word of caution: I know you all know this, know this, know this, but please be careful with your lo's when they are on a changing table, or other high surface. My neighbor/ friend's baby rolled off while she even had a hand on her, and landed face down. She flipped so fast that the mom didn't have a chance to catch her. The baby is absolutely fine, but mom was definitely scared. At this age, our babies will be getting able to roll around and flip over, so please be cautious.
-
Heather - thanks for the tip. I think I'll give her another day or so, and then maybe give it a try.
-
HI all - have been scarce lately as things are up and down as usual - last 2 days were DOWN (Olivia likes to throw a spanner in the works and skip a nap every few days and stay up for 3+ hours!!).
i have been reading everyone's "schedules' and am wondering how consistent your lo are. I mean, Olivia is pretty consistent about feeding every 3-3.5 hours but her nap lengths really vary which throws off any idea of a "schedule". her naps vary from 45 min - 2hr 15 min and whereas she used to always have a great 2 hr first nap sometimes this is actually only a 45 min nap (or like today - NO NAP). she usually has an AVERAGE total of 3 1/2 - 4 hrs of naps but the breakdown is really inconsistent (and some days she can take 5 + hrs of naps).
i don't know what to write as our "typical" day - i could tell you an ideal day....what we are aiming for but that is not truly reflecting our situation. am i alone in this one?
-
Deb- You're not alone- my schedule varies every day, usually depending on when she gets up. I can be anywhere from 1 hr or more off. I try to make adjustments. My lo in addition to being in a growth spurt has also begun to stay up longer stretches so we're pretty off as of late. She also is very random with her eating. Before our trip she really liked the 3.5 hrs- now it is 2.5 to 3. Some days she naps 6 hrs (3, 2 hr naps) but now it is more like 4 or 5 hrs with an earlier bedtime. I just try to stick to our usual if she wakes at 6 or 6:30.
Deborah- saw your post about the BM here and on the other board! I'm happy we're not alone too. I am so happy Eirwen finally did after 10 days- watch out though...it was sooooo much that I literally just tossed the outfit she was wearing. TMI probably but up to her shoulders in it :shock: I'd dress her in pants or something too for awhile :wink: Your dd just really loves your milk so much that every bit of it is absorbed and digested. I wouldn't worry. :D
Heather- thanks for the warning. That is so scary :cry:
Dh gave Eirwen a 7oz bottle of breast milk last night before bed around 6. She downed the whole thing. :shock: She'd just had a full feeding at 4:30 :shock: We were trying to tank her up to go the whole night. Well, I think she would have except her diaper leaked out (I had purposely put her in a huge diaper- 1 size up- go figure!) and it made her sleeper all wet, which made her cold. So we got a new outfit at 2am. I tried feeding her to calm her down, was wailing but she pushed off rubbing her eyes.
I used PUPD to put her back to sleep, only took 10 min. though it seems like forever when you do PUPD in the middle of the night. Anyway, now that it is the weekend dh and I are going for it. We figure 3 nights of PUPD will get her back sleeping through the night- I HOPE! It's been a week of night wakings and lately she's only been barely eating from one side in the night...I don't want to start a habit now...and I don't think she is really hungry, at least not anymore. She slept until her regular wake up and took a full feeding so I figure we're good to go! Wish us luck! BTW- it really makes me grumpy how dh can sleep through her wailing! What is up with that!!!??? I came back to bed and he was snoring! It worries me that if I ever have to go away for some reason he won't hear her???
-
Branwen - TOTALLY agree with you on the whole DH thing. The other night Leah was up at 2, 3:15, 4, and 5. At 5 when she cried DH rolled over and said: "Is this the first time she's gotten up?" I wanted to smack him! I am partially at fault though. I'm one of those people who think it is just easier to do it myself. I need to let go and let him start taking more responsibility, but I'm so afraid he'll get her all excited in the night and then I would have to end up putting her back to sleep anyway!
Heather - I just gave DH the lecture the other day about buckling her into everything. I had her in her baby papasan chair the other day, not buckled in. I turned around and she was literally sitting up with her head down by her feet. I freaked out even though if she would have fallen out it woulnd't have been a big deal - so close to the carpet. BUT we buckled her into everything now!
DD has decided rolling over isn't so neat anymore. It's like she has now realized that if she rolls to her tummy she doesn't like it. So she'd rather just stay on her back! Not so great for the flat head!
We're still stuck at three hour feeding intervals. I stretched her first feed to four hours yesterday. Fed at 6 and 10, then she was literally screaming at 12:30 (noraml feeding time) so I fed her and she took another full bottle. I may have to post a question about this. Are there some babies who just can't do four hours? She is so big though so you would think she could. But, she will just never take more than 5 ounces at a time. Even at 6 in the morning when she hasn't eaten since 10 the night before!
Deb - Our schedule is way off wack too. Every day is differnt. Like you she usually feeds at the same time everyday. About the only thing that stays the same is her afternoon naps. 12:30 - 2:30 and 4:30 -5. Those are the same everyday. But I do all I can to get that long afternoon nap. I rock her back to sleep if she wakes at the 45 min mark. If she wakes at 2:00 I will even hold her for the rest of the nap so she sleeps till 2:30. :shock:
-
So I was reading the Oct/Dec thread on this forum. It's neat to see what we will be talking about in a few short months! Crawling, sitting up, seperation anxiety :shock: I hope when I go back to work in September we don't have the seperation problem.....
-
Branwen - We have poo! 10 days just seemed like such a long time. However, I realized that she started on vitamins with iron about two weeks ago, so that probably slowed her down as well. But as luck would have, the diaper contained it all (I love WalMart diapers - they fit her way better than Pampers or Huggies).
Deb - Our schedule varies too, but when she gets off, I just try to keep her feedings spaced such that she gets to bed roughly the same time every night.
Christine - We are already dealing with stranger anxiety. Maya is getting quite skittish with strangers (including grandmas).
-
DD has decided rolling over isn't so neat anymore. It's like she has now realized that if she rolls to her tummy she doesn't like it. So she'd rather just stay on her back! Not so great for the flat head!
Christine - i was going to post today and see about the flat head - olivia's still is too. se has tummy time, etc but it does not seem to be disappearing - will it take until they are sitting up around 6 months for it to really start changing?? anyone else with flat head syndrome (since the kids are so alike already :lol: )
We're still stuck at three hour feeding intervals. I stretched her first feed to four hours yesterday. Fed at 6 and 10, then she was literally screaming at 12:30 (noraml feeding time) so I fed her and she took another full bottle. I may have to post a question about this. Are there some babies who just can't do four hours? She is so big though so you would think she could. But, she will just never take more than 5 ounces at a time. Even at 6 in the morning when she hasn't eaten since 10 the night before!
we are in the same boat - occasionally if she has a great nap she wakes up and can wait the extra time to go 3-3 1/2 hrs but usually 3 hrs exactly is it. her intake ranges from 6-8oz + at each feed and still not there yet - most of this is due to nap issues as said yesterday - they vary so much that if she wakes after 45 min there is no way she can stay awake for ages and then feed. as it is we end up giving her a lot of calories right before bed at 3 hrs if she woke at 45 min.
Deborah - glad to hear about the poo :lol: we used to stress about this when dd2 was BF, but on formula she goes every day now - and if she wants to go and is strugling it throws us off for a couple of feeds/naps until she goes.
-
Deb - I too worry about my DD's head. Here I attached a picture of her from the side. This is her bad side. The other side does not look as bad. Some people say it will start to round out around 6-7 months, but I have heard form other people it may not round out. :shock: There are helmets they can wear to help, but we probobly won't go that far. I guess I'll keep putting hats on her till she grows some hair! :D
-
looks very similar to olivia. i have asked dh to promise to help me resize and upload photos this weekend - want to show you all clear photos of my girls. alex turned 2 on the 1st and olivia is almost 5 months already!!! must learn how to resize. i tried uploading once and nothing happened so i am a bit techno-idiot!
-
Kelsey has flat head, too, but she has so much hair that it's not too obvious. Still, I know that it is and it worries me. I asked her ped. twice, and they assure me that it will round out on it's own, but even if it's not perfectly round that it will be okay. Kelsey hates, hates, hates her tummy, so when she's on the floor I try to play with her in a sitting position. We also put her in her exersaucer frequently, or I hold her in my lap to play. The more that I've been doing these sort of things the less flat her head has looked lately. She still sleeps on her back for naps and night time, but some babies will start to flip all around in their sleep once they learn to roll around. I think the helmets are for severe cases that were present at birth, or for those wanting to correct it for cosmetic purposes. I would wait until about 9-10 months to see if it corrects itself before taking further action. That's just me, though.
-
Hi Everyone,
I love reading everyone's posts :) And looking at everyone's photos :)
Last night was the best night we've had in a long time :D . Emily woke up several times but it was kind of like she cried out in her sleep and didn't actually wake up. So I only ended up going in at 5am because she was doing a kind of a cry that was ramping up and I found she had turned completely sideways with her head up again the side slats. I shifted her and then she slept till 7am.
Also, Emily wakes up completely for her dreamfeed. She's looking at me with her eyes wide open for at least 5 mins. I've been giving it anywhere between 9-10pm and she drinks 6oz. And so far she still makes it till 6:45-7am.
Leah's mom, I haven't noticed if Emily has a flat head or not. I'll have to have a good look.
Maya's mom, my dd is also getting stranger anxiety with her Grandma and Grandpa. She's good with them looking and talking to her when she first wakes up from a nap. But later she'll start to do a pouty face and go into a real hard cry instantly.
Branwen, I had my dd buy a pack'n'play. So we're all set for travelling. I'm thinking of going up to my Aunt's cottage for overnight. But I'll be in the car by myself with Emily for 4 hours. I think she'll just sleep?
Debinoz, my dd is pretty good with staying on schedule if we spend the whole day at home. By the end of the day we're usually within a 1/2 hr of what I was aiming for. Sometimes I have to work hard to keep her activity going long enough. But the key is consistency with the naps. Usually I don't have napping problems and she does a 2hr nap in the morning, 2 hr nap at lunch time and 1hr in the late afternoon.
Have a good day everyone! Tarri
-
Hello ladies
It's lovely reading up on all the babies.. so many girls.
Just wanted to share that today we have moved to a four hourly routine.. Luka did this on his own today. We have been working very hard on EASY, thanks to your inspiration. I haven't really been posting, but I had to share this with you.
Our schedule looks like this (as of today)
6h45 Wake and eat
7h00 Activity - singing
8h00 Sleep - he went down so easy for this one.
10h45 Wake and Eat
11h00 Activity
12h30 Sleep - this was a difficult nap and we really struggled. He fell asleep at 13h00
then woke at 13h20 and I used pu/pd and managed to get him to sleep at 14h00 :shock:
15h30 Wake and Eat (I had to wake him)
then things got wonky :roll:
I don't know much about the flat head thing, since Luka has always been a tummy sleeper.
And stranger anxiety is a visitor in our house too. MIL gets very hurt :(
Well done on Emily sleeping so long!
Christine (Leah's mom) - Luka has also decided that he doesn't like rolling over (after doing it on father's day)
Deb (in Oz) - thanks for the solids advice. We've decided to wait a while longer.
Hope all goes well for everyone else..
Schae
-
hi ladies,
haven't posted here in a while, but have been lurking for ideas. love all the new pictures of the babies.
Schae - congrats on the 4-hr schedule! hope he keeps it up.
Debra - like Tarri said, if we're home all day, consistency is easy. course, then we have happy baby & stir-crazy mommy! i find that i manage to get him in order, so then i get brave & we go places, then he gets out of whack & i have to stay in for a few to fix it.
Christine - no, some babies don't go to an exact 4-hr schedule. dd never did. i think you just want to make sure she doesn't associate eating with going to sleep.
Branwen - your avatar is fantastic! did you all take that photo yourselves?
concerning the flat head... yeah, luke's got one too. i agree with what heather said, work on sitting, the exersaucer. i have another one of the babies who all of a sudden hates his tummy, so not too much of that - and subsequently no more rolling (like he ever did it more than twice!). if you don't need a helmet, that's a good thing. it should go to normal when they're more mobile.
(sigh) most of our issues have been medical lately. finally figured out luke has allergies at his 4-month checkup. so now he's on zyrtec, which is helping, but this past week he's been beside himself coughing at night. so i've had to put the humidifier back in his room & re-elevate his mattress. hate doing that, cause he always ends up rolling down & then screaming for help. slooooowly getting better.
all this stuff is wreaking havoc with his afternon nap. he keeps waking up early from it. so we're playing with when he goes down & how much he eats. it just stinks cause then i don't get very much time by myself at all - this is when he's supposed to sleep great cause jaina's in bed too!!! blah...
-
Jaime- Thanks for the compliment! I am an amateur photographer- I set the shot myself. I'm so proud of it! Sorry to hear about the allergies. my SIL's baby has been on zyurtec since that age also, it's rough for him!
Tarri- Eirwen was always awake for her 9/10 feed...for us she just had to be awake to latch. I think it's okay that she's not completely asleep, esp if she goes right back to bed.
I have been examining Eirwen's head...I don't think she has a flat head, but there is definitely a big patch with no hair :lol: I think it is so cute!
I think Eirwen is happiest right now on 3 hr schedule so I'm not beating myself up about our slip back to it. I have however ended clustering. So we are not doing that anymore! I think her growth spurt has subsided a bit. She did not wake in the night the past 2 nights. (I secretly think it is because she knew PUPD was coming- just kidding). I did a yeild last night, got 7 oz so that is quite a lot for baby- 6 times per day.
I plan to start solids again next week. Think I've been making the cereal too thin after advice from another board.
Just a note of caution- be careful on stairs while carrying your lo! Baby and I fell yesterday...no worries we are both fine. I did not let go of her- THANK GOD! It was very scary and I did take her to doc for a check just to be safe, but she was just scared and I think that is why she was crying so much. My dh was home which was also good :D Anyway, I"m just 'limited' now in certain activities. I have an enormous line/bruise across my midback from where the stair hit! Seriously feels like someone smacked me across the back with a 2x4. Anyway, mind slippery socks :wink: [/b]
-
Wow! So much to catch up on! It's great to hear that so many other babies have the flat head issue ....we'll not great for the kids, but it makes me feel better! :wink: Actually it used to bother me more than it does now. She's a girl, so eventually she'll grow hair - maybe! She's pretty bald right now!
Jamie - THanks for the info on the feeding intervals. I am just going with her cues. Maybe once we get serious about solids she will start taking the bottle every four hours instead. She never falls asleep taking it, so that's not an issue.Sorry to hear about hte allergies. DH has bad ones so we're hoping DD will take after me in that department.
Schae - Isn't it funny about rolling over? I was braggin to everyone how she rolls like crazy about a week ago. Then we were with DH's family this weekend and they wanted to see her do it, but of course she wouldn't!
Tarri - Yah for Emily! I hope it keeps up for you!
Branwen - So sorry to hear about the stairs. YIKES! I tripped awhile back with Leah, but caught my balance. It freaked me out though to think about what could have happened to her.
We had Leah's pictures taken a few weeks back. I posted a few on the photos board. You'll have to check them out. Very cute, if I do say so myself!
-
Jaime: sorry about the allergies. did the doc do an allergies test on Luke?
Branwen: Glad the fall didnt do too much damage. Must've been very scary. Good luck with the solids. For some reason I'm tempted to start Luka tomorrow (he's 20 weeks tomorrow). And I always feel this way after I've gone to visit family who inevitably ask: "Is he on solids yet?" :roll:
Christine: will definately go and check out the photos.
Luka is also awake for his dreamfeed. In fact, he wakes up for it (which I know isn't a good thing). But we're going to tackle that soon. For now I'm trying to get him to sleep through. Last night we had some success, he slept from 23h00 till 6h20 (although he woke at 2am and I patted him back to sleep)
We've been really good at following EASY for the past few weeks and it's making a huge difference. What's made it easier for me is having dh around. He does nap duty (so there is no way he can BF him to sleep :lol: )
We're still on the 4 hourly which amazes me.
Looking forward to hearing from everyone else.
-
Schae- don't push into solids too fast. :wink: I think I did that with Eirwen and she just wasn't ready but next week is her offical 6 month birthday- 26 weeks! YAY! so I will try again. I know it's hard not to feel pressure, and it happens to me all the time when my mom or literally strangers :roll: ask "isn't she rolling over yet, sitting up yet, eating solids yet?" UGH! Babies come into things on their own time I've decided. Don't let them pressure you if you're not ready :D
Oh, good job on the 4 hrs and PUPD!
Eirwen is sleeping through again still. YAY! But she's being crazy with her feeds- this is what she did today...I'm so confused.
5:30 E
6:00 S (to 9!)
9:30 E
10:45 S (to 12:00)
12:15 E
2:00 S (to 4:00)
4:00 E
6:00 E & Bed
What is she doing? It's like she can go 4 hrs at some points but not at others. The 4 & 6 was our usual cluster. I was trying to cut it out but I think she still really needs that since she took another 6oz bottle from dh tonight at 6 and had a full breastfeed at 4 with me. Hmm...they are as mysterious as they are beautiful.
Eirwen has decided she LOVES it when I wave plastic bags over my head fluttering it around. She SQUEALS! :D It is the funniest thing ever! Who needs silly toys when you have plastic bags! :lol:
-
HI everyone:
Its getting so hard to keep up with all the posts, but its great!
Deborah, thanks for the naps idea. Matty was sleeping great when we started EASY but his naps are getting shorter and shorter, Im gonna try it.
Leah is too cute and so are ALL the babies. Someone please tell me how to post Matty's picture. I tried it and apparently the image was too large so i dont know how to shrink it and post. anyone good with this stuff who can tell me how to do it?
We are still having problems with feeding the little guy. Branwen, your advice was right about letting him tell us when he is hungry, but he gets soooooooo fussy and cries that we think he's telling us he is hungry (its the same as his hunger cries) and then he only drinks an ounce or drinks none at all and gets more upset when we offer. He is still being a fussy man about BF too, and will only BF at night and some times once a day now. Its just no fun.
Also, does anyone else have a lo who doesnt like to eat first thing in the morning. HE feeds in themiddle of the night anywhere from 1:30 to 3:00 but it doesnt matter, he just isnt hungry in the morning, which of course makes it hard to get him on the nap schedule cause he wont sleep well when he is hungry.
He just keeps me guessing!
