PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[AllieLuv83]

Steph...we haven't flown with the Uppa yet but we are going to visit Babulya in Miami over the summer. I would like to bring it but I would be worried about it getting damaged during the gate check, the travel bags are like $60+ for the UppaBaby, and if I didn't have the Maclaren it might be worth it. I think we will travel with the Macleran because my mom drives an Accord and I doubt that the stroller would fit in her trunk along with our luggage. Let me know how it is traveling with it though!

Today is my little man's 4 month birthday he is getting so grown up. I can hardly believe how fast time is flying by.

Here is my late BPF contribution...Paul finally put together his jumper that he got for Christmas and he LOVES this thing. New favorite toy hands down!

 

[Puppmom]

Allie, I always forget that Charlie is so young. He looks so sturdy and engaged! N has that jumperoo too and it's and absolute life saver.

Lanie, N used to pull back when he *unlatched* too but he eventually stopped.

Kunzite, I hope what you have is just a case of cabin fever and that you feel back to yourself once you can get out. Just keep your eyes peeled for signs of anything more.

not much new here - just recovering from a nasty cold or something. I was in bed with a fever for three days. MIL came and watched N even though I was home which was SO nice. I'm finally feeling on the up and up today but taking it easy.

N has sucked his thumb raw - the knuckle is totally split and I can't get him to stop sucking it long enough to treat it. I guess I'll just keep an eye on it and see how it looks in a few days.

 

[Kunzite]

Thanks for the replies ladies. Shiny, no offense at all! I don't think I have PPD, just a general lack of patience. People always told me that when you have your own baby that you magically find patience that you never had before. Well for me that's a load of bull! Now that DH is on leave things are much better. It helps having a second person around to help out when things are getting hard and O is screaming like I'm ripping off his finger nails.

mer - Doesn't ON have the cutest outfits? Nearly all of O's clothes are ON.

Laine - I go back to work on Thursday. That way I only start out with a two day week to ease in. A is so cute! Look at that smile.

pupp - Glad you're feeling better! My MIL will be here next week to visit and I can't wait! (does that make me strange?!) I just know that she intends to help a lot to give us a break and I'll take it!


Here is Oliver's three month picture.

 

[drk]

Such cute babies!

We've travelled twice since K was born. First time we put the Uppababy in its bag and checked it. It had to go in the front seat of our rental car to leave enough room in back for our luggage. Next time we left it at home and gatechecked a carrier backpack because we thought the backpack would be more useful, and because the uppababy was too big to meet the gatecheck size guidelines. Of course what did we see when we arrived at the gate? Another family gatechecking their Uppababy.

If you have enough luggage allowance to check the stroller if they tell you it's too big to gatecheck when you check in, consider taking it. Then you'd just have to figure out how to lug the kid through the airport (we used a babyhawk the first time).

 

[drk]

Mommies with older kids - how did you get your kid to drik cow's milk? I tried a taste test yesterday, and K really didn't like it. I'm sick of pumping though, so I'm weaning and will soon have to dip into my freezer stash. I've got enough to get to 1 year, but will need to get her on milk after that.

Here's K at almost 11 months:

 

[somethingshiny]

drk~ When I switched JT to milk, I gave it to him in a cup at meal times. He was experiencing so many new tastes then anyway, I figured something different in the cup wouldn't matter. He preferred regular milk over formula pretty quickly. At a year, I just didn't offer the formula anymore. In fact, I think he was off formula by around 10 months per dr orders. I know it was fairly early, but don't recall exactly when right now.

Stupid migraines have been ruining my life lately. I've been so drugged up for such a long time I can't see straight. I took myself back off of birth control pills again to see if it'll help. I'm at my wit's end with these damn things. The last migraine was different from my usual migraines too and that has me concerned. I've had migraines for 20 years but this one was just so different. Guess i'll give the dr a call tomorrow to see what can be done.

 

[Mara]

kate... we did the 1/2 milk 1/2 formula (in your case BM) --actually 1/3 milk then 2/3 BM/formula and then graduate up to 1/2... but we're still on 1/2 1/2. I am in no big rush to ditch the last 1/2 as he only drinks about 11oz TOTAL of milks/formulas now a day and the rest is solids. And he loves water!

 

[fieryred33143]

DrK-she's so super cute! The only way S would drink milk is if it were lukewarm. She was used to warm breast milk then room temp formula so it was harder to get her to drink cold milk. Maybe try that? She drinks it straight from the fridge now so it didn't last forever.

