any april/may 05 moms want to chat?

[Jamom]

Andrea -- if you haven't already, try putting a towel or somthing under one side of the matress to raise it a little bit so she can breathe easier.  I don't know how much it works but we did it last time Jake got a cold to help with the drainage.

[Taylor's Mommy]

Hi Erin,
we haven't tried that so thanks for the tip.  We will try tonight.
Andra

[twinsmom]

Hi guys...I'm at my sisters house and I have some questions for you guys. She has twins that are 4.5 months (May 19). They both take a paci and swaddle. She is getting ready to switch from the 3 hour to 4 EASY. She started them on 3 hour around 8 weeks old so she is on it good. Here is the issue, the little girl is a very loud cryer. She wanted to know how to get her to sleep better and I of course said PUPD. My main question for you guys...if she is trying to get rid of the paci and swaddling can she do them at the same time or should she pick one and then do the other some time after? Thoughts?

I haven't gotten to read the posts in the past couple of days...I've been so busy trying to see everyone while I'm in Ohio this week. I do have to say though that Jameson didn't wake at all last night!! I was surprised since we're not even at home.

Thanks for any thoughts anyone has on the twins!

[Katet]

Andrea, we always raised Aiden's cot on books as he has respitory problems. We also used baby balsam (Vicks) on his chest & back (know you can get it in Aus & UK, not sure about USA) Also a vaporisor giving steamy air was a godsend for us.

i will give some thought on the twins sleeping, but I suggest asking on the multiple boards (mums of twins +) Also I have been reading up on PU/PD so I know when to suggest when I'm moderating on the the night waking board & I'm not sure it is appropriate without more info.

It is official Liam is a heffalumpa... he weighs just under 9kg (little under 20lb) & is 72cm long (28.5 inches) & he is only 4.5 months old :lol: He's bigger than a lot of 9mo

[Jamom]

Quick question -- when do they usually drop the evening catnap?  Jake's naps continue to get shorter and shorter (although no 45 minute naps!).  He is now just napping a little over 1 hour at each nap.  I have to admit, I have't broken out the book to see quite yet but am wondering if anyone else's lo is doing this too?  Although, it could be developmental.  We've had to take him out of the swaddle because he's too big -- trying a sleep sack at this point.

TIA

Erin

[wee76]

Can't say I can help. Mine just sleeps as and want he wants. Naps can last from 30mins - 2 hours. He usually have 2 - 3 naps through the day. I try to not let him nap too long (30mins) if he whines to be put down for a nap around half 4 or 5, in case he won't sleep at 7pm. I wonder if that's what you would consider as a catnap??

Wee

[s_olano00]

Erin - sorry I canot help too much... I've been following the book and letting AK have a 30 - 45 min cat nap, and just this week I figured out that if I let her sleep for 1 - 1.5 hrs she will go to sleep without putting too much of a fight, so I guess that we are still miles away from dropping it.

About the swaddling/paci weaning. I am no an expert, but to me it makes sense to concentrate on dropping the paci and while doing it, leave one arm out of the swaddle so if the baby wants to suck, he'll find the thumb.

Andrea - Go Taylor!!!!!

Kate - Don't worry about spooking me... now that I think about it, I was a spirited child myself. I guess I just hoped to get an angel baby or a textbook, but to be honest with you, I am very proud of AK's spirit. I am just trying to remember all the stuff I did to my Mum,  try to keep it in mind when AK will try to do them to me and developing strategies so she won't trick me. By the way, I loooooved to test my Mom's boundaries too :twisted: In my house, we were a 5 year old, a 2 year old and a baby (me), so we used to drive my poor mother nuts.

So my Mom made another reservation to arrive to Bp next wednesday. I hope she can make it this time. She offered me to go with AK to El Salvador (which I'd love to) but just thinking of making an overseas trip (taking a 2 hour fliht + 8 hour flight + spending a night in a hotel + taking another 2 hour flight) alone because DH cannot come with me, gives me an anxiety attack. Maybe when AK is a bit older.....

AK just woke up..

Take care everyone!