Last question: Has anyone stopped swaddling? I have tried it and he wont sleep, but he is becoming more and more opposed to the swaddle. He is just short of 5.5 months and I feel like we should stop swaddling soon. Anyone have any advice on how to do this?
Julie
Matthew - Spirited - 1/31/05
-
Hi Julie! Good to hear from you! I will also PM you about instructions on your images 8)
Yes- I do not swaddle...abandoned it probably too early, but Eirwen was SO fussy in it at about 3 months. At two months she found her hands early and liked them up out above her head. So we did a body/bottom swaddle and then she got upset at 3 months when she wanted her legs spread out and would make such a display of getting out of the swaddle (it didn't matter how tight we wrapped she'd get out!) that I just decided- my baby likes to sleep all sprawled out :wink: (kind of like her daddy) She still sleeps like this- arms out/legs out- like a jumping jack mid air! Anyway, I would suggest leaving 1 arm or both arms out of the swaddle. If he's kicking off the bottom you could try a sleep sack instead. It will still keep him warm- maybe keep the "enclosed feeling" but he will be able to move around more? Also keep in mind his temperament! He's spirited so it might start to REALLY bug him that he can't move around so much. All the spirited ones I know are REALLY physical babies and hate being confined.
I don't know if I agree with Tracy on keeping the swaddle so long. :? It seems to me babies need to wiggle these days, to build muscle for all the crawling they are going to do. A swaddle just seems so restrictive to all of their new mobility. I guess maybe that's the idea so they don't move so much at night and wake themselves up or something? Just my thoughts...
About the whole feeding thing. Could those "hungry cries" be overtired ones? My dd sounds hungry/hysterical when she is overtired. The only thing that is different is she won't accept my breast. You might need to go cold turkey on the feeding at night thing- so he learns to take a full morning feed. His body and mind need to clue in that daytime is for chowing. :wink: There are ways to do this in the new book. With the exception of a growth spurt I don't feed at night. It sucked for awhile because she cried so much (I did PUPD) but it worked for Eirwen...and now our morning feed is our longest feed.
Hang in there!
-
Hi Julie, we started having swaddle problems a couple weeks ago. I kept having to go into Emily's room about every 2 hrs at night to reswaddle her. She kept waking up and crying because her legs/feet were cold. (I was swaddling her in a diaper shirt because it was so hot.)
So now I dress her in full pj's if it not too hot and use a cheese cloth swaddle from under her arms and down. This way if she wriggles out her legs don't get cold. Also I was swaddling with one arm out from about 3 months cause she started sucking her thumb but since she has better hand control now and I always find her with both arms out when it time to wake up, I've started leaving both hands out.
I've also found that she likes a loose bit of swaddle to grab with her hand and pull up to her face.
Hope that helps. Tarri
-
julie - i think some babies need to stay swaddled longer than others, but i think they are rather clear about it when they want to stop - like what branwen & tarri said about their lo. you might want to just try leaving his arms out & see what happens. my kids never wanted their arms contained, so i never did. jaina kinda naturally grew out of wanting it around 6 months; i just wrapped her looser & looser until she didn't care anymore. luke's showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. he really likes his legs wrapped.
schae - i'll echo branwen on this too (gee, did i need to post - branwen has said so much good stuff already!) - be careful about starting too soon. 6 months is plenty old enough to start. the one thing you especially need to look for is his tongue - does he still have that reflex where he pushes stuff out? if he does then don't stress starting.
branwen - i have been doing a sort of pseudo-cluster with luke. he's been was eating at 8,12,4,7, and 8:30/9. (he seems to be changing again though) i'd keep feeding her as long as she seemed hungry; looks like she's doing great.
christine - i was thinking more about what you said about the 3 hr - another idea is that she will eat more if she eats fewer times. (like spread out 30 oz in 5 feeds instead of 6) but as long as her naps aren't bothering you i'd say it was your call...
we have not had allergies tests done on luke yet; seems to be environmental stuff that bugs him. both my kids have amazingly sensitive skin (got that from dh) and i think he's just a bit more sensitive) he has his 6-month checkup in a couple weeks, so i'll revisit all that stuff with the dr again. he does have another ear infection, though, so i am a bit concerned - that's 2! i didn't even know he had it though, so i don't think it's as bad this time...
-
Hi all - we are having a terrible time here and i am getting crazy again!!
olivia is feeding and napping terribly again and everything is a struggle. we were doing so well in the days between my mom leaving and sister arriving and then it all went yuck again - not sure if she is just so sensitive to the changes in the house. now my in laws have arrived for 12 days and the house is crazy - too many people for the space and my sister is in sleeping with me and jeff in with Alex while ILs have spare room :roll: they are already overstimulating olivia and driving me into a nervous wreck state!!
how the hell do i survive all this chaos???
-
Deb - I can relate. Before we left for our trip, my MIL came for a week. Her idea of playing with Maya is to shake toys in her face. Whe Maya fusses, she interprets it as boredom and grabs another toy. Maya is way more fascinated with peoples hands and faces than toys, and I've tried to tell her that, but to no avail. When I put Maya in her crib for some downtime, she's in there within minutes. MIL shakes a toy in her face until she cries then picks her up because she was crying. And she second-guesses our parenting ALL the time. My advice - take Olivia to a quiet room for all her feedings. Just say she gets too distracted with so many people around. Make it quiet time for both you and her - use the time to mentally recharge.
Jaime - Some kids are just prone to ear infections. One thing to check, though - Maya used to get milk in her sinuses when eating because I didn't have her head propped up enough. According to our ped, this can lead to ear infections. The rule of thumb is to keep their head above their hips.
On the swaddling - We stopped at two months. She was kicking out of it every night anyway. She likes to sleep all sprawled out. She sleeps in just a sleeper for now, but when it gets cold again, we're going to try one of those sleep sacks.
Some good news - I think Maya's six-month growth spurt is almost over. She slept through until 7:00am last night for the first night in a week! Yea! Sleep for mom!
-
Deborah - We have the halo sleep sack just for future reference. We like it alot.
Deb - I can relate too. MIL came by the house tonight at 8:00 and was asking if Leah was awake. I wanted to say duh, how many times do I have to tell you she goes to sleep at 7:00?!?!?! Then she wanted to go in to her room just to look, I wouldn't let her. Cruel, I know! :twisted: But I am sick of my in-laws thinking Leah can and should stay awake late. We went boating with them this weekend and DH told them at 6:30 that we needed to head home to put Leah to bed. FIL looked at her and said: she doesn't look tired. Why do you always try to put her to bed when she's not tired? You would think they never had kids!?!?! Some days it jsut seems easier to stay at home and go on with the pleasure of our lives with no interupptions from people who think they know all! There's my vent for the day! I'm sure others can relate!
-
Thanks a lot ladies.
i relate about the not knowing when bedtime is... as the ILs always call from England during bath/bed routine or later and ask to speak/see alex on the video link. we say "it's 7/8pm here !!!!" and they take care of my nephew in england a lot so know the deal (he is 3 months older so on a similar pattern)
my big stress with them is that they are so high-maintenance. between their 50 cups of tea and coffee and such it drives me batty. i told Dh (and he agreed) he has to tell them to get their own bkfst/lunch/teas and i am too busy to cater for 5 adults and 2 children. now if i can get them to load the dishwasher and do their own laundry :roll: My family seem to dive in and help out more. Also, they are here for a visit to see the kids and tend to just sit around drinking their tea unless we push them to "do" things with them.
on another note, the big issue with olivia is still her feeding problems. i am waiting to speak to a speech pathologist today but want her evaluated for dysphagia (see colic board for info) as it seems to fit all her problems. in the meantime i bought thickened formula for reflux babies and it has been 24 hours and we finally had our first good feed in almost a week! it makes me think this is a definite possibility as she has been so stressed out by the bottle and screams and cries when she sees it. she needs to learn to trust us again and learn that the food won't cause her pain... (assuming we are on the right track). wish us luck - the stress is really starting to eat away at me and Dh has had to reassure me so much lately. i am also going away with Olivia for 5 days to a residential facility on the 25th. it is a public service in Australia (Tressilian) where you have nurses, peds, psychiatrist, etc on hand to watch and support you and get you on a routine, etc. i am not sure how i will balance their views with BW, but will take what help i can get as these places are very hard to get into (have had this booked since she was 8 weeks old as this is how booked they are).
-
hi all!
wow, the posts really rack up if you've been gone a couple of days! :D
It looks like we're on our way to sleeping through. For the past 2 nights, Luka has slept from his dreamfeed (11pm) till 6 or 7am. Now to just get him to drop the dreamfeed.
Deb: I hope the doctors can work out what has been bothering Olivia. Poor bubs. At least now you'll have a solution to work with and she'll eat better.
We also stopped swaddling, but that was because Luka sleeps on his tummy.
-
Deb - I have read about the dysphagia thing too. Everything you have described sounds just like it. Let us know the results. Good luck with the clinic/class thing. I hope it is wortwhile for you! I wish there were something like that around here!
-
Deb- I hope the clinic will help you! Maybe even you will get a rest too! Please tell us all about it!
Schae- congrats on sleeping through!
About the inlaws- mine won't even visit- she doesn't like girls much. She kept trying to convince us it was a boy, even after our ultrasound. hmmm...maybe I should feel lucky she isn't here considering but it does hurt my feelings that she won't come to see the baby. Either way I've decided IL's suck. :evil:
Eirwen and I did straight 3 1/2 hrs today! I think we're on our way back to 4! YAY! Having bedtime/bath trouble- some of you may have seen my posts. Since the end of the cat nap I am just at a loss as when to do what without getting her overtired...lately her bedtime has been heading towards 5:30 :shock: . I suppose it is okay if she does 5:30 to 5:30 since that matches my dh's wake up time. I just wish she didn't cry so much after the bath. I want bedtime to be happiness :D and right now it is :cry: for everyone. What to do?
She loves her cereal! I've been giving her oatmeal (much less gas than with rice) and she really likes it. She smiles and swallows. SO CUTE! Tonight at a restaurant I was holding her and eating a fry and she opened her mouth as if I was going to feed it to her! It was crazy cute! It was like all of the sudden she's ready! I guess they do just tell you!
-
SORRY FOR SUPER LONG POST BUT Dh took ILs and DD1 and my sister out for the morning and this is the longest i have been alone in ages and dd2 is asleep!!!
Deb- I hope the clinic will help you! Maybe even you will get a rest too! Please tell us all about it!
I was thinking of not going and the child health nurse said she thinks i can really benefit and at the mimimum i have 4 1/2 days where i only focus on me and Olivia. I am a little worried about their methods though and if they will think i am crazy with BW. for example, i think they watch the babies for you overnight - what do i do if they want to give her a bottle if she wakes even if i know she is not hungry (ie - she is a noisy night sleeper anyway and often resettles herself. ) if i ask to have her in with me that will be hard too b/c it's not like i get a suite of rooms, so she would disturb me all night and then i would not get the rest i need!!
i am trying not to feel guilty leaving alex for 5 days!!! but my heart races when i think about it as she is so close with me and spends a lot of time cuddling and playing with me. at least she has really taken to my sister who will look after her here at our house. oh the guilt!!
About the inlaws- mine won't even visit- she doesn't like girls much. She kept trying to convince us it was a boy, even after our ultrasound. :evil: !
i can relate - my MIL had 3 boys under 5! when i was PG with Alex i said i was hoping for a girl (i am 1 of 2 and do not know anything baout little boys :lol: ) she kept saying to me "no you want boys! they are easier and so lovely!" and i would just keep replying "no, actually i want a little girl" to which MIL said "we just don't make girls" (my 2 are the first in 3 or 4 generations in his family :lol:
my ILs are here for 2 weeks and apart from MIL hanging out some washing, they spend a lot of timing sitting on the sofa... or looking left out - they are not "dive in" kind of people and I have to always worry about their feelings, make sure they are taken care of, watch what i say, etc URG! they are nice people though and they love us dearly, but they are very hard to be around 24/7! FIL is one of those people who like to talk about nothing - my sister joked to me last night "your FIL knows a lot of crap about crap!" after he told her about every bird in England... you get the idea!
glad to hear the solids are going well. sorry about the evenings though - will have to look for your post and see if i can offer any suggestions. we are still struggling, but i think Olivia really wants to be on 4 hr easy and i just have to find a way to get there. she is feeding well when i am able to wait closer to 3 1/2 hrs but when she does the crappy 45 min naps there is no way she can stay awake that long!!!!!!
We had a terrible night last night (power blew out at 3AM which shut off her white noise suddenly and woke her up and the rest of the night was awake time with a couple of 45 min "naps") but i just had our best feed EVER (she took 220ml in 1 session, no top ups...) The problem is it was at the end of a cycle because her first nap was less than an hour and she was then up for an hour before i began the feed, etc. she was only "up" for 15 min afetr feed (then she pooped in bed before nap so by the time i changed her again.,.. she had 2 hrs awake time so we'll see if she does a big sleep now)
tomorrow is alex's 2nd birthday party so wish me luck coping with the preperations and guests while taking care of Liv!!! shoudl be stresful but fun!
-
Hi there!
Deb- got your replies to my other questions! Thanks! We are still experimenting. Ugh. The clinic sounds both good and bad then. It could totally undermine everything you've worked for or give you exactly what you need? It is hard to tell, and you sound unsure, I would lean on the cautious side then...are you still going to go? Can you call beforehand and try to find out their philosophy? What were the results with the speech pathologist?
Oh, try not to feel guilty, you are still a new mom :D , even if you've been one before, and with PPD you need to take care of yourself. If you get you and Olivia on track you'll be that much better for your other dd! I hope the party was fun!
Question about solids- it is taking a very long time to feed Eirwen. I give them to her after I breastfeed but it takes like 30 min to feed the oatmeal to her? Is this too long? It is coming up very close to her nap...and then it makes it so she isn't hungry for her next feed. For example- she wakes at 9:30, I bf at 10, solids at 10:15 but then she needs to go for a nap at 11 (still no 2 hrs awake). So...is this normal. Do solids just become the A for awhile at first? Am I doing this right? :lol: :? :lol: :?
-
Branwen- am sitting waiting for SP to show up for full visit and Olivia seems desperate/ready to eat so not sure if i sghoudl wait for them any longer :? is confused my middle name??
the party was great - i will try for once and for all to force dh to upload pics tonight and will post party pics in photo gallery and separately put recent shots of olivia and alex here.
with the solids, the only thing i can say is perhaps that's another reason why it is easier starting at 6 months - if the awake time is still not at 2+ hours it will definitely feel like all you do is feed! my suggestion FWIW - i would not spend a half hour on it - she is BF and only starting on solids, not trying to have a full meal. maybe say try for 15 min and whatever she takes is fine. she is stil learning and adjusting to it, so if it is interfering with her next BF or sleep than it is not the priority at this stage. when she starts staying awake more like 2 hours than you can have a break between BF and solids and still have some awake time after BF. makes sense??? HTH
-
Hi everyone-
Posted new pics of Eirwen in the Photo gallery if you want to take a look!
I hope everyone is doing well. :D
Our routine has all gone to...well...you know! We had a wedding and guests so it has been busy- everything is off. But tomorrow everyone leaves and my entertaining will be over. Whew!
Deb- thanks for advice on solids. I won't try for so long. It's just she isn't giving me that "I'm done" signs so I thought I should keep going...then again if she was really into it she'd probably eat faster. I suspect she's humoring me or just enjoying the textures.
Only new thing is that we are getting stuck on our side now! I did some floor time with her today "showing" her how to roll back onto her back so maybe she won't get stuck tonight :wink:
Oh, I'm trying to recreate the catnap- so far so good :D
-
Branwen- The pics of Eirwen are soooo cute!!!!! About solids. I offer Leah her cereal between feedings. Right now it is like this: (Our schedule is soooo off kilter too becuase of weddings also!!!! :D We have another one this weekend, and it's family so Leah MUST come with - at least that's what the fam says....)
6 - Bottle
7-8 - Nap
9 - Bottle
10 -11 - Nap
11 - Cereal
12:30 - Bottle
12:20-2:30 - Nap
3:30 - Bottle
4:30-5 - Nap
6 - Cereal
7 - Bottle and Bed
As you can see, we are still stuck at 3 -3 1/2 hour feeds. :?
-
Hi Everyone,
Debinoz, I think you should definatley go to that clinic. You definately need help. I'm so sorry your lo still isn't eating well. Maybe they'll figure out something to solve the problem. Also I would try to be quite open to their suggestions, you never know what might work! Good Luck!
We're back from our first overnight trip. And it was a big success. It's a 3.5 hour drive to my Aunt's cottage and we left after her first feed in the morning. She got a bit fussy after an hour of driving so I turned on a talk radio station and she drifted off to sleep :) On the way home I kept the radio on the whole time and she slept. I timed it so we'd be home for her dreamfeed and she went right to sleep after. I'm sooo glad I had the pack'n'play. It was super convenient :)
Anyways, Emily is teething on and off still :( . This morning there was a couple drops of blood on her crib sheet. So I'm going to try and check if another tooth came thru. I went to look this morning but she kind of made a little pain face when I felt around on her gums. Also her naps have been completely off the last 3 days. She sleeps for 45mins, does little aggravated coughy noises for 15 mins and then will start to cry and I do pu/pd for 20 mins and by then it's close to time for her next feed. I keep second guessing myself. I wonder if I'm going in too soon or going in too late, if I'm not holder her long enough, or if it's just tooth pain, or should I keep her up longer during activity time :? I'm trying to go with the flow :?
Also she has mild eczema (not sure if that's spelt right). I've been putting some cortisone cream on the bad spots and putting on moisturizer. I tried to get rid of it w/o the cream but it just got worse. So I'm hoping once it clears up that just moisturizer will work.
Leaving on a positive note, she did her first real laugh yesterday :D . Dd was doing some coochy coo and rubbing her tummy. Super cute.
Tarri
-
Tarri -
Glad to hear that your trip was a success! Those first trips are scary! :shock: I hope Emily's teeth feel better - still no signs of teething from Leah.
About the excema - I tried all of the creams, ointments etc. and the one thing that worked best for us was plain old vaseline. No scents, just plain old petroluem jelly. The ointments and lotions just made it worse. Just thought I'd let you know what worked for us! Take Care!
