BUMPIN' 08 - Fall Mommies

[sugabeanzs]

Michele: I can not wait till I can use the sleep sacks. Mine still do not fit in them...they swim in them! But I have a few that I will use when they get bigger. I know when they transition to the crib I will need them cause they kick covers off. Mackenzie does the same....she does circles in her crib. I do not think it matters how old they are. If they want to turn they will! haha. I mean she was 4 lbs turning in the crib! Also, maybe you should try the sleep positioners that do not let them flip over? I know I have to use those to make them stay up on their wedge....

Tammy: I went to Wally World today to get Brooke some Gentle Ease formula. I looked at the back on the cans on Enfamil and Parents Choice. There really is almost no difference in the ingredients. I think some had more and some had less of amnts of the ingredients. So maybe it was just the mix of it for your baby? Who knows! Babies have such sensitive tummy's so you never know! I bought the WalMart brand today so we will see how it goes. Maybe it is different from the Sams Club kind.

My doctor has not given the go ahead with changing formulas but I am doing it anyways. She is in so much pain after she eats I just do not care anymore! So I am going to try gentle ease first then if that does not work move on to something else. I mean she is on a multivitamin so that should help her get what she needs that is in the preemie formula.

[jomae]

Soory girls haven't posted for a little whileand theres to many posts to respond to everyone

Katie didn't do to badly with her shots she did have two days of stomach cramping and two days of constant crying and not being able to sleep any longer than 10 minutes at a time but she seems to be over it now. Mind you add me to the non sleeping baby list i use to just have to wrap her and put her plug in and she would go off to sleep but now she seems to be awake all day long althouhg obviously tired so any pointers would be great
As for my thyriod i'm still waiting for the 2nd blood test to come back before the doctor while prescribe anything i may have to ring tommorrow it's been a week plus already.
Loopie 7 pounds at 7 weeks does sound lite what does your doctor say about his weight gain is he concerned at all Katie at 8 weeks was 10 pound 2 ouces it maybe something you should look into if you haven't already . Let us know how Pulman goes.
Michelle as someone said safety first i would defiantely not wrap ellas arms in if she's starting to rolli would still wrap her but leave her arms free to help her still feel secure i think that is apart of Katies sleeping problems at the moment its so damn hot here that i have to strip her naked throught the day and it's still to hot to wrap her even while i'm using those light weight muslim wraps

sorry best to go I'm so tired with katies lack of sleeping and getting up to ds also through the night

I hope everyone is well and enjoying all those little smiles sometimes katie gets so distracted even from her bottle because shes so busy smiling at me oh shes even start smilng at people who we meet what a social butterfly i have

JOMAEXXX

[KatieG]

Parker did not like to be swaddled. He would break out especially his arms. I guess I break all the rules he uses a blanket i just put it on him waist down. I cant believe ella is already rolling. Just a month I guess our little ones will be too.

Mellie are you getting up at night to pump? I pump in hte morning and then every 4-5 hours and then my last pump around 930-1030 and then I wait until the morning. I dont get as much as you but I get 4-6oz. I do give him a formula bottle at night and that does the trick most nights he sleeps. One more ? how long each time do you pump?

Well it looks like my tree is going to stay the way it is. It is a real tree and we put lights on it but we never got around to the ornaments lol. I also have only bought like 2 things. I will be shopping next monday and tuesday. Me and DH may go tonight to get some shopping done. OH and i have NO clue what to get my husband. Not a clue. What did you ladys get them?

[sugabeanzs]

Katie: Mine were the same way. They wanted their arms out. Now they can break the lower swaddle too! I got my husband a Plasma TV lol. THE ONLY reason we could afford one is cause Circuit City is going out of business here and it was almost 50% off.

Brooke is a chronic 45 minute napper. I would let her cry it out to put herself back to sleep but then she would wake up Kenzie. I wish we were in a bigger place where I could let her sleep in another room. So, as you know, I changed her formula. Not nearly as much screaming today! I think it is already starting to work! I also gave her her prilosec in the AM instead of the PM so that may do something for her as well.

[CT_Michele]

Well, i tried the sleep sack. I had bought some larger swaddlers the other day and returned them for some sleep sacks. Ella didn;t seem to mind, she seemed to sleep the same, which is good. She moves so much. She has gotten her arms and legs through the rails a couple of times. We had to order a mesh breathable bumper to go around the crib so that doesn't happen. It should be here today, I hope. I also tried the positioner again, and she gets out of it everytime. Her legs are so powerful, that is how she is rolling herself over. I put her on her tummy to she if she could roll back and she almost did it without using her arms, she was swinging her hip and legs to do it.

