BUMPIN' 08 - Fall Mommies

[CT_Michele]

jomae- I had to do a little bit of research before responding since it is such an important topic. There is no know cause for sids, just possible prevention measures. Sids decreases when the follwing reccomendations are followed: putting baby on back to sleep, eliminationg second hand smoke exposure, no blankets bumpers toys stuffed animals in crib, fan in room (which I keep forgetting to do). All of these prevention measures make me think it has something to do with old/stale/uncirculated air/reduced oxygen levels. Even though they don;t know the causes, the number of cases has dropped dramatically since people have started putting babies on their backs to sleep. I also read that the risk is highest between 2-4 months. I don;t think there is anything wrong with baby sleeping on tummy during the day supervised. I wouldn't take my eye off of her for a minute, but I would definitley recommend back for unsupervised sleep.

[geckogirl]

sugabeanzs - Thanks for all the good ideas. We ended up trying the Enfamil AR which is the one with rice starch in it and it is helping. He seems more satisfied after he eats and spits up less often (although when he does spit up it is a LOT), and while he still wakes up at night to eat he doesn't scream because he is hungry, he just kinda coos until we notice he is awake and waiting to be fed. He is also much more smiley which is nice:).

CT Michele - I tried the pacifier trick at night and Declan would have none of it! I guess I will just have to keep up with the feedings. Last night he went to sleep at 8:30 and woke up at 1:30 for his feeding and then slept again until 5am. I guess that is pretty normal. I think I will try the cereal in a few weeks - but with a spoon, not in a bottle. He is drooling a lot and is very interested when DH and I eat, so he may be almost ready for some simple solids. As for the TV watching, I noticed that my boy LOVES to watch TV. We have a big screen TV in the family room and it is on a lot. We don't let him watch it and usually try to keep him facing another way, but he likes the changing colors etc... If we see him watching it we redirect his attention and either talk to him or play with him and try to get him interested in some other toys. It is hard at this age since they don't exactly "play" but we got him a baby einstein play station and he likes it if we sit with him. That usually distracts him from the TV. I am not sure why the doctor told us no TV until 2 years old, but she did mention that their nerves weren't developed enough to handle it. I would have to research it more. Let us know what you find out.

Jomae - Thanks for the tips. We are trying not to feed him too close together and I am hoping that works to settle his tummy a bit. He doesn't arch his back when he cries but I sometimes notice he will start to cry in certain positions and that's when I try to burp him again and that usually works. If things don't improve, we will talk to his pedi. SIDS is pretty scary and we don't let Declan sleep on his tummy and we do keep a fan on in his room at night, but during the day he frequently sleeps on his tummy while on us. I figure that I would definitley notice if he stopped breathing while on me so we will continue to do that. I think as long as you are watching every minute, it is ok. I have also heard that it happens mostly between 2-4 months too, so I am anxiously awaiting for my baby to be 5 months old! Then I will relax a little bit. I am sorry about your brother in law. What horrible news! I hope you will all manage to have a good holiday with him and keep his spirits up. How was the visit with the nephews?

loopie - Don't get down on yourself!!!! You are a great mom. I think those of us who are first timers just don't have the confidence other moms have. Don't fret. The doctors will manage to work things out. It is hard to khow how much they are eating when breastfeeding. I am sure he will start packing on the weight. Don't let the lactation Nazi get to you.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday week! Our first Christmas with our babies. Hard to believe after all our hard work. I almost cried when I wrapped Declan's first Christmas package and filled out the tag "To Declan from Mom and Dad" because it was just sooooo cool!

[Mellie_1233]

Loopie - Of course that doesn't make you a bad Mom! It's almost impossible to know what they weigh until the dr tells you. It's not something that's your fault. How's your little one doing now?