-
Tarri - thanks for all your support. i am booked to go in on MOnday and will be gone until Fri afternoon. I decided i would be open to anything except CIO and will undo anything i htink is not working. in the meantime i think we will use these 4 nights away to go through de-swaddling (let them deal with it if she wakes in the night b/c of hands :lol: ) and getting to a 3.5 - 4 hr routine. dd is definitely not hungry until later on now, but b/c she is not napping too long (45min - 1hr) she is eating towards the end of her EASY cycle more often than not...
glad the trip went well and i know what you mean about the laughter. i meant to post about it recently but Olivia is also laughing a lot and squealing now!! she did this instead of napping for catnap yesterday which tore we in half b/c i wanted to smile and laugh but also knew (correctly) she needed the sleep (ended up not eating at last feed and needed to eat after she slept 45 min after bedtime)
QUESTION: is anyone else's lo "butt scooting" up their cot? Olivia is wrapped and tucked in under a sheet and blanket and still we find her at the top of the cot!!! and then i have to try to resettle her... she is desperately trying to roll from back to front (can only go froim tummy so far) so i think that is what the real goal is. not sure what to do.
-
ooo.. Christine, i will have to try the vaseline on luke's face to see if that helps clear up his eczema! the cortisone cream works, but i don't like using it too often cause it is a steroid... thanks for posting your solids schedule too; luke's starting to show a vague interest, and i just can't remember how i did it the first time!
Tarri - just a thought... i can't use lotion (or most baby products) on luke cause his skin seems to be allergic to the perfume in baby-scented stuff. don't know if that applies, but the face skin is some of the tenderest...
Debra - good luck at the clinic. that sounds like a fantastic program! and to answer your question, mine does not butt-scoot up, but he does like to roll down the mountain. his mattress is a bit more inclined than i like cause he's finishing up an ear infection, and he rolls down. only seems to bother him if he starts coughing - which seems to be every night this week! :roll: sounds completely developmental. if it's really bugging olivia, maybe give her lots of floor time to practice?
-
Well, our naps and our night time sleep is going for a pooper. :x I'm still not sure what's going on :? . I think I'm going to try and not put her down for her first nap until at least 8:30 and try to work towards 8:45 to move from a 3.5hr to a 4hr EASY.
I'm having trouble with pu/pd. What do you do once you put them down :?: I'm confused because I thought I read somewhere that you should pat them gently but somewhere else it said to lay a hand on them with some pressure and talk gently to reassure. So far I don't find the talking helps unless it's to get her out of a hard cry. Hmmmm.
I hope today goes better :) .
Tarri
-
Hi everyone!
Deb- YES on the butt scooting, but Eirwen does it down her crib or she scoots to the side and gets stuck against the bumper! It is cute to watch her do it though...however annoying :wink: Good luck at the clinic- you deserve the rest and a break!
Tarri- YAY on the pack n' play. So glad it worked out for you! More teeth, could that be the problem? is the eczema bothering her- does she scratch? On the PUPD you need to pick up again if she cries. I have found that the hand patting pressure doesn't work for Eirwen now that she is older...just keep picking up and putting down until she settles or goes into the mantra cry. I only do the talking to my dd when I pick her up and it is very soft. Having the 6 month spurt yet?
The laughing is so fun! I love it...although I can't get her to squeal all the time- but the plastic bag usually works- go figure!
Solids are going ok. I still don't think she's too interested. She likes to play with her bib. Also- she starts sucking on her figures during eating time- I think this means she wants to nurse instead- so I offer the breast and she takes a full feed. I like that I can read this from her but at the same time I fear she is rejecting the solids? We tried pears yesterday- her face was sooooo funny! I guess that is probably the first reaction I'd have too if I'd never tasted something sour and grainy before! Breastmilk is so sweet!
Anyway, still at 3 to 3.5 hrs. I think/fear we're stuck here. And I'm so distraught over the whole 5:30 bedtime. Should I change it? My dh thinks its fine- but I just think it's a bit odd that my baby sleeps 5:30 to 6am now. I never thought I'd be worried about too much sleep. :P
-
we are having such a strange week - everything is out the window and i am just counting down til monday when someone else can watch me in action with olivia.
i do not know how we got here but she has gone from having 45min - 2hr naps to having 45 min if i am lucky. she is suddenly awake for up to 3 - 3 and a 1/2hrs befoe finally giving in and having a quick sleep. she is squealing and laughing endlessly, sucking her fingers, butt scooting around the cot, STILL TOTALLY HAPPY even with 3 x 45 min naps! just throwing me for a loop. i feel like a failure but everyone keeps telling me i am not doing anything wrong - she is just "this way". but how does a baby sleep great one day and not nap another day at 5 months old. she is thankfully still sleeping through the night which is my one saving grace.
will be around this weekend and then offlilne from Mon - Fri. if olivia settles down Dh and I are actually going out to dinner tonight for the first time in ... forever!! fingers crossed. we picked a restaurant less than 10 min away at least, but i am exhausted already and doing this for Dh's sake more than anythign (and the good food of course!)
-
Eirwen is 6 months today! My sweet angel...getting so big so fast!
-
Ah Deb - Enjoy yourself tonight. We have a wedding tomorrow night and my mother is taking Leah overnight! :D I totally trust MY mother and she undestands and accepts how I do things. She will do anything to please me! I know how you feel. For weeks Leah has not taken a good morning nap, 30 minutes maybe, then the other day she took a two hour morning nap. I was like YAAAA, then the next day it was 20 minutes. So erratic these spirited ones. We are succeeding on one thing: Going to sleep independently at night. I know give Leah her bottle, burp her on the way to the crib and lay her down totally awake. She kicks and cooes for 20 minutes. I go in when she starts to get upset and give the paci and she's down for the count!
Branwen - If the 5:30 bedtime works for you - GREAT! I know it would be hard for me, especially since it's summer here. The daylight lasts until 9:30 at night!
-
Christine - thanks - dinner was yummy and Dh's parents actually sent us out with a card (they are staying with us) and it had money top pay for dinner and told us not to worry....
we had our first real chance to chat (with no monitor in the background...) and it was great. he is really supportive and knows to be patient - the therapy is really helping me a bit and he knows i make my stress worse for myself.... he is so positive and his optimism is catching. his focus is on the fact that at least when we put her dowbn at night she goes to sleep and as he puts it (apart from DF for now) "we are off duty from 7:30pm until 7-7:30am" and she is "a happy and contented child" so half the battle is done!! now if only she would eat & nap according to the "books" :roll:
-
Ok, I don't know what is wrong, but I'm not getting emails that new posts have arrived, but it shows me as watching this topic. I had actually just logged on to ask where everyone had been, and found 3 new pages of posts. I feel so out of the loop, and I tried to catch up with everyone. I figured everyone was either busy or not having much trouble lately.
Deb-Hope all goes well at the clinic.
Branwen-I wouldn't worry about the solids. Breastmilk is the most important for her, and I would just take it slow. I include solids as part of A time. If I feed her say at 8, I wait until 9 for solids just to give her time to digest and make room for more food. That's just my baby, though.
Christine-It's so funny how much our girls are alike. Kelsey still does her 30 minute naps, but 2 days ago she slept 1 hr 15 mins, 45 mins, and 1 hour. She was an angel all day!!! The next day was back to normal. However, she's been a lot happier these days even without little day sleep. I've also been puttin her in her crib at night completely awake. I lean over to pat her a say good night, she gets real excited and babbles and kicks, but I just go on and she rolls her head to the side and goes to sleep. She's even done this for a couple of naps.
Kelsey is having rice cereal with applesauce in the mornings (we are trying bananas next), and rice cereal with applesauce and carrots at lunch. She eats 1-2 T. for breakfast, but a bit more for lunch. She doesn't take a dinner because she is too full from earlier in the day. Our next veggie will probably be sweet potatoes. Some days she hardly wants any at all, but I don't worry because I realize the formula is the main thing for now. I'm going to introduce the sippy cup at 6 months or so, after her check up.
Well, ladies, glad to check in with you. I'll try to keep up better from now on.
-
i have also stopped receiving alerts - i just check everyday anyway.
get this - today since it is the in laws last full day here my sister and i went out for the whole day to give them time with Dh and the girls. Dh says he will take both girls to the park and then to lunch and just get back in time for Alex's nap (12:30/1pm). this would involve at least 1 feed and nap for olivia.
wouldn't you know it - she was perfect for him the whole day (we did not return until 5:30pm or so!). she drank 200ml (7 1/2 oz) on a park bench with kids everywhere (she won't even feed in our living room for me) and she slept for an hour in the pram. later on at home her next nap time at 3pm she slept for 2 hours!! he says it was all the fresh air but i just think it is him! every single time he stays with the girls everything is out of a textbook!
on a positive note for me i had a hugely successful shopping day for the first time in years - i finally bought some non-t shirt clothes (bordering on groovy and dare i say "hip" :lol: ) and even scored an exersaucer i wanted - i popped into Target before going to the baby store and T. had it for half the price of the baby shop :D it was so meant to be!! I actually feel recharged and had the best day with my sister (we are not very close and this trip is our first time as adults spending a lot of time together)
hopefully i can stay in a positive mood until i get to the clinic on Monday.
hope everyone is doing well!!!
-
Heather - I was kind of wondering where you were, I thought maybe you got sick of us! :wink: Just kidding! Oh my god, when you said Kelsey rolls her head to the side, I just laughed. After I let Leah play in the crib, I go in, give the paci, say night night and she turns her head away from me too!!! :D Right now we are doing rice cereal and bannanas in the morning, and veges at night. Just started veges two days ago. We started with sweet potatoes, she LOVES them! She is very into solids now, opening her mouth and getting mad if I don't feed her fast enough!
Deb - I love what you said about buying "hip" clothes! Last week we had a wedding and I got dressed up and did my hair. When I came out of the bedroom, DH said. Look baby, that's mommy, just in case you didn't recognize her without her pony-tail and t-shirt and shorts! I just don't care so much what I look like when I stay home! In case I don't chat with you, have fun at the clinic. I look forward to hearing how it goes. Hopefully you can give us all some insight! Take care and enjoy yourself. RELAX! You deserve it!!!!
Branwen - Forgot in my last post to say HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY EIRWEN! She is such a doll! Can you believe how fast they are growing up?!!?!?
-
Debra-How wonderful for you! But your not alone on the Dh and baby thing. I went to work a few days earlier in the month and Kelsey took wonderful naps for Dh. I think it's just the change for them. I can't wait to hear about the clinic.
Christine-can you believe our girls are almost 6 months??? Is Leah still rolling? It seems like most babies who have started rolling suddenly lose interest in it. Kelsey still hasn't made it all the way over, but she does turn from side to side to look for things/people/the dog. Also, is Leah sleeping well at night now?
Kelsey has been sleeping for over an hour now for her morning nap. This is 2 days out of 3. This proves she can do it, so I wonder why the inconsistency. However, I worry to death when she sleeps long thinking something must be wrong. But when I go to check on her I wake her up, so I'm holding back and trusting in God to protect her and ease my worries.
-
Heather- Leah is still rolling over, but only so she can get things. She also will crane her head and look for our dog! :D She gets SO excited when the dog comes around, her arms start shaking and she opens and closes her hands! She is sleeping much better at night. She goes down around 7, DF at 10, sleeps till somehwere in the 4 o'clock hour. Then she wakes up and coos and goos until I come in, change her and give her the paci. Then she sleeps till 6, feeds and goes back down till 7. I have tried to just leave her in her crib in the 4 o'clock hour but she will stay awake until I come in a change her diaper, which is always soaked. Oh well, at least it only takes me two minutes and she goes back to sleep on her own. Well, she's waking and we have to go to a wedding. Nothing like a wedding to throw the schedule out the door! :D
-
Hi everyone!
Hi Heather! I wondered where you were too!! Glad to hear from you!
Christine & Heather- Eirwen started noticing the cats last week! It is so cute. When they meow she smiles and I say "kitty" and she gets a bigger smile. She likes the white one the most and grabs at her. Also Eirwen still isn't rolling completely yet, but she likes to hang out on her side now- going back and forth. I also caught her sleeping on her side the other night! It was so cute and for the first time I thought- my little baby is a little person. sniffle sniffle...they grow too quickly.
We are making progress on solids. She has breakfast now after her second feed (mostly because her awake time is so early) We do oatmeal and pears or bananas. I discovered the secret for her with the fruit, she likes it warmed up a bit :wink:
Our schedule is all going down the drain again. I think it is definitely time to move to 4 hrs. Her naps are shortening and she is getting kind of fussy when she spends her awake time in the car- time to move around. So...she wakes up about 1/2 hr before feeds and I kind of use this as tummy time to get her to move around a bit more, exhaust herself. I've had such a good napper for the last few months I am kind of at a loss about what to do with/for her. I got her a jumper and she seems to enjoy it a lot. What do those of you with awake babies do?! any ideas...gosh I feel a little dumb :oops: Would you guys recommend an excersaucer for her? Pros? Cons? Which one?
Oh, I totally got dressed up and went out alone with friends for drinks- I also wore a flashy top I'd bought months ago and even wore heels :shock: . I didn't even wear a bra or breastpads!!! My dh went crazy with the camera taking pictures of me. I daresay he wanted to savor the moment of me actually dolled up! So funny! At least he knows how to make me feel beautiful!!!
-
Brawen, I highly recommend the exersaucer. Kelsey loves her's, and it is really helping her to develop neck and back strength. Plus, it gives her some time off of her back since she hates tummy time. Otherwise, she plays on the floor or my bed (with me next to her), she watches Baby Einstein while sitting in her bouncer, or she sits on my lap and we play and read. Also, when it's not too hot, she loves to be outside to look around. Right now, though, we're dead smack in the middle of the heat wave dome in the US.
Question: Has anyone's baby developed bad diaper rash after introducing new solids? Kelsey got it terrible yesterday, bringing her to tears with pain. I felt so bad for her and responsible. My mom assures me that it is normal, and told me just to keep her bottom coated with Desitin. I tried bananas with her, so I think I'll take a break from them for a few days to allow her to heal. It looks pretty raw.
-
branwen - ditto on the exersaucer. luke loves his, and like heather said, it's great since he doesn't like his tummy. we went for the middle of the road version. i'd look for something that you can adjust the height of the seat. that way they can use it as they keep growing taller. also, don't know if they still sell it, but there was a fold-up (more expensive) version of evenflo's saucer that had some sharp toys on it - like a castle or a jester or something like that. people kept complaining that it hurt the babies' gums.
heather - if kelsey had that bad of a rash, i'd say it sounded like an allergic reaction or she's just not ready for them. definitely wouldn't give her any more bananas anytime soon. maybe try again in another month or 2; if the same thing happens, i'd not give them to her at all for a long time
on our front - finally got around to trying luke on cereal. he really had no interest in food up until the last few days. the first time he didn't eat much, so i left it for a couple days, but today he ate quite a bit for lunch! also finally seem to have a handle on his eczema; now we're working on his continual coughing. i feel so bad for him; he keeps coughing at night & waking himself up... got some new meds, hopefully one of these works soon!!!!!
-
We're back! For anyone contemplating going on vacation for three and a half weeks without dh, DON'T DO IT! We were going to go for a shorter trip, but dh was going to be away on business and we would have been home alone anyway, and my mom said we should stay so I would have an extra set of hands with Maya. Turns out she was only interested in "helping" when Maya was fed, changed, bathed, and in generally happy mood.
So, three weeks, two colds (one for me and one for Maya), and one growth spurt later, I have a dd who's waking in the middle of the night (this from a lo who used to sleep twelve hours at a stretch) and is super-cranky from bad napping. I am exhausted. And to top things off, I had a panic attack last night after we got home. That has never happened before.
On the up side, we went in for our six-month check-up this morning. She weighed in at a whopping 15lbs 9oz, a 2-1/2 lb gain over the last three and a half weeks. I guess that was one heck of a growth spurt.
For those of you whose lo's have already hit the six-month spurt, how long did it last? I thought the night waking to eat would subside when the growth spurt was over, but it's been a couple weeks now, and she's still getting up. I think I may had inadvertantly created a bad habit.
-
Jaime-I must have missed you previous posts about his cough. How long has this been going on? What does his doctor say about it? Poor little guy :( .
Deborah--So sorry about your situation. That's too bad that your trip couldn't have been more pleasant. Kelsey had the 3 month growth spurt that only threw her off one night, but we haven't hit 6 months just yet. Have you read up in the book or on this site for some info? And so sorry about your panic attack. What exactly happened?
-
Oh poor Kelsey! Yes, Eirwen's little bottom is much more red since solids-BM's getting thicker I think from them. I pretty much use Destin every time I change her now. Which exersaucer do you have? Would you recommend it?
-
We have the Evenflo Exersaucer Mega, and it has a jungle theme. I highly recommend it. The toys bend so that baby can pull them close. Kelsey puts them in her mouth, but nothing has ever hurt her. There's a toy that plays music, and two toys that spin and make rattle noise. The seat swivles so that baby can turn to all of the toys. They make these exersaucers that turn into walkers, but this one does not.
HTH
-
Deborah- Eirwen's 6 month spurt lasted about 2 weeks with 1 week of really bad night wakings. The first week it was really random and I wasn't sure what was up- 9, 10:30, 1, 4 and then went to 2am for a few days and then 4 and now she is back to sleeping 12 hrs. It was so hard to know what to do but because I am breast feeding I opted to feed at night for my supply. Then I tried as much as I could pumping after she ate during the day to boost the day supply...it seemed to work after 3 days of pumping.
Her naps are also changing now- I think because she has finally caught up in terms of A time. I think she can finally go the 2 hrs awake.
I am so sorry about your trip. I totally empathize. I really hated my trip too :roll: :cry: :x Everything sucked...and even though my dh was with me he was really no help, and like your mom mine didn't help either. She was too busy freaking out about various things or asking me why I did this or that...etc. It is interesting that you mention the panic attack because I too had one when we got back- literally shaking from exhaustion. Can your dh take a night shift or two so you can get some rest? Sleep was really the only thing that helped me recover from the trip.
Jaime- what finally worked for you for the eczema?
-
Heather - We were in the middle of dinner and all of the sudden I got nauseous and my chest tightened up. It was like something was cinching down on my chest from the bottom of my rib cage up to my neck. Then I got real short of breath. My face also broke out in hives. I tried laying down, but it didn't help. The whole episode lasted about 20 minutes. I talked to a friend who's a psychiatrist (also a new mom to a 4-month old) today and described the symptoms, and she said it was a classic panic attack.
