PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[amc80]

Hi all! I haven't posted in a while. Our dog had puppies last week, so between them and B, I've been getting up like 4-5 times throughout the night. YAWN. B is doing well. Rolling all over the place and so SO close to crawling. His two front bottom teeth are about half way up. He is starting to get the concept of chewing and is less gaggy. Still eating up a storm- he's at 3-4 2oz containers of food and 30ish oz of formula...plus puffs, cheerios, etc.

MP- I wouldn't worry about it. There's another kid at B's daycare who is the same age as B (7 months) and he still is wobbly with sitting. B took forever to roll over- almost 6 months for tummy to back and closer to 7 for back to front. Ironic that I think he's going to be an early crawler and walker.

Here is a pic of him from a couple of weeks ago. OMG, I'm so happy we finally decided to get professional pictures!

 

[monkeyprincess]

amc, he's so handsome! If I didn't know better I would think he was at least a year old in that picture.

 

[amc80]

amc, he's so handsome! If I didn't know better I would think he was at least a year old in that picture.

Aww thanks! I know, I feel like I got robbed of the baby stage...he looks more like a toddler. People are shocked when I tell them he's 7 months.

 

[JGator]

AMC, he is so handsome. Love the pro pic!

 

[JGator]

Anyone have any good suggestions on clipping/filing finger nails? K started reaching for my face (eyes, nose, mouth) while eating either BFing or bottle feeding. BTW, I have been able to BF her about once a day lately - she seems to have remembered how to do it now. Her nails are scratching me. I'm afraid to use our nail clippers - we have a scissors style (pio pio) and the regular clipper kind. I have been using a file until now but it's not exactly fast. Any ideas on a safe way to trim nails? I may or may not have drawn blood on her finger when she was a brand new baby which may or may not be why I am afraid to use a scissors/clippers now.

 

[lulu66]

jgator I use the piyo piyo nail scissors either while I'm breastfeeding or when she's sleeping I was so nervous about he nail clipping but really feel pretty confident with those. No accidents yet! Good luck!


amc B is just so adorable! And such a little man! Love it! We're having professional pics next month (Ellie will be 4 mo) & I'm pretty happy with the decision

Hi everyone else!! We're just still getting adjusted to working together. And I think we're experiencing the 4 month sleep regression or a big growth spurt--or both!! Ellie's gone from one motn wake up to 4!!!!! Ugh, I'm so tired!

 

[amc80]

Jgator- wait until she's asleep, that's what I do.

 

[monarch64]

JGator, my husband clipped A's nails when she was a few weeks old and cut her, he was so upset! It didn't even phase her and she only bled a little tiny bit. I started clipping her nails a couple months ago (he'd been doing a great job but I wanted to make sure I could do it, too!). About every 10 days, after bathtime and I've got her in her pajamas and her teeth brushed and hair dried, I clip her nails with my fingernail clippers. We keep her baby clippers downstairs and I usually end up clipping her toenails at random times when I happen to notice they're getting long. She is really good about watching me do it and holding still. I think since I've made it part of the relaxing bedtime routine that is why she's more cooperative.

Kunzite, your boys are all so adorable! AMC, your son is really gorgeous. Love his hair!

Alex turned 10 months old yesterday. I don't know where the time went. Our girl is thriving and just a joy to be around. As of next week I will be around her a lot more--I'm resigning from my position as buyer and cutting my hours down to part time. It's a very exciting move forward for our family; we have a lot in the works.

Here is A today--she and Daisy love to hang out in the sun and look out the window together at whatever's happening outside. I wish the weather would hurry up and act like Spring so they could play outside!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Anyone have any good suggestions on clipping/filing finger nails? K started reaching for my face (eyes, nose, mouth) while eating either BFing or bottle feeding. BTW, I have been able to BF her about once a day lately - she seems to have remembered how to do it now. Her nails are scratching me. I'm afraid to use our nail clippers - we have a scissors style (pio pio) and the regular clipper kind. I have been using a file until now but it's not exactly fast. Any ideas on a safe way to trim nails? I may or may not have drawn blood on her finger when she was a brand new baby which may or may not be why I am afraid to use a scissors/clippers now.

