PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[fieryred33143]

I'm sick. I have a sore throat, headache and stuffy nose. BFing moms - any ideas what I can take that won't affect my supply? My doc can tell me what I CAN take (as in what's safe) but now what I SHOULD take. Also, with all the contact I need to have with N to feed him and care for him, how do I avoid passing it along to him?

...sorry for the me-centric post. N is waking. Time to eat!

Stay away from robitussin. My LC said it was fine to take but I had a huge dip in supply and that was the only difference

Fenugreek works really well for congestion and headaches.

 

[Puppmom]

I'm sick. I have a sore throat, headache and stuffy nose. BFing moms - any ideas what I can take that won't affect my supply? My doc can tell me what I CAN take (as in what's safe) but now what I SHOULD take. Also, with all the contact I need to have with N to feed him and care for him, how do I avoid passing it along to him?

...sorry for the me-centric post. N is waking. Time to eat!

so sorry you're sick. here's a link that might be helpful http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/cold-remedy.html

Thanks, Turtle! Looks like my post edit crossed with your post!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Hudson I slept holding Hunter against my chest for the first 2 weeks, which worked ok for us. Then I transitioned him to sleeping in his co-sleeper next to me. He was so loud that we ended up moving him out of our room at 4 weeks, but since then I have learned to sleep with ear plugs and next time around we plan to have baby sleep in our room BUT as far from me as possible AND I will wear earplugs.

Do whatever works in those early weeks and don't sweat it, and by "works" I mean whatever lets you sleep. If you sleep better on the couch with A next to you, then do that.

The early weeks are lonely no matter what you do, unfortunately.

 

[phoenixgirl]

PM, Unfortunately all the stuff that dries up the congestion dries up the milk too. Do you have a humidifier? You're probably too stuffed for a saline rinse, but maybe that if you can get it through your nostrils.

I have taken benadryl in really dark hours (horrible allergy attack 6 weeks ago) as well as Claritin, and I've been OK supply-wise. If you're not currently working (i.e. are with baby 24/7) I think that helps. It can be a double-whammy to be trying to keep your supply up while pumping and also to take an antihistamine or decongestant.

Fenugreek helps keep your supply up, so if it also helps with congestion, that's a win/win.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I slept like a rock the first week Micah was home - a medicated rock, haha. But after I felt better, I realized just how noisy he was! He still sleeps in our room, but the older he gets, the less random noise he makes in his sleep. It works for me, but you have to do what works for YOU - you need your sleep just as much as the baby does!

 

[Puppmom]

Thanks, ladies. Nolan and I are going to head to the health food store for some fenugreek. It seems like the best option. The cough drops and tea are helping the throat which really is the worst part.

re: sleeping with baby. Nolan was a noisy sleeper from the beginning so we evicted him from our room at about 4 weeks. I couldn't sleep because he was grunting. Then, when he stopped, I worried something was wrong so I wasn't getting much sleep at all. Ironically, my husband who was a really light sleeper, has been sleeping like a rock since Nolan was born. His job is to fetch N for feeding and I have to wake him 90% of the time even though the monitor is right next to his head. Go figure!

Nolan is watching TV for the first time today. It's so cute. He's sitting in his bouncy kicking his feet and smiling. I love him.

Anyone know why a baby would drool besides teething? N has been drooling like mad since yesterday morning. It's just spit - no milk or anything.

 

[jcrow]

sleep + baby - in the beginning, we had her in the co-sleeper next to us. i loved it because i knew i could just open my eyes and see her immediately if needed. i liked to hear her breathing too. the first 2 weeks we had family stay with us. now, our routine during the week is that hub gets her when she wakes, i feed, do all i have to do and i put her back down.

saliva - i don't think it's always teething. there is a time that they make more than they can swallow. their glands over produce it at first.

 

[somethingshiny]

RE: drooling. Babies salivary glands are working overtime especially since it's the age when they start sucking fists, clothes and anything else they can get. Also, blowing bubbles will start soon which is a precursor to language development. No worries, just put a bib on!

