PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[NewEnglandLady]

So I have a sick baby. I guess that's a good reason for her lack of sleep.. This is K's first real cold complete with fever. I'm just glad she can't run away when I come at her with the Nose Frida.

Nobody in our house is getting any sleep. And trying to work with a sick kid is insane.

PPM, I wanted to respond to your BFing question. First of all, you kicking butt and taking names in the pumping department. Kudos to you--I know you must feel chained to your pump, but it's not like that forever!

I started supplementing right off the bat because I didn't even produce colostrum until day 4. I was pumping in the hospital, but producing nothing. Then when I was home I slowly started producing milk, but still supplementing. I ended up hemorraging and going back in the hospital when K was 2 weeks. Strangely, that seemed to jumpstart my supply and I was able to give her breastmilk exclusively for another month or so (pumping 8x/day + having her nurse a couple of times a day).

Like you (and PP), I would only get a couple of ounces when I was full. K has always been a hearty eater, so once she started taking 3 or 4 oz. bottles, I went back to supplementing. When K was around 10 weeks, I started reducing my sessions in order to prepare for going back to work. I went to 7 sessions per day, then 6, then 5. I was fine at 7 sessions and even at 6 at first, but once I went to 5 sessions per day my supply dropped so much that I wasn't even getting an ounce per session. I don't know if it was stress, but going back to work (at 14 weeks), completely dried my supply. At that point it was out of my hands, so I went to 100% formula and that was that.

Again, you are doing an amazing job. I think the hardest part is just letting go of something that is out of your control. BFing was THE HARDEST thing about having a newborn (for me).

 

[FrekeChild]

Freke, Ah 10 months already!!!! I can't believe your little elf is getting so big! I hope you don't mind me calling her that, just just looks like a happy smiley elf in all her pictures. Wow, I marvel at your nap routine and how you can keep it so consistent. I feel like such a half-ass mom I never don't really have a strict routine for anything for Ethan....

Hahahaha!!!! Oh LC! I'm such a half-ass mom it's not even funny. There is no telling what time she's going to go to bed, or wake up in the morning - she's not consistent with the timing of either of those - one night it's 8pm and waking up at 5, one night it's 10pm and getting up at 8. Night before last, she went to bed at 8 and got up at 7:45. So I have to be flexible with times - it's more of knowing her internal schedule. I know that she needs a nap an hour and a half after she wakes up - no idea how long the nap will be though! And then once she wakes up - 2-2.5 hours later - needs another nap. If she needs a 3rd nap, she has to be woken up by 5:30 or she won't go to bed that night until late, which screws up the night sleep. After that she usually stays up until bedtime, but really, every day is a gamble.

As for me being a half-ass mom, the only reason I can do the above is because I'm home all day everyday with her. There are far too many times where I stick her in the playpen and put the dogs outside so she can watch them run around outside. Or leave her in her highchair with some graham cracker so she can amuse herself (and feed the dogs) so I can have some me-time or actually do something around the house. I really feel like a babysitter sometimes. I'm so far from being one of those overly ambitious moms! I just don't want to deal with a cranky baby (seriously, A turns into She-Hulk if she doesn't get her naps when she needs them, and it takes about 48 hours to get her back on schedule if only ONE nap gets disrupted) and I'll do anything, including screwing up my husband's weekend plans to keep her on schedule for naps.

Hmmm....perhaps I'm a half-ass wife too, now that I think about it...

But really, I've made it so that her getting sleep is my top priority. I've had too many nights where we can't get her to sleep until midnight and then she wakes up 2x in the MOTN because she is overtired from not getting those naps. So in order for me to have some time alone with my husband after she's gone to bed, and to not have MY sleep disrupted, I'm the sleep nazi.

Now, you start asking me about play time and feeding schedules - bwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mayerling Why haven't you bought a NoseFrida yet woman?! Those things are AMAZING. Seriously. Best thing I own as far as baby stuff. Baby hates it, but likes breathing, so she cries, but then is happy to be able to breathe afterwards.


I think tooth 5 is going to be here either today or early tomorrow. Showing white through the gums right now.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

iPhone post @ 4 am to say E nursed 3.25 oz straight from the boob! That's the best yet! I followed up with the pump and still got ~ 1 oz from each breast. 5.25 ounces in about an hour... Woohoo!

 

[pancake]

PPM - you are a powerhouse, I still can't get over how you've managed to get this far given all the hurdles you've faced. So much respect for you for pushing through like this, what a champion effort!

Freke, you always make me laugh!

NEL - poor Team Katie. Hope she is feeling better soon, and that you don't collapse from fatigue. Don't be TOO much of a hero - take a half-day or a day off if you really need it. Do they have carer's leave at your work?

Will reply to everyone later - just a quick drive-by post!

 

[stephbolt]

Hi mamas! I know I've been MIA but have been reading along and thinking of you all!

Been back at work a week now (started last Thursday). It has been HARD. The first few days I just was dreaming of figuring out some way to quit because I was so very tired. But we are getting into a routine a little bit and it's getting easier. I think it helped that we had to pay for the entire week of daycare last week, so I took N in for a little while each day at the beginning of the week to get her and me used to going to daycare, so my first day back at work I wasn't stressed out all day worrying about how she was doing there. Going back midweek also helped, so thank goodness N had the good sense to be born on a Thursday.

