I have a few questions..

[ColtonsMom]

Okay.. I just had a few questions and didn't want to start different threads for each, even though they have nothing to do with each other

ONE. Colton has a swollen-like bump under his right breast. When I/OH squeeze it milk comes out. Is this normal? Is it normal at his age? I thought if it did that it would have done it before, not now. Is it something I should phone my doctor about now? Or can it wait until his appointment on the 14th? It doesn't appear to be hurting him, even when you squeeze it he is fine.

TWO. Is it okay for them to sleep propped up all the time? Colton only seems to get settled when he is propped up on a pillow. The only way I can get him to sleep otherwise is if I am holding him and sneak him into his bed. I know they always tell you babies should sleep on a hard, flat surface; so I dont know if he should be sleeping like this or not.

THREE. Okay, last one. How long do babies normally stay up at this age? I started to notice that Colton seemed to be staying up longer, but had never really watched the clock. Well, I did last night. He was up from 9:30pm to 11:45, then woke around 12:15 for his feeding and didn't go back to sleep until 1:30am. That was 4 hours with under 30 minutes of sleep, then he was up this morning from 10am to 12pm so another 2 hours, which isn't long but he has been on and off sleep for the last 30 minutes (it's 12:30 now). I'm going to see how long he stays up this evening too, before his little hyper night time thing he is going through.

 

[dizzynic]

Answer to number one stop squeezing the lump as it will just be an enlarged milk duct and if you squeeze it youre gonna stimulate it to produce more.Of course if he shows pain or if it is bloodstained take him to doctors.

Answer to number two propping him up could be a problem if he can wriggle enough to get the pillow over his face

Answer to number three babies often vary with the times that they stay awake and there is no clear answer to that one he will settle into a routine in time as long as you stick to a set time for bath ,playtime etc

Hope that helps you x

 

[Jenny]

#1 ~ I've never heard of this, maybe it wouldn't hurt to call your baby's doctor and ask what it could be? Don't feel bad about phoning even if its nothing hon. Thats what they're there for.

#2 ~ Not sure if this ok to do all the time. I prop Isis up with a blanket under head so she's a tiny bit elevated. I'm scared of her spitting up and choking on it, it was terrifying to see her having such a hard time trying to breathe.
Maybe try that? just a tiny bit but not a whole lot like with a pillow.

#3 ~ I think that sounds normal hon. Colton is actually staying up longer periods than Isis is. She's up maybe 1-2 hours 2-3 times a day right now. But she's staying up longer and longer each time she does wake up.

 

[ColtonsMom]

I'm thinking maybe he likes to be propped up because he has been so congested. ? Does propping him up help him with his congestion?

 

[Jenny]

That could be why. Just like when we're sick, our noses get stuffier laying down, so it should be the same for our bubs. Have you tried buying a humidifier, those vicks ones are awesome. Whenever Drake was sick as a baby we would use that with a couple of drops of Vicks vapor rub liquid stuff in it and it would work very well.

 

[Wobbles]

TWO. Caitlin likes to be propper up a bit we actually have her fav blanket (soft fleece it is) under her at night and because its quite big we can make a sort of pillow for her shaped. When she falls asleep she now turns her head side to side snuggling her head in seeing which side is more comfy lol!

THREE. Caitlin had awake days and days she would fall sleep even breifly after every feed. She was feeding every 3 hours though (3 hours from start of a bottle) so by 30/60 mins feeding little wind little cuddle put down for a rest little time to nap off then wake for another bottle didn't really work out much sleep. Varies for all babies though its been amazing seeing others with babies around the same age as Caitlin that are different Got their own little personalities!

 

[kookie]

you shouldnt squeeze the lump as said it is a milk duct it will go away but playing with it will irritate it. you could place a pillow or a folded blanket under the mattress so he's elavated still but on a flat surface just be careful as they can wriggle under blankets easier when propped up tyler did a couple of times. Babies vary in times they stay awke so cant help on that one sorry

 

[ColtonsMom]

Jenny.. I'm scared to get a humidifier because my OH's parents smoke in the house. We keep LO back in our room, basically confined back here so that he isn't around the smoke as bad. However, I have heard that humidifiers make the smoke worse, I dont know though. Have you ever heard this? Or know any truth behind it?

Wobbles.. yeah, Colton is like that with his feeds, he is feeding every 3 hours as well. However, sometimes he will stay up between two feeds and still be up after that second one!

kookie.. I never thought about putting it under the mattress. Right now he has like a little mini pillow that came with a blanket my mother bought from a woman at her work (she made them) and he stays propped up on it. He doesn't wiggle enough to even wiggle himself off of it right now, I will probably just use a blanket under the mattress if he starts wiggling around more.

