Author Topic: any april/may 05 moms want to chat?  (Read 64536 times)

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Offline rachaelh

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« Reply #30 on: July 13, 2005, 19:24:29 pm »
Hello, I am a new mum too.  Oliver Daniel was born May 27th although I think he would have been a june baby if left up to his own devices!!  I can't complain.  WE have been trying to do things the EASY way however, his mother (me) has read too much and seems to be too uptight...it is Ollie who seems to be getting me to do the EASY thing rather then the other way round.  He generally eats every three hours in the daytime however, the evenings are always a rough time for him....seems to be different every day..although last night he fed at 5 and 7pm..and then 10:30...then I got to sleep until 4am!!  Wow!! So, I think I will try and keep him in this pattern.
Nice to see there are so many others with similar questions out there!\
Rachael


Offline Katet

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« Reply #31 on: July 14, 2005, 03:36:58 am »
well my computer at home has died, but flew down to my Parents with Liam last night to go to a funeral this morning (my friend mother of 5 aged 4-9 lost her hubby to cancer) & missing my toddler who is home with Dad/grandad, but enjoying one on one time with Liam, for a second time mum it feels so easy just to have the baby, even if his routine has been totally messed up, but hey that's life.

Can't remember who posted about 45min naps, just wanted to say for some babies they seem to be a factor that is very hard to fix, I never truely got past them with Aiden until he got mobile & was more tired, s needed more sleep.

Re switching to a 3.5/4hour easy, it can actually help lengthen night sleep if your lo feeds good feeds in the day, it certainly did with Aiden & with Liam, although only 7weeks, I do mostly 3, but one 4hour stretch now and he goes 7pm to 2/3am- I don't do a df as it doesn't suit me to although Liam did get a 10.30pm feed last night as that was when we got here & slept to 4am, although I had to resettle at 2am!

Kathy average weight gain is normally 100g-200g/week ( 3-7oz I think) but both my boys have been more like 250-400g (8-14oz) and all the health nurses have said is that they are nice healthy boys... it's just a pain carrying these big babies around (Liam is now about 6.5kg.(14lb) weight gain is often not even, as Aiden was huge off the graph at 6 months & stayed the same weight for almost 4 months & by 12 months was at the 75%
dc1 July 03, dc2 May 05

Offline beckys

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« Reply #32 on: July 14, 2005, 09:56:46 am »
Hi there April/May mums.
I am mum to May - who is now 10 weeks old.
I have been roughly trying to do EASY - but don't find it easy - particularly when I want or have to go out... I already have a five year old who needs to be taken to school and picked up from school and so on.  Plus, I think I'd go mad if I didn't go out and do things - so it's weighing up struggling to get May to nap when we do get home or not going out at all!
She seems to take a long time to settle for naps - even with swaddling and white noise.
I also haven't been very consistent about what time she wakes in the morning and wondered if a regular waking up time would make a difference?
It's good to read other mum's experiences as I have been getting stressed about not doing it 'right' - thinking I should be sticking to a more regular routine for her, at the expense of me having a life!
Any thoughts?

Offline Katet

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« Reply #33 on: July 14, 2005, 11:00:01 am »
beckys I actually find that having a more regular routine gives me more benefit and me time and easier to get out than not, esp having activities for my toddler.
I sort of planned our days backwards, what time did the activities I did with Aiden happen & how should I do bedtime with 2 & then worked out a rough 3 hour EASY around that.
I think if you try to structure a rough routine around the school runs & have a start time  end time to May's day, you may fnd it is easier for you & her routine is not at the expense of you... sure you live a little bit by the clock, but I now find for the most part Liam does a good sleep when it is aiden's sleep & copes with the catnaps etc when we are out & about...ok I suspect he is an easygoing bub anyway, but he has become well adjusted to the routine and now I know we can go out at certain times that fit around Aiden too, because I dont cope being at home all day.
dc1 July 03, dc2 May 05

Offline rachaelh

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« Reply #34 on: July 14, 2005, 12:44:28 pm »
Beckys-- I know exactly how you feel!!  I have beeen the same. Since Ollie was born I had my sister visiting from the UK so we went to my parents house to visit them, then we had to travel cross country to a friends wedding...anyway, I decided that when we finally got back I was going to give Ollie a week of normalacy (if that is a word) anyway, now I am stir crazy and it is only day 4!!  I live in a place that is 1.5 hour drive from anyone I know, my husband works long hours..and in my pre-mum life I was a physician...so, normally I am glad of the no visitors in the evening as I am all peopled out by then...now however!!  Anyway, I think I just have to chill out a little bit and expect Ollie to have up and down days...and if the routine has to be moderated somewhat one day so that I don't go insane...then, that is what will have to happen! 

