June/ July 05 Mom's Chat

[jswerczek]

Hi Seaflower- Tracy's first book is great but I think the second book is the most helpful. She does talk a little bit more about the different personality types and observing your baby in her first one but it is mainly an overview of the EASY routine which the second book goes into great details about. A lot of what she talks about in the first book seems to apply more to newborns and not to our big babies who are either on the 4- hour EASY or close to it I think you are well on your way to becoming a baby whisperer if you'd read the second book  :lol:

Hope that helps!

[CaedensMama]

Hi all!

Have a few minutes before Caeden will wake from his nap. Had a hard time getting him down this morning and then we ended up having to go pick up DH - dropped his truck off for repairs - so he ended up sleeping in the car and fell asleep again on the way home and is still sleeping!

Caeden is now moving around on his mattress.... yes - just the matress. DH still hasn't built a crib :roll:  :roll:  :cry:  :x
But up till last night when I would swaddle Caeden he would stay put and wrapped all night. Last night when I put him down I heard him crying about 20 minutes later. I went in thinking he needed his paci and found him unwrapped, turn sideways with feet off the mattress. Turned him and rewrapped him and this time he fell asleep kinda sideways on his side. Found him in several other odd positions thru the night including entire body on the floor and his head on the mattress! Then this morning when I put him down for his nap he ended up on the floor twice. I think we need a crib TODAY!

I can't figure out though how to "insist" without offending DH. He really wants to make the crib, has the wood just hasn't had the time - and won't start it AT LEAST till December. Who know when it will be done. I told him last night I thought we ought to go get a cheap WalMart crib till he gets one made and then switch them. He wants to make a plywood box to put the mattress in...... :?  I don't like the idea of him being closed in on all sides like that and would really like a crib NOW. I think I have been pretty patient here waiting. Caeden has been on floor on his mattress for about 6 weeks now and I am getting tired of not having him in a "normal" bed. I am also concerned I am going to all this work to get him to go to sleep and back to sleep and sleep all night and I am afraid that when I move him to a crib I will have to start all over. So - I really want to get him into a crib now. I feel like late Dec would be the earliest it would be done and I don't want to wait anymore!
Any advice here? Or suggestions? I am open to anything!

Congrats to Cait on the tooth! Now Caeden has a "biting buddy" - anyone else with teeth yet?

Seaflower - I noticed from the other thread you are in Ireland..... what area are you in? My DH's parents are living in Co. Offaly, thought they are thinking of moving back to the States within the year. They are both Irish by birth and raised over there, they came to the US and raised their family and moved back when FIL retired about 15 years ago but they are now realizing they really miss watching the grandkids grow up and spending time with their sons, so they are moving back.

Well, I cannot believe Caeden is still asleep - maybe I ought to go lay down too - of course then he will wake up!  :cry:

[Critter]

Do you have a Pack 'n Play?  Put him in that!

[CaedensMama]

We do - at the moment it is at our new house so I have something out there and I was kinda hating to bring it back and forth..... maybe I should though.

[Critter]

They're so easy to set up and transport!  It would certainly be worth it!

[CaedensMama]

I'll give it a try tonight!

[~Jency's*Momma~]

That is where Jency sleeps.  In the pack n' play.  But we need to get a crib here soom because he is outgrowing the thing.  He like to turn and be the short way and then he gets stuck and mad.

He is now turning over IN the positioner.  I tried putting a positioner around him so that he can't roll over and it worked...until last night.  Twice he rolled over while in it..no not taking it with him but rolling in it.

He had 2 good nights where he didn't wake up at 3:30.  Slept from 1am feeding to 4am feeding!    but last night it was back and we are STILL dealing with the 11:30 waking.  I don't know what to do.  He doesn't go down good still either.  We have been battling with these for a month now!  I'm beginning to think that Tracy has no idea what she is talking about!!  I have to get up at 3:30am because of all this.

