PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[Dreamer_D]

NYC If it takes that long then he may be overtired when you are trying to put him down, at least that has been my observation. Can you try watching him for tired signs and put him down for sleeping sooner?

TGal I meant to tell you that I got rid of hunter's 5/6am wakeups! Took a little comforting at first and now the couple times he has woken himself up at 6am he just sort of squaks a little and then puts himself back to sleep within 5 minutes or so! So only one nighttime feed, which is great. I have heard here and some other places that babies don't need to feed at all in the night when they are 4 mo, but my friends who also BF thought this was crazy and that babies need to feed at night until they are much much older. I don't know, but I think I will keep feeding him as long as he seems hingry. Right now he does a full feed when he wakes so I think he still needs it.

 

[nycbkgirl]

Date: 6/17/2009 2:30:13 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
NYC If it takes that long then he may be overtired when you are trying to put him down, at least that has been my observation. Can you try watching him for tired signs and put him down for sleeping sooner?

TGal I meant to tell you that I got rid of hunter''s 5/6am wakeups! Took a little comforting at first and now the couple times he has woken himself up at 6am he just sort of squaks a little and then puts himself back to sleep within 5 minutes or so! So only one nighttime feed, which is great. I have heard here and some other places that babies don''t need to feed at all in the night when they are 4 mo, but my friends who also BF thought this was crazy and that babies need to feed at night until they are much much older. I don''t know, but I think I will keep feeding him as long as he seems hingry. Right now he does a full feed when he wakes so I think he still needs it.

DD u are right....he is def overtired and i tried putting him down many times and he wont have it....he falls asleep in my arms many times and as soon as i move to put him down, he wakes himself up. its like they fight sleep.

 

[MustangGal]

nyc- my doc told me to try that one since he was on similac advance originally (that''s what the hospital had him on). When I asked him about the different brands, he said they''re all the same. A friend of mine had her baby on enfamil gentlease and her baby did really good on it. It can take a week for there to be a difference, so wait at least that long before changing them again, and ask your doc before you make a switch.

DD - my infant book says they they can sleep through the night once they''re over 11 pounds, so it is possible. I would think breastfed babies might need to eat in the middle, since breast milk is digested faster than formula. Maybe in a few weeks when you start rise cereal he''ll start sleeping through the night, I hear that keeps them full.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 6/17/2009 2:30:13 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
NYC If it takes that long then he may be overtired when you are trying to put him down, at least that has been my observation. Can you try watching him for tired signs and put him down for sleeping sooner?

TGal I meant to tell you that I got rid of hunter''s 5/6am wakeups! Took a little comforting at first and now the couple times he has woken himself up at 6am he just sort of squaks a little and then puts himself back to sleep within 5 minutes or so! So only one nighttime feed, which is great. I have heard here and some other places that babies don''t need to feed at all in the night when they are 4 mo, but my friends who also BF thought this was crazy and that babies need to feed at night until they are much much older. I don''t know, but I think I will keep feeding him as long as he seems hingry. Right now he does a full feed when he wakes so I think he still needs it.

DD, that is fantastic! I think you are doing great and love a "project" (I know I sort of treated the entire thing like one when I was trying to sleep condition Amelia - just focus on one goal at a time!), so I have no doubt you know what you are doing and will eliminate the middle of the night feed when the time is right for you and Hunter.

One night you might find he simply doesn''t wake up for that middle of the night feed. That''s what happened to Amelia on 4th of July last year. Just slept through on her own. I did nothing different. After that, once I knew she could make it, I didn''t give it to her, but bizarrely, she really just stopped waking up.
That middle of the night feed won''t be there forever. Enjoy it while it lasts. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but part of me misses those dark, quiet nights when it was just the baby and me hanging out.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 6/17/2009 2:44:49 PM
Author: MustangGal
nyc- my doc told me to try that one since he was on similac advance originally (that''s what the hospital had him on). When I asked him about the different brands, he said they''re all the same. A friend of mine had her baby on enfamil gentlease and her baby did really good on it. It can take a week for there to be a difference, so wait at least that long before changing them again, and ask your doc before you make a switch.