Now for a question...I hope you don't all hate me as the whole getting the little ones to sleep long enough seems to be the predominant issue...I have no problem getting Ollie to sleep...my problem is, he likes to sleep too much.  Any suggestions on how to wake an extremely sleepy babe?  Yesterday for example, he went down at 1:30pm..so, I was expecting him up around 4pm...so, 3:30 I went in unswaddled, put blind up etc...at 5pm I finally had him awake enough to eat!!  IN an effort to wake him I used to change his nappy...however, I had to start buying shares in the company since as soon as he would eat...I'd have to get another nappy out!  So...any suggestions other then unswaddle, lights on, and chatting to little happy sleepers????


Offline krice

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« Reply #35 on: July 14, 2005, 23:49:28 pm »
Hi Everyone - I see more and more people are joining in.  That's great, hopefully someone will be able to answer a few questions for me.

My DS- now 10 weeks old has been a little off lately.  His naps have been decreasing from 2hrs to around 1hr.  I have also noticed that he is eating less (but I believe this could be attributed to the fact we are putting rice cereal in his bottle to help with his reflux - he gets more calories).  He has also been fussier than usual for putting down. . . . he's not liking the wind down and I have more success if I put him into his crib almost immediately.

Last night DH went to give him a DF.  My LO threw up and hubby was distraught and frustrated.  I told him we'd just clean him up and put him back to bed - we'd skip the DF.  Well DS lasted until 3:30am (his last feed was at 6:30pm).  This is the LONGEST he has ever slept through the night - a full 9 hours.  With a DF he was only making it to 4/4:30.  And today, he is napping much better - back up to almost 2hrs per nap.

So tonight we are going to try to skip the DF again and see what happens.  Throughout the day I've been adjusting the times he eats - spacing it out by an extra 20 minutes with the hope that DS will get his last feed around 8:30pm.  I'll be curious to see how his night goes.

Did any of you need to 'tweak' your EASY routine around the 10 week mark?  Does this sound like my LO one wants to go a little longer between feeds?  Am I completely misreading his cues?  I'm puzzled trying to figure out what is up (and just when we had a GREAT routine established).  If anyone can provide insight that would be AWESOME!!!

As a side note . . . we got to the pool yesterday and DS was awesome.  He was so interested in his surrondings.  We only stayed in for about 7-10 minutes but it's a start!
Cheers,

Kathy
Mom to Matthew (05-06-05)



Offline marlowho

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any april/may 05 moms want to chat?
« Reply #36 on: July 15, 2005, 14:04:39 pm »
Well, I really have no advice.  My first time around I didn't start EASY until about 3 mos. 
I don't remember who mentioned it, but- don't feel like you have to stay in the house all day.  I've been feeling this way as well- and I think it completely contributes to ppd symptoms- we all need the sunlight, I think! 
Anyway... keep your fingers crossed for us-  I have had much more success with Noel the last two days.  She finally started on some medicine for the thrush, and that seems to have really helped.  I don't think it's completely gone, but it is a huge improvement.  Also... I'm totally not suggesting this to anyone else to do- I have just decided to do this (against the ped.'s advice :oops: )  But- I've started putting her to sleep on her tummy.  -After asking around and finding that every mother I know that has babies who sleep well put them on their tummies!  So... that did the trick.  Within 2 naps I saw an incredible improvement.  Plus, she's sleeping from about 9-4 every night.  So... things are definitely looking up here.
Hope everyone else is doing well.  Such a sweet age... :)
-Marlo, mommy to
Madeline Marie (3/9/03)
Noel Julienne (5/25/05)
Eloise Anne (8/3/09)

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Offline beckys

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« Reply #37 on: July 15, 2005, 16:40:22 pm »
thanks to Rachael and KateT (?) for your replies.
Rachael - sounds like life is a little isolating for you - which makes it even harder!
Anyway, have had a couple of quieter days and the routine does help - though May seems need to sleep longer than an hour and half for some naps and then other naps only sleeps half an hour.  Plus, I keep looking out for yawns before her nap and can't see any!  She often goes straight from awake to crying...
I don't really have your problem, Rachael, of a sleepy baby!  I wish...