N picked up her first cold already and passed it along to DH and me, so that's added to the difficulty of getting into our routine, but at least she doesn't seem too bothered by it, just a little sniffly and coughing, but still her usual sunny self. DH and I on the other hand have been miserable. They aren't kidding about the daycare germ factory! But other than that she is a delight, such a smily happy little thing most of the time. Picking her up each day is the highlight of my day.

Hope all the mamas and babies are well, will try and check back in with you all over the weekend and actually respond to everyone!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

PPM, I forgot to mention that the nursing is what really helped keep my supply up, so it's great that E nursed that much! I was always encouraged when I got milk after a nursing session. When K was diagnosed with acid reflux and could no longer nurse, that really hurt my supply. Keep up the good work!!

 

[Puppmom]

Mayerling, for us the night feed (right before bed) was the last to go (right around the same time, he dropped eating as soon as he woke up in the morning oddly enough). N didn't drop that feed until he was 15 months old. I didn't mind it because it was quick and I was putting him to bed anyhow. It did make things difficult in the sense that I had to be the one to put him down since he was nursing.

 

[lliang_chi]

Hi Mamas!

Good to see everyone's doing OK.

Pupp, good to see you poking in around here. I've been following you along in the preggo thread too. How's Master N doing? Is his sleeping in his room?

NEL, how's K doing? I hope you're getting a little bit better sleep these days.

Steph, I'm happy to hear you're settling into a routine at work. Ethan caught his first cold from daycare pretty quickly (maybe 2 wks in) and it threw us through a loop too. Hopefully N will bounce back like a champ. I do pick up @ day care too. It's great when they start recognizing you. Ethan gives me a BIG SMILE when I come in to get him. Melts my heart.

PPM, Totally want to echo's Pancake's sentiment that you're a rock star for powering through on the breast feeding. Today was the first day we packed formula with Ethan for daycare. I asked daycare to give it to him in the AM, in case he gets an upset tummy it won't fuss with his sleep too much. I'll give him a few days getting used to it, then start doing some formula @ night too. Maybe this is a dummy question but how do you konw how much E drinks from nursing? Not sure if you can finaggle this but is there any way you can start work on Weds or Thursday next week? It'll be a LONG five days if you need to go back for the full week. Or is there anyway, you can work PT M-W, and full time Th,F?

Freke, Ha, I still think you sound like an awesome mom, but thanks for making me feel better. I guess there's always something I think I can be doign better but for the most part I'm not sweatin' it. Ethan's nap schedules are no where near regular but he's got a pretty regular eating schedule. Except with DH's in charge of feeding (or not feeding) him solids. But in J's defense he just doesn't know that Ethan eats solids @ 8AM, noon, and 6PM. I should tell him.

PP, I hope L's sleep gets squared away. I think she might be on her wakefulness period, I think she's around 15 wks now right?

Mayer, would you like me to send you a Nosefrida? I can totally do that. Ethan doens't particularly LIKE it, but it does a bang up job sucking snot out of his nose. Let me know I can pop over to a baby store and send it.

AFU: Ethan had an AWESOME sleep last night. It was from 7:30PM - 1AM, but still that was a SOLID 5+ hrs! He hasn't done that since being swaddled! Then I mussed him up by making him nurse when he woke up at 1AM. It's just that he's the best milk duct unclogger, that I really wanted him to nurse. So I was stubborn and he eventualy did it, but kinda wasn't too happy with it. But we both snoozed on the couch him sleeping while nursing and me sleeping while holding him. I'm hoping for a repeat performance tonight but with him sleeping in his crib and me in my bed.

I know I haven't posted pics in a while. I'll try to pull one off the camera for tonight.

As I mentioned to PPM, we started supplementing Ethan with formula today. I'm feeling pretty good about how long we've gone on just BM, and he's still getting plenty, just not 100%. His poops are pretty stinky anyway, since he started proteins.

When and what do you guys start giving your babies mushy table food? Ethan will be 8 months in Oct. I tried giving him some over boiled macaroni noodles. he couldn't quite figure out how to pick them up. Then I gave broke it up and helped him put it in his mouth. He was OK but very quickly didn't care much.

Oh and we officially have a tooth! Bottom right

 

[lliang_chi]

One last thing, I kinda want to vent about.... So I think a few of you guys know from our TTC times, have a very low opinion of James's sister. Ethan is 7.5 months old and his sister has had ZERO interest to meet him. She's "met" him through Skype, but that's it.

We're getting Ethan baptized next month just before Halloween, so I invited both of our families up in Chicago to join us in the baptism. Sent an initial shout out via email. Never got a response back. Then this week, her husband emails me and that 1) SIL doens't check her gmail account too often, and 2) sorry we're not going to make it. Whereas, last month they went over to PA to visit her husband's niece who's maybe 3 wks older than Ethan. Whatever, if she doesn't want to meet him I don't give a rat's a$$, but if she's going to a uber-b!tch to my son... Mama Bear's whoopin' some a$$.

 

[amc80]

Maybe this is a dummy question but how do you konw how much E drinks from nursing?

