PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[lulu66]

thank you everyone for your sweet welcome & kind words!

quick question: nursing pads. how often do you change yours? after every feeding or more often? also, do you wear them all the time?

Ellie is 10 days old today & sleeping all.the.time. I've read newborns should sleep around seventeen hours; she is sleeping at least 20 (really more than that). I have to wake her for every feeding. my mom said we all slept A LOT (my baby book reports I sttn at 3 1/2 wks), but I'm worried Ellie's sleeping too much. thoughts?

 

[amc80]

quick question: nursing pads. how often do you change yours? after every feeding or more often? also, do you wear them all the time?

Ellie is 10 days old today & sleeping all.the.time. I've read newborns should sleep around seventeen hours; she is sleeping at least 20 (really more than that). I have to wake her for every feeding. my mom said we all slept A LOT (my baby book reports I sttn at 3 1/2 wks), but I'm worried Ellie's sleeping too much. thoughts?

I only wore them when leaving the house. I never leaked, they were just for my peace of mind.

I'd say as long as she is gaining weight, let her sleep. B wasn't gaining so we were supposed to wake him every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night...but he never slept anywhere close to 3-4 hours so it wasn't an issue.

 

[lliang_chi]

Lulu, yes we woke Ethan for feedings too. Don't sweat that she's sleeping too much. Did she have any jaundice in the hospital? Ethan did and they said that's why he was so sleepy. Nursing pads, I wore them all the time. I got bamboo reusable ones, and just kept them on all the time. I would only switch them if they were soaked through. In the early days of BFing, you'll likely leak a lot as your supply gets regular. By the time E was 6 months, I stopped wearing them.

MP, How's little Ev today? Did you try the RnP for sleep?

PPM

Pancake, waah! I can't believe how big our babies are getting! 10 months already! I'm sure you're going ot be just fine by the time you go back to work. What is your plan for childcare? Thanks for the rundown of S's diet. I started giving Ethan deli meats and he LOVES it. And I'm sure it's easy for me to say this, but having a Velcro baby that's as cute as S doesn't seem like too bad of a deal. I just want to pinch her cheeks!

NEL, we haven't given Ethan bread much, mostly because we just don't eat a lot of bread at home. Maybe they give him some at daycare. But he's eaten lots of noodles, rice and other grains. I can't believe how tall K is getting. Ethan is a little shortie compared to his girlfriend. I think he was like 28" or so. But he's a little chunker, he's like 24 lbs or something like that. He still fits in his 9m clothes, but I think we'll be moving to 12m soon. And like I said with Pancake, I'll take a Velcro Katie, she's a cutie patootie! So funny you say she likes to dance. Ethan has little dance parties of his own too! I can't believe K's standing etc. That's awesome. Ethan's pulling up like a pro, but hasn't decided to let go of anything yet.

Bobbin, wow, C's such a great eater. Do you give C soft cooked veggies or the same way you eat them? Aw, it's so cute how you describe how C is when she's scared. So great that she's pulling herself up. Sounds like she'll be crawling soon.

Lastly sharing a pic of Story Time with Daddy

 

[monkeyprincess]

Ah, y'all always make me feel so much better. I am going to try really hard not to let other people's comments bother me.I really do not think we are push overs when it comes to comforting Ev. We wait to make sure he is not going to be able to soothe himself before picking him up etc. We are also making an effort to have him sleep anywhere but in our arms. But due to his spitting up issues, I have to hold him upright after he eatsfor at least 30 minutes, so he falls asleep on my shoulder a lot. However, last night he slept three hours in the crib in his room. So the whole family slept for about two hours at the same time, which is rare around here. Hoping we can repeat that or increase it, but I will take baby steps for now. He is also having more and more contented time while awake these days. He still has a short fuse and is pretty fussy in the evenings, but it does seem like he is settling into life outside a little better. He loves bath time so much that I wish we could leave him in there all day

Lulu, E is a horrible sleeper, but even he slept all the time when he was brand new. I had to wake him to eat because breastfeeding didn't go well and he was not gaining weight in the beginning. Poor guy would work so hard to latch and then just fall asleep. He also had his days and nights mixed up, so he would sleep 5 hour stretches in the afternoon if we let him, so I started waking him every couple hours to make sure he ate enough and to adjust his internal clock. Oh how I wish he still slept like that!

LC, what a sweet picture of your boys. Don't you just live seeing them together? E does use pacis. I shudder to think what life would be like without them. DH vetoed the RnP after reading about flat head and tight neck problems and how hard the transition to crib can be. Crossing my fingers we start getting longer crib stretches.

