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

[HeatherC]

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.

[dkjokisch]

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.

[HeatherC]

Christine-Happy 5 Months to Leah.  Hope you both are doing well.

[branwen]

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!

[Leah's Mom]

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!

[thitz]

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

[Schae]

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! 

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!

[branwen]

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

[HeatherC]

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

[Leah's Mom]

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! 

[HeatherC]

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?

[Melanie2]

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.

[dkjokisch]

Sorry, that last post from Melanie2 was actually me.  I am staying with a friend, and I guess I posted under her login.

[dkjokisch]

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.

[HeatherC]

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 ( ), 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.