any april/may 05 moms want to chat?

[cambeladamom]

i have enjoyed reading everyone's info:) fun to hear how you all are doing.
well, at 3:00 thursday morning, i decided that i had been up in the night to give cambel his paci enough. so i went cold turkey on the paci. cambel screamed his head off and and shushed mine off. my dh came in a said what are you doing? i explained my decision and he went for a run:) ( he can't stand to hear ds cry like that). after several screaming espisodes, i think he is finally starting to get it. last night he went down with no problem and didn't wake until 4. but we aren't home free yet, so keep your fingers crossed for us:)
he needs fed now, so i'll have to go..

[jjstar]

Best of luck to you Maria. I'm sure that is frustrating.

We had a great day yesterday for the most part. I've noticed that LO first nap of the day seems to be getting shorter and shorter. I'm think it might be a bit of a sign that we should start moving to 3.5 or 4 hour EASY instead of 3 hr but he still wants to eat at 3 hours. Ugh I'm just not sure what to do. My parents are coming to visit for the weekend and are bringing a copy of the video. I'm not sure exactly what the video shows but I'm excited to see them demonstrate maybe PU/PD or something. DH needs to see it as he won't read the book.

[krice]

How is everyone doing?  The board has been very quiet.

My DS is still struggling through his feeds.  We see the doctor tomorrow morning.  It has been a very stressful time for me.  I can see that he wants to eat but it seems to be hurting him to swallow.  He is still gaining weight, but his feeds have dropped considerably.  I don't want to force him to eat, but I'm worried he isn't getting enough.  He wants to take the bottle, but will wince when he has to swallow - thus he takes a very small amount and will then refuse any more.  On top of things, he is developing a small 'growth' just below his knee.  My husband thinks it is a "hemangioma".  *Ahhh* the stresses of motherhood. . . .

On the positive side - DS has been going down for his naps and bedtime really well.  I know it's because I've gotten much better at reading his cues . . . the minute he rubs his eye or yawns, we get changed, swaddled and are put straight to bed - then he's usually out within 5 minutes!

Any moms out there that have any worries about their LO's?  Am I the only one??? :cry:

[Katet]

Kathy you aren't the only one who worries... although I think I worry so much less about Liam that I do Aiden, even though Liam is my baby... Aiden, just seems to have one "hiccup" after the next, or maybe it is he is my first & paving my way, although the Dr does recon he has inherited my Allergies!
Liam is also my dream baby & is so good & easy that I think I would jinx myself if I talked about stuff, quite seriously I feel so blessed to have "Mr Happy" in my life he is a delight, definitely makes up for the horror first year with Aiden (of which very little had to do with him, but other health issues related to dh & me, as my PPD counsellor said at the time my life then was enough to make anyone suffer depression.
... the only "problem" is he likes to be awake & chatting from 6/6.30am & I don't want our day to start until  after 7am (when aiden wakers up, esp as it is winter here & cold at 6am... but after 11 hours of sleep (interupted by one feed around 4am) I can't really expect much more & I don't want to delay his bed time as I want it to stay the same as Aidens (7.30). So I think I am stuck with that for a while.

Oh & he is 9days & counting since his last Poop!!! Not looking forward to cleaning it up when it comes!! Although someone did say as he is a very big (7.5kg/17lb) bf baby he could be going through his growth spurt & absorbing everything???

[cambeladamom]

just thought i would check in. ds just went down for the night--without his paci:) the last 3 nights he has slept from 8-5 without it, and i couldn't be happier. now i will probably jinx myself and he will wake up tonight:)
other than the paci weaning, things are about the same around here. he is getting more fun every day-laughing and cooing. and his hand-eye coordination seems to really be improving. he can really get ahold of his toys now.
one thing i am wondering about is when to stop swaddling him completely. right now he has his legs and just one arm swaddled. his legs usually break free easily, and this doesn't seem to bother him much. but he just seems to flail around more if both arms are out. any ideas on how to get him to the point where he doesn't need swaddled? right now i am scared to try and end up ruining his good sleep.
a friend of mine just had a baby girl last week. seeing her makes me realize how far we have come. i am thankful to be past those first few weeks. looking back, those days seem a little fuzzy. hopefully when we have our second one i will remember what i did:)
hope everyone is doing well.

[Katet]

Maria, I can't quite remember when I stopped swaddling Aiden, but I know it was around the 4 month mark as the weather got warm then & he wasn't swaddled when my dh was in hopsital, as I didn't want all the generous people who shared lookimg after him to have to do the swaddling.
What I did ( & am doing for Liam) is gradually make it looser & after he has gone off to sleep loosen it some more, if I have to resettle, I don't re-wrap, but do it with it loose.
I then left the wrap in Aiden's cot, under him for some time afterwards as I noticed he liked to grab the edge... he swapped that for a satin cami of mine at about 7 months & yes at age 2 he still has a couple of pieces of camisole (sp?) as his comfort item... dh says he has to remember that for his 21st to say he was into ladies underwear at an early age & wouldn't sleep with out it!!

[jjstar]

Thought I would pop in for a quick hello to everyone. Things here are pretty good. The little roller keeps waking himself up but I figure it could always be worse!

