PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[anchor31]

Was I supposed to eat that?

 

[ChinaCat]

PG- Cuteness overload! I haven't seen Claire in awhile, she's so pretty!
MP- That's an awesome pic. And I totally worried about putting him in the swing too much at first. Now I'm like WHAT was I worried about, I should have put him in it more. They can't do much at that age. And they get stimulated and mobile so fast. Don't worry about it.
DRK- K is sooooo cute!!!! Sorry you are having troubles with the feedings. It's always something, isn't it?

VIZ, oh VIZ. Poor little C. I can't believe that something so CUTE and smiley can be in so much pain. Is it getting better at least??? As far as waking up at 6 am, don't think there's much you can do about that one. Goal is 12 hours, so if he gets up at 6, then maybe try and put him down at 6??? I should do this with O but I don't b/c I don't get home early enough. So he goes down at 7 am, wakes up at 6:30 am. I let him play in his crib till 7 am.

As far as the feedings go- I admit I'm a little confused by the advice you're getting. But I also am always confused about the food thing and will admit that I do my own thing and don't necessarily worry about what I "should" be doing. So with that caveat, here are my thoughts.

I operate under the idea that babies don't NEED food for nutrients till about age 1. They CAN get it all from formula/BM. My understanding is the idea of introducing food is to get them used to food and textures so that when you cut the formula at age 1, it is a smoother transition. At 6-7 months, I was just giving him food whenever I could or it worked out. I didn't really have him on 3 "meals" a day till around 8 or 9 months (mostly b/c I was lazy). I just tried to get him to like food. Now he is on 3 meals a day, but it happened naturally. (He's almost 10 months, btw). As for sippy cups, I introduced one around 8 months maybe, just to let him get used to it. I give it to him everyday, but I don't watch how much he takes, I just let him "practice".

Now O still takes 4 bottles of formula a day. My pedi said he should probably start cutting that down but I'm not concerned about it. I dropped his bedtime bottle and now I just let him dictate. Sometimes he drinks less than the 8 oz and sometimes he just doesn't want a bottle. When that happens, I don't push it. Unlike when he was little and I HAD to get a certain amount in him. I will probably work on dropping another bottle this month. But honestly, I am not that worried about it and I don't care if he's not totally weaned off bottles by 1 year. Some moms are pretty insistent about the bottles being DONE at 1, like my cousin who just cut the bottles cold turkey. I might feel differently once he hits 1, but it's just not something that stresses me out. He loves real food and is not attached to his bottles so I figure it will work out.

Now a few questions:
1. Why did your daycare suggest this? They think he's ready? Or do you think it's more of a convenience thing for them? If they think he's ready, I say let them try it. But if it's just b/c it would be more convenient for them, then too bad.

2. Your pedi: Did he say that C needed 3 meals a day, or just that is what to aim for? Did he/she say why? For example, my pedi said that most babies have less formula at O's age but didn't really tell me why that mattered or why he needed it to be less. (This is RIGHT after we talked about how skinny he is and how he burns so many calories so you'd THINK that O might need more than "most" babies

). Anyways, I don't really care if most babies are taking less. Unless the pedi tells me it's a real problem or there's a reason for it, I kind of shrug and do my own thing. O is clearly not overweight or eating too much so I will drop the bottles when it feels right to me.

Hope that helps a little bit. I think it's a bit harder for you to trust your instincts on things b/c you've had to deal with C's ear issues so it's probably hard to tell what is "normal" for C. If I were you, I would just keep trying the food, eventually he'll figure it out. Does he have teeth? Is he crawling (belly off floor) or anything like that? If yes, you might want to give him finger foods. O is much more interested in eating when he can do it himself. Not sure if C is ready for that yet though!

I missed you and C around here!!!! How's work going? Did you think my FB status meant I'd finally wised up and quit my job?

Not so much.

ETA: Anchor, Jacob is soo cute! That's the first picture I've seen of him where he looks like a little boy and not just a newborn. So so so sorry about the sickness stuff. Hope it all gets better and fast!

