PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[qtiekiki]

Diva
Yay for James crawling. They just like to surprise us, don’t they?
Blen
You are probably already on your road trip. But I agree that if George is hungry, he’ll spit out the paci. So just offer the paci before pulling over to nurse.
Just FYI - M didn’t take to the paci when she was around George’s age. So if you haven’t offered George a paci before, then the paci might not help.
Pave
Sorry you are having a rough time.

If it’s any consolation, M used to cry a lot in her carseat. She loves going out now and is fine with the carseat (except for hours long road trip, then she get antsy toward the end of the drive).

Tummy time – maybe he’ll like one day. A lot of babies just start liking it after they have more head control and upper body strength.

Crying – I know it’s hard to hear your baby cry, but maybe you can wait a little bit longer before picking him up if you know he doesn’t need anything. Not saying T is being manipulative, but I think babies are kind of getting to know that they can get things by crying at 4.5 months. Ditto with NF about learning to self-soothe also.
Hang in there. It gets better.
NF
Yay for STTN. I must’ve missed it when you posted that the boys are STTN.
How are the twins? And you?
NYC
I didn’t take M out for walks until she was like a few months old, but that’s only b/c she was born in the summer when it was really hot.
I am sure you are fine taking a quick walk.
Pandora
So funny you thought the mommies thread was intimidating. I guess I was posting on the preggo thread before it split, so I knew the mommies already and the transition was just normal. I feel so intimidated and overwhelmed by the TTC and preggo threads now. I don’t think I will post over there when we are officially TTCing for #2, probably have to do with the fact that I am non-chalant and wouldn’t chart anyways.

That’s great that you are going to just go with the flow when the baby gets here. I think that’s the best approach since the baby is her own person and has her own needs. It’s not a one-size-fit-all thing.

Mela lu
How many weeks are you? Hope you see you soon.
Mrs
If you want Sage to take the bottle, you might have to suck it up and offer the bottle once a day. Then you might have to gradually increase the number of bottles as you get closer to the end of your maternity leave. I don’t know if you remember from the mommies thread, but J (lili’s daughter never took the bottles and I think she said she didn’t introduce the bottle when she was on leave). lili went straight to straw sippy, so there are options if Sage ends up not taking the bottle at all. M went through a phase when she didn’t like bottles around 2 months, but eventually she was ok with them again. She does prefer breasts.

Childcare is difficult. We are lucky that MIL is taking care of M. Good luck.

M smiled in her sleep first too. I think it was another couple weeks before she smiled for real.

Janine
I haven’t given much finger foods yet. I gave her puffs regularly since 7 months. We had given her pieces of fruits or let her bite on the fruits. We tried bananas, strawberries, watermelon, and apples. I am worried when she takes bites of the apple. There were a couple times when she made the gagging face/sound, but she was ok after the sound. She had cheese, tofu, macaroni, breads, pancakes and bits and pieces of chicken and fish that we were eating. Her regular solid meal is still porridge. I usually dice up the fruits.
M does the ET thing like C too. Just so cute.

 

[Pandora II]

Janine, google ''Baby Led Weaning'' and you''ll find loads of info on finger foods.

Some of my friends have done this and I''m planning to do it when the time comes. It''s really important to give them BIG pieces - if you give them little bits they are far more likely to choke and their motor skills aren''t normally fine enough to manipulate them properly.

 

[qtiekiki]

No much news on our end.

The GTG with snlee and Mr. snlee was great. It’s like we are old friends. And we didn’t talk about diamonds/jewelry at all. It was more of a mommies GTG. D is the cutest guy. I can’t wait until M and D are older, so they can actually play together. It’s really funny that DH and Mr. Snlee are similar.

 

[lili]

Date: 5/12/2009 9:10:39 AM
Author: Mandarine
I was wondering why there were so many new threads today!!...
I vote you guys kick it off by posting pictures of all the little ones!!!!.

Aweee....I was hoping that you mommies w/ infants stay in the original thread so that it doesn''t get locked up.
Anyway, I second kicking this thread w/ cutie pictures

 

[lili]

Date: 5/12/2009 12:14:47 PM
Author: Pandora II
Janine, google ''Baby Led Weaning'' and you''ll find loads of info on finger foods.


Some of my friends have done this and I''m planning to do it when the time comes. It''s really important to give them BIG pieces - if you give them little bits they are far more likely to choke and their motor skills aren''t normally fine enough to manipulate them properly.

Very true...I actually gave J those Gerber''s wheel initially before the puffs so that she can hold onto it and nibble.

 

[Mrs]

Date: 5/12/2009 12:10:38 PM
Author: qtiekiki

Mrs

If you want Sage to take the bottle, you might have to suck it up and offer the bottle once a day. Then you might have to gradually increase the number of bottles as you get closer to the end of your maternity leave. I don’t know if you remember from the mommies thread, but J (lili’s daughter never took the bottles and I think she said she didn’t introduce the bottle when she was on leave). lili went straight to straw sippy, so there are options if Sage ends up not taking the bottle at all. M went through a phase when she didn’t like bottles around 2 months, but eventually she was ok with them again. She does prefer breasts.

Childcare is difficult. We are lucky that MIL is taking care of M. Good luck.

M smiled in her sleep first too. I think it was another couple weeks before she smiled for real.

Thanks for the recommendation qtiekiki. It does make sense to keep at it once a day and slowly increase the number per day as my leave comes to an end. I tried giving her one this morning early but I don''t think she was all that hungry so it just made her mad but then I gave it to her about an hour and a half later and she took it okay. She fussed a little but it wasn''t terrible and she DID eat so I think there''s hope. I''ll keep at it once a day and see how it goes.

I didn''t know that about Lili''s LO. Lili, may I ask how old she was when she started a straw sippy?

q, thanks for the reassurance about smiling too!

 

[neatfreak]

Re: Old Mommy Thread I just want to point out that even if it gets locked it will still be archived and you can search for it and read through it. Just won''t be able to add anything else. So it won''t be lost unless PS gets rid of ALL the old threads.


QT Thanks for asking! We''re pretty good-just twiddling our thumbs about our potential move to the bay area! I don''t know if I ever made an announcement about STTN-I didn''t want to jinx it!

But they have been doing it pretty consistently for awhile now. Sometimes they still wake at 5 or so for a feeding but that is getting less common now too. How is M doing? I LOVE your new AV!

 

[lili]

Mrs
Sorry to hear that Sage is not taking the bottle.
Since she already took it before, she''ll probably take it when she''s hungry.
J never took the bottle (except for the first 2 days of her life when my milk wasn''t in yet).
Maybe we introduced the bottle too late (tried when she was about 4.5 months) or maybe she just didn''t like it.
She started daycare at 6months and we tried all different type of nipples and bottles.
Nothing worked, they had to feed her w/ a dropper or spoon.
Finally after 2 months of exhausting all the brands, we just went w/ the straw.
She took to it pretty fast and started drinking through the straw around 8 months.

When is Sage going to be in daycare?

 

[janinegirly]

I picked up some organic puffs from Wholefoods during lunch, is that the same as Gerber puffs? Also picked up a mesh food thingie and some organic pears. Will keep you posted on our adventures with the new purchases!
thanks ladies!

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 5/12/2009 2:22:41 PM
Author: neatfreak
Re: Old Mommy Thread I just want to point out that even if it gets locked it will still be archived and you can search for it and read through it. Just won''t be able to add anything else. So it won''t be lost unless PS gets rid of ALL the old threads.

neat, I just hope PS will give us a heads up if they do decide to delete old threads. there are so many milestones in there that I would like to have documented in Jake''s babybook, when the day comes that I get around to making it. my middle daughter is 5 and I still don''t have her''s done

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 5/12/2009 2:33:05 PM
Author: janinegirly
I picked up some organic puffs from Wholefoods during lunch, is that the same as Gerber puffs? Also picked up a mesh food thingie and some organic pears. Will keep you posted on our adventures with the new purchases!
thanks ladies!

I would imagine that they are similar. The Gerber ones melt in the mouth fairly quickly. I started M with puffs and she does fine feeding herself with them, so I have yet to move to the bigger wheels.

Good luck with the finger food.

 

[Mrs]

Date: 5/12/2009 2:27:52 PM
Author: lili
Mrs

Sorry to hear that Sage is not taking the bottle.

Since she already took it before, she''ll probably take it when she''s hungry.

J never took the bottle (except for the first 2 days of her life when my milk wasn''t in yet).

Maybe we introduced the bottle too late (tried when she was about 4.5 months) or maybe she just didn''t like it.

She started daycare at 6months and we tried all different type of nipples and bottles.

Nothing worked, they had to feed her w/ a dropper or spoon.

Finally after 2 months of exhausting all the brands, we just went w/ the straw.

She took to it pretty fast and started drinking through the straw around 8 months.


When is Sage going to be in daycare?

Thanks for your reply lili!

Sage will start day care or will have a nanny starting at 3 months so a straw wont really be an option. I''ll keep working on the bottle thing and will let you know how it goes!

 

[MustangGal]

The old thread was a little scary for me also.

A little background on me: My little guy Kyle is 3 months old today. He was born after a loooong induced labor that ended in a c-section, and a week later I had blood poisoning and got stuck in ICU for 5 days without him

We''re both fine now. DH and I have been together 13 years, married 7.5, and I''m 29, he''s 30. We''re in Phoenix, but both our families live in Palm Springs. I''ve been back at work since he was 9 weeks old, and I luckily found a neighbor that does in home daycare.

I''m looking forward to having new PS mommy friends!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Thank you everyone for your congratulations. DH and I are so proud of our little guy.

Re: Finger foods. James still doesn''t put anything in his mouth so it''s still a no-go for us. We offer him table food but he usually gags and then refuses to eat it

I''m not worried - I''m sure he won''t go to college still eating baby food

Re: Daycare. I know I''ve mentioned it before, but James goes to an in-home daycare part-time and otherwise my MIL watches him. It really works for us. James has friends at daycare and lights up as soon as we walk in the door. I took an extended maternity leave (6 months) so it was so hard going back to work, even though I know I''m not cut out to be a SAHM. Right nowI work M-F 10a-4p so I get an extra hour with him in the morning and also in the evening. I love it. I will eventually have to go back full-time but not anytime soon.

 

[puffy]

real quick...

diva YAY for james crawling!!

qt glad the GTG with snlee went well. i am still so jealous..i wish i could have made it.

neat YAY for the boys STTN!!! do they go down easily at bedtime?

janine Chloe might not take to the puffs at first, but she''ll get there. i gave them to B around 7 months and he took right to them, but then again my boy LOVES to eat!

c''mon mamas, get some pics of your cuties up here!!!

 

[janinegirly]

just a quick 'update'--gave C a puff and she's got the pincer thing down, but didn't put it in her mouth. So I figured she doesn't understand yet. Then I ate a soft chocolate chip cookie while holding her and she grabbed a small piece (let's say a large crumb) and put it in her mouth in an instant then made that face she makes when trying a new food. I got some of it back but she did swallow some...geesh, a chocolate cookie is the first thing she feeds herself. Eeek, hope it doesn't cause any problems, it was a very small piece. After that I ate some puffs thinking she wants to eat what I eat, and nothing! So far I've eaten more puffs than her! Anyway, I know it's very early for that, but was trying out of curiosity.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Here''s a pic of James with his Easter basket.

 

[nycbkgirl]

omgggg diva what a q.t.pie!!!!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Thanks NYC! I think he''s the cutest baby ever, but I''m partial of course

Now you need to post a pic of the twinks

 

[puffy]

diva heehee, so cute!!!

janine haha, i had to laugh that she grabbed the chocolate chip cookie and fed it to herself. girl knows what she wants!!

 

[Blenheim]

Quick self-centered update from me, 500 miles later-
G would not take the paci, so I guess that it didn''t matter after all. He slept for a good deal of the trip and only got really fussy twice. Once was right after he ate a ton and was changed and I thought he was just overstimulated from lunch (we met up with some people half way), and he ended up happily sucking on my finger (but refused the paci) until he fell asleep. The other time he had a dirty dipe and wasn''t happy that I was changing it, and hubby was standing outside of the bathroom when some college girls walked out talking about how the crying baby made them really thankful that they weren''t going to be parents anytime soon. So apparently I had *that kid*. But all in all, it went better than I was hoping.

Everyone''s been asking how much he weighs because he''s grown quite a bit, so we took him to the grocery store last night to see how much he weighs and on the produce scale he''s 11.3 lb in a diaper, sleeper, and a thin blanket between him and the scale - so maybe just under 11 lb now! We''ll get an actual weight at his 6 wk check up next week.

I hope that everyone else is doing well!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Wow I go away for one day and come back to a wholesale revolution!

I agree that the new threads are a good idea... its hard to jump into a thread with so many posters who know each other so well, but it is even harder to keep up with a thread with so many participants! I found myself skimming most of the time instead of participating, and maybe it will be easier this way.

Can't catch up with everyone, sorry if I miss something...