DD - my infant book says they they can sleep through the night once they''re over 11 pounds, so it is possible. I would think breastfed babies might need to eat in the middle, since breast milk is digested faster than formula. Maybe in a few weeks when you start rise cereal he''ll start sleeping through the night, I hear that keeps them full.

Is that "mommy wishes" type of sleeping through the night or the technical definition of STTN which is 5-6 hours straight? My lactation consultant, who is also a nurse, said 13 pounds and STTN (the 5 hour version) is possible. Although Amelia was 3 months old, so 13 pounds may have been about right.

I do think there is something to BM vs formula. My ped, however, said they do not need a full stomach to sleep through the night.

One thing I know...it does all seem like a big mystery!

 

[nycbkgirl]

Mgal- pedi said doesn''t matter what milk I choose bc they all same..so basically my choice. How do I know that a formula is working better when I switch? Is he supposed to stop being fussy..I duno what to look for. I will read up on sim sensitive n the gentlease...I''ve been on nutramigen for a week now so I can try smthg else.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/17/2009 2:42:05 PM
Author: nycbkgirl

Date: 6/17/2009 2:30:13 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
NYC If it takes that long then he may be overtired when you are trying to put him down, at least that has been my observation. Can you try watching im for tired signs and put him down for sleeping sooner?

DD u are right....he is def overtired and i tried putting him down many times and he wont have it....he falls asleep in my arms many times and as soon as i move to put him down, he wakes himself up. its like they fight sleep.

It does seem like they fite it, but what it really is is that their brains are not developed yet and switching from awake brain waves to sleep brain waves is hard to figure out! LOL! The type of early sleep "conditioning" that we''ve been talking about here iactually helps them learn how to make that switch! The trick is to put him down when he isn''t totally asleep, just dozey. If he wakes himself, pick him up and calm him until dozey, then put him down again. But that pattern can take a loooong time at first! Worth it in the long run, but you need to be ready to tackly it b/c it can take an hour or more of picking up, soothing, and putting him down before he will sleep. But the next time it is shorter and the next shorter still. But it takes patience because you need to be calm the whole time you are working on it.

 

[nycbkgirl]

DD- I will def try that out today...it does sound like it will take a while. I''ve been doing the opposite...I only put him down when he''s asleep bc otherwise he won''t fall asleep in the bed. The logic makes sense tho about the awake vs sleep waves, will let u know how it turns out tom.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/17/2009 3:32:26 PM
Author: nycbkgirl
DD- I will def try that out today...it does sound like it will take a while. I''ve been doing the opposite...I only put him down when he''s asleep bc otherwise he won''t fall asleep in the bed. The logic makes sense tho about the awake vs sleep waves, will let u know how it turns out tom.

What you have been doing seems logical, but then he wakes in the bed and is like WTH!! Where is my mom!! Waaaaa! It does take time, just be patient, it works but you need to be dedicated to it. The downside is that you have a looong road the first couple times you try it, and the upside is that you will have a baby who you can put in his crib when he is awake and he will fall asleep on his own!

 

[MustangGal]

nyc - if he''s still as gassy and fussy after a week, then the formula didn''t make a difference. If you noticed some change, then I would keep at the same one for a little longer and see if it improves. Kyle showed signs of doing better on the new formula after a day, and really improved after a week. Jon might just be a fussy baby no matter what you do, sorry!

tgal - I don''t know which the book was referring to, must have been the 5-6 hour one. Kyle was going 5 hours at night from his first week home, so I guess I''ve just been spoiled!

 

[cdt1101]

NYC - We only regretted the circ because of the way it looked, but it never seemed to bother Lex at all. It was completely healed within a week. As for formula, I switched him to Similiac Sensitive yesterday and use the Mylicon drops before each feed. He was on the Similiac Isomil (soy) before this. The thing is, is that he only seems to be fussy and gassy at night (lucky me!). During the day for the most part, he''s fine...so seems weird. When you switched formulas, did Jon take awhile to go poop? Lex hasn''t gone since Monday night at like 11:30. I was hoping he''d gone by now, but nothing. I''m starting to get worried, the peditrician said one day without poo is fine, but didn''t say about anything past that.