 

[meresal]

C started smiling last week! It melts my heart! (Here is the first documented smile)

 

[vizsla]

OMG - china .. that''s *totally* what i thought! i got so excited ... not that your anniversary wasn''t really sweet too but i was hoping that maybe i could live vicariously thru you how is work going BTW?

yeah, i''m totally confused about the food thing. i guess i haven''t ''really'' thought about it because the main goal for so long was just getting him to eat *anything*. with his ears always being in a funk he just didn''t want to eat, KWIM? now that he is more accepting of his bottles i feel all of this pressure to get him to eat food food.. never ends

the pedi didn''t really say 3 meals a day by 8 months or else.... she just said that''s the goal. but also never made mention if i eliminate bottles?? or feed him a little formula THEN give him food?? or any of the schematics of our new feeding routine. it''s totally up to me to decide, but i get so nervous that he''s not going to get enough calories etc. if i eliminate bottles. with him being such a peanut it''s always in the back of my head.

right now he''s still eating about every 3 hours give or take a bottle. and about 6oz each feeding.. so that''s around 40-45oz total a day. daycare wanted to go from 3 bottles to 2 bottles with 2 feedings of solids. which sounded ok at first, but then i got nervous.
the reality is that he is still getting 1-2 bottles during the night, 1 when he wakes up, (his daycare feedings), 1 when he gets home from daycare, and 1 before bed... and we like to attempt another solid feeding around dinner time. gosh, now that i write that all out it sounds like a lot of food doesn''t it?

DH thinks he saw a tooth coming up (which would explain the crying and moaning last night). hopefully this doesn''t go on for too long before that sucker pops thru.. he''s been grabbing his ear too

so sad.

thanks china for the food info.... i definitely need to do some research and come up with a game plan. i feel so lost when i don''t have one!

hey CDT!!! i can''t believe lex is sooooooo biigggg tooo!!!! i think you should just hang around with us since you will be back in just a few months anyway

love your low-key birthday too! hoping we can do something similar for C.
i''m thinking instead of an actual 1st birthday party - we are going to do a "WE MADE IT!!" celebration for DH and i... and maybe, if C is lucky, a bitty bday cake for him

anchor- oh poor YOU!! that''s horrific that J has been in the hospital so much! my heart goes out to you! ((hugs)) all around! i''m glad he''s back home and healthy! i''ll send good juju out to you and your family for continued healing!!

 

[qtiekiki]

anchor
Poor Jacob. Glad he got over the infection.
His "what am I supposed to do with that" face is so cute.

Viz
Charlie is a tough cookie for enduring the horrible ear infection. Hopefully it''ll completely clear soon.
I honestly don''t remember dropping a bottle so early on. M still took the same number of bottles and nurse when I am home at that age. It wasn''t under around 11.5 months when her intake of milk was decreased and that was because my supply tanked and she didn''t like soymilk as much. I guess I am kind of confused since solids are still not the main nutrition source at this age.

meresal
Look at that smile. So adorable.

And here''s J getting upset because he couldn''t roll back onto his back.

 

[ChinaCat]

Viz- For now, until you figure out a plan, I would definitely NOT drop any bottles and just try to add in solids. Aim for 3 x a day. Here's what O does:

Wake up- 6:30 or 7 am
Bottle- 7:30 am
Breakfast- 8 or 8:15 am
Bottle- 11 am
Lunch- 12:30 pm
Bottle- depends on nap but either before he goes down or after his nap- 2 or 3 pm
Bottle- 5 or 6 pm
Dinner- 5:30 pm

This is during the week. On the weekends, it's more flexible and I just follow his lead. But I still do "breakfast" "lunch" and "dinner' IF I can.

BBL

ETA: And Viz, O was definitely NOT on this schedule at 7 months! This is what you might aim for in a few months. He's been on this schedule at least since 9 months??? But at 7 months, he had another bottle in there and MAYBE had solids 2x a day. MAYBE.

