PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[drk]

3 3/4 months

Ginger - I agree with Mara, he wasn't mad at you, just tired after a night's really bad sleep. You did all you could, and I think CIO was appropriate to use when you did. Hope things go better from here on out.

Burk - can't believe he rolled all that way! Too cute.

So K is now eating avocado and banana like a champ. Hasn't pooped in 2 days though. Do they start pooping more regularly again after you introduce solids? I was ok with her going a few days without when just on BM, but now? Not so sure.

I've been wondering if I should start freezing some of my BM again. I'm wondering what's better, to keep her EBF for as long as possible (I think we can make it to 4 months, then not sure after that), or to start freezing some of what I'm pumping while I'm still motivated to keep pumping lots (including getting up at midnight to pump and 4am to feed her and pump). That way she could have a BM/formula mix for longer. What do you all think is better? More BM for a shorter period of time, or less BM for a longer period of time. Cause right now I'm thinking it will be a big relief to stop pumping and BF at some point. Not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep this up.

 

[qtiekiki]

Re car seats - we just went to the car seat clinic and children's hospital and I asked about location of the car seat. First, Fiery is right, the safest position is where the seat is installed correctly. Beyond that, the middle is safest because of side impact collisions. Most cars do not approve the use of LATCH in the middle position - check your manual and don't use LATCH in the middle if it is not approved for your vehicle. However, I was told that
(which may mean safer if people aren't installing correctly though). Their recommendation, all other things being equal, was to install in the center position, with seatbelt or LATCH as permitted for your car. That said, a correctly installed car seat is safe no matter what the position and if you have more than one kid they can't both be in the middle. Also, they are now definitely recommending rear-facing as long as possible.

Yeah latch system was intended for easy installation, definitely not safer.

Oh I hope PS fixes the issue with viewing on certain IE versions because I only have IE at work and I can only see part of the posts under this version. So sucky.

tao
Meena and Jaron are almost exactly 18 months apart (7/30 and 2/1). It's doable. I was planning for them to be 2 yrs apart, but we started not preventing early since it took us over 1 year of not preventing and active TTCing to conceive M. Well what do we know, I got pregnant after 2 months of not preventing. Good luck.

jcrow
I am not a baby, but according to DH, I sleep with eyes open.

teething
Seems like lots of teething going on with the babies. I thought for sure Jaron will get his first tooth by now since Meena got her tooth at 4.5 months. But nothing yet.

AFM
My supply had a major dip the past couple of days, and I am barely pumping enough at work. I think I am going to get AF back because I am bloated and crampy. I also went up 1oz per bottle since he was finishing his bottles and still wants more, so that doesn't help. I started taking fenugreek and bought Mother's Milk Tea yesterday, and I had one cup of the tea so far today. No increase yet, but hopefully soon. I've been putting him on the breasts about every 2 hours also. I eat oatmeal everyday. Anything else to try?

J had been pretty fussy and making lots of noises at night. Not sure what's going on.

 

[Mara]

drk.. re: the some BM for longer vs EBF for longer then all formula...i opted for the former for some time now. i don't know what is BETTER necessarily but as J got older i really just wanted him to have 'some BM' for as long as he could because of the antibodies i could give him. right now he is really only getting like 2oz in 2 bottles per day of BM and the rest of the oz per day (about 21 on average) is formula. i will prob be able to keep this up til he turns 6 months (about 2more weeks) but after that it's anyone's guess. i am only pumping 1-1.5oz 2x a day now and have about 20oz of BM in the freezer.

qt...super cute avatar. btw in that IE version if you 'quote' a reply you can see the entire post. it's just in the post view that it's weird. but it's a pain to have to keep quoting posts just to read them.

i have to go dig out a photo for BPF. this morning J was so cute and mellow when he got his bottle, he was just all dopey looking and had a funny curl sticking up in his hair from his bath last nite hehe. he slept fine last nite, only waking up at 4:45am so i gave him paci and blanket and he rolled over and that was that.