Ev tends to get dry itchy skin on his forehead and scalp, and then he scratches the heck out of his face when he is sleepy, so I have to keep his nails super short to try to keep him from being covered in little scratches and scabs all the time. I've tried three or so different clippers, and I like my orange safety first ones the best. His nails used to be a lot thinner, so they were harder to cut, but I have not had any problems recently. My husband bought the scissors you're talking about, but they terrify me, so we've never used them. I haven't quite figured out why people prefer them.... Just to make you feel better, I also drew a tiny bit of blood from catching a bit of Ev's skin like the first or second time I clipped his nails. I don't think he cried, but I certainly did!

 

[JGator]

Thanks everyone. I will try to clip them when she's asleep if I can. So, when she was maybe 2 weeks old, she had a small scab on her index finger tip which I told everyone must have happened at the hospital................every time I looked at that scab, I felt horrible. It seemed to take forever to go away. Since then, I've been super paranoid about those scissors!

 

[mayerling]

Hi ladies! Yes, I'm still around. I read along every day but don't post often these days.

Kunzite, I'm afraid I too thought that O, E, and M were at least part Asian. They look similar to my son who's 1/4 Asian.

AMC, it really doesn't sound to me like B eats that much. He definitely has a lot of formula but not a lot of solids. N is almost 9 months and he has about 21.5oz of formula a day (the recommendation here for babies on solids is 17oz which makes me think that US formula must be very different given how a lot more is recommended over there), and about 15oz of solids.

MP, N is similar to E in that he too scratches his face when he's tired - one of the reasons why we still swaddle.

Hi to everyone else.

AFU, N has hit a few milestones in the last few weeks.

1. He babbles constantly, and his babbles are getting more complex. He also says 'mamma' and, while at first I thought it was just a babble, I now think he's really referring/talking to me given how he says 'mamma' and not 'mamamamama', and how he only says it to me. Also, he mainly says it when he's crying; he doesn't babble anything else when he cries.

2. He's finally rolled over from back to front - he rolled over from front to back at 8 weeks but it took 8.5 months for the other way round.

3. He's started waving goodbye.

4. He can pull himself up to stand on his own.

 

[sunnyd]

Rawr!! I've had so many issues trying to log in this week and I finally got it! Woohoo!

I've been too MIA too long to attempt to catch up with anything other than what's on this page, LOL. Oh, except nicknames! I also worry that Harlowe will never know her name, since DH and I call her Boo, Baby Boo, Pumpkin, Goose, and Barfy. Haha, oh well.

Kunzite I'm the same boat as MP and Mayer! You have some exotic genes in there somewhere, hehe!

BB, glad Chase's surgery went well!

AMC, B is such a handsome boy. So cute!

Monnie, A is a doll, as usual. I can't believe she's 10 months already, didn't you JUST have her?! Congrats on going part time!

MP, that's awesome that you can watch E on camera! My SIL will often send pictures throughout the day, it's nice to have!

Soooo I'm done pumping. Sigh. I was doing well, making an oz per day, but then it plummeted back down to about half an oz or less, so it was time to let go. But H is consistently STTN, so that's good! We're moving her to her crib in her room tonight, I think I might be sad when I get into bed and she's not right there!

 

[dani13]

Hi everyone!!

Checking in, hope you are all well. Things are so crazy during the week, so I barely have time to be on PS these days But DH is home now, so I have a minute.

We had L's 6 month checkup yesterday...he is doing great!!! 26.5 inches tall and 19.4 lbs!!! He is a little chunker, haha!!! He is also getting so much more fun! He is really developing his personality and seems to have a bad temper at times!! My Mom says we are in for it!!! ha! Still exclusively on bm, but doing much better with taking the bottle while Im at work (he was really giving Grandma and Grandpa a hard time initially). My pedi said we can start some solids, so looking into getting some "supplies" now, lol! We need a highchair, etc., so Im researching what to get. Anyone have any recc's for products they loved for this stage? I am also a little confused on how to introduce foods. She said to start rice cereal and oatmeal initially, then move to veggies and fruits, introducing one new food slowly. But I dont know how much I should be giving him quantity wise, and when should I give it to him, before or after nursing?? I asked her about baby led weaning, and she looked at me like I was nuts, so I dont think she is very familiar with it, or maybe she just doesnt agree with it? I dont know. But I trust her, so I guess we will go with the purees and go from there. Im going to try and make him homemade food- we'll see how that goes!! Any tips would be appreciated!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!! Enjoy your holiday!!

