Babies of Oct-Dec /04

[lil'monkey]

That's very very funny Kathy.   :lol:  I can imagine Jadyn's face after she spit up - "Who me?!? Did I do that???" innocent look.   

Sharon, thanks for the schedule on dropping to 2 naps.  I remember reading a post saying that the transition may take a few weeks and that you might to have an early bedtime until everything is sorted out.  As for dd, she seemed to want to drop the catnap but every few days she would want to take it.  She's still waking up early but at least it's a decent hour these past few days around 6 am - I can handle that for now.

Ladies, this is a very silly question but what does a teething cry sounds like?  For the last few nights, dd has been crying in her sleep.  It sounds like a moan and a throaty cry at the same time.  i thought that she might be hungry as she would do this every 2-3 hrs and for 5-10 mins.   Sometimes she would take the bottle other times she just cry away in my arms.  I've tried the teething gel but it didn't seem to help.  I've looked for the Hylands teething tablets but Superstore(Loblaws), Zellers, and some drugstores don't carry them.  Where can you get them?

On a good note, dd has definitely got her little fingers wrapped around my dad's.  We were at my parents for an early Father's Day dinner and despite being awake for 6 hrs (she skipped her catnap), she cooed and wrapped herself around my dad's neck and arms.  The icing on cake for my dad was when she winked at him with both eyes.  It was the first time we saw her doing this.  No one taught her, she must have picked it up from somewhere.  My dad wouldn't let her down after that - took my mom a couple of attempts to get her away from him.   :lol:

[Mum to Ella Rose]

That's funny Kathy, I always dated older men. If someone had of told me I would marry a man this much younger than me I would have laughed! 

They say not to really judge whether or not a baby likes their food by their facial expressions as the new tastes can just plain be shocking and not indicitive of like or dislike. The key is the open mouth!

I thought that was about right for dropping a bottle (or feed as it were) but there's a thread in the bottle feeding forum about some babies doing it around 6 -7 months. Where they start only drinking about 3 oz. at their feeds then once the one feed is dropped they really up the intake of the others. Sometimes I wonder if this is what Ella is doing but as she's teething it could be that so we'll wait and see.

Mimi, I'm not really sure what a teething cry sounds like per se but that is the same thing Ella's been doing and it's definitely teeth! Though it went on for 3 weeks before one tooth popped.  Are you in Eastern Canada? You can get Hyland's at Caper's but I don't know that you have them there. You need to try a health food store. The liquid I ended up getting is from Quebec actually but it has the same ingredients as Hylands. The main one being Chamomile. I just asked at the pharmacy area. You could try that... I'll also get the name if the product I have for you but at the moment it's in dd's room and she's asleep. You're most welcome with the schedule! So far so good here. Two naps at 1 1/2 hours with 2 1/2 hours awake in am, then 3 with the final stretch being about 4. She's still going down at 7 well but is also still waking through the night. It's down to 4x now so at least it's an improvement.  We finally bought Motrin too yesterday and it worked wonders. We found tylenol did nothing. Dd isn't supposed to take Motrin due to her reflux but when it's the lesser of the two evils... she was SOOOO cranky yesterday! Gave her some Motrin and all the smiles came back. We'll just use it very sparingly.

And I love that dd wrapped her arms around your dad! My dd just pushes away. I can't wait until she wants to snuggle me. I figure not matter how independent she is it's gotta happen SOME time!  :lol:

Talk to you soon,

Sharon

[Jakes_mom]

well ladies, sounds like all is well.  although, ds and i have had a pretty rough day.  he is 5.5mo and i think teething for his 5th tooth.  as i said last week "i finally have my angel back" well the angel has left the building.  today he mostly cried and whined (he makes this whine-cry noise to let us know he is not happy)  he was so upset that i skipped the orajel and gave  him tylenol.  on top of that each nap was 30mins.  well lets hope for a better day tomorrow. 

btw, he was in bed by 615! 

Update... i have decided to try and find a part time job.  my old boss called and i am hoping to meet with her to present an idea to her tomorrow.  also, i realized i could always substitute teach here.  it doesnt pay well but it is something. 

as always thanks for letting me vent.   :lol:

[Jakes_mom]

well, we know why are days was so tough yesterday.  Ds woke up with 2 more teeth this morning:o .  i am not sure why they are coming so fast but i know it must be painful for him.  poor little guy.

[alligirl]

OK, I have no idea where to put this....I figured I'd start here.   I'm not sure if I need advice or just to vent or what...but here goes....feel free to offer any thoughts if you have any.