Branwen - We are going to take this week to normalize. With the bad naps, she has been falling asleep during her late afternoon and bedtime feedings, and she has been getting really distracted while eating. I am going to focus on getting her some good naps during the day and go back to feeding her in the nursery for a while where there are minimal distractions. I don't think supply is an issue, but I am going to start pumping in between feedings for a few days just in case. I need the milk to mix with her rice cereal anyway.
We are also going to try solids again. We did once before but she wasn't quite ready. She has been grabbing at my food for the last week or so, so I think it's time to try again. I am going to do everything I can to make sure she's getting enough calories during the day, and if by Friday, she's still getting up at night, my husband is going to work on resettling her without a feeding. Like you, I had been feeding her when she woke because she seemed really hungry and I wanted to get the supply up. Now I'm not so sure it's hunger anymore.
My mom was just so frustrating! When we were having trouble with Maya's naps, she kept asking me why I just didn't nurse her to sleep because that's what she did. My dad was just as bad. He thought I was pushing her to sleep too much. He didn't get that just because you can distract her doesn't mean she's not tired. And Maya's a touchy baby, so when you miss her window, you set yourself up for a round of screaming before she'll settle down to sleep.
I am so glad to be home!
-
wow, busy thread today!
Deborah - (((HUGS))) i'm sorry you had such a lousy time. i can certainly empathize with trying to settle a touchy who's missed the sleep window! isn't it horrible when you need a vacation to recover from your vacation? we haven't really hit the 6-month growth spurt yet, so i can't say. seems to me the 3 months only lasted a day or 2 though.
Branwen - we also have the evenflo megasaucer. personally, i'd avoid the ones that can be walkers, but i think walkers in general are bad, so take what i say with a grain of salt! as far as the eczema, the dr gave us a stack of sample tubes of eledil (commercials are on tv all the time now). cleared him right up overnight. i like it cause it's not a steroid (like cortisone), and it's used on an as-needed basis. when he's not broken out, i'm supposed to keep moisturizing his skin. we're still trying to figure out all the triggers for it. the list includes the wrong laundry detergent (anything but his dreft & our cheer), wearing new, not laundered clothes, the perfumes in any and all soaps (including baby soap & lotion) and excessive heat (good thing i live in florida! :roll: ) oh, and baby wipes - but both kids were allergic to them. love my A&D & desitin!
Heather - luke's been coughing for... 3? months now... maybe 4. it's all allergy related. half the time he sounds so rattly when he breathes. he's definitely not sick. thankfully (???), jaina had bronchiolitis twice, so i know generally what infected lungs sound like. so been working with the dr to give him some kind of antihistimine (not antibiotic) to dry him up. also got the humidifier running in his room during all sleep times; incidentally that's supposed to help with eczema too.
Question - anybody else notice ther lo's getting really gassy after starting solids???
-
Kelsey is actually not near as gassy as she used to be as a younger baby. Yet I have heard repeatedly that some solids, especially rice cereal, can cause gas, and that oatmeal cereal is not as bad. HTH
-
Deborah-I totally hear that about the "pushing" to sleep...both of my parents were like "she needs a nap already?" "she just got up" "isn't she sleeping a lot" "still napping? how do you do anything?" Oh, it just went on an on...funny you mention the hives- I too broke out in them while there grrrrr :evil: :x BTW-Our touchy dd's sound SO much alike :D What are her naps looking like now...we are having some trouble...
Eirwen, like Jaime mentioned, was REALLY gassy on rice cereal (kind of funny but she didn't enjoy it- I wouldn't) so I switched to oatmeal and have had hardly any gas from her. YAY! We're only doing oatmeal, pears and banana's right now. Another week and I will add a "lunch" I think.
Jaime- Eirwen gets horrible eczema on her back, esp where the diaper rubs. Was all over her face as a newborn but that cleared up in the first months. At first I think it is bed sores from the heat and her moving around so much (butt-scooting side to side) but now I don't know...it is so cool in her room with the ac. I might have to check with the doc. Today we see him so maybe he can tell me right!!! :wink:
Yesterday was a horrible un-EASY day. :cry: Lots of PUPD for naps- horrible bath...and she woke at 5 today. Kind of at a loss on her schedule- awake time. We did lots of AEAES and then EAEAS. I am even AP'ing on purpose of late- bad bad I know. I'm just trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong lately...and seeing if any of that stuff helps...it didn't! She is completely unable to be AP'd now :wink: no nursing/rocking to sleep for her!!
Are any of you still putting to sleep within the hr from the first wake up?
-
I've just been thru a week of bad night wakings, she'd consistently wake around 2:30am and every hour after that :evil: . And now I've had two nights in a row where she didn't wake till 5! YEEAAAHHH :D :D :D I'm not sure what the magic solution was but both nights I've put her to bed with her full length pj's on, swaddled her from the waist down in cheese cloth, had my dh get ready for bed around 1am (he's still going to bed around 2:30am because that's when he used stay up till when we took shifts getting Emily to sleep, that was 2 months ago now) and turned my monitor down low. Or maybe she just stopped teething.
Question about the growth spurt :?: After the growth spurt do they drink more than they did before the growth spurt? I was just wandering if they go back to their old consumption. So far Emily's been drinking 27-30oz of formula steady for about 2 months now.
Deborah, I'm so sorry about your panic attack. Thanks for letting us know. I definately know now not to go on any big trips.
Branwen, the shortest E/A time Emily has is now 1.5 hours. This is after she wakes up in the morning and before bed in the evening. The other E/A's I do my best to keep her up for 2 hrs.
Jamie, Emily also has eczema. I've been using the cortisone cream and it seems to help but I've got to use it all the time and your not supposed to. Thanks for mentioning you use Eledil. I'm going to call up our pharmacy and see if they have any.
I also changed laundry soaps to one from the health store. I don't think this has helped. I'm also using a little bit of pure avacodo oil in her bath, I don't think this has helped either, but it also hasn't hurt anything. Also I have to carry her super careful because she's so slippery.
Also I wanted to share that Emily can only sit in her exersaucer about 5 mins before she completely overwhelmed and starts to cry. But I've started putting her in a jolly jumper and she last an easy 10 mins. The last couple of days she's finally figured out that moving her legs makes her bounce.
Have a good day/night everyone! Tarri
-
Branwen - When Maya gets up before 6am, I treat it as a night waking and put her straight back to bed. After 6am (that's been pretty rare of late), I am still putting her back down within 45 minutes to one hour. During the next two EA intervals, it's 1hr 30min to 1hr 45min. When she wakes up from her thrid nap (4-4:30pm), she's up until her 7pm feeding; if she gets any sleep, it's only a catnap. However, once she gets settled back in, I'd like to slowly extend the first morning EA interval so she can get solids then (she gets them at her 10am feeding right now).
Where does the time go? More to contribute, but I must get in the shower before the nap ends.
-
Tarri - the cream is awesome, but (at least in the US) you can only get it from your dr or with a prescription, so you may want to call your dr first. congrats on some good nights! hope she keeps it up. regarding food... i think they kind of plateau around 30-34 oz. she may very well return to her old habits once she gets through. i'd watch what she eats for a few days & that'll probably tell you
Branwen - if eirwen does have something like bed sores, you may want to try putting A&D on that part of her skin before you put her down. it'll help reduce the friction. good luck at the dr. luke goes down after about 2 hours for all naps.
i think we've found medicine that is working!!! luke is coughing much less, and although he did wake himself up coughing once last night, I did not have to do anything to get him back to sleep! :D :D :D one of the meds does have a couple nasty side effects (he wants to split all his feeds now) but only a couple more days on them anyhow.... oh, i hope this does it for him!!!
think we're going to stop on solids for awhile & try again later... don't think he was really ready - just humored me!
-
I think we're finally starting to get back on track. Maya slept until 7:30am this morning. It was heavenly. And she took two good naps yesterday (out of three), waking up looking more refreshed than she has in weeks. There's hope!
-
Hello! My little girl was born Feb 21st and I feel as though a light has finally turned on in her world. At first I was pretty nervous with her. We have had to battle reflux, but it appears that is under control for the moment. Once we got her medication worked out she really took to her routine. Solid foods seemed to help her alot too. The best luck I have had with naps and sleeping is with swaddling. I kind of feel strange that my 5 month old still needs to be wrapped up tight, but she loves it. She takes a 2 hour nap in the morning, a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and a 45 minute cat nap after dinner. She sleeps through the night very well! I guess if the swaddling works I won't change it. I am so glad her routine has worked out because I couldn't take the reflux fussiness. I hope all is well with you other moms :D
Shelley
-
Hi everyone.
i am back - have read through as much as i can... and will give the short version of our time away - will post more on my goodbye thread later tonight.
we now have a baby on a 4hr EASY who sleeps UNSWADDLED and is still sleeping through the night until 7-7:15am after a DF at 10:30 (moved up from 11pm). we now feed at 7:30, 11:30, 3:30, 7ish and 10:30.
also - we got rid of the noise machine (will see how that goes long term as the substitute there was a loud CD playing in the hall (lullabies and nurery rhymes) to drown out other babies crying etc.
she was near angel/textbook the whole time and of course got her home for 1pm nap and she is still awake at 2pm :evil: - am chalking it up to being overtired and unsettled back in her old room with too quiet surrounds. :roll:
feeding is under control now - we have limited the length of her feeds and she now gets offered the bottle and then gets a 10 min playtime break, reoffer the bottle and then whatever she has taken is it - no extra top ups and nothing before settling to bed. i had the courage to put her down with as little as 120ml (4oz) in her tummy and she slept fine. she is now mostly taking between 160-220ml (6-7 1/2oz) per feed. sometimes less and sometimes a little more. i feel comfortable with this now.
the good news for me is that this new "routine" works with the 2 kids:
they will both be eating at 11:30pm and down for midday nap around 12:45/1pm
on Mondays when i take Alex to occassional care (i will move it forward to 9am start time) i will rush home and put Liv down for nap around 9:15 and should actually get a little break
her awake time is now 1hr45 - 2hrs so afetr i feed her i can actually run an errand with the girls if necessary or visit a friend for an hour or so :D
will give more "details" later but wanted to share our progress in just 4 short days. feel free to ask any questions.
PS I also got to have an amzing aromatherapy massage and met 2 great ladies to add to my circle of friends (both with 9mo olds)
-
Welcome back Deb! I'm so happy to hear that the clinic was worthwhile. I had visions of you coming back and saying how horrid it was. :? Very jealous though! I want details as to how you went to four hour feedings. We have finally conqoured two naps, plus the catnap, but are still stuck at 5 bottles plus the dream feed. So sorry to everyone that I have not been around either! I have no idea where the week went! I will post more later. Take care all!
-
Christine, are you returning to teaching this fall? If so, when do you start? My mom is a teacher and she has worked in her classroom almost every day this summer. Teachers start back next Friday. It's so soon, and she's terribly sad because she has spent so much time with Kelsey and I this summer.
Kelsey has miraculously (spelling?) started taking two 1.5 hour naps. Yet this morning she has been asleep for over 2 hours. I hate to wake her, but I feel I must to feed her and not to interfere with the next nap and night sleep. I can't take credit for this nap improvement; she's done it on her own. I'm such a proud momma!!! She's beginning to fall completely into the "angel/textbook" category, but she's always been my angel. I'm having her 6 month pictures taken tomorrow. They will be the first professional photos I've had done. I'm very excited.
Deb-I'm so happy for you. What a relief that the clinic was a success. I'd also love to hear more details of the weeks events.
Well, as much as I hate to, I better go wake her. If I had only known she'd sleep so long, I would have gotten into a project...
-
we are having issues with settling back in at home - ugh - that first day homw she would not nap in her cot - was up from 11am (at the clinic) refused 1 pm nap. i stuck to feed time and then put her down at 4:10 and she slept for 1 hr 40min so we caught up fine. that night she had a hrd time settling down for night but got there in the end. yesterday was similar but at least she did 2 naps but refused catnap!!! still sleeping through so can't complain.
Christine - we just went straight to 4 hourr feeding with no problem. actually she went 5 hrs when we wre first there b/c she had missed her morning nap (arrival at clinic at 9:30 and she did not fall asleep in car or pram while we waited for check in process :roll: ) they "made her" have a nap (meaning waited until she eventually worked it out that she needed to sleep first and she finally fell asleep) and by the end she had gone 5 hrs since first feed and we never looked back. i also insisted that she not wait 4 hrs for evening feed as i still want that around 7pm. we are still flexible - like last night when she refused catnap i know we would have problems so offered feed at 6:15 and top up afetr bath... in bed around 6:45/7pm
Most of the progress came from just jumping in with both feet and not doing all the gradual plans from BW books - it would ave taken me many stressful days to get rid of the swaddle, but it took 24 hours or less. I am still having to watch her like a hawk after 1 hr 30 awake time and find it can backfire if she is overtired, but she does eventually go to sleep (yesterday she pooped afetr 20 min in cot, changed her and then it took another 30 to get to sleep, but then she did a 1hr 20 nap and probably woke b/c it was 10 min before feed time)
the rule of 1hr 30 in cot no matter what is very freeing as well - right bnow she has woken after 45 min but i have not even gone in because i heard her gently making noise - no crying out - so will leave her to resettle or have quiet time. i still get my "Y" time (dd1 is out with Dh and my sister :D )
she is also having much better "A" time now. they made me leave her to play more independently (which i used to do with Alex but was not doing as much this time) and provide a wider variety of toys. she is so much more excited and actively playing. she also LOVES her exersaucer!!! will get photos before end of weekend - i know i keep saying that but will really try to get Dh on board tonight!
if you ask specific questions i will try to be helpful - it is hard to break it all down - it actually was mostly about me gaining confidence again!! many babies there had terrible night waking problems (between 6-20 times a night) and almost immediately some were sleeping though or having only 2 wakings...and everyine agreed it was mostly because they had the professional support backing them up and they felt stronger and more confident, the kids pick up on that!
-
Deb- Wow! That is all great! I am so glad the clinic worked for you and Olivia! YAY! :D We can't get to the 4 hrs...pretty lost right now...PUPD failing us :( Anyway, do have questions for you. :wink: How long is her awake time now? What do you mean by wider variety of toys? Are you doing AEAS? or EAES?
I'm really struggling with Eirwen's awake time. She seems to fuss constantly. I give her toys, then take some away, try others but it is a lot of whining, and eventually I end up picking her up, moving her room to room, etc. I haven't found a toy that makes her really happy...like you see with some babies- maybe it is temperament...??? It is crazy right now...sometimes she lasts only 1.5 then other times she is up 2.5 refusing nap. Tonight it took us 2 hrs to get her to bed...had been 4.5 since she woke from last nap! oh, boy, this is a challenging time!
Heather- congrats on the naps! And post pics when you get them! I'm sooo bad, we haven't done them yet...
Christine- we have missed you! I love your new pic- please tell me about swimming! I really want to take Eirwen but have been shy about it?! Any tips?
About eczema?! Cortizone made Eirwen's worse!!! Any ideas?!
On a positive note little Eirwen has learned to sit! It's crazy cute! I didn't think she could and then she goes and shows off for the doc! We also had to get a new carseat- she's in the 95% for height!!! :shock: :shock: and although she hasn't reached the weight limit- doc said carseat is unsafe anyway 'cause of her length....
-
Just thought I'd post a pic of Kelsey sitting up...
-
Yay Eirwen and Kelsey sitting up - cute pic! i know you guys are 2-4 weeks ahead in age but i can't wait until olivia is sitting up... for now atr least she is getting practice in her Exersaucer (yipee new toy)
Branwen : Olivia's awake time is now averaging 1hr 45 (sometimes closer to 1hr 35 and sometimes 1h 50-2hrs). this is for all cycles. we are doing EASY or AEASY depending on her wake time from nap - I am sticking as close as possible to 4hr feeds so she has some activity time if wakes from nap early and has been in cot for at least an hour and a half.
for the "wider variety of toys" there are 2 aspects: 1) i was in a rut and only offering her a few things through the day (under gymini, holdig 1 of 2 dog toys, laying on her tummy with same toys, etc) BORING!! 2) i tended to give her 1 thing at a time
now i am doing what i did with alex (when i was a much saner, clear headed mom :lol: ) and i 1) put her on her tummy on a playmat and put 2-4 toys around her. she can then "choose" what to reach for, hit etc. this is what helped Alex crawl by 5 months - starting at 3 months she used to do hand over hand to go "get" whatever toy she wanted. and 2) am making sure she gets a balance between playing alone and interacting with me, exersaucer, music etc.
the result was immediate: she is so much more animated now during "A" time and i just change activities if she fusses or gets upset being on her tummy...
A key thing the nurses told me about activities though was that it is not the toys that cause overstimulation but our overinvolvement / interaction that does it. For example, the first day they put her in the playroom and laid 4-5 toys with her and i protested saying she gets easily overstimulated/spirited baby etc and they said the above comment. by leaving her be, she was able to determine how much stim. she wanted. Now if you put them in a situation they can't control that is a different story (ie - in front of TV that is too noisy, etc and they get upset or with a noisy/loud toy that they can't control)
-
so many happy things are happening with our babies! :D
welcome back Deb! saw your post in the lounge too - that place sounds amazing! you also sound much better in your posts. glad things went well.
heather - yay on the napping! i'm sure it's nice to have more than half an hour to yourself. the pic of her sitting is adorable. can't wait to see professional shots. want to take luke soon but don't want to go until he can sit by himself. he's close, but he keeps listing to the sides. :lol:
branwen - yay on eirwen sitting too! we also had to get a new carseat for luke. he was way too long (27.5") and he was close enough to 20lbs (19-3). believe it or not, i think he likes this one better. about the eczema... if cortisone made it worse.... are you sure it is eczema? sorry, i have no more ideas other than to keep bugging the dr at all her appointments. oh, except for a humidifier in her room at night if you aren't already.
we have some great news - the meds are working!!! luke is pretty much back to sleeping through the night w/o assistance. i've been able to get him off of 2 of the meds, but the 3rd i think will be around for a while.
luke has a tooth! :shock: totally did not realize it was coming! wasn't expecting it since jaina didn't get any till 11 months. he was really fussy yesterday and last night i looked & there it was. :D
we have also dropped the catnap. i am thankful cause it means he gets into bed earlier for the night. makes it hard to go out in the evenings but hey, around 12 hrs at night is worth it.
i go back to work tomorrow. i am excited, but i can't belive how fast the past 6 months have flown by! it seemed like such a long time when he was first born. fortunately, i have a week of preplanning to get used to the new routine - and i won't have to be in till 8am. i have no idea how i'm going to get 2 kids up & ready & off to the sitter and then get to work by 7:30 once school starts.