 

[amc80]

Milestone alert! B can go from laying to sitting! Fun

 

[lulu66]

monnie as usual A is adorable. So glad her & daisy are such good buds. I'm hoping are dogs can handle Ellie once she gets mobile!

jgator it's funny but I feel so confident w/ the scissors...I think because I can position her finger where I can see the nail & skin as I'm trimming. It's a different strokes for different folks thing, I guess

mayerling Ellie's the same on rolling she had front to back down at about 8 weeks too & is just starting to try the other way! Yay for N's milestones!

sunny that picture is too cute!! Have I told you that I adore them name harlowe??

dani hi I know nothing about solids...sorry!

amc yay B!!

We're doing good here. Things are changing by the second it seems. Here's a shot from earlier today.

 

[monarch64]

Hi everyone!!

Checking in, hope you are all well. Things are so crazy during the week, so I barely have time to be on PS these days But DH is home now, so I have a minute.

We had L's 6 month checkup yesterday...he is doing great!!! 26.5 inches tall and 19.4 lbs!!! He is a little chunker, haha!!! He is also getting so much more fun! He is really developing his personality and seems to have a bad temper at times!! My Mom says we are in for it!!! ha! Still exclusively on bm, but doing much better with taking the bottle while Im at work (he was really giving Grandma and Grandpa a hard time initially). My pedi said we can start some solids, so looking into getting some "supplies" now, lol! We need a highchair, etc., so Im researching what to get. Anyone have any recc's for products they loved for this stage? I am also a little confused on how to introduce foods. She said to start rice cereal and oatmeal initially, then move to veggies and fruits, introducing one new food slowly. But I dont know how much I should be giving him quantity wise, and when should I give it to him, before or after nursing?? I asked her about baby led weaning, and she looked at me like I was nuts, so I dont think she is very familiar with it, or maybe she just doesnt agree with it? I dont know. But I trust her, so I guess we will go with the purees and go from there. Im going to try and make him homemade food- we'll see how that goes!! Any tips would be appreciated!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!! Enjoy your holiday!!

Hi Dani! Nice to see you posting, glad things are going so well! Getting into solids: we have a hand-me-down highchair, I think it's a Graco but it's 5 years old and one that my mom bought to keep at her house when she had my now 5 y/o niece there. It's perfectly suitable for us, now, so we're happy to have saved the money. Rice cereal I'm not a big fan of, since it doesn't have a lot of nutritional value and from what I hear/read some babies don't like it. We started Alex on pureed baby foods and for the first few weeks (right around 5 1/2 months) she had no idea what to do with the foreign situation going on in her mouth! It took a few tries over a few weeks to get her used to the idea of just tasting different things and swallowing, and being spoon fed instead of eating from a bottle exclusively. Once she figured it out, though, she began eating 2 oz of pureed food at a time, plus a 4 oz bottle, about twice a day, and then we started to up the amount of pureed food to 3-4 oz per meal, 3x a day. She still got 3-4 oz bottles right after a "meal." We also incorporated things like puffs that we put on her high chair tray that she could grab and put into her mouth herself. Other "finger foods" we've given her are tiny cut-up pieces of soft fruits or veggies, mashed potatoes, etc. Baby led weaning, for us, has meant that when Alex was able to start acting interested in what WE were eating, she started reaching for our food and we'd give her teensy bits of safe things she wouldn't choke on like soft mashed pieces of beans or carrots or whatever. Now that she's cruising, if I sit down to scarf down a meal on the couch, she'll come over and want whatever I have, and I'll feed her a little bite of what I'm having. Could be a bit of banana, or really small piece of bread, or potato, or pasta... Hope this helps.

