Hellobee Boards

@ScarletBegonia: ENT said he didn't need a lip or tongue tie done, so we left the appointment happy but confused. So, we're just pushing forward and practicing as best we can. It seems like it's slowly getting easier and less painful. Hope I didn't just jinx myself.

Glad to hear your babe is sleeping well! Mine is too. He typically sleeps from about 9-10 PM, up at 3 AM to feed and back down until 7 AM. His naps have been getting worse, too. Sometimes due to gas interrupting his peace. Others it just seems like he's alert and wants to cuddle!

@fussygal: Oh yay! Growing fast and feeding better. I'm so happy for you guys.

@debbiei8: I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that your LO makes a quick turn around to being a good sleeper.

@MrsRcCar: Yay! Good job on kicking the nipple shield habit as well. I was elated to throw ours away.

@debbiei8: oh man!! hope it clears up quickly - sorry you are dealing with all that!

I have been following along but haven't been posting because I usually catch up on this thread on my phone while BFing and it's hard to type

We are doing well. I am FINALLY feeling pretty good - such a long recovery! A is doing well. We have been pretty good on an EASY schedule and just getting into a bedtime routine that seems to help him go down well! He is usually up around 2 and then again around 6.. sometimes I get up after that or sometimes put him back down again for a couple more hours.

We did have a few nights around 5 weeks where he slept from 9 or 10 until 4am or so and then again until 7am. That was awesome but didn't last longer than 3 nights, lol :(.

He's sooo flipping cute and active and happy though! He is awake a lot and happy for most of it, thank gosh!

BFing has gone great - I swear I got a fairly good baby and an easy BFing time because I had a horrible recovery --- something had to go right, ha!

He is fussy-ish in the evenings, but DH is home then and just takes him from me. He is sooo good with him I cannot believe it. He is obsessed! It's great!

Hope everyone is doing awesome! I will try to post more often!

@debbiei8: Poor little guy. Sorry you guys are going through this. I hope good luck finds its way to you soon.

Well, our buddy has been extra gassy at bed time the past few nights. It starts around his feeding at 3 Am, sometimes earlier. I've cut dairy from my diet since the weekend, and now wondering if I need to cut soy and wheat. Not sure how long I should wait with strictly dairy free diet. It's just so hard hearing him wake himself up, cry for a bit while he passes gas and drift off... but he does this a bunch of times. Hope we can figure this out.

@lemondrop: I'm sorry you guys have been sick. I'm sure it sucks to be sick and take care of sick littles! Hopefully it clears up and leaves your house soon!

@PixieStix: ya I did and she wasn't concerned. They also mentioned gas drops/gripe water, but I'm not sure they really helped much. They weren't concerned because he's gaining weight really well and doing well developmentally. She said it's pretty normal for them to be fussy if they have gas and it seemed like a lot of babies deal with this issue.

She did give me some tips though. She said he is probably waking up because laying flat is the hardest position for them to get gas out in because they have nothing to push off of, so either bringing his knees up to his chest, messaging his belly, or doing bicycle kicks will help. Also she said tummy time is great for getting gas out. You can also position your arm so he can push off your alarm to work out the gas. Like I said before, we move L to the RnP when he gets really bad because he can push off the bottom with his legs. It seems to help get the gas out, but we don't really get much sleep because he's noisy while working it out. Also I'm not sure about your LO, but L always let's out a lot of gas/poop while nursing. It's a biological response when they start eating, so if you are awake you could always try that! We also take lots of breaks while nursing to burp because I have an over active letdown and he takes in a lot of air while nursing (according to the pediatrician).

@HazelEyes: woah!! that's crazy! i looked it up the other day because it looked like A was close to rolling and it said usually around 4-6 months! You've got a scholar on your hands

@debbiei8: Agreed on the gripe water. I've tried 3 different kinds; 2 natural ones and simethicone drops. I didn't noticed a big difference -- maybe a bit of assistance.

Well, when he's fussy with gas he seems to do best laying face down on my forearm. At night, he likes to fall asleep on my chest. And I did some quick reading and saw that kiddos do pass gas most frequently at night, so you were right on that one.

And yes, my boy does get gas/poop out during or after nursing. So thankfully there's something we can try!

@HazelEyes: Whoa, very cool and early! It's funny too because my boy has sat up twice now (he's 7 wks). I've had him in my lap, his back against my inner thigh and he has pushed himself up to an up-right position and then plopped back against it. Does your little one have good muscle definition?