 

[MustangGal]

cdt - Kyle was gassy and fussy mostly at night also. I don''t remember poop issues right when we switched, but he has gone 3 days without pooping before, and didn''t seem to have issues. It''s just if they come out hard that there''s a problem. Kyle got constipated when I tried the store brand version of the formula. I had to go back to the similac, which costs a lot more, but at least he poops fine on it!

 

[mela lu]

Date: 6/17/2009 12:45:05 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 6/17/2009 8:43:03 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Date: 6/17/2009 8:02:58 AM
Author: mela lu
Also, I *think* I''m already sleep training him. LOL. Every book would tell me NOT to, but its working for both of us (me because I''m desperate for the sleep) and him because during the day I have him feeding every 2.5 hrs, and most of that is spent trying to burp him. He takes a long time to burp, so often he is sleeping less than an hour before I wake him up again to feed. He''s probably just as sleep deprived as me by the time 8pm rolls around! hahhahahaha. From 8pm - 8 pm I let him wake on his own, which is typically every 4 hrs (but sometimes 5)

. (running and hiding now). Like I said, works for me!

Mela that sounds ust great! Hunter was doing this too at 4 weeks, I don''t think it is a bad routine for a young baby at all! Too cut picture. And Whale noises? I bet it does sound terrible! LOL!
NYC Tacori has posted a thread where you can buy different noises, try asking her in the other thread or else troll back in this one a bit...

Mela, this is good - I had Amelia on a similar ''schedule'' when she was about 4 weeks (Hunter and Amelia seemed to follow the same pattern). Day time was ''EASY'' in 3 hour blocks. Nighttime was feed at will. Her sleep started to organize and at night she started sleeping from 10-2am, with a feed, then down again until 6 am. At 6 weeks, I began marching that bedtime back, and it didn''t affect the 2 am wake. By 8 weeks, she had a 7 pm bedtime with one wake at 2, then back down until 6.
Yes, many books and most mothers will tell you that sleep training isn''t possible that Romy''s age. IMHO, sleep ''conditioning'', is. Part of it as you said, is to keep day times active and routine, and pooping out the little sucker by nighttime!

Thanks for chiming in Tgal. I know you did the sleep training/"conditioning" with Amelia; to great success. Your feedback is reassuring. I always knew i would sleep train/condition, but never thought I''d be "able" to start this early. Romy is just such an easy baby (knock on wood)

that his temperment lends itself to training.

NYC - def try the pick-up-put down routine. The first time I did it with Romy, it took 5-5 tries before he went down. This afternoon, I only had to do it twice. It''s getting better every day

. Good luck Girl!!

 

[cdt1101]

mustanggal - thanks! Hopefully he''ll go soon. The last time he went, it definitely wasn''t hard so we''ll give it more time!

 

[nycbkgirl]

jon seems to be doing better with this formula bc i think its more sensitive and light and he poops more and the poop is lighter and more liquidy..before with the neosure the poop was much thicker. i duno how to tell if hes being fussy bc hes just fussy or bc the milk is still not right for him. urgh. he never missed a day without poop thank goodness.

my doc told me to give the mylicon after the feedings....so which is better before or after??

DD/mela -will def try the routine tonite

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 6/17/2009 6:40:49 PM
Author: mela lu

Date: 6/17/2009 12:45:05 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 6/17/2009 8:43:03 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Date: 6/17/2009 8:02:58 AM
Author: mela lu
Also, I *think* I''m already sleep training him. LOL. Every book would tell me NOT to, but its working for both of us (me because I''m desperate for the sleep) and him because during the day I have him feeding every 2.5 hrs, and most of that is spent trying to burp him. He takes a long time to burp, so often he is sleeping less than an hour before I wake him up again to feed. He''s probably just as sleep deprived as me by the time 8pm rolls around! hahhahahaha. From 8pm - 8 pm I let him wake on his own, which is typically every 4 hrs (but sometimes 5)

. (running and hiding now). Like I said, works for me!

Mela that sounds ust great! Hunter was doing this too at 4 weeks, I don''t think it is a bad routine for a young baby at all! Too cut picture. And Whale noises? I bet it does sound terrible! LOL!
NYC Tacori has posted a thread where you can buy different noises, try asking her in the other thread or else troll back in this one a bit...