Zachary's not been very interested in eating lately, especially for his last feed of the day.  Which in and of itself, I'm not so worried about, except now he's up twice a night again to make up for it!  The past 2 nights, he's been up at 11freakin':30 and then up again at 2:30 and then sleeping till 7 or so.  We're all coming down with a cold (which could be part of it) and I'm so exhausted.  Not to mention we had an AWFUL day yesterday (one of those days where all three of us spent most of the day in tears) and I really feel like I'm struggling emotionally, mentally, spiritually so I REALLY wanted to sleep well last night.  As it is, I'm just too tired and lazy in the middle of the night to work on trying to get him to go back to sleep without feeding him....plus it's too easy to feed him and put him back to bed.   ANYWAY, I thought maybe he's cutting a tooth (so far he's toothless), but there's no bumps or redness or ANY other sign that that might be it.   Anyway, I'm gonna try to tweak his schedule today to see if that helps, but I really don't think it will.  I feel like the main problem is that he just refuses to eat for his last feed.  I feed him solids around 5:30 or 6 and then try to nurse him at 8, which in the past has worked fine, but the past 2 nights, he's way more interested in looking at his daddy or playing with his feet.  So I give up and give him his bath and put him to bed. 

*sigh* I really thought I'd have him sleeping through the night by now.  Stephen had me really spoiled (slept through the night consistently by 10 weeks!).

THanks for letting me vent.  Sorry I don't post more, but I do keep up with you ladies.

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Jennifer I can't believe how your lo is cranking out the teeth!!!! We had to wait three weeks just for one to slightly come through the gum.  At least you'll get it all over with quickly.

Which brings me to you Ali (lovely picture btw!!)  Ella slept throught the night from 7-7 since she was 9 weeks. That is...up until three weeks ago. And as I've said we didn't see a glimmer of a tooth until a few days ago. We think maaaybe there's another coming but we too are still struggling with her being up ALL night. Hang in there!! I have to believe it will pass. I can relate to the exhaustion. I had a horrible day yesterday too. I was in tears for most of it as I was just feeling like no matter what I did or do (and I feel like I'm BUSTING my butt) dd just doesn't care. Like nothing I can do makes any difference. The "nothing is working anyways so why bother" kind of attitude. I do feel a bit better today but... I guess all I'm saying is it can be soooo hard. Just know you're not alone. My emotions are getting out of whack due to lack of sleep and the fact dd doesn't ever snuggle me. She seems really uninterested in me. Sometimes I read other posts about night wakings and the mums are saying they just cave in sometimes and co sleep and I think, "wow, if I ever try to even lay down beside Ella she just punches me and cries."  :cry: I get jealous! How awful is that!!!

Okay. I just completley hijacked your post with my own rant. My apologies.  The only thing I can think of is trying to give ds his last feed without dh in the room. Also really dim light so he can't see much. They are just so distracted at that age. Everything is more interesting than eating!  Also when you say you give in and feed him overnight it makes me think it's the same as us but with a different "soother."  Dd needs her paci when she wakes and I would suspect your lo is soothing himself too. So... whereas I think we've created an addiction... you're still in the comfort stage. And my thought is if he's teething, then help him out. Just maybe try other things first to comfort him back to sleep so he doesn't think it happens every single time. Knim?

Good luck. DO keep us posted.  We're definitely here for you.

Oh and Jennifer it sounds like you and dh are really figuring things out! Im soooo glad to hear it! And yes I feel very lucky being able to have flexibility in my work. It's a blessing. (I'm an actor, mainly do voice work now)

Oh and do you think there's any possibility Ali ds might be ready to drop a feed? Kathy posted something about it in the bf forum and there's also a thread about it in the ff forum. Some mums had to around 6,7 months...
Just a thought.

Sharon

[cazao]