Pancake, S is way too cute. LOVE her hair!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Forgot to attach this...It's a picture I snapped of Ev yesterday in honor of his 2 month birthday. This is his "are you seriously taking another picture of me, lady?" face. His legs never stop kicking once he's on that changing table. He was a good sport though before that, and I got some cute shots I need to edit later

 

[lliang_chi]

MP, Ev is such a handsome little man! And you guys are doing MUCH better than we are with Ev. When Ethan cries we still are pretty quick to get him when he fusses/cries. Our place is TINY and it takes all of 20 secs to get to him. So I've taken to telling myself ot finish up whatever I'm doing and THEN going to get him.

 

[amc80]

I've managed to move B's bedtime a little earlier! He's been going to bed before 9 (probably around 8:30) the past few nights. He had been waking up to eat around 11:30, but last night I let him just be fussy for a few minutes and he fell back asleep (yay!). He slept until about 4am, and then until 6:45 (somehow he managed to cry about 5 seconds before my alarm went off). So he's definitely going for longer stretches. And a major development, he's now able to fall asleep on his own. Before, I would have to make sure he was sound asleep before putting him in his crib. Now, I can put him in there awake and he will fall asleep within 10 minutes or so. We bought a Baby Einstein Sea Dream Soother (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12482416&CAWELAID=1177406902&pla=plat&cagpspn=pla) and he loves it. This is super handy for the MOTN feedings...no more staying awake until he falls asleep.

 

[lliang_chi]

AMC, hooray for B's earlier bedtime and awesome sleeping. And hooray for putting himself to sleep too! You're on a roll mama! Hoping it stays that way for you guys

So I was saying that Ethan hasn't repeated his awesome almost STTN performance from 8PM - 4AM. Last night I checked his diaper around 10:30, which gently roused him a little. I put him back to bed and didn't have high hopes that he'll sleep through. Oh yeah he did! Woke up @ 4:30 for some milk! Yay! So just so you know the whole "Wake to Sleep" thing can occasionally work. But I'd wait until the baby's older, and only if he's waking habitually (e.g. you can set a clock to it).

 

[missrachelk]

Hi lulu! If your nipples are cracked/ bleeding at all or were and are healing change the oafs frequently. When you're injured it's an environment infection and yeast loves so an ounce of prevention is worth a little waste. Also the reusable pads need to be washed each time not just dried out ( not realizing this aggravated my thrush early on) I prefer the nuk brand 'sposies even though they aren't contoured they're very breathable. I'm only just now not using them but again I had thrush and was using ointment I didnt want all over my clothes.

Sleepy newborn is very common! See how she is gaining before you stress - if she is gaining well let her sleep!

Welcome!

 

[pancake]

LC - storytime is too cute! Dot is loving books at the moment too, she is obsessed with one particular one and gets excited whenever she sees it. Re childcare - I'm starting 4 days a week, my mum will do 3 days and my MIL wil do the remaining day. We'll see how it goes - fortunately I am going back to research so the worst that can happen is that I drop to a 3 day load and things slow down a bit, much more flexible than a clinical position. Not so good for income, but we'll be ok.

Fantastic news re Ethan's improved night sleep! Go E! Go L!

MP - thank you! Dot's hair is pretty funny. Everyone who knows us comments on how D and Dot have "father-daughter hair" Everett is so handsome! Looking at that last photo you posted, you can almost imagine him as an older kid and teenager... I think he is going to be one good-looking boy!

lulu - the sleeping is pretty normal. Dot took much longer to start having alert periods than other newborns I have known, I think it must have been a good 4 weeks or more before we started having maybe one "play" period per day. Before that it was really eat-burp-change-sleep, rinse and repeat. As the others have said, you don't need to worry unless she's difficult to rouse, not gaining weight, obviously jaundiced, etc.

Re nursing pads: I LOVE the Lansinoh ones (just the regular ones), they are by far the most comfortable and absorbent disposable ones I've found. Otherwise, I also like Lanawool as the wool wicks moisture better than bamboo or cotton and feels drier against the skin. I just changed as necessary - for the first few months I had issues with oversupply quite a bit and I always had fairly torrential letdown, so I was changing a few times a day, sometimes I would double up with a disposable one under a wool one. Now (at 10 months) I put one pair in in the morning, and change it after having my shower in the evening. But I have never been able to give up wearing them entirely.