oh ginger i was thinking... do you think that A could be too cold or hot which is why he is waking so much more? what made me think of this was (a) that my weirdo likes to be really warm when he sleeps. aka last nite his egg said 77 in his room (but it felt more like 75) and he had a footed terry sleeper on and a fleece sleep sack and he was happy as a clam til this morning. when i gave him his fuzzy blanket it was 73 in his room and he curled up in it so he had THREE layers on then.i know he totally wakes up when he has something going on he doesn't like, aka too much air from the fan or he's cold. also (b) my neighbor has twin boys and she said they used to be total crap sleepers and they thought that was just how they were. until one day they traveled and stayed in a hotel and the boys were in a much warmer room and STTN for the first time ever. she said then she realized that their room was just too cold for them at home. when she came home she changed that and they have been STTN ever since. anyway, just a thought!!!

 

[MonkeyPie]

Oh, no. I really hope Micah doesn't prefer a toasty room, because he is in OUR bedroom! I would roast and die. Last night we had the air conditioner on low because it started making a funny noise on high, and I kept waking up all sweaty. Ugh, please do not like it hot, baby. I like it warm, but not THAT warm!

 

[drk]

At least I figured out if you hit "post reply" at the bottom left of the entire thread, you can still scroll through many previous posts to read them while replying, just like in the old PS. If I hit post reply one one of the posts, I can only read that post while replying.

K's room is 80-82 degrees right now while she sleeps, even with the AC on. She sleeps naked in a diaper, but seems to be ok with it.

Mara - I tend to agree with you on less BM for longer, I think. Anyone else want to weigh in?

 

[ChinaCat]

DRK- Hmmm, I really think whichever one is best for YOU. You're almost to 4 months, which I think is GREAT for EBF. I would probably start supplementing so as to give BM for as long as possible.

Rooms- O likes it on the cooler side. Or at least, he's a hot sleeper so I keep it cool. Like his Mom.

Burk- CUTE photos!!!! Why does K seem so big to me? I think of him as a little newborn!!! He's so not.

JCrow- Do you feel comfortable sharing pics of E??? We haven't seen her pretty face! Understand if you don't want to share.

Ginger- I think A did great! Only 30 mins of crying is wonderful. But trust your instincts. If you're not ready, don't. But it does sound like that's what he needed. Sometimes O is so overtired that me trying to soothe him just makes it worse. If I just put him down he does cry for a bit, but ultimately calms himself down and goes to sleep much faster.

 

[jcrow]

re: temps, funny, e is a warm natured baby! we found this out when we went to hub's parent's house for the first time with her. they keep it much warmer than we do and she was all hot and sweaty while bfeeding against me. at first i thought it was just me. but then when we put her to sleep she just would not go down. we picked her up and she was all hot and sweaty again. so we swaddled her nakkie and she fell fast asleep. that all got me thinking though. i wonder if they get accustomed to how it is at home so that's how they prefer it?

chinacat - not sure why but i don't feel comfy posting pics of e on ps.

 

[MonkeyPie]

jcrow, Micah is a really hot baby, too. We keep our house pretty cool (my husband is also very warm most of the time), so I can see a huge difference when I go to my parents house, which they keep a lot warmer. He gets all clammy and sticky right away, and his hair is all matted down from sweat after every nap. Poor little guy spends a lot of time in just a diaper!

Here is my BPF contribution. I took this a few days ago after Micah's "poop adventure" at Wal-Mart. I was using my moms camera but I wanted a look at those eyelashes. Just to die for.

 

[AmberWaves]

Morning all!

Burk: K's getting teeth already? Goodness!!! I LOVE the pic of him like, "What? Yeah, I got over here just fine."

Drk: I'd supplement as long as possible to get BM in every feeding until the stash runs out, my line of thinking is like Mara's: every little bit helps in every bottle!

CC: Where are our O pics? HM??

Mara: P totally likes to be warm when she sleeps. She sleeps so much better with blankets and socks (As much as I hate having to get rid of footy jammies that have too small feet, I like not having to put socks on her because they get kicked off and her feet freeze). Of course, it's been pretty chilly in LA recently.

Ginger: Sorry about the fussy night baby- how old is A again? Could it be his 4 month wakeful? Piper's lasted for two months.

MP: I thought Micah was wearing a birthday hat in the last pic. DUH. So cute!!

Re: car seats: we have P in the middle because Paul is a giant and has his seat way back. It would be behind me, but I felt it was sturdier in the middle. In my dad's car she's behind the passenger seat (damn two door bucket seat Tiburon). We are on the final strap height for her! Her feet still touch the back of the seat- Every other way she fits- it's just her feet. Is there a way to bring her torso up higher? Or do we need to put her into the britax already? She is not a tall baby.

AFM: Still breastfeeding at least 5 times a day, giving her at least two "meals" of solids a day. Her poop is insane. I hear her grunting and turning red but she still has tiny poos. Good thing about solids: no more blowouts! I don't know what to do about her poop- she's not constipated, but she has these SUPER solid poops and the pears/prunes I give her don't seem to help any. She's still toothless, still happy, and still refusing to outright crawl again. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks, takes a step and collapses. She's fantastic at the sideways crab crawl, though. She can move across a room super fast! This morning she woke at 6am just WAILING. I went into her room and she's completely sitting up and crying. I think she forgot how to get back down. I fed her from the slightly less productive boob, meanwhile the fuller boob was literally bursting. I soaked through my nursing pad and bra. It's been a long time since that has happened!

We're planning a trip to San Diego in August for two nights: which do you think an almost 9 month old would like better? Sea World, The Zoo or the Wild Animal Park?

 

[Sabine]

Amber, Piper is so cute! Love that smile! Re, the poops, are you offering her water along with the solids? Jacks had harder poops for a while, and pears/prunes etc. just made him go more often, but didn't change the consistency. Adding water definitely helped though. He didn't get the sippy right away, so I used to give him sips from my cup until he did get the sippy.

Re car seats, I agree with what was said about making sure it's installed correctly. I'd also do a little research on WHERE you take it to get inspected. Dh tried to install ours in the middle using the LATCH even though my car only has it on the sides. I showed him the manual where it specifically said not to do that. So we took it to the fire station where we had taken the other car previously, and the fire man who said he was certified to install car seats said it was FINE to use the LATCH on the sides even if the seat is in the middle. I went home and did more research, and it's not fine, so we reinstalled it on the side.

whoops, someone's awake, I'll post more later.

 

[Sha]

Amber - what a cute pic of Piper! She has that twinkly adorable mischievousness about her.... as if she's about to do something fun or naughty. It's so cute how they get all cheeky once they're mobile and can actually 'do' things. I'm remembering a previous pic you had posted of Piper, when she was about 4 months? or so - just sitting there, leaning back, looking cute. Now she's up on her hands twinkling up at the camera, looking like she can conquer the world...

MP - I loves me a sleeping baby!

Burk - How funny! So much for staying on the blanket...hehe. How did he do that? Is he rolling already?

 

[MonkeyPie]

Burk, I missed the roly poly picture! Does he just wiggle to get around or is he rolling already? Gah that picture is so cute. I see some of those kind in my future, Micah is a wiggle machine.

Amber, I love that smile Piper is giving, like she's about to burst into action at any moment. Such a sweetheart.

 

[Burk]

drk~I'm also doing the part BM/part formula thing for as long as possible vs. EBF. I'm thinking it's just a personal decision and since K didn't really take to the formula well right away I just went with this and it's working.

sha~Thanks! Yep, he rolled with a little squirming in there as well. He's a crazy roller!

Amber~Cute pic!! Yep, both bottom two but who knows when they'll actually break through. T had her first two come in around 6 months then didn't get another one for almost 7 more months!!

MP~I love sleeping baby pics!! He mostly rolls but there's some squirming/wiggling too. He likes to push up like he's going to get on all fours and crawl and just squirm. He's crazy active-always has been.

China~He's a big boy...almost 5 months but wearing mostly 12 months clothes....not a newborn anymore.

QT~Sorry about your supply dip! No advice just sympathy as I'm officially done BFing because I have no supply now!

