PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[Puppmom]

SS, yikes! Shot across the room? Yuck!

I put oil on Nolan's head for the cradle cap. I actually put it on after the bath then brush it. It seems to help but he doesn't have much hair.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

re naps... sometimes J is 30-45min and sometimes it's 2 hours. and his 'night' sleep doesn't necessarily correlate with nap length, aka he could sleep his regular 12-13 hours and end up with a 30 min nap OR a 2 hour nap. there's no 'a ha' moment. it's so odd!!! and i wish i knew what the magic was. on the flip side i am just happy he sleeps at night.

Mara- you are describing N to a T! He sleeps like a champ at night (9 hours)- he goes down around 9p and i have to wake him to nurse in the wee hours of the morning. That timeslot started out at 2a. I pushed it to 3a recently, but he's gone until 4a (forgot to set the alarm!). Then he's usually up for the day at 7a. We're going to work on moving his bedtime a bit earlier

His daytime naps are soooo sporadic. I always put him down for a 9a nap, but as i mentioned before, it lasts around 1/2 hour. He'll nap randomly later in the day- depends if we're out and about. He naps on the go which i dig. So yeah, some days he naps 1/2 hour, other days it can be a total of 2 hours (rare). But he'll almost always sleep at night as per the schedule i just mentioned. So for that i'm a happy mama!

Lulu- haha- it takes a while, but he does drift off! my routine is to swaddle and bink then place him straight into the co-sleeper. I kneel next to it and stroke his forehead. oh yeah, i have the white noise machine going in the background. I do this for 10 mins then creep out while he's still awake. I usually have to go back in 2-3 more times. He always naps in the co-sleeper, nowhere else (carseat if we're on the go)

I'm working on getting his nursery together (it's a work in progress!), so will start putting him in his crib for naps. That should happen next week or so.

 

[Mara]

re: cradle cap, J still has a few flakes that wanted to hang on in one little spot that come off every once in a while, it's not bad or visually obvious at all... we use the Mustela shampoo a friend gave to us and swore by it for cc.

re: naps more consistently than sleeping all day, after 4-6 weeks J hardly ever slept in the day a whole lot, it was kind of sad... so many other babies were still blobby and he was all crazy active and taking random short naps.

 

[lovelylulu]

day 2 of arms free sleeping is going well. this morning, I'm having her nap in a sleep sack for the first time and she's doing great.

are all sleep sacks so huge/long. I'm using a size small and it's enormous!

 

[PrettyBlues]

Hi ladies, sorry I have been missing the past couple of weeks. D and I were so busy on his week off I hardly even read any of the posts, and then last week I was trying to get a bunch of stuff done around the house and was reading, but had no time to post.

I have to admit, although it was great to have D around, I was actually kind of happy when he went back to work. That sounds bad, but the entire week we were so go, go, go because we still have so much work to do on this house. We had no down time and I think it was hard on Miles to be on that schedule as well, now that he doesn't seem to nap as well when we are on the go. I guess we have hit that age now? Or do some babies always sleep wherever, whenever? M will normally still sleep while we are out, but he won't fall asleep easily, and his naps aren't as long. More like they just take the edge off.

In better news, M is now officially rolling both ways He has been doing tummy to back for a long time, but not the other way. On the weekend, he finally figured it out. He still has to work on what to do with his arms when he gets there though

re: naps. Well I spoke a bit about his naps above, but at home he naps well most of the time. However, he is not on any set schedule, and his naps times vary from 30 min to 2 hours, and I unfortunately have no idea how long each nap will go. I find it makes planning my day kind of hard. He is also still napping mostly in his swing, I know it's a habit I need to break. He just naps so much better in his swing! I plan to start working on that this week.

