Jan/Feb 05 Babies chat!

[branwen]

Yay! my doc can see us Sept 1st.  He's so nice and understands all my new mommy freak outs (he lets me email him which is so great!).  If by chance her hips are dislocated, which is probably not the case, it can be easily corrected.  He also assured me that this would not be the cause of not rolling.

 :?: - do any of your babies pull themselves up to sitting or standing yet?  if so how to you practice this with them?  Eirwen won't hold onto my fingers anymore 

egiggle.com has many neat products- lots of them European and that is where I got my baby food mill and the spoons.  They also had many of the baby proofing stuff I wanted from KidCo that I couldn't find.

Diapers- I also LOVE Pamper's Cruisers.  The Baby Dry ones started leaking through at 5 months so we switched.  These actually feel thinner but are just as if not more absorbant and I love how they fit her.  They have been so great for Eirwen because she has huge chunky thighs with 4 fat rolls :lol: and they stretch all the way around.

4 hr schedule- Eirwen loves it and because she now hangs in her crib for 13 hrs (I don't think she sleeps the whole time) I am happy with her naps even if some are shorter.  I will just have to make some adjustments in my own time.  She also is happy to have the end of the cluster feed.  Instead of 2 brief 4 min breastfeeds in the evening or a rejected one after a few sucks our bedtime breastfeed is around 12-15 min and for the first time in a month! 

Me- currently depressed about my passive agressive mother, but I will post elsewhere about that whole deal.  Basically I just wish I had a mother who was more excited to be a grandma.

Deb- yay no pox!

Jaime- Eirwen is pronouned Ayr-WEN with the accent on the wen.  It is also the same pronounciation as in "heir to a throne"

Tarri- that is sooo great about Emily! Sleep for you!  What diapers do you currently use?

[dkjokisch]

Ok, so I was just about to post that we were off to a good start this morning.  Maya slept until 6am for the first time in about 2 weeks.  She stirred around 5am, but was able to resettle herself, and she wasn't nearly as screamy when I went to get her up.  She started getting fussy after about an hour, but I kept her up as long as I could, and put her back down at 7:30am.  But now she's up again.

Branwen - Yeah!  Isn't it great to be on a good routine?  We're working on it.

Diapers - We have the opposite problem.  Maya has no rolls, so the leg holes often gape open.

Question - Do you try to extend naps if they wake up happy?

[HeatherC]

Everyone seems to be doing well.  Although, Branwen, I'm sorry about your mother.  It's really a shame, but it's her lose.  I know that doesn't help much, but remember that you have love and support in us.

Deborah-I think if they wake up happy then they are rested.  If you want to make sure she's getting enough rest time, I'd just keep the rest of nap time to a low-key activity, possibly in her room or crib.  IF Kelsey wakes a little early, I sit her up in her crib and let her play with stuffed animals.

[dkjokisch]

We're really struggling here.  I just don't know where we've gone wrong.  Hopefully, I'll get a good nap this go-round.  She got up at 8:30am, and I kept her up until 11am.  She wasn't showing any of her normal tired signs, she was just a little fussy (which pretty much describes her 24/7 now).  I did manage to get in a good half-hour of quiet reading/singing, so hopefully she is nice and settled (we were thinking overstimulation might be contributing to the napping issues). 

She really liked "He's got the whole world in his hands".  We went through the whole family.  I think I need to put together a photo album of grandparents, aunts, and uncles, so I have pictures to show her when I sing.  None of our family is local (closest is 500 miles), so she doesn't get to see them very often.

Heather - I would like for her to learn how to play independently in her crib upon waking, but for now she is not sitting up on her own yet.  Due to her flat head problem, we try to keep her upright for all of her awake time so as not to put any additional pressure on the back of her head.  Of course that in itself is creating a problem, because we wind up holding her alot, and I think she is starting to depend on us for constant amusement.

[HeatherC]

Deborah, I completely understand.  I try to keep Kelsey off her head as much as possible, too.  Since Maya doesn't sit independently, you could try placing the boppy (if you have one) behind her for support.  Do you have an exersaucer?  I highly recommend one.  Kelsey is showing the beginning signs of sep. anx. so I can hardly step 2 feet away from her now.  I can't remember what you've said about Maya and tummy time.  Does she sit well with support?

[dkjokisch]

We don't have a boppy, but I was looking at them in Target the other day.  We don't have an exersaucer, but we have something similar I think.  It is a walker, but we removed the wheels, so it is just a little seat with toys and things attached.  We call it the stander.  We also have a jumper which I can use to keep her off her head.  However, I'm lucky to get 10-15 minutes in either of them, and that's with me in sight the whole time, preferably sitting on the floor in front of her.

