Jan/Feb 05 Babies chat!

[Schae]

I'm thinking of introducing a lovie... how did you ladies go about doing that?

[Leah's Mom]

Thanks for the advice on the naps girls! Julieb- my digital camera records short video clips, why didn't I think of that!?!?! justpress.com here I come - well not right now, maybe after work!  :roll: (I'm on break!)

[julieb]

Christine, you're a hoot!  :lol:

Schae: Asher was young when I introduced it.  I just shoved it at him every chance possible and said "here's your luvie", especially during wind down and during bed/naps.  But for older babies, you may want to observe him and see if there's already something he's somewhat attached to and use that.  I also hear one of your old shirts makes a good luvie because it smells like you!
Whatever you do, make sure you have two in case one gets lost and so you can wash and alternate them!

[Jaime]

Schae - i've always just had it in the crib with luke when it was time to sleep.  actually, this time i was really covering my bases so there are a couple things in there.  he only sees them when it's time to sleep. 

i think the attachment is still parent driven, but he's starting to look for them when i lay him down.

julie's right - buy 2 and have them smell like you!!!!  :lol:

[Deb_in_oz]

Christine - it hink we are pretty much in the same boat with naps... and olivia gets up between 2 and 2:30 and i usually put her down for catnap at 4 or so depending on how the day went.  the days when she refuses the catnap she makes it to bedtime ok (usually push it up a little) but her feeds are not as good and then she wakes before 6:30... which throws off the getting the girls in synch

yesterday i put her down around 4 and she thought she was going straight down and then the noise started and she just kept crying out and squealig, etc  Since she had the worst napping day ever (30 + 1hr 10) i said she was staying in the cot til 5 - she finally fell asleep at 4:45 and slept til 5:30! so the evening was fine. i figure she will be on the catnap until she is awake for 3 hr sessions for the first 2 legs of the day. a nd then her naps will hpopefully lengthen (at least i hope the 2 nd one become 2 - 2 1/2 hrs  :lol: )

[Deb_in_oz]

well - alex is watching tv for a bit and liv is asleep so i will catch up with al the posts form yesterday and before...

Nikki - that photo of your family is stunning!! i am so jealous. we have no portraits at all and never did professional shoots for the kids.  that is beautiful - and you all loook so nice!

Julie G - so glad you are allright since Katrina and that you only had electricity issues!  also thrilled for you that Matty is sleeping thorugh - i bet that is a pleasure for you. i was beginning to wonder where you were...

i would not base ending the DF on age - how is he with solids and how much is he taking at the DF. i personally am waiting until olivia is well establlished on 3 meals and starts cutting back DF herself - aiming for 8 mo to end it at the latest assuming all is well.  i can't "add an oz to her daytime bottles" because she rarely finishes them so i can't count on that strategy.

Heather - have not checked out your juss press yet - will do soon.  i have not read BS book yet - it costs $30 so am going to see if our library has ordered copies and put a reserve on it - i don't see myself reading it more than once so hate to part with that much cash at borders  :roll:  they already take a lot from me  :lol:

Branwen - great on the rolling and pincher grasp. a, sure Eirwen is doing just fine.

Schae - gorgeous photo in your avatar - looking very happy! how is the job and house search going??  we are still on cereal fruit (just pears, avocado, and apples and prunes)  and veg (sweet pot., peas, carrot)  i guess i have fa;llen behind in the i troduction of things - i am trying harder this week and we just started the peas yesterday. she has fruit at bkfst and veg and / or fruit with cereal for lunch and dinner.

Julie b - i almost always add formula to make most veg creamier.  i found avocadoes def. were easier to eat that way/.  also i figure  if you need any liquid to process other foods better to use formula/EBM so they get extra food rather than water added.

Deborah - glad Maya is doing ok and it is not too bad - hope the stretching sorts everything out easily.  also - stomach bugs are THE worst ones to worry about - they are so easily transferred between people that i woudl never let the girls near anyone who had it even recently - they say until you have been clear of gastro/puking/diahreah for 24 hours you shoudl not expose yourself to other people

us - although not 100% yet i am at about 85% and doing better every day - although still no period  :roll:   i have a Dr appt next Wed.  Oliviua is off to the Audiologist tomorrow - fingers crossed there is no damage in her middle ear from all that fluid / bursting... I am praying she does not need grommets or anything - want an all-clear 

livvy is doing really well with solids this week and eating happily.  her naps are erratic and it seems that on days when she is extra hungry and eating lots she does not sleep as much  :roll:   introduced peas yesterday and all her meals had high fiber foods so we actually got 2 major poops - she had pears/cereal/prunes at B, carrots at lunch and peas at dinner!! too much???

she is also crawling backwards a lot - i find her stuck under a chair etc and crying to get back on the mat - cannot figure out how to go forwards yet.  rolled from belly to back again a couple of times but still  never from back to belly.