Also, just gotta celebrate that breastfeeding has *finally* become easier. It's not perfect, but it's not painful like it used to be! I've been breastfeeding about a week now with no major upsets or needs for a break to bottles (except for a bottle in the middle of the night for ease). Fingers crossed it keeps getting better!!

@PixieStix: I am glad that breast feeding is getting easier for you! It can be challenging!
@ScarletBegonia: E has been super congested too! However I think that is because his grandpa brought home a cold and has since spread it to his big brother N. Everyone seems to be on the men's tho, so I am trying not to worry. It is hard not to worry tho because of his complications from CPAP.

Things have been nutty here but we are doing ok here. I seem to have a clogged duct, it is pretty painful but I am pushing through. E has been sleeping on a pretty good schedule lately so I am thankful for longer sleep cycles. He is also cooing and smiling more now. I keep worrying that he is way too behind but they told me he will likely be a little behind his actual age but on target when I look at his adjusted age. I love his little smiles, now if I could just capture it on the camera!!

Hope everyone is doing well.

@ScarletBegonia: @MrsRcCar: @debbiei8:

Speaking on congestion, do your little ones make a gurgling sound when they breathe through their nose? My guy does... I mentioned it to the LC and she said sometimes when they drink they can regurgitate a little in to their sinuses. I sometimes wonder if he has a touch of acid reflux.

Anyways, not sure what kinda congestion y'all meant or if your LO's have other symptoms with it.

@PixieStix: Yeah Aaron does sometimes, and esp after feeding. My best friend who is a paediatric surgeon (yeah, she's been getting a few calls lately!!) says that its totally normal.

Aaron had a monster nap yesterday, over 3 hours...which he hasn't done in weeks...and then he had 2 wake ups last night for the first time in weeks as well (we've been in a pretty steady 9-3, 3:30-7 schedule), it makes me wonder if I should be waking him up if he sleeps long in the daytime now, or if it was just a fluke? He catnapped all day today so tonight will tell the tale, I guess! It was nice to get 3 hours to myself yesterday though, where I wasn't tempted to sleep along with him - I watched 4 episodes of Call the Midwife!

@ScarletBegonia: @PixieStix @mrsrccar: um, SUPER jealous of your sleep schedules. DD is so unpredictable, I honestly couldn't tell you any regular stretches that she sleeps - it's different everyday! She's six weeks tomorrow so hopefully she gets to sleeping longer at night soonish. We had a few nights last week with 3-4 hour stretches, but right now we usually get two hour stretches at night and daytime naps are 20-45 minutes long...

The good news is that we're fully off the shield and I'm hoping to introduce a bottle soon so mama can go to the store alone and maybe have a drink

We're doing really well overall. We're at 9.5 weeks and DD had her longest stretch of sleep last night (6 hours!). I feel like a new woman, haha. Her naps are also getting more regular, although they're fairly short - almost an hour long - they're longer than the 20-40 minutes we were getting! She also started really grabbing at stuff, as opposed to just swatting, this week which is fun. We're hoping to take her up to our family cabin in the next few weeks. I'm a bit nervous about it, but it should be fun.

@HazelEyes: That 9 hour stretch of sleep sounds awesome!! Hope the witching hour gets better for you soon!
DD is still sleeping in her bassinet in our room. Her sleep in getting much better so I'm thinking she'll move her into her room and crib in the next few weeks. I'll miss having her in there though! I'm keeping her in the swaddle until she's able to roll over. It's think it's the main thing that keeps her asleep during the light part of her sleep cycle!

Hey! I just had to go searching for this thread its been so long since anyone has commented!
Things are rolling along really well here. We've continued to be super lucky with overnight sleep...though Aaron is sometimes hard to put down at night (usually wakes 2/3 times and has to be rocked back to sleep), he has been regularly going 8-4 or 8-5. Some nights he seems to need an extra feed at 1, which I'm happy to do cause he always falls straight back to sleep - the early morning feed is a little harder, he doesn't always go back down easy.
Naps are a shit show - sometimes he will only sleep on me, sometimes for 20 minutes and sometimes (like right now) going on 2 hours. No consistency AT ALL. Trying to take it in stride and not worry too much. Its been really rainy the past few days so we've just been staying home and I've been letting him sleep wherever and whenever he wants. Getting cabin fever though!
He's such a happy little guy - his smiles kill me

I was thinking about everyone a couple days ago and now that I'm at work I can actually type at a computer for once

Things have been going pretty well for us. L is 12 weeks now (almost 13!). He usually sleeps a 5-6 hour stretch at night and then will go back down for at least 2.5-3 hours, but sometimes it can be another 4 hours. He will sometimes go back down after about an hour for short morning nap (sometimes can be as long as 2 hours). The rest of his naps are hit or miss. Sometimes he will take a 3-4 hour nap starting at like 9am, but other times he will hardly nap at all. He is still sleeping in the PnP in our room, but we are going to try to move him soon. I've tried the crib for naps and that has been terrible, but I read that babies do better in their cribs at night for the first time. L usually only naps on me or in the swing. We had a week or so when I started back at my nanny job where he slept several hours in the PnP they have set up for him, but then the next week he wouldn't sleep in it at all!