Tummy time is also difficult.  Once she learned to roll over, it was pretty much all over.  I put her down on her belly, then she does a push-up, drops an arm, and rolls.  After about the third time, she's had enough.  I've tried propping her up on a rolled towel, and I can get a few more minutes that way because she can't roll over as easily.

She does ok with supported sitting, but I am the support.  If you set her down against the back of the sofa, she'd topple over.  I am beginning to wonder if her lack of rolls aren't contributing to the problem.  Her bum is to scrawny to balance on.

[julieb]

Branwen: Asher pulls himself up to his knees.  I don't practice.  Don't want to because I already feel like he's growing up too fast!  :cry:   I fear he will be one of those babies to walk at 10 months!  :cry:   He just discovered it on his own once he started to crawl.  He's always loved standing and would do it in our laps with or without our help (I could hardly get him to sit in my lap to burp, always stood up!  :? ).  If Eirwen won't hold your fingers, can you just hold her hands?  Can you just practice holding her torso lightly so she can stand and balance more on her own?
I know you're anxious for Eirwen to roll & crawl (as I would probably be as well), but honestly, the baby-proofing is much easier when they're not mobile!   :wink:   We have gates & pillows all over the place now!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Eirwen's name, that's how I figured it sounded.  Might just have to borrow it for DD #2??     And how is your name pronounced?

Deborah: I always try to extend naps if it's less than 1.5 hrs.  He would be cranky in no time if I let him get up any earlier.
For sitting up, have you looked into a Bumbo seat?  They're expensive, so I don't know how worth it it would be if she's gonna be sitting up soon.  You can use it as a chair at the table -- kinda like a booster, but not high enough.

Asher is having an off day today.  Very fussy, didn't eat much, tired sooner.  I keep looking for another tooth, but nothing!!  :?

[branwen]

Deborah- I pm'd you a bunch of stuff just in case you look here first.   Also highly recommend the boppy, esp the little one made for tummy time.  It also works nice as a little support too in grocery carts, tummy and sitting.

[Deb_in_oz]

Deborah - if Olivia wakes early formnap and is happy i l;eave her in her cot for up to 1hr 30 to amuse herself (no toys) so she is getting the "donw time" form stimulation.  she can explore her hands and feet and look at shadows on the walls, etc

olivia is now spending much of awake time sitting up and she reaches for toyrs etc.  and spends a lot of time int he exersaucer - her head looks like it is STARTING to fill out.  it is so hard to tell so i will ask the nurse on mOnday at our check up - because it seems slight i don't know if my mind is playing tricks on me.  now instead of totally flat it looks like a lump as part is rounding and oart is flat/concave - not pretty but encouraging.  this is definitely all in the past 2 weeks since sitting dominates our playtime.  she stillsleeps onher back and has some back playtime under her gym though.

for the photos - i bought a little special plastic album from the baby store (it has cute colourful graphics and a chunky handle so it was a plaything rather than a normal photo album) when alex was young and put in photos of all the key players (grandparents and our siblings) and would talk about them and let alex play/chew/suck them... wen she got a little older we madesure to get the album out when we were on the ohone with someone so she could hear the voice and see the photo.  we also took it with us when we visited them so she could then match her photos with the people to reinforce it.  it worked at making her really comfortable with our family whenever she dd/does see them. she still plays with it sometimes.

Branwen - glad to hear 4hr is going well - i replied about your parents on that thread.  chin up!!

Us - now that the growth spurt is fading she is not interested in solids at all - yesterday i barely got 4 spooonfuls in for 2 meals - she started to cry because she was hungry and wanted the bottle instead.  she is back to clamping her mouth shut. i am a little worried because the bottle feeds were also a struggle yesterday (posted about her lack of interest at some feeds) and i feel like we are going a step backwards.  Dh says to remember not to push and let her end the feed even if she only eats 4 oz.  but i am back to worrying that she will not sleep if she is hungry in an hour

[thitz]

Deborah,  I highly recommend getting a blow up play tube that sits on the floor :!: .  This is what I've been using for the past month cause in the boppy pillow she started falling forward and I couldn't leave her unattended for half a second.  In the tube I place toys all around and she reaches for them and plays with the ones she wants .  I easily get 15 mins out of her in there during every A time.

Diaper tipsThanks for your tips everyone .  I am using the next size up but I think I need to do a better job of wrapping the tabs around the hips.  Also I'm going to try to put a panty liner in there too.  And I'll have a look at the cloth diaper covers to see if that would help.

Deb, I would say not to worry about the occasional 4oz feedings.  Emily sometimes has a feeding this small too and surprisingly still lasts a good 3 hours.  Emily is also still eating max 30oz a day of formula plus about 3oz or veg/fruit/cereal.