-
Heather - Yes I am going back to teaching. I have mixed feelings about it. Part of me is excited to get back to my kids and colleages, and the other part of me is VERY sad to leave Leah. I don't have to go back until August 30th though, so I have another month of vacation!! :D :D :D I love the picture! Does Kelsey love her fuzzy tie blanket? Leah has one, actually three, just like it and loves to play with the ties! Kelsey looks so big sitting up. Does she do it totally independently? Leah will sit for about thirty seconds or until she sees something and reaches for it, then kilters over! DH keeps saying her head is just a little too big for her body, she's still off balance. Leah has also started taking good naps one will usually be 1 1/2- 2 hours and then the other will only be an hour. We still have our days of 45 minutes though. I almost think once she starts crawling she will take better naps? She always seems to take loner naps if we've had lots of activity before the nap so she can burn off her energy.
Deb - I also read your post on the lounge. The clinic sounds wonderful. I wish there was something like that around here. I totally agree about the confidence thing. It's just so hard when you are not sure what they need.
Branwen - Thanks for the pic compliment! Leah LOVES to go swimming. Our in-laws live on a lake so we take her there. We usually just sit in the shallow water and hold her. We will twirl her around and put her feed in etc. We don't take her out where the water is over our heads becuase she doesn't have a life jacket small enough to wear. I also try and make sure it is a very warm day, so the water doens't seem so cold. Go slowly though, Leah loves her bath but the first time we put her in the lake she got scared. This is a challenging time. The past few nights it has taken Leah almost an hour to fall asleep. She just plays in her cot, working herself up into a tizzy! Don't worry, we're not at four hours yet either. Not sure if we will every get there! :wink:
We also had to get a new car seat. I miss the handy carrier, but Leah likes this seat much better than her old one.
Jaime - Back to school!!! I still have a month off, not trying to rub it in. I would love to hear how you are planning on tweaking Luke's schedule. I did go back to school for the month of May, so Leah was waking up at 6:30 (I have to be to school at 7:30) WELL, we have gotten into the bad habit of feeding at 6:30, then Leah goes back to sleep with me in bed until 7:30 - 8. :shock: I know, bad habit, but I love this cuddely time! and extra sleep! :wink: What do you think Luke's schedule will look like once school starts?
Well, there we go! I FINALLY caught up! I promise to be better at this. Nothing too new around here otherwise. We are preparing for when DH leaves on August 10th. He is going to Alaska to see a friend stationed up there. They are going caribou hunting. The trip has been planned for many years before DD came around. So I told him to still go. He will be gone for almost two weeks! :shock: We'll manage. Anyway, take care all and I will check in again soon!
-
I have been a stranger for quite some time. I don't get enough me time:(
I will try to write as much as possible before Diya wakes up.
Deb, that is awesome news. Yay to Olivia! How did you manage the nightwakings?I don't remember about her nightwakings before the clinic. What did they do there to change that? Also for the naps, did they just put her in the crib so that she will go to sleep on her own exactly after 1hr 30 mins. Please elaborate on those because these are the problems which we have now.
Heather, that is a beautiful pic of Kelsey.
Branwen, my DD was born on 1/25 and she has been giving me a hard time too for the past 2 days. She used to nap on her own and now when I put her in the crib, she just rolls and scoots from one end to the other end and almost tries to be up on all four as though she is about to crawl and she keeps looking the different sides of the crib. DH was home and he wouldn't let her do the mantra cry too and so got her out and she had 30 min naps(I used to complain about the 45 min naps and look what I have got). A time is completely dependent on her now and it became 2hr and 25 mins today. IS Eirwen doing the same too? Also she wakes up around 2-5 in the morning and takes a full feeding and another one at 7.30 before she is up for the day at 8.30. When I do 4 hr feedings, she woke up at 2.30 and then at 4.30 last night. I don't know which is better, 3 or 4 hrs. Does Eirwen sleep through the night?
Schae, long time since we heard from you.
Yay to Luke!
Vidya
-
Hi Vidya - one of our blessings was that Olivia has been sleeping through the night for the past month and a half so that was one area we did not need any help (i was actually terrified the other babies would wake her with their crying but she did fine). we just tried to stretch her out as long as possible towards 2 hours and for those days i was there she was able to go 1h 45 on average and we put her in cot awake. because she was also getting used to no swaddle quite often she took 20-40 min to get to sleep so that was a change as before she was going down in 10-20 min.
we are not doing too well since returning though and today has been a bust so far - woke early b/c did not feed well at DF, not napping well... i have just now added back in the noise machine b/c i think it was too quiet and she could hear every bird and her own movements... will see if that helps.
i am trusting that all will be well as the clinic reminds us that it takes 2-4 weeks for the average baby to make changes ... it is just annoying b/c when i was able to focus on her 100% she was more spirited/angel/textbook so obviously it is due to my inability to devote attention to her when looking after the 2 girls... URGG!!! PMS has not been helping the situation either!
-
Deb- sorry things are not going well at home...she'll get back into it. Don't be hard on yourself about not being able to focus on her 100%...I mean I'm sure the "baby bubble" was nice, really nice :wink: , but this one woman told me that the baby needs to fit into our lives not the other way around. Your situation reminds me of every weekend around here. No matter how touchy perfect she is during the week for me, when dh is home she is my little touchy :x ...and I think like you it is because my attention is divided on the weekends with dh, yard work, shopping, etc. They will have to learn to share us...easier said than done I'm sure...gosh esp with sep. anxiety phase approaching....ahhhhh...hang in there!
Christine- yes, with Eirwen not loving the bath so much lately I'm kind of afraid of big bodies of water :wink: I miss the carrier too!! I can maybe almost put her in the carts...but not for a couple of weeks yet I think. I still have to watch her so carefully with the sitting- she's doing really well unsupported but when she looses it she comes crashing down poor thing...I would hate for her to be in a cart and hit her head on the side bar etc.
Heather- Kelsey is soooo cute. I love that picture!
Vidya- sounds so similiar!! Esp the dh part. :wink: A time is a mess...nothing consistant...and sometimes I'm trying for a nap for an hr and just give up take her out and then fifteen minutes later she is ready! I miss my signs...there don't seem to be hardly any anymore! AHHH...anyway, she does still sleep at night. She has woken recently but I think it is because of our squeaky stairs and she is coming out of a sleep cycle. Anyway, we've been more careful lately...ugh touchy babies :wink:
I am so hesitant to do the 4 hr feeds because I would drop to only 4 breast feeds. I am not sure I am comfortable with that. We are doing pretty good with 5 one is a cluster before bed. The 3 1/2 she is pretty good at. 4 hrs would end the cluster. I just don't know. My yields are around 6 to 7 oz. which is great! I can't imagine her little stomach being able to take in more of that at one time?? :?
Jaime- that is so great on the meds...and yay a tooth! What time is he going to bed now!?
Oh, and to all you mom's going back to work- wow! I can't imagine! I'm kind of jealous...I left my job in non-profit. Mostly a financial decision as I would be paying to work with daycare costs...anyway, that's great!
-
Branwen - thanks for the support. i know i am too hard on myself - and too hard on the girls with my expectations :oops: (sigh)
the nurses at the clinic said at this age 5 feeds is right (i do 10:30 DF) so I think you are right to keep at 5 feeds - 3.5 hrs seems ok if that works for you.
we had a hard day today but i am optimistic - i added back in the noise machine (too late for 2nd nap to be more than 45 min) and she slept for 1hr 30 instead of a catnap this afternoon. i think it was definitely too quiet - even at the clinic they played loud music right outside her door.
i am being bold tomorrow and taking the girls to the zoo for the morning - my sister has just under 2 weeks left and she has spent much of her time taking care of Alex and supporting me. it means trying to get to the zoo before first nap :roll: so i can put her to sleep in the pram rather than doing a transfer mid-nap from the car to pram (which i hate to even try). wish me luck. i just feel i have nothing to lose since there are no guarantees at home - i just hope i can stay calm no matter what happens and just enjoy the day - we are having an early spring and the weather this past few days is absolutely beautiful and sunny blue skies (22 C / 70F) gotta love Sydney winter!!.
-
Deb - Sorry to hear the transition is taking time, but I'm sure it will all work out. Hard to belive that someday we will have to wake our teenagers up so they don't sleep till noon! :wink: Have fun at the zoo. We took Leah to an animal park yesterday. It was an hour drive so she took an hour afternoon nap, we stayed for two hours and then she took her catnap on the way home. It was soo much fun! I will post pictures. It was a little hot though - 90 F. So she did get a little crabby when it was time to go!
A question about teething. I looked in Leah's mouth today and saw one tiny white dot on her bottom gum. Is this the sign of a tooth? She isn't acting any differently - chewing and drooling alot, but she's been doing this FOREVER! I have no idea what it looks like when they get teeth. Anyone?
-
Ok, so my post about Maya sleeping in until 7:30am was premature. We're back to the 5:30-6am wakeup, and this morning, it was 3:30am! Naps aren't going so well either. She goes down well, but then doesn't sleep very long. An hour is now a great nap.
Branwen - I have similar concerns about switching to a four-hour routine with Maya. On the three-hour cycle, she gets five bfs a day. A four-hour cycle would mean only four feeds. We've started on solids, but we're still in the practicing with the spoon phase. She's not getting any serious nutrition from it.
Also, you mentioned the length issue with the carseat. Did your ped happen to day what was the max length for the infant carrier? I think Maya's getting close lengthwise, though she is only 15lbs.
And she's up!
-
For those of you bf, I have read in several places that 5-6 feedings is necessary to maintain your supply. I'm sure that once solids are established, then you can drop to 4.
Also, since our los are all around 6 months now, do you think that changes in sleep patterns are due to growth spurts? Kelsey's naps are still longer, but not the same length each day. Some days she just seems more tired than others from different activities. I've been home more than in the past lately, so she's getting more opportunity to sleep in her crib.
I'd like to hear what you all are feeding and how much as far as solids. Kelsey doesn't take too much, maybe 2 tbsp at breakfast, and 3-4 at lunch, then 6 oz give or take of formula x4 feedings. Sometimes I offer solids with dinner bottle, and she'll take 2-3 tbsp.
-
well (sniff, sniff) i made it through my first day of work. i couldn't believe it - i actually felt a little bad when i dropped them off. luke looked very confused. i had no problem when jaina started at the sitter's, and she was only 3 months old! then of course, the little paranoid bird in the back of my head is screaming 'you're gonna make him a mama's boy!' :roll: :lol:
but they did well. luke didn't seem to mind the new place, but he sure didn't want to nap there! i have to work all day every day this week, so no good naps i think will mean a temporary institution of the catnap. darn!!! we finally dropped it. but discussed some strategies with the sitter so i'm hopeful that the rest of the week might be better sleepwise.
Heather - i think the changes in naps are more developmentally related. they are so much bigger now & can handle more. JMHO. luke eats 4x a day, for a total of approx. 30-32 oz. have tried solids but he is definitely not interested yet. will probably try again in another couple weeks.
Christine - luke pretty much helped me tweak his own schedule. he dropped the catnap last week, so his bedtime turned into an hour earlier (8pm) it will probably stay around 7:30-8pm from now on. i could tell he was ready to drop it because he was getting ridiculously happy afterwards & didn't want to go to sleep until well after 9pm! regarding new schedules, i've found that if i just get them up early the day they need to start they do fine. this week he'll be getting up around 7am; next week it'll be a little earlier. what ends up happening is they make up for any lost time in the afternoon nap (and i get a nice break!). also, the little white spot could very well mean a tooth...and it might not. i never seem to know when they're coming until they're already through!
Vidya - i think the schedule that gets no nightwakings is the best - whatever that ends up being for you. :wink: like heather mentioned, bf babies sometimes need to eat more often to help maintain supply & get enough calories in the day.
Deb - hope things get better soon. totally empathize on having to deal with 2 kids! makes it much harder.
Deborah - the height limit on most infant carriers is 26 inches.
-
HI everyone!
Sorry its been so long since I posted. Love all the pics. I still cant get mine up cause I have no idea how to shrink the size in order to post. says they're too big when I try.
Branwen, have you ruled out dairy products (for you) as a cause of the eczema?
Deb, sounds like you learned a lot. Just hang in there as you sort it all out now that you're home.
we are having the nap from hell right now so I'll have to post later. He's crying again
Julie
-
Just an update - pretty sure the white spot is a tooth, it has grown into a BIG white spot and Leah is CRABBY! If I put my finger on the spot and press down she gives me this pouty look, then starts to scream. Right now she is chewing on a wet washcloth, it seems to be appealing to her! :wink:
Jaime- Yah for you to get thru your first day. I am dreading the day I have to leave Leah at the sitters house. :( She'll probobly be fine, but I will cry!
Take care all!
-
Thanks everyone for the info on the breast feeds! I wrote the moderator for breastfeeding here too and she said it is a bit young to go to four feeds. She said 4 plus df but for me that is 4 plus cluster...so I guess we are right to keep the 5th feed.
She also said that she never made it to 4 hrs with her dd, so that made me feel a bit better. I think I've decided to throw the 4 hr thing out the window for awhile. I mean I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to do this how Tracy says in the book but I just don't think it's healthy for me right now...too stressful...plus when she does do it occassionally then quits I feel like we're "slipping" again and that is no good. I start getting anxious and unhappy when really lo is fine and I'm fine and she sleeps through, etc. Why mess with a good thing? Anyway, trying to chill a bit...
Deborah- Yes 26" on the carseat. Eirwen really loves her new one, and the best thing about it is she looks so little- like a tiny baby again!!!
Heather- About solids- Eirwen eats 1 solid meal a day right now around 9:30 or 10. It is 1 oz breastmilk with 1.5 oz oatmeal and 1.25 oz (1/2 jar) of fruit, bananas or pears. Sometimes she doesn't make it to the fruit or only does a little...I think next week I'm going to start offering a lunch but I can't decide how much- I don't want her to accidentially wean, at least not before 9 months.
Julie- so sorry still having problems with pictures. Did you try out the instructions I sent you about Paint? Glad to hear from you though! I don't think it is dairy, when a newborn that was definitely an issue but I think it might be heat rash instead since the hydrocortizone was making it worse.
Christine- yay on tooth- I read a frozen wet washcloth can also feel nice. No teeth here yet! Except her gums look swollen, much larger than they used to. Is this a sign?
Okay- must go get cleaning done before she wakes!
-
Hello ladies!
I have been checking up on you, but just have not had time to post. I cannot believe how quickly our babies have grown. It's actually quite scary.
Deb: I'm glad to hear that it went well at the clinic. You have very good resources in Australia. I'm sorry that it is taking time to adjust to being at home. Perhaps your confidence is dipping? Don't let it, you are a great mom and you did well at the clinic, it'll just take a little time at home. Good luck, and I'm thinking of you. :wink:
Jaime: oh well done on handling your first day back at work. you are a brave lady, and very soon I will be asking your advice as I'm going back some time in September.
Christine: I love the pics of Leah swimming. It's still winter here in South Africa, so we'll probably start swimming in October.
Julie and Vidya seems like you guys and I are the strangers.. will definately make the effort to post some more.
We're going okay. He's on a mostly 4 hourly routine, and we started solids. He loves them. We're on 3 tablespoons of cereal in the morning and yesterday we started on dinner of 2 tablespoons of carrot. Despite the solids, we're still on 5 feedings a day. I'm glad, especially since I read your posts on how many are neccesary to keep up supply.
Luka is crawling!! Well, backwards! lol!!! :lol: He's trying to go forward, but keeps falling coz he doesn't move his arms, only his little knees. hehehehe!!
Here's a pic of Luka's first meal. :D
-
Yup, I found the manual for the infant carrier and 26" is the max. I guess I need to start shopping for a convertible seat. Does anyone have any recommendations (something I can find in the US)?
-
We have a tooth! :D This morning I fed Leah at 6, brought her back to my bed and we fell asleep till 7. (I know, bad habit :oops: ) When we woke, my pillow was soaked with her drool. I turned on the light to have a look and there is just a little tooth poking thru! Not all the way thru yet, but definitley coming! I'd get a picture, but she won't hardly let me open her mouth, she clamps it shut the minute I try to open it!
Deborah - We have the Britax Roundabout carseat. It is on the more expensive side of convertible carseats, but it is very cozy and one of the highest ranked for safety. I had posted a question about carseats in the Hogwatch product reccommendation board, check it out. Lots of mom's gave thier opinions on carseats.
Schae - We have missed you! Yah Luka! Crawling backwards? Too cute!!!!
Branwen - I have stopped worrying about a four hour schedule also. Heck, I figure in another 6 months there will be no more bottles! :wink: Hopefully......
-
It was a rought night for us. Because of her short naps, we ended up doing 3.5 hrs instead of 3/4 hrs and I stuffed her with solids 3 times instead of 2. She takes about half a plastic tub of gerber. I was dreaming about this long stretch of sleep for myself and boom Diya wakes up at 10.30. She went to bed at 8.30 after 10 mins of mantra crying. I pick her up and pat her and she went to sleep. Again at 11.50p.m, she woke up. I tried doing the same and when I put her in the crib, she woke up. Then I had to do it twice before she started her mantra cry. I let her be for 10 mins. Then I tried PU/PD. after 10 times, I didn't know if I had to PU since I wasn't sure if it was a mantra or a real cry. It is hard to decipher when you are very close by. Then I just put my head very close to her in the crib and was pat/shing her for 10 mins and she slept. While I was still pat/shing her, she woke up and then after 10 mins I gave up. She is cooing because I had stopped and she wants me to make sounds. Silly girl:) Trying to play with me at 1.40a.m Then I gave her a paci(we stopped it 3 months ago). Took it away after a min and came to my room because DH turned on the light in her room and she started smiling. She goes to sleep and then she woke up again at 2.20a.m. I just fed her:(
Again, she woke up at 5. I didn't go to her because she was cooing and then she woke up for the day at 9.25 a.m.
