any april/may 05 moms want to chat?

[rachaelh]

Maria-re:tummy sleeps.  It sounds like you are being extremely cautious with respect to your tummy time during naps.  Of course noone can answer the question re: how much time on the tummy increases the risk. However, as I said it sounds like you are monitoring him closely on his tummy anyway.  With respect to rolling onto their belly on their own...usually at this point if theyare that mobile they can decrease their own risk since if they can't breathe properly they can move into a better position...I have one patient who was vigilant about turning her little guy onto his back...but everytime she went in the room there he was on his tummy again.  She was losing sleep constantly going in and turning him over.  I guess at that stage you know your babe and you know how mobile they are and you'll know what you are comfortable with....there are no specific recommendations at that point from a medical perspective!
As for mum and me groups...I think there are some...which I will look into. Unfortunately, in a small community it is hard to remain anonymous and so my "role" is known....often times then I am looked to for answers etc....however, I am just as lost as the next new mum!!  Anyway, I am having a much better week (oops just realized it's only Monday!!) I did manage to get out over the weekend a few times...even got out for a jog!!  Jogging is hard on the bladder I find post baby!!
Right..glad to hear all are well.  Since allowing Ollie to wake up on his own we have had a much happier camper!!  He is slowly training me!!  In fact on his own he had two 1.5 hour naps between morning and afternoon feeds and then had an hour long nap prior to his 5:00pm feed...managed to keep him up then after his bath until 6:35 pm..but I think it may have been a bit long for him as I then had to shush-pat numerous times before he finally drifted off for good ab 8pm....when I catch him at just the right time...I hardly have chance to get his dummy in, close the blind and sing him a song before he's drifting off!
Take care...and have a good week.
Rachael

[jjstar]

Hello ladies. I just found Tracy's book a few weeks ago and the website today. I'm really enjoying the posts with babies so close in age to my Jameson Ralph (born 05/05/05 about 3 weeks early, 6lbs15oz). I started EASY last monday. He did great all last week and even through the weekend. Then today I'm about to pull out my hair. He was taking 1 1/2 - 2hour naps twice a day and today he hasn't been down for more than 20 minutes without waking up crying like something hurts. I took his temp and found it was about 99. Gave him some tylenol and I think that has done the trick. I have been waking him up for the 3 hour feeds...would someone agree with me that since he is finally asleep now I should just let him rest? I love the predictability of the routine but I also want him to get the rest he needs.

Thanks.

~ Jill

[krice]

Hi Jill - our LO's are only a day apart.  Very similar too . . . DS was also 3 weeks early and weighed 6lbs 14oz.  You got the very cool birthdate!!! Matthew is 05-06-05.  Just these past few days my DS has begun to lengthen EASY on his own.  We've had a couple of 4  hour cycles today - seems to be working.  Is your LO staying awake any longer?  Matthew started to increase his awake time and has been able to make it longer between feeds, so we have started to progress that way.  However, if he wakes early (like around a 3 hr EASY) I will feed him if he wants it.  I'd agree that if Jameson had a rough day to let him sleep . . .especially if he is wiped out from a temperature.

[hopper116]

Obviously I'm a new Mommy with this question!  On the average, when do babies eyes change color?  I know they're born w/ blue, but by when do they begin to change?  I'm just curious because my ds was born w/ the most beautiful blue eyes (like my dh) and I am desparately hoping they stay that color.  He will be 11 weeks on Wednesday.  Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Stephanie
Mommy to Ian Patrick
05/04/05

[Katet]

Re eye colour... I think it can be any time in the first year... BUT mine changed colour from green to brown in my teens, so I guess any time
Stephanie, do you have siblings/family members with blue eyes, as you need it on both sides of the family, blue eye colour is a recessive gene. My ds#1 has blue eyes, I am brown & dh greyish, but his dad has brilliant blue eyes & my brother too, so I know it is in my family. Aiden's eyes haven't changed & he is 2 next week so I think they will stay the brilliant blue they are. BTW Asians, Greeks & other nationalities are born with brown eyes, only caucasian origin babies have blue eyes