Ugh...I really should be cleaning my house right now. I'm just overwhelmed...where to start...my kitchen that is a disaster b/c they just finished tiling....or maybe the basement bathroom where the plumber just finished up and it's a disaster!! DH is working late tonight and our housewarming party is tomorrow and there is just so much to do. When the kids wake up from naps we need to go to the grocery store. Speaking of, anyone have a good guacamole recipe?

 

[AmberWaves]

Sabine: Thanks for the tips! That's exactly the problem, prunes and pears are just changing the frequency of the poops not the consistency! I'll have to give her some water, the sippy cup is more a toy right now than an item of use.

Thanks on the compliments on my life-size baby picture.

 

[jcrow]

3 m, 2 d

such cute babies!!

--

just popped into say e just rolled over!! from back to tummy 4 times in a row :] happily hubs and i were both able to see it and we got it on video. haha.

 

[phoenixgirl]

Claire, 8.5 months

DRK, I really don't know which is better. I think I'd probably try to EBF as long as possible, just because if you are managing to produce enough BM for each day, then you are signalling to your body that you need that much. Then if you have any extra, freeze that to use together with formula later. But, and this is a big BUT, if that is driving you crazy, then girlfriend, give yourself a break! Pumping while working is seriously the hardest thing, and I never made enough, so I had to pump 4x to feed Claire 2 bottles at daycare each day. I barely made it. I think that only knowing it was just for 4 months until I stopped working that got me through it. If it had been this indefinite time period, I think I would have said, OK, I am driving myself crazy, I can't keep this up . . .

Tao, since Claire and Evan are nearly the same age, I'll say that I don't think you're completely crazy, but we are waiting until the two years after when Claire was conceived to TTC. But since the mini-pill was drying me up and killing my libido, I'm already off it, and if we were to forget our precautions here or there, I don't think we'd sweat it. I haven't gotten AF yet, probably because Claire is still BFing every 3 hours during the day!

Re changing a poo in the middle of the night/baby crying because of dirty diaper in the middle of the night . . . that happened once with Claire, but she wasn't even crying, just like Charlie; she was just sleeping. So that makes me think we should all just stop worrying that baby is crying because of dirty diaper . . . In Claire's case, I managed to change her diaper without waking her up. It had a really strong vinegar smell, so I knew it wasn't just a solid poo that could go all night.


AFM . . . so, speaking of Claire's BFing habits, I feel like 6x a day is a lot for 8.5 months, right? At daycare, she was BFing 3x a day and taking 2 bottles, but somehow we seem to be up to 6x most days now. Her drummies (thighs) are getting huge (just like her mommy when she gains weight, sigh . . .). She's generally taking 3 bottles of baby food and a bowl of oatmeal a day. Is that too much? DH has taken her too all of her check-ups due to my lack of flexibility and sick leave, so I am just making this up as I go along without insight from my pedi. We'll go to our 9 month check up in 3 weeks, and I'll definitely ask then.

Also, we're just back from a week at the beach. It was so nice to spend time with family and relax. Yay! Claire had a lot of teething pain and didn't do so well at night, and I confess that I gave her the boob a few times as a last resort knowing that she wasn't hungry but not knowing how else to calm her down. In happier news, she was a super star who went out to dinner every night but one (when DH and I had a date and my mom watched her). She just sat calmly playing and flirting with strangers. And since it was the beach, there were lots of babies all around and we never felt like we were pushing the envelope.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Hello Mamas!
First post on PS2 and on the Mommy thread- WOO HOO

I've been meaning to stop by earlier, but WOW, i barely have time to shower these days! Please excuse the super "me" centric post, but do want to share a bit about what's been going on with me since Bebe arrived last month.

Our little peanut, Nico is a bit over 3 weeks old. He's a good baby for the most part, but the challenges lie with BFing. Yep, count me in on the "why is something that supposed to me so natural take so much effort" camp.