Mela, this is good - I had Amelia on a similar ''schedule'' when she was about 4 weeks (Hunter and Amelia seemed to follow the same pattern). Day time was ''EASY'' in 3 hour blocks. Nighttime was feed at will. Her sleep started to organize and at night she started sleeping from 10-2am, with a feed, then down again until 6 am. At 6 weeks, I began marching that bedtime back, and it didn''t affect the 2 am wake. By 8 weeks, she had a 7 pm bedtime with one wake at 2, then back down until 6.
Yes, many books and most mothers will tell you that sleep training isn''t possible that Romy''s age. IMHO, sleep ''conditioning'', is. Part of it as you said, is to keep day times active and routine, and pooping out the little sucker by nighttime!

Thanks for chiming in Tgal. I know you did the sleep training/''conditioning'' with Amelia; to great success. Your feedback is reassuring. I always knew i would sleep train/condition, but never thought I''d be ''able'' to start this early. Romy is just such an easy baby (knock on wood)

that his temperment lends itself to training.

NYC - def try the pick-up-put down routine. The first time I did it with Romy, it took 5-5 tries before he went down. This afternoon, I only had to do it twice. It''s getting better every day

. Good luck Girl!!

You''re doing great mela. Since Romeo is such an easy baby, definitely keep on the conditioning. As much as I would like to say I am some sort of sleep training goddess, the fact of the matter is that Amelia was also an easy going baby. Not everyone is born with one, so if you have one, take advantage of it! Any baby can be given bad habits - so IMHO it''s a shame not to condition an easy going baby because we have a huge advantage that not every parent is blessed with.

Glad to hear you are doing well!

 

[lili]

Mela--
Awwwww....look at that smile.
Must be having some sweet sweet dreams
Hehe, he''s got the same pose as some of your preggo pictures.

Courtney--
Cute picture of Alila and hubby.
Your DH is brave to take Alila into the shower w/ him.
At 7 wks, DH was still wary about J slipping out of his hands in the baby tub (though J was pretty squirmy even back then)

Pandora--
You have my sympathy w/ your non-napping Daisy.
I just want to say that w/ my next kid, I''ll definitely do the sleep train early instead of trying to do it now.
Until not too long ago, I was one of those who still wakes up in the middle of the night to nurse or soothe their LO to sleep.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/17/2009 6:40:49 PM
Author: mela lu

Thanks for chiming in Tgal. I know you did the sleep training/''conditioning'' with Amelia; to great success. Your feedback is reassuring. I always knew i would sleep train/condition, but never thought I''d be ''able'' to start this early. Romy is just such an easy baby (knock on wood)

that his temperment lends itself to training.

NYC - def try the pick-up-put down routine. The first time I did it with Romy, it took 5-5 tries before he went down. This afternoon, I only had to do it twice. It''s getting better every day

. Good luck Girl!!

Am I reading right? Fifty-five? Or a typo?

If it''s 55, then you are one dedicated mama! I never counted but our first night took 1.5 hours. Maybe it was 55

 

[Dreamer_D]

So my grandma just called us to tell us that she is giving us 10 grand to help with the downpayment of our house! I can't believe it, it is just so wonderful and such a help. We had asked to borrow the money from her, but she gifted it instead! That will make all the difference for us because in the housing market we are getting in to we are lucky to have 5% down... median house costs are $500 000! Of course, my mom then "joked" about how my grandma may not have been so quick to give us the money if she had seen my diamond

Thanks mom for making me feel guilty about having *one* nice thing!!

ETA We were not actually planning to buy when we moved, we were going to wait to save the money ourselves, but with interest rates the way they are we wanted to try to get into the market now if we could. Just in case you were wondering why we were hitting up granny for money in the first place

 

[nycbkgirl]

DD- that is sooo awesome...its so nice to have family like that! My fam gives us money for every occasion...like for this bris coming up granny gave 1k!....in my fam money is almost like its in 1 pot...but congrats neway and what a special grandma!
Don''t feel guilty about the diamond u deserve it!

