PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[Mandarine]

Oh sorry China, I'm no help since I didn't go through that when I quit...since I never had milk to begin with!. Good luck though!

Sunkist, I don't change diapers at night either....I stopped like at 1 month because I figured I eventually want the little stinkers to sleep all night and don't want them to get used to a clean diaper and wake up because they're a little wet!. The morning diapers weigh like 10 lbs!!!!

Puffy, that's so awesome!!!. Each kid really does whatever they want...I really don't think there's much you can do (other than the obvious things to help them distinguish day/night!)

***

So the little ones are doing that weird thing again. They are starving, I make bottles, they are eager to start eating and as soon as the bottle is in their mouth, they start shaking their heads from side to side and screaming. What do the heck is up with that!!!?. We went through this a few weeks ago and it was accompanied by more times waking up during the night. Please Lord let that not be the case!!!!!!!!. The funny thing is, if you keep trying (through their screaming and pushing the bottle away with hands, tongue and face) they eventually start eating and either finish their bottle or at least drink more than half.

I feel terrible because it's like I'm forcing them to eat, but I know they are hungry!! otherwise they wouldn't then suck it down...right?

Any ideas?


ETA: SoCal, have you tried bigger sizes?

 

[so cal girl]

Date: 2/19/2010 5:03:38 PM
Author: Mandarine
Oh sorry China, I'm no help since I didn't go through that when I quit...since I never had milk to begin with!. Good luck though!

Sunkist, I don't change diapers at night either....I stopped like at 1 month because I figured I eventually want the little stinkers to sleep all night and don't want them to get used to a clean diaper and wake up because they're a little wet!. The morning diapers weigh like 10 lbs!!!!

Puffy, that's so awesome!!!. Each kid really does whatever they want...I really don't think there's much you can do (other than the obvious things to help them distinguish day/night!)

***

So the little ones are doing that weird thing again. They are starving, I make bottles, they are eager to start eating and as soon as the bottle is in their mouth, they start shaking their heads from side to side and screaming. What do the heck is up with that!!!?. We went through this a few weeks ago and it was accompanied by more times waking up during the night. Please Lord let that not be the case!!!!!!!!. The funny thing is, if you keep trying (through their screaming and pushing the bottle away with hands, tongue and face) they eventually start eating and either finish their bottle or at least drink more than half.

I feel terrible because it's like I'm forcing them to eat, but I know they are hungry!! otherwise they wouldn't then suck it down...right?

Any ideas?

Mandarine, I did a little research on this after your last post about it, and sometimes E does the same thing. I found some websites that said it may just be teething. They have pressure in their jaw and it hurts to eat. This was just from a quick internet search, so who knows if it's true, but it sounds reasonable.

ETA: He is currently in the size 2's (which are supposed to go up to 18lbs), and he only weighs 15 lbs. And he is long and thin, so even the size 2's have to be pulled tight to be snug around his waist. I'm thinking the 3's would be enormous. But my sister has some of the swaddlers 2-3's, and I'm thinking I might try those once we run out.

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Hey all...had to stop by since it''s Friday and I can get my fix of cute babies!

PG, sorry you''ve joined the green poop club. Yes, pumped milk will get the hindmilk, too, so you shouldn''t be worried about it not being there. I would simply try keeping Claire on one side for all feeds in a 3 hour period or so and see if that clears up the green poop. It''s also possible that it''s a fluke and doesn''t mean anything or that maybe she has a small virus. Green poop can be a total mystery! The only time I''d really get concerned about it is if it''s consistent *and* the baby isn''t gaining weight. Some babies have green poop all the time, gain weight well and are happy little campers.

It cracks me up how interested I am in poop when I have an infant. Who knew I''d find it so fascinating?? The funniest thing was that early on with Ben, I was looking at the contents of one of his diapers and my 14 year old son asked me what I was doing. I explained to him that I was looking at the color to make sure that we were out of the meconium poops. He looked a little bit grossed out by that.

Dreamer, OMG, your stages of baby development made me laugh! Thank you!

Pandora, I can''t believe Daisy is considering walking already. What a big girl! FWIW, I don''t bother with shoes until the kid in question is well into walking and will be walking in places where he needs his feet protected. I think kids have a much easier time learning to walk barefoot. That keeps you from having to lay out the big bucks for shoes so early.