Branwen, I usually pull Emily up by her arms to sit and her torso for standing.  She's still only rolled from back to belly twice with a lot of encouragement from me.  She sits fairly well, but loses her balance in less than 10 secs.  She also hates tummy time but I manage to get 5 mins out of her every A time.  No signs of crawling yet.

Us, well we seem to have good nights and bad nights :? .  Today was a bit tough cause she had a bad night and I had to hand her over to dh a couple times because I was getting too frustrated.  Once because she was so stuffy and she wouldn't let me get the booger out.  But of course I love her to pieces.   And overall is still doing waaay better with her new routine.  I wonder if the carrots have anything to do with it...hmm.

Have a good night everyone .  Tarri

[thitz]

I can't believe there's no new posts .  I'm disappointed. 

Anyways...has anyone gotten back down to their pre-pregancy size?  I breastfed for 3.5 months and lost 30lbs but I still have a jiggly roll :oops:  around my middle that I can't get rid of.  I've been doing about 50 of those abdonminal squeezes a day to get rid of the muscle seperation and walk 20mins a day.   Any tips?

[Kinlagh's Folks]

Tarri - I reached my pre-pregnancy weight a few months ago (even 5lbs lighter) but definitely not my pre-pregnancy size.  Things are a little different around the waist and chest area.  No suggestions as I'm working on them myself.  Plus I have MAJOR stretch marks, which I think are quite ugly.  But if the worst is that I now have to wear a full piece swim suit, I definitely think Kinlagh was worth it!

[branwen]

Hi everyone,

I am surprised too!    I didn't post because yesterday was a very crappy day. Eirwen had total meltdowns all day and was awake from 9 to 2:30 and then at 2:30 only made it until 3:15.  I even drove myself to the homeopathic store and got some teething tabs- they actually seem to work too!  It is her teeth, gums were like twice the size yesterday.  She seems to have really rough days and then today she is happier took her ususal 2 hr nap this morning- first time in a week!  I still cannot feel any tooth but yesterday she had the redness, swelling and I could see a little blisterish thing in the front again.  She is being an angel today- a total ham with dh!!!  Oh, sometimes I just look at her and get soooo weepy because she is so beautiful and I love her so much!!

As much as she was miserable yesterday she managed to do two new things- I would bang two cups together and then pause and she would bang them.  I kept doing this over and over again to make sure she was actually mimicing me! She was!  She also sat for real!  I even got pictures- will post later.

I am below my prepregnancy weight and size :shock: But none of my old clothes fit the same (chest area esp  :wink: ).  One might think I am crazy for saying this but I am actually getting a little worried b/c I am still breastfeeding and I don't know if this is bad. :?   I am eating like a horse too.  My Yoga instructor assured me that it wasn't that (only go twice a week).  She also told me it was from breastfeeding...but I haven't been this thin since I was a teenager!!!  Who would have thought. :shock:  :?  :lol:

We get our moving POD today.  I'm so excited!    I can't stand living in these boxes- must get cleared out so I can breathe!!

[Jaime]

hey all... seems to be a quiet weekend around here!

Deborah - if he wakes up happy i usually just get him up.  but when it's early, he usually wakes up mad... to help him like his crib, though, i would go in & turn the light on when he woke up & let him play for a bit & slowly extended the time - this is when the mobile came in handy.  he can go for up to half an hour pretty happily, especially since he can sit up now.

Branwen - thanks for the correct pronunciation.  congrats on the sitting!  how fun!  hope that tooth pokes out soon... we have no signs of pulling up or standing or anything like that.  luke loves to bounce in his exersaucer, but he has no idea how to maneuver on his own.  sitting is about it right now!

Tarri - prepregnancy weight?  are you kidding!!!  well, i am pre-luke, but still 25lbs to go before i am pre-jaina.  i think i'm to the point to where mere dieting (healthy eating) isn't going to do it anymore - going to have to start some kind of exercise.  ha!  not until it cools off more...

Heather - i don't really sit & repeat sounds to luke.... but there is quite a bit of talking in our house, between us & the radio/tv.  so i think he just picked a sound he liked & tried it out - i do day 'daddy' an awful lot.  it is soooo sweet to hear.

us - seems like luke is teething again.  his naps (especially the afternoon) have been sporadic, and one of his top teeth poked through this morning!   :shock:  i wish i could key into these things better.  i'm excited cause dh & i are going out kid-free tonight.  today's actually my birthday & that's what i wanted.  yay!!!!

have a great day all!

[branwen]

Tarri- I forgot to tell you that Yoga has really helped my abs and pelvic floor muscles. Might be TMI bit I suffered from major incontinence (likely from tearing during birth).  Anyway, it's so much better now!!  My tummy is getting flat too and I do credit the Yoga with that. Anyway, I would highly recommend it.  It is also so extremely relaxing for me and not strenuous at all.  I don't think I could handle anything aeorbic :oops:  :wink: