Confused... when to W2S ....HELP

[litomi]

We are trying everything  The doctor checked my LO and said she's fine. Just teething and going through the "Phase." He did recommend trying different formula, maybe she'll like the taste of different brand. 
We found that Miranda doesn't like the milk too sweet. She drinks her milk if we add more water to it Basically, we are still giving her DF when she naps I know it's accidental parenting. But she woke up in the middle of the night several times last night due to hunger and refused to eat . It took me hours to soothe her....

[Missy Lou]

oh angel.  i'm so sorry. 

i've tasted alimentum and it's definitely not sweet.  it doesn't taste good to me but addison doesn't seem to mind it. 

i'd get some of the milk-based formulas with the milk proteins broken down and try one for a week.  see how miranda does.  if it doens't help, try another.  i think we tried five formulas before we found alimentum and she stopped screaming when eating.  i know you're concerned about her screaming and intake.  don't stress too much.  just try a new formula and see how she reacts.

how was today?
melissa

[litomi]

Thank you. We are getting different kinds of formula, even soy-based. We are not going to stress her or force her to have her milk. We are still feeding her in her sleeps
Woke up 2 times last night... she was quiet gassy yesterday, coz I was doing pu/pd. She cried a lot and swallowed a lot of air Couldn't get much of DF.
What bothers me now is she's lost her self-soothing skills  Now she's fed to sleep I really don't blame my mum. During the day, my mum gives my LO her water bottle to soothe her and feed until she's drowsy and then pops in her bottle.
What I can do now is to keep our bedtime routine - catnap, bath, bottle, burp, bed. Now it's getting difficult. I used to just sh/pat. I've to do pu/pd with my LO now
I'm glad I've mid-term break this coming week so I get to stay home with my LO for few days. Hope things will get better... she's getting her 6mo. shot on Thursday. Hope it's not going to make things worse
Trying really hard to getting back on track.
Exhausted...

[Missy Lou]

i'm sure you are exhausted.  when my LO is sick or not eating well i feel more tired because i'm so stressed about her not feeling well.

you taught your LO to sleep.  she didn't lose the skill.  right now, she can't concentrate on it though because she's not feeling well - whatever the reason, she's not eating well and/or has an upset stomach.  so don't stress about getting off track.  stuff like this is why we have an entire board.  try your best to keep on her routine and avoid AP as much as you can while still comforting LO.  If she's getting hysterical, try to calm her as best you can to avoid all the gas from swallowing air.  once we get her tummy sorted out, we'll start getting her back on track (if she even ends up needing it). 

i'd personally try the milk based first just because soy can cause constipation in some LOs. 

have we talked about her routine to make sure it's adjusted to her age? 

i used to hate LO getting shots too.  i always felt that she had so much to go through - colic, reflux, light sleeper (so not much sleep) and then shots. 
melissa

[litomi]

Thank you Melissa,
I'm worried that she might lose her self-soothing skills and start to rely on bottles to go to sleep. It's very comforting to know that she will not lose her self- sooth skills
We found that if we add more water to her milk, she'll eat But I'm worried that it will make her constipated
She was on very good 4hr EASY routine... almost like textbook. She took 1.5hr -2hr naps. Sleeps from 6:30 pm to 5-6 am.
After her tummy problem two weeks ago and going through this "Phase" now, there's very little routine now
It depends on WHEN she wants to eat This is how it goes now.... she wakes up, hungry (I can see her rooting). I give her milk. She spits it out. Try for 15min. not working. Put her down to play. Pick her up and try after 10-20 min. usually no luck. Put her down to play. When she makes a panting sound, I know she wants something to eat. Give her milk. She'll chew on the teat, spit it out Give her water bottle.... suck like CRAZY Try to give her milk, she'll scream her head off. I know by this time, she's starving and tired. 
It's quiet draining, coz by that time, I'm dealing with a starving and tired baby  She cries and squirms because she doesn't know what she wants. She's starving and exhausted.
We do try to keep a routine with my LO. But with her going through this "Phase," we are trying very hard to read her cues. Her A time is usally between 2-3 hrs. Her sleeping cues usually appear when she's been awake for 1.75hr.
I guess this is motherhood.... dealing with different problems everyday. I'm so so glad that I found this website. I feel I'm not all alone + getting support/ideas from mothers around the world. 

[Missy Lou]

that's terrible about the formula.  i'm sure you're both so frustrated.  we do need to find her the right formula because it does sound like whatever she's taking now she doesn't like.  how long have you been trying the one she's on now?

2-3 is too long for A time.  1.75 to 2 hours is the average.  if she's showing sleep cues at 1.75 hours, i'd start winddown at about 1.5 hours and do that for 15-20 minutes and have her in her crib by an hour, 45 or 50 minutes.  that may also help with her naps.

once her eating gets better, you'll probably have to do pu/pd or wake to sleep to get her back on track but i don't think you guys will be completely starting over.

there does always seem to be a new twist.  and i agree, this site and the people on it are such a blessing.
melissa

[litomi]

Is 2-3 hr too long A time for 6mo. old? I've to stretch it longer A time coz her naps were getting shorter. Lately, with her situation and at my mum's place, her A time can be quiet long Too many stimulations at my mum's place and she just overtired herself
I'm glad I've the next five days with my LO. Try to make her feel more relaxed and stick to routine as much as we can.
She was mix fed (EBM + formula) until 4mo. She had Enfamil and Similac for the first 2 month. She was constipated because of the iron in the formula. We switched her to Nestle HA since she was 2 months and had the same formula ever since.
We are trying to find the formula she likes. Maybe adding juice to her milk?  