Mara, yay for a good ped visit. I know it''s kind of weird having your boob manhandled! I''ve had to do it when I was with WIC and, honestly, it gets to the point where it''s like touching any other body part.

As for STTN, I''ve found that the best way to get your kids to do it is to NOT want them to! I want Will to go back to sleeping until like 7:30, but he insists on getting up at 6...and then I want Ben to wake me up at least every 3 hours, and he''s consistently sleeping 4+ hours at night. Last night, I fed him then took us to bed right before 11 and he didn''t wake me until 4:45. I''ve tried setting my alarm for 3 hours and it doesn''t work because I turn it off! I need him to be my alarm.

MTJ, sounds like you got a great deal with diapers.com! I''m sure pumping will go fine for you. Just keep in mind that it''s very much a learned art and your body has to be trained to respond to the pump. At first, you may only get a little bit of milk and may feel like it''s not even worth it to pump. It *will* get easier. Every little bit counts, too, so if you pump 1/2 oz., that''s a 1/2 oz. you didn''t have before. I had to toss a 1/2 oz. last night and I wanted to cry, lol.

Anchor, I hope J goes back to sleeping well! Those nights when they want to be up and down can be soooo trying!

I''m taking the More Milk Plus Special Blend tincture and I know I''m nuts because I like the taste of it. I think it really helps -- yesterday morning when I pumped, I got 1 oz. (pumping while feeding) then this morning I got 1.5 oz. and then another 1 oz. a few hours later. I also have the More Milk Plus capsules, but didn''t like those as much. The only difference with the Special Blend is that it has Goat''s Rue added to it.

Ben HATES getting his diaper changed. HATES IT. You would think that I''m killing him. So he gets back at me by peeing during the change every so often. When I see him start, I just cover his little wee and let him finish. I have a folded blanket on the floor for this very purpose because then I can just throw the blanket in the wash.

Fiery, lol, your MIL is something else. You should tell her that Sophia obviously got tired of hearing her (MIL) voice and that''s why Sophia was acting like that. Really, to me it sounds like Sophia has already developed her ways of coping when she''s tired, which is SO much better than having her get overstimulated and then inconsolable.

Um, Viz, I use the phrase "being a pill"!! Sometimes it''s the only phrase that''s appropriate. I mostly apply it to my 9 year old because she''s such a drama queen that she is a pill quite often (and I love her to death...she just makes me tired sometimes with all of her drama).

As for the ILs...I think I would be looking at day care, too. I think that when there are actual relatives that could watch the baby that''s usually the best situation, but if you can''t trust them to follow your directions, it''s not going to do you any good. I could never concentrate at work if I thought for one second that the people taking care of Will weren''t doing their job (and the same will go for Ben when he goes to day care).

China, can you hand express just enough to feel more comfortable? I''d probably do that over pumping because it *might* be less stimulation.


I actually have a pic to contribute today! I don''t know what the face is that Ben''s pulling, but this picture cracked me up. He was lying in my lap, just hanging out and being happy. When I started taking pictures he got very serious. His face is NOT that thin -- he''s making almost fish lips. He''s also got his brow all wrinkled, which seems to be his favorite expression. I''ve told him I''m going to have to start putting my retinol cream on his forehead because he''s already got lines there!

My confession:

I don''t have any good ones today because my week was not very exciting. I do have to say that I *wish* we had the time for sex. I could go for some. Sadly, by the time evening rolls around and we get the boys to sleep, I''m ready for bed and SO still has a couple of hours of work to do.

And then, of course, I''m convinced the Highlander Effect will happen. This is when a baby wakes up just as you start to get busy because "there can be only ONE!!"

The whole pumping during a feeding then a couple of times a day giving Ben some milk in a bottle seemed to work well yesterday. Last night he nursed quite a bit but then got to the point where he was so crabby and tired, he didn''t want to latch on any more. I warmed up only 1 oz. and he drank 1/2 and then fell totally asleep. Today, his poop was nice and brown/yellow so I was happy. Yes, pumping every day sucks, but if that''s what I need to do, I will ''cause it doesn''t bother me that much.