I think she rented a gram sensitive scale. You weigh before and after feeding. 30 grams is roughly an ounce.

 

[ChinaCat]

Hi girls.

Sounds like everyone is doing good around here!

Had I's 4 month appt today. All good, all happy, hitting milestones, etc.

So just a reminder to how quickly things change! Ivy was the happiest, easiest, most delightful baby. Until Monday. I swear I left the perfect baby when I went to work and came home to a different baby. She completely rolled over from back onto stomach (up onto arms) on Sunday. She's been semi-rolling for awhile, but this was the first full roll up onto arms. DH and I cooed, isn't that sweet. Well come Monday and she won't stop rolling. So we can't put her down anywhere. She also gets mad once she rolls. So now I can't put her on the mat unless it's on the floor (but we have a 100 lb dog and no real place to confine her), can't put her in any of my go-to places or she rolls and gets stuck. Then starts screeching. If I hold her in my lap she starts bucking and grunting and trying to sit up. Calm down kid! Stop trying to grow up so fast!

I'm kidding, she's still a cutie, but man did she get fiesty and pissy overnight. Once they get mobile, it's all over. Sigh.

Breaking out the exersaucer and such this weekend, hoping that keeps her happy.

Lliang- Did E sleep really well until you de-swaddled? Say it isn't so! I'm not doing it yet, but it's on the horizon I can tell. Sorry about the sucky SIL, she's missing out on E's cuteness.

PPM- I bow down to you, mama. How are you feeling these days?

AMC, Missy- sleep going any better for you guys?

 

[amc80]

AMC, Missy- sleep going any better for you guys?

Nope. I had one great night, and then there was last night...where he was up every 1.5-2 hours. All. Night. Long.

I know some people love the newborn stage, but I'm pretty sure I'm not one of them.

 

[FrekeChild]

Tooth 5 arrived finally!

And FYI, naps went terrible today. I'm fully expecting a wake up in about 4 hours. Or 6. Ugh....

 

[pancake]

AMC - fortunately things do improve and only get better over time. Hang in there! Enjoy the good nights and try to push aside the bad... I found that when I just let things roll a bit more I got a lot less stressed out, even with the sleep deprivation.

Freke - is it just me thinking this, or has A abruptly grown a whole heap of teeth ALL AT ONCE?? You poor mama! Hope this is it for a while and that the sleep situation improves accordingly.

China - wow, go Ivy! She is going great guns, for sure! I am constantly told that once babies are on the move, things CHANGE and it's never the same again - but fortunately for me (haha), S is still a happy lump who doesn't move. At 7 1/2 months, mind you! She is perfectly happy to sit and play, she pivots around no problem and never falls, but she still shows no inclination to roll! If she were trying and being unsuccessful I might worry more, but she is supremely unfussed about being stationary and the rest of her milestones are fine so I am just enjoying it! Re unswaddling - we did it at 4 1/2 months and had a couple of nights where sleep wasn't quite as sound, and then all was well. So it's not all bad news! (but I did dread stopping swaddling, I put it off for AGES)

LC - my mama bear/lion/other growling animal instincts would be kicking too. That would royally p*ss me off! Do you think you'll say anything? The sensible part of my brain says no, I wouldn't say anything, you can't change the way people think - but the rest of my brain (most of it) says SICK 'EM!

Sorry to hear you are still having sleep troubles with Ethan. It must be an age and stage thing. We've started having sleep issues too. I'll elaborate more below. I'm glad you had a better night and hope that it continues tonight!

Is E happy with formula? S hasn't had any since she was 5 days old - if I'd gone back to work in August as planned she obviously would have got some but now that I'm going back when she's about 11-12 months old, I figure I'll just switch her straight to cows milk for the feeds I miss.

Re finger foods - I started with purees at 4 months (of course you know that, we talked about it a lot!) and now we do very little spoon food, and what spoon food there is is just coarsely mashed, and usually some version of what we are eating. Finger foods that we often do: avocado, broccoli, beans, asparagus, zucchini, grilled cheese on toast, toast spread with other stuff (butter, cream cheese, we've tried PB but S doesn't like it), little sandwich fingers, pasta (I make it a little softer than we have it, mix it through the sauce and then put it on her placemat - and I give her shapes that are easy to pick up eg fusilli), chicken, slow-cooked meats from a casserole, whatever I'm eating that is a size that she can pick up. Breakfast is usually multigrain toast, yoghurt (spooned in!), maybe some avocado, fruit (strawberries and watermelon are favourites), if we're out we might have baked beans. Lunch might be grilled cheese on toast or pasta, some steamed green vegies, maybe some poached chicken (I use the thigh or drumstick and just poach it very gently until the meat is nice and soft), if I want to get some extra vegies in I'll spoon in some sweet potato or pumpkin or whatever. Dinner similar to lunch.

Best starter finger food for us was definitely toast! Start with thick, crusty bread, and give the crust part so that it's nice and easy to gnaw. S now likes to take dainty little bites and so she eats more of the pulp part, although she'll still give the crust a good chew.

Steph, I imagine that you're not only TIRED, but also emotionally drained after going back to work. Well done on making it through the first week! Glad that Nora's not too affected by her cold. D and I are always amazed by how S just coasts through most of the time whilst we complain and moan. Especially D (I get colds, he gets man flu).