Kunzite - thank you! I can't believe how much M looks like O, it's spooky! And so funny how O is like a gestalt of M and E

AMC, FWIW we found that Dot started sleeping significantly better with an earlier bedtime from about 4 months onward - it just got earlier and earlier until it settled at around 6:30; it was around this time that she started STTN ("our" version of STTN, so 8+ hours, not the conventional definition of STTN for breastfed babies!). Like you, we found she slept much longer if she went down earlier. I have heard it said that the "magic window" for babies is between 6 and 8pm. Dot still goes to bed at 7 (or earlier if she's a bit short on her naps) and is like absolute clockwork.

AFU, we're great here! Dot has finally decided it's time to get on the move at at the moment is very competently (but frustratedly) going backwards when on her tummy. She is starting to try to get up on hands and knees but isn't quite there yet; when she gets her arms up, she can't get her knees under her, and when she has her knees up then her front half collapses She is wildly curious about things and is getting much more tenacious about it, which I think was the bit that was lacking before - previously she'd want to check something out but if she couldn't reach it she'd just be happy to hang out with whatever she could get her hands on, or talk to the ceiling, or chat to herself - so it'll be interesting to see what she's like once she's moving a bit more effectively!

 

[pavelover]

What a sweet picture! He looks really chill.

 

[monarch64]

Happy Holidays to all. We attended my company's Christmas dinner this evening, and the lovely young wife (she's 21!) of my co-worker (he's 20!) though to snap a pic of me and our darling daughter during this special moment. I was overjoyed to see how beautiful it turned out.

 

[mayerling]

Hi everyone's and hello and we,come to all the new ladies on this thread. I haven't been posting very often lately, but I still follow the thread religiously.

N is turning into a tall baby. He's been in 6-9 clothing for about a month now. Unfortunately, in the UK they don't measure length until 1 year so I don't know what his exact measurements are. We're going back home for the holidays, though, so I'll get him measured there. He's still sleeping ins his crib with a bit of shushing/singing and no rocking. It takes him quite a while to fall asleep that way (around 45 mins) but we have never given in and rocked him. He also gave us his first 8 hour stretch after we started ding this instead of rocking him. His naps are a bit better as well. I think he's finally started consolidating them. Looking back on this thread, I know that at times it felt like it would never get better but it has. He now naps for about 45 mins in the morning, and at least 45 mins to an hour at other times in the day (for N who used to only do 25 mins in my arms this is major improvement). He extended his naps on his own. He's on a 3-nap schedule at the moment, with two hours awake between naps and 3 hours between the last nap and bedtime.I rock him for the first nap but set him down in his crib when he falls asleep. For the other two, I push him in his fully reclined stroller until he falls asleep, and then I park him in the dining room so he can take his nap in peace. Bedtime is still 8pm but I'd like to move it forward at some point. We're going home for the holidays and with the two-hour time difference things are bound to get screwed up, though.

Veteran ladies, at what time did your babies wake up for the day around 5-6 months? When I say wake up for the day, I mean proper waking up, i.e. with activity time, not wake up at 6, take a feed and sleep for another hour or two.

Finally, since I don't know when I'll be able to post again, I want to say that I'll really miss LC, NEL, and Pancake, when they graduate to the toddler thread. I loved reading about Ethan, Katie, and Sylvie when I was pregnant and their experiences prepared me for when N arrived.

 

[JGator]

MP, my in-laws who are coming today for 3 weeks believe I spoil the baby by picking her up when she cries. I feel your pain. It really bugs me too. Ev is absolutely adorable.

LC, love the Ethan reading photo - absolutely precious.

K will be 7 weeks tomorrow. I think she is close to 10 lbs now. She is getting a mix of formula, pumped milk, and breast milk (direct). I am not sure how long I will be able to keep up the breast feeding. When I pump, I am still not getting much (sometimes 2 ounces, and on a good session 3 ounces). I pump about 3-4 times a day, and feed her directly about 2-3 times a day and the rest is formula. She has had some green poopy diapers recently. I read that can be from not getting enough hind milk...does anyone have any experience with this? She also is still congested sounding - mainly at night and early AM. When I took her to the doctor a few weeks ago, they said she was fine and that babies sound congested and that it's normal but she didn't used to sound like this. We started interviewing nannies today. I think our first candidate will likely not get the job - we'll have to see how the others do. She clearly would be great with her as a baby, but not sure as she grows into a toddler due to her accent/English, and also she is has clear opinions and I'm not sure she will adapt her ways to ours if necessary.