 

[ChinaCat]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH, sweet relief. I gave in (thanks VIZ for the enabling) and am pumping now.

RPS- It''s way past the point of hand expressing at the moment, unfortunately. For some reason this time of day (b/w 2-4) is unbearable, which is weird b/c O never ate that much at this time of day and I never pumped consistently at this time either. It makes way more sense to be super engorged in the morning. Oh well. That picture is awesome!

VIZ- Ice your ARMpits???? Does that work? Why???

Love all the pics. Here is my contribution:

O was officially 6 months yesterday.

 

[mtjoya]

Love the pics of the bebes!

We just got a DSLR camera, I call them papparazzi cams so we are trying to learn how to take pics.

I will post when I can.

RPS-Thanks for the encouragement! I just got my storage bags/bottles, so I will pump today!

I have been semi-dreading it!

 

[ChinaCat]

And one more.

 

[Mandarine]

SoCal, I have them on the 2-3 swaddlers and they are also about 15 lbs. I always find that I go up in size before the weight limits on the packages. They are a little big, but do a much better job!. I bought some size 3s and they look huge, so I'm sticking to the 2-3s for now. Target had them fro sale last week!

I think you may be right and it's teething. I need to get a big mess with my insurance company resolved so that I can take them to their 4-month appointment (we're so late!!!)...I'll ask the pedi then....I did try feeling their gums and they feel hard, but I have no idea how they fell before this!

RPS, Oh My goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at that sweet face. It immediately reminded me of Alex when he was "little". He used to make that same face all the time!!!!!!. Awww, love the picture!!!!

ETA: China, look at those eyes!!!! So blue!!!!!

 

[Mandarine]

RPS, look...this is the best I could find of Alex doing that similar face! (not teh best picture and he''s doing something weird with his eye!!)
Obviously Alex was a peanut compared to your LO....but isn''t that expression the same??
Awww, made me miss the little peanut phase when they both fit on my chest!!!

 

[snlee]

Date: 2/19/2010 3:43:50 PM
Author: ChinaCat
ACK, wrote a whole long post but PS ate it. Well actually PS didn''t eat it, I accidentally deleted it.

REALLY QUICK QUESTION, NEED IMMEDIATE HELP!

For those of you that have weaned/stopped pumping:

I am still nursing O when I am home (morning and evening) but I am attempting to quit pumping while at work. The first 2 pumpings I dropped no problem, but I can''t seem to drop the last one.

I AM SO ENGORGED RIGHT NOW IT HURTS- DO I GRIT MY TEETH THROUGH THE PAIN, OR GO AHEAD AND PUMP FOR LIKE 5 MINUTES TO RELEIVE SOME PRESSURE?

I know that each time I pump, I am just prolonging it and it is signalling to my body that it needs to produce milk but gosh almighty, I can''t get any work done it HURTS.

How long does this take??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Quick answers appreciated, I''ve already got one hand on the pump.

If you want your supply to go down, don''t pump! It will hurt bad for at least a few days but it will get better!

When I weaned D, I started off slowly dropping one nursing/pumping session each week or so. I was down to only one morning nursing session when I finally stopped. I was okay for the first day, then it started to hurt really badly! I didn''t pump at all. I hurt for a whole week!

Hang in there! I know it''s painful!

 

[Mandarine]

miss this peanut phase!!!!!!

awwww...makes me want to go and wake them from their one-arm swaddle nap and hug them!!!...just kidding!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Last night I slept more than I have slept in MONTHS! Claire slept from 9 to 6! Thank you baby, thank you! I got 8+ hours of sleep! I didn''t even stir to go to the bathroom . . . I feel like a new woman!

Plus, the guy I share my planning period with offered to let me pump in his cubicle, which is all but hidden from view. When I pin my pashmina up, nobody can see in. This means I won''t have to go to the clinic and listen to the nurse''s crazy political ramblings any more (she thought note from the guy who crashed that plane into the building yesterday "made sense"). It''s just more convenient for me altogether. I can set my computer up at his desk, and we can switch back when I''m done.

Here is a picture of Claire "holding" her bottle, my (on time!) contribution to BPF.