PPM - hope you're going well there, nursing and pumping away!

Mayer - ooh, that cruiser looks fancy! We didn't get anything like that; I have an aversion to anything that plays music, haha, but we definitely would have entertained the idea if we'd had trouble with settling. Hope N is going ok - has he had his immunisations now? Hope he doesn't react too much and that you have a nice weekend together. Also that the cold is on its way out the door.

PP - that is some pretty good sleeping going on there! I'm sure she will drop the 4:30ish feed next - and I'm even more sure that that will be an extremely welcome development! Don't worry a jot about your pumping volumes when you're EBF. Your body is designed to make what L wants, so if you're not pumping frequently it's common not to have much left. Lord knows I don't any more - I used to pump once a day or "piggy bank" through the day, and when I was doing that regularly, it was easy to get 150ml or so over the course of a day. Now I don't any more, haven't for ages - months - and I have to say, it's much harder to express when I do try to do it. Even when expressing often, and expressing when full, I never managed to empty the breast properly, and the volumes were never as high as I knew S must be getting (because of the rate of her weight gain!).

Monnie - the tutu pics are too cute! (resisting making a pun there...) Good for you for taking some down time when you weren't at work. I think it can be difficult to allow ourselves to do that - obviously I don't work at the moment, but even so, when S is asleep I always feel pressure to do something productive, and there is simply so much to do that there is never a time when I'm at a loss for a chore that needs to be done. So every now and then I just SIT and let things go. I am not a great housekeeper by any means, but I figure my sanity is more important, haha.

NEL - how are you guys faring? Hope K is feeling better and that she hasn't spread the lurgy to you and D.

Hello to everyone else, and I hope I haven't missed replying to anyone - apologies if I have!!

AFU:

1. Night-time sleep is a bit funny at the moment. I've noticed in the last week or so that S is in a much lighter sleep for more of the night, and is disturbed much more easily. The last three mornings she has woken at the crack of dawn (between 4:30 and 5:30) crying her little heart out - don't know why - and she can't be consoled, so I end up giving her a breastfeed. She also has a tendency to jolt awake upset around 10-11pm, but a 3 minute cuddle and comfort usually fixes that.

2. She has a cold. Again.

3. Her poops are weird - I am wondering if she maybe picked up giardia whilst we were in Bali? She's been happy enough, eating well, etc, but her poops have gone from "neat/solid" to unformed and large, sometimes a bit watery. We were very careful in Bali but it's hard to be 100% watertight with a baby who wants to mouth EVERYTHING (and probably managed to drink some bath water, let's be honest...). I'm taking her to the GP tomorrow to see if it's worth testing/treating.

4. She's definitely a 2-nap girl these days. Still trying to get the naps right, and she keeps waking herself up with dirty nappies, poor thing, but on a good day she has one nap at around 10:30am and another around 3pm. Bedtime is still 6:30, and before the early morning startled wakeups, she was up around 6:30 for a feed, then back in bed until about 8-8:30am. At the moment it's all a bit variable, but the general framework is still there.

5. She is so grabby at the moment! Wants EVERYTHING, and most particularly, wants any object that is not a toy. And has started to voice her consternation when she isn't allowed/can't reach something.

6. Loves to have "conversations" now. Sometimes she likes to screech at me, I screech back, and then we just screech back and forth for 5 minutes. She commentates everything she does whilst she's playing... I always wonder exactly what it is she's saying in that little mind of hers!

 

[mayerling]

Freke, nosefidas are not available here. The only thing I can give him is saline drops.
LCD, if it doesn't go away soon, I might have to take you up on your offer.

Pancake, sorry to hear S's sleep is not what it used to be.

NEL, is k's cold gone?

China and Steoh, it's so good to hear from you again!

Amc, how did last night go?

AFU, N had his immunizations today; two of them, poor baby. He cried so I shoved the boob in his mouth
Speaking of solids, when did you introduce them?

 

[amc80]

Amc, how did last night go?

Better than the night before, but not fantastic. He took FOREVER to fall asleep. I even fed him (again) which usually does the trick, but no luck. He was awake from about 5:30pm to when he finally fell asleep around 11 or so, so he was probably just overly tired. I want to say I fed him around 2 (don't quite remember), and then he slept until about 5:30. Which is HUGE because I think it's the first time he hasn't woken up around 4/4:30. I pumped about 2.5oz before I went to sleep and gave that to him when he woke up at 2, thinking he'd suck it down and quickly go back to sleep. Nope...he wanted more. So he ended up getting the 2.5oz plus he fed on both sides.

Had a conversation with DH yesterday that went like this:

me- The pediatrician said that if we want to give him formula, it needs to be a sensitive kind, or soy.
DH- Well I think we should just try to not give him formula at all.
me- Eventually he'll have to have it, my goal for BFing is 6 months, and he can't have cow's milk until 12 months.
DH- Then you should try to BF for the whole year.

I refrained from responding to that. Later on, when I was obviously frustrated with a cranky baby who had been nursing for like an hour, DH gave me kudos and said if he was the one who had to BF, he would have given up and switched to formula by now.

Exactly.