re: weight gain. Sigh. I only gained 20 pounds while pregnant, but I was overweight to begin with. I lost 15 fairly quickly, but have somehow managed to put back 5 of those, even with breastfeeding. I have always struggled with my weight, but I am now the heaviest I have ever been, as I had gained some weight after my Mom died and did not have a chance to lose it before I got pregnant. I also have Hashimoto's and Hypothyroid, which is not an excuse, but definitely makes it harder for me to lose. I think people would actually be surprised by the way I eat, I probably look like I eat fast food every week, when in reality my diet is full of whole grains, fruits, veggies, etc. Admittedly, it could be better but as breastfeeding has made me *so* hungry, that I feel it's the quantity rather than quality that is the issue right now. I want to start dieting and doing a serious exercise plan, but I am worried about affecting my supply. I have read up on it, and there seems to be no general consensus on what I can do - some say you can do it without issue, others say limit to this and that, some say you shouldn't do much besides walking and eating healthily. I've struggled with this because I really want to breastfeed, but I really feel my self esteem is suffering right now. I think what I am going to do is wait until he is six months (which is only a couple of weeks) and then start upping what I do, and see how it goes. Six months was my initial goal, so if my supply drops after that I'll be sad but maybe it won't be the end of the world. If anyone has any advice on the issue, I would love to hear it.

re: cradle cap, M still has a spot that won't go away. However, I was washing his hair every time he had a bath, and I have stopped that now and it only gets washed once or twice a week. But every bath he gets water poured on his head, and then I use brush him with his baby brush for a couple of minutes and it has really made a difference.

 

[somethingshiny]

Thanks for the advice on cradle cap. I use J&J Head to Toe and she only gets bathed twice a week. I think I'll try the Mustela shampoo but I can't find any in our area. I'll have to order online.

And I just have a mini-vent. I was offended a bit at first, then I found it amusing, but now I'm a bit offended again. Over the weekend I took the kids to my mom's house. She said how fat Lily is. Duh, do you know how much she eats?!? Then she said something about her chipmunk cheeks and I said, "I know, isn't she cute!?" My mom replied, "well, she looks like a girl." I said, "I think she's so pretty!" And my mom's only compliment was, "She has nice eye lashes." WTF? I don't need everyone telling me I have beautiful children or anything but thinking that my mom thinks my daughter is not cute is really p!ssing me off. I don't know why it matters but it does.

Anywho, I missed posting on BPF but this pic was taken Friday. JT is making a crazy face and I have no makeup or hair done, but I love it.

 

[mtjoya]

Hello everyone!

Just doing a drive-by post. We are off to the fair! L.A. county fair! But first we gotta pick up DH's new car. Well, used new car. He bought a Pontiac GTO. He has been pestering me that he wants a "man" car blah blah. So, he got what he wanted...but....with the condition that I upgrade my wedding band. So I guess you can call it a win-win situation. hehe!

SS-Cute pic! I love the bebe's expression! She is sooo cute! big bro is a cutie as well! I think your daughter is such a doll! I LOVE all the pics you post of her cuz she reminds me of a doll. hehe! Don't listen to your mom. My mom says funky things too but they always mean well.

 

[Burk]

Cute pics SS, LL, Mara, puppmom, MP (love the one of the two of you-so happy!) and anyone else I'm forgetting! I just love adorable baby pics!!

Not much time.....need to run and pick up kids but wanted to chime in about baby weight....big fat BOOOO to second pregnancy weight loss!!!! With T I lost all the weight by 3 months and had my "old body" back by 7. Now, here I am at 7 months and while I'm only a few lbs away from my desired weight, I'm still flabby. I look fine in clothes at least. I know a lot has to do with the amount of time I'm able to dedicate to working out (not as much as I need to) and my lack of discipline with food, but yea, second baby body is NO fun.....pretty scared of what 3rd baby body will look like!!!


Also wanted to share a funny story. My DH bet me a shopping spree (dummy didn't even dedicate a dollar amount) that Kade will be walking in a month. While I appreciate the fact that he is indeed quite mobile and will very likely walk on the early side, he is only 7 months old! He pulls up and stands next to everything and will let go and stand unassisted for a while but he's still very wobbly and isn't even really cruising that much. We're a ways away. Gotta love men. I'll let ya all know what I buy next month!!