[mommycarrie]

I just wanted to post and wish all the Canadian mommies a safe and happy THANKSGIVING weekend        Don't get toooo 'stuffed' :wink:

take care everyone

[JKHH]

Erin - I also wonder about the questions you raised.

Kay has always been a one hour napper - 95% of the time - so it is taking a long time to establish longer naps. Most of her naps are still one hour.

At the rate we are going, I get the sense the cat nap will be here for a month or so. In fact, I wonder how long it will take to have 2 two hour naps per day. :shock: 

I recently reread the sleep interview with Tracy and there were a few points I found helpful:

"The hardest stage is between 3 and 6 months, because they’re having a lot of physical changes..." :wink:

"Once it’s time to start to move your feeding schedule from a 3 hour schedule to a 4 hour...what you’re seeing is a baby who can stay up longer, but because they’re still eating on a 3-hour schedule, the eating will cut into what should be a 2-hour nap. So then they start to do the 45-minute naps even if they’ve been napping well up to this point..."

"Sometimes they’ll wake early and are clearly still tired. Maybe something has interfered – he’s had a big poop, or is hungry earlier because he didn’t eat well the feed before, or something like that..."If they’re happy – the baby who wakes up happy has clearly, somewhere along the line, had a good nap.  So leave him be."

Hope this helps a little.

[Katet]

Aiden still had 3 naps varying lenghts (I didn't know BW then) until he was about 9mo & he almost never had 2 hour naps...occasional 3 hours when he went to 1 nap (at 21 months) he has always been late with his transitions, hoping that means he will nap until he is 5yo :lol:

Liam sometimes like today does 2 big naps (2+ hours) but then has to go to bed earlier & I had to feed on a messy Timetable to get the feeds in fed just before 2nd nap) he only did this as I went out  dh didn't put him down for a nap & so his am awake time was 2.75 hours (he did great, but is an angel bub) & then 2.5hours sleep.

Actually it is quiet hard to drop down to 2 naps until you get solids established as the day rountine as you need to fit the feeds around the naps - awkake time also needs to be around 3-4 hours to get enough 'awake time'
So it sort of has to go like this
6.30/7am E (milk + Solids)
9.30/10am S (1.5-2h)
11/11.30 E Milk +solids
2/2.30 Milk
2.30/3 sleep (1.5-2h)
4.30/5 (milk + solids)
7/7.30 Milk

Any of the older bubs starting on solids? how is it going?

Janet... Kay has a great middle name (I'm Kate Elizabeth) & 4th generation with Elizabeth as a name, but as I had 2 boys won't continue, but my latest neice (Brother's daughter) is Katherine (Kathy) Elizabeth to carry it on

Question time...
How did you pick your lo's names

Aiden (cos we liked it & knew no one with it ) middle name Scott - my maiden name
Liam (as above + matched Aiden, was going to be Matthew until the week before, then either Liam or Rohan) would have been Naomi Fay-Elizabeth if Girl - Fay from dh late mother who died the week dh propsosed to me & Elizabeth as per above) Middle name John-Peter after both grandfathers

[notenoughshelfspace]

Just joining, I have been a little weary up till now in case these chats are a little cliquey but you guys all seem very nice. To get you up to date; don't hate me please. Mine is on a four hour easy routine and we have been on solids for 2 months now. Introducing chicken and wheat soon. She has three naps a day two of them are 2.5 hours long and she occassionally has a 30 min cat nap between 5:30-6, sometimes she does not need it though. We have slight reflux issues and we sleep with a dummy ( price you pay for long naps I suppose), she has been sleeping thourough for 3 months now but most nights she wakes up; sometimes can sooth herself, others she needs her paci. ( teething and having a cold is not helping I must say). Look forward to 'meeting' you all soon

[Jamom]

Welcome Notenoughshelfspace!

THanks for all the sleep tips. I was just wondering because sometimes if JAke takes a longer afternoon nap, there's no way he'll go down for an evenign catnap and I'd just rather put him to bed early.  He sleeps through, even when I do that.  Other days he takes 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour naps during the day and then we can get him down for a catnap.  HE is doing better without the swaddle and yesterday was an "ideal" day. 