This was our day yesterday:
9.30 W & E
10.30 S(45 mins)
11.30 Eat solids(1/2 tub of 4 oz gerber with 2 tblsp of cereal)
1p.m BF
1.15 S(45 mins)
3p.m Eat solids(1/2 tub of 4 oz gerber with 2 tblsp of cereal)
4.15 BF
4.45 S(45 mins)
6.45 Eat solids(1/2 tub of 4 oz gerber with 2 tblsp of cereal)
8.30 BF
2.20 a.m BF
From what I read, they need 5 BF sessions until solids are established. Do you think Diya's solid intake is not enough for 4 BF sessions. If so, how do I introduce the 5th one because she doesn't take BF and she didn't want to nurse at 7 p.m last evening.
Branwen, just like what you said this 4 Hr is taking a toll on me. When I do 3 hr EASY, she sleeps till 5 in the morning atleast. Only problem for us is her naps. Since it is all over the place and I want to give her solids too, BF became 3.5 hrs apart y'day. I am going to try 3 hr today and see what happens. Regarding toys, I got this blocks from Fisher price and DD is enjoying it. Also I let her on the blanket without any toys yesterday so that she can practise rolling and she enjoyed that. Diya was having a hard time with her A time 2 weeks ago too. Now, I put her in the swing, blanket with toys, exersaucer. She might be mastering a new skill now and that is why she maybe whiny.
Deborah, we have the Britax marathon and got it from little folks on a very good deal. It is really nice and since DD is on the taller side, she could use it till she is 49 inches tall. Sorry about the early wakings and short naps. When are they ever going to take long naps?
Deb, don't stress yourself too much. When I wasn't stressing about naps and feedings during my trip, I was able to enjoy DD better. DH always tells me that to no avail:) It wil take a little longer for you to adjust to the new schedule at home.
Leah, DD cut her first tooth when she was 4.5 months old! I was shocked too when I saw that on the first day. She was fussy 2 weeks before that though and wanted to chew on something all the time
Schae, Diya wants to crawl backwards too. She wants to get up on all fours but still hasn't mastered that.
Jaime, it would be hard for you than the kids:) Yay for the good first day!
-
Wow, it's hard to keep up with everyone. Our little post sure has grown!
Jaime, good luck with work. I hope everything continues to go well with the children and the sitter. Out-of-the-house-working moms should be very proud of themselves, and that includes all of you.
Julie, what kind of computer do you have? If it's a hewlett packard I might could help you with shrinking the pic. Otherwise you can email it to me at campbell0520@comcast.net and I'll fix it for you.
Christine, yey on Leah's tooth. Is she feeling any better yet, or is it still real sore? Kelsey doesn't have any signs of teeth yet.
Branwen, I think it's best for you to quit worrying about a 4 hour schedule. It's not a rule, just a guideline. Feel confident in your decisions about what's best for you and Eirwen. It's obvious that we all have different schedules, but if we were supposed to follow something set in stone we'd sure be in trouble. You are doing great, especially to stick with the bf. :)
Schae, good to hear from you. Congrats on Luka's crawling, even if it is backwards. How cute!! And what an adorable picture.
diyasmom, sorry I don't know your name, but I'm sorry you had a rough night. Kelsey started to have nights where she would cry when I put her down for bed. This was totally unlike her, so I freaked. The first 2 nights I went in immediately and sat back down with her. She would go to sleep in a matter of seconds, pretty much as soon as I picked her up. Well, I didn't want to create a dependency, so the 3rd night I didn't go back in, and she cried for about 5 minutes, but she fell asleep, and hasn't done it again since. Maybe you could give her a few more minutes if she does it again before going in to her. Just a thought. I know it's so hard to tell what to do, and every baby is so different. But a few minutes won't hurt her while you're trying to decifer her cry.
As for Kelsey, she weighed 15 lbs, 12.5 oz, and is 25 1/2 inches at her 6 mo. checkup. He said her solid intake is good as long as it doesn't interfere with formula intake. I'm giving 2-4 tbsp for 2, and sometimes a 3rd, meals.
:?: Is anyone else's lo having trouble with diaper rash? Is it normal to have to use cream all of the time? She gets it so badly that she cries hard when I have to wipe her, and the bath water and her peeing in the tub :oops: really hurt her. I feel awful. I guess it's not related to a new solid because I have introduced anything new, but is it related to solids in general? How long is too long to have diaper rash? When could it be serious?
-
Hi Everyone,
I'm sooo glad everyone is still sharing their stories :D .
We went on our second overnight trip last week and it went very well until the drive home. We left just before her bedtime and she slept for an hour until we had to stop for gas. And the dog barked really really loud when the gas attendant came over. Of course Emily started crying :evil: . And she cried basically for over an hour and just started falling asleep when we were 5 mins. from home. :cry: I switched places with the dog and sat in the back seat and patted her chest and talked to her while she cried. We stopped the car 3 times so I could pick her up out of the car seat, but each time I put her back she started crying hard. It's impossible to do pu/pd when your driving. I knew she just wanted to curl up and snuggle and go to sleep and she didn't understand why she couldn't. Finally I put the swaddle blanket right on top of her face and she started to fall asleep :? .
On another note, Emily loves her jolly jumper a lot :D . But the exersaucer is still too stimulating for her.
Her ezcema is getting worse everyday :( . I stopped using the corisone. Now I'm just using moisturizer and vaseline. But now she's getting little bumps like a rash and some dry crusty skin at her elbow joint, and it's starting on her cheeks too. I only bath every 3 days now and I'm using gentler soap for washing cloths. Now I'm going to try a different formula as soon as the old can is finished. Maybe that will help. It definately runs in the family because dh had it bad when he was a child and still has it. I'm hoping the doctor can recommend something at her 6 month check up.
Diyasmum, I'm sorry your days aren't going well. I had to do some pu/pd lately and I found that after her crying stops and I put her down that she still likes the rythmic patting but no shshing. Also I find when I first put her down for a nap she's content and then 2 mins. later she cries and as soon as I open her door she stops and curls up to go to sleep. I think this is the start of seperation anxiety. Maybe that's starting with your baby? I also am not sure what Emily's mantra cry is :? . Also, looking at your schedule I noticed that some of the breast feeding is happening right before her napping. This might be interfering with the E/A/S routine. I haven't started solids yet but maybe bf before solids after she wakes up so you have lots of A time before S. I know it's really hard but even if you've had a hard night, I would wake Diya up around 7:00am to start your day. You might find that she'll nap longer during the day and sleep better at night. I do my best to keep within a half hour either way of the BW 3.5/4 hr routine and I find it really helps. Here's my schedule right now.
7:00 Wake and Eat (6oz)
8:44 Nap for 2 hrs
10:30 Eat (5oz)
12:30 Nap for 1.5 hrs
2:30 Eat (6oz)
3:30 Nap for 1.5 hrs
5:00 bath
5:30 Eat (6oz)
6:45 Bedtime
9:30 DF (6.5 oz)
Does anyone have suggestions on where I should start to fit solids into Emily's routine :?:
Branwen, I think I understand your problem with the 4 hour routine and why it's frustrating. It seems you want to go to 4 hours but can't maintain 5 bf's because you don't want to do a dreamfeed. Maybe you can move to a 4 hour routine once you start solids so your supply can start to decrease?
Anyways I hoped I helped a little.
Have a good day everyone, Tarri
-
Tarri, if I haven't said so before, Emily is precious!!!
With the solids, could you try to offer a few spoonfuls right after or before her bottles? That way you're not feeding all day, but within the same meal time. She might not take much at first, until she develops more appetite.
-
I am so happy. I hope I don't jinx myself. Diya slept through last night. The only difference was I did 3 hrs from the afternoon yesterday and did a clusterfeed. I hope she continues to do that.
Tarri, thank you so much for the suggestions. Those 2 days were off days for us. I usually BF her after she wakes up. I try to start the day around 7. But Diya likes to go to bed only around 8 or 8.30. I will try to push it to7.30 and see if she will do that. Have u tried using aquaphor? I have heard a lot of good things about that.
Kelsey looks like a doll!
Will write soon
Vidya
-
Hello
Christine: YAY! On the tooth! How is Leah now? Is she still crabby?
Diya's Mom: I'm glad to hear your day went better... let's hope it stays that way :D
Heather: Have you found a solution to the nappy rash? I use corn flour mixed with water when Luka has nappy rash, it clears it up really quickly. I put the mixture on with my fingers, wait for it to dry a bit, then put the nappy on.
Tarri: Sorry about Emily's eczema. Have you guys got rooibos tea over there? If you do, then put a couple of rooibos teabags into her bath water when you bathe her, it reduces the itchiness. That's the remedy that we use this side of the world.
Luka isn't a fan of veggies. He wolfs down his rice cereal, but butternut and carrots make him pull the most disgusted face lol!
And last night he slept through from 9.30pm till 6.30am. He normally wakes for his 'dreamfeed' at 11pm, last night he didnt and we decided to see what would happen if he didn't have the dreamfeed, the result was sleeping through! :shock:
Ususally he wakes at least once a night to be sung back to sleep :roll:
Wonder what will happen tonight? :lol:
-
Hi! Vidya told me about this thread (we were paci weaning buddies a few months ago!). I never check this forum usually! So glad to see all of you here! I belong to a yahoo group of moms of babies this age, but I am practically the only on a routine and certainly the only baby whisperer there! :?
Asher just turned 6 months and is 18 lbs 5 oz. and 28 inches as of today. He's on 4 hour EASY and we EBF 5x a day (4x day/1x night). We haven't started solids yet because of other digestional issues he's had, so I'm paranoid about food allergies. I think he's REALLY ready though, but the pediatrician said to hold off as long as we can. I think he's getting about 40-50 oz a day though. I'm very tempted to start now because I secretly hope he'll sleep better at night (or I can at least start to work on his night wakings).
He scoots/crawls and almost sits unassisted. He's a very busy boy and started taking good naps most of the time around 4.5 months (first 4.5 months were hellish :shock: ). We still have the catnap but I think he may drop it when we start solids (he skips it sometimes). Just got his first tooth 2 weeks ago and the second broke through today.
Look forward to getting to know all of you and your LOs!
Deb: What is the clinic that everyone mentions? Is that like a sleep clinic? Where was your original post? I'm interested to read it.
Deborah: We just got a Britax Marathon. Love it because its one of the few that can be tethered rear facing as well. It got great reviews. It's also one of the few that goes up to 65 lbs/49 inches. A cheaper seat that got great reviews (our 2nd choice) is the Evenflo triumph.
Heather: We've had problems with diaper rash since Asher was 5 days old. I've tried everything but Aquaphor Triple Paste (that and Bordeaux Butte Paste are most recommended). But the BEST thing I found was ACTUALLY a homeopathic remedy called Calendula gel. It is clear, non-greasy, no smell, and quickly absorbs. It clears up diaper rash faster than anything I've used. I use a bit at every diaper change for prevention and lather it on when he actually gets a rash. You can get it at most health food stores. It can also be used on many other things from sunburn to cradle cap to ecxema, I believe! I can't say enough good things about it. :D
-
Julie, nice to meet you. Thanks for the suggestion, because I'm also trying to clear up cradle cap. It's bad, too, but all her hair really covers it up.
Vidya, congrats on a good night's sleep! By the way, what is aquaphor?
Who else's los have teeth, or a tooth?
-
HI again:
Im so tired that I have to reread everyone's posts in order to make some constructive comments :roll: I just didnt want to wait so long to post again. Matthew turned six months on Sunday and we had our first real food today! Sweet potatoe with a little formula mixed in. He loved it and he was absolutely adorable. On the down side, teh breastfeeding is not going well at all, and despite all my best efforts, he really prefers the bottle now and I can only get him to feed at night, its the only time he is patient enough. The problem is that since he is only feeding at night my supply is dwindling, and I think Im going to have to call it quits :( finally.
Oh well, we gave it a good run. Its not like he's undernourished at 21 lbs!!!! Do I have the biggest guy here? What does everyone else's lo's weigh?
Thats great about the tooth Christine. And I cant remember who went back to work, but wtg, its scary at first. Ive been back for two months but fortunately only have to work part time. Its hard to keep up with all the paperwork and I do miss Matty when Im at the office.
Heather thanks for the offer of help for the picture.
Keep posting everyone;
Oh yes, one more question, which I know I have asked before
How do we stop swaddling? We've tried leaving his arms out but he keeps knocking the paci out and waking himself up.
Thanks for any input
Julie
-
hi all - busy little thread eh??
we are doing better for the most part - it seems we have the first nap of the day sorted - she is now going to sleep around 9/9:15 and sleeps for 1hr 45 + It is the second feed and nap that throws me off. i am hoping we are still settling in - she fed well at first feed and then at 2nd only took 4 oz and has been in bed for 45 min with no luck yet - she is really hyper and kicking up the blanket, etc. i am binging on dark chocolate trying to distract myself :roll:
Christine - that is great that Leah hasd a tooth and that you were right about what was happening.
Schae - good to hear from you - i was wondering where you were. good news about the crawling as well - will probably quickly suss out going forward too.
Julie B - welcome along! i wrote about my clinic visit on a thread in the lounge - "thanks and goodbye" or something like that. Basically the first 7 weeks of Olivia's life we could not implement EASY no matter what because i could not tell when she was tired (never / rarely yawns) so was overtired and not napping, she was unsettled, had feeding problems (so i started stressing about breast feeding...) and i was becoming a wreck. we have a facility (3 actually) here called Tresillian - it is a gov't funded facility for helping parents cope better with under 2's (deals with everything from BF to routines, night wakings, etc) I went and did a residential stay for 4 1/2 days. it was booked for 2 1/2 months (very hard to get referred in for this program so you have to wait a while) and i almost did not go because we are so much better now and just needed some tweaking... and i finally got a chance to spend time alone with her whcih was good.
Julie - Olivia's weight at 5 1/2 months is 18 + pounds (8.3 kg). with the swaddling we spent one day with a loose (very loose) wrap at the clinic and then the second night i left her unswaddled and have not looked back since. during the day i wrap something around her waist sometimes becasue it is winter here. at night she is now in a sleeping bag.
-
me again - if anyone besides Tarri saw my post on the crying board you know that yesterday Olivia had a lot of unexplained crying at nap times and a little during mat playtime.... I think it was developmentally related as there was no crying today and she seems to have started moving backwards (?assume it is crawling backwards) - twice when i left the room with her on her tummy playing I returned to find her at the opther end of her mat about arm's length from the toys i put down. could this be why she was so upset yesterday??
-
JulieB - Welcome! Our daughter had some serious digestional woes as well, but she has tolerated the rice cereal quite well. We started at 6-1/2mos, but she only gets about 1TBS twice a day (mixed with ebm). If you think he's ready (and 40-50oz a day sounds like alot), you might want to go ahead and start trying. It has taken Maya awhile to get used to the spoon. At this point we consider the rice cereal to be for practice, not nutrition.
We tried out the Roundabout at Target yesterday (they didn't have the Marathon). The hip straps didn't fit so well. They kind of wrapped around her thighs. Anyone else have that problem? And to answer the other Julie's question, Maya will be 7mos next week, and she is 26-1/2" and 15lbs 9oz as of her doctor's appt last Monday.
Heather - For the cradle cap, coat her head with baby oil 10 minutes before her bath (or if she enjoys bathtime, just put her in the tub and play for five or ten minutes). After it has soaked in well, comb through her hair with a fine-tooth baby comb. The oil will loosen everything up, and the comb will pull it away. It may take a couple baths to clear it up completely. Maya tolerated this pretty well (I had dh amuse her for me). She had a nasty case of cradle cap when she was ~2mos (even in her eyebrows!), and this took care of it in 2 or 3 baths.
Aquaphor is made by the same people as Eucerin. It feels like Vaseline and is super gentle on their skin. It's not prescription, but in our drustore they carry it behind the counter. I use it when Maya's neck folds get red. I've never used the triple paste though.
And though Maya chews on anything she can fit in her mouth and slobbers all over everything, she still has no sign of a tooth.
Got to go - plumber is here early.
-
OH, gosh so much to catch up on! :D I love it though!!! It makes my day sometimes- REALLY!
First, I got to take an uninterrupted shower this morning :shock: :D - it's been months and months, usually I have to wait for dh to be home. At least with my touchy lo, noise is an issue and bathroom is right across from her room. I have resorted to timing the sleep cycles- I went up 15 min into a cycle and she is still asleep! YAY! Also do this at night...count 45 min intervals to time when dh and I can go up the stairs (they are so loud) without waking her. Am I crazy!!!???
Deb- Eirwen was SO fussy and crying for three days! I was like what is going on!!! No naps, everything was a problem. And then yesterday she woke up laughing- literally! Then making weeeee sounds...and wiggling her whole body around excited!! It was so funny. I'm not sure she physically did something new but her awareness jumped! It's like I have a whole new baby. I think this is what was going on with her. Everything with her just became super animated. It's like she KNOWS stuff now...does this make sense? She's also more deliberate with everything...I really have to watch her because she's started grabbing stuff out of my hands- she wants everything now, esp her diaper!!! Anyway, I'm glad things are getting better for you!
Julie- sent you 2 private messages about pictures? They are still sitting in my outbox? I'm not sure if you've picked them up yet. Maybe you're not getting notifications?
Schae- Roobois tea is yummy...I got addicted to it in Holland :D Thanks for the tip...I will keep that in the back of my mind. Congrats on the crawling so adorable!!!
Heather- diaper rash...I usually let Eirwen roll around naked for 10 min on an absorbant pad if it is bad, so she gets aired out a bit. Seemed to really help a lot! I also started changing her diaper more frequently...(big pee-er :wink: ) The diapers now are so absorbant that they don't leak through but their skin is still sitting in all of that moisture. Are you sure it isn't an allergy?
Tarri- sorry about Emily's eczema. Cortizone for us too made it horribly worse so I just stopped using it. GRRR doc won't call/write me back about it either. You might try 8:00am or 11:30 for solids. I read it's best to start in the morning in case something bothers them it won't mess up the night too bad. Eirwen likes her jumper too...although hasn't quite figured out the jumping part of it yet :wink:
JulieB- Welcome to the forum. Yes, it's good to be with other baby whisperers. :D
We don't have teeth and Eirwen is 17 lbs 28 inches :D We also don't have much phsyical activity going on. Well she is sitting but she will get so aggressive reaching for something that she will topple over...scary!! (Are you having this problem Heather?) No rolling, no crawling, no pushing up, no rocking...I'm trying not to be worried or start comparing but it's so hard...