Diva Yippee for crawling! Now you are going to have to babyproof for real!
Janine My friend sent me a mesh feeder as a baby gift, so she really liked it for letting baby feed him/herself without worrying about choking.
Blen We gave Hunter a paci around 4 weeks I think? He liked it right away but only like the soothie brand which has a different shaped nipple than most soothers. Now he will use any soother. He will spit it out if he is really Hungry... I also notice he sucks HARD on the soother when he is really hungry. I try to feed him when he wants to be fed, but sometimes it isn't possible and we use the paci to "stall him" a little... it will buy us 5-10 minutes if necessary, but someone has to be holding him and popping it back in! We took our first road trips in the last few days where the drives were about 2-3 hours, and sometimes one of us sat in the back seat with Hunter so that if he got annoyed they could give him the paci. Hunter dicovered his own hand about 10 days ago and now sucks on that like a maniac a lot ofthe time, he prefers it to the paci generally speaking.
Pave I don't personally know what it is like to have afusy baby, but one of my closest friends has a son who sounds like he was a lot like Tyler... it is so hard sometimes when baby cries and you can't help them but it will get better! I ditto TGals ideas about propping him up on his elbows, sort of assissted tummy time... we discovered that for Hunter accidentally, its good to know it is a "proper" method! We also do tummy time by laying on our backs and putting Hunter on our tummy, then he has something to look at. We also hold him upright looking over our shoulder and that is like tummy time in that he has to use his neck and back muscles to stay upright. He is very good at it mow. Re the too much holding thing -- there are a lot of cultures in the world where babies are held and carried almost constantly, typically due to the necessities of working etc. Thos babies are fine so I guess I am not sure it is such a big deal. In some ways you have to do what seems right to you. Every baby is different.
MustangGal Welcome! Our babies are about the same age, Hunter is one week shy of three months

Glad you ventured out of lurkdom
NYC Take those babies outside woman! I didn't have a preemie so maybe it is different, but I took Hunter out from Day 1! Just dress them properly for the elements -- one layer more than you in chilly weather, same number of layers in hot. The babies will TELL you when they are too hot or too cold, trust me, they will cry!
ETA Neatfreak Yippee for sleeping through the night!! Woop!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/13/2009 8:45:05 AM
Author: Blenheim
Quick self-centered update from me, 500 miles later-
G would not take the paci, so I guess that it didn''t matter after all. He slept for a good deal of the trip and only got really fussy twice. Once was right after he ate a ton and was changed and I thought he was just overstimulated from lunch (we met up with some people half way), and he ended up happily sucking on my finger (but refused the paci) until he fell asleep. The other time he had a dirty dipe and wasn''t happy that I was changing it, and hubby was standing outside of the bathroom when some college girls walked out talking about how the crying baby made them really thankful that they weren''t going to be parents anytime soon. So apparently I had *that kid*. But all in all, it went better than I was hoping.

Everyone''s been asking how much he weighs because he''s grown quite a bit, so we took him to the grocery store last night to see how much he weighs and on the produce scale he''s 11.3 lb in a diaper, sleeper, and a thin blanket between him and the scale - so maybe just under 11 lb now! We''ll get an actual weight at his 6 wk check up next week.

I hope that everyone else is doing well!

Blen try the soothie brand, it may have a shape that he prefers because it is more like a nipple. Also, and this sounds strange, but sometimes you have to sort of hold the pai gently in their mouths while they fuss and cry, maybe for 10 to 20 seconds, and eventually they get it and suck happily! I wiggle it a little and make sucking noises too

He always takes it. Life is easier when you have this as an option, so it is worth persisting a little bit.

Yeah for 11 pounds! That is what Hunter weighed at 6 weeks too!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Now for my updates! Drumroll please... Hunter slept 9.5 hours last night in a row! Woo hoo! And I think he would have gone longer... I woke around 6:30 and heard him stirring and my boobs were leaking everywhere so I just got up and fed him! He went down for another hour after that so he could have made it all the way from 8:30pm until 7:30am... here's hoping in continues!

I discovered the secret to long sleeps -- good naps in the daytime! If he sleeps until 7:30am, then plays for 1.5 to 2 hours and then feeds again, he will nap for a good 2.5 hours in the morning. Repeat pattern in the afternoon, and then repeat before bed! So I don't use EASY, I use EAESY.. that extra feed lets him have a nice long nap. Before, he would wake hungry in the middle of his nap and then go to sleep again about 45 minutes later, so the day was just a bunch of catnaps and then he started getting tired around 6pm. If he gets a good 3 hours nap in the afternoon, then he can stay awake for 2-3 hours before bed and he sleeps much better at night. Anyways, thought I'd pass on my trial and erorr method.