Lily had her appt today for the possibility of seizure on Fri. Doc thinks she vasovagaled which is not a seizure. It may have been triggered by choking on the spit-up or stimulated by a fast heart rate. I'm comfortable with this theory because I kept thinking that whatever it was was triggered by her being scared after spitting up and maybe choking on it. Of course we'll still watch for signs of seizure or vasovagal but nothing to worry about. Thank God!

 

[Puppmom]

SS, glad to hear Lily's reaction was normal!

thanks for the info re:drooling. it makes sense now. he started blowing bubbles a few days ago and making noises other than grunting and fussing. bring on the bibs!

 

[PrettyBlues]

SS, so glad to hear that everything seems to be ok. That must have been so scary.

re: sleep, in the beginning Miles slept with us in the room. I felt more comfortable and it was easier for getting up in the middle of the night. There was a point, around 8 weeks I think?, that he started getting noisier and I thought oh no it's time to send him off, but it only lasted for a week or so and he quieted back down. We finally moved him around 4 1/2 months because rather than him keeping us up, we seemed to be affecting his sleep.

Now M mostly sleeps through the night, but since D went back to work I have always been the one to get up when he wakes. For me, it just seemed like it made more sense - I breastfeed, and he is the one that has to get up and go to work every day.

Speaking of sleep, I'm not sure what is going on but M has been sleeping, sleeping sleeping the past two days. Yesterday he slept all day and then barely made it to 7pm when we put him to bed. He slept all the way through to 6:45am, which is later than normal...I fed him then we cuddled in bed and fell asleep. He slept from 8-10:30, was up to eat, he played for a bit and was fussy so was back asleep before 12:30. I swore this morning in bed I felt a bit of a tooth on the top gum, but when we got up I checked and there was nothing so I must have been dreaming. But maybe a tooth is coming?

 

[jcrow]

prettyblues - is he fussy too, or just sleeping?

don't know what's up with em, but yesterday and today she woke at 7 instead of her typical 8. this morning, however, i left her in her crib babbling at 7 since she wasn't fussy and so that i could pump. by the time i was finished, she was back asleep. she slept until 9:30 or so. but the big kicker? she had about an hour of play happy time this morning. after was miss fuss a lot. and miss scream/fuss. urgh. nothing seemed to console her long term. so i grabbed the teething tablets, which we had yet to use, gave them to her and nursed her. she passed out. poor thing. i hope she wakes up happier.

 

[MonkeyPie]

PB, sounds like a growth spurt! Micah sleeps like mad whenever he has one, and it makes me nervous every single time, but all the ladies here assured me it was normal. Enjoy it while it lasts, haha!

SS, I am so glad Lily is well and that her reaction was normal, all things considered. Ugh, I can't even handle a couch, much less anything worse. You have Guts of Steel.

Work has been super busy and I feel like when I come home in the evenings, all I want to do is fall over and sleep. Unfortunately, DH is working overnight several days this week and next week so on top of work exhaustion, I get a lack of sleep exhaustion! Oh well. At least he is working and seems to be enjoying himself. He really likes working with his dad, he only does it on occasion so I suppose I can be mommy for awhile Last night was weird after not having to get up to feed the baby for several months!

On that note: Gah, when will he sleep through the night! I know he can go that long without a bottle (he keeps vetoing the morning bottle after he wakes up, and he has gone 8 hours from his last bottle several times now), he simply chooses not to. And since I get up at 5am every day CIO is not terribly enticing right now. I'm not sure what else we can try, though, without disturbing the sleep of everybody in the house. He's very easy at night, goes back down without a problem and is asleep in seconds, but still.

Speaking of that, why would he be rejecting his morning bottle so often now? He wants real food, which is fine, but I know the milk has more nutrients and other important things than his sweet potatoes do. Any suggestions on how to get his nutrients in without a bottle? Is that even possible? Or will him skipping that morning bottle be ok? It seems kind of early for him to self-wean, at least in the daytime.

 

[Sha]

Just popping in quickly to say thanks for the comments on D,

and SS - I'm glad that everything seems okay!

 

[PrettyBlues]

Well, up at 1pm, ate, changed diaper and a quick play and back to sleep at 2!

Jcrow, he has what D and I call "the happy sads" Where he will smile and laugh a bit, but it is often followed by a cry. So he's not super fussy, but not quite his happy self.

Sounds like today is better for you! So Em is teething right now?

Mp, could be a growth spurt, but somehow it seems different from the ones he has had in the past. Then again, who knows with these babies?

I have no idea why he would be rejecting a bottle in the morning. I feel like that is when M has his biggest intake of the day, and he is also not on solids yet. Hopefully someone here will have some advice.

As for sleep, how many times is he waking up? Do you feed him every time? Does he seem to need it, or do you think it's just a source of comfort for him?

 

[meresal]

Dreamer... Thank you very much re: DH. A few times a week, I still watch him walk away and think, "Damn, he's mine..." Though I would never tell him.

The baby pics from Friday(this weekend) are so cute!! I love these little ones!!

Re: growth charts... Thanks for all the replies. I totally understand that everyone could have a different way to measure. I guess what gets me is the last time he was measured was over a month and a half ago, and last week he was measuring over an inch shorter than the measurement taken at that last appt. That seemed a little excessive to me? Who knows. I was just projecting my own dissapointment in myself for doing my own measurments at home. (I know that these don't mean anything, I just would like to have accurate measurments for the baby book).

Ok... now I am going to try and catch up and reply to all of the posts since Saturday. (It is MUCH harder these days with the 2.0 website)

 

[fieryred33143]

Speaking of that, why would he be rejecting his morning bottle so often now? He wants real food, which is fine, but I know the milk has more nutrients and other important things than his sweet potatoes do. Any suggestions on how to get his nutrients in without a bottle? Is that even possible? Or will him skipping that morning bottle be ok? It seems kind of early for him to self-wean, at least in the daytime.

MP, how often does he feed overnight? Usually when they reject the morning bottle, it's because they are full from the overnight feedings. That's also usually a sign that you can drop the overnight bottle (or at least one of them).

 

[Mara]

ditto fiery re: rejecting of the morning bottle meaning maybe he doesn't need that night feeding and isn't hungry. J is starving when he wakes and downs like a 9oz bottle which then only lasts him ~2 hours til he needs solids.

to cut out the night feeding--instead of going cold turkey you can help his body get used to having less. so if he takes 6oz then cut it back to 4oz for a few days. then 2oz for a few days, then just 1oz for a few days. or whatever timeline works for you guys. really you just want them to get used to not having to wake to eat anymore. then after the 1oz try just paci or a little soothing+paci etc. one of my friends did this with good effects.

re: waking at night randomly... J would do this sometimes too and he hardly was ever fussy just would wake and take a paci and go back down. he did it for i think the months between 4.5-6? and the last month has been a lot better--esp since he figured how to put paci in himself and he does it often now. he will still wake at night and put paci in and fall back asleep--because sometimes i go in at 5am and he's sitting there with paci and he didn't have it at 10pm when i checked on him.

sleep is precious because of work and don't have a schedule where i can nap during the day so i figured for the most part if he would wake, take a paci or a blankie and fall back asleep it wasn't something i felt like dealing with. but HAVING to feed him would bug me ha! last nite we fed him at 5am because he was really wakeful and i wanted the extra 2 hours of sleep and he ended up sleeping til 8:45.

the way i think about 'feeding' vs not too is by thinking of my own feelings about food and nighttime. when i wake up if i am too restless and stay 'awake' for longer than 5-10 min i instantly get hungry. and then it's really hard for me to fall back asleep. so i figure the same must be for him. he sleeps almost 12 hours with no food now so waking at hour 10 and thinking gee i'm starving after 5 min of playing in the crib doesn't seem far fetched to me. and i figure well he can't get up and feed himself! but if he does that for 3-4 days in a row i start to try to push it more because i don't want to be feeding him at 5am.

ss so glad that the issue the other night was hopefully not too serious!!

jcrow, she could be growing, teething, who knows. i love those teething tablets.

re: happy then fussy or sad.. J does a laugh cry thing that we find hilarious. like he will be crying then we smile at him and he starts laughing. to me it's all just communication. they're learning how.

pb...if he's sleeping a lot but not a lot of extra fussy, prob a spurt. J will do this sometimes and i love it hahaa. extra time for me.

pupp... i used to worry about getting J sick when i was but with BF'ing you pass a lot of the antibodies your body is making for fighting it to him which is wonderful. i would just try to not snuggle him or breathe directly on him and would not kiss him for like 1-2 days until i felt better. and just bf as often as possible or give the milk as often as possible to help his body fight it off. i think i had 2 colds while BF'ing and he didn't get either of them.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Dreamer... Thank you very much re: DH. A few times a week, I still watch him walk away and think, "Damn, he's mine..." Though I would never tell him.