Right now Jake is into "screaming".  He's always been a "talker" but lately the screaming is constant -- not crying screaming like talking to himself squelling.

Anyway, Jake is quite the mover and sitter.  Last night he sat unassisted (well, I was right there in case he fell) for a little over 5 minutes.  He uses his hands like a tripod when he loses his balance but does really well.  Today we moved to the first real solid food--sweet potatoes.  The look on his face was priceless.  Just did a little to see.  He loves his cereal so hopefully he'll grow to like veggies too!
I'm also trying a sippy cup just so he gets used to the idea and he seems to actually like drinking from it!

Ok-- name question: Jacob (1) because I liked it (even though it's the most popular US name); and (2) because it's my great-grandfather's name.  Middle name: Harlan -- my dh's grandfather's name.

Hope all are doing well.

[s_olano00]

Welcome notenoughshelfspace!! It's great to have one more mommy to share ideas with.

Right now we have also started to get used to the sippy cup. Its amazing to see that AK knows exactly what it is for    She will put her little hands in the holders and push the cup into her mouth. We just have to work on regulating the pushing part because she 'll do it all the way back...

On the name... this a long one....

Here in HU the custom is to give your kid only one name and one last name and there is a list of approved Hungarian names, and if you are a Hungarian national, you can only call your kids those names. Nothing foreign. Here they are very picky with these things. Even if you are, let's say, a canadian couple that had a baby in HU, your baby is not Hungarian but Canadian. They only give Hungarian nationality to kids born in HU with at least one hungarian parent.

Continuing with the name thing, since I am a foreigner, the law of the hungarian names doesn't apply to me and therefore, I can call my kids the way I want to, but still, we were kind of struggling to find a name that could be pronounced both in hungarian and in spanish without trouble (you wouldn't believe hungarian names - Borbála, Zita, Piroska, Zsuzsanna, Emese, Beata, etc - yuck) and I didnt want to call her Silvia (by the way, my name is Silvia Elizabeth  ) because here in Hungary it's written Szilvia, and it's always misspelled, so one night, DH was inspired and came up with this name and I thought it was a nice one... we still went for the hungarian spelling though.

Still we had trouble with the last name, because the law says that the kid has to have exactly the last name of one of the parents, and I really wanted her to have my last name too, not only her father's. So the solution offered was that they would 'merge' both DH's last name and mine, so AK ended up being Anna Krisztina Tiringer-Olano (Tiringer-Olano counts as 1 last name here)

We were lucky that we had a girl, because for the boy's name we still haven't reached an agreement... I like Juan Daniel, but DH says it sounds like a cheap latin soap opera name and he likes Árpad or Ferenc (hungarian names) that I don't like, so I guess we are not giving AK a little brother for the time being .... not that I want to have another baby right away... which DH want to: here the custom is to have the babies in combos (3 under 3 is the most popular one) but I would like to concentrate on AK a bit more. I could see how my Mom struggled to raise us and I am not sure I have her stamina to do it.

Gotta go. AK has been fighting over 1 hour to fall asleep now...

[JKHH]

Kate,

Thanks for all the info! I was starting to suspect that it takes a while to get to two naps a day. Hearing it from a Mom is great. :wink:

Glad you like the name Elizabeth. It was easy to pick a name for a girl. I always hated the name Janet growing up and wished I could go by my middle name Kathleen. Elizabeth is the name of my good friend and Kay's godmother. I shortened Kathleen to Kay - instead of Kathy - because I think it is sweet and a bit more uncommon.

We never did pick a boy's name. Good thing we had a girl!

[mommytsa]

I have no help on the sleep issues, but plenty of sympathy.  Hope it turns out well for everyone.

As for names, DH and I both went through the baby name book and marked names we liked.  Then we made a list of names that we both agreed on.  The girl list was long, the boy list had 1.  Erin was on the girl's list and the boy's list was Thomas, which we both thought would be a better middle name.  So I suggested Aaron (since it was on the girl's list anyway).  Our final decision was that the baby would de Aaron Thomas or Eryn Dawn (yes, we wanted to spell it "funny"), so it was "erin" either way.  Made it easy to address the baby while still in the womb.