 

[cdt1101]

From what I understand the reason you want to start getting them used to more food, less milk, is once they transition to whole milk they should not be using that as their main source of nutrition. Whole milk does not have sufficient iron therefore they need to compensate for the lack of vitamins w/ real food??? That’s how I understood it anyway. If a toddler drinks too much milk and not enough food they can become iron deficient. So I think the reason at 8+ months you want to start introducing 3 meals a day is to practice for what needs to happen after 12 months. Personally that was also a driver for me to drop the bottle at 1 since Lex drank WAY more milk from the bottle than he gets from the sippy. I think you only want to shoot for like 20 oz/day after 12 months.

This is just my own conclusion after reading and talking to my pedi. I totally could be wrong

 

[Mara]

viz and anchor, so sorry you guys are having probs still...both of you ...big hugs!! and hope the babes feel better soon.

viz re : dropping a bottle, isn't C about 15lbs? J is too and he is eating about 24-26oz a day. i have always kind of operated under the assumption that if they need a ton of milk (aka what i would consider 40-50oz per day) then i would totally start solids...because that is just a lot of liquid to be drinking and maybe they need more belly sustenance that lasts longer. but as china said also, from a nutritional perspective, milk or formula is fine for them to exist upon solely until 1 year. i think that diff people have diff ideas on what they want to do, so don't feel pushed into doing anything you don't want to. our pedi said to start feeding J solids but we haven't bothered yet other than his bottle, and we will prob try some oatmeal this wkd. i just didn't want to start introducing anything yet since we are deswaddling and like you said, the idea of a whole new SCHEDULE or adding something else in is just too mind-boggling. i don't want him not eating enough then not sleeping well and we won't associate the two, etc. i kind of want to do one thing at a time.

love the pics...the babies are so cute!! i want to squish little cheekies. kate love the circle of neglect photo hehe. anchor aww re: the food. he looked like he liked it?? pg that pic of claire, frameable! QT love jaron!! mp you know i love that little mischevious pic.

MP ditto CC re the swing. i was worried at first too but then J decided he hated the swing. and then he hated the bouncer. then he liked the swing again. then the bouncer. etc. etc. so he never got into any habits with any of that stuff because he goes from like to hate and back again. right now he likes the swing, but generally won't nap in it. i also loved once J liked his crib because now i can just go put him in there, put his mobile or some music on for him with a toy and he's good for 15-20 min or so. i had to do that yesterday at 6pm when i had a late call for work.

mere...that pic is friggin A.DORABLE. that open mouth smile, love it.
pg you must almost be done with school? how exciting!!

J is giggling up a crazy storm these days. i just uploaded a video to youtube so i'll post it on FB too... i just love it. i have been racing home every day from work just to spend 2-3 hours with him before bedtime. and i'm wfh today thankfully. it's totally irrational but i don't want him to 'forget' me.

sleep update: last nite again went til almost 5am (he was sleeping but Greg went rowing so 15 min later J was squeaking). i paci'd him and he slept til 8am. yay! putting him down is getting a little more challenging since he is free, he wants to talk and squeak and babble and flail. so i put him down at 7:30 as usual but he actually doesn't fall asleep til 8 now. however i just leave him alone in there until he starts to cry (doesn't always happen), then i paci him and he falls asleep.

one more thing--re: working mom guilt...my sis told me J rolled from back to belly on wed but she forgot to tell me. i was like WHAT! of course he has not done it again. but i am so bummed i missed it. oh well...hopefully he will do it again this wkd and we'll pretend it was first time. on the same note, i hope he doesn't start doing that in his sleep yet, yikes.

here is my BPF. in honor of sleep sacking J this week, here's a pic from after his bottle this morning. i think he looks like me here.

 

[ChinaCat]

Date: 6/11/2010 1:11:54 PM
Author: cdt1101

From what I understand the reason you want to start getting them used to more food, less milk, is once they transition to whole milk they should not be using that as their main source of nutrition. Whole milk does not have sufficient iron therefore they need to compensate for the lack of vitamins w/ real food??? That’s how I understood it anyway. If a toddler drinks too much milk and not enough food they can become iron deficient. So I think the reason at 8+ months you want to start introducing 3 meals a day is to practice for what needs to happen after 12 months. Personally that was also a driver for me to drop the bottle at 1 since Lex drank WAY more milk from the bottle than he gets from the sippy. I think you only want to shoot for like 20 oz/day after 12 months.