[thitz]

Debra, glad you're feeling better and Olivia is eating well.    I'm having the same nap problems, although today we had a miracle and had a 1.5hr nap 1 and 1.75hr nap 2.  I've been putting Emily down for nap 1 at 9:00am and nap 2 at 1:30 (only second day of getting this late) and not even trying for catnap.  She's completely wiped by these times but I'd rather have her a little cranky earlier in the day than a lot cranky for the whole afternoon cause she won't catnap.  Also her nights are still getting better.  Also Emily still drinks less than 30oz a day with about 5 oz of solids.

Heather, I added a mini river dance to my jusspress.

Christine, I'm also using my digital camera for the videos but they only turn out well in a very bright room.

Branwen, have you guys moved yet?  I remember you mentioned about all the boxes getting in your way but I wasn't sure if you were packing or unpacking.  That's got to add a little more stress to things.

Us, I found a new way to get Emily laughing :lol: .  I do those vibrating belly kisses and she loves it to pieces.  Dh has bad poison ivy but thank goodness Emily and I didn't get it.  He was making a path thru the woods behind our property and apparently it's filled with poison ivy, eeks. :shock:

Tarri

[Schae]

Thanks for the luvie help. Will probably start tonight.  :wink:

Deb: Glad to hear you're on your way up and up  And good luck at the doctors appointment, hope all is well. Job hunting is going okay, might have a prospect. House hunting, we're getting there.

Tarri: too cute on the laughing!

Deborah: I hope the specialist is a bit more open minded about the helmut treatment. I'm glad to hear that it is not as bad as was thought. I'm sure Maya will be fine.

Julieb: I didn't realise adults also got ADHD. Learn something new everyday.

Us: Well, I need some real help with Luka and his bad sleeping. He naps fairly well during the day, 1.5 hours  in the morning, and 1 - 2 hours in the afternoon. He rarely has a catnap as it throws his routine off completely and he isn't ready to sleep at bedtime. Anyway.. he has been waking at night for ages now but he doesn't get fed before 6am. I just don't understand WHY he's waking.

We'll put him down at around 8pm (supper 6.30pm, bath 7pm, milk -bf 7.30pm). He'll put himself to sleep then wake up between 45 minutes to and hour later screaming. I go in, pick him up, then put him down and sing a song and he'll go back to sleep. This can happen a lot some nights and once other nights  :?

Then at 11pm, I'll get him and go to our 'cottage' and feed him in there and put him down to sleep. He'll go down fine, but is up at around 1.30am screaming? PU/PD just makes him scream harder, so I just sing and he'll go back to sleep. Only to wake 2 hours later?

The thing is, when my mom babysits him he has the dreamfeed then sleeps right through till 6/7am.

Do you think the moving from the main house to our cottage is causing him to wake? Tonight we're going to try putting him down in the cottage (we'll just go to bed early) and see if that works.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading... do you have any suggestions?

TIA

[dkjokisch]

Christine - Maya is nearing 8mos, and there is still no way she could go from 2:30 to 7pm without a catnap.  Roughly, if she gets up before 2:30, I attempt a catnap.  If she gets up between 2:30 and 3:30pm, I just try to get her to bed a little early - how early depends on how she's doing.  After 3:30pm, she usually does fine until 7pm.

Deb - Glad to hear Liv is eating well.  I wouldn't worry about too much fiber. 

Tarri - I get Maya to laugh the same way.  Sorry to hear about the poison ivy. 

Schae - I would definitely try putting him down for the night in the cottage.  However, it sounds though he may be waking for your company.  Can dh resettle him when he wakes (preferably with minimal intervention)?

