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

[Leah's Mom]

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!!!  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?!!?!?

[HeatherC]

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.

[Leah's Mom]

Heather- Leah is still rolling over, but only so she can get things. She also will crane her head and look for our dog!  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! 

[branwen]

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!!!

[HeatherC]

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.

[Jaime]

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!!!!!

[dkjokisch]

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.

[HeatherC]

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?

[branwen]

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?

[HeatherC]

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

[branwen]

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?

[dkjokisch]

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!

[Jaime]

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???

[HeatherC]

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

[branwen]

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 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?