HAHA... you did not post a photo from that angle...

 

[MonkeyPie]

Not long ago, I woke up with Micah and started to come into the kitchen with him to make his bottle, and his tummy growled. So I thought, Omg, he's so hungry! And so I thought he really needed that bottle. Now I'm not so sure.

He wakes up two times a night, usually. Kind of disappointing, in a way, because when he was tiny he would go 6 hour stretches without food and now he wakes up reliably every 4 hours. I like the idea of cutting his intake by an ounce or two every couple of days, though, so I think we will try that tonight. I did notice that when I got up with him last night at 10:45 (down for the night at 6:45), that he was sleepy through the bottle until the very end, and he left a few mouthfuls before turning his head away. I have tried just putting the paci in but it totally doesn't work, he just gets more and more mad each time I poke it back in. We will start tonight by giving him 5 ounces instead of the 7 he has been getting.

I won't lie, I hate that, "Oh woe, mama, WOE!" cry in the middle of the night and I just cannot do CIO with this kid. He hardly every cries or even fusses unless he needs something, so when he does cry, it means it's important. And that sad cry kills me.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Dreamer... Thank you very much re: DH. A few times a week, I still watch him walk away and think, "Damn, he's mine..." Though I would never tell him.

HAHA... you did not post a photo from that angle...

LOL I love that! I do this with my husband too

 

[curiousaboutdiamonds]

Sorry, I've missed a ton. All the baby pics are tooooo cute. Love the candid and pro pics!

Thanks moms for your advice on solids - we're doing great so far!

re: drooling - A started drooling at 3 or 4 months - we thought she was teething since she was also putting everything in her mouth. She hasn't drooled since then. We were gifted with so many bibs that I thought we would never use it.

Pupp - Hope you're feeling better!

SS - Glad to hear that Lily is ok.

PB - Agree that it sounds like a growth spurt - enjoy it while you can!

MP - I've also heard that if baby is rejecting the morning bottle, then they don't really need the night bottle. We did exactly what Mara recommended re: decreasing the nightly bottle - took about a week and then A slept through the night. We also increased her bottles during the day to compensate for the bottle she didn't take at night.

Also read/heard that most of the baby's nutrients should be coming from bm/formula and solids are for fun/practice. I would keep giving him his bottle so he takes some of it before giving him the solids.

AFM - Now I know why you ladies love feeding your LOs solid ... It is so FUN! We've tried peas and sweet potatoes. A LOVES them. We're doing the Earth's Best jars to start and then I'll be making my own. She used to love rice cereal but now that she's had the purees, she always makes the "this is disgusting" face when I feed her rice cereal.

Oh and the 6 month shots were terrible - worst yet. For 4 or 5 days, she woke up at 2 or 3am and would just sit in her crib and scream, not crying, but screaming. She had a low grade fever (never had it with any of her other shots) and some generic tylenol helped. She refused to nap, reverting back to her 20 min catnaps.

Thank goodness she's back to normal!

 

[Puppmom]

Ally, sorry to hear about the issues with the shots. That sounds awful. N has his two month shots on Saturday. Hopefully, he doesn't have any ill effects.

MP, sounds like you've gotten some great advice. Good luck with project sleep through the night!

Mara, thanks for the reassurance that it's not likely that I'll pass my cold to N. DH is now sick so we'll probably have him keep his distance until he's feeling better.

I have a question for those of you who swaddle - what do your babies wear when they're swaddled? I'm afraid I'm going to overheat N with PJs AND swaddle so I'm thinking of switching to just a onesie. Thoughts?

 

[turtledazzle]

I have a question for those of you who swaddle - what do your babies wear when they're swaddled? I'm afraid I'm going to overheat N with PJs AND swaddle so I'm thinking of switching to just a onesie. Thoughts?

