any april/may 05 moms want to chat?

[mommycarrie]

Maria - I always wondered about waking them up too.  Depending on the time of day, I might wake DS up after 2 hours.  This is kind of my own reasoning but I have started to not wake until 2.25 hours because this would be 3 45min sleep cycles.  If he sleeps longer in the am I try to space out the naps in the pm, and if he takes shorter naps in the am I will let him sleep longer in the pm.  I usually go with the sleep cycle rather than the specific 2hours.

Kate - I am glad you and your boys are back home.  Hopefully you can get back into your routine with ease. :wink:

Phillipa - Gald to have you aboard.

Swaddling for me and DS is hit and miss.  Unless I wrap him straight-jacket tight, he will always break out.  Since he too is a big fist sucker, I have decided to just go with the flow at nap times and swaddle him a bit loose because I want him to learn how to put himself back to sleep if he jolts.  He's not ready to be swaddle free yet though.

Jamom - DS has some ecxema too (cheeks, arms and legs).  At one point it got so bad I took pics and was ready to take him to the doc.  I stopped using baby soap and went to walmart to get some Aveeno bath pouches and some Aveeno lotion.  The oatmeal is supposed to relieve the itching and reduce the redness.  It worked great.  It's starting to act up again on the cheeks, probably from him rubbing his wet fists on his face.  Anyway, I wanted to tell you about that product in case you are interested.

s_olano00 - I really really really feel for you. My DS was the same as your lo a few weeks back and I never did figure out what was wrong.  It just went away after a few days.  It could have been what mommytsa wrote about the "teething syndrome" she was told about.  Check for a high tempurature and make sure to give extra cuddles if needed.  I actually resorted to some accidental parenting when DS was like that and I held while he slept.  It's not something I have ever done before or do now, but at the time it was the only way he would sleep.  He's back to his sweet little textbook self now.  Try not to be discouraged.

On my side of things, I am so pleased to have Rylan liltteraly sleep through the night now.  Last night his last feed was at about 9pm and he slept until 9am this morning.  There was no d/f.  A couple of days ago he started to get fussy on the breast so I decided to try and feed him with the bottle.  (It seemed to me) he took more and was more satisfied.  I been using various combinations of bf, ebm and formula and I think it's because he was tkaing in more that he slept longer.  I hope this continues as I enjoyed getting a solid nights rest.

Take care everyone,
Carrie :wink:

[Katet]

Welcome Philippa, nice to see a fellow Aussie here

Well Liam is getting his appetite back... I had 3 night feeds last night, which really hurt after he was going 11 hours without a feed last week, but that is good & infact he has bounced back so well... pity I can't say the same about me... I feel like I have a bad case of the flu, I ache worse than I did after going through labour!!  Aiden is also getting his last molars so is a real grump not sleeping etc, so tears seem to be the order of the day here too!

Silvia, A K is a spirited baby, like Aiden, I found when he started to get very alert around the 4/5mo mark, I had to have a long wind down... what I did was sit in a chair with him & read stories... I read ones for preschoolers, like pooh bear, peter pan etc, ones that took ages to read (15-20mins). That worked a treat, because it stopped me being frustrated, with sitting holding him for ages & the sound of my voice seemed to calm him.

Re the swaddling issue, I still sort of swaddle Liam, but I have always used the Aussie swaddle, so I can place Liam's hands near his face so he can suck on them (how he sooths off to sleep) but still stops him from moving them too much. The beauty of the Aussie swaddle, is it is easy to gradually loosen to wean them from it... there is a post in one of the sleep forums on how to do it. I use a big muslin square, but a cot sheet works well too. I have always had to use a big wrap, as both boys are/were big.

Also re the sucking fingers, why it seems to work at night & not day is that the bedtime routine is probably much more consistent & nap time they need longer wind down. While it might seem like your lo is getting stimulated by it, it is probably more the case of frustration as it isn't working to settle them. This is a difficult age when it comes to settling & I certainly am finding, I have been more successful with increasing the wind down time. I can almost recite the books I read from memory now.

Re the car seat... I have never used a carrier, they aren't very popular here & most of my friends who did use them in the past had to get a rear facing seat, as their lo's grew out of the carrier, before they had neck control/size to go forward facing, so we just bought the convertable one to start.

