any april/may 05 moms want to chat?

[emjohnson]

My lo was born May 27.  We have been trying to implement EASY, but my little one pretty much has her own agenda.  I would love to chat.

[emjohnson]

I just looked at the 3 hour EASY schedule and I think that this one would work best for us.  I am having issues with my LO at night lately.  Last week she was eating at 7pm and then sleeping until Midnight eating then and sleeping until 5/6am.  This week she has been eating every four hours at night.  I tried the dreamfeed for the first time last night at 10pm, she then woke at 1:30am, 3:30, 5:30, and then this morning at 7:30.  I don't think that this is how it was supposed to work.  I feel exhausted today.  I will try to implement 3 hour EASY today and try again tonight.  Wish me luck.

[krice]

Maria - RE: Sleeping through the night.  For my LO to make it through the night I have to make sure 2 things happen.  First - he needs to have a full belly.  Second - swaddle.  My DS didn't start making it through the night until I switched swaddles.  I use something called a 'miracle blanket' - it's so good, he can't get his arms free (occassionally he may get a leg out, but not too often). Before he used to break free and would have arms and legs flailing.  I never tried the aussie swaddle, but it sounds as if people rave about that one too.  Now when I get him in the am his arms are still pinned by his side - he may have shuffled around the bed, but he is still wrapped up tight!

We also had problems with habitual waking (wakes at almost exactly the same time every night) so dh or I would go in there and wake him up one hour prior to his habitual wake time.  This meant we would go in at 1:40ish and wake him up.  It didn't work until the 4th night.  In other words we would wake him up at the 1:40 time, then he would wake up again at 2:40.  I was ready to scream bloody murder - here we were getting up twice *Are we crazy? I thought*.  BUT we stuck with it and on the 4th night it worked - actually dh and I slept through the alarm and ds didn't wake up either!!!  He hasn't woken up at that time since - we got rid of the habit at 7weeks.

Once the habitual thing was gone, then I had the 4am (which turned into the 5am) feedings.  I would feed him at the 4am time - since I was getting my lo up at 7am this made sense . . . 3 hours later.  The 5am time puzzled me.  Do I feed, if I do DS won't take a full feed at 7 etc.  I did feed (and usually a full one) but thought that my LO should be able to make it a little longer.  Especially since he has nearly doubled his birth weight and gains 11-15oz per week.  So dh or I would go in and pat/sh and give him his soother.  I've also put him on his tummy at this time too.  Now for the past 5 days straight he is making it to 6:20ish.  YIPPEE

When I look back at the baby whisperer log that I have kept I can't believe the improvement.  I continue to log everything too.  I saw the baby whisperer program on TV at 5 weeks, went to the website and printed out the pat/sh stuff and immediately ordered the book.  Once the book arrived we began this at 6 weeks (I was an absolute mess too - dh was worried about me falling back into a depression - that's how bad it was.  He would come home from work and I would be sobbing). 

Once I got the most recent book I said straight away, I'd try for the 3 hr EASY.  For the first little while I would do 6 day time feeds, 1 DF, and 2 night feeds.  Now that my DS is 11 weeks I give him 5 daytime feeds and 1 df.  That's improvement.  And now that he is on a routine it is so much easier to read his cues.  I am so happy with what we have accomplished - and on top of everything my LO  has reflux and is on medication for it.  Thankfully I have a textbook baby so my experience has been easier than some others.

I don't want this to sound all glowing and happy, we do have our bad days too.  Days where I'm ready to crack and I need dh to come in to put ds down for the night - he does the same.  But at least we support each other.

Michelle and emjohnson- my words of advice are to stick with it.  You will see results.  BUT you also need support to do this.  In the beginning when it was so tough I asked my dh if he would be able to do this too - I didn't want to start something if we both weren't going to be consistent.  My mom is also learning quickly - in fact she just bought my SIL the same book for their new arrival in August.

Stephanie - I can relate to the nipple thing.  My LO has rice cereal put in his bottles and it has been quite the experiment figuring out which works best with the thickened EBM.  We found that we needed a faster flow or he'd never get through a feeding.  We have actually taken an knife and made a tiny slit to help with the flow (we've also thrown out a tonne of nipple from making it too big).

Sorry for the long post - I've got loads of time right now . . .Grandma is over!!!

I hope everyone is doing well.

[emjohnson]

I appreciate your reply.  It has given me something to compare my situation to.  I know that this will take time, it is just hard, but I feel like I do have support, thanks again.

