***December Snowflakes 2012 Parenting***

[scoobydrlp]

Scooby, I'd send you last years ergo from here, since they're only the equivalent of $30, but it might reach you in 6 months by sea!!!

Hahaha, well it's the thought that counts!! Also, sooo sorry you lost your frozen milk, I would cry if that happened to me.

Chloe - hilarious about pumping without the bottles attached!

Bean - Camden has been in her own room since 6 or 7 weeks I think? She does great. I think she sleeps better without all the movement that was going on in our room.

 

[Beanonorder]

Amber had her shots yesterday. She cried a little but soon got over it. She is a little fussy today though.
Turns out my interview wasn't as bad as I thought! I've been invited to go through to the second round of interviews!

How are you all dealing with mosquitoes? We have a net over the cot and one for the pram if we go out in the evening. But they are so bad here!

 

[Honey.Bee]

Sigh/Kelly and all those with sleeping nightmares - big and I'm with you. Ava is back to sleeping a 3 hour block and then feeding 2 hourly thereafter. I guess it has to be a developmental stage they are all going through?

Chloe - thanks so much for your milk story. Cheered me up so much! Ava does have flushed cheeks and a runny nose at the moment. I've heard you can get both when teething. Both of the edges are through now so I'm hoping we are over the worst of it now. Everything is still in her mouth though. She'll chomp on everything she can get her hands on - including her big toe which she has just worked out to reach her mouth! I didn't notice any swelling of her gums though. We could just see a line where the teeth were about to erupt and when you blanched the gum, the outline of the tooth was really superficial.

Tooth - I can't say I have noticed a difference with Ava's sleep since we began weaning and from my experience I wouldn't recommend weaning in the hope that it will improve sleep. Also, be careful with the rice. It blocked Ava up so now I only use it if a purée needs slightly thickening and only use it on occasion. I sterilise all her bowls and spoons which I think is the recommendation if you wean before 6/12. Have you seen Ella's kitchen? Great for food on the go and they have a cute weaning guide and money off vouchers if you sign up as a friend on their website.

Bean - congrats on the interview success. I give Ava boiled and cooled water when she has meals so that she gets plenty of fluids. She doesnt have much - most of it is her playing with her sippy cup! I don't give it as a substitute for a milk feed.

 

[ImSoTired]

I spotted up until yesterday and still wondering what it was. I'm wondering if I took a pill late and I tried to ovulate. I can't be sure I just hope that I don't get pregnant again too soon, DH and I will have to be careful.

Bean I bought some sort of organic mosquito spray at the store which is supposed to be safe. We haven't had to use it yet as the mosquitoes aren't bad yet but I figured it's probably the best kind for baby. I have also heard that vanilla extract mixed with water is supposed to work but it sounds like to me it would attract them?! Not sure what to think.

All of you dealing with sleep issues, I am also, so I feel your pain. Cait went down at 1130pm last night and awoke at 230am, 315am,and 430am. I had a hard time falling asleep between her waking so barely slept. I began crying because I didn't know what to do and I was so tired. I guess my sobbing woke up DH and he took Cait downstairs so I could sleep. I maybe slept one more hour before he brought her up to me because he had to leave for work. I felt awful and I didn't know what to do. She wasn't hungry as I tried and tried to feed her each time she woke up. I wasted lots of formula and walked up and down the steps numerous times. I've only been getting about 5-6 hours the past few weeks and last night getting even less just broke whatever spirit I had left. I'm feeling really hopeless and dreading tonight. Not to mention that my house looks like a bomb went off. I'm just feeling pretty low and much like a failure. All I can do is keep on trying and hope that it gets better.

Bean, Cait is still in our bedroom also. I had originally planned on her being with me until 6 months but I am considering moving her even tonight. I've got nothing to lose as she hasn't been sleeping well anyway so I may as well move her and she can learn to sleep better in her own crib. Also, she is very near the weight limit to her pack n play bassinet in our bedroom so I may as well move her before she exceeds the limit. I'm so hoping that the transition goes well and she begins sleeping well again. I miss those nights when she slept

Other than the sleep deprivation I also had a fever yesterday. I happened to have a doctors appt to follow up on my bp and they discovered I had a high temperature. I had no idea. My bp turned out ok, still a bit on the high side but not really considered high, probably due to stress/ lack of sleep. The doctor was not concerned with my semi-high bp but more so with my mysterious high fever. He is having me do a urine sample to rule out any type of bladder infection. I don't know what it could be. The important thing is, Cait seems healthy and her orthopaedist thinks that her hips are doing well. I'll have to keep an eye on her and hope that she isn't affected by anything I might have.

