PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[Kunzite]

LC - M is the one that looks like O, they could nearly be twins. O was laying right next to him last night and I could see that in the face they are almost identical! E is his personality twin though. They're like O, split! How is E's sleep going the last few nights?

MP - We tried reflux meds and gentle/AR formula with E too. Neither worked for us either

This picture is far too funny not to share. Oh, the looks you get when you're taking pictures of two at once! Poor M



And to make up for that... A cute one of M

 

[Kunzite]

LC - M is the one that looks like O, they could nearly be twins. O was laying right next to him last night and I could see that in the face they are almost identical! E is his personality twin though. They're like O, split! How is E's sleep going the last few nights?

MP - We tried reflux meds and gentle/AR formula with E too. Neither worked for us either

This picture is far too funny not to share. Oh, the looks you get when you're taking pictures of two at once! Poor M



And to make up for that... A cute one of M

 

[pavelover]

So adorable!!!!!!!!! love these boys!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Kunzite, oh my they are darling! You make the cutest babies.

NEL, thanks for the info. I probably will try to get geared up for starting amorning routine. These days I am rarely showered and ready for the day before 10. It is just so hard to think 9of E being taken care of by someone who doesn't love him like DH and I do. I just pray they will be patient with him. Darn, I am tearing up again just thinking about it. As I mentioned before, my SIL owns the daycare and she promises to put him with the best teachers. Plus she is always at the center in the mornings and DH will be right next door.

AFM sorry about all the typos in my posts. I'm still get accustomed to one handed typing!

Here is a question I would never imagine asking prebaby. How many dirty diapers a day are normal for formula fed babies? E seemed to settle into two or three a day a few weeks ago. He then went a few days with one. And now he is having several a day. Probably 5 or so. And he works really hard for them. They seem a little runny too. Not sure what is normal.

 

[lliang_chi]

Kunzite, So funny how M&E are halves of O. I swore you were posting an O baby picture. I was about to say, "Yeah, that's O, where's the M&E pics?" LOL! Ethan's sleep has been pretty good. He was consistently skipping to 2AM wake up, but last night he decided to get up. J got him and said he was soaked. So diaper,costume, sleep sack change later he went back to sleep.

In other news, Ethan's pretty much decided that purees are for babies and he wants to eat finger food. So I've been giving him that all weekend. He's been drinking a ton of mike, I think his finger food intake is less than his puree intake so he's drinking more milk. Finger foods, what are yo giving your LO's? I'm trying to expand the "menu" selection. I've been trying to give Ethan finger food meals that are "balanced" with some grains, fruit, veggie, protein, and fat. Grains have been: Cheerios, noodles, potato, rice. Fruit: baked diced apples, cut bananas, roasted diced carrots, peas. Protein: small dice of meatloaf, flakes of salmon, scrambled eggs, torn up pieces of deli meat. Fat: usually cheese, butter (I make the scrambled eggs with butter), yogurt (this I still spoon to him). Has anyone tried giving their LO diced up pieces of chicken or meat? Ethan only has 2 teeth so I'm nervous giving him proper meat.

He's also drinking from a sippy cup. I told daycare if Ethan doesn't want to drink from his bottle, swap it to a sippy and he might finish it. Sure enough his last bottle of the day he finishes off in a sippy cup.

~LC

 

[amc80]

MP- it really depends. When we first started B on formula he went 3 days or so. The he was back to 2-3 times a day. Last week I swear he was going every hour. And this week it's once a day. So it really depends.

 

[pancake]

LC, don't know how helpful this is but here are examples of what Dot typically eats:

Grains/cereal: rice, grainy bread (she hardly ever gets white bread and has never had a problem with the grains, even at the beginning), pasta, water crackers, rice cakes.

Fruit: Pretty much anything! At the moment, pieces of white peach, apricots, cherries with the pits removed, strawberries, blueberries (these were the bomb when she was going through her obsessive pincing phase), apple slices, ripe pears, grapes (halved), oranges, mangoes, avocado.

Vegies: Again, everything! Most popular are cherry tomatoes (halved), broccoli florets (she used to just "denude" the "broccoli trees" but now she eats the stems as well), asparagus spears, roast pumpkin, sweet potato, spinach.

Meat and dairy: Everything! She LOVES steak - when she was younger I would give her strips and she would gum the and suck out the juice, now I cut it into little pieces and she eats it that way; chicken (just torn into small pieces), fish, etc. Fish is great because there are lots of soft/flaky varieties that are very easy for babies to break down. Small cubes or slices of cheese, cream cheese on crackers, eggs (French toast, omelettes, boiled eggs, etc).