In non baby news, I got my new upgrade diamond yesterday! It looks hugs and I love it so much! I'll post a thread about it later when my camera battery is charged.

I am going to break my rule about posting photos of Hunter to post a funny collage.. you can't see his face really, but the photos are my first and last attempt at photographing babies and dogs together

ETA sorry that is really big and you can see his face! LOL! Oh well... don't tell DH

 

[fieryred33143]

Ladies,

When did the crib become necessary?

We have a bassinet where she will sleep in the room with us. Other than that I will have a PNP that we are purchasing so that she has a place to sleep when we travel and when she stays with FMIL. I''m wondering if I will need the crib right away. I plan on keeping her in the room with us at least until 2 weeks before I go back to work, so for 10 weeks (possibly longer if I can get her on a good sleeping/feeding schedule).

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/13/2009 9:48:43 AM
Author: fieryred33143
Ladies,

When did the crib become necessary?

We have a bassinet where she will sleep in the room with us. Other than that I will have a PNP that we are purchasing so that she has a place to sleep when we travel and when she stays with FMIL. I''m wondering if I will need the crib right away. I plan on keeping her in the room with us at least until 2 weeks before I go back to work, so for 10 weeks (possibly longer if I can get her on a good sleeping/feeding schedule).

Fiery, I recommend that you have a crib from the get go unless there is a very compelling reason to wait (like finances or something). I say this because even though I planned to co-sleep with Hunter for months and months, we moved him into his own room at 4 weeks because he was so loud! He and we slept better that way. So having that option available may be a lifesaver for you. I also found nursing in bed a PITA with a newborn (I do it every morning now, DH bring Hunter in to me before he leaves for work, Hunter wakes at the same time he leaves usually), so I needed a nursing chair in the nursery anyways... I bring this up because co-sleeping loses some appeal when you need to go to another room anyways. Just my thoughts!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 5/13/2009 10:03:29 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Date: 5/13/2009 9:48:43 AM

Author: fieryred33143

Ladies,


When did the crib become necessary?


We have a bassinet where she will sleep in the room with us. Other than that I will have a PNP that we are purchasing so that she has a place to sleep when we travel and when she stays with FMIL. I''m wondering if I will need the crib right away. I plan on keeping her in the room with us at least until 2 weeks before I go back to work, so for 10 weeks (possibly longer if I can get her on a good sleeping/feeding schedule).

Fiery, I recommend that you have a crib from the get go unless there is a very compelling reason to wait (like finances or something). I say this because even though I planned to co-sleep with Hunter for months and months, we moved him into his own room at 4 weeks because he was so loud! He and we slept better that way. So having that option available may be a lifesaver for you. I also found nursing in bed a PITA with a newborn (I do it every morning now, DH bring Hunter in to me before he leaves for work, Hunter wakes at the same time he leaves usually), so I needed a nursing chair in the nursery anyways... I bring this up because co-sleeping loses some appeal when you need to go to another room anyways. Just my thoughts!

I agree-we also abandoned the cosleeping because the boys were so loud...but I think you can wait IF and only IF you are going to buy a crib from stock at a store. If it''s a crib you are going to need to wait 4-6 weeks for-get it now. But if you aren''t picky and thus can get a crib in a day if need be-I think it''s fine to wait.

 

[fieryred33143]

Thanks for the input DD! We were wondering about waiting just because we still need to put tile down and its taking a little longer than expected. I don''t think it''ll be done before she gets here and I wanted to have the room empty so that we don''t have to worry about moving too much furniture around. But it isn''t that big of a deal for them to take pieces out.

And I didn''t see Hunter''s pictures before I posted. He''s sooo adorable!!

 

[missrachelk]

Hi Mommies!

I''m not lucky enough to be one yet, but a good friend is and she recently posted this poen on her blog, and I love it and jsut wanted to share.

Thank you all for sharing! I feel like I''m picking up tips and learning about all things baby and pregnancy already!


Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
- Ruth Hulburt Hamilton



~Rachel

 

[MustangGal]

Kyle also went to the crib at 4 weeks. I thought I''d have him in the cradle in our room for the first 2 months, but he was really loud at night and kept waking me up.

He also rolled over for the first time Monday night! DH put him down for a nap in his crib right be fore I got home, and when he woke up he was on his tummy. He looked like he was going to flip back over, so I grabed the video camera and caught him going from tummy-back. Last night we had him rolling all over our bed. We haven''t seen him go back-tummy yet, but he''s getting really good on the tummy-back roll.

Here''s a pic of Kyle from the hospital, he was only 12 hours old.