-
Deb- Eirwen was SO fussy and crying for three days! I was like what is going on!!! No naps, everything was a problem. And then yesterday she woke up laughing- literally! Then making weeeee sounds...and wiggling her whole body around excited!! It was so funny. I'm not sure she physically did something new but her awareness jumped! It's like I have a whole new baby. I think this is what was going on with her. Everything with her just became super animated. It's like she KNOWS stuff now...does this make sense? She's also more deliberate with everything...I really have to watch her because she's started grabbing stuff out of my hands- she wants everything now, esp her diaper!!! Anyway, I'm glad things are getting better for you!
How funny. this is exactly what we have gone through - i thought it had something to do with our stay at Tresillian. my sister and I were just talking about it this evening - today she seemed so much more "deliberate" she was really kicking at the wind chimes on her gymini and she was specifically grabbing toys, etc. since i returned last Friday she has become super animated - i thought it was just because of the "wider variety of toys" that i mentioned including her now beloved exersaucer. she is also fascinated with my face and hair and keeps reaching out and touching me and grabbing my lips and nose and laughing... We have really been bonding this week and i have so enjoyed my time with both girls - dare i say i am feeling happy again :D
i hadn't written about my trip to the zoo on Tuesday, but it was a good morning in spite of hiccups - it was a great day because i handled it well and did not freak out or anything so now i know the meds/therapy are really working. We got stuck in traffic so Olivia fell asleep 20 min from the zoo and of course woke up on arrival and refused to nap again - she was up the entire morning (and happy) and finally slept 10-20 min from home (around 12:40pm!!!) and then i failed at transferring her into the house so she refused to nap further. finally took a nap at 4pm!!!!! i never got crazy! i just said let's enjoy the zoo and the gorgeous weather (it has been like an early spring) yeah me!!
-
How funny. this is exactly what we have gone through - i thought it had something to do with our stay at Tresillian. my sister and I were just talking about it this evening - today she seemed so much more "deliberate" she was really kicking at the wind chimes on her gymini and she was specifically grabbing toys, etc. since i returned last Friday she has become super animated - i thought it was just because of the "wider variety of toys" that i mentioned including her now beloved exersaucer. she is also fascinated with my face and hair and keeps reaching out and touching me and grabbing my lips and nose and laughing... We have really been bonding this week and i have so enjoyed my time with both girls - dare i say i am feeling happy again :D
Yes that is EXACTLY what Eirwen is doing!! :D She also loves pulling at my face, batting towards me (ouchy sometimes :wink: ). She is so specific too about the toys she likes last few days...and she reaches to touch the cats as they walk by, etc. If she hears papa somewhere no matter what she is doing she will whip around to see where he is and start wiggling around! It's crazy but so fun! It's like she's really "awake" for the first time as a little person and can really see the world.
I am so happy you're feeling happy! That is the best news ever! :D
-
so much to catch up on! amazing what happens after just a couple days... :D
Vidya - glad to hear your lo is sleeping better! hope she keeps it up!
Julieb - welcome to the boards! i agree, it is hard when you don't know many other BW (especially when they complain that their lo's don't sleep all night, etc.)
Julie - luke is 6mths, around 19.5 lbs, 27.5 inches. as far as the swaddling, have you tried just leaving one arm out? or maybe cold turkey, like deb said.
Deb - glad to hear that she's moving around! hope she keeps it up. she sounds like quite the determined gal
Heather - my dr suggested trying a mild dandruff shampoo on luke's hair for the cradle cap. never did it cause we ended up being able to clear it up with regular washing & combing, but it might be worth a shot.
Branwen - don't worry about your lo not crawling or anything. luke doesn't seem very interested in rolling or crawling either. he is getting better on sitting, but that's about it. isn't it neat how they seem to be 'awake' all of a sudden? they're just so much more fun.
after a rough couple of days, luke seems to be settling in at the sitter's. yay! yesterday he actually took a decent morning & afternoon nap so i got to pick up a happy baby instead of a cranky tired one. :D she's also had success at giving him rice cereal, so we may be back on the path to solids. we shall see.
anyhow, better get back to work. just wanted to say HI!!!
-
What a night! :shock: I was up 6+ times and then he woke up early and couldn't seem to go back to sleep (I was in and out until almost 7 am). I think, well, I HOPE, it was just the tooth that broke through yesterday. :?
I talked to DH about starting solids this weekend and since we're both inbetween, we decided to wait until one of us is more in favor than not. Hope I'm not shooting myself in the foot as far as night sleep is concerned. :roll: On the other hand, I started feeding him from both sides in an effort to get more in him to sustain as well as to HOPE he might sleeping through at night. Fat chance, I know. :roll:
Heather: What are you doing for the cradle cap? Deborah's suggestions are basically what we did as well. But if you BF, you can also take an evening primrose oil supplement and/or break open a capsule(s) to use as the oil on their head.
Julie: Can Matthew reinsert his paci himself yet? You may just need to rough it and let him figure it out a few nights. Otherwise, I don't know how to keep the paci in without a swaddle -- which is why we weaned the paci! :lol: For weaning the swaddle, we just gradually left arms out, made it looser, and scooted it down until it's just around his waist/legs. I've left that as is because he likes to use the blanket as a luvie when he can't find his others.
Deborah: Thanks for the info about Maya's solids. He JUST turned 6 months, so I'm sure it'll be better to wait just that much longer as well. Our pediatrician also told us to go very slow when we do start.
Branwen: I can TOTALLY relate to timing the sleep cycles. I do that ALL the time! :lol: My LO is ALL touchy when it comes to his sleep! I have a VERY loud noise machine in his room that covers most bathroom noises, but I also do it right at the beginning of his nap -- never the middle near that fragile transition point! :wink: And don't be worried about Eirwen's lack of interest in crawling. I know plenty of babies that aren't even close. We always knew Asher would crawl quickly, he was one frustrated little guy before then. I think he gets tired of looking at my goofy face all day. I'm sure he'll learn to walk early too. He'll get up one day and say, "I'm outta here!" :lol: This is probably why he's had a hard time learning to sit up. No time to sit still!
-
Wow, lots to catch up on!!!!
Branwen-I totally time things I do around Kelsey's sleep cycles. I know when there is a transition coming that she would be more easily disturbed. But only for naps, at night she's fine with the loudest of noises. I found that out becaus our dog gets super excited when dh comes home, and she's barked several times and Kelsey has not woken.
How would I know if the diaper rash is an allergy? It seems to happen from poops in general, even after she's been on the same solids for a long time. I'm waiting weeks rather than days to introduce new foods for this reason. And, yes, it's so amazing how alert and aware babies become. It almost makes me teary-eyed to remember this little babe who couldn't do a thing, but now can reach and "talk" and laugh and play. And I always think of the dog as our best entertainment because Kelsey could watch and laugh at her forever. I do have to watch her while she's sitting because if she doesn't pay attention, or reaches too far, or gets tired she does topple over. I have her on a blanket on a carpeted floor, so I don't think she'd get hurt. Sometimes I guide her with my hand around her and let her fall slowly onto her side to let her roll onto her back. She's rolled a few more times from tummy to back because she just does not want to be on her tummy!! :) This makes me wonder about her crawling ability, but her ped told me that many babies will crawl from a sitting position when they really want to get to something. My neighbor's babies just started crawling at 9.5 months, so we have time. And, the ped. told me that some babies don't get teeth until close to 1 yr. Kelsey doesn't have any either.
Debra-I'm so glad you're doing well. That's great about your zoo day. You are a wonderful mother!!!!!!
Julie B-I tried the Gerber Cradle Cap Kit, and it left Kelsey's hair in a greasy mess. I was very disappointed. Her ped. did tell me about using dandruff shampoo, and with all the other suggestions I'm sure something will work. Sorry you had a rough night. Did you say a tooth came through? Surely that was the problem. How long has your lo been using a lovie? Kelsey doesn't have a blanket or anything with her because she gets scared if something gets over her face and she's not quite able to get it off all the time. But we have lots of lovies for her when she's ready.
Julie-we had to stop swaddling around 3-4 months because Kelsey scooted in her crib and it made the blanket come dangerously close to covering her face. We quit cold turkey and went to a sleep sack. I was scared to death that she wouldn't sleep, but she was fine immediately. Now she doesn't even sleep with the sack, just a sleep-n-play outfit with footies and long sleeves. I don't, however, give her a paci for night sleep, just part of wind-down. So if your lo needs it, but knocks it out with his hands, I don't know what to tell you unless you want to take the paci out when you put him down. But that might be for the "paci board". Maybe Julie B can help with that.
-
Heather,
How long has Kelsey had the current diaper rash and what are you doing for it? If it doesn't seem to be improving with your efforts (creams, airing out, baths, etc), it may be or has turned into a yeast diaper rash. You can buy some Lotrimin (for jock itch) to apply and that should help clear it up. Asher seems to be allergic to certain diapers, or at least, I think certain diapers make the rash worse because they don't breathe enough? I've never been able to find any correlations between what I eat and his rashes. So I just keep the Calendula gel on and only use Luvs diapers to keep it to a minimum. If you think it's from her poops, she may have diarreha (it is more acidic) -- which could be a sign of teething, a food allergy, or an illness. Try to clear it up and then run a few experiements.
When trying to clear cradle cap, you will kinda have a mess for several days until it clears up. Do the oil/comb thing every day, then rinse with a mild shampoo. It's important to clear off those scales because they just get worse, in a vicious cycle. The scalp oozes, dries and forms scales, which clogs the pores, and causes more oozing... Once it seems to be under control, wash the hair with water only or with shampoo just a couple times a week. Overwashing clears the scalp of it's natural oils. But make sure to vigorously brush her hair/scalp daily with a soft bristle brush. This helps clear away dead skin cells and such, and keeps the pores from getting clogged again. You can use calendula gel/lotion in place of the oil, this will help heal the legions on her scalp as well. Massage it in and let it soak for 5 minutes or so, then comb the scales.
Yes, Asher's second tooth cut through yesterday, so I hope that's why we had the bad night. On the other hand, he took a lovely 2.5 hour nap this morning (during which I napped as well), so I'll take what I can get! :lol: Certainly looking forward to the day when I can sleep more than 5 hours in a row! :shock:
I introduced a luvie when I weaned Asher off the paci around 11-12 weeks. It's just a burp cloth (always handy, easily washed, can always buy more if lost, etc)! :wink: He kneads it like my shirt while nursing. If he's cranky, all I have to do is swipe luvie by his face and he pops his thumb in! :lol: He also got the startled look with things over his face, but I tested it out and could still breathe with it so I didn't worry. My sister practiced peek a boo with him a couple months ago and he can take things off his own head quite well now. He also thinks it's big fun to play! :D
-
Christine, almost forgot to mention Happy 6 mos to Leah!!!
Can you all believe our babies are half way to their 1st birthdays? :D :cry:
-
Wow!I had gone outside today and open the thread and it is in the 35th page! Lots to catch up!
JulieB, glad that you could join us. I know what you mean by hanging out with other moms who haven't done BW. They look at Diya all wired up when she has missed her nap window and say that she is happy! They also comment on me putting her to sleep all the time!
Branwen, I wouldn't worry about Eirwen not crawling or moving much. Diya was like that until a week ago. Now all she wants to do when left in her crib is scoot on her butt and crawl backwards. It's like a switch for movement has been turned on in her! She is very alert and initiates communication with others too. I missed her naptime when we were on the go today and she literally calls this lady who was sitting next to me so that she can "talk" with her!
Diya was 15lbs 4 oz and 27" last week on her appointment!
-
Diyasmom-how old is she? Kelsey was 15 lbs, 12.5 oz and 25 1/2 inches at her 6 mo checkup. Just curious.
-
Diya woke up suddenly in the middle of her sleep and I didn't want to lose what I had typed. So, I pressed the submit button before even finishing!
I have a couple of questions!
Since Diya has learnt object permanence, she cries when I leave her in the crib or plays there. I am trying to hold her without rocking or anything like how Tracy suggests in her sleep interview so that it will calm her before I put her down. If I start it 15 mins before her nap time, she ends up going to sleep before her naptime. Sometimes, she misses her nap window if I do it at the beginning of her nap window. She falls asleep in 5 mins itself. When do I put her in bed because it is like she gets relaxed and the next min, she is asleep on me. When I put her down, she wakes up sometimes and she still goes to sleep on her own. I don't want to start something which I will regret later. Please share your thoughts on this!
How long is your A time when you get a long nap from your LOs?
For us, the magic number is 1 hr 20 mins or 1 hr 30 mins for the first nap and 1 hr 40mins or 1 hr 50 mins for the second one. I miss it most of the times because of the above reasons and end up having a 45 min nap most of the times.
Vidya
-
Can you all believe our babies are half way to their 1st birthdays? :D :cry:
Heather - i was just saying this to Dh yesterday - i am sure that Alex's first year went slower - but maybe it is the 2nd half of the year that has so much going on that i remember it as a long year. this time (almost) 6 months has flown by - i feel like i missed it - sometimes i wish i could call a do-over and have another chance with Olivia. It makes me sad but i know to focus on the future. Dh and I are looking forward to this coming summer. we are going to spend every weekend possible at the beach and outside with the girls. It should be great as Olivia will be 10-12 months and alex will be 2 1/2.
Today was a pretty great day overall. I feel we are really getting back on track. Olivia fed reasonably well, took a 1 hr + nap in the am and then after being up exactly 2 hrs she had a 2hr 15 min 2nd nap!!!!! after only 5 quiet minutes in her cot. Unfortunately she did not take the catnap so was awake from 3:30pm - 7:30pm but she did fantastic - not a single tear or grumble today - i think this "switch" that has been turned on is her ability to stay awake 2 hrs etc. she loves watching alex and interacting with toys and all of us - how exciting!! i hope everyone else's day was/is good. i am going to get out this weekend to the beach with alex on saturday and the whole family are off for a cliffside/beachside walk on Sunday with friends - fingers crossed that we get there in time for olivia to get her first nap in the pram - i am surprising myself with all this "risk" taking but realise we have to live our lives.
-
Julie B- Can you talk more about the solids issue? I'm just curious? How are you and your dh different on the subject? Can you talk more about your night feeding issues too? I'm just curious as you're breastfeeding... I can't wait for Eirwen to have a lovey :D but same sit as Heather- sleeper only since abandoning swaddle, loves to pull blankets over the faces...scary...
Deb- you sound so well! I love hearing about you getting out and Olivia's awake time and stuff. It is so great!
Heather- I know! Half a year...I can't believe it somedays. Today I looked at her and told her she was so beautiful! I got soooo weepy. Oh thanks for comments on the other post- putting it behind me- truly trying...I just want everyone to love and notice my baby- I notice theirs!!! :cry: About diaper rash- if it is little oozing bumby-like probably allergy or yeast. Raw I thought was more from moisture. At least that is how my ped explained it to me. Oh, sometimes even bottle-fed babies can get a yeast infection from bottle nipples that for some reason didn't get completely sterilized- you could try boiling the nipples if you don't already? If the bumby-like I would get checked by a ped- maybe her digestive system isn't liking something suddenly? Did you try the new formula?
Vidya- is she falling asleep on you then? while holding her? You might want to stop that before she becomes dependent on you. Only reason I'm saying this is my dh didn't understand the wind-down stuff and thought he was supposed to rock her to sleep- so Eirwen would get really upset when he put her in the crib. I never let her fall asleep on me during wind down so she usually goes in her crib from rocker with only a whimper or nothing. We had to get on the same page about that one and now she is never asleep before crib. The only exception I make to this is when she is over-over-over tired, like has been up 4-5 hrs with no nap and is hysterical from fatigue. Then it is somewhat automatic because she will somewhat pass out if I rock her. I think those are ok exceptions though.
You can also try starting peek-a-boo games if you haven't already. It still scares my dd but we are playing other permanence games- like I leave the room to get the laundry and tell her where I'm going. Then I enter the room from another way.
Eirwen's A time is all over the place :wink: :roll: Morning- 1 hr/ Mid-day- 2 - 2 1/2 / Afternoon 1 to 3 depending on success of afternoon nap. I am just going with the flow now. I watch her like a hawk for tired signs as they are pretty rare these days. I think her best is 1 hr 45 min.
Question for Everyone- Can little babies have a nightmare? Eirwen woke screaming last night for a few minutes. dh offered her a bottle only took an oz and fell back asleep sucking her thumb? night terror?
-
I probably overreacted about the diaper rash. I clears up within 1/2 a day after putting the cream on, so now I put it on all the time. It was not bumpy or oozing, just bright red and sore to her. But thanks for your concern and suggestions.
Branwen-that type of scream and back to sleep kind of sounds like she just came out of a sleep cycle in an unusual way and it frustrated her. :?: I thought I read that babies do not have nightmares and can not be afraid of the dark yet, but I could be completely wrong so please correct me if I am.
And, Branwen, I, too, get so weepy when I tell Kelsey how lovely she is and how much I love her. And at night when I'm rocking her, I never want to let go. She is so sweet laying in my arms, sucking on her paci, and making little "aahh" sounds as she settles down for the night.
My word, I'm tearing up now. :cry:
-
Oh, and how do you get a picture beside your lillypie?
-
OH MY GOD!!!!!!! :evil: :cry: We have another tough 2 nights. The night before last I put her to bed at 6:30 and she cried on and off till 9:00. I almost thought maybe it was hunger because she didn't each much during the day but then she fell asleep till 10:00 and didn't even wake for her dreamfeed, which she always wakes for. Anyways gave her df at 10:00 and she slept till 12:30 then dh went in and out about 5 times then she slept till 3:00 I settled her quickly and she slept till 7am.
Now last night I got her to bed nicely and she woke for df at 9:00pm so I gave it even though it was early. Then she woke at 2am (which is habitual) and it took me 1.5 hours of pu/pd and patting to get her to sleep. I gave her tylenol at 2:15 just incase it was teething, but obviously this had no effect. I was waaaaaaaaaay past exhausted at this point. Then she woke at 5:00 and 6:00 then I woke her up at 7:15 to start the day. I put her down for her first nap at 8:30 because I knew she was extra tired from the night before and she slept till 9:30 then I had to do another 30mins of pu/pd and patting to get her to sleep. Now I need to wake her up again. I hope this stops soon. I'm pretty sure she's teething and has seperation anxiety. But she doesn't have any problems while she's not sleeping.
Branwen, I read your post about timing when you go up the stairs because they're noisy, and I don't think you're crazy. I time when I let my dh take a shower because the bathroom is beside my dd's room. I think it's just that we put so much effort (mom and baby) into getting them asleep we don't want anything to wake them up!