hi guys. sorry not posting much but still keeping up when i can! we have visitors and no time for anything...wow sharon, we`re at exactly the same point as us schedule-wise. going down to 2 naps kind of just happened on it`s own as the awake time got more. i love her long morning nap..never really had long naps consistently before and it`s great. the bad news is we`re still majorly teething, and after weeks and weeks, still no sign of teeth.  :roll: alligirl, i was going to say the same thing about feeding zachary in quiet in the dark with no distractions. we`ve moved that last feed to after bath, in her room, curtains closed as part of the bedtime snuggle and she feeds way better. if she looks as if she`s going to fall asleep then sometimes i keep the curtains a little more open or just talk to her to keep her up (and sometimes i let her fall asleep if we`ve had a hard day). as far as the night wakings go, could well be teeth...like i say..we`re still not seeing anything..no red cheeks, no bumps or lumps or anything at all.... but i know for sure it`s her teeth (well pain anyway and i`ve ruled out all other sources of pain). when she wakes i give her pain meds and she goes back down. i also put her on my boob becasue i have no willpower in the night and i`d much rather just get her back to sleep quickly, but i know she`s not waking out of hunger because she hardly eats anything, more just suckles for comfort, and she`s not waking out of habit becasue the timing`s all over the place. been doing this for weeks and weeks now and although i was worried about starting bad habits by feeding her in the night we seem to be ok.. there are nights when she sleeps all the way through, sometimes several at a stretch, and then we`re back to waking again. i`m taking it in turns between hylands teething tabs, oragel and motrin...kind of worried about overmedicating, but as the medicine seems to be doing the trick i guess it`s needed. sharon...was there belladonna in your homeopathic teething tabs? if not, then i might try to get them...can you tell me what they`re called...thanks. anyway...just thought i`d check in. this teething thing`s hard, (and sharon we have quite a prickly baby so i know what you mean...hard to see other babies full of smiles and laughs when georgia`s kind of sullen...love her to death). on the good side we had our first swimming lesson today and it was the coolest thing ever ever ever. hang in there all of you.... :wink:

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Hi again,

The teething liquid we are using does have belladonna... I thought Hylands did too?? I know there's great controversy but I feel in small amounts it's okay. For the record it's called Camilia by a company named Boiron. There is a day spa in Vancouver Cazao (nice to near from you by the way!) called Bloom Essentials. You can look them up online and that's where I got the teething oil which ONLY has Chamomile in it and you can rub it on the gums.

We too moved the last feed of the evening until right before bed. Same routine. Bath, feed in darkened room but no falling asleep, one or two lullabies during, then bed.

Cazao we never saw any ridges or anything for all the weeks of sleepless nights. Maybe red cheeks once or twice.  The little cut on her gum didn't show up until a few days before the tooth so.... hang in there!    And swimming, how awesome! I want to do that with dd too...

Sharon

[lil'monkey]

Sharon, I got the Hylands tablets.  Now when should I give it to her?  Should I give it to her every night or just when she wakes in the middle of the night?  Sorry about all the questions, just wanted to get my beauty sleep back and get rid of these dark circles under my eyes.  :lol:

[Jadynsmom]

Hi there everyone,

Today I got busy making some baby food!! I went to Wild Oats and got all kinds of veggies & fruits, and WOW, are they expensive!!!  My hubby made the remark that she eats the good stuff and the rest of us just gets whatever :wink: I got 5 avacados and they were $8!!!  I froze it and someone said that they will oxidize really quick when you thaw it out. I hope I didn't waste all that...  I also made some yellow squash, green beans & peas, peaches (baked it, smelled sooo good) and apples.  Tomorrow I'm going to do carrots and that should be good for a little while.  I will start introducing a new food every 4 days starting next week and also give cereal as well. 

Alli - I'm sorry for the bump you're experiencing.  Remember, it is a bump and it will pass.  I know what you mean when your lo spoils you sleeping through.  When & if I get pregnant again  :wink: I know I will have a lo that will probably never sleep.  I'm counting my blessings with Jadyn being so mild mannered & going right along for her age.


Sharon - Jadyn loves to be held most of the time but she also likes to be very active!! She kicks me when I get in her way when she's doing her leg raises.  I don't know what those leg raises are all about.  It's like she's doing exercises to slim down those chunky thighs. :lol: She doesn't always like to cuddle (I'd like it if she'd do it all the time).  Lexi was 14mos when we adopted her from China and she was never into being cuddled.   I know what you mean when they hurt your feelings by not letting you kiss on them.  Jadyn lets me kiss & hug her right after she wakes up and while bfing.  Other times she's too busy trying to bang or mash or chew her toys.

Cazao - good to hear from you. Hopefully those teeth will pop out overnight!!  How did you lo do with swimming lessions?  Do they actually let them swim underwater by themselves?  I still don't know how to tread water and I'm going to let my husband teach the girls how to swim as soon as they can.

Jennifer - That's great about your part time job teaching.  Sorry your angel has left temporarily.  She'll be back soon.  Jadyn has been doing that whining lately.  I can't put her down for long.  She likes to have attention on her all the time and likes to be picked up & held.  Can't do much of anything when she's in that mode. :?
Tonight she cried during her bath?  It was at 6:15 and I finally figured out I hadn't given her any dinner (5:30pm)!  She gobbled up 2 cube of peas & 2tbl of cereal so fast I was afraid she was gonna throw it all up. Gosh, I can't keep all these times in my head: Bf every 4hrs, awake for 2 or 2 1/2 hrs, nap for at least 1 1/2hr, solids in am & pm, change her diapers often even if I don't smell anything, phew.... My brain's kinda mush when I'm trying to make dinner for the family and I have a whiny one wanting to be picked up.

