oct/nov babies

[EYCI]

Hi All -

KristiA- that must have been so tough to go through the crying. I've had to do that a couple times with nap time. Sometimes Hendricks just doesn't want to go down. But, if given a minute of crying (which FEELS like an eternity) he goes right to sleep.

I think I'm going to try making some baby food this weekend. You've all given me inspiration!

So, I realize that this answer depends on if you are BF or not... but have any of your AFs returned? I still haven't gotten one since giving birth. Don't get me wrong, I'm not missing it. But, just wondering if this is normal/typical. They had such a hard time getting me to stop bleeding after the C-section and so I think it is in the back of my head that something is screwed up in there.

Hope all of you are well. Happy Easter!

--Julie

[kristiA]

Help! Remember I was having trouble with getting Tyler to sleep during the night? Well, now Brady (who has been sleeping 10 hrs straight for over a month) all of a sudden is having trouble. Three nights in a row now he will not sleep...at all!!!! I try to put him to bed about 10 times....but each time he screams and never stops until I pick him up (yes, I've let him scream for awhile). Finally by 4am I give up and let him sleep on my chest in the chair. Then he's up at 8am. Of course at the same time I'm still struggling with the other twin. I can't function on 4 lousy hours of sleep! Could teething be doing this? They are both fine during the day though.

Julie, I'm BFing still, so need AF for me. I can't remember if you are BFing or not.

[EYCI]

KristiA - you poor thing! We were having the same problem with Hendricks about 2 weeks ago. We think it may have been his teeth, and started giving him Tylenol before his last bottle for the night. Otherwise he would scream through that too. He would go down, but wake up several times during the night and have to be rocked or bottled back to sleep. The Tylenol seemed to help and once his sleep pattern was re-established we stopped the Tylenol and he has been fine since. Did the boys just get their 6 month shots? Could it be a reaction to that? Or, is you house suddenly warmer (or colder) than usual? Is he getting his usual amount of mommy time during the day?

Yep, I'm a real sleep expert! These are just some of the things we've thought of during those exhausting nights.

We had our 6 month check-up on Friday. H is 20lbs, 9.5ounces, 28.5 inches long. Thank goodness that he has lots of boy cousins as he has outgrown all of his 6 month clothes and is now wearing 12-18 month stuff. I find his cheeks to be ridiculously cute, but strangers like to comment on how "chunky" he is (in a disapproving way.) I wonder how they would feel if I pointed out THEIR chunky thighs and butt.

Hope you are all well!

--Julie

[Tracii]

Kristi - I think teething can definitely keep the baby awake..especially at night because mommy is not around and they are feeling irritable. Could be a growth spurt as well..with growing pains.

EYCI - 20lbs is great...don't worry about what other people say..your little one is healthy and that is all that matters.

How is everyone doing on cereals? Isabella still likes it but we are no way near having a full meal..maybe about 1/4 of a meal. And she has started blowing with her lips and likes to do this while eating..needless to say the food flies everywhere!

We drove to Italy last week..10 hours each way..poor thing did extremely well. We drove through the night so she would sleep and we would not have to stop and feed ect. She also did well adjusting to our apartment there..but she was very scared of the italians...new language..and she is starting to pick out strangers.

Yesterday we had easter dinner with the ILs...still would not hold her or even push her carriage

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend

[Tracii]

I forgot to mention we had a major milestone last weekend...Isabella can now flip from back to front..and does it all the time..I call her Ms. Tumbleweed now..she is so proud of herself. Now we need to practice sitting..which she still falls forward.

[kristiA]

Ok, I ended up taking Brady to the doctor. He's not teething, no ear infection...nothing wrong with him. Just a "phase" they say. And nothing has changed in the house or daily routine for him either. Julie, since Hendricks got over his phase, I feel like I have hope. I was giving him Tylenol each night too, but not working I guess.

Tracii, the doctor mentioned a possible growth spurt causing it too...so good thought on that! They also mentioned separation anxiety, just by being separated from me at night in bed.

While at the doctor they did their 6 month check & shots. Brady is 14 lbs, 4 oz. Tyler is 15 lbs, 8 oz. Of course they are smaller because they were 6 weeks early.

Tracii, sounds like great success driving through the night on the long trip! And the back to front flip is great!! My boys are doing good with the cereal & veggies/fruits. They seem to want to eat more than I make usually. So I'm glad they finally caught on to that after almost 2 months. But it did take time.

[Tracii]

Kristi - with the veg/fruits - how did you approach it? When Isabella starts turning her head and crying..I just stop. Did you do the same and just be persistant every day?

[Cla]

Hi all!

KristiA - we were having problems getting Charlie to sleep in the cot a while ago - although I have to say during the day. Despite how tired he was as soon as we put him in there he just screamed. I have no idea why but all of a sudden he just stopped doing this?! It was a constant battle to get him to sleep. HOWEVER the last couple of days - the same thing has started to happen?! I keep telling myself it will pass in a bit! I suppose it took about a week for him to get over this last time.
Here's keeping the fingers crossed!

Julie - I was BF until about 3 weeks ago and had just one period during that time. since then I have had one more, but not when I thought I should! It's very irregular at the moment!

Tracii - Charlie tends to shut his mouth when he's had enough. If I force another spoonful in, he just spits it out! however each time he takes a little more (and with brocolli he eats it all up!). Don't think this should be replacing meals just yet so a little "taster" is fine!!

Bella - we moved Charlie out of our room very early as he made so much noise he kept us awake! He's now in the next room and I have to say I never use the monitor - would be able to hear his snoring too much! I always let him cry for a bit before I get up to feed - quite often he settles himself back down (and I, like you, had found I was jumping up out of bed too often!).