I hope you are all well.

 

[sigh]

Bean - My sister used Kiss My Face Swy Flotter when she took her 6 month old to India to visit family. I used it while we were there and it actually worked better than the OFF spray I normally used! It's really oily and smells like lemongrass.

Honey - I think you're right about the developmental stage. In the past week, Ellie has figured out how to control the volume of her voice so she's been going "ahh aHH AHHH ahhh"... it's really funny and sounds like some type of weird singing practice. The bad part is that she does it in her sleep and it wakes her up! She also dislikes tummy time and can only roll from front to back, but the last few nights she's woken herself up trying to roll to her stomach in her sleep... it's so weird!

Imsotired - SO weird I had a fever last night too! Hope you're feeling better!

KellyM - is the Zantac working? Ellie has reflux but she's generally a happy spitter, plus has no problems laying flat during the day so my ped didn't give her meds. I hope you're getting some sleep!!

Ellie currently may have another ear infection (the doctor is having us wait and see before we put her on antibiotics again), a cold, had a light fever yesterday, and her gums are a little swollen so that's obviously bothering her but she also keeps rubbing her face and clawing at her eyes! We haven't been able to get her to sleep at night in her crib for more than an hour if even that. If she doesn't wake up immediately when we put her down, she's usually up within 10-30 minutes. We are EXHAUSTED... it's been 3+ weeks of messed up sleep with only 1 good night. I think that's why I had a fever yesterday. tracked my sleep this week and I've been sleeping 3-5 hours a night (non consecutive hours) for about 2 weeks now. Poor DH ended up holding Ellie and sleeping in the chair in her room last night from 330-630 so I could get some rest. I'm feeling better today but have a headache still. I It now also takes 30-40 mins to get her to take a nap in the swing (and her naps are usually only 30-40 mins). We were supposed to start sleep training but won't until she gets over whatever bug she has... I thought colds were only supposed to last 1 week max?

Ellie is LOVING her rice cereal. We gave her the spoon and she tried to feed herself today- it was so cuteee! She also randomly gave me a hug and a kiss yesterday and then smiled and cooed at me, and I felt a little less exhausted

Sorry for the long post... I just wanted to say how thankful I am to have you ladies to complain to. My friend wanted me to help her with something and I told her I was too exhausted taking care of Ellie and she keeps telling me about how it should be easier now that Ellie is older (she has no kids). It's nice to have buddies like you who understand!

 

[scoobydrlp]

Wanted to share a silly video. Camden was lying on her froggy blanket tonight and she rolled to her side and was trying to grab the froggies up off the fabric, it was so cute! She even rolled her face down to try to eat them a few times.

https://youtu.be/Bin4AKbPZc0

Tomorrow we go to her 4 month doctors appt. She'll get her vaccines, so hopefully she doesn't get too upset, or feel badly after. I'm going to talk to her doctor about BLW and see what her opinion is. I'm unsure if it's as popular here in the US as it seems to be overseas. I'm pretty sure I'm going to try it regardless of what she says, but I would like to hear what her thoughts are, and whether she has any reason why we shouldn't try it.

Are any of your LOs sitting unassisted yet? Camden is getting really close. She does really well sitting on my lap, but when I put her on the floor she tends to fall forward while trying to eat whatever toy is in front of her.

 

[Chloe597]

sigh, gabby has had colds that weren't fully over for 14 days. I thought EBF was supposed to help shorten them, but she had a cough that lingered for quite a while. And now she has a new illness, after about 2 weeks of healthy baby. gotta love daycare...I hope Ellie gives you a break soon and starts sleeping longer! to all the moms going through sleep deprivation.

IST, I hope your fever goes away soon! That must have been a surprise to find out!