[Missy Lou]

at 6 months, the average A time is 2 - 2.25 hours.  more than that could be causing short naps also because she's overtired. 

it's hard for my LO to nap anywhere but home and my MIL's.  but MIL has been babysitting LO since LO was about 2.5 months so LO is used to MIL's.  but if there is anyone new at MIL, LO has a hard time settling down.

is LO still screaming and squirming when eating?  if so, i'd try another formula.  just to see if switching helps.  when we switched formulas, LO stopped doing that.  your LO is 6 months?  are you guys doing solids yet?
melissa

[litomi]

Thank you Melissa  I'll try to shorten her A times.
After being very patient with my LO for DAYS, she seems to get bored of her water bottle now. Today, after drank for 1-2oz of water, she eventually started to drink her milk (old formula). Even though she just finished 3-4 oz, I didn't stress her to eat more. I just left it. I just wound her down and put her to bed. I just DF her in her naps At least she is not feed to sleep...
My LO will be 6mo next week. We are starting to introducing solid. We have been practicing by feeding her some baby juice in a spoon. To let her practice swallowing and eating from a spoon. We will start feeding her some pears next week.
I hope we will go through this "Phase" soon....

[Missy Lou]

how has shorten A time helped at all? 

how has the formula worked?
melissa

[litomi]

Thank you for following up my EASY routine
We are starting solid now + same old formula. She seems to enjoy her old formula better   We have to donate those opened formulas to our friends or to charity now.
In a way, I feel there's psychological factor as well. Yesterday, she pushed away all the bottles (milk bottle, water bottle, juice bottle) She opens her mouth to her baby spoon and seems to enjoy her rice cereal, even though most of her food ends up on her bib. I guess my spirited LO is so into her new skills.
Few nights ago, she started night waking between 2-3. She didn't cry and she just played in her cot for an hour, finally she got tired of playing and couldn't go back to sleep due to hunger. We have to night feed her. Last night, I did another DF around 1am and she just slept through the night (6pm-6am). Finally some sleep for me! (I hope this is not AP, I'm so tired of getting up in the middle of the night for 1hr + it's not good for DD as well. She really needs her sleep. I'll gradually cut down the DF#2 as soon as her day time feeding as improved.)
I'm a little confused though, for 6mo. LOs, their total sleep is 14.5hrs. With 12hrs sleep in the night, there are only 2.5hr sleep in the day. If my LO sleep 4hrs in the day (2*1.5hr naps + 1 catnap), will this interfere with her sleep in the night? I know good naps lead to good sleep in the night.
DD got her 6mo. shots on Friday. I know it will effect her appetite and she'll be really crancky for few days. I'll have to go with the flow. I'm trying to shorten the A time as much as I can.... but with a baby disinterested in feeding, being half hungry and tired. It's really difficult. 
Thank you again, and I'll keep you posted

[Missy Lou]

is LO still waking at night?  it might be time to drop the catnap.  i think we did a little after 6 months because LO was waking at night and was completely awake.  it was hard because LO couldn't stay up more than 2.25 hours so her bedtime was really early (like 5:30) for a bit.  now it's still early (6 p.m.) but her A time is increasing slowly so it will probably get pushed back soon. 
once catnap is gone, then naps will be about 3 hours and night sleep about 12 hours. 

bummer about the other formula.  we had to trash a lot/give away a lot also.  i remember that addison started refusing her bottle when we started solids.  i was worried about her liking solids too much and maybe we should stop solids, etc. but she got over it.  her formula intake increased and then solids did too.  so i wouldn't increase the solids until she starts wanting the bottle again but don't worry about it.  the solids are just more exciting right now.

how was yesterday?  shots are tomorrow?
melissa

[litomi]

DD had her 6mo. shots last Friday. We had some good days and some bad days this week. I'm trying to be patient with her, coz I know her little body and her little brain are going through a lot of things at the moment. I just try to read her cues as much as I can. Feeding is still difficult. The nurse recommends to feed DD every 4.5hrs-5hrs 
Winding dow LO is now another big challenge It was easy to wind her down, I swaddled her, held her tight and shh... about 15min. then I put her down to bed. Now when I put her down, she starts entertain herself. Until she's overtired then starts crying.... even if I pick her up, she still cries. She now cries almost for half an hour before she sleeps 
Sometimes, I just feel wouldn't be easier if she has a paci to soothe her Is there any post on how to wind down overtired + spirited baby?
Thanks again.

[Missy Lou]

what's going on? 

When LO was weaned from the swaddle, we had a hard time with winddown too.  What I started doing was putting addison in bed about 30 minutes before naptime/bedtime.  I'd let her play until she went to sleep.  Sometimes i did have to intervene and shush or do pu/pd. 

what have you been doing for winddown?  when do you start it? 
melissa

[litomi]

Hi Melissa,
My LO is doing much better lately.... her routine is a little bit wierd at the moment (dropping her catnap), she is taking 2 naps now and goes to bed around 5pm and wakes up around 6am. Still wakes up in the night for 1 nightfeed. Feeding is still a problem + she gets really gassy after we started solid