He goes down at 8pm.  Wakes at 11/11:30, wakes at 1 to eat, wakes at 3:30, wakes at 4:00 to eat, wake at 5:30, 6:30, and up at 7:30!!

I am so worn out and I hate everything and everyone right now!!!

Sorry venting!

[CaedensMama]

Can't write Adria, but wanted to send big hugs... I'm there too - very frustrated at the moment. Caeden was up 4 times and then dh got up with him at 5:30.....hang in there girl - it will get better!

[jswerczek]

Hi Adria,
    I am so sorry you are frustrated. Tracy's methods are not going to work perfect for every baby and every situation but I don't think this is the place to talk down about her, after all she cannot defend herself. Tracy did a wonderful thing in her life and helped millions of babies and tired parents figure it out. It has worked wonders for our family, I am so glad that I found her book. As a first time mom, I found all the information on parenting overwhelming but her approach makes sense and creates a predictable day. Not all of her methods are going to work and there are certaintly bumps along the way, but the best thing we can do is give them a try and be consistent with what we are doing.

You posted a while back about transitioning Jency to the 4-hour EASY and working on naps. I believe that if you get him on a good routine the naps will begin to work themselves out and in turn help with the nightime sleep. Do you do a dreamfeed? By doing one, you control when he eats and he is not waking in the middle of the night hungry. It didn't work for us in the beginning but we stuck with it and now it's working great. You mentioned he does not go down well. What does your bedtime routine look like?

Hang in there, it will pass. Check out the sleep board, there is wonderful information on there. If Tracy's methods are not working for you that is okay, try something else. Whatever you do, be consistent with it for atleast a week, it takes awhile for our little one's to figure it out!

Big hugs  :lol:

[seaflower]

Jennifer, DH is Irish (his mom is from the North and his dad is from NY, but he was raised here) so we live in Dublin. I've been here myself for 7 years (wow, just realised it is exactly 7 in three days!)... I love Ireland, most foreigners find it hard to settle here but I always loved it!

*Adria's1st*, love the photos DD was also wakig up every hour last night, after sleeping so well last few days. She didn't nap much yesterday and think she was overtired... Nevertheless, woke up at 7 fresh as a button! It's now almost 9am, she is down for a nap and I can barely function... Hope today is a better day, think may start slowly transitioning her to 4 hour EASY, she seems to have no problems going for 3-3.5 hours now.

Btw, what is 'pack n' play'??

[seaflower]

I was going to say - last few times I've put her down for a nap at the first yawn, even if it is 40 mins after she woke up. She seems to fall asleep on her own in the cot, compared to 30 mins of crying and sh/p...  :shock:

What do you make of that?

[daisymelan]

I have read both of Tracy's books and found the second one the most useful.  The first one I find is good for determining your little ones type.  I originally thought he was textbook/spirited, but according to the quiz, he's Angel.  Maybe you could go to the library and just do the quiz in the book?  I asked on the forum before and apparently there is none online yet, but they are working on it.

Caeden's mom:  I would definately insist on a crib... especially now that your little one is rolling over.  I would think it scary if he didn't have the walls around him.....  Also, it may be hard to transfer him into a crib if you wait too long because he may be afraid of it if he's never been in one before.  Could you borrow a friend's until December maybe?  Or even a playpen may work. 

Seaflower:  I think it's great that your lo went straight down for a nap.  Even though it's not following the "rules" of EASY, you are reading lo's clues.... which is most important.  Keep it up!!!!  It sure beats the half hour struggle that you had to endure before.  You are making great Y time.

Adria:  Not sure if this would work, but why not feed lo when they wake at 3:30 rather than putting it off until 4am?  It may be worth a shot.  At least that way you may get some sleep.

Also, my lo started rolling!!!  He also rolls in the positioner, but two nights ago he got his foot caught in the slats of the crib... so it's either the positioner or listen to him screaming out in pain!!! 

When they start rolling, is that all they normally do?  Owen keeps rolling over onto his tummy and not rolling back...  he then gets frustrated and we have to go put him back on his back.  LOL...  just when you think you got it all figured out....  they throw something new into the mix.