My baby update (now I have a computer back - new lap top as our desk top died!) Liam is a bit all over the place, it is really cold overnight here & also he is really too big for the bassinette now, so his night sleep isn't as good as it has been 3-4 wakeups. We don't want to get Aiden out of his cot, so I have to wait to catch up with a friend to get their cot, so I have set up our spare bed, with the play pen on 3 sides to keep him safe & pillows & his day sleep thus far seems ok. He travelled with me (by plane) to a funeral last week & my parents who I stayed with commented if they hadn't seen him they wouldn't have known there was a baby around... in contrast to there 4 weekold grand daughter, who they never see only hear crying as her mother (my SIL) keeps her shut in her room & follows Babywise & I believe basically lets her cry off to sleep!!
I'm still finding it hard to settle Liam at times as Aiden demands my attention, but at least I always manage to get him off with out a paci, pram ride etc at bedtime & during the night. I am also sure he doesn't really need to feed both the times at night I feed him as he snacks at them, but I just don't have to energy at the moment to deal with it at the moment as Aiden has a nasty cold, which I now have & dh is working 12+ hour days for the rest of the month (his busy time at work) and I can't ask him to do the resettling, as he did when we dealt with this issue with Aiden.
Anyway it may be a bit rougher for us at the moment, but no where near what it was for aiden at this age & I am enjoying it much more
Oh blast... Aiden has woken up from a 45 min nap so no more computer time for me & lots of playing with cars etc... it is going to be a long afternoon, I did hope with his cold he would give me a nice long 2-3 hour nap esp as he woke early this morning, but I guess the 10min cat nap he had while I fed Liam put his sleep needs out of whack.

[rachaelh]

Question: Do most of you wake your babies for feeds at the 3-4hr mark or do you wait until they rouse themselves?

[krice]

Rachel - normally I will get my LO up if it is around the time for a feed.  The only time I don't is if he's had a rough day, but then I don't let things go much past - maybe let him nap for 30min longer but not much more than that.

Re: eye color - the nurses in the hospital told me for the vast majority of babies it takes 6 months for the color to be determined.

[marlowho]

Katet!  I really think we must live parallel lives on opposite sides of the world!  DH also works near 12 hr. days, and me and Madeline have a nasty cold (that I'm praying Noel doesn't get!)   It is incredibly hard, isnt' it?!
I've heard the 6 month thing on eye color as well, though it seems by 3 months you can usually see where it's heading... (this is in other people's babies- me and DH both have blue eyes, so I can't imagine our lo's having anything else...)
Noel is sleeping pretty well now (fingers crossed!)  Though last night, I literally had to resettle her about 10 times before she "got it'- then slept till 5.   The thrush seems to be hanging around- but not as bad as before.  and only hurts on one side for me.  Don't really know what else to do- we've done everything...
But she's started really smiling and laughing now!  (Madeline can usually get a good laugh out of her when Noel is in her swing.)  But with Madeline's cold, it's hard to keep her away from the baby.  Last night I was telling her I hoped she got better so we could go play with some of her friends- and she said "and hold baby."     I do wish she didn't have to miss out just b/c of this silly cold... Oh well... we go to the doctor on Thurs. so hopefully we can get it all figured out.   (Between Noel's thrush, my  own prescriptions and now Madeline, they're getting to know us pretty well at the pharmacy!)
Sounds like everyone is doing well with EASY (from what I can tell.)  Especially you first timers!  (First time around I was "lost" for the longest time!)   
I'm still going back and forth on the tummy sleep thing- I know if her ped. asks about it at her next visit I will feel like a terrible mom... but something I realized is if she doesn't sleep I feel like she's also at a "risk" for things as well... so I go back and forth.  As for now, I check on her lots and keep the monitor by my side constantly.   She really is very strong- moves her head to the side with no problem...  but  I do agree with everything that has been said.  (And I hope what I say here does not encourage anyone to follow in my footsteps... please do not tummy sleep b/c I said anything about it!!!)
And yes, I wake her at the 3-4 hr mark.  I feel that keeping her on a strict "schedule" during the day helps her at night.  Though if you feel she needs a little extra sleep b/c of a bad morning,etc... then getting an extra 1/2 hr. in isn't such a bad thing, imho.
Glad to hear how everyone is doing!