Question for you ladies...Jameson seems like he is somewhat ready to make the switch to 4 hour EASY but I was wondering about possibly going to 3.5 for a week or two and then to 4. Or should I follow the steps in Tracy's book? thoughts?

I hope everyone has a great day!!

[krice]

jjstar - You alone will know if your LO can make it.  Personally I never followed the steps for switching to a 4 hr EASY.  I think if your LO isn't having any problems with the changing times then just go for it (that's what I did).  If you think he may need that transition step (3.5hr) use it.  Personally I found the 3.5hr routine awkward, especially around the early evening.  The feeding and nap times didn't work for us.  If you do jump straight to it and it doesn't seem to work, then step back and try again.  BUT . . . If you are not certain about making the jump, then I'd follow what the book says.  Good luck!  By the way, once DS is on a 4 hr routine, you'll love it.  I can't believe how much more time it feels like I have.

Maria - we are no where near being unswaddled.  DS loves to be rolled up tight like a little sausage!  I'll appreciate some tips once you get it figured out.

Erin - about the short naps . . . maybe once you switch to a 4hr EASY you might find the naps go a bit longer.  I have noticed that my LO seems to make the jump through the 45min cycles better now.  At times, I can hear him beginning to stir and I will listen and if I think he isn't going to make it I'll go in and hold his tummy and shield his eyes.

We went to the doctor yesterday - Matthew's Zantac dosage was more than doubled, so now I cross my fingers and hope that this works.  The growth on his knee may also be a lymph-node tumor (fairly common I am told) and we will be going in next week for a follow up appointment.

Has anyone done any long trips with their LO's?  Late next week we are making the 9hr drive to the in-laws  :roll: Wish us luck . . . and if anyone has any tips or suggestions, they'd be greatly appreciated!

[jjstar]

Well I took the jump and the first cycle this morning he lasted 3.5 with no problem at all. Then I went to read the book again to remind myself of what it says. I think I'm going to do a mix between the book and a straight 3.5 hour switch. The books seems to suggest drawing it out too long for my taste. We'll see how the LO does and go from there. His naps just seemed off a bit to me and I know he can last for the feeds. We'll see.

As for the long trips. We drove to Ohio (10 hours) when Jameson was 10 weeks old (baby & I flew up and then drove home with DH). We did it through the night as we figured it would be easier on him. It wasn't too bad. We would do half of his feeds in the car seat (pumped a bit using the car charger-great invention) and then stop to finish (on the breast) and a  burb. It normally only takes us a little over 9 hours to get to Ohio from here. I thought it was going to take longer than it did so I was happy. The not too fun part was that when we got home...our power went out the next day so we had no AC it didn't make getting back on track very much fun. At least we were home though!

Well I'm off to finish a business proposal I've been trying to write for weeks now. Just can't seem to have uninterrupted time. Speaking of that...I've contacted a neighbor's daughter that is 14 to watch Jameson a few hours each week. Couple questions for you ladies...how much of the approach can I expect her to do (patting, etc). Also they asked me to come with an hourly rate. I have no idea and especially since I'm going to be at the house too just in my office. Suggestions???

[Taylor's Mommy]

Well the last week has been a little crazy for us! :?   Last Thursday we flew to Reno (1.5 hours) and then drove into Tahoe (1 hour) for a 4 day trip with my parents and brother and sister's families (they each have 1.5 year olds!).  Amazingly Taylor did great. and I was so proud of her!  Kathy, what I did was:  definitely more relaxed with EASY than normal, but I did stick to a few things...like making sure she got her morning nap in the crib (we rented it).  Her afternoon nap was always out and about so it was always 45 minutes for 4 days, and that took a couple of days to adjust when we got home.  I also took her blankie and white noise machine, as well as her washcloths and bath towel just so she would have the scent from home.  Other than that she was great and I think your lo will be just fine.  Be prepared though that he may get tired at the end of the trip when you get home.  Taylor was very over stimulated by the time we got home that she had a complete meltdown and cried harder than she ever did when she was a newborn! :cry:   I felt so bad for her and even a little guilty!  But after a good nights sleep she was back to normal!

We got home Sunday night and then I went back to work Monday morning (crazy I know!).  They asked me to go in just for a week and then finish my maternity leave and go back officially on 9/12.  The first day was horrible because I left after her first feeding and didn't get home until 9:30 at night!  It made me realize taht I can't go back to the same job with the long hours and entertaining clients.  I want to entertain my little girl!  So I am starting to look for a new job closer to home since I have an hour commute right now.  Wish me luck!

Maria-We just swaddle Taylor's legs now and she does fine.  We had been leaving one arm out and swaddling the other but she ALWAYS got the other arm out when she was sleeping and didn't wake up, so we just decided to leave them both out.  She probably doesn't need her legs swaddled but it is just so much a part of the routine we haven't thought to drop it.

JJSTAR-with switching to 4 hour easy, I followed Tracy's guide for the first 11 days and then just went with it after that.  I thought it was silly to keep toying with her schedule if she could obviously go 3 hours 45 minutes.  The hardest part was keeping her awake for the first few days so just keep it reall mellow and after a few days he'll get used to it.