Scooby, SUCH a cute video!! I love watch babies and their curiousity.

Gabby isn't sitting quite yet, but she tries. here is one of her attempts

 

[ImSoTired]

Thanks. My fever seems to have gone for now. I'm feeling ok just tired and a bit stressed. I am thinking it's just something bacterial maybe? I still have to do a urine sample for my doctor to rule out any bladder infections or anything. I'm going to do it tomorrow. I'm sure it'll all be fine.

Cait slept a little better last night. She fussed in her sleep about 4 times though which woke me. Maybe she has gas or is teething? I don't see any buds in there and her mouth looks ok so I'm not sure what it could be. Maybe too hot or too cold? I'll just have to figure it out as we go. I did not end up putting her in her bed last night. She slept in our room again. She didn't go down until about 12:30 and I had to rock her, so I'm thinking I'll attempt to rock her in my rocking chair and put her in her crib. Even if we can get through a few hours with her in there on her own would be a great step to moving her out.

Scooby that's great about Camden sitting. Cait is doing the same as Gabby. She sits sorta folded in half and shes constantly busy trying to grab everything so she often tips after a short time sitting. I prop her in her boppy and she actually pulls herself to a sitting position but she hasn't the balance to maintain that position too long and face plants. She is rolling pretty well though all over the floor and starting to hold her own bottle. I'm thinking by 6 months she will have mastered the sitting and the bottle. Then she will be keeping me on my toes! I'm looking forward to it and feeling sad/dreading it all at the same time. It's one of the things that gives me that broody feeling! I'll be waiting until next year though for sure, lol.

Hope you are all well.

 

[ImSoTired]

Oh also, very cute video scooby! I used to work at a daycare with infants and one year olds and they used to try and pick my tattoos off. Your video reminder me about that. Maybe they thought they were stickers? lol

 

[ttc_lolly]

Sorry to all you ladies having sleep issues at the moment Millie still feeds 2-3 times a night but so far we've only had a few bad nights with her being wide awake/crying, and they were after her jabs, so not much advice. Hang on in there

Tooth, we started weaning Millie and I have to say food hasn't made a slight bit of difference to her night feeds! I guess she's just not ready to drop them yet. I think items that are used with milk are supposed to be sterilised because of the bacteria that can grown on gone off milk? I think that's the case anyway... I haven't given Millie anything that needs mixing with milk so haven't sterilised any bottles or spoons, etc.

Scooby, ridiculously cute video! Camden is so lovely

Chloe, Gabby is so cute too and clever! She's almost got it

Not much to report here, it's all been a bit boring since DD1 got the earring back removed from her ear canal

 

[Honey.Bee]

Tooth - found this:
"Safe food preparation
If you start weaning your baby under the age of 6 months, you need to be far more diligent about sterilising feeding equipment like spoons and bowls (another good reason to hold off for as long as you can). After six months, there is no need to sterilise spoons and other feeding utensils (bottles excluded).

It’s important to always wash your hands carefully before you prepare any meals for your baby and wash their hands too if they’re eating finger foods.

Other safety tips
Baby food should be cooled quickly and either stored in a fridge for a maximum of 24 hours or frozen
Never refreeze something once it’s been defrosted
Never reheat any food that baby leaves in her bowl, as saliva from her mouth or spoon contains bacteria that will multiply
Always heat food until it is piping hot and then let it cool down before feeding. Test it carefully, particularly if you used a microwave, as hotspots can occur"

 

[expatttc]

DD awake every hour last night. To be fed, to be cuddled. Tiiiiiiiiiiiiired. Augh.

 

[sigh]

DD awake every hour last night. To be fed, to be cuddled. Tiiiiiiiiiiiiired. Augh.

...I think we should all run away together. Just to get some sleep. lol.

 

[Kelly M]

DD awake every hour last night. To be fed, to be cuddled. Tiiiiiiiiiiiiired. Augh.

...I think we should all run away together. Just to get some sleep. lol.

All the sleep in the world can't make up for this kind of depravation. Many moms I know say you never really recover.