I think the key thing is to gradually step up the textures. I don't believe in baby-led weaning as a "philosophy" (I think the virgin gut theory is bunk and I don't think spoon-feeding is evil!) but Gill Rapley's recipe book (not the original BLW book) has some good ideas re what to try.

Edit: Dot only cut her first teeth a month ago (she has two). But it makes very little difference as the front teeth are not used for chewing at all!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

LC, K is juuuuust starting to like table foods. I've been pushing them for weeks, but she would spit them out. Now she seems to enjoy feeding herself, even though it takes forever. She still prefers to be spoon-fed, but only because it gets food in her mouth faster.

I'm admittedly crazy about my fear of her choking. My pediatrician has assured me that K can chew and swallow just fine--she doesn't need her teeth for that. Still, for fruits, I've only tried small bits of soft apple, pear and bananas. For veggies, I do peas (I still mash them a little) and small, diced over-cooked (soft) carrots.

I'm doing more proteins. I'll put a few chicken breasts in broth in the slow cooker and then shred them into little pieces. Then I usually pair them with some mashed potatoes and peas/carrots so it's more like a chunky puree. It's messy, but she can even feed herself that if I put some on her tray. It's thick enough.

I do puffs, cheerios, Baby mum-mums, etc. and she likes those. She also does well with breads.

Do you ladies have a problem with your babies stuffing their mouths, but not swallowing. If I put a few pieces of food in front of K, she puts them all on her mouth without swallowing. So now I only give her one piece at a time. The other day I was giving her bread. I gave her a piece, she would put in her mouth, chew and swallow. I did this a few times and she started choking. I reached in her mouth and she had a big block of bread--she hadn't been swallowing it after all.

 

[amc80]

Well, the STTN thing was apparently short-lived. B now has a whole new pattern- waking up around 12:30am, eating, CRYING for a while, and then falling asleep. Yesterday he slept until 7, today it was 6. It's a strange pattern, since he normally does his long stretch first. He's also now fighting laying down when I hold him and am trying to get him to sleep...he keeps trying to sit up. I sort of hold him down and he will fall asleep quickly. If I let him sit up, he looks around and fusses. I know he's tired so I'm not sure what his deal is. Other than he is acquiring all these new skills and wants to use them. He also wants to stand at all times and will refuse to bend at the waist. So that's fun as well.

In the fun column, he's starting to mimic me. It's really cute. He's not always able to, but I can see him trying to figure out how to do it. He vibrates his lip together (like a farting sound, go figure) after I do it. Adorable.

 

[lliang_chi]

AMC, sounds like B's definitely trying to use all his new skills. "Mama, I don't wanna go to bed! I wanna see what's going on outside!" I'd suggest you keep the going to bed part of the routine as boring as possible. No one else int he room with you, room completely dark, etc. Ethan went through that around 7 months or so.

MP, Are you talking poops, or poop and wet diapers? Ethan poops anywhere between one GIANT poop a day, to up to 4 poops a day. He's mostly on formula (and food) now, probably only gets a few oz of breast milk. But if he seems uncomfortable I'd think about trying a different formula. Does he have the runs or is he constipated?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

amc, K went through a similar phase as well around 7 months. She'd wake up in the middle of the night and she wouldn't go back to sleep unless I physically held her in place. I joked with D that she never needed a swaddle as a newborn, but she needed one then. Very cute about the mimicking. Once they discover how to do something, it's like they can't get enough!

 

[pancake]

NEL - hello! It feels like ages since I've been on this thread (probably because it has been). Re choking, a couple of things: firstly, gagging is not the same as choking. Gagging is a protective reflex designed to keep food out of the airway and bring it back to the front of the mouth, seeing it, whilst a bit scary to start with, is not a bad thing. Secondly, the key thing is to watch your textures carefully (much more likely to choke on small round smooth things like nuts, than big soft things like bread). When we first started with family foods (just before 6 months) my mother used to FREAK OUT about gagging. Dot has never, ever, EVER been upset about it - she just gets the food up and then continues on her merry eating way. She doesn't often gag any more, only when she shoves a piece of food in too far to the back of her throat (if food is hanging out of her mouth she uses her index finger to stuff it in and is occasionally a bit too enthusiastic).

