PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[janinegirly]

NEL: oh din't realize K as already diagnosed with minor T. Sounds like you have it all under control. With my eldest, she also favored one side and I noticed something was a bit off with the shape of her head pretty much right away (which is why I believe it started in the womb) and brought it up at the 2 mo appointment. I was told it was fine.
By 3months, I was firmer and said I SEE it and am concerned. At which point he agreed and gave me some sheets on neck exercises to stretch things out so she would stop favoring that one side. I never got the measurements, sounds like you ladies got some great attention on that. My dr. told me to come back at 4 mo's and if it was not improved we could see a PT.

Well between my mom and I we barely let her touch that side of her head, I moved her constantly, co-slept (that's where it all started) with one eye open and let her sleep on her tummy. By the 4 mo mark it was hugely improved. We kept it up the next 2 months at pedi's advice, although it really was more like one more month b/c by 6 months you can't really get them to stay in any one spot no matter what!

Anyway, that's my story, keep us posted. And yay for getting errands and bills done - I am also the manger of the joint account. Buying for athe kids, scheduling dr. appts, planning summer vacations as well. Keeps me busy so thank god work doesn't, ha!

LC: those pictures are the best! He is so hansome (and big) in the last one. THe 2nd is just the best expression. It's almost the weekend and now you can relax after a full week back at work!

AFU: A is still the happiest baby ever. Laughing at the slightest thing with her 2 teeth! She is into clapping so if I say "clap clap!" and hold my hand out she claps away at it.

 

[monkeyprincess]

LC, ah, Ethan is looking so grown-up and cute! He makes me even more excited to meet my little boy in October. Thanks for the book recs in the Pregnancy thread. Hope the transition back to work continues to go smoothly!

Hi NEL and everyone else! I completely stalk this thread to see all the pics of your beautiful babes.

 

[monarch64]

All these babies are beautiful! I just wanted to jump in and post a couple pics taken at 3 days old and 4 days old this week. We brought Alexandra Celeste into the world Saturday evening at 10:12. The actual birth part was a beautiful experience (the labor part not so much, ha ha!). We love her so much!

 

[lliang_chi]

Monnie! Welcome to the flip side!! SQUISHY LITTLE BABY! I love her sweet face!

Janine, So Ethan's always favored looking over to his right. Is that what you mean about neck muscles etc? I dunno if Ethan's head is getting flat or if it's just the hair's rubbing off so it looks funny. Either way I've been propping him up to sleep on his left. But at daycare he's obviously sleeping on his back. Aw, so cute A's clapping for you

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Monnie, I already replied in the preggo thread, but wanted to repeat how gorgeous Alexanra is! And she looks sooo teeny in her snugabunny bouncy seat! We have the same one, but Katie looks huge in it by comparison!

Janine, K was only diagnosed yesterday, though the doc suspected it at the 2 mo. appt., but didn't recommend PT at that point. I feel pretty strongly that K will be fine. The PT was very optimistic and K seems okay with sleeping on her side today. I think we'll have some sleep regression at night, but we'll see. I didn't know you'd gone through this, too. I'm sure it's somewhat common.

LC, it's good you're aware that E favors one side and that he's receptive to sleeping in other positions. If K hadn't weaseled herself into the favored position every night we may not have needed the PT. I actually read about the torticollis exercises a month or so ago, but had been doing them inconsistently.

 

[bobbin]

Monarch: Congratulations again on Alexandra's arrival! She is just gorgeous. It sounds like we had very similar labour experiences - long labour, failure to progress leading to pitocin (I am guessing that is the American name for Syntocin?), becoming so exhausted that we needed an epidural despite not wanting one going in to the labour, even down to a lovely pushing experience with the lights dimmed and only Dh, the OB and the midwife there! I believe having the epidural saved me from a caesarian and that has helped me to be okay with it, oh and the fact that pushing was so much easier without the pain! I am sorry to hear that your healing process was hard. Having two 2nd degree tears must have been really painful. It varies so much from person to person and I think a thread would be a good idea. My recovery was fairly easy apart from the afterpains when breastfeeding.

Pancake: Yep, C is the cover photo of that nappy company! Did you see they had a clearance sale yesterday? I bought a few more mediums. And, now you know my real name, I am going to have to kill you... Just kidding. I really don't mind the ladies on the thread knowing who I am, but you just never know who is lurking. It is worrying how easily identifiable i am due to posting pics, especially given how much personal stuff I have posted over the years.

LC: I'm glad Ethan's first flight went smoothly!

Freke: Naw.. A is gorgeous. She has such a beautiful smile, just like her mommy! Have you got the results back yet?

NEL: That dog is ginormous! K looks totally non-fussed by it, like "Yeah I'm sitting on a giant dog, so what?" She is getting cute little chubby cheeks! Sorry to hear about your supply decreasing. You have done such a good job to keep pumping for so long mama and you need to do what is best for both you and K. A stressed mama won't be good for her, so if pumping is causing you stress it isn't worth it! I'm glad you enjoyed your first day back at work.

Elle: so good to see you again! Liam is amazingly cute. He looks a lot like you. Come back again if you have time

AFU:
C is going really well still. I changed the bottlefeed at 4am to a breastfeed. The first few days she was really fussy, but she is getting better now. Although, for the past few days it has been a 5:30/6am feed! Which is great as she is going down for the night sometime betwen 11pm-12am. DH is home all next week so I am going to try and transition the 11pm feed to a breastfeed too. If I can do that then C will be getting 100% of her feeds from the breast and not a bottle I didn't think that was going to be possible two weeks ago! The pain I was feeling with feeding is going away now, and most of the feeds are completely comfortable. I do have a milk blister on one breast at the moment though, but hopefully that will clear up soon.

When we went to see the paed a few weeks ago about C possibly having tongue tie, he told me that her head is starting to be a little misshapen as she is favouring her right side. He told me to make sure she sleeps on her left side for 2 sleeps and then on the right side for the third. I find it really hard though as I will put her down on her left side (head only, sleeping on her back still) and when I get her up her head is to the right. I am thinking I need to take her to a physio too. From memory she dropped into my pelvis at around 34 weeks, but was head down from 28 weeks, so I am not sure if that contributed to it. I am getting a really sore neck from breastfeeding C in bed, and have made an appointment with an osteopath for next week. I am not sure whether I should take C there or just to a physio. I have C's 6 week checkup on Monday so I might ask the paed then.

The in-laws have been here for a week. Things got off to a great start when they arrived 2 days early and gave us only 1 hours notice. They have been okay, except they are clearly here for a holiday where we entertain them, rather than coming up to help us out and spend time with C. They are staying with Dh's aunty, and the come around for only 2- 3 hours a day, in the middle of the day when C is feeding every 2 hours. They have lunch with us and then leave soon after. For the first few days they expected us to go to them, which made feeding really difficult as I don't feel comfortable nursing in front of them. DH had to tell them that it is difficult for us to get out with C and ask them to come to us. C has been a little more unsettled this week and whenever they hold her, she starts to cry within 5 minutes, so between that and the fact that I am feeding her for over half the time they are here usually, they haven't had much time with her. They have been making little comments about the way we do things. For example, when I went to get her when she started crying in her bassinet, they told DH that we should be letting her cry because it is good for her lungs. They have also questioned how often I am feeding her, implying that I am feeding her too much. I have just been ignoring it but it is irritating. I can't help but compare them to my parents, who were completely supportive of everything we were doing and so helpful to us. Grrr..

Some pictures of C. The one with the elephant she is wearing a suit that my sister, my nephew and I all wore as babies! I have to send it back to my parents for safekeeping until our next baby now .

 

[pancake]

Monnie, congratulations and welcome to the thread! Little Alexandra is BEAUTIFUL - I think a lot of newborns are kind of weird-looking but she is one pretty baby! I hope that your recovery is progressing more smoothly now and that you're enjoying these precious early days.

Bobbin, I wouldn't worry too much about being traceable - it was a pretty chancy thing that I happened upon that photo of C on FB! It sounds like you guys are going great guns now. I'm so glad that you've managed to establish BFing well, so close to 100% BFing now! Re the in-laws, I think it's normal to feel irritated the way that you do. I'm sure that they think they are being helpful by saying the things they do, so whilst it's easier said than done, it's probably one of those situations where you are best off smiling and nodding and then going off and doing your own thing

LC, those bald patches from the rubbing are funny hey?! Sylvie has one on the back of her head from turning her head so much in her sleep. I swear, every time I look at her when she's sleeping her head has changed direction, lol. Those new photos of Ethan are so freaking cute! What a soulful-looking little chap! Oh...and re time, similarly to you I have been really, REALLY put off by how painful the post-partum Pap (and the speculum for the Mirena) was. We are just not going there at the moment and I really need to do something about that.

Hope you really enjoyed your first weekend with Ethan after going back to work! Bet he did!

Freke, glad that A is getting better. I am kind of dreading starting solids for two reasons: 1) the mess and 2) the nappies

Janine, I'd forgotten about hip-carrying in the Ergo, S is still a bit small for that but I wonder if it works well? I also haven't tried BFing in the Ergo yet, but have friends who swear by it. Re birth control, I had a Mirena inserted about 6 weeks ago. I didn't want the pressure of remembering to take the mini-pill and didn't want to use barrier contraception. Not that it is really an issue at the moment (see earlier TMI in my reply to LC...).

NEL, yeah the 4 hours is nice... I have a tendency to feed her earlier than that if she wakes though, as we maintain a feed-play-sleep routine as much as possible. Sometimes she is now having two naps between feeds, particularly if she wakes after 1 sleep cycle initially. Her last two feeds of the day are always quite close together now, as she no longer sleeps between them (well, as of the last 5 days) but it doesn't seem to affect the quality of her bedtime feed - she is always looking for it after her bath, think it is just her body clock kicking in. Overall we are still doing 6 feeds a day - something like 7am, 11am, 2:30pm, 6pm, 8pm, 2am. I assume the next major change will be when she drops her overnight feed but I'm not sure that will happen any time soon.

I'm glad you enjoyed your return to work! It's always so nice when something that you anticipate to be difficult and traumatic turns out not to be so bad after all.

AFU, Sylvie slept a 9 hour stretch the other night - longest ever!! I woke at 4:45am thinking it must be closer to 2am, but there you go... then I couldn't get back to sleep (partly because I was bursting from not feeding for so long!) but she slept until 5:30. It hasn't been repeated so far, and it did happen after a day when her daytime sleep was much more interrupted than usual, but it was exciting!

In other news, she has just started grasping at toys and putting them in her mouth. Before now she would grab onto whatever was near her hands, and she would bring things to her mouth, but wasn't using her hands purposefully. It's really exciting to watch it all unfold! I wish I could record every little bit of it... it is all happening too quickly!

Oh and she is totally a droolmonster now. I bought some bibs the other week but I really think I'd better start putting them on her now!

Here's a pic I snapped on my phone when we were in the car the other day:

 

[janinegirly]

LC: don't worry if he is just occassionally favoring one side and you see no other issues. Torticollis is when the neck muscles are tight resulting in the baby primarily lying on one side, turning the same direction,etc. Flat head is an indication of it. Do you notice any flatness? Minor cases are very common and it's a good idea to encourage them to move their heads to the other side. Best thing is to ask your pedi and they can check it out and if necessary provide some paperwork on stretching neck muscle exercises etc. I tihnk even lying them on the diaper table and moving the head left and right can give you some indication of tightness. Anyway,I'm sure E's fine but always good to be aware!

NEL: Oh I'm sure K is perfectly fine too - I just know from my own experience and others I've heard that time is of essence and pedis sometimes think 1st time moms are paranoid, so it's good to just be aware and hearing others' experiences helps. Our experience was with DD1 and if we weren't vigilant, I'm pretty sure they would not have said anything to me until 4 mo' s well appointment which is kinda late (not too late, but when they have head control it's harder to position).

Pancake: I always love an A photo,adorable. And she's full on in the fun stage. I love when they grab with their clumsy hands...although my A always wants to put my fingers and hair in her mouth and is very determined.

Bobbin : Love the photos, aww that first shot with the elephant is hilarious (the expression is priceless!).

Monarch: congratulations! What a sweetie and so tinsy! We all have that swing so it's a great frame of reference. Very nice name, Celeste is a nice choice and Alexandra is so classic.

Freke: Yay on the clear ultrasound! So what are they suggesting next - keeping up with PT?

 

[FrekeChild]

NEL - A never dropped into my pelvis until birth, and then going back to my birth story, she was never going to be born vaginally - after two hours of pushing, no progress, then the C section, and thats when the nurse had to reach up the birth canal and push her head back into my uterus because her head was wedged into my pelvis. So I don't really know if that could have affected it, but both our ped and out PT have said that their positioning in the uterus can cause the torticollis before they are even born. So who really knows!!!

Monarch - welcome!

Bobbin - Awww! Thank you!
I'm sorry about your in laws. They often have no idea it seems, and knowing what I know now, moms know their kids best and everyone else needs to shut up.

Pancake - Carrots/squash=orange poo. We just tried green beans last night, so I haven't seen any green poo yet!

Janine - PT for now and we have an appointment for follow up treatment when our allowed physical therapy period (as mandated by insurance) is up in 2 weeks. Fun times.


AFU:

All tests are normal. Yay!

I rolled up a blanket, put it under the head support/pillow thing in her Rock N Play on the right side to help out with the torticollis. My fingers are crossed that it has even just a little bit of an effect on her neck.

She also rolled over for the first time for real(she rolled over at 6 weeks) at physical therapy on Friday. Which I missed because I had to work.

She's able to entertain herself for periods now! Yay! Kid likes toys. And paper bags!

I think her eyes are going to be hazel-y.

 

[S&I]

It's so hard for me to find time to post these days, but I'm reading along and thinking of you mommas everyday.

Freke - I'm so happy that A passed all her tests, and it sounds like shes doing well in PT! She is so adorable and I absolutely love that she has the same big smile as you. Yay for her rolling over officially! Thanks for posting all the details about her diagnosis too. It's helpful to hear other's experiences so we can know what to look out for if needed. Keep the pictures coming!

Monnie - welcome! Hope you're recovering well. I was shocked at how painful the postpartum recovery was too! Nobody ever talks about that part, ha.

Pancake - I can't get enough of S's pics, and I love the video you posted of her laughing. So adorable! Yay for her 9-hour stretch - that's quite impressive!

Bobbin - so sorry that your ILs have been a bit insensitive and that they aren't being very helpful or supportive of you. My ILs haven't even come to meet their first grandson yet (long story)! Just keep doing what you're doing, and they'll hopefully start being more considerate.

Janine - I have an appt to get mirena inserted on Wednesday. I really hope it doesn't hurt. My OB said the mini pill was more of a temporary option, and didn't recommend it since it doesn't work as well as the pills with estrogen, and basically only works for 24 hours (hence the taking it on time everyday thing). Happy Birthday!

NEL - so sorry to hear about K's torticollis diagnosis, but it sounds like you are on top of it with the PT and she'll be just fine. I've noticed that A also seems to sleep with his head facing his right side mostly. I try to turn his head to the left side, but he turns it back later. I wonder if all babies have a favorite side. I'm glad your return to work went so smoothly, and I'm jealous that you'll be able to work part-time indefinitely!

LC - I love all of E's pics! Yay for your first week back at work going well too. I am dreading going through all my emails when I go back. I never told you guys that one of my backups ended up quitting shortly after I started my maternity leave. There's no replacement for him yet, so who knows what the heck is going on with half of my work!

MQ - W is such a cutie! Hope your trial run of work goes smoothly.

AFU, thanks to everyone for reassuring me that A is still too young for a schedule. It's been a rough few weeks, but I think we might have just gotten through the 6-week growth spurt. We upped his bottle to 3oz and he's been keeping it down most of the time. He's been able to go about 3 hours between feedings the past couple of days, so I'm hoping that trend continues. He gave me a 3.5 hour stretch one night (4 hours between feedings), but hasn't repeated that yet. He's been talking a lot more, and will try to mimic my sounds too. Both my sister and DH have mistakenly thought they heard him say "hello" already, ha!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

S&I, it sounds like you're doing great!! And it sounds like A is doing great as well! A 4-hour stretch at night is huge, even if inconsistent at this point. It sounds like he's just at the beginning of being able to do longer stretches, so it's nice that it's right around the corner. And the sounds are so cute, aren't they? The social smiles are also amazing when you get them.

Freke, I'm so glad all the tests came back normal!! That's fantastic! And how is the rock and play working? I had been transitioning K out of hers, but then the PT told me not to use it anymore, so I had to make the complete crib transition. But I resolved that I may use the rock and play if this sleep regression gets any worse. I roll up a blanket and use that, but she weasels back into her preferred position.

She's so beautiful and it's so nice that she can entertain herself for periods of time now. I may have to try to the paper bag trick

Janine, I forgot to thank you for sharing your experience with the side preference. It's nice to know it happens and that it should be treatable. I probably wouldn't have even noticed she preferred one side had she not started developing a flat spot.

Pancake, I'm so glad to hear about the 9-hour stretch! We've actually regressed in the other direction (more on that later). And we're also in the same phase where there are sometimes two naps between feeds...in fact, she'll get fussy and I can't figure out if she's sleepy or hungry. Her hands are always in her mouth, so that cue is out the window right now.

Isn't it amazing to see them suddenly grabbing things with BOTH hands and purposefully putting them into their mouths? In class we call it the sippy-cup milestone since it's the first phase of them getting ready for sippy cups instead of bottles. That's just crazy to me.

Bobbin, first, congrats on hitting your breastfeeding goals, that is fantastic!! It really does take a long time to get into a breastfeeding groove (so says the woman who was never successful). I knew it would be hard, but I guess I didn't expect it to be SO hard. I'm so glad it's going better for you. And it sounds like you're joining the preferred side leading to asymmetric head club. At least you're catching it early, it's so much easier to treat once you know it's happening and I'm glad your ped is aware. And finally, I'm sorry about your in-laws. I think many of us can relate (I know I can). My in-laws are over the moon for K, but they drive me crazy. They pick her up from naps ("she doesn't LOOK tired!"), they insist they know what she wants, they tell me she's too hot or too cold...it's maddening. Anyway, K also cries when they hold her and I can't help but chuckle a little internally.

Those pics are hilarious!!

AFU, rough weekend over here as my easy baby is no more.

1. We're having sleep regression issues. She no longer sleeps until 6am. In fact, lately she's been getting up between 4 and 5am. I try giving her the paci, rocking her to sleep, I don't do anything to stimulate her...but nothing helps. I end up giving her a bottle when she's on the verge of a breakdown.

2. Daytime sleep is also tough. She used to give me early sleep cues BEFORE crying. Now she just starts fussing. And I have to try to figure out if she's hungry or sleepy which leads me to...

3. Her eating schedule is off again. She's always putting her hands in her mouth these days, so it's impossible to tell when she's actually hungry. So again she just starts crying and I have to calm her down before she'll even take a bottle. She had been going 3 - 3.5 hours between feeds, but yesterday she couldn't even go 3 hours. And she normally has ~30 oz. per day, but yeserday she had 37.5!

4. The transitions are overwhelming. Now she has to sleep on her side, so that's a transition. I have to put her in her crib now, so not having the rock and play at all is another transition. Also, last week was her first taste of daycare. So more transitions. Plus she's obviously gaining motor skills right now with the rolling and bringing things to her mouth. Just too much going on!!

Sorry for the long post (again). I just miss my easy baby. I'm reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and Touchpoints to catch up on all the things I should probably already know.

 

[janinegirly]

Freke-Seriously she is too adorable, that little face! You must just love gazing at her. I feel the same way sometimes, I can't take the cute face! My A will smile as hard as she can, her nose is all squished! Yay on proper rolling! Things are moving so fast at this stage, aren't they! Oh and both my kids ended up with hazel eyes, although I'm still not quite sure about A even though she's 7mo's. I guess in genral hazel always looks like it hasn't settled yet, so you never quite know!

NEL: sorry about all the transitions and sleep regression. Why do you not give her the bottle - is it because you're trying to sleep train her so she won't wake for it?I'm guilty of not being a good sleep trainer. My A has also regressed and instead of waking up 7am, it's 3-4am. I have been giving her a bottle if she fusses too much, because I want to go back to sleep! Also becuase it means better chance of her sleeping in more. But she is a great napper. I sometimes wonder if they are starting to figure things out and want us to spoil them all night long because they know it's an option! Still, with #1 I did not train and yes it meant a bit more coddling on my part, but in the end she ended up in the same spot as the sleep training would have - ie in her own bed, sleeping through the night. Maybe K is going through a growth spurt - because wow on 37.5 oz, my chubby 7 month old doesn't even manage that! Hang in there, you're only at week 2!

S&I: Good to hear from you - and sounds like things are going just fine!

AFU: NEL's got me thinking - for those with older babies (over 6 mo's) - how much milk are they drinking? A's been eating solids too, but still prefering stage 1. She can handle stage 2 but just doesn't seem to like it...maybe it's the selection! (greens, corns).

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, sorry to hear about the regressions. I can't believe all the progress she's made though (rolling over and grabbing things purposefully). That's fantastic. Perhaps that's what's making her so hungry. In terms of her weaseling her way back to her preferred position, at least she's getting some time on the side, right? Would it help if you swaddle K? I still swaddle Ethan and he ends up staying propped up on his side for nearly all of his nap. He only gets out of place when he starts really squirming around when he's near waking. Have faith. Your easy baby will definitely come back again, there's just a lot you guys are adjusting to. How was D's 2 days taking care of her BTW? I'm so proud of him for getting to the point that he can care for Katie while you're at work! That's a LOOONG way to come from when you guys first brought her home.

Bobbin, hooray on the breast feeding! That's fantastic! I got Ethan down to only 2 feeding with a bottle, but I also "top him up" with a bottle in case he can still eat more but doesn't feel like working at the boob. He's a lazy nurser, so he'll fall asleep or pull off, but if I offer him a bottle he'll most of the time still drink more. Sometimes it's a lot more (80-90 mL) or sometimes it's just a little bit (30 mL). Sorry to hear about your ILs but just go on ignoring them. It's been a LOOOONG time since they've raised kids, so they only know things from the Dark Ages. I'd be tempted to tell them, "Yeah, and when you were raising kids, it was OK to smoke and take them around without a car seat. You're way past your expiration date."

Pancake, how are things with your dad and the rest of your family? Hope they're OK. Holy cow ,9hrs is AWESOME! YES Ethan is turning into a drool monster too! I think I'll have to start putting him in bibs as part of his costume changes because he's goobering all over the place. I dunno if that means he's teething or not.

Freke, I think she's going to be a hazel-y eye color too. I love seeing her cute little face! How did she like the pool? We didn't take Ethan into the pool in FL because he like warm baths, and the pool water (at 86F) would've been too cold for him. Hooray for all the normal results!

S&I, I'm glad A is doing well. How's the BFing going? Ouch, that sucks that your back up left! But honestly don't sweat the work stuff while you're on leave. It'll ALL be there waiting for you when you get back, and the world is NOT going to come crashing down. THey'll survive. And if they can't tell them you need a raise & promotion!

Janine, from reading my Baby Whisperer book, it says that the # of oz of purees should be equal the the # of oz decreased from milk. E.g. if she's been drinking 27 oz of milk a day before purees, and started eating 3 oz of solids, then she'll need 24 oz of milk. Not sure if that's exactly the case, but I hope that gives you something. What's a Stage1 and Stage2? And when can they start eating stuff like cooked rice, oatmeal and chicken broth?

AFU: The weekend was WONDERFUL spending time with Ethan after getting much less time with him during the week. I don't want to cut back on hours or anything, I've just accepted that this is part of the our life now. I'm really happy to be back at work, but just nostalgic for being able to do stuff like nurse him during the day. So I'm determined to make up for it on the weekends.

Ethan had a freak out yesterday, woke up CRYING then screamed/cried for a whole 20 mins straight. Wouldn't eat, didn't need new diapers nothing would calm him except for holding him on my shoulder and hitting his back pretty hard. I dunno if that's a teething sign or what. Poor pumpkin, I felt so bad for him.

Other than that things have been OK with us for daycare. Ethan is still having trouble taking naps, but he didn't refuse any bottles on Friday. Hopefully he'll start eating all his bottles without fuss so I can start packing him more milk.

ETA: Wanted to ask you mama's when did you switch your LOs to Level2 nipples?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Janine, it's not so much that I'm trying to train her by not wanting to give her the bottle at 4/5am, it's just that she used to go until 6, so I wasn't sure if she was even hungry. I thought she might just need to be soothed back to sleep, but it seems as though she is genuinely hungry when she wakes because she's taking a full bottle and not snacking.

I'm no help with the average number of ounces. I think my friend with a 7-month-old said hers takes 32 ounces, but I don't know if that includes purees. I remember reading in Baby 411 that up to 40 is still normal (for a spike), so K's 37.5 is close to the high point.

LC, yep, K is now on her side for nearly all naps. Occasionally she'll roll to her back, but she seems comfy on her side. In the rock and play, I can't really get her on her side because of the shape. And since K is rolling now, we want to keep her out of the swaddle. I'm glad she made that transition naturally before rolling because the last think I'd need is one MORE transition!

Are you using the Avent bottles? We switched to the Level 2's (two holes) at 10 weeks. Now that she's on the thicker formula, I use the Level 4s or even cut an x in the nipple.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Hi ladies, crashing your thread to see if anybody has any good book recommendations for an expecting mother regarding feeding/sleeping/routines, etc. I am just over halfway through my pregnancy, and I'm starting to realize I've got a lot to learn before the baby arrives. It seems like you are all so knowledgeable, and I feel like I'll have no clue what to do when this little one arrives! Thanks in advance for any book recommendations you have!

 

[pancake]

MP, so happy to see your pregnancy going smoothly! There are a lot of parenting "doctrines" out there; none of them is perfect and none of them will suit everyone. We definitely do the feed-play-sleep routine, which is a central thing to most approaches and I think it is particularly important as it prevents feeding from being a sleep association. We don't, however, particularly subscribe to any approach over another - we take bits and pieces and use what works for us and I think (?) we do a good job.

I think of the books that are commonly spruiked, I quite like The Baby Whisperer - Tracey Hogg is sensible and it's a good middle-of-the-road approach. I am NOT a fan of Tizzie Hall ("Save Our Sleep") or any other approaches that advocate putting babies on a strict schedule from a very young age. In Australia there is an fantastic baby book called "Baby Love", by Robyn Barker - if you can get your hands on it, it's terrific. It's not a parenting manual, but rather is a super-sensible reference book about all aspects of new parenthood and babies. Some of it is Australia-centric (eg. what resources are available locally etc) but the advice is all gold.

NEL - sorry to hear that Katie is going through a regression! It will pass, as these things do, I'm sure - but very frustrating whilst it's happening, I know. Every time Sylvie goes through a bit of a fussy/difficult sleep phase I catastrophise that she'll always be like that, and so far that has not been the case, haha. Re the 3-4am wake-up, I think that's a tricky one as she would almost certainly be hungry as soon as she wakes up after a certain time threshold, does that make sense? As in, all's well if she's still asleep but if she wakes up after a certain period she is going to want food, much like how babies feed sooner during the day if they're already awake. Sounds like she's going through a growth spurt too, that volume is impressive!!

LC, you have such a great attitude to going back to work - to everything, really! I'm glad you guys had a lovely weekend together and really made the most of it. Thanks for asking about my dad. He is stable but not so well this week as he had chemo last Friday and is still feeling exhausted, off his food and generally under the weather with it. One of his sisters is out here looking after him at the moment, though, and she is doing an AMAZING job. She is only here for 2 1/2 weeks but is hoping (as am I) to come back later on for longer. It's not that the uncles who came before her didn't do a good job, but she is a cancer survivor herself and just really GETS how it all goes. My mother is still having a torrid time - thank goodness Dad isn't at her place any more, but her sister (who has advanced ovarian cancer) is now in the final stages of her illness and so Mum is preparing to go back to Vietnam for a few weeks, leaving on Tuesday next week. I am definitely taking her away on holiday this summer!

Janine, S only has a bottle from time to time but I switched her to medium flow teats around 10-ish weeks? She hated the bottle for ages and would give up really quickly; we found she would do a little better with faster flow (not surprising as she takes about 5 minutes to empty the breast!) and have stuck with it.

Freke, I forgot to say that I'm so glad that all the investigations were normal! What a relief. Your adventures in solids sound...fun and interesting!

S&I, hello!!! So glad to hear that Alex is getting the hang of things a little and giving you longer periods of sleep. Sylvie has always been good with sleep but until about 8 weeks would often have a squidgy period late at night where she would just be unable to settle at all, and would want to suck/not want to suck, wouldn't be able to sleep, and be generally miserable. The peak of unsettledness is typically 6-8 weeks so hopefully you are getting over the hump!!! I LOVE when they start vocalising. It is just the sweetest thing!

AFU, no repeat of the 9 hour stretch, but night-time sleep has been good. The last two nights she's reversed the order of her night sleeps and is doing the longer stretch after waking a little earlier for the night feed, around 1am. She has then slept until 7 or 7:30, so I am pretty happy with that! Morning nap is still the longest, she seldom lasts longer than 45 minutes awake after waking up in the mornings, then will go back to sleep for a good 3-3.5 hours.

And... bottle refusal/dislike is gone, hooray!!! We hadn't given S a bottle for a few weeks but she always just mouthed at it/thrusted her tongue/gagged/grimaced at it before, and would only drink with a LOT of persuasion. But over the weekend she had one bottle each day and sucked it down in 5 minutes flat! Little fatty, haha.

I went to the obstetrician yesterday for the 6 week post-Mirena checkup. All is well; I also talked to him about the physical discomfort issues with time (namely, the sense of impending doom I feel when I think about it), and he put me on oestrogen cream to use intermittently. So hopefully that will help!