We started sleep training again (for real this time) tonight. However, Carter has been sleep training me all along because even if he does, by some miracle sleep for a decent amount of time, I always wake up wondering why he hasn't gotten me up yet.

to you all! We will make it through this.

 

[toothfairy29]

Thanks for the reply ladies! I spoke to the health visitor yesterday she said it was ok to try him with some rice and that I wouldn't need to sterilise equipment unless using bottles as long as they are washed well. So I managed to get a couple of teaspoons of milk expressed by hand (my first experience) then mixed with a little rice. All excited I let daddy give it to him (1st time he's been able to feed him)...... Joseph hated it!!! He seemed to be excited about being spoon fed but screwed his face up like I was feeding go sour lemons!! He gagged trying up swallow so I gave up! Dad only have him 2 or 3 spoons! Not sure he swallowed any!!!! I was surprised, thought he'd love it!

So what do you think? Didnt like the taste? Not ready? Or is this what normally happens?

And.... He went back to his one 5.5 hour stint last night (rest 2-3) after waking every 2-3 hours for 10 days at least.

 

[sigh]

Thanks for the reply ladies! I spoke to the health visitor yesterday she said it was ok to try him with some rice and that I wouldn't need to sterilise equipment unless using bottles as long as they are washed well. So I managed to get a couple of teaspoons of milk expressed by hand (my first experience) then mixed with a little rice. All excited I let daddy give it to him (1st time he's been able to feed him)...... Joseph hated it!!! He seemed to be excited about being spoon fed but screwed his face up like I was feeding go sour lemons!! He gagged trying up swallow so I gave up! Dad only have him 2 or 3 spoons! Not sure he swallowed any!!!! I was surprised, thought he'd love it!

So what do you think? Didnt like the taste? Not ready? Or is this what normally happens?

And.... He went back to his one 5.5 hour stint last night (rest 2-3) after waking every 2-3 hours for 10 days at least.

We gave Ellie her first rice cereal on Sunday and she did the same thing. She pushed the spoon away after a few minutes. We tried again on Tuesday and she gobbled it up. Yesterday she ate 2 bowls and wanted more! I started off with 0.5 oz of BM mixed with a spoon of rice cereal. (I made it more liquidy on Tuesday so maybe that's why she liked it better?)

 

[ttc_lolly]

I know of a lot of babies who aren't keen on baby rice. Can't blame them - its totally pointless you could maybe add a little banana or other fruit purée to it to make it taste a bit better x

 

[toothfairy29]

Yes I tasted it lolly!! I think I'm going to leave it a week or so and try something with a bit more flavour!!!! I'm not in a rush now I've seen he's not too keen. I was thinking he was desperate for food as he is mesmerised when we eat (I feel really mean eating in front of him!).

 

[scoobydrlp]

Went to Camden's 4 month doctor's visit on Thursday (even though she's nearly 5 months). She weighs 15 lbs 4.5oz - 61%tile and is 26 and 1/4 inches long - 90%tile. She's always been up there in length, so I guess she's gonna be tall! I discussed with the doctor cereals and purees vs. BLW type diet. Her only objection to skipping cereals was that babies who are EBF by mothers with a history of anemia, or who needed to take iron supplements while pregnant, may not be getting enough iron from the breastmilk. She said something about changes in hemoglobin at this age (4-6 mos), and that babies need more iron than they did when younger. Formula and cereals are fortified with iron, and it seems that's the whole point to starting on cereals. Being that I did have low iron when pregnant and had to take supplements, and was advised to continue taking them after I gave birth, I decided to go ahead and start her on rice cereal just to be sure she's getting all the iron she needs.

That being said, we tried our first bowl of it last night, and it was quite a mess! I sat her in her bumbo type seat and mixed up 1 tablespoon cereal with enough breastmilk to make it soupy, as advised on the box. She was happy to open her mouth for the spoon every time I offered it, but I'm not sure she swallowed any of it at all. It went in fine, but she pushed the cereal out with her tongue every time. Tried again tonight and it was more of the same. I suppose we'll keep trying, surely she'll get the hang of it sooner or later.

 

[expatttc]

Up every 1.5 to 2 hours for the past two nights. Slowly getting better.....but still aaaaaugh. to you all