*~Dec Stars 09 Chat Thread~*

[FemmeEnceinte]

She's 1 month and 1 day and figured that it was probably not too soon to start trying to encourage her into a good pattern. There's loads of info online if you don't have the baby whisperer books. For example: https://www.noobmommy.com/2008/12/easy-routine-from-baby-whisperer.html

The rough principle at this age is to wake baby at 3-4 hourly intervals for a feed (Eat), which takes around 30-45 minutes depending on whether they're ff or bf, then you change nappy and talk/play with them for 30-45 minutes (Activity) and then you swaddle them and put them down in their crib/moses basket (Sleep) which can take between 10-15 minutes for them to settle. In which time you should pat them and shh over their crying to distract them as babies can only focus on two things at once.

Then, you wake them 3 hours later for another feed. If they wake a bit sooner, that's OK. You just learn to read their hunger cues and tiredness cues better and sooner. The idea is... it only fails to work if you misread their cues. I.e. underfeed baby or overstimulate (overtire) them. Also, if baby wakes quite a lot early but more than 15 minutes after a feed then it's clearly not hunger and more likely to be some other issue such as colic etc. so, once you tackle that... the routine should work.

It's good because it's flexible. It's a routine and not a schedule. So, if baby takes a long time to settle, wake them a little later for the next feed etc. At night, there is no activity time except nappy change. This way, they learn the difference between night and day and, at some point, begin sleeping through.

Personally, I've found it strangely easy... I didn't think she'd settle just like that as she's always wanted to sleep on us and always wants to feed to sleep but... Since 7am this morning she's been a perfect example! I'll let you know how we get on during the night as she's never really had a peaceful night before. I always stay up all night with her and I sleep in the day while OH has her. Partly my own nerves but partly because she was very unsettled in the beginning and we wanted sleep

x

 

[chuck]

Okay that sounds good...what I thought it was (my memory is shot these days!), Dewi is only 2 weeks so a little early to get into a routine yet, he generally falls asleep right after a feed right now but I'll try to gentley encourage some activity and ease him into things!

 

[FemmeEnceinte]

Even just changing his nappy afterwards and not beforehand will make a difference. If they learn to feed to sleep then, in time, it becomes their routine and something they expect so you can't settle them without it. I have always fed her to sleep as I just didn't think there was any other way. She always cried during a nappy change so I didn't want to disturb her and have her be awake for another few hours, getting overtired.

She's not cried once today!

 

[sweetlullaby]

Oh thats interesting and is making me feel a lot better about routines and everything coz i was starting to feel like i was some kind of idiot that knew absolutely nothing in regards to how to start a routine!

I usually feed LO, change him then talk to him and play for a while then set him in the moses basket and if he starts to cry i give him his dummy/rock him etc but if he continues crying i lift him out for a cuddle etc will keep the easy routine in mind for over the next few weeks.

Quick question if anyone knows....people say they do bedtime routine which includes a bath to help LO with day and night difference. They do this every night....is this when LO is a bit older? Just HV has told me only to bath LO once a week until 3 months!!Just to top and tail up until then. Has anyone else been told this? Just curious coz LO likes his bath(so far) and is really settled etc after it

 

[purpledahlia]

I bath her every 2-3 days and those days shes out like a light afterwards!

 

[FemmeEnceinte]

I bathe her once or twice per week as it's not good for their skin to bathe too frequently. If you want to use it as part of your daily routine though, just use water and dip him in most nights.

 

[sweetlullaby]

Dunno about using it every night as part of a routine lol depends on whether he still likes it as he gets older just once a week bath sounded weird when hv said about it lol though she did explain about drying their skin out etc!

 

[FemmeEnceinte]

Molly gets dry skin even from just 1-2 times per week, poor little thing. I also feel very strange rubbing olive oil on her... she smells like food. Ahaha.

 

[lorna84]

FemmeEnceinte, the olive does feel strange doesnt it?

Purple, did you manage to do your footprint?