 

[mayerling]

Amc, our husbands' views on the matter of BF are very similar.

 

[mayerling]

N has developed a fever from his shots. We're supposed to give him 2.5 ml of paracetamol every 6 hours. Should I wake him up when he reaches the 6-hour mark to check his temperature and give him more medicine or is it okay to wait for him to wake up?

 

[lliang_chi]

Personally, I'd wait. But keep the acetaminophen at the ready when he gets up, so you can pop it in his mouth IMMEDIATELY! Ethan would get so uncomfortable after his shots, cranky and whimpering. But usually all we needed was 1 dose. I wouldn't want to keep dosing N if he doesn't need it (does that make sense)?

 

[mayerling]

We ended up calling the doctor and they said to wake him in two hours and check and if it hasn't gone down to call them again.

 

[megumic]

mayer, hope N is feeling better soon.

Freke, just wanted to ditto that the nosefrida is ah-maz-ing. i actually haven't used it on C yet, but had DH use it on me when I had a nasty cold last week and it is genius. it gets the nasty right out of your nasal/sinus cavity, not just your nose. i love that thing.

amc, hope the feeding/sleeping situation gets better.

LC, I have a similar situation with my SIL, except it is my brother's wife. So irritating when family is super awk and standoffish like that. We invited by bro and SIL for thankgiving, but they declined to go on vacation. Who doesn't spend thanksgiving with family???

Hi to everyone else!

AFU, not much to report. Cal is sleeping at a 4-7 hour stretch every night which I am super thankful for. I suppose it has to do with the fact that we have to supplement so he is staying full longer. Besides tummy time, the swing, and going on walks, are there other "activities" I can/should be doing with a 6-week old??

 

[mayerling]

Meg, a six-week-old that does 7-hour stretches? I'm so jealous!

 

[amc80]

Meg, a six-week-old that does 7-hour stretches? I'm so jealous!

OMG, ditto!

 

[S&I]

LC, glad E enjoyed the lake house weekend getaway! I wonder if E is waking up so often because of teething. Maybe now that his first tooth cut through, he'll be able to sleep longer at night? I wouldn't say A likes tummy time now, but he sure is more tolerable of it, and he'll stay there longer if I distract him with stuff. Sorry about J's sister. I would be pretty pissed off about it too, but you don't need her. She's the one missing out.

Monnie, love the cute tutu pics! There is absolutely nothing wrong with not having a routine. I'm kind of a control freak, but I've learned that trying to force a strict routine on A just stresses me out more, ha!

PPM, you're doing an outstanding job with nursing and pumping, and should be really proud of yourself! My supply never got much higher than 1oz per pumping session, so A has been on formula since he was about a week old. He still gets whatever he can suck from me, and we've been giving him one bottle of donor milk per day, but we're starting to run low on that stash now.

Petite, A used to do the same thing with his night time sleep. The first stretch would be 4-5 hours, but after a bottle, he'd only sleep 2-3 hours. Eventually, the first stretch got longer and longer until the second and third stretches ran into each other and disappeared. Glad L is a happy and laid back baby!

Mayerling, yay for N pulling himself up! What a strong boy! Sorry about your DH catching the cold too. We just went through that. A passed his cold to me, and I passed it to my DH. I really hope my parents don't catch it.

NEL, so sorry that K is sick with a fever too! How high did her fever get?

Freke, 5 teeth already! Little A is such a trooper! Hopefully that'll be it for a while so you guys can get some rest.

Steph, sorry work was so hard at first, but glad to hear it's getting better. I'm glad N wasn't too bothered by her first cold. We just went through A's first cold too, even though he doesn't go to daycare. He got over it rather quickly, but I was sick for over a week! Now DH has it.

China, sorry about I's screeching lately, but yay for her rolling over! We stopped swaddling A right around 4 months when he started going through his 4-month growth spurt. I don't know why I chose to do it at the same time. I think it had to do with him kicking himself out of the Miracle Blanket every night anyway, so we just did away with it. So I can't really say how much the swaddle had to do with the sleep regression, versus the growth spurt, but he's slowly getting better. I get about 1-2 STTNs per week now. The rest of the nights involve 1-2 wake-ups, usually around 4am. Sometimes I can get him back to sleep after a 30-minute nursing session, and sometimes he won't go back into the crib so I have to let him nurse/sleep on me on the living room recliner until morning.

AMC, how are you and B doing? Sorry about your DH's insensitive comment about formula, but glad he made up for it later.

Pancake, sorry to hear that S is sick again! What did the GP say? Love that she's so chatty!

Meg, C is doing really well for a 6-week old! You're doing a great job with varying his activities too!

AFU, not much going on. We went to visit our friends' 2-week old this weekend. A showed off his rolling skills there, and even rolled over both shoulders. After that, we went out to an early dinner and he was so good. He was happy in his car seat and actually let me eat my entire meal! It probably helped that he had a power nap in the car on the way there. He's starting to watch people eat now, so I bought a box of rice cereal in preparation for his first solids. I want to wait until he hits 6 months, but we'll see what he thinks about that.