I think somewhere else in the forum mentioned the basic principles to follow - ie not feeding them to sleep and not letting them get overtired.  It makes sense to me to follow these two things particularly, and I guess it will be easier to be more consistent as they get older.  I think at this age, they do change so much, don't they?

How do we mum's find the time to write these messages?!

Offline cambeladamom

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« Reply #38 on: July 15, 2005, 17:35:49 pm »
kathy- cambel is almost 11 weeks old, and i am seeing changes in his routine now as well. it seems like this happens every few weeks. i really thought we had conquered the short nap thing, but here we are fighting it again! i have decided not to get too worried though, because i am sure in a few weeks it will be different. they are just changing so much now and i don't think we can expect real consistency until they get older.
marlo- i am glad to hear that i am not the only mom who sometimes puts her ds on his tummy.  my ped. says no, but sometimes it is the only way to help him get a good nap. that is great that noel is doing so well. we fed cambel at 8:15 last night and i held him off with his paci until 5 before i fed him. isn't it nice to get some more sleep?
rachel- hang in there. my husband works long hours and i sometimes get lonely too. coming from such a busy routine before the baby, it will probably take some time before you are used to going slower. but i say, get out when you can even if you mess up your lo's schedule once in a while. and about ollie sleeping so much. i could be wrong, but i bet he will outgrow it, and in a few weeks you will be asking advice for how to get him to sleep longer:) cambel went through a stage similar to that, and then he outgrew it. but for your sake i hope you always have a great napper:)
have a great weekend everyone!
Maria--mom to
Cambel 5/1/05 and Ada 4/25/08

Offline hopper116

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« Reply #39 on: July 16, 2005, 00:36:25 am »
Hello Ladies,
What interesting posts here!  It sounds like a lot of us Mommys are dealing with the same issues.  My ds is 10 1/2 weeks, and I too have had concerns w/ his eating, or lack there of.  When feeding him every three hours, he wants to snack w/ 2 to 3 oz.  If I wait longer, he will down 6 oz.  Problem is, he can't stay awake longer that 1 hr and 15 to 20 mins at this point.  I've been reading like crazy and I've been given some great suggestions.  Anyone conquering this and want to share what has worked?  Some naps, my ds stirs at 45 mins, and some naps not.  I find if I can get to him, 9 out of 10 times he'll go back to sleep w/ pat/shush (mostly pat).  He goes to bed by 7:30 pm (a few times 8:00 pm).  We do a df at 10:55 pm each night, and he's only waking between 5 and 5:30am.  He then gets up again between 7 and 7:15 am.  Is he too young to go through the night w/out eating?  At his 5-5:30 am wake, he takes his paci and some pats, and he's back to sleep.  He's over 11 pounds and gaining great, so should I be concerned?
Thanks everyone!  Keep the ideas coming!!!
Stephanie
Mommy to Ian Patrick Hopper (my sweetheart)
05/04/05