Enjoy your Sunday, I know I will!!!!

Hugs to you all,

Jodie

[Critter]

Happy Sunday everyone!


Adria, Have you tried the pack and play yet?  I agree that you MUST have a crib at this point.  Your baby will be much safer and you will have peace of mind knowing that he's in a proper sleeping device.

Let me just say that we are a biiiiiiiiiig drool factory here!  I wish that little tooth would go ahead and break through.  Poor guy is soaked all the time, and is quite fussy.  Part of that might be from his cold that he is coming off of, but he's much fussier now at the end of it than he was earlier on.  This cold has been so sad.  His cry is so hoarse and he can barely make a sound.  It is better today, but the fussiness is getting worse.   It seems the only thing that makes him happy is to be left alone in his crib.  Well, that's no fun for anyone, but if it makes HIM happy, I'll do it!

[ry,cait&alex]

Hi all!!

Poor Luke!! Sending you {{{{{{{{{{{{{breakthrough}}}}}}}}}}}}} vibes!!!!  I am expecting Cait's second just any day now.  Don't know if it is actually there, but my mom says it is.  We will see.

Caeden's Mom: Yes, I am afraid I would INSIST that a crib/pack n play be obtained.  IMMEDIATELY.  Of course, I am anal to a certain degree.  :oops: With Cait, the crib is more of a protective shield around her from Ryan.  He used to Caitnap her out of her bassinnette and haul her to his room when she was just weeks old. Talk about giving me and dh a scare!!!  And he did it twice. The third attempt was caught in the act of. :wink:

Seaflower, a pack n play is  a compactible mobile play yard.  They are one of the greatest inventions of modern day baby's!!  It is a rectangular shape that resembles a crib, but is low to the ground and when you are ready to leave to go home, it collapses and folds up for easy toting around.   Much better than the 1970 model that wouldn't fit in most cars.  You would practically need a SUV to have one of those. :lol:   I actually remember my sister's playpen...what a monster.  :roll:

Adria, sounds as though your lo is just on the cusp of getting it all worked out.  I know that sounds stupid, but it seemed that with Cait, the crazier her night hours got, the sooner they stopped.  Does that make sense?  It is as if they are crawling up a mountain and the closer the top they get, the more hurried and frantic they get and then when they crest the peak, it is (literally) all down hill from there.  I used to get Cait fed around 6-7 pm and then down to bed for the night.  But before I went to bed for the night, I would go ahead and dreamfeed her.  That would definitely prolong the sleep time for her and I could grab 4-5 hours before she got up again.  I only did that for a little bit though.  Our homelife schedule wasn't routine enough to ensure a dreamfeed every night.  I will say that I DID do a dreamfeed last night (at 5 months old :roll: ) but that is because I was not home with her last night to feed her oatmeal.  I knew that without that, she would be up at 4-5am and that is just too freakin' early on a Sunday, so I feed her at like 10:45 pm and she slept till 7:30 ish.  Makes for a much happier/likable mommy.  :wink:

Oh her highness is ready for nap.  Have a great day everyone.

bj

[Critter]

Ok, I am basically going to just repeat my last post, but I need to vent and hubby is out of town.  FINALLY Luke is asleep.  My Angel Baby has turned into something else!  He fusses when he's held, he fusses in his swing, he had a FIT when I put him in his high chair to give him his cereal and fruit this morning, he got mad in his crib b/c the paci kept falling out, he didn't want to rock, he didn't want to lay on the floor.  WHAT'S A MAMA TO DO???  I finally just put him in his crib and walked away.  I know that part of it is that he's tired and sleepy, and his teeth hurt, and his nose is stopped up and runny, but I can only give him so much medicine.  It seems that the Tylenol is the only thing that takes the edge off of the teething thing.  Poor guy is gnawing on his hand non-stop.

Sorry for venting.  I just am a little bit frustrated with this identity crisis my son seems to be having!