I haven't written crib notes like I normally do (how I can remember who said what) but who ever it is who is flying with their lo, make sure you feed or give a paci on take off & landing to help with the pressure. I have flown with both boys & had absolutely no problems as they were sucking.

[Olivia's Mommy]

Sylvia, I am so sorry you're having to go through this! My LO just went through a similiar spell in the last couple of weeks, but she seems to have come through it for the most part. Mine is spirited as well, and I also had to extend the wind down time. It seemed to help her alot. She suddenly seems to hate to sleep because she doesn't want to miss anything. I feel for you having to do it yourself. If you have to, just leave your LO in the crib and take some time for yourself. I had to do that a couple of times and each time she would soothe herself after a couple of minutes. Even if your LO doesn't, you'll feel much better once you've calmed down, and then you'll be able to calm her down.

Jill, we just switched to a rear-facing convertible seat from the carrier. My little Chubs wasn't too long, but she's already 20 lb!! Today was the first day I took her in the new car seat and she seemed to really enjoy it. She seemed much more comfortable.

[jjstar]

Nancy...thanks for your comments about the convertible seat being comfortable. I had a gal at church tell me her son really disliked his. I was afraid to switch before our long car ride. I do feel okay with him in it since it is the height and not weight reason he could switch. Plus I want to get as much use out of this one before we put it away for good.

Okay so we had an AWFUL night. He was so good going down, didn't wake up before DF then slept until 4...then all *&t^ broke loose. He ate for 15 minutes then had a BM, changed his diaper and attempted to put him back to bed. He was all laughing and thought it was funny...45 minutes later he was asleep. So this is 5 AM. At 6 I heard him again and thought I was dreaming, oh but I wasn't. I attempted to PUPD for an hour with him completely crying. I was so tired. At 7 I fed him (he usually sleep until 8 so this was an hour early). He did go down good for his nap at 9 and is still sleeping now. Oh I'm not looking forward to traveling now. I hope he doesn't do this while we're staying with other people. I feel bad when he crys while others are trying to sleep. I feel some accidental parenting coming on...

[Olivia's Mommy]

Jill, I'm glad my comments helped. Sorry you had a rough night, that's never fun...and even more discouraging when you have a trip coming up. Hope all goes well. Hang in there and take it one day at a time. REmember one bad day doesn't mean it's all gone to pot!!

[cambeladamom]

jill-sorry you had such a rough night. i hate those! but i think you will be fine when you are traveling. cambel always surprises me that way.
silvia-just wanted to encourage you. i hope you are feeling better today. i have had days like those when all i want to do is cry or scream. but it always seems that just when i think i am going to lose my mind, ds will take a longer nap, play independently, or sleep longer at night--just something to allow me to get pulled back together. one thing i tell myself when i am so overwhelmed is that as bad as things get-he cannot possibly stay a baby forever. i know this probably sounds silly, but when i wasn't getting much sleep and i was so emotional, telling myself this helped. anyway-hang in there. and keep venting. we are all here to encourage you.
carrie- congratulations on ryan sleeping all the way through! i am looking forward to that day  (or should i say night:)). that is great.
i had not even thought about cambel growing out of his car seat--it is always something new to be thinking about! right now i am trying to figure out our new insurance with dh's new job, and that is stressful enough. so i think i will leave the car seat until later.
kate- i hope you get to feeling better soon. you deserve a good day here!

[s_olano00]

Thank you SO MUCH for your support!!!

I am sorry to be so dramatic, but AK's spirit can be overwhelming sometimes.

Things are still "funky"...... today, she woke up at 4.30am and couldn't fall asleep until 8 am just to take a 1 hour nap! The afternoon was a bit beter, she had a 2hr 45min nap (I just thought "what the heck, I will just let her catch up with her sleep")

So I am just trying to go with the flow.... well, HER flow.... I am also doing some major accidental parenting (which makes me feel even a worse mother) but I feel the most important right now is to get her to sleep during the day no matter what. I guess I'll have to pay the bill sometime later.

Again, THANK YOU for your support. It's nice to know that there are people out there that can tell me "Yep, I've been there"

[s_olano00]

I think we will be needing a sleep sack too....

[Jamom]

Silvia-- that pictures great!