[jordansmommy]

my LO was born on May 5, 2005. I am really having a hard time using Tracy's methods on him. He is such a different baby then my daughter was. So I am unfortunately breaking all the rules with him. But whatever works is good with me.
Mia

[Katet]

Kathy, re the Bowel movements, before Aiden was born I was told it was not unusual for a BF baby to only do a poo once a week, while formula feed babies should do them EVER DAY & if they go longer than 48 hours then you need to look at how the formula is being made up. As Liam is BF, I'm not stressed by it esp as he doesn't have the "classic unsettled" 24 hours before he does his poo... I just stress it will happen when we are out & about & I have him in the pouch & it goes everywhere including all over me & trust my luck Aiden would want a cuddle too, doesn't create a pretty picture... thus him doing it in the bath was ok

Maria, re solids... leave it as close to 6months as you can, the earlier you introduce them the more problems you are likely to have, with increased risk of gasto problems later in life, The World Health Organisation actually recommend 6 months for well researched reasons. About 20% of babies do need solids earlier, but Aiden who weighed 10kg (22lb) at 6 months lasted until 10 days shy of 6 months, I just had to make sure I double offered the breast at each feed from about 4.5 months. I am not going to introduce them to Liam until he is as close to 6 months as possible, for no other reason than it is sooo much more extra work juggling milk & solid feeds. If you do introduce early, I strongly recommend only use fresh food you make yourself, not commercial food until at least 6 months... Yes I do have very strong opinions on the introduction of solid food... when I have more time, I will explain the reasons behind if anyone is interested.

Well Liam is doing well in my opinion, I don't do a DF & he went from 7pm - 1am, then 5am BUT Aiden had a shocker & as I was feeding Liam when he was at his worst, I got back tobed to find him in our bed... only the 2nd time in 2 years & never again... I ended up sleeping from 3-5am in the chair in Liam's room... SO if you ever think about letting your lo's into your bed when teething starts DON'T sleep on a blow up in their room, which is what I have always done, but dh doesn't like doing it & Aiden was being a total daddy's boy last night & wouldn't take my comfort, so what can I do... at least he is on his last lot of teething - we all have that to look forward to & let me tell you like every other milestone, it throws most routines into chaos!!

[jjstar]

Lots to read since I wasn't online for just a couple days. I was watching a friends 22 month old...boy was that fun? I don't know how you do it with more than one. I felt like I wasn't able to shh/pat all that well trying to watch the other one. And to make things any better our air cond. on the top floor went out and it has been in the mid-90's here. Made for a few adjustments to the routine in the last couple of days.

I do have a question for you ladies...Jameson seems to be waking halfway through his naps. For example if I put him down so he can get an almost 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap he will wake at an hour. He is still showing sleepy signs so shh/pat him and he goes back to sleep. He doesn't do it at the same time every day so I don't think it is a habit thing. Any thoughts on what it could be and how I can get it fixed?

[krice]

Here's a question . . .

When you LO has had his/her 3 month growth spurt how did it start?  My LO's naps have been off all day, but his food intake hasn't changed.  He's just over 11 weeks and has been pretty predictable up until now.  Not too sure what's up.  Could it be the beginning of a growth spurt?  Or am I in for a rude awakening and his naps are going to the 'pot'?

jjstar - when you go in to pat/sh your LO at nap time has he broken out of his swaddle??  My LO will wake up if he's not bundled up tightly.

[Taylor's Mommy]

Krice-my lo's naps have been in the pot since 7 weeks, so her naps weren't the predictor of her 3 month growht spurt.  it was that she woke every 2 hours on Thursday night.  She went back to sleep twice with a paci, so I wasn't sure it was her growth spurt.  but just to be safe I offered her extra feeds on Friday (1-2 oz) before each of her naps and she took them, as well as full feedings at 5, 7, 9 and 11 pm!  she slept all nigth and that was the end of her growth spurt!  we were lucky I guess.

I went back to tracy's new book and read the section on growth spurts and she said that tehy affect sleep greatly and can be confusing to parents because when they wake at night sometimes they will go back down without food.

Andrea

[Katet]

JJstar with more than one I don't do a lot of sh/pat. I tend to calm Liam on my shoulder while I read a few stories to Aiden & then put Liam down for his nap & read a couple more stories to Aiden, if I need to I pat Liam at the same time, otherwise, it is pretty much just the sound of my voice that helps him drift off. If he gets too upset, I just give him a paci, I don't really have time to sh/pat & Liam will let it slip out once he is calm & 9/10 before he falls asleep... I also find the paci great for extending short naps.

Re short naps, my understanding is it is part developmental & part sleep cycle related, some babies are more alert than others as they pass through sleep cycles & if they are tired, from previosu awake time, but not tired enough they can wake up... I found with Aiden, I pretty much battled them until he was crawling, he was a very spirited baby & at least 50% of his naps were 45mins... I learnt to just live with it & offer more short naps.

Growth spurts are normally very obvious in bf babies... they just want to feed & feed sometimes hourly, I know with Aiden I had a day aabout 10 days before 3 months where he didn't sleep for 9 hours & needed to feed almost hourly, his lasted 2 days. With formula fed babies from what friends of mine eperienced they can sometimes be almost undetectable if when your lo gets close to 3 months you start offering slightly larger feeds, they can sort of drift into them... as with all babies, there is huge variation, some it disrupts the routine others it is just a small hiccup. Sleep is often affected & more frequent wake ups are a pretty good indication of a growthspurt...