Happy Valentine's Day mommas! Kisses to the little lovebugs

 

[MonkeyPie]

I had to come in from lurkdom just to share this. I knew it would get a giggle.

I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day with your little ones!

 

[Puppmom]

Drk, my brother and SIL leave two sippy cups out at all times – one with water and one with milk. My nephew will periodically pick them up and have a sip. It took a little while but now he drinks a full cup of milk with meals.

Monkey, that is the BEST picture!

 

[lliang_chi]

Monkey, Holy cow!! That picture doesn't raise a giggle it's a full out LOL

Happy V Days mommies!!

(Back to lurking )

 

[somethingshiny]

MP~ OMG, hilarious!!!

 

[turtledazzle]

I had to come in from lurkdom just to share this. I knew it would get a giggle.

I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day with your little ones!

OMG --PS needs a like (or a love ) button!!!

 

[somethingshiny]

BIG BIG BIG NEWS!!!


LILY GETS TO WEAN OFF HER HEART MEDICATION!!!!!!!!!

 

[noelwr]

shiny - that's fantastic!

MonkeyPie - oh my! good he didn't turn around for the pic.

 

[lliang_chi]

SS! Hooray for Lily and you!!!! What a good girl!

 

[MonkeyPie]

LILY GETS TO WEAN OFF HER HEART MEDICATION!!!!!!!!!

YAYYYY!

 

[CatLuver]

Hi mommies,
Just biding my time until my baby decides he is ready to come out (or is forced out)...
For those of you that swaddle(d), when do you use a blanket like A&A versus the Miracle Blanket, or the Halo Sleep Sack? Do you ever use 2 of these at the same time? I was thinking that you would use the A&A on a newborn and then the MB when the baby is bigger, then the Halo when they don't like the swaddle anymore, but I'm just making this up.
Thanks in advance!

 

[AllieLuv83]

We have been using the A+A blankets for about 4 months now. He gets double swaddled so it is a little harder to break out. We have yet to have the need for a MB. I hope that we can continue to use the A+A and then transition to a sleep sack if necessary.

 

[turtledazzle]

Hi mommies,
Just biding my time until my baby decides he is ready to come out (or is forced out)...
For those of you that swaddle(d), when do you use a blanket like A&A versus the Miracle Blanket, or the Halo Sleep Sack? Do you ever use 2 of these at the same time? I was thinking that you would use the A&A on a newborn and then the MB when the baby is bigger, then the Halo when they don't like the swaddle anymore, but I'm just making this up.
Thanks in advance!

What you describe is exactly what we did.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

We used all of the above at one time or another. Aidan was too little for the halo swaddles and the woombie scared me. It zips up so close to his neck and his arms could still move. How it's not a strangulation hazard, I don't know. We LOVED the MB! It was a lifesaver for us and we swaddled for naps and bedtime when A slept in his bouncy seat. We used the A&A blankets for a short time but had more success with using the MB for swaddling. We used the A&A blankets when we needed to double swaddle due to the squirmy wormy.

We still swaddle on occasion if A is having trouble going to sleep, but he's a tummy sleeper so we can't do a full swaddle or we wont be able to get it off him to put him in the crib. The nice thing about tummy sleeping is the full body contact with the mattress negates the startle reflex. So swaddling really isn't necessary. Night time he's good about going down without the swaddle, but we use it now for naps on the weekend more often than not. We do a half swaddle, which I think is the interior part of Allie's double swaddle. Basically you just secure their arms. We use a receiving blanket we got from the hospital (ok, one of the 15 we stole from the hospital) and fold it lengthwise until it's about 6" wide by the full length. Then we lay A in the middle and take one end, bring it over the arm and tuck it behind his back. Then we do it on the other side, and voila! a half swaddle that's tough for LO to break out of but easy for mom and dad to remove without disturbing the baby.

 

[Mara]

Cat... we did A&A when he was a newborn,til about 2mo. Then he was starting to bust out and arm or leg and he'd wake himself up, so we moved to Miracle Blanket around 2.5mo. It lasted us til about 4mo...then he started rolling so we unswaddled as he was getting really strong about wanting to break out of the MB and he was rolling so it was just not comfortable for us. If I did it again, I'd prob do around the same. A&A was fine for when he was blobby and not moving much but when he was able to get an arm out I didn't feel comfortable with the extra material (A&A are really big, 47x47). So I'd maybe go MB earlier. We didn't do Woombie, we just deswaddled entirely and went to sleep sacks. It was a little rough for a few weeks but then he got the hang of it. Now he sleeps with or without sleep sack, but he is fine with or without. He also had a really strong morrow reflex.