Oh - and we have just booked a holiday on the spur of the moment! I'm so excited! D had arranged to take a week of leave from June 18, and we had planned to go to his family's beach house for the week (although it is winter here now) so that we'd only be 1.5 hours away from home in case anything happened with my dad. Well, that was all when things were looking totally dire (when we thought Dad might only have weeks or a few months), but now that Dad is stable and he has siblings looking after him, we decided we should go further afield so that we take a proper break and so that I won't be tempted to just run back and forth for the whole week. So we are going to Port Douglas (Great Barrier Reef) for 6 nights, it will be our first proper holiday as a family! I do feel a little bad about leaving Melbourne whilst Dad is sick and Mum is away... but people keep telling me they think this is a good thing to do and I think they're probably right.

 

[parrot tulips]

I've been too tired to write much lately, because Ava has been going through a sleep regression of her own. She went from waking 1-2x over a 12 hour period, to waking 4-5 times (not sick, hungry, or wet, just wanting my arms). It's a good thing she's so darn cute - makes me forget how annoyed I am with the little bugger for not letting me get any rest, lol. Once our house guest is gone, it'll probably be time for some more rigid sleep training, which I'm sure will involve tears on both Ava's part, and my own.

 

[janinegirly]

PT: argh, those cheeks are too much! You must just kiss them non-stop!

Seems like alot of us are going through sleep regression, so I'm wondering, has anyone or is anyone planning on formal sleep training? On other forums I'm on people are pretty vigilant, and the window is 4-6 mo's. Well A is 7 months, so I may have missed it, but I never did this with DD1 (no CIO). I did pay for it a bit in that she went through a phase where she wanted to be rocked to sleep and as she got bigger this was not fun. BUT then she outgrew it and it all worked out. Still I was hoping to improve things this time around to avoid that phase.

But then here I am again, A is 7 months and I was blessed with an easy happy baby who sleeps easily. But I think she is getting smarter and now learning that it's much more comfy to have mommy hold her. Her favorite thing is for me to put my face very close to hers and kiss her and stroke her head and she holds my fingers. SO CUTE but not a good habit to fall asleep to! It's not a pattern yet, but I know how things go as they get older! So I think I'm going to have to start some kind of training, but eek I have very little willl power and it doesn't help that I work FT so when I do see her (at nights) last thing I want to do is put her in the crib and walk away while she cries!

So wanted to hear what you ladies were thinking....

 

[lliang_chi]

Janine, I dunno if I have it in me to CIO. DH does, but I don't. Anyhow, I've been just putting Ethan in his crib sleepy but not asleep (so not being rocked in our arms every time) and I give him a paci when he first cries. I wait a few mins to see if he'll fall back asleep or if he needs food. The past 2 nights he's needed food @ 3AM, so I've been feeding him. Tonight we're going to wake him up one extra time from his evening nap to tank him up. He doesn't eat too well at day care so he ends up hungry MOTN.

 

[bubbly1126]

Loving all the pictures ladies! Our babies are getting so big!

Liam will be 9 months on the 9th. I cannot believe it. He's crawling... well, "army crawling"... and pulling himself up on things. He still has no teeth what-so-ever but his gums sure do seem to bother him a lot. Every day I pray that they start to come in so he doesn't have to be in so much pain. I've been trying to introduce puffies but he will not feed himself. And he doesn't seem to like them much. When he does let me put one in his mouth, he gags as if it's the worst thing he's ever eaten. He always tries to feed them to ME but when it comes to feeding himself, either he hasn't grasped HOW to do that yet or he just doesn't want them... which is totally possible. I've also given him some of our mashed potatoes and some mushed up rice. He's been eating 2nd foods but I'm going to start him on 3rd foods in the next 2 weeks. I have a feeling he's gonna be a tough one to transition to more textured foods... but we'll see. Oh and he says, Momma, Da-Da, No, Nana, Ba-ba and for those who are friends with me on the site that shall remain nameless, I have a video of him saying "I love you." Of course he doesn't know what it means and it isn't clear BUT he mimics it when I say it. It's adorable and I just love it! And he loves to point at things now... that's his new thing and I love it!

I hope you are all doing well.

Here are some recent pics....

 

[Mannequin]

A few pictures from Weston's 3 month photos. 16 lbs of smiles!

 

[lliang_chi]

IHA, Is it just me, or did L's red hair turn blonde? Love the pictures. I can't believe what a BIG BOY he is! 9months already?!?

MQ, Chunky Monkey!! Look at that little man! How's the grandmas doing watching him?

AFU, I caught some kind of cold! Sore throat and sniffles. Last night DH did the last feeding, the 3AM wake up and half of this morinng's feeding. I don't feel too bad since 1) DH had an hr long nap in the evening when he got home and Ethan was sleeping. 2) I dosed up on Nyquil and 3) I've been getting up to do the MOTN and first AM feeding the past 2 days.

Ethan's starting to develop a habit of waking @ 3AM. He barely ate this morning (only 40mL), so I'm going to try to make him take a suckie and go back to sleep tonight. The plan: tank him up tonight, feed him at 9PM and again at 11PM/midnight. When he gets up at 3AM, I'll give him his suckie, and see if he'll go back to sleep. If he doesn't stay with him and give him pats. If he still doesn't, hold him and pat him to calm down and sleep, but not feed him. We'll see how this goes... I just don't want him to get into a habit of waking in MOTN and expecting food.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I am loving all of these pictures!!

LC, every single mom in my mom group is having sleep regression issues (and our babies are within 2 weeks of each other). You are definitely in good company. And feel free to tank him up before bed, but don't be bummed if it doesn't work. We've all tried it with no success. I found that pushing K's bedtime routine earlier helped more than anything.

Janine, I think I could go the CIO route if it came to that, though my goal is to not let it get that bad. So says the woman with the 3.5-month-old. I'd like to try adjusting her environment/bedtime before letting her cry it out, but if I try everything and nothing works, then she'll cry. I'm pretty unemotional and stubborn when it comes to her getting her sleep. Now that I'm reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, the messege is basically that kids who don't get enough sleep have lower IQs, can't adapt, and will likely set a small animal on fire. So now I'm paranoid and essentially want K to sleep 24 hours a day. My sane brain should return soon.