 

[amc80]

Jgator- the green poop could be the formula. B's poop is almost always green now.

 

[pancake]

Jgator, I don't really believe in the hindmilk/foremilk thing - I just think of it all as milk. The green stools are probably related to formula. Good luck with the nanny-interviewing process! I hope you find someone really fantastic for your beautiful little girl

Mayerling, thank you - am really touched by what you said about Ethan, Sylvie and Katie! Still a couple of months off migrating though, Dot is only 10 months now, so hopefully some more fun to be had in this thread yet! Re your question, At 5-6 months Dot was waking around 8:30am. She was getting up for a feed around 6:30-7am, then going back to bed for a good hour to an hour and a half. She was still doing this until the last few weeks or a month ago, when I started pushing her wake up time a bit later. She always wakes and chats between 6 and 6:30, and previously we would get her up for a feed then. However, after some experimentation I have found that she usually goes back to sleep, and currently she gets up around 7:30 and we start our day then.

Monarch - that's a beautiful photo!

All good here (since what, yesterday? haha). Dot is figuring out the crawling thing slowly. Time to put her down for her morning nap!

 

[monkeyprincess]

LC, that is great you are making progress on the sleep. We had E in his crib alone in his room for over 6 hours last night, but it was mainly in hour long increments. He moves so much! I watch him on the monitor and am amazed he even makes it that long! I think he is still lacking in self soothing abilities.

Amc, glad to hear things are going better for you at night too. Also glad to hear he likes that sea dream soother thing. We got it as a gift but he is not interested in yet, but hopefully he will be soon.

Monarch, such a sweet pic of mommy and baby.

JGator, E has had a bit of congestion too lately. I bought a nosefrida thing and that seems to help a bit although E hates it most of the time. Hope the time with your in laws goes well. My MIL lves in town but I tolerate her best in small doses.

Pancake, ha, thanks. E is pretty much a mini me of his daddy, so I happen to agree he will be a good looking boy I second Mayerling's comment that I love following you, NEL, and LC's journeys to and through motherhood. Glad I get to be in the club with you now and to yave your support and advice!

Mayerling, yay, glad to hear things are going better for you and N. Gives me hope we will eventually settle into a routine around here.

AFU, things are going okay. Still getting the crying spells. I am thinking the fact he can be soothed when I hold him in the bathroom with the water running and looking at the lights means his crying is not due to pain and more of a colicky type thing. I keep hoping a change in formula will be a magical cure, but that is probably not the case. In the past week, he has figured out how to get his hand in his mouth, so he sucks them a lot when he drops his paci. He also has started grabbing and rubbing his face all the time, so he keeps scratching himself. But he gets furious when we cover his hands. He is a fiesty little thing. I love how much he recognizes his daddy and me now and gives us a big smile when we come up to him. I will never be able to get enough of that smile!

For those of you have dealt with torticollis/plagiocephaly, how much assymmetry did you notice on your baby? E heavily favored his right side initially, but he know seems to turn his head to the left equally. But when I look at his head in the mirror, I notice that his forehead sticks out slightly more on the right side, and I notice other angles make him look a bit assymmetrical. Obviously no baby is perfectly symmetrical, but I worry he has some positional flattening. Plus he was crammed to one side during much of my pregnancy so that probably contributed. I try to make him alternate the way he turns his head. I also try to do tummy time but he melts down every time after a couple minutes and refuses to be calmed down with toys or me comforting him. So hard to ruin his somewhat rare good moods with tummy time. What else should I be doing? I so hope it is not bad enough to require a helmut because I can only imagine that would make him even grumpier. I feel like we cannot catch a break - acid refux, colic, sleeping and napping issues, and now this. We aren't given more than we can handle though. . . right??? That said, the horrific massacre in CT reminded me that I need to be grateful rather than feel sorry for myself. We have a healthy baby when so many others are dealing with the loss of a child, a sick child or infertility.

 

[dani13]

Hi girls!!

How's everyone doing? Hope you all had a great weekend, considering we all cannot get the horrific incident in CT out of our minds Seems like now that DH and I are parents, it just hits so much closer to home.