So how many bibs do you guys go through? I picked up another 10 pack the other day too, i can't believe how many she goes through, I am changing them constantly because i would rather her ruin bibs than 5 outfits a day.

I got a few things for dh for xmas. I hope he doesn't read this, he use to read this forum with me but i don't think he does anymore. Just in case i won't list them all. I got him a watch he wanted that you can load digital pictures on, of Ella of course. I also wanted to get him a gift from ella, so I got a couple of children's books about dads and their kids/daughters because he likes to read to her.

[Mellie_1233]

Katie - I pump 20 minutes at a time. I have to pump at least once in the middle of the night. It's too painful if I don't. When I woke up this morning the outline of two big circles were in blue on my sheets. My boobs leaked really badly and the dye in my cheap pj's stained the sheet!

I hate to quit giving Evie breastmilk but it will nice to not have a wet chest! I seem to leak a lot. I'm gonna have to go get some more of those bra pads.

Suga - Were the lcd tv's on sale, too? We are looking to buy one but we've been saying that for a long time. They're so expensive we always change our minds but 50% off would make it doable.

CT_Michele - I love the book idea. Mind if I do the same? For Father's Day this year I got him a book written for Dads about how to raise a strong daughter. Some children's books sound like a perfect gift for Daddy from Baby.

Evie had her 2 month shots on Monday. She was crying and sleeping a lot that afternoon and really didn't seem to feel well but by the evening she was back to her old self. I didn't want to give her any baby tylenol unless I had to so I kept taking her temp over and over. Poor thing. She never ran a fever, though.

My in-laws and my parents are coming this weekend. Our condo only has 2 bedrooms so everyone's staying in a hotel. My folks will be here for a few days and DH's parents will be here for 2 weeks since they are coming all the way from Switzerland. Should be fun. Evie will get so much attention and kisses!

[sugabeanzs]

Mellie: Yes everything was on sale. I think it just depends if a store in your area is going out of business because the whole company is not. Just downsizing on stores. Too funny about the leaking. I never had milk so I just find it funny but I am sure annoying to you.

[CT_Michele]

Mellie- of course you can use that idea! I will even tell you which ones i got. One was called the daddy book. I liked this one because it had very bold and contrasting colors that will really get ella's attention. The book talked about different daddies, like daddies who have hair and daddy's who are bald (like dh!) It also came with a matching greeting card, that I signed from Ella. The other one i got was called just like daddy. It has different animals and it is a touch and feel book, so it has soft spots for ella to feel. There was one book i wanted but the store didn;t have in stock. It was called daddys little girl and was based on the song and came with the cd of the song. i didn;t want to risk ordering it and not having it for xmas.

Also, glad the shots went well and evie didn;t even need tylenol, thats great! Sorry to hear about the leaking, that is one thing I am glad i did not have to deal with. When I was still pregnant and was starting to get milk, I would leak a tiny bit and it drove me nuts! I can't imagine it while bfeeding.

Gotta run, talk to you all soon!

[geckogirl]

HELP!!!!! I need all of you to give me some advice. My son was sleeping through the night until just before Thanksgiving and then he started waking for a midnight or 2 am feeding. The doctor said it was probably a growth spurt. the last few nights he is waking up at 1-2 am and again at 4am STARVING. He screams and screams until he is fed and poor DH and myself are just not fast enough at night. We even have a bottle all set in our bedroom with the formula powder and another with water so that we can fix it FAST and feed him. He does go right back to sleep after the 2am feeding but is a bit fussy after the 4am feeding so one of us usually just gets up with him. During the day he needs to eat 5oz of formula every 1 1/2 -2 hours. He is drinking at least 40 -45 oz of formula a day. At his last appointment he weighed almost 12 pounds and is doing well. I really want to start him on rice cereal but the pedi says no until 4 months and he is only 11 weeks old now. I don't know if I can wait another 5 weeks. What would you all do? I hate to see him so hungry and I definitely am getting more and more sleep deprived. He is currently on Enfamil Gentlease because he is very gassy. Would rice cereal make things worse?