[jjstar]

This thread is wonderful!

krice--that is neat that our LOs are so close in age. The date thing just happened to work out. Early in my pregnancy my sister (who was also pregnant at the same time with twins) thought it would be a cool date and actually thought she might get it. But no I was induced on the 3rd and baby J waited 2 days to come out. (my niece and nephew arrived two weeks later on the 19th.) Jameson hasn't started taking shorter naps yet. I don't think we've been on EASY long enough to switch it yet. We'll see after a couple more weeks/days. I did realize that yesterday may not have been due to illness but rather growth spurt. He was up ever two hours last night and definitly was hungry. Today is a bit off 'schedule' because of his last feed in the night. But I figure if it takes a few days to get over the extra bfeeding then we'll get back on track. I'm not so concerend with the times but the EASY has taught me to read him. I am so grateful for that!

Couple people mentioned swimming...we were in Ohio a few weeks ago and went at my mom's house. He had so much fun but it didn't last very long as it wore him out. We've gone a few times since we've been home but it is so darn hot that we basically go to the pool for a short bit and head back to the house.

Thrush...we had that at the 2 week mark. Not fun. Keep giving the LO the meds for the full 14 days and make sure you're on something too. I found that putting lansinol on helped me. Best wishes on getting rid of it. I know it hurts from the LOs side too. I actually had it when I was pregnant. My tongue has never hurt like that before. 

[Aarismom]

Mine was born April 26th as well (three months today!)

She's getting 8-10 hours of sleep a night. We usually put her down around 9:30, and she doesn't get up until 7 or so am. Occasionally she'll get up at 6:30, and occasionally she'll sleep as long as 7:30. Usually we don't let her sleep any longer than 7:30, as my DH heads into work after he feeds her and puts her down for her nap.

Naps I still wrestle with, she usually takes 2-3 45 min to an hour naps and one 2 hour nap a day. I'd like to see her get 2 full 2 hour naps at least, but I can't seem to figure out how to do it, even though I've played with her schedule a lot. Usually though, I'll put her in her crib when she's sleepy, but she normally ends up playing herself to sleep.

She's also eating around 5-6 oz. per feeding every 3-3.5 hours. We do cluster feed at 7:30 and 9:00, but lately she's been sleeping well without it, so we may just eliminate the 7:30 feed. No dream feed, we eliminated that long ago as she was sleeping well without it.

Bottom line is, I never let her go more than 1.5 hours of waking time, as if I let her go longer (or she absolutely refuses to take a nap), she WILL NOT nap the rest of the day, unless we're driving somewhere, then she'll sleep in her car seat. She's as stubborn as she is spirited!

Well, gotta go...I have a feeling it's gonna be "one of those days"... :roll:

*HUGS*
Sonya =P

[Judy]

Aarismom:  my youngest dd's were born on April 26th as well!!   

Marlow: I sleep Kaia and Hannah on their tummies as well - did the same with Sarah.  Zoe, being my first there was no way I would have attempted it.  I figure so long as they can turn their heads their fine.  They sleep so much better this way.  I also find that Kaia and Hannah have an extremely strong startle reflex and sometimes almost start hyperventilating they're so scared and upset so lying them on their backs is not a good sleep option in my opinion.

I can't believe how much they sleep during the days.  They are never awake for more than an hour.  I just can't get them past that hour.  It's hard with two, as it's a bit trickier to keep them entertained and moving around to new things than it was with my older two as singles.  So at this point they are having 3 long naps of 1.5-2hrs each and then 2 short naps of 45-60 min and then bed.  They're last feed at night is often around 9pm and then off to bed with a DF at 10.30-11pm and they'll then go through till  6 or 7 am most nights.

Well Sarah has just woken after just an hour nap and I must go wake up Kaia and Hannah - I do try to wake them and keep them on a 3 hour schedule for feeds - at most I let them go an extra 15-20 minutes or so.

[Aarismom]

Judy: I actually noticed that And frankly, I have my hands full with one...I tell ya what, I can't imagine having twins, although I've always wanted that...how do you do it?! My hat's off to you and all the other moms of twins!

I am curious about the number of people who say they sleep their babies on their tummies...do you actually swaddle them? It seems to me if they try to move around they might get more caught up in the cover. I was thinking of trying tummy sleeping since my lo has almost mastered head control (she's almost got her chest up, and has her head up 90 degrees). I'm thinking it may help with napping better, since when I put her on her back sometimes she seems to wind herself up again and not nap (which is what she's doing today). Should I wait until she can more successfully roll over (I guess that's around 6 months)? She does roll to her side so she can get her thumb...

