March 2013 babies - we all have our beautiful babies :)

[sportysgirl]

Poppy and I went for our 6-8 week check today all is good. She also had her first injections. She was so brave had a few tears but soon settled.

 

[rose.]

That's great sportysgirl. I need to book Alfie's jabs he's had his 6 week check but they do the jabs separately in my doctors. Not looking forward to it. I've got to phone them first thing Monday I've been meaning to do it all week

 

[AmyB1978]

Sporty, glad all is well.

To anyone considering an ergo, it says you need an infant insert, which adds $$ to the price. I was told by some people in the group I go to that a rolled up receiving blanket works just as well. Also, from things I've read other mamas say about the insert, even though it says you need it to whatever size/age I think most of our babies might be ok without it at all, though I've not tried one on to see.

Does anyone have any weekend plans? Happy early Mother's Day to all the US mamas!

 

[Amy_T]

Blooming Nora, its a minefield this babywearing isn't it!!

Glad poppy was ok after her jabs, we got our appointment through today, typically its during half term so my eldest will be off school - she hates it if her sisters have to have anything done so I think she may end up staying with my mum that day!

 

[kraftykoala]

I can't recommend the Ergo enough, I used it constantly with DS2 and he loved it. Saying that, I only started him with it when he was around 4 months because the newborn insert was such a faff and I could never get it right.

I've kept the Ergo to use when Ella is bigger, and I also have a Moby and a Lifft which is really handy for keeping in the car, and I've just ordered a Connecta which I'm excited to use And it's really pretty, its the Bird of Norway print one under the preorder tab

 

[baby_maybe]

Ok I'm interested in carrying Ruben, but I've never carried any of my others because they were just happy laying down or sleeping! Ruben definitely needs to be held some of the time and some sort of carrier would make it so much easier for me.

Now we do have a sling library and I'm waiting for the next meet to come up, but for now can any of you more experienced ladies make some suggestions so I have some sort of idea what to look at.

My needs are that I need to be able to tie it/put it on on my own as DH works quite long hours. Ruben is obviously quite a large boy (13lb15oz at last weigh in at 10 weeks old!) so I need something that will support him well and not kill my back in the process. I'm guessing he's probably already getting on the heavy side for any of the stretchy wraps? I'm currently a size uk16 so need something comfortable and also that can maybe go smaller if I ever lose some of this baby weight, I used to be a uk12, so potentially could be again but probably not for some time! Also and this is probably jumping the gun until I decide what to get, but I get so confused about what to dress him in if I were carrying? Like if its a hot day and he's close to me and getting my body heat I presumably would not have him in much as otherwise he would over heat?

As you can see I'm a bit clueless

 

[Kte]

Don't worry Amy & baby_maybe, I'm still learning too. I have found this website provides loads of useful info https://www.thebabywearer.com/index.php?page=articles

This is a useful page on their website too - it;s not just instructions but tells you which wraps can be put in which positions and includes wrap sizes https://www.thebabywearer.com/index.php?page=WrapInstructionsChart

One thing I did fine was I thought I was so behind with baby wearing as lots of the October 09 Mummies I know do it but when I wore Sophie out in the Mei tai I got endless comments about it and everyone was really impressed with it

Sportysgirl: Glad all went well and there weren't too many tears.

Happy Mothers Day US mummies

 

[anna1986]

baby_maybe - sling librarys are fab I joined are local one n it £10 for a yr and u can borrow as many wraps/slings as you like throughout the year.
id def recommend trying a ring sling. they r pretty easy to use. I absolutely love the woven wraps but William wont tolerate being wrapped he just gets annoyed! def go to the next sling meet and try a couple of slings out xx

 

[Amy_T]

Ooh lots of info on there, thanks kte.

I can't find a sling library very close to me unfortunately, closest is over an hour I think. There are just so many aren't there, there are some cheaper alternatives on eBay but I usually think you get what you pay for so a bit wary of using them! X

 

[AmyB1978]

Amy, if you go the eBay route be careful if the price looks too good to be true it probably is. There are fake, cheaply made, versions of some of the name brands out there, especially the ergo.

 

[baby_maybe]

Thanks for all the info ladies, I'm definitely going to go to the sling meet next time they do it here and I might go for a ring sling, William looks very comfortable in yours Anna

 

[rose.]

I tried the ring sling again earlier, was much more successful but just needed to do a bit more adjustment so it is tighter round Alfie's shoulders and also it seems like it might be a bit uncomfortable under his bum/at the top of his legs. I will give it a go again tomorrow

 

[anna1986]

rose with the RS make sure u tighten the bottom bit before putting him in. so once hes in it only needs slightly adjusting. once hes in tighten the top abit not completely though. lean forward and reach in from the top n grab the fabric that is between his legs and pull it up so he has quite a lot of fabric under his bum and is in the froggy position. then tighten. once you've tightened the bottom again then finish the top off. I also roll up a muslin cloth and make a neck support by folding the fabric by the neck over it (hard to explain but look at my photos again.) once hes all in put ur hands flat under his feet like hes standing on them n push his legs up more so his knees are definatly higher than his bum. this should also get you a better seat.
hope that makes sense?? it is 3:30am!

x

 

[MrsChezek]

AmyB - that's so funny that you have all those extra commas and periods when you type on your iPad! I tend to have extra 'returns' when I type on my iPhone instead of spaces!!! I think the big sophie would be too heavy for Hayden at the moment…she still struggles with the weight of the little one. But she shoves it about with her fists and it seems to work…only part of the time though. She's still mostly into her fingers! DH gave me the afternoon off today to go see a movie with a friend as part of my mother's day weekend - it was fab! But I was gone almost 4 hours and it seemed really looooong without Hayden.

