looking for Jan/Feb 05 moms to chat...

[Deb_in_oz]

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  )

would love to hear from you - i have noticed a few jan/feb babies on the other boards... how is it going?

[Schae]

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! 
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.

[Deb_in_oz]

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.

[Lizzie]

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??

[Schae]

Hiya

I hope Alex feels better soon, are you BF-ing?

Nice to meet you both! Look forward to chatting some more.

[two_cuties]

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

[Leah's Mom]

I was hoping someone would start a thread that included my DD! DD is amost 4 months - next week!  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!

[HeatherC]

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

[Deb_in_oz]

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...?

[HeatherC]

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!!!

[Leah's Mom]

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!  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?

[Deb_in_oz]

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:

[Schae]

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?

[Deb_in_oz]

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.

[Leah's Mom]

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!