As for the SIDS discussion -- I read the other day about a baby who had some episodes where his breathing stopped and his parents took him to the dr and the baby had his sleep studied in the hospital and the poor baby dies during the study! It really is scary but it seems rare. Like the rest of you, I've been following the advice that is supposed to reduce the risk: sleeping on tummy, nothing in crib, no pillow or blanket, not overdressed, no smoke, and, I'm starting to have a fan going. Also, a pacifier is supposed to help and is being recommended by the AAP.

I bought Evie her first doll! I wrapped all her Christmas presents tonight. Both sets of her grandparents are here. She is the center of everyone's world!

Hope everyone is having wonderful holidays!

[CT_Michele]

Mellie- Such a sad story about that baby. Sids scares the crap out of me. I told you all I have the baby monitor with the crib sensor that detects her breathing and alarms if it doesn't detect motion for 20 seconds. Well, the past week it has alarmed (false alarmed) everynight. It is driving me nuts. The problem is that she moves so much, so ends up at one far end of the crib and the sensor doesn't detect her. I want so badly to turn it off, but I would rather have piece of mind with a false alarm. I was able to adjust the sensitivity, so hopefully that works.

Oh, and i had my mom buy Ella her first doll for christmas too! If mom didn;t get it for her, i would have, every little girl needs their first doll!

Gecko- I am right with you about christmas this year. I am so emotional about the whole holiday, especially since we got our bfp last year on christmas eve, the holiday has so much more meaning for us. I was almost in tears just reading that you cried wrapping declans gift. I can't believe how emotional I have become about this stuff!

Our festivities all start tonight. We are going to my brothers house and will visit with his mom-in-law, then tomorrow night to my dads to see his side of the family, and then christmas to my grandmas and then to my moms. A lot of running around. This may be the last year i am willing to do the running around, so I hope everyone enjoys it! Friday Ella has her 4 months check up, shots and i am pretty sure solid food. She is so ready for it, I bought her spoons for her stocking!

Ok everyone, I am sure I will be on again before xmas, but if we get crazy busy, everyone enjoy it! Our babies first christmas...oh boy, here come the tears again...lol

[CT_Michele]

one more thing- have any of your babies started making mouth noises? Ella makes these raspberry mouth noises all the time, it is so funny, i think she does it to get peoples attention or try to talk.

[TwinMommy]

Ok, tis I, sugabeanzs. I had LOTS of problems trying to log in and it not recognizing me or my password. So after many attempts I just re-registered! Sorry about the confusion!

First, Merry Christmas to all out there! I hope it is a good one for you! We are at my moms house this year and will be going to Nick's moms house for New years (we flip flop it each year). So tomorrow night we are opening presents with the girls so it does not interfere with their naps.

They are in cribs now! No more car seats! Totally in the crib for everything! They acutally do great in them! Kenzie likes to roll around a lot and I usually find her at oposit ends and totally does 360. They are put up on the wedge but usually scoot down. At least they are on there for like 30 minutes to help with the reflux. So far only one spit up from Brooke so not too bad! I knew Brooke was ready when she kept scooting down out of her car seat and screaming about that! They were getting too big for that anyways! Also, they are eating 4-5 oz now!

Brooke sat up on her own for like 2 seconds! Too cute! Of course I had to put her in the position but she wobbled for a minute then held if for a short time! I got a picture of it too! She is trying to talk now....trying really hard!

Kenzie had her first belly laugh! Full on! I got it on video too! Too cute!

Brooke has been going to the chriopractor to try to get help with her stools and reflux. So far it has made her belly softer and she is pooping a little easier! I need to talk to her doctor about her stools because they are just hard pebbles and baby poop should not be that way! Her belly was as hard as a rock so I know something is going on. She is on Gentle Ease now and I need to tell the doc. I switched it. I still put like 1 oz of Enfacare in there for the minerals and vit. but her tummy was killing her! So she is a lot better on this formula.

Sorry about the lack of personals. I have been reading up though! SIDS is scary stuff I agree. My mom says I am crazy about it but I think since we had such a hard time getting our girls I would die if I lost one! Also, I dunno about the whole TV thing. Brooke loves to look at it and the colors. Why then do they make Baby Einstein? I only let them watch 15 minutes a day if that...otherwise the TV is off because they get over stimulated. So I dunno why Baby Einstein exists if TV is bad....