<-- going nuts...jon has been up for goin on 3 hrs!...the pick up put down routine isn''t workin n im losing patience!

 

[Blenheim]

Tried to post and it just got eaten, so short one -

Hopefully Mela means 5-6 times, for her sake!

DD - that''s great news! And shame on your mom for making you feel guilty.

 

[Courtneylub]

Dreamer, that is fantastic news!! Wow! So happy for you guys.

Blen, I HATE when PS eats my posts. I have a habit of highlighting and copying my post before submitting it now...just in case! What''s funny is, the few times that I forget to do that, it eats my posts. Yeah real funny.

Mela, that is great about Romy''s sleeping. You shouldn''t feel bad about the 5 hour stretches. My pedi told me when Alila was 2 weeks old to go ahead and let her wake up on her own for feedings.

I got that book "The Baby Sleep Solution" and the Baby Boot Camp training doesn''t begin until 8 weeks (she''s 7 weeks as of yesterday). BUT as of 6 weeks, I should have been feeding her every 3 hours. She will do this easily in the morning, but in the afternoons she wants to snack. I try the distraction tips, but I can only handle that for about 15 minutes. If it''s only been 2 hours since she last ate, I can''t distract for a whole hour! It''s frustrating because she gets into that snacking habit in the afternoons and I''m not able to give her a full meal right before bedtime unless it''s from a bottle. If I give her a bottle, she will sleep a lot longer. Last night she woke up every 3 hours. I may just need to start giving her pumped BM before her bedtime every night. Hopefully when I go back to work in 5 weeks, she will be bottle feeding while at daycare and won''t be snacking, therefore she will get a full meal from the breast before bedtime. The thought of going back to work is killing me, by the way.

 

[cdt1101]

Mela - I''m soooooooooooo jealous of your easy baby!!!!!!! Lex hit 2 weeks yesterday and was by far the worst day ever!! He definitely is colicy!!

He was up from 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm. The last hour he screamed bloody murder!! He acts like he wants to eat all the time!! The ped told us we''re over feeding him! But the kid''s a porker! He was 5 oz OVER his birth weight by day 12. So we fed him another oz to calm him last night and then had to put him in the carseat and snap into stroller and went for a walk. Knocked him out and he didn''t wake up until 2 am. He then fed, and cried like a maniac again and we had to put him back in the carseat and stroll him around the house (raining buckets outside). He really won''t sleep in anything but his carseat or bouncy chair. Although now he''s napping in the bassinet...just not peacefully!

This newborn thing is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay harder then I thought!!! I was in tears last night because he just seemed like he was in pain and the crying breaks my heart

Oh well, just venting. But man, this is so much harder than I could have ever imagined! Between my craptastic pregnancy and now this, my DH and I have pretty much decided no more for us! I know it''s too soon, but really I honestly can''t believe people do this more than once!!!

 

[cdt1101]

wanted to post a few pics of our little cutie...even if he does drive me mad...hehehe

he says HI!!!!

 

[cdt1101]

and his eyes look crazy in this one...but i think it''s hysterical! He gets milk drunk!! I''m telling you this kid LOVES food...just like his daddy!

 

[MustangGal]

cdt, he''s sooo cute! I''m sorry he''s being hard on you. The few times Kyle cried like crazy i cried right along with him. It''ll get better, I promise!

 

[Pandora II]

You were all so right - breastfeeding really does get easier! I've now got Daisy totally on breast-milk only - hooray! It's also not painful anymore. I so nearly chucked the towel in early on and now I'm so glad I didn't. It's great at night since I'm WAY too lazy to want to get out of bed and prepare bottles - plonking boob in mouth and dozing is so much easier.

Since the midwives reassured me that she is definitely getting enough I've stopped letting her snack and I'm making her wait for a proper feed. It takes more effort from me as I have to entertain her instead and entertaining a 4 week old is not very easy! She's still awake for HOURS and HOURS though...