 

[lliang_chi]

Hi mamas!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I had a pretty good time this weekend, met up with some PS'ers (mostly old ones that don't post so much anymore) that came into Chicago. It was fun, albeit a little frantic sometimes

China, hate to say it but Ethan was a mess when we had to cut him from the swaddle. We went cold turkey. His sleep has never been the same since. He used to go 6 hrs, no problem. Ah well. I guess he'll sort himself out eventually. I'm hoping you won't have too much of an issue with I. Pancake's S switched to sleep sacks without a lot of fuss. I guess Ethan is just a big cuddle bug and wants to feel hugged. LOL! So funny to hear I's trying like all get out to do her own thing I hope the exersaucer helped.

AMC, I wasn't so much into the squishy newborn phase either. I LOVE the older baby 5+ month old phase and I'm sure you would too. Well, assuming you have a baby that will sleep.... Actually I take that back, despite the sleep hiccups I've been having with Ethan I still love this age. He's so interactive and just a joy to be around. So there's hope yet.

Meg, sorry to hear you can commiserate with me on the weird family situation. For now I"m choosing not to expend energy on it, and enjoying my time with my son. OMG, I can't believe you had your DH use the Nosefrida on you. That's HILARIOUS! Activities with a 6wk old? I dunno I read to Ethan when I was able to get to the library and check out books. He liked the books that rhyme. I just picked up a few more books from Amazon for E too.

Freke, wow, I can't believe A has 5 teeth already. I guess the 6th one should be getting there soon. Wow!

S&I, aw, looks like A is totally getting ready for solids. Keep some purees on hand in case the rice cereal constipates A. Ethan was terribly constipated and not comfortable at all until we gave him prunes to help him pass it. Hoping A won't have the same issue. We had to start Ethan with solids at like 4 months because he was SO into having food.

AFU:
I FINIALLY managed to take a picture of Ethan's tooth. It's on the nice camera so I'll post it here when I get home. Ethan has taken to making 2 new sounds. On is clucking his tongue (which is totally cute) and hte other is SCREECHING. Loudly, which J doesn't find as cute. He was doing it a TON yesterday, mostly I think because he just discovered it and wanted to keep doing it. He's also found his voice in general and shouts baby babble while rolling around and playing with his toys.

Otherwise not much else going on with us. We've got our big fat Swiss vacation coming up this week. Yikes! We're looking forward to it but holy cow it's going to be a lot of logistics!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

There seem to be a lot of sick babies on PS this week. Poor things!

I'm sick. Work is crazy. I'm going to try to catch up!

Meg, so nice that C is sleeping long stretches now! It makes such a big difference! As for activities, when K was 6 weeks there were a few things I did with her: 1.) Massage. She loved being massaged, especially her legs and feet. I learned in a mom class I was taking, but I know there are books and online tutorials 2.) I read to her. Not children's books back then, but I'd literally read my US Weekly to her and she liked to listen 3.) A class? A local music conservatory offers a class for newborns--not sure if you have anything like that near you? K has always responded positively to music, it's one way we used to soothe her when she was teeny.

Mayerling, how is N doing? I've been thinking about you with N being stuffy, then getting the shots and having the fever. That could not have been fun. I hope he's feeling better now. And my goodness, he's such a strong boy pulling himself up already! Has he done that again since?

amc, I had to laugh at your "conversation" with your husband about bfing. My husband is in the same boat as yours and it's a very sensitive subject for me since I tried so hard to bf and have residual feelings about "failing". A month or so ago my husband hinted that maybe I should try pumping again (after not having pumped for 2 months) and I flew off the handle in anger. At least you had the sense to hold your tongue and then later your husband admitted that he could not do it. I honestly don't think men understand how hard it is.

Pancake, when I read your update I laughed that nearly all of those things apply to K as well: wonky sleep, super grabby, having "conversations" and wondering what she's trying to say when she's vocalizing to her toys. It's great that S is doing so well with finger foods! I've started introducing a few, but K makes a face at me and spits the food out. Quick question: what do you do about the poopy wakeup? I give K solids before her second nap, then about an hour after I feed her, she poops and wakes up. She usually settles back down, but sometimes she doesn't and I wonder if I need to adjust K's feeding schedule so she's not pooping during her nap. But I can't figure out what to do instead!

I hope S is feeling better, poor thing!

Freke, oh my gosh, A is getting so many teeth! It seems like she's been averaging a tooth a week or so. Did that happen from the very first tooth or was there a gap between her first couple of teeth and the last few. I could go back through your posts and figure it out, but I'm lazy. Are they all on the bottom?

China, Ivy is rolling already! Which is worse, the fact that she's rolling around, getting stuck/frustrated or that now you have to de-swaddle? I think those are the two biggest pains about rolling. Is she already connecting back/front rolls or is she mostly rolling in one direction? I'm sure she's an adorable little rolling dervish.

LC, that is very frustrating (but I know not unexpected) about James' sister. She's always been on the selfish side, but it is frustrating that she's willing to see her husband's niece, but not Ethan. D has an uncle who had no interest in meeting K. But he's older and has no kids of his own. I can't tell if he just doesn't like kids or if maybe K is a sore reminder of the fact that he never had them/won't have them. Anyway, I know you're used to ignoring James' sister, but I'm sorry.