Also, I bought some calendula cream for Emily's ezcema. I tried a little test area and she didn't have any bad reaction, so I'm going to give it a go for a good week and see if there's any improvement.
Tarri
-
We did have 3 nights in a row without nightwakings. I am trying to follow the eating schedule which I had on the first day to a T. The cluster feed in the evenings and a 3 hr EASY in the afternoon is saving our lives for now.
She went to bed early last night because she missed her last 2 naps. So, she woke up early because of that.
Heather, my DD was born on 1/25/05. She is 6 months now. She is 28 weeks now. Glad that her diaper rash has gone.
Tarri, my DD did that too all of a sudden, a couple of days ago. Now I make sure that she gets extra snuggle time. I still haven't put her to bed wide awake like before. But I am going to try it today.
Deb, your outing will surely go well. Go and have fun.
Branwen, thanks for the advice. I'll try not to put her in the crib all sleepy today.
I feel very weepy too when I see my DD sleeping. I wonder if this perfect creature came out of me and will she be so loving and cuddly when she grows up:) For now, I am trying to write a piece of her day atleast in a line in a journal. But I have been thinking about it forever.
She is getting cranky in her exersaucer. I have gotta go.
Vidya
-
We had a better night. He only woke twice and slept until nearly 7:00 (just played quietly until I got him up). :D I feel so refreshed after getting 4.5 hours of straight sleep! :lol:
Asher officially started crawling yesterday, taking several steps in a row. He's seem to have forgotten how this morning though! :lol:
Question for everyone: Do you take your LOs to church and how do you do it around nap/eating times?
We've only been a few times since Asher's been born. It seems to always fall around that morning nap and he had a hard time staying awake. He won't sleep in my arms. And I won't put him in the nursery until he's at least a year (not vaccinated). He can stay awake longer now, but that morning nap is still the problem. Should I get him up for the day earlier so he can finish the nap before leaving for church? Or should I just cut his nap short and see how it goes? BFing is also a problem. I'm horrible on the go so I usually have to do it before we leave.
Vidya: Asher's awake time is around 2:15 hrs each time. He's pretty cranky the last half hour, but if I put him down sooner, he wakes up early. This is how it's always been since moving to the 4 hour EASY though. The last 10-15 minutes is usually in his room winding down.
Branwen: Asher's digestive issues are buckets of spit up and green stools. The green stools started when he was 2 weeks old. They've changed colors and improved in frequency and smell, however. I've tried practically everything short of taking him to a pediatric gastroblahblahblah. He prolly has reflux, but I know they'd just put him on meds. There was a long waiting list and by that time, the spit up didn't seem to bother him like it did when we was younger. We just use lots of bibs and burb cloths! :lol: He also has blood in his stools periodically. Doesn't seem to concern his doctor for some reason. :? I've tried elimination diets and stuff. So needless to say, with our luck, I'm paranoid about food allergies even though there's no history in our families. I talked to doctor this week about starting the solids and my concerns and she said to hold out for as long as we can. We both would like to wait, but DH hopes starting solids will help reduce the spit up and I hope it will help him sleep at night. We're both 50/50, so we'll wait until one of us tips the scale.
Most of Asher's nightwakings are brief and he goes right back to sleep if I go in and "put him back together." I only feed him once. But he takes a full feed so that's why I feel guilty about wanting to try to drop that night feeding before we have solids well established. :( I know that's unrealistic. Then he wakes early for the day 90% of the time. Sometimes he plays and goes back to sleep, sometimes he cries and I have to resettle him. But he ALWAYS wakes me up in the monitor, no matter what he's doing. :shock:
Asher also pulls the stuff over his face (loves to have luvie right up to his face), but I tested everything to see if I could still breathe clearly so I feel okay about it. Everything in his crib it very thin.
-
Wow!! Our little thread has really and truly grown. 36 pages! :shock: :lol:
Hello Julie and welcome! :D
I cannot remember everything that everyone wrote, so I'll just type from memory.
I cannot believe that our babies are halfway to their first birthdays either. It's gone by so quickly. And next month I'll be going back to work :(
Branwen: I do think that little babies can have nightmares. Luka has them quite often. He'll wake up with a huge shrieking cry, and will settle as soon as I sing to him or touch him or sometimes pick him up. I think he just needs reassurance that I'm still there and the nightmare isn't real.
As of last week Thursday, Luka weighed 7.5kg and is 68cm tall (16.5 lbs ?? inches :oops: :lol: )
Julie, we don't go to church, so unfortunately cannot answer your question.
Luka's A time in the morning is 1.5hours sometimes 2 hours. During the day, the magic number is 1.5 hrs. But from around 4.30pm we really struggle with getting him to take a cat nap. He's much happier during bath time if he's had a catnap.
We're trying to get started on veggies. Luka loves loves loves his rice cereal and will actually smack his lips when he has that (or pears or banana). But he pulls the most disgusted face when I give him any type of vegetable :?
We've tried: carrots, butternut, gem squash and avo.
I make it myself, maybe that's the problem?
The only reason he's had pear is coz I mixed it with the rice cereal to give him a different taste.
Not quite sure what to do now?? I'm even tempted to give him jarred baby food to see if he's objecting to my cooking :oops: :lol:
Hope everyone is going well.
-
Hi Jan/Feb Mom’s –
I am newbie to your group and have read some of the early posts and later ones, I couldn’t get though all 36 pages! Just reading the one’s that I did, made me feel like I know you already. My 2nd daughter Riley Ann sounds a lot like all your sons and daughters.
Here’s my story… Riley Ann is all about fast and action! She was conceived fast, delivered 10 days early after only 3 hours (she’s my second and they do come fast!) and has been ready to go ever since. She hates to go to sleep, loves to eat (BF) as much and as often as she can, and is always looking around checking things out. I would classify her as a Touchy baby with a touch of Angle, as even when overtired she is still smiling and happy.
I had rocked her down, held her and had her in our bed at night for the first 5 months of her life. It was crazy and since we had a big vacation planned I didn’t feel like I could change anything at month 4 since we would be flying and staying in hotels, etc. until we got back. We’ve been back since the end of June and now I am trying to get things together. She is now on a better schedule, getting more sleep, sleeping in her crib in our room (we only have a two bedroom and not ready to put her in with her sister yet – who by the way was Angel all the way so I was spoiled.)
But I am still in tears as I can’t seem to figure out a schedule that works. She wakes only twice a night but get’s up early between 5 and 6. She started solids at six months and is somewhat interested in them but is much more interested in grabbing what I put in my mouth. I am still nursing her to sleep as that is the fastest way to get her down without too many tears.
I would love to hear what type of schedules your children are on? Anyone combing a 3 and 4 hour schedule?
Sorry this is long and I hope I am not coming off to strong or desperate… I have had a bad week and would love to talk to others with children in my same age bracket. It’s funny how much you forget from the first one.
Tracy
Desperate mom of two!
-
Welcome Tracy!
Not sure if I can help all that much, but I can try giving you some ideas! Really, it sounds like you're on the right track.
When she wakes in the morning, does she play? Would she fall back to sleep on her own if you left her? What time does she go to bed? I have this problem too, BTW. Most days he wakes up, plays, and dozes on/off till I get him up at 7:00. Still drives me crazy because I hear him in the monitor the whole time. :?
For solids, though we haven't started yet, I think most is just practice right now anyway. Maybe she hasn't developed a taste for it yet. I read it takes often 20 tries before they will accept a new food. What are you giving her? I hear the rice cereal often goes over better if mixed with EBM or apple juice. Is she hungry at feeding time? Have you spaced it from a BF enough?
For nursing to sleep, some keep this up because it works for them. But if you want to change it, there will probably be some tears and protests at some point, especially with PU/PD. But the sooner you start, the easier it goes, I hear. Have you heard of the No Cry Sleep Solution? She may have some good suggestions in that book.
Many on this thread seem to switch between 3 & 4 hour EASY, or go half way. We are on 4 hour EASY, however, and our day often looks like this:
7:00 wake
7:20 BF
9:15 nap 1:30-2:30 hours
11:00 BF
1:15 nap 1:30-2:30 hours
3:00 BF
5:00 catnap 45 min (skip if naps were long)
6:15 BF
7:00 bed (6:30 if catnap was skipped)
2:00am BF
Sorry I'm not much help, hope it gives you some ideas!
-
Hi Tracy! Welcome to the thread :D And no you do not sound too desperate. :wink:
Getting on a routine can be hard, especially with a touchy baby! I so know! We were on a pretty good 4 hr schedule but like you went on vacation and that has now reverted back to 3 or 3.5. I think she is happiest at 3.5.
I also have an early riser, but I have decided to go with it. She has an early bedtime and sleeps the 12 hrs so I have decided I can't complain too much.
Our naps were very problematic at 4 months (no naps!) and I would nurse to sleep and she would also sleep at my breast. It became too much for me emotionally and physically was very draining as she often ate every hr or 2 hrs- I definitely had a snacker! So I decided to change all of this- a friend referred me to BW and I haven't looked back since. I used PU/PD to extend her naps and also change the nursing to sleep at bedtime and get on a 3 hr routine. It was a rough two weeks but we got through it and now she is a very good independent sleeper. I do recommend the technique but you have to be committed to it. There is a lot of crying involved at first. If you think you might want to try it feel free to PM me with any questions.
She does get some A time usually before the E simply because her awake time is still somewhat limited. Also I can never do tummy time after eating because she will spit it all up :roll:
Our combo/ideal 3-3.5 hr schedule:
5:30-6:00 E- bf
7:15 S- Nap- 1.5 to 2 hrs
9:30 E- bf 10:30 solids (2 oz cereal w/ 2oz bm and 1 oz fruit)
11:00 S- Nap- 2 hrs
1:00 E- bf
2:30 S- Nap- 1 hr to 2 hrs
4:00 E- bf
5:30- had bath, top off bf and sleep for the night
Schae- thanks for info on nightmares. That is totally what it sounds like- a shriek! Oh, scared me out of my skin- my dh too :( She didn't do it tonight so maybe she just had a tough time. When I changed her sheet in the morning (dh had done a bad diaper job :lol: ) I found a dead ant :( so maybe that crawled on her or something? Just a theory?
For whoever had constipation with rice cereal? I had this too plus dd got really bad gas, switched to oatmeal and have had none of these problems.
Will respond to others later- she's awake early from nap!!
-
welcome tracy! we're on a 4-hour schedule too... our day is modified a bit cause i just went back to work, but here's the jist of it:
7am wake & eat
9-10:30 nap
11 eat
12:30 cereal (he seems to like it again! :D )
1 or 1:30-close to 4 nap
3:30/4 eat
7:30-8 bath & pjs & eat & bed
i will throw in a catnap around 5pm if he did not have a good afternoon nap.
Branwen - i totally think they can have nightmares. i would watch either kids sleeping & at times it looks like they're in REM sleep, which means they're dreaming, right? so why couldn't they be bad or good? i thinkit's a bit early for actua night terrors though. just MHO
Julieb - i pretty much didn't go to church for the first couple of months of either babies' life. with dd it was pretty easy since she was up before the 11am service. so we'd get there & feed her & she'd be fine. with ds, it's been a bit harder since he was normally sleeping till halfway through. it depended on his week; sometimes i'd just get him up a little early & go and he would be fine. now that he's on a new schedule, though, i think we might make it more often. i didn't put jaina in the nursery until about 10 months, and probably will do the same for luke. we have a cry room, though, so that's where we go.
Schae - sometimes it just takes forever for them to get used to certain foods. i'd just keep offering every so often. have you tried yellow squash, sweet potatoes, or green beans. those were some of dd's favorites. i made the food too - so much cheaper!
Tarri - hope this week goes better for you. HUGS!!
Heather - i have no idea about the lilypie...might want to post in lounge or introduction forum...
i think luke is either sick or has another ear infection (i hope not!!!!). he was so miserable last night & still seems to be during his nap this morning. thank goodness for tylenol!!!!!!!!!
-
welcome Tracy. what are your girls' ages - could not tell from your signature. We are finally on a 4 hr (mostly) EASY as of this month. our general start time is 7:30 sometimes earlier.
7:30 wake and eat
9:30 - 11 nap (can be anywhere from 45 min - 1hr 45 but no matter what she gets 1 hr 30 in her cot to rest for both naps)
11:30 eat
12:40/1pm - nap # 2 (1hr 30 in cot no matter what - will nap various lengths)
3:30 eat
5/5:30pm attempt 45 min catnap (earlier if naps did not go well & if bad 2nd nap, then i let her sleep up to 1hr 30 here)
6:45 start bottle, then bath
7/7:15 finish bottle and bedtime by 7:30
i think we are starting our 6 months growth spurt - this afetr noon she fed really well at 3:30 (downed 7+ oz straight away) and woke from nap cranky and hungry. Dh offered her food at 6pm b/c i was out and he was sure she was hungry even at 5:30 or so. she drank another 4 1/2 oz (we gave her the rest of the feed at normal time) am curious to see how DF goes and then tomorrow. How long did 6 mo growth spurt ;last for you guys? we were supposed to start rice cereal this weekend but were too busy and did not get around to it :oops:
Heather - i looked at the lilypie site and they have an option where you can choose to have a photo with your ticker. if you go and do a new one you can add it. i tried and i could not add 2 tickers as the BW profile said it was too big so i gave up.
i finally posted pics in the photo gallery but will add a couple here as well in case most of you missed it. The first os Olivia ernjoying her exersaucer which has been a fantastic purchase. then alex last weekend at the beach.
-
Hi Debra, very cute photos! Thanks for mentioning about your growth spurt. Since our babies are exactly the same age, I'm going to keep a close eye on Emily. she hasn't had a growth spurt in at least 2 months. I'm also seriously thinking about starting the rice cereal, because if you count the weeks our lo's are 6 months old already, even though in months they aren't quite yet there.
We went out on the boat with the inlaws yesterday. And amazingly all went really well. :D I handed Emily over to her grandpa and the rest of us went swimming for about 15 mins then I passed her to dh and got another 30 mins swim. She's been horrible with naps on the boat and I was so scared to even try. So I ended up folding a very cushy blanket up and laying her on top between bolsters and throwing a flannel swaddle over her head and that's it. And she eventually just got drowsy listening to our voices and slept for half an hour!!!!
I still haven't slept for more than 2 hours straight in quite a few days now. Hopefully things will get better in the night soon!
Tarri
-
Deb, cute photos! Your DDs are just darling!! :D
Asher's growth spurt lasted 4 days this time. He went through it a week & a half before he turned 6 months (just like his 3 month growth spurt). I kinda wonder if it's because he went 9 days overdue? :shock:
-
Hello All!!!!! I have not been intentionally avoiding you! I fianlly took myc omputer in to get repaired, major virus issues and I still do not have it back! I fianlly came to my mother's house today so i could catch up. Although i see there has been 4 more pages since I last posted!!!!!!! I breifly read thru them, once my computer is back up and running I will post responses! Just a quick few for now....
Welcome Tracy and Julie B.!!! Our little family is growing! We are so pleased to have you join us. I'm hoping you, Julie B, can help me with pacifier weaning! :wink:
Deb - Adorable pictures!!!!!! Your little girls are so very cute!
Thanks for all the congrats about the teeth, if there was ever a week i needed to be on this website it was the past week when I was computerless!!!!!! We have two bottom teeth, but they are just hanging out down by the gums. They are sharp, but it's just like they don't want to push all the way thru, and boy is my baby CRABBY!!!!! Teething sucks!!!!!! A question for some experinced moms. How often do you give Tylenol when they are teething? Leah had her 6 month shots on Thursday (shots and teeth! :shock: ) So she had Tylenon Thursday night, then some Friday morning. So I was reluctent to give it to her Fri or Sat night, but I think she may have needed it. Is it bad to give it so many nights in a row? I don't want to drug her....
Well, I best visit with my mother since I came to use her computer!!! i promise I will post more when i get back my computer - Monday or Tuesday. Take care!!!
Sorry about all of the spelling mistakes, this keyboard is alot different than mine and home, it seems the faster I type the more errors I make!
-
Welcome Tracy! We're still on a three-hour schedule because Maya is ebf, and we wouldn't get enough feeds in otherwise.
It's been a busy few days! Maya has been super-cranky this weekend. We can't seem to get more than a 45-minute nap out of her, and she's just generally ill-tempered. We think it might be teething (having pretty much ruled out all other possibilities), but there's nothing showing yet. We've been trying to prep our guest room to paint it, but she's not letting us get much done.
I can't remember who asked what but here goes...
Maya's growth 6-mos growth spurt started a week before the 6mos mark and lasted about 10 days (but we were travelling and there were other disrupting factors).
The only time I took her to church, we went on Saturday evening (we're Catholic), and it coincided with her longer late afternoon / early evening awake period.
-
HI everyone!
Julie B and Tracy Welcome!
Deb, great pics.
Branwen, I havent gotten a notification about PM's, I will check after this post.
Thanks for the responses regarding swaddling. I really dont want to stop the paci yet for Matthew. It is great for calming him (and us) cause he is a screamer! He likes to scream, happy or sad. I was hoping it was a phase, lol, but he's not growing out of it. He also doesnt seem addicted to it, but it sure does help when he gets cranky. He pulls it out of his mouth a lot and puts it in backwards - he just cant seem to get it back in yet. Does that mean I shouldnt stop swaddling until I wean him off the paci?
Christine, did you stop swaddling Leah yet? ANd who else is still swaddling? its a huge issue over here and Im trying to decide whether or not to do it.
Otherwise, Matthew is doing good. He has been teething a lot and screaming a lot :P but he laughs too. I'm still always tired. He is getting up around 2:30 and 5:30 then 6:30 for the day. If he would sleep til 7:00, I would like it a lot better. We could also do without the 5:30 wake up.
The La Leche person I talked to said that LLL recommends the first foods to be: Avacado, Banana, and Sweet Potato. They dont recommend rice cereal yet. Thats why I started with sweet potato which I blended up with formula or ebm. He loves it. Next we are going to Pears, cause the BW recommends it in her book as a very good first food.
I was wondering if we could start a new thread, so we dont have to page through thirty plus pages? Maybe we could just head it Jan/Feb babies Part II?
If anyone is for this please post it and we'll decide who should start the thread if you all agree.
Hugs to everyone.
Julie
Matthew Spirited 1/31/05
PS - Matty is huge compared to the lbs you guys are posting for your los!
-
I started a new thread for you ladies. Called Jan/Feb 05 babies chat.
Enjoy!