I did mine for my baby journal turned out pretty good I think, wasnt very easy to get I practiced a few times on paper first

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v511/Watergarden/footprint004.jpg

 

[MrsQ]

hi guys. just remembered this thread was here!
Hope we are all doing good.

funny you should say about the bathing i was gonna ask what people use on babys skin after a bath? I was told baby oil could burn their skin by my midwife?
But mikey has really dry hands and legs any advice?
xxx

 

[purpledahlia]

Lorna i didnt manage to do it yet, i will do it today! yours worked out really well!

my hv said olive oil or E45 is fine to use on their skin.. i dont use anything tho the dryness has just cleared up itself.

 

[lorna84]

Emilies dry bits cleared up on there own too

I was told by the MW at the hospital not to use baby stuff until she was 6 weeks old I tried baby oil on Emilie the other night she never came out in a rash or anything but Ive only used it once, she loves a massge

 

[sweetlullaby]

I was told either Vaseline or Olive Oil for dry skin.

I managed to mess up Matthews footprint thing The clay stuff fully set on me and is like a brick...oppps! gonna do it on card with paint and glue it over the clay bit coz dont want to chuck it out as it has a photo insert bit!

Flip...does anyone else feel that time is just flying past ???

 

[purpledahlia]

yep!

 

[lorna84]

Yeah time really is flying

 

[chuck]

Dewi's skin is still super dry, trying to just leave it alone mostly but its so tempting to smother him in baby lotion lol!

He's 2 weeks and only had 1 bath with me...screamed the place down bless him!! But like I said we're waiting for his skin to clear up a little, bathing would dry it out more.

We finally saw our HV today and he got weighed and measured...he was 3.02kg at birth and he had put on 20g by day 5...now at 15 days he is 3.26kg so putting on weight like trooper! (6lb 110z --> 7lb 2.5oz).

The HV said she was surprised to see such a big baby from a small Mum?!?!?! WTF I'm not that small! 5ft 4 and I weigh 9 and a half stone and its not as iof Dewi was that big he was under 7lbs! LOL

But after taking his head circumference and length she said that comparing his centiles he is light for his skeleton size iykwim...so yes he will be hungry so his body can play catch up!

I'm thinking of upping his nighttime feeds to 4oz as he is draining the 3ozbottle and being fussy afterwards - well the past 2 nights he has anyway, hopefully that'll make him easier to get down if he is full.

I'll defo start using some of the EASY techniques, I know at 2 weeks its a little early to worry overly about routines but I do want to start things so its not too much of a shock to Dewi when all of a sudden things change!!

 

[FemmeEnceinte]

HV's say some weird things if this site is anything to go by!

Last night we had the most settled night ever! dream feed at 11 and then she slept until 4. For Molly, this is unheard of. Especially in her moses basket. That said, she seems really tired... every time I wake her up she's just exhausted and doesn't feed as well. She's feeding more frequently during the day now that I'm waking her so I guess that might be why but it's bothering me a bit. She was so tired at her last feed that, once she finally woke, she was really fussy and wouldn't go down for two hours.

Soooo, I think I'm going to follow it a bit more loosely. I want her to lead me to an extent, waking when she needs to for a feed and not being woken. That way she sleeps as much as she needs and feeds as much as she needs but I will definitely be feeding first, nappy after and then playtime before settling her in her crib. Also, I'll be waking her for the dream feed. I trust that she'll eventually figure out day and night for herself so we'll just try it this way. I just feel too guilty waking her up and having her not feed fully because she's so tired. I know I don't like being woken when I'm tired

Gorgeous footprint, Emilie! I want to do one!

 

[MummyToAmberx]

grapeseed oil what i was told when i had amber, so what ive used again, works wonders.

i wanna another baby !! oh dear lord lol

 

[chuck]

I feel odd...I got all my maternity stuff ready to put away, bye bye bump bands, maternity clothes, pregnancy books.

Its quite sad putting those things away.

 

[MummyToAmberx]

im not starting routine with hollie anytime soon.

i let amber sort her's out, to an extend just followed her

even now we dont have a routine for her, OH comes in from work alll different times, i like have food all together so night usually runs like that, dont bath her every night, usually n bed by half 8. it works for us, think all that matters, what works for your family.