Things are going well with us. L is a pretty happy baby, and such a good boy. He had his moments in the beginning, but seemed to turn the corner at 7-8 wks and just seems to be getting better and better each day. He is smiling, cooing, even belly laughing. Its just the cutest thing. A couple of things that are somewhat perplexing are that all of a sudden he is giving my DH a hard time with the bottle. He is pretty much EBF, except for one bottle of breast milk at the midnite feeding so that my hubs can feed him and I can get some rest. We introduced it pretty quickly, and he was always fine with it. Now the past week or so, he's been swatting it away and spitting out the milk at times when DH feeds him. Its so weird! Another thing is that the boy will NOT sleep in his crib. He'll sleep in his rock and play and his swing, and even in bed with me. The minute you put him in his crib, he starts screaming. I think we're creating a monster because I've just been letting him sleep in bed with me lately and its fine for now, especially with the nursing its so much easier, but I'm sure we are making it harder for ourselves in the end when we have to transition him to the crib. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice about this stuff? Sometimes I feel like Im just flying by the seat of my pants!!!

Another thing, do bf babies EVER sleep through the night? He's still waking up every 3 hours to eat, and Im wondering if it will ever really change that much? Im still on maternity leave so its ok for now, but Im wondering how Im going to deal with it when I go back to work in Feb. Right now, since DH is a night owl but he has to go to work in the am, he does the 12mn feeding, and then puts him in my room after that, and I care for him all night. DH sleeps in the guest room so he can get a good nights sleep. Im just starting to get a little worried when I think about having to function all day at work on minimal sleep!!!

Monarch, that pic of you and A is precious. I love when they get that heavy eyed look. Its so cute!!

MP, Im sorry E is a tough little cookie. Did you ever end up getting the swing? Is it helping? L constantly has his hands in his mouth too....I think he is going to be quite the thumb sucker!!! He's also scratching his face quite a bit. I try to keep his nails short, but he still manages to do it. I put the mitts on him at night, but his hands are getting so big now, dont know how much longer they are going to fit! And I cant find them larger than 3 month size in the stores!!! Can you believe he is already 15 lbs!!! I hope things get better for you soon, my dear!!! They say these kiddos really turn the corner at around 12 wks. Hang in there!!!

On a side note, is anyone else really missing being preggo? I have to admit, Im seeing all of these pregnancy announcements on FB and pregnant women out and about, and Im having little twinges of jealousy!!! I never thought I would say that considering how uncomfortable I was during my pregnancy, but its true. You definitely forget the bad moments. I would do it over again a million times for my little boy though. It was so worth it!!!

 

[amc80]

For those of you have dealt with torticollis/plagiocephaly, how much assymmetry did you notice on your baby? E heavily favored his right side initially, but he know seems to turn his head to the left equally. But when I look at his head in the mirror, I notice that his forehead sticks out slightly more on the right side, and I notice other angles make him look a bit assymmetrical. Obviously no baby is perfectly symmetrical, but I worry he has some positional flattening. Plus he was crammed to one side during much of my pregnancy so that probably contributed. I try to make him alternate the way he turns his head. I also try to do tummy time but he melts down every time after a couple minutes and refuses to be calmed down with toys or me comforting him. So hard to ruin his somewhat rare good moods with tummy time. What else should I be doing? I so hope it is not bad enough to require a helmut because I can only imagine that would make him even grumpier. I feel like we cannot catch a break - acid refux, colic, sleeping and napping issues, and now this. We aren't given more than we can handle though. . . right??? That said, the horrific massacre in CT reminded me that I need to be grateful rather than feel sorry for myself. We have a healthy baby when so many others are dealing with the loss of a child, a sick child or infertility.

B's head was really flat around the 3 month mark. Everyone said that was when it would be the worse, and they were right. I just noticed this weekend that it's starting to round out a bit. So I wouldn't stress too much. He does really favor looking to the right, however. He always sleeps with his head turned that way. He has no problems looking the other way, but definitely favors one side. We'll position him so he's forced to look the other way, and he does fine.

AFU- B slept through the night last night, and actually slept until after my alarm went off. We initially put him down around 7:45, since he was very fussy and obviously tired. He slept for 10 minutes or so and wasn't happy with his new bed time. He ended up going to sleep for good around 9 (after I pulled him out of his crib, rocked him, and let him watch the end of the 49ers game ), and then he was out. He did fuss a couple of times throughout the night, but overall it was great.

 

[Skippy123]

I wanted to pop in and Wish everyone a Happy 1st Christmas, Hanukkah or Holiday to all you new mommas with your little ones!!!! Each holiday gets better and better w/your little one!!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

MP, I forget--is E in PT? If so, have they measured him? K was in PT from about 8 weeks until about 9.5 months and her asymmetry went from 7mm to 3mm in that timeframe. At our practice, 6mm @ 6 months was the minimum for a helmet to be covered under insurance. Her head will likely always be 2 - 3mm off (the symmetry of your head at 12 months stays the same for life).