The only problem is that when we have tummy time she seems to get really frustrated and upset.  And she tends to spit up a lot :/

*HUGS*
Sonya =P

[Judy]

Sonya:  I don't swaddle my girls when they tummy sleep.  This would be dangerous in my eyes - they need their arms free.  If you are worried about blankets just dress her warm enough to go without blankets.  Sleep sacks are very convenient for this.   I started with Sarah at about 5 weeks and maybe the same time with Kaia and Hannah now.  They were on their sides prior to that.  That aren't always too impressed with tummy time either... the difference with bedtime is they get patted.  Helps with the thumb/finger sucking too.  If she has good head control as it sounds she does then I wouldn't be concerned with it myself - but that's ME.  Don't do anything that YOU aren't comfortable with.

As for how do I handle twins?  Well - I just do I guess.  And you would too if you had two... you just do what you have to do.  With two babies and two toddlers I basically just am always looking after someone's needs.  Some days are hairy. This week I'm on my own completely during the days with all four (usually my mom is around a few times/week to help) and the older girls are wanting to be 'up' more  :roll:   So some days I feel like I've got absolutely no personal space.  My almost 2yr old seems to need to be on my lap while I breastfeed Kaia and Hannah and my 3 yr old then needs to be somewhere in there as close as she can be too....  I admit it makes me a bit edgy some moments but I try to just grin and bear it.  Everyone needs lovin' - nothing bad about that.

[krice]

This forum has been quiet for a while.  How is everyone doing? 

Still playing with the EASY routine over here . . . sometimes we can go 4 hours and sometimes it's back down to 3.  I was concerned because my LO had decreased his daily intake by over 6oz (doctor recommended we thicken his bottle with rice cereal for his reflux).  Well he continues to put on more weight - another 11oz this past week.  I guess I shouldn't worry so much.  We expect my LO to double his birthweight before he reaches 3 months (a little fast if you ask me).

Tummy sleeping - I generally don't do it, but this morning I put my LO on his tummy because he was stirring so much.  He calmed right down and slept for another hour.  It still makes me nervous though.  In fact, my LO just worke up from his nap - I calmed him down and put him on his tummy.  He's very gassy right now and when he's got his legs tucked up under him he can toot away in a little more comfort.

I was reading another post about baby monitors (and the noise they create), I'm thinking of turning mine down/off at night time.  Any of you do the same.  Are they more hassle then help?  Do you jump at every little sound (as I have done)?

[Taylor's Mommy]

I haven't used my baby monitor at all unless we are outside.  she sleeps down the hall but I can still hear her at night or in the am when she wakes up.  I used it a few times when she would take naps in teh first couple of weeks (she slept in our room in our bassinet for her first 5 weeks), and the thing drove me crazy!  I figured if she is crying I will hear her, so if oyu can, turn the thing off.  Also, I remember reading in the first BW that Tracy thought monitors made parents worry worts and she urged her clients to throw theirs away!

Anyhow, dd has found her thumb which is great!  when she is calm she can get to it no problem but when she is overtired she has some trouble.  In fact it has helped her get through her 45 minute jolt at nap time yesterday and today!

Also, re. the tummy sleeping, over the last couple of days dd has been getting pretty riled up at nap time (you may have seen my posts).  anyhow, a few times now we have turned her on her tummy completely swaddled but put a receiving blanket under her so she is kind of at an angle, and voila!  2 hour naps!  I won't do it at night though because I am too scared, but it works for us at nap time.

Today she has been going 3.5 hours between feeds, so I think I will make the transition and eventually move her to 4 hours over the next couple of weeks.  her awake time in the am is the only thing I am worried about.  Glad to hear everyone is doing relatively good!

BTW,  :?:   if your lo wakes up at say 6:15-6:30, and is hungry, but their wake up time is 7ish, do you start the day at 6:15 or put them back to bed?  I have been putting her back to bed (luckily she goes back down immediately after eating).  I end up having to wake her up 20 minutes later, but I am hoping if I keep doing this she will eventually just make it to 7???

Andrea