The not-swallowing thing would very occasionally happen at the start, but Dot is very keen to regulate how much is in her mouth now, and will not accept any more food until she's finished the mouthful she's on. She seems to have a pretty good idea of how much she can eat at once - sometimes she will stuff an enormous piece in and I think, uh-oh, that's coming out - but she will chew it and swallow no problems. I guess she knows her eating capabilities!

 

[pancake]

OK, a brief and overdue update from us! We are doing really well. Dot is 10 months old TOMORROW - that is crazy. I cannot get over how fast the time has gone and how wonderful it has been! She's an exuberant, happy, outgoing little thing still - sunny and hardly ever sad.

1. She is babbling a lot - still repeated syllables but now also mixing it up so it sounds like she's actually talking (except nobody understands what she's saying!). Only meaningful word we can make out so far is "bye bye", which she always says when she waves goodbye. She points to indicate what she wants, usually accompanied by an enthusiastic "Da!" (or several)! Favourite toys are her glockenspiel (she gets very excited when she hits the right spot and gets clear notes!), my building blocks from when I was a baby, her bead rollercoaster, and of course, everything that isn't a toy and particularly things she isn't allowed to have

2. Still not crawling - she's always been on the late side when it comes to moving - but is sliding backwards on her tummy and starting to shuffle on her bum when sitting up.

3. Eating anything and everything! As I type this she is sitting at the table next to me demolishing a strawberry and a crumpet. I do not know where she puts all the food but she is an eating machine. I switched her from a sippy cup to a straw cup about a month ago and she much prefers it; she's also pretty good at drinking from a normal cup now but I limit that as when she's done drinking she's not so good at setting the cup down without spilling!

4. Haven't had her measured for a while but I would expect she's around 19 pounds and she's very tall - wearing size 12-18 months in everything.

5. I have nailed down a return to work date - February 4. I am dreading it but I know that I just need to name a date, plan for it, and stick to it. It will not get any easier to leave her, and I think that I will enjoy it once I figure it all out and settle in. Dot will be with her grandmothers (I'm going back 4 days) so it will be good for everyone, it's just me that needs to get over the emotional hurdle!

6. Separation anxiety has kicked in in the last 4 days and she wants to be picked up a LOT. Initially it was ALL THE TIME - even if I was sitting on the floor with her sitting between my legs she would hold our her arms and wail to be picked up. It's a little less intense in the last 24 hours although she is still a velcro baby!

A pic from our recent family shoot:


And a couple I took myself

 

[amc80]

Oh my goodness, what cute babies we have on here!

The more people post the size of their kiddos, the more I realize how much of a giant I have on my hands. We'll get official measurements next week, bu I suspect B is over the 17lb mark by now...at 4 months. Yikes.

Thank you for reassuring me that I can hold him down to sleep if needed! I'm obviously not hurting him, but I still feel bad about it. Poor little guy just wants to look around!

When he woke up at midnight-ish last night I let him cry for a bit to see if he'd go back to sleep. His pattern seems to be: cry softly, just loud enough to wake mommy up. Take a break from crying. Babble to myself and play with my feet. Cry louder, maybe mommy didn't hear me. Play with feet some more. CRY LOUDER. I can't believe she isn't here with a bottle yet. I'M STARVING.

 

[sunnyd]

AMC, my friend's kid was 19.5 lbs at 4 months, he's a big boy!

 

[sunnyd]

Quick update here, things are getting better for us every day! H has settled into a night routine where she falls asleep with us downstairs around 9, then she sleeps until 3:30, is up for an hour, then sleeps until 6:30. It's almost like clockwork until then, then she might sleep another hour or two.

I'm also dreading going back to work, mostly because these days I'm not dressed until 11 or so...

I can't believe she'll be 2 months old on Thursday. I'm so curious to see how much she weighs now! Not looking forward to shots, though. Yikes!

 

[amc80]

AMC, my friend's kid was 19.5 lbs at 4 months, he's a big boy!

Yikes!!

 

[megumic]

Amc, just for comparison C was 14lbs 2oz last Monday at 3montha 3weeks. 25 inches.

 

[bobbin]

LC, we have always done BLW with C and this is what she generally eats:

Fruits: Almost anything. A lot of banana ( we chop it in 3rds and peel a little bit from the top so she can handle it easily), pear, nectarine/peaches, watermelon, pineapple, pretty much anything! I gave her grape but I cut in half and held onto it while she ate it because I was scared of choking, but after seeing Pancake's list I will let her try that too.