 

[ChinaCat]

Hi girls!!! How's it going in babyland?

HH- You've gotten some great advice, and glad to hear things are looking up. I can't imagine being sick on top of all of the nursing/recovery/lack of sleep that is the first few weeks. Just know that things DO get better and even if this seems like the slowest time, it really will go by so quickly.

Love all the baby pics! It's so funny how you just get so used to what your baby is doing and it happens so gradually that it's hard to remember the difference, but I look at that picture of Nora sleeping and I'm just like OH, so sweet, O is so not a baby anymore.

Are you all dressing up your little ones for Halloween? Can't wait for the Halloween baby pics! I dressed O up in a little orange pumpkin suit last year. Not sure about this year- thinking either monkey or lion because he loves to make ooh ooh ooh monkey sounds and growl like a lion. It's so freaking cute. I had no idea he could do it. After his birthday party, I kept two of the decorations, a lion and a monkey, and hung them in his room. I was putting him to sleep and he kept pointing at the monkey and going "ooh ooh". Then he pointed at the lion and growled. I was amazed when I realized he was making the sounds!

Ok, constipation PSA here. I really hope none of you ever experiences this, but just in case:

O is often a bit constipated. Meaning he looks like he strains to go and his poop will be small, hard pellets. When that happens, I just cut down on the cheese, up his fruit intake, etc., and it's all fine. Well this weekend he was so constipated that it took him 2 days to get out what had been backed up. It was huge and so hard, he couldn't pass it. I have to say that we've been lucky and that O has never been sick and never really been in pain. Wow. I don't know how moms with sick babies stand it. He was straining so hard and SCREAMING in pain. Before we figured out how to fix it, he would run over to me and I would pick him up and he would just clutch me so hard and cry so hard for like 20-30 minutes. And still nothing. It was unbearable to watch.

So what worked for future reference:
We finally gave him a glycerine suppository. It says to ask your dr if they are under 2. My pedi said it was fine. It basically just dissolves and softens up whatever is up there. We had to give him 2 before it finally cleared out. And I had to "help" him by using q-tips and vaseline/aquaphor to break it up and soften it up so it didn't hurt so badly.
Fleet Pediatric Enema- We didn't have to use this, but this was the next step.
Miralux (or something). Add to water. Extra fiber, should help them go.

Extra fiber (food)
Prune/Apple Juice
Prune
Apricots
Oatmeal

Needless to say, it was a miserable, eye-opening experience. Thankfully we were at my parents house so I had help. But yesterday was just terrible. I am really sick, O was crying, I was crying, my mom started crying because we felt so helpless.

As to what caused it? Not sure. I think traveling tends to constipate him, plus looking back I think he had way too much cheese over a 3 day period and not enough fruit. I usually am very careful about balancing it, but since we were OOT I wasn't paying enough attention. My ped also said they see this a lot when babies transition to whole milk. Just FYI. Though O has been on whole milk for almost 2 months now so I think it was the diet.

Anyways, I know most of you are far off from the eating real food and drinking whole milk thing, but wanted you to be aware. I had NO idea what to try.

Other than that, things are great in O land. I feel so blessed that he's such a happy guy. Even in between his bouts of pain, he was running around all smily, chasing the cat. Don't think he gets that from me. I tend to be a bit grumpy at times.

 

[fieryred33143]

Poor O The same happened to S and those are very good tips. I'll keep it in mind for the next time. Do you give the miralax regularly or just when he's constipated? I've thought about it but don't know if that's ok to give regularly or not.

The q-tip with vaseline trick really helps. I also used a little bit of baby oil when I couldn't find the vaseline and I think it helped her a little more.

 

[ChinaCat]

Fiery- Oh poor Sophia, it's terrible, isn't it??? No I think the Miralax is just to ease constipation. It says it loosens stools and should produce a bm in 1-3 days. So in retrospect, when I realized O was constipated on Fri/Sat, I would have given it to him then and hopefully avoided the Sunday/Monday Days of Terror. So for me it would be to do the prunes/apricots and juice right away, then add Miralux, then the suppositories and then the enema if needed. I won't give him the Miralax unless I can tell he's constipated again.