DD - I tried putting her in her cot awake last night - I knew she'd been changed, she was warm enough and I'd just fed her a full feed and had winded her. Well she fussed like mad for a whole TWO minutes - mainly because she could get her arms and legs sorted so she could lie on her side comfortably - and then fell asleep. Normally I'd have picked her up after 20 seconds of crying, so it was big progress! She then slept almost 5 hours, woke up for a feed, went straight back to sleep and woke up 3 hours later... so I got nearly 8 hours sleep last night. Yay!

No doubt it won't work tonight, but I'll have a go. Luckily DH is dead to the world once he's asleep so even though she's in our room she can scream as much as she wants and he doesn't wake up.

T-Gal - Thanks for confirming that you can do AESY as well as EASY!

Courtney - LOL, I do the same highlight and copy thing as well, and always get caught out the times I forget

. I so feel for you over the going back to work thing - aren't there any advocates in your government for better maternity leave for all of you? 12 weeks is still so little...

Cdt - I hear you on the OMG people do this more than once

feeling - between my pregnancy, the lawsuit, the birth and the first week nightmares I am so not having another one! I spent the whole of the first week and much of the second crying my eyes out!

Just out of interest do you guys have midwives etc who come to visit you at home everyday for the first 10 days and then once a week for the next month or anything like that?

On the formula, I had Daisy on nearly all formula at one point as I had pretty much zero milk until almost 3 weeks in and the advice I was given by the neonatologist and the midwives was to only feed a smallish amount at a time like 40 - 50ml and to feed it to her quite slowly so that her tummy had time to decide it was full rather than me deciding that she should finish the bottle. If you give a bottle fast they will drink it all down and then end up with wind and probably overly full and then throw it back up. On the breast they will feed for between 15 - 45 minutes as they have to work harder to get the milk, Daisy is pretty quick and is normally done after 20 minutes whereas she can finish a bottle in 5 minutes and will ask for more, even though she's getting the same amount with either method.

Also if one continually gives large amounts their stomach will increase and they will want more - this contributes to their weight gain being above what it should be. Quite often even if they are whingey it's not that they want more food (although they will nearly always eat more if you offer it even if they are full) they're just being a PITA...

Drove me crazy until I worked that one out recently - I was so paranoid after her losing so much weight in hospital and being so dehydrated that I was shovelling food down her and it still didn't necessarily get her to sleep.

Lucky you on the carseat - D goes ballistic in the car and hates the carseat...

Love the pictures - and the milk drunk look is so great!

 

[cdt1101]

Mustanggal - thanks!! We think he''s pretty cute too

Pandora - I definitely think part of the problem is over-feeding. I''m trying to reduce his intake, but sometimes when he''s screaming his head off and bottle quiets him, it''s hard not to just go to the bottle...i know, bad mommy. But it''s a learning process for all of us!

We definitely don''t have anyone come and check on us here. You leave the hospital and are on your own

I know we''ll figure it out, but it''s really sad and frustrating to listening to your little cry for hours and hours.

 

[MustangGal]

Pandora, your health care and maternity leave sounds so much better across the pond! I only had 8 weeks of leave, since I hadn''t been at my current job for a year before having the baby. If I had been there a year, then I would have received 12 weeks. And it''s not paid here, you have to use whatever time off you have saved up, and short-term disability insurance (which only pays 6-8 weeks). As for midwives visiting, that would have been very helpful! All I had was the pedi visit us in the hospital, then we took the baby to his office 2 days after going home, then again at 2 weeks, and after that just every 2 months. I was actually a bit amazed that they just kick you out of the hospital with these little screaming bundles of joy with not much direction on what to do with them!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Pandora Yippeeee! That is a big success! Yes, now it won''t work again tonight

but it will work tomorrow! Grandually it will work more than it doesn''t. I think if D starts sleeping more at night she may nap better too. And you can use the same techniques to help her nap in the day.

We also have midwifery care if you want it (you choose regular doc or midwife care) and it is as you describe: at home visits the first couple weeks then clinic visits after that until 6 weeks when care is transferred to the baby''s regular family doctor.

CDT I am so sorry honey! My friend''s son was a cryer like that, so was Pavelover''s son Tyler. It is so hard. But it gets better! And keep experimenting with solutions, maybe you will find things that work. Hang in there! And those pictures are AWESOME!