As for us, we had a good weekend, but yesterday just went downhill fast.  Maya was cranky all day, and I don't think it was her teeth (she didn't seem soothed at all by her teething rings, and she didn't really settle when I finally broke down and gave her some ibuprofen), but I have no idea what else it could be.  She was super fussy about going down for bed Monday night (screamed for about an hour), but we just assumed it was because she was overtired as we had been at the beach Sun/Mon and she only got two short naps on Monday.  However, this continued all day yesterday and into this morning.  She is showing all of her tired signs after only being up for 1 hour, but she is not really sleeping any longer than usual.  She cycles between reasonably content and screaming relentlessly every 20 minutes or so, whether I'm holding her or not.  All the things that normally work to calm her are having no effect.

The only changes are that she has gotten a little more mobile in the last week, rolling from back to front and back again with a little more ease.  She is also sitting now.  If this is development-associated, when will it end?  I am on my last nerve, and dh needs to work some extra hours this week to meet a deadline so I am on my own.

[thitz]

Deborah and Schae, sorry to hear your nights are going well.  Let me see if I can think of something.

Schae, I would say that you need to stop the singing.  It sounds like it's becoming a prop.  Could you maybe just say a couple words instead, maybe like 'it's okay, it's time to sleep'?  Also, I would say the transfer from house to cottage probably isn't helping.  Can you get a monitor that you can set up in the cottage so you can still stay up at the house?  Also, how about moving the df earlier and moving him to the cottage earlier, maybe the 11:00pm transfer is distrubing his deep sleep, maybe try 10pm.

Deborah, It sounds like some kind of discomfort to me.  My first guesses would be teeth or maybe an ear infection.  Did the ibuprofen calm her?  If so, maybe give her some for a full day and then if she's not back to normal by tomorrow make a doctor's appointment to get her ears checked.  Also could it be hunger?  Maybe try to give her an extra feed to see if that calms her.

Good luck guys, I'll be thinking of you.  Tarri

[HeatherC]

Schae, I agree with Tarri.  First, I would try to cut out the transfer from house to cottage, and move the df up.  I also think that his sleep is being disturbed and therefore the rest of the night is fitfull.  Then, have dh resettle him because I do think he is waking up expecting you to be there.  If you have to do it, I wouldn't sing, but maybe just a quick pat, I wouldn't even talk or make eye contact.  I'm really curious what one night without the transfer would do for him.

[Schae]

Deborah: Sorry about your horrible nights. I agree that it sounds like some kind of discomfort.

Tarri and Heather: Thanks for the advice. Tonight we're going to put him down in the cottage, and see how that goes. I figure it must be because of the transfer, unfortunately our situation dictates that we stay in the cottage for a while yet.  But, a plan can be made. 

I didn't realise the singing was becoming a prop. I used to only sing the song in our wind down routine, and then if he woke and didn't respond to patting then I'd sing  :oops: Dh has been suggesting that he take over the night wakings for ages now, but I've been reluctant coz the last time he tried, we ended up with more screaming. But I'll have a talk with him tonight.

Thank you for the suggestions, will keep you guys posted.

[dkjokisch]

Once she goes to sleep she's fine.  We haven't had any trouble with wakings, and she's actually taking pretty good naps, it's just getting her down that's tough. 

I think I can rule out hunger and teeth, but you guys are right - I'll give her another day, and if she doesn't settle down, we're going to the neurosurgeon on Fri anyway.

[Leah's Mom]

Schae - Is the cottage very far from the house? Could you put him down in the cottage and use a monitor to listen for him in the house, or is it too far?

[herbst99]

Debra - can you believe the pic was taken by my sister with a silly digital camera! I must say I was impressed to!

Schae - I agree with the suggestions on rather settling him where he will stay the night (or you can try settling him in the pram and then just pushing him over to the cottage??? and transfer him to bed.) I remember you asking about a lovey ... Lise uses one from BABY SENSE  called a Taglet - basically a small fleece blanket with satin ribben "tags" (if you haven't read the book - it is by Meg Faure - South African OT and VERY GOOD!!) http://www.babysense.co.za.


Nap problems!!! seems like almost everyone is having some kind of problem!! We have had 2 miserable days with Lise very miserable with teething (I think) and to top it off she is going through the 6mth growth spurt!! I can honestly say EASY has gone out the window - it just seems that as soon as the day start wrong - she is off for the rest of the day. As she is not a girl who likes being cuddled it makes it harder to sooth her when upset - I honestly don't know how to help her now. Well I am sure we will figure it out. I PRAY that tomorrow we will see a better day (I am holding off the Paracetomol after our previous "incident"!!)
Good night for now.