Though I have a friend whose daughter has this often and she just goes straight to the enema as she knows it works and it's the fastest.

The things I never thought I would do.

 

[Mara]

oh no CC that sounds horrible!!! J has strained a few times and produced small or nothing but it comes out again next time/try. but yeah i imagine it would be so bad for you and the baby. good to know some tricks...we have pureed prunes in cubes in the freezer as backups to toss into his food if we need to. a suppository, yikes. i am sure that was not a pleasant experience for anyone involved.

ss... your mom sounds crazy..!! L is super cute. and who cares if she's a big girl...once she starts crawling or walking it'll all come off. i swear sometimes people are just so weird. maybe because she's your mom she thinks she can get away with stuff.

re: Halloween, J is going to be a spider once i get off my duff and order the costume!!!

J has started waking up at night at like 2am and 5am again, whereas he was only waking once at 4-5am for a while, but he's just taking a binky and a blankie and falling back asleep. it's only been a few days but he seems a little restless...could be teeth.

also i finally started using the projector on the BCM and he loves it. i put it on for him at night while he drifts off and in the morning after his big AM bottle so he'll fall back asleep easily for another 1-2 hours.

burk... yay for a shopping spree lol. my mom thinks J will walk before 10mo and i agree with her there, he is already more than 50% of the way there, walks super easily holding just our fingers, walks on his heels not his toes, pulls up and stands and balances his weight easily against objects. and when he is crawling he lifts his butt, straightens his legs and TRIES to stand up but he doesn't have that coordination yet. i am kind of scared really, but 8mo is a little soon LOL!!!!! you will soooo have a fab new wardrobe.

 

[somethingshiny]

What is the "baby crack machine?

RE: constipation. Lily was only constipated for a few days (surprisingly considering how much iron she's getting in so much formula.) JT was always constipated and still is. When he was very little, we'd try taking a rectal temp, basically same concept as qtip and vaseline. Dr thought that may "stretch" him but it didn't really do much. We did suppositories occasionally. he thing that helped the most was cycling his legs and warmth. He was colicky anyway so we were constantly wrapping him in a dryer-hot towel or putting him in warm baths. That did seem to ease his distress as he was trying to have a bm. A few times I even had to use the thermometer to basically flick out larger pellets because he got so worn out pushing. When he started eating we pushed high fiber foods and still really watch his fiber now. I know how miserable it is to see your LO in so much distress and there's so little you can do for them.

Thanks for the compliments on the kids. My mom is nuts plain and simple. I told my MIL and she was pretty PO'd too. Well, Miss Lily is screaming for more food....bye.

 

[curiousaboutdiamonds]

SS - the baby crack machine (BCM) is the homedics sound machine that has a projector that you can get at bed bath and beyond. LOVE your family picture. JT and Miss L are just adorable.

China - oh poor O. Glad he's feeling better.

Mara - re: teething - do you see or feel anything? Is J drooling or having other symptoms? Wonder what we should look out for. Spider costume sounds cute!

AFM - I think we're going through a 6 month growth spurt. She's eating more, waking up at night, and her nap schedule seems off (sleeping for shorter periods more often instead of the 1.5hr 3x a day). Someone's waking up from her short 30 min nap.

 

[Puppmom]

SS, shame on your mom! Lily is beautiful! I'm the mom of a pudgy baby too and I think it's cute! ...and fortunately, no indication that the kiddos will be overweight. I'm already getting the "holy crap he's big" comments.

China, how awful! I'm so glad O is on the up and up.

PB, yay for rolling over! It's so fun when your kiddo hits a milestone. I can't wait. At 7 weeks, we've only mastered smiling, tracking and grabbing so more fun to come!