Lulu, your girl is stunningly beautiful. Wow!

SunnyD, so good to see you posting, and Harlowe is gorgeous! What a personality that girl has, so beautiful. ETA: thank you for the congrats. The store owner was in town tonight and is trying to negotiate with me so I will stay. It's making my decision tougher to stick with and now I feel even more torn. Last thing I wanted to think about on Easter weekend and before my husband begins a new endeavor on Monday.

Mayerling, great update, was wondering where you were! Glad N is doing so well! Now where are the pictures???

 

[JGator]

Happy Easter!

Monnie, congrats on changing to part-time status at work. And, good luck to your DH on his never venture.

Lulu, I got my DH to clip her nails last night while she was asleep - I held a flash light. He is much more confident. Of course today she wakes up with a huge scratch on her face. I thought the point of clipping was to avoid the scratches! Lovee your picture....too cute!

AMC, yay for B sitting up and doing stomach crunches!!!

Dani, we started giving K rice cereal. She gets it once a day now. We started by making it very watery - I think maybe 1 TBS of cereal with maybe 2 oz of formula or breast milk. Now, she gets 2-3 TBS with 2 ounces of breast milk/formula. We are only giving it to her once a day. Her pedi recommended 3 TBS 2x/day but after reading something recently saying parents are giving their kids solids too early we decided to slow it down till her 6 month birthday. Plus, it takes forever to feed her and is a huge mess. Get some plastic large bibs like these - http://www.amazon.com/Bumkins-Waterproof-Super-Bib-Butterflies/dp/B003X26SKI/ref=sr_1_4?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1364823380&sr=1-4&keywords=bumkin+bib And, we purchased this booster after much deliberation, and it is working out great. http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Healthy-Deluxe-Booster-White/dp/B001GQ2RWQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1364823137&sr=8-2&keywords=booster

Sunny, hope the transition to the crib went well. And, I'm jealous on the STTN. Love H's smile!!! My supply seems to have gone down lately too - despite all the stuff I am taking!

Mayerling, yay for N saying Mama!

Hi, MP and Haven and anyone else I missed!

Where are the new mommies??

AFU, K turned 5 months on Friday. She's still practicing rolling over from back to front by rolling to one side. Not interested in tummy time or rolling from tummy to back. She's going to story time today with just the nanny for the first time. The nanny will drive our car so hopefully that will go smoothly and safely! K had a great Easter. She didn't cry at church, and she loved playing with plastic eggs.

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, K looks so sweet in her Easter outfit. My DH is a huge wimp about cutting Ev's nails because he had a bad experience with clipping his dog's nails one time, so I'm the one who has to do it around here. Sounds like Ev and K are pretty similar with their moving and rolling. I guess we should be glad they're still not quite mobile because it will be a lot crazier when they are!

Monarch, thanks for the info on how you started solids. I have also heard some not so great things about rice cereal, including that a lot of contains arsenic. I'm guessing we'll be starting them soon as Ev turns six months in two weeks, and he is definitely interested in watching what we eat and drink.

Lulu, your little girl looks SO cute in her little bunny shirt She's a beauty!

Hi Dani, how are things going? Hope you are getting into a good routine with work and everything. We will probably b starting solids in a few weeks too, so I'll be curious to hear what recommendations you get.

Sunnyd, good to see you. H is looking so sweet! Hope the transition to her crib went well. I have a feeling you will all be sleeping a bit better once you get used to it.

Hey Mayerling, I wondered if you were still around. Glad to hear things are going well. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has kept swaddling beyond the 3-4 month mark. The scratching drives me crazy!

AFU, we had a good holiday weekend. Ev handled al the activity with visiting relatives really well, and he STTN again last night for the first time in several weeks, even though it was rough getting him to fall asleep initially. I'll have to download one of his Easter pics later.

 

[monarch64]

JGator, K is so beautiful!!! Love the fact that you held a flashlight while your husband clipped her nails. Sorry to hear she still scratched herself! Seems like there is always a sharp edge left even if you're really conscientious of making sure there are none. You'll get the hang of it, don't worry. I love her dress and does she have dimples? I keep looking at her picture trying to decide. She's just so pretty!!!