Vegies: capsicum (raw and cooked), steamed/roasted carrots, sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, onion; steamed broccoli.

Proteins: steak, chicken (cut into strips), hommous (on bread), baked beans (rinsed so not so salty and mashed on bread - at E's age he could probably just have them in a bowl to pick up).

Grains and dairy: Bread (white as I read they don't need too much fibre at this stage), baby cereal with added iron, pasta, yoghurt.

We generally just feed C an easy to handle version of whatever we are eating for that meal.

NEL: Thanks for posting those tips about transitioning back to work, I am going back to work on 1/8 and I need to start organising photos for my desk etc. I have my first orientation for childcare next Tuesday.

PPM, I hope you are doing well and that your DH's sleeping habits are getting better. It sounded really scary. FWIW, DH also does weird things in his sleep - a few weeks after C was born I woke up to him 'searching' with his hands under the covers and moaning. I woke him and asked him what he was doing and he told me that he was looking for C as she was stuck under the covers. She was sound asleep in the bassinet next to our bed at the time. Another time he got up and was stumbling around the bedroom. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was getting C, like I had asked him to because she was crying. I had not asked him to get her and she WAS fast asleep. His stumbling around and opening the door woke her up. I have also worried about him but as far as I know he has never actually picked her up etc whilst he is sleepwalking (I think that is what he is doing).

AFU:

1. C is trying to stand. She pulls herself up on whatever is around, and then lets go. She has managed to stand unassisted for about 5-10 seconds at a time so far.

2. She suddenly developed separation anxiety on our trip back to our home town 2 weeks ago and it has stuck around. Now, ONLY mummy can hold her when she is tired or upset, and Daddy can hold her at other times. Occasionally, she will let someone else hold her, but only occasionally. She also doesn't like it when I am not within touching distance to her. So she wants me to hold her almost constantly, but she also wants to wriggle around and play. But being put in her playpen is not allowed. Frustrating. It is also really cute though - she will grip onto me with her legs if she doesn't want to go somewhere else, or bury her head in my chest if she is a bit scared or overwhelmed.

3. I am returning to work in exactly 4 weeks. Childcare has been finalised and I am starting orientation next week. She has one half day before I start working but I will be going in there every week and spending time with her there to get her comfortable. I am quite nervous about how she will go as she is still so dependent on me to sleep and has separation anxiety at the moment.

4. She knows how to high 5! It is really cute. And she has taken to slapping her legs and snorting or shrieking when she is happy or finds something funny. I love entertaining her just so I can see her reaction

5. C is 19.4lbs at 7.5 months.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Cutest pictures ever!!!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Interesting about so many babies with separation anxiety. K is the same. Always at my feet and fussing for me to pick her up. I often do because it's easier than trying to walk around with her between my feet. When I pick her up she sometimes says "mama". At first I thought she was babbling, but now I am about 99% sure it's deliberate. She also likes sticking her finger up my nose.

Pancake--thanks so much about the gagging vs. choking info. You're absolutely right. And I don't even WANT to be nervous. Our ped says that those parents who are overly nervous are the ones whose kids have issues with eating table foods. Self-fulfilling prophecy, it seems. Only once has K actually seemed in distress and then she just puked up what she was eating. Today I sent some chicken and dumplings to daycare with her, so I'm experimenting more.

Those pictures of Dot are adorable!!!

Bobbin, so great that C is starting to stand unassisted. Does she suprise herself when she does this? The first time K let go and was free-standing, her eyes got really big and she sat down. Ha.

I'm thinking of all you mamas heading back to work soon!

AFU, seems like of milestones at once lately:

1. K is saying "mama" and "dada" deliberately. She likes to "talk" to us while exploring our faces. Like I said, this usually involves putting her finger in our noses or poking us in the eyes. Or both.

2. K is free-standing more and more. Our PT thinks she'll be walking within a month. K crawls incredibly fast, so I'm interested to see if she prefers walking when we get to that point. It might slow her down!

3. She likes waving goodbye. She also likes to feed me while I'm feeding her. If I put the food on her tray, she thinks it's hilarious to put the food in my mouth. She gets really excited when I act like it's the tastiest thing ever.

4. She's definitely velcro baby lately. It's tougher when I'm on my own and trying to get things done (I even brought out the Ergo again recently), but it's easier when D's home. She's just has happy in his arms as in mine, thank the lord.