 

[Mara]

J is a total fussenstein today, he will not go down to sleep. i have BF him 3x in the last 2 hours and i was putting him down in his crib to try something new and he was going to sleep and then my Mom and Grandma stopped by. argh but Grandma has only seen him like 1x so far. sooo now he is totally overstimulated and not sleeping, just crying. i had him in his crib but then he was howling so i removed him since i don't want him to have negative memories of the crib and nursery for future. so now he's back in the swing with the crazy rainforest sounds on...haha.

ok in the 5 min it has taken me to come back to finish this, he's going in and out of sleep. we'll see, he did this earlier and only slept for like 30 min when usually he is out for a few hours. 3 hour naps, not today!

sunkist..some people say he looks just like G but sometimes in pics people say he looks like me. he def has my nose and cheeks, but the mouth and eyes i think are G's.

china... what about expressing by hand just a little bit to relieve the engorgement? i read something about that if you don't want to pump. not sure if it will help but good luck!!

puffy..i want your luck then hehee. when you say you guys just never woke to feed him at night, do you mean he never woke to cry at night from day one??

again i think our biggest issue is the DIAPERS this kid goes through, not the food thing. he doesn't wake up starving from what i can tell, he just wakes up irritated that he's got poo stuck to his butt and then starts wailing.

speaking of POO ... i am wondering if he is getting a bit of a diaper rash in his butt crack. again he poos almost every 2 hours or more and the swaddlers have that mesh area on the butt and it totally sticks to his poo and then glues itself to his butt skin. almost wondering if we should try a new type of diaper hmm. i might write our pedi and see what she says. we are using burt's bees diaper cream which my friend swears by but does anyone use desitin or another cream they recommend?

i am going to shower and then head out for some AWAY time...so fun, going to BBB to get more coffee pods and then walgreens for always pads. ahhh the life of a new mom. LOL.

ETA i see i am totally behind since it took me like 35 min to compose this post haha. china nevermind re: hand expressing!!

 

[MustangGal]

Mara - we use Butt Paste. Kyle''s hasn''t gotten diaper rashes too bad, but my DH''s cousins (with way tooo many kids) gave it to me as a shower gift and said it was the best thing ever.

 

[snlee]

Date: 2/19/2010 5:49:06 PM
Author: Mara
speaking of POO ... i am wondering if he is getting a bit of a diaper rash in his butt crack. again he poos almost every 2 hours or more and the swaddlers have that mesh area on the butt and it totally sticks to his poo and then glues itself to his butt skin. almost wondering if we should try a new type of diaper hmm. i might write our pedi and see what she says. we are using burt's bees diaper cream which my friend swears by but does anyone use desitin or another cream they recommend?

I love burt's bees diaper cream. Hate desitin. I also like A&D ointment. Give that a try. It's a petroleum and lanolin-based ointment.

 

[anchor31]

ChinaCat - Apparently parsley and sage help drying up the milk. Maybe you could try this? Sage tincture

 

[taovandel]

We also don''t change diapers at night....it would only wake him up and keep us up forever. I would only do it if it''s a poopy diaper...but otherwise...it''s staying on him.

 

[Mandarine]

Can''t. Handle. More. Screaming. Today.

 

[taovandel]

Mandarine: I told you this on the other site---but Evan was a screaming mess all day. I don''t think his pouty lip has stopped since abou 5 p.m. He fell asleep for about 30 minutes or so--but woke up, literally, screaming his head off. He even cried during his diaper change---which he has never done. He did keep farting as I was walking around with him--so I guess he''s just really super gassy.

We are trying to put him down for bed now...wish us luck.

 

[sugarpie honeybun]

Date: 2/19/2010 8:27:07 PM
Author: taovandel
Mandarine: I told you this on the other site---but Evan was a screaming mess all day. I don't think his pouty lip has stopped since abou 5 p.m. He fell asleep for about 30 minutes or so--but woke up, literally, screaming his head off. He even cried during his diaper change---which he has never done. He did keep farting as I was walking around with him--so I guess he's just really super gassy.

We are trying to put him down for bed now...wish us luck.

This cracked me up.

Hopefully the sleep gods shine down on all of our little ones tonight...

 

[Mara]

Date: 2/19/2010 9:10:35 PM
Author: sugarpie honeybun

This cracked me up.