MP, I'm looking forward to a picture of Ev from Easter, I bet he looked so cute.

Mayerling, great to hear from you, please don't be a stranger.

Echoing JGator: Yes, where are all the new mommies???

ETA: btw, I read the BEST children's book I've come across in a long time this weekend. The title is "Three Little Cajun Pigs" written by Mike Artell/illustrated by Jim Harris. It is SO CUTE. I read it to Alex tonight, even though it is suitable for bigger kids. Husband loved it, I loved reading it, and Alex fell asleep so I think we can call that a success. Anyway, I highly recommend it. Just thought I'd share.

 

[Skippy123]

aww, I just had to pop in and say how stinkin adorable all the babies are, great job mommas!

eta: I love reading cute fun books to the boys Monnie, I will have to check that one out! My favorite has been Skippyjon Jones, so silly and all the Dr. Seuss books

 

[mia1181]

Hey everyone!

I have a question about swaddling: O will be 1 month tomorrow and she has been having a hard time napping in the afternoon/evening and would not sleep on her own in the pack and play so she's been bedsharing with us at night. I tried double-swaddling her again yesterday and it worked like a charm! She took a 2.5 hour nap in the evening and woke up, ate, had her bath and slept in the pack and play for the entire night last night (I dream fed her every 2 hours)! I stopped double swaddling her before because I felt guilty about pinning her arms down but now it seems its the only way to get her to sleep on her own. Does anyone have any advice for how often during the day and night it is okay to swaddle like that? I'm having an irrational first time mom fear about hindering her development if too much time is spent in the double swaddle! Since her morning naps have always been great, she is sleeping unswaddled now but of course she stirs more in her sleep.

What do you guys think about letting her have her morning nap unswaddled (or in a loose single swaddle) and then double swaddling her for the rest of the naps and night but removing the swaddle whenever she is awake? Do you think that is too much?

 

[JGator]

Hi, Mia, we never had a structured nap time so K she just fell asleep in her bouncy seat or swing during the day without a swaddle on, and we did double swaddle her with the aiden anais swaddles at night in her pack n play. I highly recommend the bamboo/rayon aden anais swaddles, by the way. They are very light weight, and I swear they are larger than the cotton ones. That worked really well for us. I say do whatever works for you. I don' t think swaddling hurts their development. We only took her out for fear that she was going to roll over and get stuck, and we started that at about 3 months by removing one arm first and then both arms after a while. Good luck and welcome to our thread!

 

[mayerling]

Mia, I've been swaddling since 6 weeks (we stopped tonight at 9 months!), and double-swaddling at night since about 5 months. I don't believe it has hindered N's development at all. Having said that, we've only been swaddling his arms - his legs have always been free to move.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Mia, welcome. Isn't being a new mom crazy? Those first couple of months, I was SO paranoid about everything. Now that I'm a veteran mother of almost 6 months (ha, ha), I think I've finally realized that unless it is dangerous, you really can get by with doing whatever works for you. At one month, I can assure you are not hindering her development by swaddling her when she's alseep, and it is probably very comforting to her. We would swaddle Ev from the waist down for naps when he was younger, and then swaddle him all the way in the woombie at night. Now, we don't swaddle him for naps. He sometimes uses a sleep sack at daycare.

Speaking of swaddling, how has the transition gone for you Mayerling and JGator? Do your little ones sleep okay unswaddled, or are they waking up a lot more often? I'm mostly worried that Ev will scratch his face and head at night, which he tends to do when he is tired or frustrated. I know I should probably transition him out of the swaddle, but I'm so afraid it will ruin the good thing we have going (most nights) with his sleep.

 

[JGator]

MP, K is a waking up machine these days, but I don't think it's because of the de-swaddling. She did fine right away. I think she's not eating enough during the day now which is why she wakes up all the time all night! She is refusing the bottle during the day, but hungry at night. She gets her cereal once a day and maybe one decent bottle (4 or 5 ounces) during the day now, but otherwise, eats right before bed (4 oz) and during the night (2-3 oz per feeding). Uggh! I am at my wits end. Thank god DH is coming home tonight as I'm exhausted from 3 nights in a row of multiple wakings.