Really that is about it at the moment! I hope you all are doing well!!!

[TammyS]

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone!!!

[Mellie_1233]

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

We celebrate Christmas and have had a wonderful holiday. When I think of last Christmas it makes me tear up just to realize how much joy this little baby has brought to our lives and I thank God for her.

Much joy to you all! ...and to all a good night (including good sleep! )

[CT_Michele]

Hey Everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful first christmas with your babies. Ours was exciting, enjoyable, overwhelming, and exhausting all at the same time. Ella got so much stuff I just can;'t believe it. I need to try and return some of the stuff since she will never use it all and get stuff she really needs.

Ella had her 4 month appt yesterday. She weighed 12 lbs 4 oz and was 24 in long. We got the ok to start solids. We are starting with barley cereal twice a day, since the rice cereal might bind her up and she has on and off problems with constipation. We were supposed to start yesterday, but she was way too fussy from her shots. She is still quite fussy today, but we will try today and i will let you know how it goes. The dr found lots of tickleish spots on her too, it was funny. He also said that tv is ok as long as it is not a babysitter, he doesn't feel it will harm development in any way as long as she is still interacting with us a lot.

Well, I just wanted to post quick and say hello. I know we have all been busy with the holidays. I am off to clean house, put away decorations and go make returns. What is everyone doing for new years? Any plans for the babies?

[sugabeanzs]

Michele: WAY for the solids! Let me know how it goes! I get to start in Feb!!! Is she sitting up? I am wondering how to do it if they are not sitting up so well....It makes me happy that yours is 12 lbs because that is where mine are and they are 4 months (2 months in reality!) they are just not as tall as yours...which you think they would grow pretty fast since I am 5'9 and hubby is 6'1" lol....who knows! Yeah I asked for toys for when they are older, they got exersaucers, a couple hand things, and other toys for when they are 6 mo and up. Good idea about the barley....I did not think of that. How does it help with not getting stoped up?

So I took Brooke to the Chiropractor right...well it worked! He said it is not her reflux so much but her bowels are all messed up. So he adjusted her 3 times and let me tell you! She is pooping like a champ now! They are starting to get softer as well! He thinks she is spitting up so much because of all the backed up-ness going on down there! So I need to find a chiropractor up here in Tallahassee that does not charge an arm and a leg to keep her going with it.

I AM NEVER EVER EVER traveling with the girls again until they are one! I am serious! After this year people are coming to me! It is a pain in the butt to travel with them, 2 dogs, and STUFF so much STUFF to take!!! And then we have to stop and feed them and Brooke hates to be in the seat more than 2 hours at a time and screams and AHHHH!!! So no more after New Years my husband and I decided because it is WAY too stressful! Other than that, Christmas was wonderful!!

[jomae]

Hi All
Hope everyone had a great first christmas with their little ones Katie and ds were spoiled like crazy.

I'm in desperated need of advice Suga i think you may be able to help Katie has been to the doctor again she was only taking 60mls from me n and crying every feed and after being fed and cat napping for 10mins and waking in pain anyway after finding a decent doctor we found out she has silent reflux and am now in the process of finding a formula that suits her but am looking for practical ways of helping her

sorry have to run hubby home
take care jomae

[sugabeanzs]

jomae: I dunno how much I can help. Reflux sucks! Ours is not silent though (in Brooke at least) we are thinking it is in Kenzie because she not screams before her feed but does not want to eat. So we have a doc. appt. tomorrow to see what we can do about it and maybe formula change. We are on Zantac and Prevacid. I would recommend a chiropractor honestly. I dunno if you believe in them but I have seen a drastic change in Brooke and I want her off the meds so I am going there for help. Prop her up at night (with a wedge or something). I have a friend whose baby was JUST diagnosed with it at 15 months and was diagnosed with failure to thrive because of it! He is not walking and JUST learned to crawl. They said it was because of the reflux?? Maybe a formula change...Enfamil Nutragemin (spelled way wrong) or Similac has a kind too....I wrote it somewhere. No milk or soy in it....heard it helps a lot! So I am asking about that tomorrow.