This is just my own conclusion after reading and talking to my pedi. I totally could be wrong

CDT- This makes sense to me. For now I am letting him drive it b/c he doesn''t seem too addicted to the bottle and loves loves loves real food. But I saved your schedule (that you posted earlier) and will probably re-visit it once he gets closer to 1. But this is helpful in thinking about "why" they need to start dropping bottles. I should probably start giving him formula in his sippy cup. But like I said, I''m lazy.

THANKS!

 

[cdt1101]

Date: 6/11/2010 1:31:56 PM
Author: ChinaCat

Date: 6/11/2010 1:11:54 PM
Author: cdt1101

From what I understand the reason you want to start getting them used to more food, less milk, is once they transition to whole milk they should not be using that as their main source of nutrition. Whole milk does not have sufficient iron therefore they need to compensate for the lack of vitamins w/ real food??? That’s how I understood it anyway. If a toddler drinks too much milk and not enough food they can become iron deficient. So I think the reason at 8+ months you want to start introducing 3 meals a day is to practice for what needs to happen after 12 months. Personally that was also a driver for me to drop the bottle at 1 since Lex drank WAY more milk from the bottle than he gets from the sippy. I think you only want to shoot for like 20 oz/day after 12 months.

This is just my own conclusion after reading and talking to my pedi. I totally could be wrong

CDT- This makes sense to me. For now I am letting him drive it b/c he doesn't seem too addicted to the bottle and loves loves loves real food. But I saved your schedule (that you posted earlier) and will probably re-visit it once he gets closer to 1. But this is helpful in thinking about 'why' they need to start dropping bottles. I should probably start giving him formula in his sippy cup. But like I said, I'm lazy.

THANKS!

No problem! I'm lazy too, I seriously had a mini panic attack on Satuday when I finally threw ALL the bottle away

But I really do believe the bottle after 1 year thing only benefits the parent (convenience) not the child. But I love not washing bottles anymore and since he mainly eats real food now (very few purees) he feeds himself so I really don't have to do anything but watch him...he's such a big boy now

 

[anchor31]

viz - I''m very sympathetic to your situation with poor Charlie and his ear infections too. It sucks to have a sick baby...

It''s sad that he had to undergo surgery so young, I hope it helps him.

 

[so cal girl]

Happy Friday everyone!

I still haven''t had time to catch up, but I just wanted to jump in on the discussion on foods and dropping bottles. Viz, I am really suprised your pedi said that. My pedi has been kind of "do whatever you want" on the feeding thing. She really hasn''t given me any advice but to give him solids whenever I feel like it. E is over 8 months, and he still doesn''t eat 3 meals a day! I would seriously do whatever you''re comfortable with, since (as other said) it seems like solids under a year are just to help them get used to the texture and whatnot. Plus, once Charlie is feeling 100%, he may be more interested in food.

Right now I still only give E "food" two times a day. We started off with just rice cereal (mixed with BM) at dinner time at 6 months. At 7 months, we added veggies/fruits to that. At 8 months, he started getting yogurt for breakfast. At that point I also increased his bottles from 7oz to 8oz, and that caused him to drop a feeding. I''m hoping to add in lunch somewhere at about 9 months and figure out where to go from there. oh yeah, and I do give him a sippy with some water at dinner time, but he only sucks on it a little, then proceeds to bite at it and swing it around and bang it on his high chair

This is our schedule right now, at almost 8.5 months.
7:00 wake up/nurse
8:45-9:00 breakfast (yogurt)
12:00 bottle of BM
4:00 bottle of BM
7:00 dinner (cereal and fruit/veggie)
8:30 nurse/bed
As for BPF...
phoenix, MonkeyPie, drk, anchor, meresal, qtiekiki, and mara- LOVE the pics!

Here is mine for today. Hopefully it comes out okay, since it''s a crappy cell phone pic.

 

[phoenixgirl]

As I just said in the other thread, I was never a baby person before, but now when I see your cute babies I just want to hug and kiss all of them!!!