rose - what is a cot? is it a full size crib? or a bassinet? Sorry, I'm lost in the british terminology We were going to move Hayden back to her crib from the incline bassinet she's been in since her congestion has cleared up but since we're traveling this Thursday, we figured we shouldn't mess with her too much. If anything, we're going to have her sleep in her travel bassinet once it arrives - we totally forgot to order it earlier!!! So it won't be here until Tuesday at earliest Not much time to air it out from it's plastic smell!

krafty - i heard the ergo is fab when their bigger so we got one from our registry. Burt I too have heard that it's a PITA to use with the infant insert!!! So I haven't bothered…I love our mei tai at the moment and the moby is nice too. Though I think Hayden has outgrown the newborn hug hold I've been using so I'm going to pull up some videos on the kangaroo hold and learn it this week.

What holds are you all moby users fans of?

anna - I've read instructions and even had a consultant go over it a couple times with me and I can't seem to get Hayden in the RS correctly! I don't know what I'm doing wrong! One time she was on I realized her little legs were turning BLUE!!! It freaked me out and I stopped trying…she fights being put into any carrier so that really makes it difficult…once she's in, she usually likes it though I wish she made it easier!!! The stretchy fabric of the moby makes me more comfortable with sticking her in it as it doesn't seem to cut off her circulation. My babywearing group meets this Monday so I hope to get more help with using the ring sling correctly then. Hopefully I'll figure it out!!!

 

[rose.]

Thanks Anna that makes sense mrs c, I was worried about the same thing with the legs which is why I took Alfie out of it. I wish there was a baby wearing group nearby I will just have to wait til I see my SIL who is a pro at baby wearing! She is also my bf guru so whenever I need help or advice with bf I ask her

Alfie just did 10pm-5.45 yay!! I have moved his bath forward by 15 mins. Last night he took a nap in the evening which helped massively. He was asleep on me but at least he got a bit of rest and wasn't quite as grouchy as normal. I am going to keep brining the bath back by 15 mins every so often.

 

[rose.]

Oh and we are learning to self settle! Have kind of been forced to as Alfie won't often take any more milk after his change now (used to be feed one side, change, feed the other) so doesn't fall asleep on the breast. He also is less sleepy once he's woken up if its light and the sun is coming through the curtains. So I have been putting him in his cot awake and he falls asleep himself unless he has wind and then he wriggles around for ages. I'm just making sure he has a really good wind before I put him in and then lay there crossing my fingers waiting for him to fall back to sleep!! he always wants feeding to sleep at 10 though - he literally takes a couple of sucks then goes all sleepy and falls asleep when I am winding him. I know I shouldn't feed to sleep but I love it! And so does he. I am just going to do what he wants now and then break the habit later on when he is bigger. He's just a tiny baby at the moment!

Mrs c, a cot I think is like your crib - it is the biggest one you get and is suitable from birth to approx 5 yrs as it has 3 different levels and then you can take the sides off to make it in to a small bed for an older toddler/young child

 

[JenJen80]

Yay we have just done 9.30 - 6am must have been the sea air yesterday.

I think I will be moving on to the ergo once M is heavy enough.

 

[AmyB1978]

Yay for all the babies sleeping longer stretches!!!

Rose, yay for Alfie self settling to sleep! I almost always nurse Emily to sleep. There are times I don't but, for now, it is her typical way to go to sleep. I had read a good article about it and how babies can kind of naturally ease out of it, unfortunately I have no idea where I had found it! I hope I don't live to regret nursing her to sleep... But, for now, it is soo nice!

You ladies are making me want to try a ring sling, mei tai, etc! Maybe I will have to rent more once we are back from our trip, although maybe I should just stick with the Moby, until she's too big, and the Gemini as DH might kill me if I spent all tat money on the Gemini, even used it wasnt cheap, (we are borrowing the moby from my sister) and try other kinds and decide I want something else!

MrsC, where about in Texas are you going and what brings you to Texas? Did I tell you I lived in central PA for about 15 years before moving to Austin, TX?
Good luck with the trip! You will have to give me tips on the flight (we fly Baltimore to Austin, non-stop) for when Emily and I visit my family at the end of June. We are going ourselves and then DH is flying out towards the end to spend a few days there and we will lay back together.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

 

[MrsChezek]

Yay for long stretches of sleep!!! Hayden did 9:20-6:30 herself!!! I only made it to 6:15 as my boobs were killing me and I was soaked I pumped them off a tab bit just to get comfy and when I was heading back upstairs she woke up.

Rose - yup cot = crib we still haven't gotten ours!!! We couldn't find one we liked and then she arrived and it's been mayhem since We have a mini crib that she used from birth until she caught a cold around 8 weeks and we moved her to the incline bassinet. We'll transition her back after our trip...

AmyB - we're flying into Dallas as nephew is graduating from Bailor in Waco. DH's family is all in Houston though so that's where we typically go! Where in central PA? I'm on the Delaware River in Bucks County so right next to NJ
Forgot to say, as far as the flight goes, we're so unprepared! It's crept up on us and I haven't done research or even gotten her travel bassinet yet!!

Any moms with older ones have tips for traveling with an infant???

 

[MrsChezek]

Keep forgetting to say...

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!

Can't believe that's my holiday now...I'm a mom!