[mommycarrie]

Well today was Rylan's first time in a pool.  He did great...no crying or fussing, and made sure to check everything out.  He is only a couple of days away from being 5 months old.   :shock: where did the time go??? :shock:    Anyway, we had a small mishap I guess you call it; even though he finished eating an hour before we went in the pool, he still managed to spit-up a bit.  Most of it landed on his sleeper (they let the bebies wear them to stay warmer), but there were a few 'floaties' in the water :oops: I felt so bad.  Here other people are going to use this pool and my son has just left a souvenier.  Would any of you feel as  :oops:  as me?  Do I ever take my son to the pool again?? :?

Carrie

[s_olano00]

Erin, Thanks!!

Carrie, I would definetly take him again. Don't feel bad about it... babies puke and you cannot do anything about it or control it. I guess other mommies understand that (I definetly would!). Anyway, they will clean the pool in the night, right? Don't miss the fun with your LO!

[jjstar]

Hi all! Writing from Ohio as we bad it here okay. After 9 hours in the car Jameson cried for the last hour (which of course was when we got stuck in traffic). Not as bad as it could have been! But after two days of running around seeing people he cries as soon as we start towards the car. I've decided that the next two days we will stay put so he doesn't have to get in the car seat. Night waking was pretty bad last night but I'm sure it was due to the fact that he only took short naps throughout the day.

Carrie...about the spit up in the pool. The chemicals will take care of it completely. Don't worry about it!

[Jamom]

Well, we are having skin issues around this place.  Jake had eczema which has cleared since going to the doctor but he continues to get a rash once and awhile.  I am so frustrated because it could be anything causing it.  We took him off the rice cereal for a few days and then started oatmeal.  (No change in skin when took off rice cereal).  Don't think the rash is due to oatmeal because he had it before we started the oatmeal.  So, I have no clue.  I am starting to wonder if when my MIL was here she washed clothes and used a fabric softener or something that is causing this becaues today Jake was getting a rash where the neckline of his shirt touched his skin.  Anyway, question, if it is a food allergy, would I be seeing other signs than just a rash?  Would I see systemic signs as well? We don't have any of those.  Also, it seems to get redder whenever I touch him. :?   So, I don't know if that could be because I was doing laundry today and using softener on mine and dh's close or what.  It's just frustrating because it could be so many things and I want to make sure it's not a food allergy or an allergy to my dog.

[Katet]

At the moment I feel like Liam is a newborn again, he is feeding every 3 hours, although that is an improvement from almost hourly in the day & 3 hourly at night earlier in the week & his sleep is pretty average too, I'm having to re-teach him to fall asleep on his own - actually I never really taught him it just happened, but while in hospital it all went pear shaped.
Hindsight is such a wonderful thing, I should have been pumping as I knew with the volume of IV fluids they were pumpng through he was feeding less, I just didn't realise it was so much less. I've never had supply issues until now & it is really upsetting to see Liam "hungry" for food & my breasts completely empty.
Anyway that is our update for now & hopefully now I am pumping after every feed, I will have supply enough to work on getting back to the wonderful place we were before... only to have a 'developmental stage' mess it up
Hope all the rest of you are going well

Erin, asked Dr about a rash on Liam- turns out to be eczema, very common in babies. most probably not food related. advice, bath only in water, use a sorborline cream & the most sensitive washing powders you can buy.

Jill sorry the trip is upsetting the routine, as my SIL, said, we have routines, so we have something to get back to when life gets messed up!!

Carrie, re the pool, one of the girls in Aiden's swim class did far worse when they were about 15mo. You won't be the first or last that has happened to

Silvia, know where you are at with a spirited one... Aiden is like that & I tell you get into good routines as it helps so much as they get older & long wind downs!!

[mommytsa]

Kate-I'm so sorry to hear about your supply problems.  Hopefully it will build back up in a few days and you'll be able to get Liam back on his routine and sleeping through.  I just wish there were something more I could do for you!  You're having such a rough time, and I really have been keeping you and your boys in my thoughts.  Here's a virtual HUG since that's about all I can send.

Jill-We took Aaron on an 8 hour car drive when he was 2 months old.  He never liked the car seat before, but it didn't make the problem any worse after we'd been home for a day or two and he didn't have to be in it what must feel like "all the time" to such a little baby.

Have a great week ladies!