Not much is new here. We're hanging out with MIL a lot so she can get into the swing of things caring for N. Today, she had me rolling on the floor laughing. We had a couple of contractors coming for estimates so she was watching N. He was getting fussy so I told her swaddling him and rocking him will put him to sleep. I came into the nursery after the contractor left and he was laying in the crib wide awake with MIL standing over him. MIL said "He was sound asleep but when I put him down and unwrapped him, he woke right up!" I was confused so I said "He sleeps really well swaddled so maybe you should try that." She look embarrassed and said "Oh, I didn't know he could sleep all wrapped up like that!" So...she swaddled him, rocked him, unwrapped him and put him down in the crib! I think maybe she thought sleeping swaddled was dangerous? Who knows...but she got it right the second time and he slept for 2 hours. I do feel better and better each time she comes - he's definitely taking to her and it'll be so much easier going back to work knowing he's with family.

 

[lovelylulu]

pupp - that story about unswaddling before bed is hilarious. too cute. so will your mil be watching nolan when you go back to work?

ally - it seems like every age has either a growth spurt or a wakeful period that derails nice, organized, predictable sleep. and i don't think i mentioned it before, but i love your pictures = your little girl is a happy one

china - OMG. poor, poor O and poor, poor you and your mom. i'm so glad that it's over and thanks to you and fiery for sharing to help ease the pain in the future.

shiny - your mom is lily is a doll baby plain and simple . love the family photo.

*****************************************************************

we've been having a good week (wait it's only tuesday ) but Nora hasn't had any really fussy days since before her baptism and she's been super interactive/engaged/smiley. i *love* that we can have conversations. just the cutest. we've also started to implement a more consistent bedtime routing. it was hard before, because she takes so many naps that the end of an EAS cycle varied. But now, regardless of where we are in a cycle, I'm giving her a bath at 7:30, pjs, nursing, hangout a little, sleep. we don't bathe every night, but i am surprising myself at how often I do. I said before she was born that she'd be lucky to get a bath two times a week, but she does spit up a fair amount . . . any how, it seems to be going well. though, we're heading off on vacation this weekend, so i'm sure all of our routine will go out the window.

 

[somethingshiny]

I've talked about PPD here before but I just want to put it out there again. It's real, it sucks, there's help.

I post on another forum that I found when researching Lily's heart condition. There is a mom who just had her baby in August, suffered extreme PPD and committed suicide.

Please Please Please, if you think you or someone you love may be experiencing any depression, get help!



____________________________________________________________________________________________


Thanks for the compliments on our pic!

Thanks for info on BCM. I have a clock/radio/sound therapy machine that I always have on "running stream."

Pupp~ lol about the swaddling!!




Gotta go for now, Lily REALLY doesn't want me to put her down today.

Speaking of... How do you get your babes to enjoy tummy time? Lily screams! JT did too but I can't remember what I did besides mirrors, toys, etc to get his attention.

 

[lovelylulu]

shiny - your post about the august mom just broke my heart.

as far as tummy time - it's pretty impossible to do because nora rolls right over - has for the last couple of weeks . . .

 

[taovandel]

Lulu: Forgot to reply earlier about the sleepsacks. Evan is nearly a year and he still fits into the small sleep sacks....they are massive.

 

[jcrow]

shiny -lily is gorgeous. period. also, if that's how you look w/o makeup - um, what's your secret, because you look fantastic!

speaking of skin...

mp - was it you saying how great your skin got thanks to pregnancy? mine was the opposite. it's JUST now [hello nearly 6 months later!] starting to clear up. i'm kinda excited.

lulu - yeh the sleep sacks are long at first, but before you know it her feet will be reaching the bottom and you'll be buying mediums. and those will look SO long!

tummy time - we did a lot of that with her on our bellies and she'd last longer. like, we put her belly onto our belly so she could gaze at us and all. worked well. also, since she was use to looking up at the activity gym light + toy thing, we took that apart and laid it onto the floor. so she was doing tummy time and had something familiar that she liked to look at at her level. she really liked that.