 

[Sabine]

PG, MP, Mer, QT, mara LOVE THE PICS!!! No matter how busy I am, I have to log in on Fridays just for the pics!

Viz and Anchor, so sorry that your little guys are having such a rough time (and sorry for you mamas having to deal with it!)

Viz, we went to 3 meals a day quickly just because Jacks was eating 40+ oz. a day, and our formula is freaking EXPENSIVE, and being a sahm it gave me something else to do with him. He did drop to 4 bottles a day quickly after going to 3 meals, but he pretty much did it on his own, as I think his previous bottle schedule was interrupting the nap schedule he wanted. He''s been on the same schedule since about 6 months, and I love it. He is actually at a point where he could probably drop to 3 bottles a day, but I don''t want to worry about changing the schedule that works so well for us. Here''s our schedule:
Wake at 6ish...bottle at 6:30
Breakfast at 7:30
Bottle at 10:30 after nap
Lunch at 11:30/12ish (also a snack in here now too)
Bottle at 2:30ish after nap
Dinner at 4:30ish (also another snack at some point usually)
Bottle at 6, in bed by 6:30.

Mara, yay for deswaddling going well!

Mandy...thinking about you!

cdt, miss you!

EB and Fiery, I don''t think I ever said how much I love both of your themes! EB, sorry the cupcakes aren''t going to work out, but a cake should be cute too! We''re doing the Hungry Caterpillar for our joint baby party here, but I have NO IDEA what theme to pick for the small family party we''re having for Jacks! Any ideas? When you girls think of Jackson, what comes to mind?

We had an exciting day today...went to the beach for the first time since it''s actually been warm enough to wear a bathing suit, and Jacks LOVED it! He came home and took a 2 hour nap as well, so that was wonderful!

Then dh had a "goodbye" ceremony for his intern class that we had to go to. It was from 5-7 and a half hour away, and Jacks is usually asleep by 6:30 at the latest. We kept him up since it was a special occasion. He did ok...he didn''t like that he couldn''t be down and crawling and he got super fussy around 6:30 so we left. He fussed a LOT before finally falling asleep at 7:30.

And we also got the results of his allergy test back today (I posted that we took him to get tested due to his increasing reactions, right?) He is positive for an allergy to milk, egg whites, and wheat. We knew the milk was causing issues, and we hadn''t given egg whites yet, but the wheat is really throwing me off. He eats wheat stuff almost every day with seemingly NO problem. I asked the dr. if we should avoid wheat, and all she could say was, well, if it doesn''t seem to bother him it might be ok, you''ll have to talk to an allergist once you find one (they don''t want to refer us to one because we''re moving in 2.5 weeks). I''m really hoping he''ll outgrow these!

Burk, if you''re out there, I had asked you some questions in my other thread about milk allergies but I don''t think you saw. Since T couldn''t handle milk till 15 months, did you just continue bfing (if you were?), or were you on formula, or did you do something different other than cow''s milk? Jackson''s test did not show a soy allergy, so I guess we can try soy milk with him.

And here''s my happy guy playing in the sand!

 

[Burk]

Cute, cute, cute babies!!!

Mara~Sounds like mission deswaddle is going well!! J is such a cutie!! And yea, K is big. I just looked up T''s stats from her 4 month and she was 26.5 in and 14lb 4oz so she was big too. No big surprise since DH and I are both tall. The doubling height thing predicts T to be 5''11"

Viz~Glad you''re getting more sleep! Don''t ever feel like you can''t post because you''re not feeling all happy happy...feel free to vent away whenever. I know I''ll read and cheer you on (even if it''s a silent cheer since I have barely any time to post

)

Sabine~So sorry I missed your question in your thread!! Sorry about J''s allergies. I think you should see an allergist to get some advice about where to go from here....I know with T''s environmental allergies and asthma the allergist said she had a 50/50 shot of growing out of them. I wonder if that''s true with food allergies? As for milk after 12 months we just stuck with formula. That would be something you may want to ask an allergist. If he''s not allergic to soy it would probably be cheaper to go with soy milk?

K has had a rough couple days post shots....fever and crabby.