We just use a onesie and the miracle blanket. LO is now 6 weeks and we've yet to use any pj's ... though we are in a warm climate and our house is usually about 75 or so.

 

[curiousaboutdiamonds]

Pupp - We use to swaddle using the Halo sleepsack w/ swaddle (thick) so we just dressed her in a long-sleeve onesie and socks. Now that she is deswaddled, we dress her in a onesie, socks and footed pjs.

 

[jcrow]

pupp - with the swaddle, we did a long sleeve kimono shirt and socks. no bottoms other than a diaper for easy night changes.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Aidan runs pretty hot so we swaddle in a onesie right now. It's still pretty warm here.

So LO and I went to another BFing support group today. He's starting to eat more and I really hope my supply jumps to accommodate it. I pump between 2 and 2.5 oz combined in each session, but he wants to eat 2.5-3 oz every 2-3 hours pretty consistently right now. This seems like such a huge amount, but it's so clear when he wants more after a 2 oz bottle. It's the difference between fussy and unsettled baby and comatose milk drunk baby. I'm trying to put him to the breast to top him off, but I'm concerned I'm going to mess up my supply and give him too much foremilk. I'm pretty much exclusively pumping right now as Aidan is still learning how to nurse. We have to use a shield right now and it take SO LONG to drain a side. Aidan usually falls asleep before he's done. I don't think I'm at the point where I need to take a supplement, I'm just not sure how to naturally up my output without screwing up the balance of fore/hindmilk. And I suppose I have to come to terms with the idea of not being able to stock away a ton extra for awhile. I've got a decent stash going in the freezer at this point, but I'd rather not touch that for the time being. How long can milk stay in the freezer?

But the good news with all of this eating is Aidan is sleeping a LOT better. He has regular three hour sleep stretches which are very nice. He's also up to 6 lbs 11 oz, so he's a more than a full pound over his birth weight. He'll be a chunkamonk in no time. he's also starting to fit into NB sized clothes, which is nice. I think he's more comfortable in stuff that fits.

 

[phoenixgirl]

HH, off the top of my head, BM can be stored for 3-4 months in a regular freezer, 6 months in a deep freezer or one you don't open much. But BM changes in constitution over the months, so you may not want newborn milk for a 6 month old.

 

[KimberlyH]

HH, 3 months in a freezer w/ its own door. 6 months in a deep freezer. And if memory serves there is not a huge difference between foremilk and hindmilk, so I wouldn't worry too much about the balance.

 

[Dreamer_D]

HH the easiest way to increase you supply is from baby nursing frequently and for long periods of time. I would not worry too much at this point about the fore-hind balance thing, myself. When my milk did not come in for a week I would feed hunter for 10 minutes off one side THEN give him a bottle as I pumped for 15 minutes both sides. Repeat this process every two hours Worked a charm, but it was horrendously tiring.

 

[Mara]

foremilk vs hindmilk... you'll be able to tell if he is getting too much fore if his poop change colors, i want to say to a bright green? if not then i wouldn't worry.

also... ditto re: putting him on the boob first then bottle if you want to up your supply. i think there ARE women who can up their supply with exclusively pumping but it is definitely harder than having the baby on the boob--they are the most effective way to get your supply up. i was impatient with the nursing time and hated the idea of having him on the boob for like 40 min with nothing really happening AND he always was falling asleep on the boob. so we did mostly pumping and then supplementing when we had to, but he got mostly BM til 4mo and some til 6mo. anyhow...i am fine with the way we did it but if you want to be EBM then pumping *may not* do it all.

swaddling, its hard for me to remember (gee it was only like 4mo ago!) but i think we did LS onesie and a swaddle and sometimes a sleeper. my little weirdo likes it warm though. he's happily sleeping in his 85 degree room right now while i sweat in the living room.

re: milk drunk and swaddling...ahhhhh i remember those days. the best!! i have some funny pics of J in a milk coma.

and on that note it was 103 degrees today...what the heck! it's supposed to cool down tomorrow thank god. i was all ready for fall and then THIS.

speaking of fall i am looking fwd to getting some new fall clothes now that i don't have a big preggo belly this year. whee.