weight - so today was my 6 month appointment with the ob. anyone else hate the scale at the dr. office? grr. it said i only lost one flippin' pound since my last appt at 6 weeks. one. my scale at home says otherwise. plus my jeans now fit. so poo on that scale! haha.

oh and since i don't have family near or know of babysitters, i brought em to the appt. she was a doll in the waiting room, but when we got into my room to wait for the ob, she wanted out of her stroller. and once out, she still wasn't content and the walls were thin. so, all i could think of was nursing her to calm her down. and in walks my ob, nice. she was cool with it and said that the nurses all love babies and would love to hold her while i had my exam. whew. crisis averted. and i didn't have to hold her during my exam.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Micah will only tolerate tummy time for short periods, and only when entertained. When in doubt, something that makes noise works!

 

[KimberlyH]

constipationur ped had us cut suppository in half and use a water-based lube. rubbing the left side of the stomach in a circular motion, pressing a bit, also helps get things moving, along with bicycling their legs and pushing them up, knees bent, towards the stomach.

tummy time: try sitting with baby on your legs. we do it with her facing out the window and she's content that way.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Ugh! Why do I feel like I post on here every night with a new gripe? Tonight's subject for discussion is gas. Aidan is only 12 days old and appears to already be having issues with gas. He's so funny and uncomfortable I'm feeding with EBM/nursing, could it be something I'm eating? I had a very small appetite coming out of the hospital and then got sick so I'm only now really introducing various foods like dairy back into my diet. I had a very cheesy lasagna for dinner last night and lunch today and I I know I'm gassy from the dairy (I suspect I might be a bit lactose intolerant). Could it be that? Kellymom.com says dairy sensitivity is really rare thought. I hate being such a newbie!

I'm trying all of the non-medicated gas relief techniques and nothing seems to be working. Poor kid falls asleep and then wakes up fussy again.

It's really confusing because he exhibits signs of gas (tensing, straining, crying) but also shows signs of hunger like rooting. Do i feed him? He had 2 oz around 9:00 and was gassy/acting like he wanted more within 15 minutes. I don't want to overfeed and give him an even worse stomach ache.


Any guidance?

 

[Sha]

Have you tried burping him, HH? My daughter, Dalila, used to do that conflicting thing too - root for my nipple, suck for a bit, and then pull off, arch her back, kick and cry. I didn't know it at the time but it was gas. It can really tear them up. Try burping between the feed, and whenever he appears uncomfortable.

Hang in there. The newborn stage is really, really tough. I know it was for me - I knew it would be tough but I didn't expect it to be as hard as it was. Things will get better as Aidan gets older. You're doing a great job so far!

 

[Mara]

HH I think that dairy intolerance in newborns is not that uncommon, I know two gals who had it...I think it can also be varying degrees. Try cutting dairy out and seeing if that helps. One of my friend's babies was also allergic to soy and dairy... so the poor Mom could hardly eat anything.

Also for gas...we gave J gripe water and also Mylicon. Gripe water is all natural herbs. He took that til almost 3 months, he used to get really gassy belly from time to time and had some reflux as well. Burping is good. If he's spitting up, try elevating him and/or feeding him more slowly or giving him breaks in between feeds for burps.

Rooting... it could be that sucking is also soothing to them. Have you tried a paci or letting him just suck on your finger for a while? You will know within 30 seconds if he is hungry, because then that won't satisfy him!

re: PPD...that post about that Mom totally made me tear up. So sad..and a 3 month old left behind as well. Really sad.

re: sleep sacks... J is almost out of his mediums and I just bought some larges. It is funny the smalls looked huge at first and then the med's did but now they look normal!! This kid is so long. Plus he doesn't like to be all constrained so he likes the extra room. I bought an XL because it was on clearance and the thing is like 2/3 of my length! crazy.

speaking of sleep sacks, i should post on the toddler thread and ask them when they moved away from the sacks and just let the kid sleep in PJ's and a blanket. J likes the sacks and I do too because it keeps his legs 'contained' and he is a blanket kicker so ALWAYS kicks whatever we put on him off anyway. but just wondering when they start to grow out of that and sleep more like we do.