I''m gonna finish pumping and go to bed. I''m exhausted from crabby baby and two year old with no back-up (DH is working out of town).

 

[KimberlyH]

great pictures everyone.

sabine, i''d do a turtle theme for jackson.

vis, so sorry poor c is still dealing with infection.
**
we''re debating the beach trip tomorrow. it''s supposed to be 64 high temp and drizzly/cloudy but i hate to say no to our friends. to go or not to go...

 

[MonkeyPie]

Gah, I absolutely love Fridays! All the cute baby pictures have totally made my day, so many little cuties I just want to squish them.

 

[meresal]

QT and Mara, thank you ladies. He is one very happy baby

Re: Switching from BM to Formula.

I feel that my supply isn't keeping up, and I need to use 1 formula bottle a day in order to build up my supply for the evening/overnight feedings. For those of you that had to switch from BM to Formula, was it hard (on you as a mother who wanted to EBF... not as in the child liking it)? I feel like it shouldn't matter, but I really enjoy BF'ing. Did any of you have this problem?

ETA: Also, when do babies start turning to you when you say thier name or make noises?

 

[KimberlyH]

mere, supplementing with formula will not provide you with more milk at a later feeding, your supply will adjust accordingly, which means you'll produce less, not store more for later, as your body will be signaled to drop that feed.

i am not sure why you think your supply isn't meeting c's needs? if you are feeding on demand having supply issues is a very rare thing, like 3% chance at most rare, especially two months in to breastfeeding. there will be times, especially during growth spurts, when he gets frustrated while eating. continuing to feed and offering food more often, not less, is what will balance that out. if he is growing according to his growth curve, is content, etc. he is gettting enough food.

is there a local bf support group you can attend? you could do a weighed feeding and talk to an lc about your concerns.

i hope this comes across as intended, i don't think formula is bad, but it sounds like you don't want to offer it and from all my research it isn't necessary in most cases, and in the end will only decrease supply.

as for my personal experience, i didn't start out determined to breastfeed, but now i am and plan on doing so for at least a year. i'm competitive, i want to prove to myself i can do it (it was really hard for me for the first 2.5 months or so). i'd be very disappointed to have to supplement now, she and i worked very hard to get good at this and i feel that it has helped her stay healthy, which was a concern because she was struggling in utero and was early and small.

eta: every baby is different. j started turning towards noises around 2 months. i don't think they recognize their name until 6 months, at least, but i could be wrong about that.

 

[E B]

More from me later, but to quickly address Mere's post:

Kimberly's post is a good one. What has you concerned about your supply? If it's what you're getting from pumping, don't worry- that's not a good indication of how much milk you have. My supply has been enough for Henry throughout this first year, but I didn't get much at ALL when I pumped. Babies are much more effective pumps than even the most expensive Medela.

If C is wanting to feed a lot, he's establishing your supply, which is great. Henry was practically attached to a boob for the first three or four months.

If C's wetting enough diapers (~6 per day) and gaining weight, your supply is likely just fine.

I second the suggestion to call an LC, if it makes you feel better. She may be able to give you some reassurance.

 

[meresal]

Thank you K. I completely understand where you are coming from.

I don''t necessarily need to supplement, but since I am not producing enough to pump extra... it is so much easier to just make a bottle when we are out, than to sit in the car for 30 minutes feeding. (which I am fine with when alone... but not so fine with when we are out in a group.)

Lasr week I had 2 feedings that were over an hour. I felt absolutely empty. Later that night, before bedtime, we gave him a bottle of 4 oz and I had to make another ounce. He has never eaten 5 ounces, much less over 3.5, and I guess I am just worried I am not going to keep up.

I haven''t had any more issues like the one that day... but I guess I''m just expecting it to happen again at the next growth spurt.

 

[meresal]

EB- thank you! very reassuring. I think maybe I am just a bad pumper... lol. I can only fill bottles once I get to the point of engorged. If I am anything less, then about an ounce is what I get from each boob when pumping.

I appreciate what you shared and glad to know I am normal.

 

[E B]

Mere-

Here''s an article written by Dr. Jack Newman that may help:

Is My Baby Getting Enough Milk?