Pancake, I'm so jealous of your vacation!! That sounds heavenly!! And I'm really, really glad that you are taking some time for yourself and your family. Your father is stable and you need a break!

AFU, things are better. I moved K's bedtime up by an hour and now she's staying asleep for 12 hours with one wakeup (after 5am), so I'm hoping the early bedtime continues to work. I think her increased sleep at night helps with her mood during the day--she's been going down for daytime naps easier and I haven't had any issues with her fussing over the bottle. Who knows what might change, though.

So I've been reading. I don't think it's good for my health. For 2 reasons:
1. Reading parenting books makes me feel like an inadequate parent. Fun.
2. Every book contradicts another book. So I end up just using common sense, which is what I would have done without the books.

Case in point: I had tried to get K to sleep without sucking on her paci. I read that it made them dependent. Ultimately I decided that sleep was important and if she needed a paci, then fine. So now I'm reading HSH,HB and Dr. Weissbluth says a paci should be used to help soothe an infant and that no research shows it leads to dependency. I'm just a big fan of "do what works for you".

 

[lliang_chi]

Hey NEL, I'm so glad that K's sleeping better. I hope the earlier bedtime does the trick. Perhaps she was just overtired and couldn't get a good sleep. Im with you in hte "Do what works for you" camp. And I'm ok with giving EThan the paci.One of my friends said he got the suggestion to wean off the paci by cutting the tip off it. The kid will no like the feeling of it in his mouth and choose to give it up on their own rather than because you took it away. I'm totally doing that.

Now that NEL mentions it, what's your LO's bedtime routine? Now that I thik of it, Ethan's is much different than any of his daytime naps. I'm thinking that maybe I should differentiate his "down for the night" from the rest of his down for a nap. I'd say he goes down for the night at between 7PM & 8PM. He'll usually get fed, then some Daddy time, then changed and put to bed. We don't bathe him everyday since he was prone to eczema when he was younger. After 8PM any wakings are all business: feed-change-swaddle-bed. The only other thing is sometimes DH Skypes with his folks so it's feed, Skype, change, then bed.

 

[bubbly1126]

LC - Yup! My once little red head is now a Blondie! There are some hints of red but for the most part, he's definitely blonde. Takes after me as I was a blonde until about 3 years old.

As for our bedtime routine... bath, bottle and bed. I use to throw a book in there but I found that reading kept him awake. He loves being read to so I think it just intrigues him too much and it defeats the purpose. Oh and we also don't bathe him every night as he has an eczema problem as well. So on nights that he doesn't get a bath, I just sit down with a bottle and he pretty much knows it's time for bed... And I always make sure I sit in the same seat and change his diaper right before... so that probably gives him the hint that it's bedtime too.

 

[lliang_chi]

IHA, Whew! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me I can't believe he's so blonde now. He was a TOTAL GINGER when he was born, but you'd never guess it looking at him now. Thanks for posting your bedtime routine. Yeah, Ethan really likes reading too, especially rhyming stories like Dr. Seuss etc. DH sometimes reads to him before putting him down he said. I think it's a pretty nice habit, but dunno if DH will do it every time.

Starting from yesterday we're doing a new trick. I pick up Ethan and I feed him right when we get home. Then he snoozes for a little bit. And I wake him up again around 8PM when DH is home. He's much happier, more engaging and more apt to eat too.

~LC

 

[pancake]

PT, you already know my thoughts on your munchkin's cheeks! Is she looking more and more like her daddy?

NEL, glad Katie's sleep is improving! I think many say that bedtime needs to move earlier as the baby gets older; we are still doing bedtime between 8 and 8:30 but I think I need to move it to more like 7:30. I know when we've got it exactly right as S will still be properly awake after the feed, but veeeeeeery calm and she just looks around quietly. When we're a bit too late she will be pretty much asleep by the time the feed finishes and I think that's not as good for her.

We are totally pick-and-choose-advice parents too We have found a nice medium that works very well for us; it might have been different and we might have been a bit more gung-ho about "An Approach" if Sylvie were not so easy-going. But as it is, we have found what works for us so far and fingers crossed, things continue to go well with this magpie-type parenting philosophy!

Thank you for your encouragement with us taking a holiday. I know it's the right thing for us to do and that I shouldn't feel at all bad about it, but despite my better judgement I still worry that it will make more fodder for the more jackass members of Dad's family to criticise us. But that is of no consequence in the scheme of things, I know.

Janine, we have always thought that if we would do some modified form of CIO if S was waking frequently past about 4 months, or if she had any difficult sleep associations. As it is, we are just coming up to 4 months now and she puts herself to sleep in her bassinet; she wakes once at night but that is fine with me! So we are just going to go with the flow until the flow becomes a bit more turbulent and we are pushed to do something about it But 7 months is not too late for sleep training, and you don't have to do hardcore CIO - you could do attended CIO or one of the no-cry methods instead if you wanted to.

LC, remind me of Ethan's usual overnight wakings and feeds (before these 3am wakings)? Your strategy sounds like a good one. The only thing I would add is that you need to do whatever you're doing for at least 5 or 7 days before ditching it and trying something else out... he needs time to figure out what is going on and adjust.

Mannequin, Wes is 16 pounds of fat chops beautiful goodness!!! Look at that happy boy!

IHA, it's so lovely to hear about the gorgeous time you're having with Liam! The thread is packed with younger babies at the moment and I sometimes forget how amazing the months to come will be

AFU, Sylvie had her 4 month needles on Tuesday night, and subsequently slept 8 hours...then another 6 hours! Otherwise totally unaffected and still the happy smiling bub she usually is. She is experimenting a lot with the noises she can make - at the moment we're getting a lot of high-pitched squealing and loud yells! When she wakes up during the day she is always happy and plays by herself in her bassinet until I come in to get her, at which point she will often SHRIEK with delight (the point of startling herself, haha). I love those moments so much!

Yesterday I took her to the movies (it was a mums and bubs session) to see 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' - she watched the screen intently for the first 20 minutes, then had a feed and fell asleep for the rest of the movie. The movie itself was panned by the critics here but I have to say I enjoyed it!