Offline rachaelh

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« Reply #40 on: July 17, 2005, 17:12:52 pm »
Stephanie,
I have had the same problem with Ollie although it sounds like you must be bottle feeding since you know the number of ounces.  For me, if I try (and most of the time I am unsuccessful) to wake Ollie at the 3 hour mark...he'll eat for five mins and then there is nothing I can do to get him interested...however, I a wait and allow him to wake on his own , usually closer to the 4 hour mark post feed, he'll wake up fully and eat for at least 20 mins..which seems to fill him.  So, after talking to my sister (mother of 2 and introducer to the EASY method) she said, "what are you crazy!!!  Let him wake up when he wants to" so, yesterday that is what I did.  When I had been trying to wake him he went thru a stage where he was up 2x thru the night even with the DF prior to that he was eating only once around 4am'ish...last night after allowing him to wake...again he slept thru til 4 am'ish.  So, my thoughts are...perhaps as he too is over 11 lbs now he is satisfied with his every 4 hour feeds and I am probably worsening his night sleep because as the Book mentions a well rested baby eats and sleeps better.  I have also found that he is in a much better mood when I let him wake on his own. 
So...long story short....let you lo wake up when they are ready...that way your not interfering with their sleep needs and you are not trying to force feed a disinterested baby. 
Ok...the doctor in me has to respond to the sleeping on belly thing!  Your pediatricians recommend the "Back to Sleep" mantra solely because a huge study looked at risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome and belly sleeping suggested increased risk.  This does not mean however, that every baby that ever died of sids was on their belly nor, does it mean that sleeping on belly=SIDS....however, having been the doctor on call now x2 when a babe came in that couldn't be resuscitated...I am not going to take any chances...furthermore, if (God forbid) this ever happened and I knew that the belly thing put my lo at increased risk then I am not sure I would be able to get over that....having seen parents go thru this...we always try to blame ourselves when something goes wrong.  Anyway, I am not saying it is wrong to let your little ones sleep on their bellies, Ollie loves his belly time too, however, if you are going to do so, then at least be informed and aware...
off my soapbox now!!
to the mum battling thrush...just make sure you use the medicine until at least 48hours AFTER you see resolution of the white plaques (at least)!
Thanks for your moral support everyone...
Rachael


Offline Taylor's Mommy

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« Reply #41 on: July 17, 2005, 18:17:09 pm »
Hi Everyone,

Glad to hear everyone and their LO's are hanging in there.  We are doing pretty good but still battlign those darned 45 minute naps!  Teh last few days though have been pretty enjoyable though with Taylor babbling and cooing more and just overall getting more happy and interactive.  Dare I say this but I feel like I am finally starting to really enjoy this.  teh first few weeks were just so hard with her semming to always be unhappy.

Krice-have you decided to extend the EASY routine yet?  I am thinking of starting in the next few days but know I have to stay home for a few days to do it and am not looking forward to that! :evil: How are his naps doing and dropping the DF?  I have read that at this age the normal weight gain is .5-1 oz/day BTW.
Cambel's Mom-I have been waking up Taylor at 8 am for the last few days because I too was letting her sleep until whenever (sometimes as late as 10 am after her 6 am feed!).  It hasn't really made a difference yet, but it has made it easier for me to plan out her day. 
Katet-Ithink you said that you are switching your lo's routine.  Wondering if I should go straight away to 3.5 hours and skip the 3 hour 15 minutes step as outlined in Tracy's new book??
Stephanie-I see taht you are holding your lo off at 5 am and not feeding until 7am?  I was wondering if I should do the same because I know Taylor can make it to 7 am and even 8 am like she did this morning.  so when she still sometimes wakes at 5 wondering if she really needs it??

So my questions for all you mama's:
Have any of you started to see your LO's going to sleep totally on their own yet?  My dd is almost 13 weeks and we have started to try and wean her off of the pat/shush and see what she can do on her own and we are seeing a little progress.  Am I still expecting too much?

With the 45 minute nap thing do you all think it is better to try and go in early and not let them get to a full waking or continue to just let them be and see if they can do it on their own?  I felt like when I was going in at the 40 minute mark I was doing all the work and just putting a band aid on the problem.  After 3 days of me workign with her consistently like thta she still couldn't do it on her own.  Now I am just waiting until she cries and then put her back to sleep-whicn I can do most of the time.

That's all for now!  Until next time!
Andrea
Andrea
Taylor-Textbook Baby
DOB 04/19/05