 

[fieryred33143]

Mere-

Pumping anywhere from .5oz to 1oz after a feeding is usually an indication of a good supply. Anything more than that, again after a feeding, usually means an oversupply issue. (I know it sounds silly to say oversupply is an issue but then you get into the whole foremilk/hindmilk dilemma.) What you can do is pump after feeding and maybe an hour before the next feeding.

As for how it feels- for me personally, it was awful and I didn''t get over it until she was about 8 months. I stopped bfing at 5 months after getting sick caused my supply to tank and I didn''t have the time at work to get my supply back up. Sophia was and still is totally fine on formula but I wish it would have been different for me.

Big ditto on doing a weighed feeding!

 

[KimberlyH]

mere, i''m glad my post came across as intended. fwiw, j fed for an hour or more every time until a few weeks ago. and during her 6 wk growth spurt she had a 3 hour feed. i had an lc come to the house twice and this is all within the range of normal.

do you pump regularly? pumping daily, you''d be suprised how quickly your stash grows. i''ve got over 60 oz in the freezer and i was really concerned i wouldn''t gave enough for returning to work p/t. ha ha now i don''t know where i''m going to keep it all and how i''m going to use it.

it really does sound like everything that''s going on is normal, i would just keep breastfeeding and skip the formula if i were you, anless you''re in need of a break from feeding. i think it''s common to worry about supply issues, but it really is rare.

on another note, i''m not comfortable feeding her in public at this point, so i totally understand wanting a bottle.

 

[oobiecoo]

I have a quick question for all the mommies! We are going to be using a pack n play by our bed as a bassinett for the first few weeks. Do I need sheets for it? I got one but it doesn''t fit well so I''m worried it is more of a hazard. Also, I''m guessing I should get some waterproof pads for it... are the flat ones ok (as opposed to fitted)? Or would those move around too much and also be a hazard? I haven''t been able to find anything fitted that actually *fits*. Thanks!

 

[KimberlyH]

ooobie, we us the p-n-p and have a matress pad and crib sheet on it. they are too bih, but you can make it fit by pulling it tight around the top. we''ve had no issues with it coming loose or being a hazard. we started off using nothing but it seemed so uncomfortable for her.

 

[Mara]

mere ..didn''t EBF for very long but i agree with what the others are saying. we also went to bottles while out and so that G could feed him as well but it definitely affected my supply. J is 4.5 months and i am hoping to go to 6 but he has not had FULL BM ONLY bottles in some time, probably since at least 2 months. i am just happy though to give him some BM--it doesn''t have to be all. and i am hoping to go to 6 months. it didn''t really bother me to go to supplement with formula--maybe because i was a FF baby so i didn''t really have too many hangups.

i was thinking if i could do something diff with J it would be that i would try to build my supply more before the 12 week mark. they say that is when your supply naturally starts to decrease and i think that i didn''t really have as good of a supply as i could have if i had dedicated more time to it--and our trip to hawaii really messed with me too BUT i wouldnt trade that for anything!!

before hawaii i pumped about 20oz per day but afterwards it went down to about 12-14oz and has been stuck at about 12oz for a month now. but J was only feeding once a day off the bb''s at that point...so pumping was to empty them.

it is hard to wrap your head around the fact that what you pump is not what the baby gets necessarily. rationally you think well if i am extracting milk, what i extract should be what the baby would--but it doesn''t work that way. for some gals pumping doesn''t even work that well at all! and for others, like my friend who produces a whopping 40oz a day with TWO pumps only, it works super well.

anyway--i would say feed as you can and try to keep your supply up but supplementing with formula for when you are out is not the end of the world. you can try to leave the baby on your boob a few extra minutes each time even after he is done to try to signal to your body to make more. OR you can pump after a feeding for 5 minutes even if nothing is really coming out because again that signals to your body to make more milk. do this consistently and you will prob find you can pump a little bit more eventually.

AFM -- last nite was horrible. well for me anyway since i tend to hear every little thing. Greg slept well!

it went something like this.