E has a tooth! Exciting! And table foods--I've been introducing slowly. I mostly try teeny piece of anything soft I'm eating (usually bread). She doesn't seem to like the texture, she just spits it out. I also tried yogurt drops, but they're kind of big and while they melt quickly, she doesn't keep them in her mouth long enough for them to melt. She usually spits them out. Did you try the macaroni noodles?

I forgot about your swiss vacation! Oh my gosh--so fun, but yes, so much planning!

Steph, going back is so hard!! You're doing great. Establishing a routine is really helpful and I'm glad you were able to ease back in. I have a feeling in a couple of weeks it will be much easier. I told myself that I'd give it 3 months and if I was really unhappy after 3 months, I could quit and feel like I gave it a fair shot. I've been back for 4 months now and I am actually really happy--it got easier for me. I really hope it keeps getting easier for you!

S&I, it's good to have everything on hand when you're ready to make the leap to solids. Like LC, K had constipation issues at first and we mixed a little prune juice in (before we introduced fruit purees). Mixing in the fruit purees is actually easier.

Oh, and K only had a fever of 99, very low-grade.

Everyone else: PetitePoire, Monnie, PnPsMom, Missy, etc., I hope your'e all doing well!

I only have 2 minutes to update, but K is feeling better. Finally. Still a bit congested.

1. Sleep is getting better now that she can breathe. She's still up and chirpy at 5am (and now trying to crawl in her crib), but I can usually get her back down for another hour before waking up for the day. She took 5 hours of naps yesterday. Poor thing was TIRED after being sick!

2. Babyproofing is going well. We have one babyproofed room. K has gone from rocking on her hands and knees to crawling backwards, so I think forward is any minute

3. K is home with D today because our babysitter is sick. Posting a pic he sent me this morning.

 

[pancake]

Nice to see this thread hopping again!

Meg - fantastic that Cal is sleeping longer stretches now. Are you feeling a little more positive about everything? I hope so. I imagine that getting some uninterrupted sleep probably does wonders!

Mayerling, I'm late to the party, but just FYI - it is a very (very) widespread misapprehension that fevers are harmful and need to be treated. No wonder there is that belief - the pharma companies push it very hard! Basically you only need to give paracetamol/other pain relief if N is uncomfortable/grizzly/miserable (which he may well be with a fever - but often babies aren't). I wouldn't bother to wake a baby to give them anything, as presumably they're comfortable if sleeping.

LC - so so SO envious of your Switzerland holiday! I only spent 3 days in Switzerland (although it cost the same as a week anywhere else in Europe!) and we LOVED it. We didn't get to do much but were staying high up in the Alps and it was just so freaking BEAUTIFUL!

Can't wait to see a pic of Ethan's tooth!

NEL - love that piano pic! I giggled too when I read your reply re us going through exactly the same stage with our babies. You're so good with babyproofing. A couple of weekends ago, D and I said to each other that we should get on and do it well BEFORE S gets on the move, so that we don't learn things the hard way! However, naturally we have done nothing. And will probably not get around to it...

Is K's sleep still continuing to improve? We are having some issues at the moment - will elaborate below...

amc, how are you going with the nights this week?

AFU: (liking NEL's system of numbered points!)

1. SLEEP. REGRESSION.

Honestly, I cannot complain too much because S has always been such a fantastic sleeper, and we did have almost 4 months of uninterrupted nights. BUT in the last 5 nights she has started waking in the wee hours, SCREAMING. First night it was 5:30. Then 5. Then 4:30. Etc. We're now at 3:30 and I am BLEARY-EYED! She screams inconsolably and sometimes I can get her settled enough to put her back down, but so far she has always started crying again after a few minutes. Each night I have ended up having to feed her to calm her down - it's like a switch is flicked and she can't get back to her normal self without a circuit-breaker. She doesn't wake crying during the day EVER still, and in the "morning" (ie. 6:30-7am) she still wakes up totally chipper and happy. So I don't really know what's going on. My money is on a) developmental leap/wonder week or b) nightmares. I am hoping this doesn't result in a habitual wake-up for a feed, but to be honest at the moment I hate her distress so much that I just want to do whatever I have to to get her settled, happy and asleep again.

Argh!

2. Little Miss Assertive!

Well, our mild-mannered Dot has started to assert herself! When she wants something now, she doesn't just reach for it, she grunts or yells for it and has a little mini-tantrum if she can't have it. She wants what she wants when she wants it! At mealtimes she gets annoyed if she can't bite her food fast enough or if she doesn't get her sippy cup as soon as she wants it. If she drops a piece of food she practically hangs upside down over the side of the chair grunting at the floor until it's picked up. When she's finished with eating now, she picks up her food and splats it on the floor. Then grunts for us to pick it up. Then splats again. Etc. It's very funny, but I am also spending a LOT of the time on the floor!

3. She's still picking up skills really rapidly. Her pincer grip is getting pretty good now, and she's really, REALLY good at eating - I've been able to really broaden the range of finger foods she's eating over the past fortnight. She babbles non-stop (LC - she screeches a lot too! She likes it when she screeches at me and I screech back, and we sit there like maniacs screeching at each other) and is fascinated by looking for things under other things. Object permanence (ie when something disappears from view she knows it's still there somewhere) is exciting but also frustrating - until a couple of weeks ago I could just put something out of view and it would not exist for her any more, but now she knows it's still there and will demand it until I can find something better to distract her! Doorknobs are still her favourite thing to check out (we do "doorknob tours" of our house) and she is also fascinated by running water.