My husband's all into his team playing (Detroit Pistons) tonight, so he's not much help when they are playing...

I finally went & got a digital camera & took a pic of our wedding day so I can update our pic.  If I can just figure out how to download it into the darn computer. :roll:

[alligirl]

OK, ladies, I need your prayers today (if you're the praying sort).  Today is Zachary's pulmonologist appt. and I'm reeeeaaaalllllly nervous about it.  After all the doc appts we've had (and we've had many   :roll: ) I'm more nervous about this one than any other.  It's just that we've seen the pedi several times, and an ENT which was no big deal, and a GI doc which was a bigger deal, but still doable for me.  But now we're seeing a LUNG doctor.....something about having to see a doctor for my baby's lungs brings my heart in to my throat.   I don't know what he's going to want to do, but I can imagine it will be easy.

So just keep us in your thoughts and prayers today....thanks for all your support.

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Hi once again....

Prayers are DEFINITELY with you Allie.  And big hugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharon

[momtomiya]

Hello everyone!   I just joined a few days ago and would like to join the Oct/Dec baby group.  My little one was born December 10, 6 weeks ahead of time, but she is doing great.  It will be great to share information for babies that are around this age.  We live in Ontario,Canada in a little town called Nottawa, about 2 hours northwest of Toronto.
Right now we are waiting for Miya to turn 6 months so we could start solids.  I'm trying to hold back becuase although she is showing signs of being ready to start I'm going to follow the book and start at 6 months.
She also was a preemie so I am more confused  :shock: about when to start.
Anyone out there have a similar experience? Tips to share?

[Jadynsmom]

Alli - BIG Hugs to you!!!  Jadyn & I will both pray for you when we have our prayer time at night.  It made my heart sad just thinking about what you must be going through. :cry: Please let us know how things go.

momtomiya - welcome to the long & lengthy Oct/Dec board   I don't have the experience in my baby being a premie, sorry.  I think Tracy says in the book to adjust the premie's age.  So when she's 6mos, she's really almost 5mos, I think?  As far as solids, does she wake at night hungry just recently, as opposed to where she slept through before?  Does she have any teeth yet?  Is she on 4hr routine? How much does she weigh? Is she touchy or textbook or angel or spirited baby? How's her sleep?  So many questions, I guess, to see where & how she's doing.  Jadyn just started at 51/2 mos and she's a chunky girl at 17lbs.  She was a week early (induction) because I had gestional diabetes and she was getting too big! :shock: She does have 2 bottom teeth and nurses & eats really well.

Jadyn woke up at 6am this morning.  Whoa!! Too early for this gal.  Daddy tried to put her back to sleep, which she did for 20mins and woke up just fussing.  She nursed and was wide awake.  I tried to get her back to sleep with me but no such luck.  She didn't eat too much breakfast an hour later, though.  She ate about an ounce of pear & cereal and closed her mouth & kept on looking to the side. :? I finally gave up.  I kept her up til 8:45 (2.45 hr wake time) and she went out like a light when I put her down.  I heard her stirring at 45mins and I had to make myself sit still & not go up.  Sure enough, she went back to sleep.  Yeah Jadyn.  Ok, I had to go up & see for myself a few mins later.  Bold, aren't I?  She's just snoring away :lol:  She's so much like daddy, even in the snoring.

[Jakes_mom]

Alligirl.. keep us posted, our thoughts are with you.

Welcome Momtomia... i wouldnt follow so strictly by the book if you think she is ready for solids.  our ped told us to start solids at 4.5mo because he had teeth and showed all of the signs.  when i started he loved it and gobbled it all up.  i think we can all attest that the book is a reference but the main thing you learn is to read your babies cues.  how are other things going, naps etc.

Well today was better then yesterday.   Ds took 1 1\2hr nap this afternoon  !  i wish i knew what caused that. 

jadynsmom, what time does dd normally wake in the mornings.  is it the same time every day?

Has anyone taken their lo's out in the sun?  ds seems to overheat easily, even when we are walking from the car to store.  we live in a hot climate but usually 90's right now. today i went to friends who had a baby pool.  i was outside with ds for almost an hour and it seemed to wear him out.