My milk was super-slow to come in, and he lost almost 10% of his birth weight at day 4 so we had supplement with formula. I've since been seeing an uber-LC who came up with a game plan for BFing. Goal #1 is to keep baby fed and healthy- if it's with formula, then so be it. Goal #2 is to protect my milk supply. So, i've been nursing him just about every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. And trying to pump at least 4x/day. Also taking the Motherlove More Milk Special Blend capsules, and the tea. I'm happy to report that my supply has increased! I go for a LC visit each week where Nico is weighed before nursing and then after. I went from feeding him just under an ounce during my 1st visit, to feeding him a hair under 2 ounces this week (3rd visit), this means less formula for him.

Although my supply is increasing, I decided to opt for prescription meds. I'm now taking Reglan, and we'll see if it helps. I have to admit that although i'm THRILLED that my supply is up, this nursing/bottle feeding/pumping schedule is EXHAUSTING!

I'm lucky that DH was able to take time off from work to help out, but he goes back on Monday. My MIL is coming out from the east coast tomorrow, and she'll be here for 3 weeks. I'm grateful, but kinda wary as well- we'll see how it goes!

Just a couple more thoughts...
-Nico LOVES swaddling. he fights it at first, but eventually gives in and all is blissful. I can't say enough good things about THE HAPPIEST BABY ON THE BLOCK- it works!
-The "baby crack" machine is AWESOME! We have the Conair Infant Sound Machine from Target
-My vote for the best nursing pillow goes to MY BREST FRIEND. kicks the BOPPY's butt!

I lurk here and there, and hope to be able to contribute more. Here's my pic for today- it's one of my favorites. Any TOP CHEF fans out there? I call it "utensils down, hands up!"

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Oh my, sorry that pic is so big.

Burk, MP & Amber- such cute pics! PS babies are adorable!

 

[qtiekiki]

Mara
Thanks for the tips on viewing posts using IE.
Thanks. I love when my kiddos interacting. It's so sweet. Just wish I can get more pics.

Burk
Cute pic of you and Kade.

MP
Micah looks so big. Cutie pie.

Amber
Piper looks a lot like you. Beautiful.

CG
Welcome. Sounds like all is well. Nichol is a handsome boy.

Here's my BPF contribution. Just a happy drooling baby.

 

[Sabine]

Oh my goodness, a new squishy newborn! I have to admit, I've been feeling twinges of wanting #2 sooner rather than later, but for us it really makes sense to at least see where we'll be moving to after our 6 months here are up. We're considering requesting somewhere overseas like Japan, so I don't know how comfortable I'd feel being pregnant/giving birth in that situation, so we might be waiting 3 years till dh is done with the Navy. But it used to be that we'd say we WERE going to wait, and now we're saying we'll see how our situation goes...

Anyway, Charger, he's adorable, and good luck with the supply issues. I'm glad you have help coming and hope your MIL will turn out to be surprisingly helpful!

MP and Burk, sorry I didn't get to comment earlier, but your pics are great too!

We're finally settling in here and exploring a bit. Today we had our washer and drier delivered (yay!), and we went to the beach! Even though we only live a block from the water, there are no public beaches around here. The one we went to today is really touristy, and it's about 35 minutes away. But the problem we're having is that the time when Jacks is awake for a long stretch (2:30-5:30), traffic is really bad, and there's really NOTHING around here to do except a Walmart and Target and gas stations. So if we go out, we get stuck in really bad traffic and the 35 minute drive turns into an hour. So we've been dealing with a LOT of screaming in the car, and it makes me feel really guilty because all he wants is out because he's bored. I feel like we should be staying closer to home so he doesn't have to sit in the car this much, but then I feel bad that we're not out doing stuff. Hopefully I'll find SOME stuff to do that's a bit closer, but it's going to be rough.

But anyway, the beach we were at wasn't the ocean but an inlet, so it was shallow, no waves, and most importantly, oil free at least for the time being. And Jacks LOVED it! He really is such a water baby, it amazes me! Here's a pic of him in the water, and another of him playing in a box from today!

 

[Burk]

QT~Love the pic of J!

Charger~Welcome over! Love the pic...cuddly newborn is so great!

Sabine~Great pics-love the one of J in the box.