How do E's ears look? You mention his forehead is starting to look asymmetric--that happened with K as well (it's now symmetric). Our PT said that it's the ears you really have to look out for. If one starts looking lower than the other, that is more difficult to correct. In addition to the daily exercises/stretches, our PT had us do a few things:

1. No Rock and Play. Even with rolled up swaddles, it's too easy for them to get in their "preferred" position.
2. No swing. The force of the swing (either side to side or front to back) puts more pressure on the back of the head, so it exacerbates the issue
3. Sleeping on side instead of back. This surprised me given the school of thought around "back is best", but our PT wanted K off of the back of her head as much as possible. I wedged her on her side using rolled up towels. We did this even when she started to roll. Eventually she became stronge enough to push the towels out of her way and sleep however she wanted.

Good luck! K was also diagnosed with acid reflux and torticolis/plagiocephaly at the same time. And I was prepping for going back to work. But it ended up being just fine and I know E will be fine, too.

Mayerling, you're so sweet to mention Sylvie, Ethan and Katie! This thread has been wonderful for me and I love seeing all of the new mamas join. My coworker always says "the days are long, but the years are short" and while K isn't a year yet, I can definitely see the truth in the saying.

 

[monkeyprincess]

NEL, thanks for the info! E has not been assessed yet. He has his two month appointment on Wednesday (a week late), and I will ask our ped to take a look and see if we have a problem. He is nine weeks, so that shouldn't be too late to address any issues, right? From front on, I don't notice any issues and he looks pretty muchsymmetrical, but if I look at the top of his head in the mirror, I can see that one ear is closer to his face than the other one. Is that what you are talking about? It is not a huge difference, but enough to notice. I don't notice any particularly flat spots on his head. The back of his head is rounded and everything. Hopefully, I will know more soon after the appointment.

Amc, was B's head flat in the back or on the side? So happy for you that he is sleeping pretty well. We got a 4 hour stretch last night in the crib and a couple stretches of less than an hour.

Dani, I so hope things start improving around 12 weeks. Would just love to have more of my smiley guy and less of Mr. Grumpypants. E doesn't like swings and we never got a RnP, but based on what NEL said, it is probably for the best. I wish I knew how to get babies to like their cribs. E would probably be a great sleeper if wr let him sleep in the bed, but we are both pretty firm on not doing that. Too paranoid. We have to put E in his crib in a deep sleep, and once he is fully awake, he wants out. he does seem to do a little better in his crib than he was doing in the PnP. Wish we had made the switch to his room earlier. As for missing being pregnant, not so much for me! I was so big and uncomfortable at the end and had horrible acid reflux. But I guess I wouldn't mind being in the cute second trimester stage again. That said, DH thinks I am crazy, but I am already thinking about another baby and how fun it would be to see what another baby of ours would look like and what his or her personality would be. If I end up with another one with E's temperment, I will ask for a refund! Just kidding. As much as I complain, I love this kid so much! It is going to feel like I am missing an appendage when I go back to work and have to leave him. I am in denial it is happening soon.

 

[pancake]

Dani, I don't miss being pregnant (apart from feeling the kicks and squirms), but I DO get pangs of envy when I see heavily pregnant women, have felt that since...pretty much since we brought Dot home from hospital! I think it's just that I have loved all of it so much, I had a terrific L&D, a pretty fantastic first 6 weeks, and then it's just got better and better since, so I just look at these women who have it all ahead of them and I wish I could rewind and do it all over again!

That said, it is true that it just keeps getting better. Every new stage Dot reaches is the best yet

MP, doesn't sound like E has any major problems with plagiocephaly. In any case, there is loads and loads and LOADS of time to sort it out, so don't stress! All babies have some degree of asymmetry, it's just a matter of how significant it is. Re fussiness - things WILL get easier. The first three months are the fussiest, the peak is around 6-8 weeks, and most babies settle down significantly after the 12 week mark or so (but that is not a "hurdle" or anything, it's just the time around which most babies start to calm down a bit). I often wonder how I will feel if I have a fussy baby second time round - Dot has been a breeze and I am well aware of how lucky we are that our introduction to parenting has been so fuss-free - and sometimes worry that I won't be "able" to love the baby as much (?) as odd and horrible as that sounds. I do KNOW that I will, though, so I think it'll just be a bit of a shock to the system, I'll probably be like a first-time mother all over again!!