7:30pm--J down to sleep
11:45pm--J flailing around moaning. Paci.
12:30am--J flailing around moaning. Paci.
12:50am--J flailing around moaning. Let him cry.
12:50-1:45am--Watch him in monitor after trying fruitlessly to sleep. He''s crying. He''s trying to roll over. I mean REALLY trying. Flipping around, moving all over the crib, trying in vain to grab onto the breathable bumper to help himself, turning his body oh so close but never quite making it. Getting increasingly PO''d at each failed attempt.
1:45am--Get up and move him back into position. He is so WIDE awake. Feed him 4oz which he guzzles. Paci.
1:45am-2am--Flailing continues.
2am--He rolls over. Stuck on stomach. Cries. Screams. Roll him back over, paci. Sleep.
3:30am--Rolls over again. Cries. Screams. Roll him back over, paci. Give him favorite nap blanket (bad mom!!!) to snuggle with. Sleep.
8:30am--Wake.

that is the most he has been up EVER since about 6 weeks of age--he was doing so well with unswaddling as of the prev 2 nights. I am so tired! Partially because I can''t really sleep when he is crying because he''s literally 10 feet from our bedroom (our rooms are right near each other) and he can be loud from time to time so I end up waiting for him to fall back and last nite it took almost 2 hours. I ended up watching him in the monitor because I could see he was really trying to turn over and I wanted to see when he did and/or be there if he needed help. Of course G slept through most of it, though he got up at the 2am and rolled him back and soothed him for a while.

anyway i was ecstatic i got to see him roll over!!! but at the same time going CRAP now we''ll be stuck turning him back over until he gets used to it and/or can roll himself over.

For Moms whose LO''s went through this--how long did it take where they were wakeful at night with this new trick? I am hoping maybe a week max? Seriously while this is all exciting and great, now that I am working, I need sleep!!

and it is just crazy how awake he can be at 3am. when i KNOW he really wants to be sleeping. this morning when i got up at 8:30am to feed him, he smiled at me and promptly rolled over. too cute.

he is down now again and will prob sleep all happily for a few hours. so unfair! oh also--am I crazy to want to put his snuggly blanket in with him when he gets really out of control? i know it helps soothe him--but i also am paranoid about him stuffing his face into it while we are asleep. i dont mind him napping with it because we''re awake and can see what is happening but at night when we are asleep i want him to be totally safe. but after i gave it to him at 3:30am he was down for 5 hours. it''s a tough call.

it''s really hot here today, about 90, i am hoping to get a walk in. there''s a festival/carnival at a nearby church so we''ll walk over with J in late afternoon for a bit.

oobie... i wouldn''t worry about a fitted sheet or a fitted pad for a while. when the babies are born they are SO immobile, basically they stay where you put them. we also didn''t bother with waterproof stuff in J''s bassinet for a little while other than to catch spitup once he got a little refluxy. but maybe by 2months i would say make sure your stuff is all fitted since that is when J started to get more mobile and i worried more about him.

 

[anchor31]

Meresal - I was determined to EBF for 6 months. I''m at home for a year, so I thought, how hard can it be? Well, he was hospitalized at 12 weeks and put on an IV, so he ate a lot less than usual and it destroyed my supply. I tried everything short of prescription drugs to get it back up, but nothing worked, and he started having meltdowns and refusing the boob because he was so hungry... So I weaned him. It broke my heart at first, but when I got over that I was actually relieved because BFing was becoming so exhausting and frustrating that I would cry all the time.

I hope that sort of thing doessn''t happen to you, and I wish you good luck to reach your BFing objective! kimberly and mara gave very good advice.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Date: 6/12/2010 1:37:08 PM
Author: Mara
oobie... i wouldn''t worry about a fitted sheet or a fitted pad for a while. when the babies are born they are SO immobile, basically they stay where you put them. we also didn''t bother with waterproof stuff in J''s bassinet for a little while other than to catch spitup once he got a little refluxy. but maybe by 2months i would say make sure your stuff is all fitted since that is when J started to get more mobile and i worried more about him.

Not necessarily - Micah was mobile from the start (turning onto his side and everything), so if a fitted sheet doesn''t fit well, get some of those bedsheet clips to hold it snug.