[Little Bear's Mum]

I've been reading all the posts since I last checked and realise I should be checking more often! It's nice to read what others are up to both mums and babes. I've got a few questions I thought I'd ask you all. Sorry, this might be a long post....

Last time I wrote my now 15 week old boy was having problems with 45 min naps. I've managed to extend those by keeping him awake longer (was only awake 1h15m, now between 1h30m - 1h45m). His naps are now anywhere between 1 hour and 2 1/2 hours. No consistency, but great that they're longer. I only wish I could replicate the 2 1/2 hour naps more often!

What is now happening is he is hungry anywhere between 2 - 4 hourly. No consistency. I am trying to hold him to 3 hours, but sometimes he gets really upset unless I feed him. Does anyone have any idea as to why this would happen and what I can do to get him onto a consistent routine? Although I'd like to do an EASY routine, it's not easy when he's so inconsistent with everything. If he wakes up before it's time for his feed and he won't go back to sleep do I just feed him so that he's doing the E in the right place or hold him out for maybe 30 mins before Eating so the 3 hours is reached? Also, according to Tracey's books I should be moving him towards the 4 hour EASY? Why exactly is this? If he's a big boy, (approx 67cm already) does he need to eat more frequently? Or because he's big he should be able to go longer between feeds? I'm confused.

BTW - My LO is b/feeding, so it's hard to know how much he's had, but I've noticed he doesn't seem to be consistent there either.  Sometimes both sides, sometimes only one. He's a strong sucker, only taking about 6-7 mins for one side.

Finally, I haven't tried/needed to do pat/shhh for getting to sleep but wonder about using for extending his naps. Or should I try pu/pd now as he's nearly 4 months. I'm about to try the dreamfeed tonight to see if that will get him through until 7am (ish). Until now he goes down at 6.30pm, feeds anywhere between 2-4am then sleeps again until 6-7am. Can't complain because he's only awake once, but often doesn't feed so well for his breakfast feed. Thought this might help as he will be hungrier.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[jjstar]

Jameson is a stomach sleeper and doesn't like to be swaddled. I'm not sure if it is because he sucks on his hands or if it is because he has figured out how to lift his body up with his hands to look about. Either way he gets really made to be all bundled up. Krice I wish that was the solution though.

Katet...thanks for the your comments on dealing with more than one. I was beginning to think that this could be the only child because I don't know how I would do it.

This weekend has been so frustrating. I just don't know why God couldn't have brought them into this world knowing how to SLEEP. I never knew you had to teach them. I should have read more before the pregnancy? Or maybe not...we could have been DINKs all our lives?!

Re: growth spurts. Jameson hit is 12 week at 10.5 weeks. I'm BFeeding and he was eating for about an hour at each day feed and was up ever 2 hours at night. I'm not sure what happened this morning with him. He woke at 2 am to eat and then again at 5:30. I thought okay he isn't going to wake up at 7, I'll let him sleep in till 7:30 so I could shower before he got up. Oh no, he woke up at 6:55 and had a full feeding. I wish there was a way to know how much he is getting. Oh well I guess we just learn to read the cues and go with it?!

[jjstar]

Okay I have another situation that has popped up. LO is now waking ever 2.5 - 3 hours at night. He is acting hungry so I've been feeding him. I know he can sleep longer than that because he has done up to 6 hours straight a couple weeks ago twice. We're bfeeding so I can't figure out exactly how to increase his intake. Any suggestions on how to get him to sleep better at night?

[jjstar]

Would I be crazy to try to switch him to a 2.5 hour EASY during the day to help with the nights? Or would that mess things up more than it is worth? Can anyone tell the I'm having a time with this?!

LO will be 12 weeks on Thursday and weights 14 lbs (officially doubled his birth weight!)

[cambeladamom]

jjstar--i am a first time mom, so i don't know how great my advice is:) but your lo could be in a growth spurt. if so, i guess he will grow out of it on his own. you could try to offer him the breast a few extra times during the day. i did this once or twice, but i am not sure it made a huge difference.
i guess your lo could also just be waking up to wake up. cambel does this a lot. he wakes up and would probably eat if if i let him, but we just swaddle him, give him is paci and he goes back to sleep. we have found that if he breaks out of his swaddle, he will wake himself up. so we ordered the miracle blanket. kathy-didn't you do this? a tighter swaddle does seem to help him.
marlo-could you give more some more info about starting solids? i talked to my older sister who has 2 kids and she advised waiting until he goes through another growth spurt before i start solids.
hope everyone is doing well. cambel has slept from 8:30 to 5 and then back down until 8:30 for the past 2 nights. this has been  a welcome relief after several nights of being up a lot.