 

[amc80]

Amc, was B's head flat in the back or on the side?

Both. B came out in a less than ideal way and had a giant hematoma on the back/left of his head. His pediatrician said that it could just be swelling, in which case it would go down in a week or so...or it could be trapped blood and would take up to a year. It ended up taking over a month to go down. It was really bad, his ear was bent a weird shape and was no where near symmetrical with the other side. Now, he sleeps facing the right, so I'm wondering if that's because it initially hurt for him to sleep on the left. I attached a picture where you can see the angle of his left ear. It's all straight now, however.

 

[Buttons]

Drumroll please ladies, I have broadband back!!!

I am so far behind on this thread, hope to do better from here on out...

monkey T's head at birth looked just like amc's photo of B. Because T descended part way through the cervix he had significant moulding on his head, but it was way off centre because of the awkward angle he had his head at. Then he had a huge bruise further over towards the centre of his head from where they tried the ventouse extraction. It all took about six weeks to go down I think, maybe a little longer? Looking at his head from the back or the top it seems perfectly round now, but I must inspect it a bit more closely. He has no more medical appointments till 6 months I think so if I don't check it no-one else will. Can I just say how well I think you are coping with all that is being thrown at you? E is a lucky little baby to have the Mummy he has. Love the photo, he is a real looker

pancake I love reading your posts so much, you are such a wonderful cheerleader for everyone here! And every time you say 'every new stage is the best stage yet' my heart just soars I am already learning that you are dead right about that

NEL I love that expression you shared from your co-worker, how true that is!

Skippy thank you for the holiday wishes! I am so excited this year

Dani we also have a babba who doesn't like his crib, in fact he doesn't even like sleeping in his bassinet. If I put him in there I'd say 8 times out of 10 he wakes up after 10 minutes and is outraged. He just doesn't like sleeping on his own at all I think. Re STTN, I think that very much depends on the baby. T has done 5hr+ stretches three times now (such bliss, those nights!!!), which technically counts as STTN, but most of the time it's 2/3 hr stretches regular as clockwork. One of the girls in my baby massage group had an EBF 5 month old who was still on a 2hr schedule, other girls had EBF babies who were STTN at 12 weeks or so. We are co-sleeping and DH doesn't even notice when T wakes up during the night. I have to wake up of course to latch him on but I usually fall asleep again before he finishes so my sleep is only minimally disturbed. It's amazing though how even that minimal disturbance messes with your energy for the next day!!! Being pregnant, hmmmm, I miss some aspects of it like feeling the movements and having my little chats with T without him crying at me(!) I don't miss how it was by the end though, and in fairness I had an easy time of it.... so in short I think you are a mad woman!

JGator I could have written your post! T had green poo at about that age too, my LC said some variation is normal and not to worry. It returned to mustard pretty quick and has been mustard ever since. T is also very congested sounding, which I have been putting down to him being a section baby. Interesting to hear it is common in all babies! Also re the MILs, mine believes parents who hold their babies too much spoil them, but that those rules don't apply to grandmothers... the last time we saw her I had to physically pry him off her to feed him, and that was after informing her he was hungry; then asking her to hand him over; then telling her my boobs were sore and his crying was causing let down so I was soaked; and then asking DH to ask her to hand him over...

mayerling yay for the regular nap schedule! I bet you are super excited to go home for the holidays

monnie that photo is adorable

lliang what a precious photo! Big Joe's Trailer Truck looks to be an absolutely engrossing read

lulu welcome!!! When I wear them, I try to change nursing pads at every feed as I leak a crazy amount (my right nipple got very damaged from T's tongue tie and has healed funny, so milk just pours of it). I find them a right faff though when I am out and about, as I can't seem to remove and replace them discreetly, so I have stopped wearing them during the day. At night I wear disposable ones about 50% of the time but I am thinking about ordering some washable ones. I didn't wear any last night and woke up this morning and discovered the sheets and T's onesie were both gone all cardboard-y from leaked milk that had dried during the night. So gross. Will be putting on pads again tonight! I sometimes wear breast shells around the house and I can collect about 2oz a day from the right side that way, and another 2oz at night. I find the shells shift and leak though, which is more uncomfortable than just the regular gradual leakage over a few hours. We also found T was sleepy in the beginning. The LC's advice was that providing his weight gain was OK (which it was) not to let him go longer than 4 hours between feeds during the day.