5. I have never seen a baby dance as much as this baby. If there is ANY music at all (including background music on the news or during commercials), she bops around like crazy. The child can keep a beat! She thinks music is the greatest thing since pureed pears and we spend a good chunk of the evenings singing and dancing to Christmas carols that D plays on the piano.

6. Still growing like crazy. She's 31 inches now and is in 12 - 18 month clothes.

THat was a lot more than I intended to type. I need to upload pictures. I made her an ugly sweater for our ugly sweater party this weekend, so I'll have to post one next week!

 

[lulu66]

hi! just dipping my toes over here

we were blessed with our first little one last Tuesday! little Ellie was 8 lb 4 oz & 21 inches long. she is such a blessing so far. my mother is staying with us for 6 wks to help us adjust & handle the housechores, etc. we are breastfeeding & it is going well, so far. she a bit of a lazy nurser though; I have to keep her engaged the whole time. if she had her way, she'd just sleep latched to my breast all day! just happy to be here on the other sides/all you ladies! here's a photo of little miss while we were still in the hospital.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Lulu, congrats and welcome! She's precious. Glad to hear things are off to a good start for you!

NEL, K sounds so fun! I don't want to wish time away, but I'm really excited for the time that E starts becoming more of a real person

Bobbin, good luck with the transition to work. I too am started up that week. You are luck you had so much time with your little one, but in some ways, it is probably harder to transition once the baby is more aware and attached to you. I hope it all goes smoothly for you. I'm trying not to think about it because it make me sad and panicky!

Sunnyd, I'm SO jealous that your little one has a schedule and is sleeping for you! E will also be 2 months tomorrow, but I won't get his measurements until his appointment next week. Like many other babies on here, he is long and lean. He is stretching his 0-3 month sleepers to the max lengthwise, but he has such a teeny waist that I am just now putting him in size 1 diapers.

amc, hope your sleeping routine is going better. My little guy is already doing the straight rigid body refuse to bend thing, and he always tries to get into a standing position when I try to burp him over my knees.

LC, what a big boy drinking out of a sippy cup already. Thanks for weighing in on the diapers. I guess it might be normal for them not to be very regular. I'm desperately trying to find a reason for his unsettledness, so I am trying to determine whether a formula change is in order. But he does not seem to be particularly constipated or have runny diapers. They are just a littlte "mucusy" at times.

AFU, things are going okay. We seem to have one good day, then another not so good couple of days, and then a good day again. The biggest problem we are dealing with is that he needs to be held so much. He actually sleeps most of the night, but he won't sleep in his pack n play or crib. We put him in it, but he usually wakes 20 or 30 minutes later and squirms all over the place and cries really hard until we take him out. He only sleeps for longer stretches in our arms or on his boppy lounger thing, which is not approved for sleeping, so we don't leave him unattended on it. Part of me is tempted to give in and buy a rock and play or something else, just so we can sleep while he is sleeping, but then we will just have to transition him later. I'm really at a loss for what to do!

I called into my office and talked to my secretary for awhile today. She wants me to bring him in, but I explained that I'm worried it would be a fiasco because of how unpredictable and fussy he can be. She didn't say it outright, but I could sense that she assumes we are spoiling E and causing him to not sleep in his bed and to be so needy. I tried to explain that everything I have read says that a 2 month old is too young to be manipulative, but she kind of laughed that off, and I wasn't about to start a debate. I sense I'm going to get a lot of people who assume it is our parenting that is causing the problems. I hope that's not the case!

 

[amc80]

I called into my office and talked to my secretary for awhile today. She wants me to bring him in, but I explained that I'm worried it would be a fiasco because of how unpredictable and fussy he can be. She didn't say it outright, but I could sense that she assumes we are spoiling E and causing him to not sleep in his bed and to be so needy. I tried to explain that everything I have read says that a 2 month old is too young to be manipulative, but she kind of laughed that off, and I wasn't about to start a debate. I sense I'm going to get a lot of people who assume it is our parenting that is causing the problems. I hope that's not the case!

Everything I read said you can't spoil a newborn. They aren't developed enough to know that their actions can cause specific outcomes. Or something like that.

We had some trouble transitioning B from his nap nanny to his crib or PNP. We tried the PNP first and he hated it. A few weeks later we tried the crib...hated that as well. But then about a week later we tried the PNP again and it worked...so after a week in that we moved him to his crib without incident.