Hopefully the sleep gods shine down on all of our little ones tonight...

Word.

 

[sunkist]

Re: teething, Tao I think maybe you could be right! I was just visiting with a friend this afternoon that has two kiddos and I was talking about all the things Wes has been fussy over lately, including sort of chewing on his pacifier, and she suggested he might be teething too. It made so much sense! But I dont feel anything there yet, I guess they can "teeth" for a while before anything shows up? I hope this doesnt go on too much longer. I was also wondering if I wasnt making enough milk for him??, cause even feeding him wasnt letting him stay asleep in the crib. But I dont think thats the case. His naps today have been on my lap, in the car, or just non-existent today. I feel bad for him

and me!

Mandy, I hope your two guys give you some kind of a break from the fussing! (Love the tiny peanuts pic!)

RPS - the "Highlander Effect", hahahaha! Wes totally has this. ahem.

Tomorrow Wes''s grandparents are having his 100-day Celebration party! Im not sure exactly what this entails, but we''re going to a restaurant. I hope Wes is good

 

[kama_s]

Date: 2/16/2010 8:44:20 PM
Author: anchor31
I just want to share a couple of pictures I''m finding pretty hilarious right now. I''m watching olympic hockey (Canada vs Norway - Canada''s currently leading 3-0

) and I put Jacob down to play with him... Apparently hockey''s more interesting than mommy!

Turning out to be a superb Habs fan, isn''t he?!

LOVING all the adorable pics. I hope you awesome mums don''t mind me oggling at your gorgeous lovelies, I''m having such a hard time curbing the maternal tick-tock-tick-tock...

 

[sunkist]

Viz, Im so sorry you have to deal with your ILs. I cant believe they came over and hogged C when you asked them not to! but I must say, they kind of sound like my ILs!

Very nice people to me, but they nag the heck out of my hubby (and in Chinese no less so I have no idea whats going on, except by non=verbal comminication, which might be humorous if it were a show on tv, but its not

)

Not much advice though, only to just be polite while standing up for your family. and it sounds like you are that

Maybe this should be another Friday confession, but my FIL was talking to Wes the other day about how he''s going to take him for his first hamburger at McDonalds and teach him how to eat a burger, and I was thinking to myself, ''What if I dont want my kid to eat hamburgers as soon as he has teeth?!" I think I need to relax over the ILs. I mean Im sure its a sweet thing for Grandpa to take his grandson out for burgers! I remember doing fun things with my grandpa. I think I get overly protective around them for some reason. You know, I think it has to do with them trying to tell W what to do until he does it, ie: ''look at grandpa", "smile at grandpa" over and over and over again. He''s only 3 months! He doesnt understand you! But they insist he does

Sorry, rant over. I think I just had to let those few feelings spill!

 

[sunkist]

Date: 2/19/2010 9:26:47 PM
Author: Mara

Date: 2/19/2010 9:10:35 PM

Author: sugarpie honeybun


This cracked me up.

Hopefully the sleep gods shine down on all of our little ones tonight...

Word.

Right there with you!

PG, I cant believe Claire slept 8+ hours for you!! WTG

 

[Blenheim]

LOVE all of the cute babies!! Claire, Ben, Julian, Henry, ...

Ebree - I will say that when we moved, G''s sleep got turned upside down. Not to scare you or anything, and I hope it goes differently for you, but I''m not sure that I''d bother trying to establish a new routine for 3 weeks if it''s a possibility that you''ll lose all your work (so to speak) when you move. And oh my gosh those cheeks!

So Cal - I think that most of the ladies on here have had to size up diapers before the weight recommendation, so if it''s not fitting properly but you should still have 3 lbs to go, I''d go ahead and try to size up anyway.

Night Diapers - we leave the same diaper on him all night, and he''s in two old-school cotton prefolds (double diapered), so none of this newfangled wicking technology.

But he gets really keyed up if we try to change his diaper at night, and decides it''s time to wake up for 2 hours. Since leaving him in the same diaper isn''t causing rash or any obvious discomfort, we just do it.

Teethers - I think I heard somewhere that they can cause more discomfort when they''re starting to come through lower down than when they''re cutting through the skin. (Maybe?) And that pattern has seemed to be true with G. So if you''re seeing a bunch of teething symptoms but not feeling any teeth under the gums (I keep typing "gyms"... maybe my subconscious is telling me something?) then i wouldn''t discount teething.