[sugabeanzs]

Oh Gecko. This made me laugh (sorry!) but WELCOME to my world!! lol. First off, Brooke was on the premie formula and that made her fuller...I can tell. I just switched her to Gentle Ease and that is a thinnger formula. She went from eating three oz. every three hours to 5 oz every three hours. Sometimes she is still hungry! I think it is the formula to be honest because it is already partially digested. Is he still gassy on it? I would try to maybe make the calories more in the bottle....like I mix 24 oz and put 14 scoops instead of 12 (ask your pedi first about that tho maybe cause it may make him gain weight faster). Or maybe switch the formula? But if he is doing well on that kind stay with it! As for cereal it does not do that much with calorie wise to be honest. Because if you make it too thick they can not eat it. I put 1 tsp. per oz. in mine. Just makes it a little thicker not really any calories there. The reason they say no rice before 4 mo. is because they link it to childhood obesity. Well, honestly, (my opinion here!) if you feed your kid right when they are young with fruits and veggies and not mac and cheese you do not have to worry about obesity. Get your kid off the couch too! haha. So that is why I went ahead and started it because their reflux was so bad. Anywhoo, it may just be a growth spurt...a long one? lol I have no idea. I follow baby wise though so if it were me I would feed him at the 2AM of course cause he is hungry. Then at 4AM give him what he needs but then put him right back in his bed. Do not let him get up or you are going to start a cycle that will be hard to break. When is the last time you feed him at night? I feed mine at 7PM and put them to bed, I wake them up and feed them at 10PM (they really do not wake up that much) and put them back to bed. They sleep till 3AM or 4AM and eat then back to bed and I wake them up at 7:15. That is how it is every night. They say you need to put them to bed and wake them up at the same time each day/night because it makes their tummies used to metabolizing or something or other. OH YEAH also, they say 2.5 oz per pound is average of how much they should be eating. So 12 lbs = 30 oz a day. He is way over that. Again I think it is cause that formula is so thin. And answer to the last question, rice cereal does not make their gas worse but it can make them constipated because of the iron in it. I put Kayro in every bottle cause mine are on iron formula, iron vitamin, and iron in the cereal...so you can only imagine what they have to go through to poop! Ok I wrote a book. Hopefully some of this helped a little. During the day, he should eventually go to three hours...maybe try to start stretching him out by 15 minutes each day on every feed? I could not imagine feeding every 1 1/2 to 2 hours! I would never get anything done! I can not wait till mine go to 4 hours during the day!!


Ok as for us, we are headed to my moms house this weekend for Christmas. Seriously, babies need a lot of stuff it is crazy! I mean the car is mostly full of stuff THEY need! lol. I hate traveling with them it is just hard and they are usually off schedule for a day or 2. Last night was the start of a growth spurt. They woke up at 2AM and 5AM to eat and they ate let me tell you! But they went back to sleep which is nice. Still woke up at 7AM and ate the whole bottle. Sheesh! They are starting to eat more so it is nice. Hopefully here soon they will drop their 4AM feed and go all night?! Happy New Year present maybe? I think I am crazy because this week I am starting to put them in their cribs to sleep! We shall see how this goes. I will start with naps and then move to night. Their reflux seems to act up more at night if you just lay them back down right away. They really need to be propped up for a bit after they eat.

Anywhoo, I will check on the board at my moms house!

[CT_Michele]

suga- have fun on your trip. I am sure it will be nice to see your mom, but I here ya about traveling. I don't even like going to the grocery store now. Babies definitely require too much prep and packing. Thats why I have basically become a hermit and no longer leave my house.

gecko- I don;t know what to say about the feedings. 10-11 weeks is about when ella started going longer at night between feedings. I also read, like suga, that they should have 2.5 times their weight in formula, for example, if the baby weighs 10lbs, 10 x 2.5 = 25 oz in 24 hrs. I also read that they never have more than 32 oz in 24 hrs, so I would definitely talk to the dr. Maybe he can start solids or cereal early so he is more satisfied. I am at the point now with ella that I expect her to make it a certain number of hours at night without a bottle. If she wakes up earlier than normal, I give her a pacifier and she goes back to sleep. It seems to be working so far. I don;t want her to depend on a nighttime feeding. Her bottles are also getting bigger now, so she is having less of them- about 6 bottles in 24 hrs (each one has between 4.5-6.5 oz, I do some big ones around breakfast, lunch and dinner time and smaller ones in between)

Thank goodness her mesh bumper came in the mail today. She keeps getting limbs stuck in the crib and waking up, so that should be taken care of now. As much as I love our baby monitor with the sensor motion, I needed to adjust that today. She moves so much at night that when she is not in the center of the crib, the motion sensor alarms because it can't sense her and thinks she is not breathing. I turned the sensitivity way up b/c the alarm went off like 3 times last night and i am exhausted. I love the piece of mind, but i need some sleep too!