so J has his first diaper rash, ugh and it's not pretty. he's had a few minor ones before, but nothing bad. however it seems last nite he pooped, not sure when, but he woke up at 2am and 5am but i just binked him and went back to sleep and he was fine til 7am. then i found poop and i clean him in the crib with the lights really dim so i didn't see the rash til later when the nanny said he had it. she put lots of stuff on him but when i came back at 3pm he was still bad. so i put a ton of cornstarch powder and then later lathered him like crazy with desitin. i am hoping that he's ok tonite, he seemed kind of restless. last nite i thought i smelled poop when i went in at bedtime but his crib is so low now i can't reach over and smell him like i used to plus he farts a lot and has only pooped at night like once before ever. soooo now i guess we'll have to try to check him if we think that there's something and not just assume it's farts. i know we'll end up waking him up but man i don't want him to go through this again. poor kid!

re: teething.. we don't see anything yet but he'll just start fussing or crying or screaming for no 'apparent' reason and he's rubbing/gumming/chewing/drooling like crazy. plus i guess it's around like 5-8mo that they start to get the teeth normally so we're right on the end of that, i think he'll be a late sprouter which is ok but i kind of wish something will pop out so we know it's teething?!?!

anyhow, i am off to bed, i'm taking my first work trip tomorrow, just one night and it's a fun event but it will be tiring, i talk to a lot of people and have a lot of meetings setup for my program. and my director is going so hopefully he won't be too HM, and my new contractor is going too, thankfully. so it'll be busy! my mom is watching J for tomorrow, she's so excited to have him to herself for a day, i know she misses watching him.

 

[somethingshiny]

RE: sleep sack transitioning. When JT was an infant, sacks were still only one-size so he grew out of them by the time he was 9 mo or so. I put him in the heavy footed pjs (it was fall/winter) and gave him a blanket. He didn't learn to sleep with the blanket until several months later but the footies kept him warm.

RE: gas and feeding. Feeding is a baby's way of calming a belly. The paci might fill that need. Mylicon drops are awesome. We used them constantly for JT. I have a cousin who's an OB nurse and has 6 kids and she swears by the drops. They are very safe and are basically baby gas-X. Also, not sure about the BFing but could a shield help to make sure A is in the right position?


Thanks for the tummy time suggestions. I'll try laying her on my legs and belly.

 

[lovelylulu]

oh hh - i still remember n's first bout of bad gas. I'd have to look back to see how old she was, but she was mini and it was the first time that I could tell she was crying out of pain/discomfort. it lasted for what seemed like forever. unfortunately, because newborns' digestive tracks are so immature, it's just something they have to go through. we found laying her on her back and pushing her legs up towards her belly would often result in the release of gas. also laying her along your forearm, belly down with her head by your palm could sometimes provide relief (i think because of the pressure on the tummy). it's no fun at all, but eventually he'll grow out of it.

sacks - thanks for confirming that they're long. n was only 10% in height so perhaps that makes them seem even more gargantuan.

question for BF'ing mamas - do you give your babe vitamin d drops? if so, do you have a recommendation for any that aren't completely disgusting/large volume/staining yellow. i read on kelly mom that it wasn't usually a concern, but our pedi recommended it.

 

[phoenixgirl]

We're back from vacation and also a funeral of a distant relative which delayed Claire and me getting home for a day, so I've been "off the grid" for a bit.

Puppmom, I did have to buy new clothes for work. I had some old clothes that were technically the right size from when I was a bit heavier a few years ago, but my body was shaped differently then, and wearing ill-fitting, out of fashion clothes was not good for my psyche.

HH, I know how stressful the beginning can be. I had some PPD too -- never diagnosed or anything, but a lot of crying and feeling blah and kind of disconnected. I don't think I really bonded full-force with Claire in the beginning because I was kind of spaced out. One of my LCs told me the opposite of yours -- that I had to feed and pump more often (she wanted me to continue pumping every 3 hours even over night after Claire had regained her birth weight) and I was just like, "No way crazy lady!!!!! Maybe your advice is the best way for me to get my supply up but not at the cost of my sanity!!!" I don't have any advice about the gas, but I hope it goes away soon.