Kunz...I don't follow this thread very much anymore, but I see you mentioned lack of patience. I also did not have some crazy deep reservoir of patience with the babe. It was easier after 4mo when he seemed to somehow have some general understanding. He was always very alert and engaged, but the infant crying for no 'apparent' reason could definitely frustrate. With every month he was more engaged and aware and after that it just got better. Now at 12mo, I do sometimes get exasperated, but I am way better about *understanding* what he might be going through and I know he's expressing his frustration or tiredness or whatever and can feel empathy. Before I would sometimes think, gee you are fed, diapered, warm, and you're still wailing, REALLY??? So hang in there..!! It gets better.

 

[drk]

Mara - miss you on here! I love your I'm-no-eternally-patient-perfect-mother commonsense posts. They always make me feel more normal.

K's 11 months today! I'll have to start psyching myself up to move to the big girl thread soon.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

So. How can I encourage my kid to sleep past 4-4:30 in the morning? I'm not down with CIO at the a$$crack of dawn.

 

[Lanie]

HH -- that's my biggest fear going back to work! Are you able to go back to sleep or are you up for the rest of the morning until work?!?

 

[somethingshiny]

HH~ I hate to say it, but I've seen babies who are on more of a 4-4 sleep schedule than a 7-7 schedule. JT was a a 9-9, and Lily is on 10-8. You can try some training techniques but they might not work. I saw someone post to give water instead of milk. I wouldn't go that route personally. He doesn't really need water, and if you can just give him the paci for the soothing, he might decide it's not worth it. His daytime naps are at around 3-4 hours, right? So, he really should be wanting 10-12 hours at night. He's pretty close to that now. I'm sure you like your evenings with DH but maybe put him to bed a little later and see if he makes up for it in the am. If he doesn't change to a more suitable schedule, just remember, everything at this age is just a phase. In a month or two it may be totally different. Hang in there! Good luck finding a solution!!

 

[Mara]

Aww thanks DRK lol. BTW I wrote this on your FB but K is so flippin' cute. More pics!

HH...Does he wake up crying, screaming or just fussing or talking? I got really good at tuning out J's talking and light fussing in the last 4-5 months. Crying or screaming, can't do and our house is tiny. But now he might wake at 5am and babble and fuss alternatively for like 20-30 min while I drift in and out kind of listening, and then boom he falls back asleep for 2-3 hours more. So if you CAN wait it out... try. If it's full out crying or screaming... no real advice since that's where I can't tolerate it either esp in the wee hours.

Oh and I Should also say like 2 weeks ago when J was poopie sick I did get up at 5 or 5:30 if he did so that I could check to make sure he was not sitting in diaharrea. Of course 2-3 nights of that and he was on a new pattern even when he was better. So we had to really start to do the 'wait it out'.... and keep pushing and pushing it out more. So he'd wake at 5 and I'd wait til 5:30. Then wake at 5:30 and wait til 6 before we got up, fed him and diapered him. Woke at 6 wait til 6:30. Finally now he's back to waking at 7 for the most part. But we just kept trying to push it out 30 min before getting him and eventually his clock kind of seems to catch up.

 

[noelwr]

have you ladies heard of Dunstan baby language? it's worth googling if you haven't yet. since yesterday I tried to decipher between the sounds "heh", "neh" and "eh", and it's hard. but a couple of times she was saying "eh" and we thought it weird she'd need a burp when she hadn't been drinking for 2 hours, but yes, she actually did burp once put over the shoulder! and then she said "heh" and indeed she had peed and needed a change. and at night before bed she was making the "owh" sound.

Skye is a sympathetic cryer. we were at a baby expo on Wed, and we were watching the Oprah video of the Dunstan baby language thing, and every time she heard another baby cry, her little pouty lip would come up and she would start whimpering. also the same when I went to visit a friend's baby.

and here she is in her cute little dress and headband.

 

[Lanie]

Jeez this thread is moving sloooooooooow.

I heard of that a couple of days ago actually. It came up as an article on my yahoo page. The only one I can tell is the "heh" sound, but my baby sounds like he's quietly laughing when he cries anyway. It was interesting, just wish I could deciper them better!

 

[Puppmom]

I heard of the Dunstan thing too. The only thing that every stood out to me was the hungry cry. Too cute that Skye cries when she hears another baby cry. The pouty lip thing is so cute! N doesn't get out much since he doesn't go to daycare and we're pretty much homebodies in the winter. Last week we took him to the grocery and EVERYTHING made him cry. The pouty lip would come then it would build into a cry. We need to get him out more!