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AFU T is now 11 weeks and is so smiley and happy and full of chat. He does this whimpering routine when he's trying to wake up but as soon as he gets his eyes open and sees us he just BEAMS. It makes my heart soar! He also BEAMS when I sing to him - I especially love this as I was banned from singing in the house or car as a child as it upset my siblings. At last someone appreciates my vocal stylings!

BF is going really well now, his latch still isn't perfect but OMG it is so much better. I wasn't sure we would ever make it to this point but I am so glad we persevered. He gets one bottle of EBM per day to try and avoid bottle rejection later (Dani I forgot to ask above, I hope things are going better for you this week with the bottle?) - he doesn't much like it but he takes it

As I said above, he is doing regular enough 3 hour stretches at night, and he has done 5/6 hours three times now. Two of those longer stretches were over the weekend so I am hoping that is a sign he is settling. It has been very hard to establish a routine while we were moving house and now with Christmas as we seem to be constantly on the road. He is very much nocturnal and I hope that isn't a pattern (I have some tendencies that way myself, and my mother is unreal, she never goes to bed before 3am). Once Christmas is over us I hope we will get more settled and be able to establish a good routine.

Does anyone have any advice on how to put baby down to sleep for the night when you don't want to leave them alone? DH choked as a 3 month old baby and only survived because MIL happened to pass the room and hear him and she saved him, so he is terrified of something like that happening to T, and especially now that his tongue tie has been released. A baby monitor won't allay his fears, he has to have T in the same room as us or he won't feel at ease. We can't put ourselves to bed at 7pm though so I don't know what to do!

He got his 2 month shots yesterday and sailed through them. He roared for about 5 seconds and then calmed down instantly when I put him on to feed. The nurse told me to give him Calpol (infant paracetamol) last night which I did. We checked his temp regularly and it never went up. He was more clingy last night and a bit grizzly but that was it. My little trooper!!!

Someone asked for a more recent picture so I have attached one of him doing his tummy time in his activity mat

 

[monkeyprincess]

Buttons, nice to have you back! Wee Button is just the cutest. I wish E enjoyed tummy time like that! Thanks for the compliment. I don't have it tougher than anyone else. We are all dealing with challenges with our little ones.

We actually had a good night last night with 2 three hour stretches separated by a change (wet through the back of his diaper somehow) and a feeding. Yay! He has also been quite a sweetheart today. Got to be thankful for these kind of days!

Anyone have a City Mini? Found a good deal on one, but having a hard time committing. Let me know what you think of it if you have one!

 

[S&I]

MP, we have a city mini that we use inside our house. I know, kind of excessive, but A likes to be strolled around. We also have the city elite as our regular stroller. Absolutely love the one-hand fold! The city mini is pretty light for a full-sized stroller too. It's so easy to push around, even with one hand. I think Pancake also has a city mini and a city select too.

 

[amc80]

Just got back from B's 4m wellness check. The nurse thought he was there for his 6m appointment, since he's apparently well over the size of a 6m old. He's 27.5" and 17lbs7oz .

He has an enlarged testicle and needs to get an ultrasound. The doc thinks it's a hydrocele, which is what I suspected as well (thanks, Dr. Google).

We got the okay to start him on rice cereal. Actually we were encouraged to do so once I mentioned B regularly eats around 36oz of formula a day.

 

[monkeyprincess]

S&I, do you think the city mini would work well as an all purpose stroller? It would mainly be used for walks on walking trails or in stores. Hope you and your little guy are doing well!

Amc, what a big boy! We will find out how E measures up tomorrow. Sorry B needs an ultrasound. Hope everything is okay! I think I forgot to mention it on here, but E had an ultrasound in Nov, because I found a hard bump on his temple. Turns out it is a dermoid cyst, which we will likely remove when he is 18-24 months unless it grows and becomes more noticeable before then. He slept through his ultrasound.

 

[pancake]

Hey MP, I do indeed - as S&I said (amazing memory S!) - have both the Select and the Mini. If you are looking to take it onto unsealed trails etc, then I would recommend you fork out the extra for the Mini GT as it has proper air-filled tyres and will be a much smoother ride. The Mini is a terrific suburban/city stroller - light, folds flat, folding mechanism is a dream (like all Baby Joggers), HUGE canopy - but when compared to a stroller with air tyres (my Select has the forever air tyres) it's not as smooth. Babies probably like the extra bumps but I love how smooth the drive is with my Select. But if you're mostly on sealed footpaths and pavements, the Mini would be a terrific workhorse stroller and I have several friends who have it as their only stroller and love it.