Also, burp a lot during the feed. We do every 1 1/2 oz. and burp. They say smaller amounts more often but that never helped us. If I think of other things I will tell ya....oh, no tight pants or diapers because that makes it come up more...hope some of this helped...

[CT_Michele]

suga- I am so glad your suga again! Even when you were twinmommy for a sec, i was still gonna have to call you suga! Solid feeding did not go well. Well, it wasn't horrioble but she just wasn't ready yet. The dr said they are born with a tongue thrusting reflux that helps them bottle feed, and that reflux starts to dissappear around this time. He said it may be gone now, could be a week or a month, but he said we would find out when we tried the barley. the reflex was still there and she spit most of the food out with pushing her tongue. Doc said if that happened not to force it, wait a few days or a week and try again. So I think solids will be a slow transition. we got some awfully messy pics while doing it though! She does not sit up completely on her own, but does well in the bumbo and for this time we fed her in the car seat in a pretty upright position. The high chair we got is one that attaches to my kitchen chair and looks more like an infant seat than a high back highchair, I just have to go dig it out of the closet. I think Ella will be tall too, I am 5'8" and dh is 6'3". I hope she likes to play basketball like I did!

The barley is just not as binding as rice. Rice is binding and causes constipation for all ages, so since Ella has had some constipation already, no need to add rice to the equation. He also told us that if she gets constipated alot then we could put 1 oz of prune juice in her bottle and then fill the bottle the rest of the way to the normal amount. I might try that since she gets constipated once every other week or so.

Jomae- I am sorry to here about the reflux, poor baby! I wish I had advice for you, I hope it gets better soon. I am glad you had a nice holiday with your little one. I think it is just natural for kids to get spoiled!

Well, tomorrow I am going to a meetup group. It should be interesting. I am worried about Ella having no other kids around so I started searching for mom/baby groups. I found one group that has about 50 people, kids range in age from 0-5. They are going to the library right down the street from my house tomorrow, so I am going to check it out and see if I mesh well with anyone. The meet a few times a month at various locations. I think I might find some people I get a long with, the group coordinator was 27 (like me), a teacher (like me) and has a daughter named Ella (like me, but her daughter is 2). I will let you all know how it goes.

Have a good week everyone! I will talk to you all soon.

[loopie]

Hi mommas and babies!!!

Happy Holidays!
I've still not caught up on everyone - I am sorry but will try in the next few days to read up on what all have been up to- I do hope all the news is good!
Pulman is doing really great- finally!!!!!!! went to the doc's last monday and his weight was good- we go back today for his 2 month appt- hope for more good news (I'm pretty sure his weight is going up as I've been putting him on the kitchen scale and his clothes are getting too small)
he's cooing right now and I'm going to get back to cleaning as I've avoided it for a long while

anyhow- much love and looking forward to reading what everyone's been up to! suga- I saw that you have a new name- sweet!
cheers and happy new year

loopie

[sugabeanzs]

Well I suppose I will be suga when I am at home on my computer (it saves the password and such) and when I am out of town TwimMommy lol.

Michele: We did the prune juice and all it did was give them HORRIBLE gas. Hope it does not do that for you. Other juices to try are White Grape and Pear. We just do the Kayro as the juices did not work. I am going to have to do Barley! Mine are so constipated from their rice cereal and the iron in their formula.

Taking Kenz in for her apt today and hopefully I can talk to them about Brooke too. This whole not pooping thing for her is horrible and makes me sad! I start South Beach diet in Jan and I hear it is great for people with PCOS. So wish me luck! I have to do something as I have never been this heavy in my life! Lost weight just to get preggers again! haha.