4. Still has funny poos, I dropped a sample off (lovely!) yesterday to be tested. I suspect she's got Giardia from Bali water (because she kept drinking the bath water and it was very hard to stop her!) but we'll see. The cough is still persisting but her nose is less runny and I think the cold is on the way out. GP agreed that Giardia was a reasonable guess, hence the sample. I'll ring in 3 days for the results. Very determined that D and I NOT be Dot's doctors and that she has her own doctor who treats her.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Fly by to vent about how badly I want to quit my job. I love, love teaching, but do not see how I can balance my workload with being a mom. I am sucking at both. If I had a job that didn't require taking work home each night it might be a bit easier, but after one day I'm SLAMMED, DH works til 9, and E is being a terror. And I've been up since 4:30. This is not sustainable. Someone tell me it will get better.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Pancake, when S starts her MOTN screaming, is she still sleepy? Is she doing the eyes-half-closed crying thing? K has done the same thing on and off (first with teething, now with being sick). When K is wakes up crying, but half alseep, the night goes in one of two directions: One--I give her a paci and rub her back for a minute or two and soothe her back to a restful sleep. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries. Two--I give her a paci and rub her back for a minute or two and she gets more irritated and awake. Once she starts waking up, I know I'm heading into bottle territory. I also worry about bad habits forming if she's up and hungry in the MOTN for several days in a row, but up to this point it's always been a short phase. Keeping my fingers crossed that Dot's MOTN wakings are a phase.

I wouldn't sweat the babyproofing! K has been army crawling for a couple of weeks now and I've just kept an eye on her. It's just tiring because inevitably babies go right for the things you don't want them to touch. So I just wanted one Katie proof room where I could play with her and not worry about something bad happening if I lifted my eyes for a second.

PnPsMom, I'm so, so sorry. I think the work/life balance thing will always be a struggle. There will be days you feel like you can handle it and days where you feel completely overwhelmed. What is E's nighttime schedule like? I admit that I felt slightly more sane after implementing K's 7pm bedtime. I get home from work at 6:10, so I get less than an hour with her, but I feel like the 7pm bedtime gives me time to get a couple of hours of work in at night if needed (like tonight). What time do you usually go to bed? I keep setting bedtime goals for myself. I have yet to hit my goal.


All: I meant to ask everybody earlier, but I ran out of time. For those of you with 6 month+ babies, do you feel like your babies are eating less? K used to have 4 8oz. bottles per day (+16 - 18oz. solids), but the past two weeks or so she's only been having 6oz. of her bottles. So she's gone from 32 oz. of formula per day to 24 oz. I tried decreasing her solids, but that had no effect on how much formula she drank. So now I've gone back to adding rice cereal to her purees because I want her to have the nutrition. I've read this can happen when babies get more mobile--something about them being able to move around more with less in their tummies. Apparently breastmilk automatically accommodates for this (ratio of fat increases...or something), but I'm not sure what to do since K is a formula baby.

 

[parrot tulips]

I've been a little preoccupied lately, and haven't checked in for a while, and wow has this thread gotten busy! So exciting hearing about how everyone's babies are growing/changing. Teeth, rolling over, transitioning out of swaddles, table foods, crawling...it's all happening so fast.

LC - Just wanted to empathize about your SIL's...lack of effort in meeting Ethan. My FIL has not met Ava yet. She will be one year old in a month. Between my husband, my BIL, and myself, we've asked him dozens of times to come out and visit, and he pretends not to hear every. single. time. We've offered to cover his airfare, and have BIL travel with him so he doesn't have to fly alone, but again, he pretends not to hear. She is his only grandchild, and it's a small miracle she's alive and healthy, so it's just sad and disappointing that he hasn't at least tried to visit. I know my husband would be over the moon if he made it out for A's first birthday, and we've asked, but I don't see it happening. The first time he meets her will likely be when we fly out to visit during the holidays. Oh well, his loss. She's such a sweet, funny little thing.

AFU - Ava has her two front, bottom teeth now (maybe half way in?). She's eating purees quite well, and loves it when we feed her bits of what we're eating (avocado from a salad, pieces of bread or cheese, little bits of turkey meatballs, etc.), so I'm thinking I may need to purchase a baby led weaning book so I can start letting her eat some finger foods on her own.

Her sleep has vastly improved without any effort on our part. The first stretch will last 6-8 hours, and the second will last about 4, with a wake-up time of about 7am. I tried night weaning, but 4+ hours of screaming, crying, and choking each time we tried, was more than I could bear, so I do nurse during those two wake-ups. Fortunately it's only for 10-15 minutes, and she passes out again for hours.

No crawling yet, which seems slower than the other babies in our play group (even taking into account her adjusted age), but since she stands against furniture for extended periods of time on her own, I'm not overly concerned.

Ava has started taking a music class once a week, which she loves, and took her first trip to the zoo over the weekend. Her favorite part - looking at the other kids! Second favorite was the goats in the petting zoo. She LOVED petting them. I'll post pics later when I have time...