[jomae]

Hi Girls
Gecko i was told to work out how much bub should be feeding in a 24 hour period is to take bubs current weight for eg Katie 4820grams times that number by 150 and then devide it by the number of feeds offered per day which for Katie is now 5 and although the tin says she should be having 180mls 5 times per day she actually for her weight only need 144mls so maybe you can look at what he is having through out the day and see if he is getting enough and causing the late night hungryness. Another thing to think about is my ds use to wake through the night like that and cry only because he hadn't slept enoughcould he be comfort feeding another thing is i don't know if your formuals differ from Australian stuff but as far as i know you shouldn't feed under the three hours could he not be settleibg after the second feed due to belly pain caused by the close feeds. the other thing is does he arch his back when he's crying silent Reflux can develop around his age could it be this instead of hungerand the bottle is just soothing him. I guess the best thing is to chat with your health nurse and see what they suggest to try its so hard when things change and your not sure why up until about 2 weeks ago i had Katie in a reasonalbe routine and for what ever reason it went out the door and i've had to start all over again the good news is she now seems to be getting back into her groove and is much happier

He hasn't had his needles has he they can defiantely make them unsettled


Hi suga your formulas must be different to ours i didn't think you could add extra formula to the water as it causes Kidney damage

talking of bad health my brother inlaw found out he has cancer a couple of days ago the doctors told his it is terminal but they haven't told him yet he goes in on christmas eve day to be operated on to remove the parts they know are affected and to see exactly where else and i guess to determine treatment or if there is any point so not a good christmas for them this year.

Anyway best go time to cook dinner i also have to get organised i'm watching my three nephews for the night

take care all JOMAExxxx

[loopie]

hi gals- i haven't had a chance to read up for a few days- hope everyone is well.
Apologies for not catching up- but this week really took the wind out of my sails. so personals to come...

Pulman hadn't been gaining weight, so doc appt was tuesday for a weight check- turns out- he'd not gained the weight we'd thought even last month- they weighed him on the wrong scale- so tuesday- he was only 6lbs 11 oz!!!!!!! I was sad, pissed off, worried and feeling like a bad mother - but doc said he was doing ok- just needed to start getting at least 8 more oz into him per day- he was not latching on correctly ALL THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!! so off to a lactation consultant who was sort of a nazi- I left licking my wounds and still feeling bad that I didn't notice sooner - but we're getting there- i'm pumping so we can see how much he's getting and we've introduced some formula a couple times a day as I was really getting overwhelmed -
we've started weighing him on our kitchen digital scale each morning and he's gained 2 oz since yesterday - so I don't know what that makes him at the doc's office, but I know for sure he's getting food
AHHHHHHHH_ it's been a tough week- jsut glad I didn't wait until his next appt on the 29th to find out something was wrong

many good thoughts to you all- more from me later

xxloopie

[CT_Michele]

I have a question fir everyone regarding television. I know all the research says no tv before 2 yrs old, but how do you guys feel about it? We have a big screen tv in our living room and Ella loves it. I try not to keep it on all the time, but it is on alot. and sometimes when she is fussy, it calms her down. I understand that the tv has no educational value to babies, but do you think it will necessarily have negative effects? I mean, I am a teacher and of course I read to her, and she gets tons of mommy face time and play time, I am in no way using the tv as a babysitter. I just wonder, if she really likes it (which she would get from me since i also love tv) then is that really bad? I also feel as though I will be able to set limits when the time comes. I would love to hear how everyone else is handling this.

[jomae]

Loopie
Wow i'm so glad you had Pulman checked out and just the fact that you had him checked shows that you are in know way a bad mother so don't go feeling awful your doing a fine job. 2 oz since yesterday what a good start i guess that is a benifit of pumping and formula feeding you can see how much they are getting i'm sure he'll be a chunky little monkey before you know it so don't worry yourself

Hey Michelle i personally don't think they need to watching tv at ellas age but as they seem to be amused with their surroundings and the people they come in contact with but on the same hand i don't think it would harm them i know we put ds inront of the tv sometimes and he seemed fixated on the colours and movement i think your right aslong as the tv is not the babysitter and you have plenty of other stimulation for her then she'll be just fine

I have a question regarding a not so nice subject but is sids caused from babies being put on their bellies and not being able to lift their heads for a breath or do they just forget to breath i only ask because if Katie is over tired and i put her on her tummy she'll settle quickly and go to sleep and i do sit and watch she doesn't turn on her face and not be able to move but if it's caused by the other way also then i don't know that i would let her sleep that way anyone know

speaking of sleeping beauty she's awake and it's feed time

Take care JOMAE