DD- i forgot to tell you earlier, but i love your stages of development!!

China/Viz - breast tissue extends into just below the armpits, so maybe that''s why icing armpits helps?? I hope that the pain goes away ASAP.

 

[sunkist]

RPS re: peeing during changes, what a good idea to put a blanket where he always aims! I should have done that before. Thing is now his aim always hits right in his eye... ewwww! he''s always so surprised, haha!

 

[steph72276]

I haven''t been on in a few days since it''s been a little crazy around here. I really think I have supply issues. E nursed for AN ENTIRE HOUR yesterday, and still screamed afterward for a bottle. I try to pump in between feedings, but I just can''t keep up with nursing for an hour, pumping, then nursing again 30 minutes later. So I am still giving him some formula. Ugh, so frustrating! Anyway, he did sleep a little better last night, up every 2 hours instead of 1 or 1 1/2. I am so jealous of Mara and RPS for having good little sleepers that will go 5 or more hours!

Anyway, all the baby pics are SO adorable. Hopefully I will have a little time later on to respond to everyone individually. Have a good day!

 

[Pandora II]

Sunkist - Daisy was terrible around 3 months with teething pain - constant drooling, chomping everything, fussy - and yet not a tooth in sight, or even redness or anything. Once they started coming through at around 6 months there were no problems at all.

I think the pain is far worse while they are deep down.

Hyland''s Teething Tablets worked well with Daisy as did Ashton & Parson''s Infant Powders (even if it does look like you are giving your baby a wrap of coke or something!). Teething rings didn''t seem to help at all though.

 

[cdt1101]

hey ladies!

Been a rough week between work and the awful way they''re handling this relocation

I''ll spare you the details, but needless to say they are making it quite obvious they don''t give a sh*t about those of us losing our jobs. Lex also had pink eye this week and is just so freakin congested since January now I can''t take it!! We now have to go to a pulmonologist because he''s still not responding well to the nebulizer

And between the coughing fits he has at night and this separation anxiety my great sleeper has officially left the room. We''ll get thru it, but man I can''t wait for nice weather and to just be home w/ my little man.

So w/ the pink eye and constant state of runny nose, I haven''t taken many pics this month. I''ll post on from earlier in the month though

I love all the pics ladies!!

NB - I love Olivia''s head band! She''s so adorable..makes me want a girl BAD

Ebree - I can''t believe Henry has so many teeth!!! How''s he been w/ all the teething? Lex still only has the 2. And between those cheeks and eyes he is SUCH a heartbreaker! I hope it doesn''t sound weird, but everytime I see pics of him I just want to kiss him

Blen - love the sleeping pic of George, Lex had his hand the exact same way last night when I checked on him, I fixed it for him

Amber - I love the way Piper sleeps! It''s so strange to me that babies find the weirdest things comfortable. she''s such a doll!

Sunkist - Wes''s eyes are sooo big! Love them! Like Mara, I''m a total sucker for big eyes

China - O is so cute!! Beautiful eyes and those lips!! Do you just kiss them all day??? heheeh....so cute!

Phoenix - Claire is adorable! And I''m jealous she holds her bottle! Lex still refuses and he''s almost 9 months! I have a cousin who was exactly the same way when he was a baby...men

Mandy - Lucas and Alex are adorable!!! I love all their pics!!

RPS - Ben is so little and cute!! I want a little baby again

Ok, I''m sorry if I missed anyone!!! Not intentional, but I"m working off memory here and that''s as good as I get...and sorry if I got anyone''s name wrong

Fiery - Love Sophia! That smile

...and sorry, but your MIL is an idiot

Hello to Pandora, Mela, Dreamer..anyone else I''m missing

Here''s my not so little man

 

[Blenheim]

CDT - sorry that work''s so sucky right now.

Steph - Is it possible that he''s going through a growth spurt? That sounds grueling and I hope it gets better for you.

I''ve been trying to upload some photos on FB but am having huge technical difficulties. GRRRR. So, I''ve come on here instead to post another G photo. Presenting... his brand new eye patch!