Sydney-too soon to tell, but looking EASY
DOB 05/20/07

Offline cambeladamom

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« Reply #42 on: July 17, 2005, 23:29:11 pm »
taylor's mom- i think i can join you in saying that i am really starting to enjoy this too. it is so fun when cambel smiles and coos...all of which he is doing so much more of lately. it makes battling 45 min naps and getting up at night much more bearable. about the naps--sometimes cambel can make it 2 hours without stirring, but he also wakes up alot after 45 mins. i let him wake up and then i go in. i have found that he will go back to sleep better and quicker if i go in after he starts crying. he is also pretty touchy, so going in at 40 minutes carries the risk of waking him up even more. no good ideas about switching to a 3.5 hour easy. cambel seems to be moving in this direction on his own. i am hesitant to spend a lot of time working him into a new routine since we will start some solids in another month or so and this will change his routine again. plus, i can't count on him sleeping consistently at night, so his schedule is always changing! i will be so glad when i can lay down at night and know i don't have to get up in a few hours!
rachel's mom- thanks for the info about sids. here is a question for you. the only time i put cambel on his stomach is when he won't go back to sleep during a nap. so the most he is on his stomach asleep is an hour or so. i don't lay him on his stomach at night. if i have turned him to his stomach, i always check on him every 15 minutes or so to make sure he is okay. do you know if this still puts him at an increased risk for sids? and what about when he starts rolling over? if he turns to his stomach on his own is that bad?
we have been out a lot this weekend and have really messed up cambel's schedule. so for the first time he has gone way over the normal hour of awake time before he needs another nap. even though he eventually had a total breakdown, he was amazingly pretty happy. does this mean that i can start keeping him up longer and decreasing the number of naps he takes? i think if i laid him down at home after an hour of awake time he would sleep....just wondering if anyone has any ideas. how many naps/ and how long are your lo's taking?
hope everyone is doing well. rachel's mom- i was wondering if there were any "mom" groups you could get involved with in your area. that might help with the lonliness. we have a group called MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) and it is a great support group.
Maria--mom to
Cambel 5/1/05 and Ada 4/25/08

Offline cambeladamom

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rachel's mom
« Reply #43 on: July 17, 2005, 23:31:51 pm »
rachel- sorry. i just realized i wrote in my last post that you were "rachel's mom" instead of rachel...oops:)
Maria--mom to
Cambel 5/1/05 and Ada 4/25/08

Offline krice

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« Reply #44 on: July 18, 2005, 00:40:09 am »
I'd have to agree with the "coo's and smiles" . . . I instantly forget any bad moments when I see my little guy grin ear to ear! 

Right now we are working on coordinating our hands.  My LO was hitting a little toy and thought it was so much fun.  He started to make this strange sound I hadn't heard before and then the drool started.  He was obviously enjoying himself!  He's just on the verge of laughing . .. I can't wait!

Andrea - We decided to keep the DF.  We have dropped a feed from somewhere, but with the way our schedule is changing I'm not too sure which one we lost!  My LO is stretching out the EASY schedule on his own.  I wanted to keep it to a 3hr 15min routine, but at times he goes 3hr 30 min, and has even gone 4 hours.  I'm just going with the flow.  Our typical day at this point goes something like this . . .

5:00 Eat
7:30 Eat
11:15ish Eat
3:30ish Eat
6:30 Eat
10:30 DF

I'd like to push the 5:00 feed further back (or get rid of it).  I find at 7:30 my LO isn't all that hungry and doesn't take his typical amount.  I think my next step will be to try and hold him off.  I assume that once we are on a true 4 hr routine we will lose the 5am feed.

Our naps have gone back up to 1hr 30min - 2 hrs.  I'll tell you what has changed for us . . . no more waking at 2 or 3 am.  We ordered a "Miracle Blanket" and my Matthew is wrapped up tight just like a little mummy.  The difference in his sleep is incredible.  If you haven't heard of this swaddle, it has flaps where his arms are held by his side, there is a pouch for his legs, and the fabric is stretchy (It's idiot proof . . . meaning even grandma can wrap him up tight ':lol:' ) . He no longer wakes up because he has broken free.  Well worth the expense.

Cambel's mom - as far as the number of naps.  I don't consider the time between the 5 and 7 feed a nap.  So in our day we have 3 naps.  The longest being the first 2 and then more of a catnap between the 3:30 and 6:30 one.  Sometimes this last nap is as short as 45min - depending on how much activity time he had and how difficult he is to put down. 

Andrea - I had also read about the average weight gain.  Typically they put on between 4-7oz per week (or an average of 30 grams per day).  My doc calculated that my LO is putting on 50 grams per day (between 11-15oz per week).  She's not concerned, he's still not a big baby - was born fairly small.  I'm just hoping he slows down a bit or he'll no longer fit into the cute outfits my mom got him!

How is everyone doing for getting some time for yourselves?  Excersice routines starting up?  Or are you still trying to catch up on sleep?  This past week and a half I've been able to get out and get some excercise.  I'm almost feeling human again!!!
Cheers,

Kathy
Mom to Matthew (05-06-05)