 

[Jenny]

Jenny.. I'm scared to get a humidifier because my OH's parents smoke in the house. We keep LO back in our room, basically confined back here so that he isn't around the smoke as bad. However, I have heard that humidifiers make the smoke worse, I dont know though. Have you ever heard this? Or know any truth behind it?

I've just googled it and I couldn't find anything on it. So I'm not sure if its true or not. Things you can try are, put a towel under the crack of the door so the cigarette smoke doesn't make it in the room or slows it down a lot so you can use the humidifier. Ask his parents if they can smoke in just one particular room because of the baby or even outside (which frankly I think they should offer to do as he is their grandson). If none of those will work for you, you can try it the old fashioned way and run a very hot shower and stand with him in the washroom. The steam will help.

 

[ColtonsMom]

I always take him in the shower with me, because OH's mother cannot not have a cigarrette for 15 minutes and watch him. They smoke in the living room and put a sheet up between the kitchen and living room, but the sheet is so covered in smoke you cannot even walk by it without gagging and when they walk in and out of the rooms they dont make sure it is closed all the way. Besides that his mom told us she would smoke around him as she pleased, and OH says there is nothing we can do because it's her house.
Also, I cannot really close our bedroom door for too long because their 'central heat and air' is only in three rooms of the house and ours isn't one of them, so if I close the door it gets really really cold in here. Which I'm scared might make him even worse.
It's really a pain in the arse living here. I wanted to move to my mothers, who respects that fact that I dont want to smoke around him, however my OH doesn't want to, he wants to stay here even though he argues with him mother almost everyday about the smoke.
Anyways, I could go on and on about it, but it will never end. Jamie's own sister said that she stopped taking her kids around them because of (1) their smoking and (2) they fed her kids adult food when she felt they were too young. She said they never respected how she wanted her kids raised either, they just did as they pleased.

 

[Jenny]

Oh hon, I'm sorry she's very selfish and inconsiderate of you and your family That sounds really bad. Maybe try getting a space heater for your room? that will help the heat problem so you can close the door and be able to use the humidifier.

I honestly think if you're really upset about the situation at home that you should sit your OH down and really talk about moving to your moms for the time being. You might even consider moving there with just Colton if he doesn't want to. If you both think that Colton shouldn't be exposed to it then he shouldn't be. Your OH has to make sacrifices too, even if that means moving out from his moms house. You gotta think of your family now

Being an ex smoker myself, I know how shitty second hand smoke can be. I could never handle being in a closed situation with it, I always ended up gagging =[ so I can just imagine what you're going through.

 

[ColtonsMom]

I've tried talking to OH. I even tried explaining to him my fear of our child being slower than others because of it. Like wiht his crawling and walking. There's no where for him to learn to do these things unless I take him in there wiht the smoke. He has a playpen, but I imagine he isn't going to want to crawl around in a 2x3 playpen for too long. OH just didn't seem to want to hear it and kept telling me just to put him in the playpen.
I thought about getting a heater. Just one that will sit on a desk or something. We are in about a 10x12 room that has a nightstand, bassinet, full size bed, desk (that Jamie's mom put in here one day while we were gone after we told her we didn't want it in here), baby swing, playpen, dresser, and chester drawers. Plus the bouncer and car seat sitting in the only left over floor space. Literally, you hit his swing walking in here, and if hes in it you have to wait till it has swung a certain way and then get by really fast. And there is only enough floor space for ONE person to walk around the bed. Two people dont even fit! It's really bad!
We bought a trailer and it is sitting on the property but we have had to completely remodel it and have currently run out of money. We had to replace the roof, siding, windows, insulation, floor, and we are putting drywall in it. Basically redo the whole thing. We just have the siding, windows, a few sheets of drywall and we can really move in. We wont have carpet yet, but I would rather live without carpet for awhile then live here. I've lived without carpet before when my mom and step dad were building their house, and it isn't that bad. About $2,000 more dollars and it will be done; we just cannot get approved for a small loan because I dont have enough credit, and OH has bad credit. Plus, nobody in either of our families is able to cosign for us.
It seems there is always something working against us. Nothing ever goes our way. However, OH is filing his federal taxes soon, and we are hoping that the woman can work it in so he can claim me and he can get a return. With which all of it will go towards the trailer and finishing that. So, we are praying for that (it's getting filed today.. so we might now something sometime soon)!!