Kade took an almost 4 hour nap today so we didn't get as many errands ran as I needed but I did get quite a bit of cleaning done. Need to go finish up now, though. Have a great weekend everyone!!

 

[Mara]

i can't seem to add my image.. boo... i have tried uploading it like 5x and it keeps saving it but then i can never find it to add it in. i am trying to just replace the name and see if it works...if not..oh well. the picture capabilities on this new platform are NOT impressive...ugh.

if it does, this is J in a walker we were trying out for him tonite but he's too tall! we ended up getting another one. too bad because he liked this one better as it had flashing lights and all sorts of things but i guess that's what he gets for being a crazy tall 5 month old!

J is a crazy giggler man lately. Like I just have to look at him and smile and he starts laughing like an insano. Tonite at dinner I was leaning into him and smiling and playing around and he was giggling and squealing and just sooo happy. I absolutely LOVE it. Except when I'm trying to give him his bottle and he starts giggling around it...this boy! hehe.

the pics are great! Charger, your baby is adorable..!! Congrats and welcome.

Burk.. J is starting to do the rolling move thing too, I left him one spot the other night and he moved when I came back. But he has only done it once or twice. K is ADORABLE!

QT...awww J is so cute. My J is a monster drooler on his belly too.

Jcrow..wow E rolled back to belly at 3m 2w/! That is amazing..! J took til like 4.5 to do that I think. It's great you guys are deswaddling her because now you really can't swaddle her if she can go from back to belly, it could be dangerous if she rolls while she is sleeping and has no 'arms' to help herself get back.

Sabine.. is it just me or do our boys look a little similar? It must be the CHEEKS. Love them. Jacks is so cute.

ok managed to get it to work. grainy iphone image..!

 

[Burk]

Anyone out there? I need advice ASAP!! I think I have a clogged milk duct!!! I quit pumping last Saturday because I was barely producing anything (like 4 oz a day). I didn't get engorged or anything, no pain, some leaking here and there but nothing crazy. But, I just found a huge lump in my left breast that hasn't been there before so I'm thinking it has to be a clog, right? What the heck do I do? I tried some massage...should I pump? Arghhh......

 

[Burk]

Mara...just saw that pic of J...so stinking cute!!

 

[drk]

3.75 months

One is K fascinated by a world cup game. The other is her first taste of avocado, sucking it off my finger.

Ugh, I'm so ready to go back to bed and give up this midnight pumping time slot....

 

[drk]

Burk - I think I've read to take a hot shower and massage in the shower, and pump to get the blockage out. Hope it resolves soon!

 

[Burk]

drk~I can't believe how big your K is getting! Such cute pics! I was thinking I should pump too....I just tried the hot shower/massage and it's still very much there.

 

[Mara]

massage it burk! you will prob have to press on it and massage it out until it feels soft. does it hurt? sometimes i feel like i have little hardish spots in my bb's but they don't hurt or anything. i am a little paranoid about when i stop too, right now i get 1.5oz which is not much at all but i am like..do i just stop at some point? or do i continue to eke out every last drop or what. i kind of figure when i get to .5oz i will just stop, but even then i am like well thats still 1oz a day!

drk... so cute..!

how are you ladies adding your images? there is the IMG link in the blue nav bar and then there is 'attachment' as well. i used IMG but it looks like you all are using attachment? i tried earlier and the server was just freezing so i used IMG.

 

[ChinaCat]

Burk-

Really quickly- you should do hot water/massage it out even if it hurts. Then either BF K or pump if you can. Then put cold ice bags (or I just used frozen peas) on it. At least that's what I did. I ended up with mastitis THREE times when I was weaning O. If you are trying not to pump or to wean then don't pump or BF. But be careful, it can turn to mastitis pretty quickly which SUCKS. If you feel feverish or any flu symptoms call your dr.

Is it hot and painful to the touch? If not, then less to worry about.

 

[KimberlyH]

burk, make a compress out of a tube sock stuffed with rice, knot the end. microwave for a minute. no underwire bras until it's gone (not fun, i know) and hot shower massage, rub in a circular motion. it takes a day or two to resolve.