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, yuck, that really sucks. Are you still nursing too, or is she really only drinking 4-5 ounces during the day? Ev drinks 6-7 five ounce bottles during the day, and then about half the time, he wants another bottle at like 3 or 4 in the morning. He wakes up more often than that, but he usually falls back alseep after fussing and moving around for awhile. The few times we have put him in his crib unswaddled he wakes up within an hour or two crying and disoriented, so we just keep woombie-ing him.

 

[JGator]

Hi, MP. During the nanny hours she is drinking 1 bottle which is 4-5 ounces around noon plus 2 ounces mixed in with her cereal at around 4pm. Yesterday, she also had another 2 oz bottle during the nanny shift earlier in the AM - she usually refuses that. When I get Kareena in the evening, she'll have an ounce or two when I finish work and fights me on it (sometimes she will only take it from the bouncy seat), and then a bottle at night before sleeping which can range from 4-6 ounces. Last night, she had 7 ounces at bed time and slept till 5:45am! At 5:45am, she had 2 ounces and didn't wake up again till 9:15am. So, I think if we can get her to drink more, she will be better off in her sleep, but when she is refusing and moving her head away there is not much else we can do. I was able to start breast feeding her again a week or so ago but mainly I pump, and she still gets about 1/2 breast milk and 1/2 formula. She typically will breast feed now for a little while before sleeping (pre-bottle) or in one of the middle of the night wake ups. Oh, and when she wakes up she wants to eat! Good luck with the swaddle - you can probably keep him in the woombie a lot longer right? Is there an age/weight limit on it? I would not rock the boat if you don't really have to!

 

[amc80]

Jgator- if I'm adding correctly, it sounds like the total is about 20oz plus a serving of cereal, is that right?

 

[Dandi]

Hi ladies, I just wanted to pop in and say hi! Oscar had his 4 month check today and he's going fantastic. 66.5cm and 8.22 kilograms (about 18 pounds), and as fit as a trout. Just a quick question, has anyone started solids at 4 months? I've heard a lot of conflicting evidence about this, that baby is ready when he/she can hold up his or her head, looks interested in food etc. Anything that goes near Oscar's mouth goes in it, and he bites and chews quite hard. I don't know if that's just his teeth starting to move though, he does get firey red cheecks from time to time. I was going to start him on rice cereal soon but the advice I was given today is to wait until 6 months. He is feeding more often during the day, but still sleeps through at night with no night feeds for quite some time now, just the very, very occasional 3am wakeup and feed. Any advice?

I love reading everyone's posts and seeing updated pictures, you all have the most BEAUTIFUL babies!!!!!!!

Here is the little gorilla enjoying our walk yesterday, and laughing his head off at me

 

[monkeyprincess]

Dandi, what a little cutie! Ev is going to be six months this week, and he has not yet started solids. We will probably be starting him that up after his 6 month doctor appointment. I know there are a lot of opinions on this issue, but the American Academy of Pediatrics just came out with a recommendation to wait until 6 months. A lot of people on here have started at 4 months with no problems though. We figured there was no need to rush it, and Ev also has some possible food intolerances/allergies, which affected our decision.

JGator, hope K's eating and sleeping have improved. I was looking at that Wonder Weeks book yesterday, and there is supposed to be a leap around 26 weeks, and it said some babies eat less leading up to it. Maybe that's what you're experiencing. I haven't really noticed any changes in Ev other than the start of separation anxiety, and he will be 26 weeks on Saturday. This past week, when he is tired or fussy, he has been crying instantly if I leave the room to go get something, and then he stops when I come back. I kind of felt chained to him this weekend, which I really don't mind since I don't get to see him as much during the week.

Anybody else's little one have a squealing/screeching problem? Ev has been doing it nonstop lately, and it used to be cute and funny, but now it is frankly getting annoying. He kept doing it in church yesterday We are trying to discourage it by either ignoring it, or getting him to make other sounds, but I don't think he has the reasoning ability quite yet.