LL, our pedi never mentioned Vitamin D drops, so we never did them.


Weight gain: I gained 48 pounds during pregnancy, and I still have 16 to lose (well, 18, I suppose, since I was up 2 pounds from my super fit weight when I got pregnant). I didn't have any extra weight (except maybe the 2 pounds) before I got pregnant, so I realize that in the grand scheme of things 15 to 20 pounds isn't horrendous, but it's frustrating. I'm running and working out with weights 4 to 5 times a week, and I eat pretty well. I think it's that my body won't allow me to let go of the fat "just in case" while I'm BFing. Darn our ancestors and their need to guard against famine.

I don't know if my old weight will ever be realistic again, but I'd like to lose at least 10 pounds after I wean Claire. It's also annoying that now I have the "mom pooch." I have a feeling that won't ever go away either. So I'm needing to pick clothes that don't cause spillage of the pooch.

 

[vizsla]

cc - c has some serious poo issues too. i know exactly what you went thru - it's awful!! we deal with this a lot: the straining, the red face, the crying for us we found that along with being prone to constipation, c has some other GI issues. anyhoo he's on a daily dose of miralax to help prevent constipation. we give him a teaspoon in the morning and a teaspoon at night.
c's GI doc is aiming for him to have him have regular 'mashed potato' consistency poos. my whole life now revolves around sleeping, eating and pooping. it's awesome .
we've also eliminated wheat and he still is off of dairy and soy. for additional help we also give him a probiotic called florastor - you can get this at the pharmacy.
our biggest concern is preventing the hard obstructions. these can stretch out the colon, which happened to c. our GI doc told us it will probably take a year for it to return to 'normal' - something we need to "fix" before potty training. basically, the liquid stuff goes around the hard poos - the hard poos get harder and harder, and by the time they get to the end of the tract are very hard to pass. these hard poos can also create fissures in the intestines which can cause bleeding (how we knew there was something amiss with c) - no bueno. long story longer, this is why he's on miralax, after a full 'cleanse' . miralax is extremely gentle and simply pulls more water into the poo so c doesn't develop hard nuggets. if o is consistently constipated i wonder if you could incorporate one dose of miralax a day for prevention. an alternative to suppositories is milk of magnesia - also very gentle and doesn't cause any sort of cramping - plus it is much easier to administer than a suppository

ok, back to work

HH - my c was VERY gassy and sensitive to the foods i ate. ugh, the first three months are just soooooooo hard! ((hugs))

 

[vizsla]

Weight gain: I gained 48 pounds during pregnancy, and I still have 16 to lose (well, 18, I suppose, since I was up 2 pounds from my super fit weight when I got pregnant). I didn't have any extra weight (except maybe the 2 pounds) before I got pregnant, so I realize that in the grand scheme of things 15 to 20 pounds isn't horrendous, but it's frustrating. I'm running and working out with weights 4 to 5 times a week, and I eat pretty well. I think it's that my body won't allow me to let go of the fat "just in case" while I'm BFing. Darn our ancestors and their need to guard against famine.

I don't know if my old weight will ever be realistic again, but I'd like to lose at least 10 pounds after I wean Claire. It's also annoying that now I have the "mom pooch." I have a feeling that won't ever go away either. So I'm needing to pick clothes that don't cause spillage of the pooch.

pg - this is totally me!! i gained 48lbs too! i am down to my 'before i worked out regularly' weight - but not my 'super fit getting married' weight. i know that weight isn't realistic because i fell into the unhealthy bride weight group, but i need to be 12lbs lighter than i currently am. i run 4 days a week, work out with a personal trainer another day and aside from my pretzel m&m's problem, i eat really well. i just don't get why i can't lose the lbs. i was diagnosing myself to DH - i have a thyroid problem