 

[parrot tulips]

Pancake - Awww...Sylvie sounds like an absolute doll. And gorgeous too. Lucky mama!

IHA - Crawling and talking already! Too cute about Liam trying to feed you. The image I have in my head of that is just too much.

LC - I hope you feel better soon. I'm sure seeing Ethan's sweet, cute little face perks you up every time you look at him.

NEL - So glad to hear Katie's sleep seems to be improving. She sounds like a dream. I can see why you and your husband ae already contemplating number 2. And I have to say, I love the combo of her darker hair and lighter eyes. Stunning. Also, I agree that you should take what you will from most parenting books, and take none too seriously.

Janine - Thanks for the sweet words about Ava. Her cheeks do receive an absurd numb of kisses. Although the sleep regression has improved, we are planning to do some firmer sleep training starting this weekend, mostly for her night waking. I don't mind waking once or twice at night, but she usually wakes more often than that. Going in to reassure her by shushing, patting, or picking up/putting down, actually makes her more upset once she realizes mom isn't going to nurse and/or rock her to sleep, so we'll probably end up letting her CIO.

 

[S&I]

NEL, so sorry to hear about K's regressions, but with all those transitions, it sounds like she's doing the best she can. I'm glad moving K's bedtime up by an hour seems to have helped things. I forgot to tell you that we have the same FAO dog, but way smaller than yours. K looks so adorable sitting on top of that dog! A's cooing is quite cute, and usually come out of nowhere. He's started responding to me with smiles and coos when he's in the mood to play. He also will smile when he hears DH's voice (even without seeing him), which melts my heart.

Janine, I'm not sure I have it in me to try CIO, but we'll see when A gets a bit older. Have you decided what you're going to do re: birth control instead of the mini-pill? I got Mirena inserted yesterday, and so far so good. It was quite uncomfortable for me, but my OB explained what I would feel at every step. It was weird to be able to feel a cramp in my uterus immediately after she told me it would come, twice! I forgot to ask her how to tell if I accidentally get pregnant if my period does indeed go away completely due to the Mirena, so I'll be giving the office a call today to ask.

LC, I'm glad you had such a great first week back at work and then got a wonderful weekend with Ethan as your reward too! I'm sure it's just a matter of time until he gets comfortable napping at daycare, so hang in there. I'm still BFing A before his bottles. I haven't actually pumped in a while, so I have no idea how much he's getting from me. I'm assuming it's not much because he sucks me dry in under 5 minutes and he always wants more when he's done. I feel bad because I know he turns to the boob for comfort as well. If only I had enough milk to soothe him!

MP, yay for joining team blue! Have you started thinking of names yet? The only books we have are "Baby 411", "What to Expect the First Year", and "The Happiest Baby on the Block". DH is in charge of reading them, so I don't have an opinion about how good they are.

Pancake, glad to hear that S is no longer refusing the bottle! And yay for booking your first family vacation! I'm sure it'll be really good for you to relax and not stress out about your dad for at least a little bit.

PT, sorry to hear that A is going through sleep regression. But you're right - she's so darn cute that you just have to forgive her. Love those cheeks!

IHA, Liam is such a cutie! Love his smile!

MQ, W is such a happy, adorable baby! My cousin's almost 14-week old is also 16 pounds!

AFU, nights are so much better when A only wakes up twice! The third time is usually around 6/7am, and then he's ready to play. He still has one or two restless naps during the day, but nothing too bad. I noticed this morning that his legs are now hanging off my BrestFriend pillow - he's getting big so fast!

 

[lliang_chi]

Pancake, back when Ethan was waking in MOTN it was usually around 2AM. The 3AM ones started because he wasn't getting enough food during the day because of daycare and him not eating there. But yesterday 1) I gave daycare more in their bottles (120ml vs 100ml) and 2) fed him twice when I got home 6PM and 8PM. More on Ethan's overnight last night below. When do you leave for you vacation. I say "Poo on you" to your father's a-hole family members that will make it a big deal. Don't listen to them and tell them to take a hike. It's easy for them to criticize when they just fly in for a few weeks to take care of them. You're there and ALL sources say it's VERY IMPORTANT for LT care givers to get respite breaks. In fact, my MIL's LT Care Insurance builds in Respite Care to cover the FT care giver to get an extended break. I believe it covers 2 wks. So again "Poo on them!"
Isn't it so funny that bad habits can form so quickly (a few days) but good habits/retraining takes weeks?

PT, Ava's cheeks would get an ridiculous amount of kisses no matter where she goes. Look at those cheeks! Nom nom nom they look so CUTE! I just love her chubby chins & rolls. Hope you're not offended, she looks like the picture of a healthy baby. Honestly you'd never be able to tell that she was born so early just by looking at her now. How much does she weigh??

S&I, So glad A's doing so well. He's probably becoming quite an efficient nurser which is why he's sucking you dry in 5 mins. Do you offer both breasts? I find that Ethan drinks his fill off one, in usually 5-10 mins. He will usually pop off on his own. I then switch to the second breast. Mostlly because I only get to nurse him first thing in the AM and right when we get home. And at both times I really want him to drain both boobs instead of just one.

AFU: Last night was a success! It took a while but Ethan went down without crying and without getting fed. He was slightly pissed he wasn't getting his little 3AM snack, took some determined shushing and patting for him to give in and just go back to sleep. He woke up at 3AM, I gave him his paci, and crashed in his room since I was pretty sure he'd get back up again. He did 20 mins later, eh, eh eh, fussing. I gave him his paci again and some shhhhh's and pats. He wasn't buying it. So I changed his diaper, by then he was awake and probably like, "Score! snack time!" But Mommy was more determined than he was, and get got lots of Shhh's and pats and rocks and cuddles but no milk. At one point he was burrowing and shaking his head and spat out the paci a few times, but eventually we got back to sleep without the aid of food. At no point did he out and out scream. So I'd say it was a success.

Another thing, DH was talking to Ethan the other day and said, "Why don't you make squelchy noises anymore?" So I answered for him, "Daddy, I'm a big baby now! Only little babies make squelchy noises." Aw, he isn't a little baby anymore. I love how much he's interactive, smiley etc. And DH puts it, he charms everyone's pants off.