Unfortunately we didn't get to go swimming this weekend as Charlie STILL has a cough and is wheezy. I've now put him on a cough medicine instead of calpol (but it is a chesty cough and all the medicines are for one year plus so I've had to buy a tickly cough medicine!!).

Did another marathon cooking session at the weekend! Again just fruit and veggies but different combinations from annabel Karmels book. Things I wouldn't usually do like courgettes and watercress!!! Anyway can I re-iterate I AM A CRAP COOK! but it was easy!!!! Lets hope he likes it!!!

Take care all!

Cla
xx

[kristiA]

Another fun night for me. With fevers from the shots to add onto the excitement.

Cla, that's interesting that you have the same sleep issues with Charlie. And Julie did too. So now I don't feel so hopeless. I worry that when I pick him up, rock him, or let him sleep on me (after several hours of battling with him) that I'm creating bad habits. And some day I'm going to have to undo the habits with more miserable nights.

Cla, I haven't mixed any foods yet, so you have me inspired to try this. I'll have to check out that book. I've never even heard of those 2 veggies you mentioned!

Tracii, yeah, I persisted with the foods. Sometimes I would have to hold them in my arms to calm them down to eat. Although I never forced it. Still now when I introduce a new food they usually don't like it. But I keep on giving it to them each day and then they eventually like it (peas took the longest!).

AF....ugh....I don't even want to think about that!

[Cla]

Re: Food - one thing I found was that whenever I try to feed Charlie on my lap he just wriggles and screams. However if I put him in his highchair and give him something to play with first he's far more receptive. Not sure why but I now ALWAYS feed real food in the highchair (and it seems to make less mess?!). However if I try to give him milk in his highchair he laughs!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry gotta dash - KristiA - hope things get better soon.

Cla
xx

[bella-s]

Kristi - don't worry too much about creating bad habits...just try and do it the 'normal' way, and if he wont settle, just do whatever works so you can get some sleep. They say (not sure who 'they' are) that it takes 3 days to change a habit for babies, so fixing any situation shouldn't be too hard later.

I am blessed to have a neighbour with a baby the same age as Lucy and a 2 1/2 year old. Her 2 1/2 yo was a golden child, and slept 12 hrs through the night from 10 weeks old, and her 4 month old is almost the opposite - up at all hours of the night and difficult to resettle. She has experienced both sides, so always has good advice, and lets face it, when she has a bad night with the 4 month old, she still has to get up at 6am for the 2 1/2 year old and run after her all day...I don't know how she does it.

Still haven't started Lucy on solids yet, but getting more and more excited. I have bought her a bumbo - not sure if you've hear of it. It kinda looks like a potty but it's a little thing that helps them sit up and uses their body weight to keep them safely in it. It is good for feeding them in it while they may still be too little for the high chair. Lucy loves it cos she can look around at everything, and it's perfect for taking out to dinner.

Kristi - have you tried a little baby massage before bedtime? You probably have tried, but Lucy sometimes really loves it and it relaxes her nicely before bedtime. Let us know how you're getting on.

Bella.

[bella-s]

Kristi - I was also going to say that when Lucy was a newborn and wouldn't sleep, one of the parent support groups told me that babies settle better on their sides than on their backs. She said then when she was asleep to roll her onto her back. But Lucy used to wake up when we did this so as a result she has always slept on her side.

Bella.

[kristiA]

Could the phase be over this quick (5 nights)? He slept through the entire night last night!! What a relief.

Good advice, Bella, especially about not worrying about creating bad habits during a difficult phase. And yeah, I give them a massage every night after their bath...it makes them happy and breaks up that fussy time before bed. I can't imagine your friend with the two kids at different ages. Oh, and I figured out that they liked to lay on their side too! The last few nights I've been putting them both down like that. Funny how we figure out so many of the same things!

Bella, I love the Bumbo chairs!!! I use mine to feed the boys in still...and just sitting around the house. They love them because they can sit up by themselves. There's also another brand called the BeBe Pod.

Has anyone tried using an exersaucer yet? My boys love them. They play with all the toys on it and they are able to stand up in them.

[EYCI]

Hi All -

Well, I just have to tell you about my first attempt at making homemade baby food. Let me start by saying, I am a REALLY good cook. Whipping up a gourmet dinner for 8 doesn't even phase me. Keep this in mind as you read of my adventures.

First, I have no steamer so I had to invent one out of a saute pan with a sieve on top and the lid on top of the sieve. I put my water in the pan, tossed the carrots into the sieve, covered it and walked away. I checked back about 5 minutes later. Hmm, carrots are sure steaming nicely Walked away again... Uh oh, baby is awake... run upstairs... shhhhhhh, go back to sleep honey! Back downstairs. Hmmm, let's check email.... 10 minutes later DH asks "sweetie, what's that burning smell?" Uh oh!!! Apparently my steaming carrots had dripped some sugary goodness into the pan, which ran out of water. So the sugary juices started burning to the bottom of the pan. REALLY BADLY! No problem, I'll just toss the pan in the sink and run some water in it to deglaze. HISSSSSSSSSSS, major steam as the water hits the hot pan. OUCH!!! major burn from the steam. Finally I got the carrots into the blender, got them all pureed, into the ice cube tray and they are currently freezing.

And after all that, yes, I am willing to try it again. Anyone make sweet potatoes yet? Do you bake them or steam them?

Hope you all are having fun!

--Julie

[bella-s]

Ahhhh Julie.....so funny!

I burnt a pot full of dummies not once but twice when I was boiling them to sterilise them and forgot about them. They produced a nice artwork of melted plastic to the bottom of the pot. Love to see how talented I will be with real food!

Bella.