This post is really long so I'll cut it now!

Hope all is well with the cute little babies out there!
Andrea

[krice]

Andrea (Taylor's Mommy) and jjstar- thanks for the tips.  DH and I are considering travelling in the night but I worry about being too exhausted the next day to look after DS!  I don't think the trip will be too bad (fingers crossed) as Matthew seems to do really well while he is in the car.  I've already gotten some blankets that smell like home breaking in!!!

Erin (Jamom) - I read your success story over on the Naps forum.  Way to go extending the naps!  We still swaddle over here (rather tightly too) and I am nervous about when we will have to loosen the wrap.  My LO still isn't the greatest with his arms - they tend to flail and get jerky when he is tired.  Matthew seems to love his swaddle too . . . he smiles and doesn't resist when we wrap him up.  So I'm not too sure how long we can do it for, but as of now he seems to do well with it and enjoy it.

Maria (Cambel's Mom) - how's the paci weaning going?  We still use it, but will pop it out once DS is calm enough - he will just suck his tongue once it is gone.  We will run into trouble if we don't pop it out - he spits it out and will then want it back.

So, we've had a better last day and a half with feeding.  Matthew is now crying when you take the bottle away to burp him - before he was crying whenever I tried to put the bottle in!  A much bettter scenario!!!  I hope that this new medication dosage continues to do the trick. 

Here's a question for all the mom's who DF . . . do you burp your LO's?  We never did, but tried last night (DS seems to spit up in the middle of the night, but does not wake for it) anyways, he slept so much better.  He usually begins to stir in the wee hours and that didn't happen.  Do you think the burping has something to do with it???

Hope everyone else is doing well and enjoying their LO's!  :lol:

[jjstar]

Well the switching is going pretty well. We're on a solid 3.5 hour the first two cycles of the day and then a 3 hour because that seems to work best with the final feed before bed. My goal is to have him all the way on a 4 hour within the next 2 weeks. We have another long trip to Ohio at the end of Sept. so I don't want routine to be unsteady by then. We'll have enough issues to deal with?!

LO didn't make a peep last night. I was so excited. I had resisted feeding him the night before thinking what I saw as hunger cues were not really. I guess they weren't because he did fine and I even had to wake him at 7 this morning.

Gotta get ready to wake up the little guy now. Have a great weekend everyone!

[Jamom]

Yes, we recently beat the 45 minute naps (well, they were more like 30 minutes!!).     I hope the sucess continues but the next few weeks bring lots of changes for Jake-- me returning to work    and I am taking him with on a business trip, which is actually in my parents' home town.  So, I am sure we will have to work hard to get him back on schedule after that, but for now, I am enjoying it.

Andrea (Taylor's mommy) -- any tips on the flying?? Last time I took Jake, he was 5 weeks and did awesome of course because all he did was sleep at that time!! Now that he is more awake, I am a little more apprehenstive about all of this.

JJstar-- I am with you that the plan in Tracy's book is pretty drawn out.  I didn't follow it to the T as far as how she goes slowly through the process. I think I started somewhere in the middle to see how long Jake could go and then when I thought he was ready, we just went to the 4-hour plan and I really watched the clock and followed her times for that  for the first few days until his naps got better.  And they did!

Well, I start work in a week and one-half.  I am so scared and starting to tear up all of the time.  I have long work hours and a 45 minute commute.  Plus, I travel for my job.  I am going to try to leave work earlier and work after Jake goes to bed so I have some time with him, but am unsure how that will go.  I may end up going part-time but want to wait and see. Wish I had the option to look for something else, but unfortunately, it's my profession so unless I switch professions, I am pretty much stuck.  :evil:

[krice]

So I think I spoke too soon about my LO eating much better.  Every feed since I last posted has been a battle.  Screaming, pushing the nipple around his mouth, but the most frustrating thing is I can see that he is hungry - makes all of his hungry cues and wants to suck . . . it's just like he can't. :cry:  I'm beginning to wonder if it's dysphagia (I'll be re-reading that message board) and not reflux.  Thankfully we will be in the doctors office again on Tuesday.  Are there any reflux babies out there?  How's it going for you (if there are)?

I'm afraid all of the gains that we have made with EASY will go out the window.  Right now the only way we can get Matthew to eat (instead of force feading him) is to let him get sleepy and then feed him when he is very relaxed - hence we are now feeding to sleep.  I've also noticed that if I swaddle him it makes the meal times a little easier.  I'm so frustrated . . . he is such a HAPPY boy ALL of the other time - we've just got this hurdle.  And in my eyes it seems to be such a major one.

Wish us luck that our weekend goes a little better - Tuesday seems so far away right now . . . 

[jjstar]

krice...that is too bad that your LO is still having troubles. My neice is having some of the same problems right now (5.19.05). My sister has her at the doctor all the time. Good luck getting through the weekend. Just my two cents worth regarding the relaxed feeding...do what you have to at this point. You can always work on correcting the habits once he is a healthier baby.

Well I'm off to DF. Jameson feel asleep at 6:55 this evening. I think he was missing that 4th nap I took away. Mean momma?!