 

[pancake]

One of the things I think you have to do when you're parenting a baby is actively suppress any concerns you have about what other people think. Obviously if you're after advice or an opinion, that's different. But the rest of the time, I think that you and your partner come to a consensus about your approach to [X] (or just the whole parenting shebang at large), and then you have to stop worrying about or second-guessing what others are thinking. Doesn't matter. Not their kid!

 

[pancake]

Huge congratulations lulu, and welcome beautiful little Ellie!

 

[lliang_chi]

MP, I agree with AMC and Pancake, you need to put other people's opinion out of mind. My mother has her own opinions on how we feed/sleep/etc Ethan. I literally told her, "You had a chance to raise 3 kids. Not your kid, not your choice." She shut up after that. Besides your secretary just wants to see the cute squishy baby. And TBH that's the LAST thing you have to worry about. And in my opinion, I wouldn't want to take any baby out until they received their vax, but that's just my opinion.
Re: Ev's formula, if he's not uncomfortable passing stool (straining while pooping etc), then I wouldn't mess with it. If he was uncomfortable, then I'd look to change it. Get the Rock n' Play to try to get him to sleep. Or a swing. You guys need to be able to get some sleep too. I don't think I asked but does Ev take a paci?

Lulu, WELCOME! Ellie is GORGEOUS! Hope you're enjoying her, and glad BFing is going so well.

NEL, just wanted to give you a shout out, BabySteals is having a sale on winter tights. I know you said that K is too long for her pants, maybe the tights will be a good way for you to still use the dresses but keep her legs warm.

AFU, Ethan's gone back to the 1AM wake ups, booo! I'm goign to try to do a diaper change before WE go to bed to get him through the 1AM wake ups. And because he's waking @ 1, he's not waking for milk until 5:30AM. So when I do feed him, it's late enough to make him not hungry for breakfast @ 6:30, and plus he'll sleep through. I will usually have to wake him to go to daycare.

Oh and i dunno if I mentioned this but after Thanksgiving Ethan weaned himself off the paci. Except for Monday 1AM, he hasn't used a paci since. On Mon he was SO FUSSY and cranky and wouldn't go back to sleep. i didn't want to feed him so I popped a paci in his mouth and eventually went back to sleep.

 

[pavelover]

Hey MP- I vote for trying the rock and play thing. It's not ideal but you will all feel better if you get some solid sleep. Don't listen to that lady- you know what your baby needs. I know I mentioned before about the stress transferring from mom to baby but that wasn't intended to make you feel bad or that you are causing it. My pediatrician told me I held my son too much and I tried to do it less for like a day but I couldn't do it. We all know how you feel. I told you T slept in a swing for a LONG time. I am kind of shy to share that with everyone but you know what you have to find a way to survive what can be a very trying time. Keep up the good work!

Hi to everyone else and your babies are ADORABLE!

 

[Puppmom]

MP, I think the early days are all about survival. I think they're much more enjoyable when you do what's necessary to keep baby and mommy happy...even though that's not always possible. And sometimes those things are mutually exclusive! We did not *spoil* N early on as in hold him a ton or tip-toe around while he slept or jump every time he cried and he still turned into a high maintenance toddler who still doesn't STTN consistently, needs total silence from us plus white noise to sleep and is pretty needy otherwise. I think a lot is just in their nature. The good news is that just because E seems difficult to please now doesn't mean he will be later.

I guess people just don't realize how the things they say to a new mom can really affect her confidence and mood. The people around you should be reassuring you not making you feel like you should be doing something different. Shame on them! You do whatever is working for you and E.

 

[Kunzite]

MP, to pupp's point my three were the opposite! Like E they all had a stretch for a month or two where they had to be held for naps. Now they don't want us anywhere near them when they fall asleep, it's too stimulating. I literally lay them down and walk away. They just needed to mature and be ready to do it on their own. Like the other ladies said, you can't listen to the random comments. We had just moved back to my hometown when the twins went through this phase so every time someone would visit I would be holding a sleeping baby. Always! But I never felt the need to explain myself or open up a dialogue about it. See, when you try to defend/justify your parenting choices to people they take that as an invitation to insert their opinions. Oh, and get the Rock 'n Play if you think it will work! Just like the holding for naps he'll transition out of it just fine when he's ready. The twins slept in theirs for 4 months or so and had no trouble moving to the crib at all!

pancake, S is ADORABLE!

lulu, welcome!