The hurdle we have to jump now is swaddle weaning He had been breaking out of the swaddle in the morning and spends a lot of time struggling with it if he is awake. I wish we could keep him in it, but I think he's mentally ready to be done with it. The problem is he still startles himself awake. I'm not looking forward to weaning him, but I think we are going to do it this week because the family I nanny for is on vacation so I have the week off. I'm not really sure where to start...we have a magic sleepsuit I got off ebay, but he is SO hot I don't want to hold him in it, but when I go to put him in it he wakes up. I might just turn the a/c waaaayyy down and hold him in it.

He is really trying to roll over (he doesn't quite have it down yet though) and he tries to pull himself up to sit when he sits on our laps! He is a super strong baby...I'm scared he's going to be walking at 9 months. He's getting into a fun age though...he smiles at me all the time and has become interested in his toys, books and our dog and cat.

I think the biggest things we have struggled with was constant spitting up (although I think it's starting to get better, but he does throw up a lot at night when he struggles, which worries me when he moves to his crib because I don't want him sleeping in puke!) and an intense hatred for the car seat. I have tried so many things to make it better, but he just screams anytime we are in the car. I even contacted Chicco about him possibly overheating and they are sending me a new cover for his car seat. I haven't gotten it yet, but I'm really hoping it gets better. I feel trapped and get really anxious when I need to leave the house because of it. We did make it to an appointment and almost all the way home without him screaming today...it was one of the best car rides we have had in a long time. I have a feeling he feels alone back there, so I'm really hoping it is just a phase.

Oh and he totally has a witching hour from about 8ish-10pm when he finally will go to bed. I usually end up nursing him most of that time (he nursed for an hour and a half last night!) while DH plays video games or we binge watch Futurama. What an exciting life we live

@MrsRcCar: (I just changed my username after a round of googling since I use my old name for several other accounts and don't want to be too easy to find!) we tried one night because we were already sleeping like crap and it wasn't any worse than the night before, but he seemed a little stressed out by 3am so we decided to back off until he was completely swaddle weaned. My sister gets married soon and we will be traveling for a week so I think we might hold off until we get back. He will be about 4 months. I'm glad your trip went well! I am terrified of flying (I take anxiety medicine for it) so I'm not sure when we will take L on a plane!

L slept like crap the week we started swaddle weaning. Like no more than 1 hour stretches and sometimes he wouldn't go back down at all. It was horrible and I almost have up but then I think we figured out why he wasn't sleeping. L has learned to roll! He rolled back to front (he mastered it on Sunday just before turning 14 weeks) and on Tuesday he started rolling belly to back but doesn't do it very often. It sounds like rolling usually starts at 4ish months so I'm wondering if we hit the 4 month sleep regression a little early. I really hope so because I do not want have over a week of waking up every hour again. Sleep has slowly gotten a little better (he actually just slept a 6 hour stretch!) but he seems to sleep worse the days he naps better. Yesterday he took an hour and a half nap in the afternoon (that's it) and slept much better tonight. The day before he probably took 5 hours worth of naps and was up every 2-1.5 hours. I'm not sure what the deal is! He's been napping in the swing so I think I'm going to attempt to wean him of that since if he takes crappy naps he seems to sleep better at night. We will see how it goes!

How's everyone doing?
We did some light (but still horrible) sleep training this week (15-16 weeks old) and its been so great!! Aaron can mostly put himself to sleep now and has been doing really long stretches. I'm worried now though, because a) we need to swaddle wean - he hasn't rolled back to front yet (he has been rolling front to back for weeks), but it very close and b) we are flying home to Canada from Australia in less than a month and I don't want to have to deal with swaddling while we're over there.
I thought we were experiencing the 4 month sleep regression, but he was only off for a few nights and is back to being a good sleeper, so who knows!?
Anyone have advice on swaddle weaning? Cold turkey or one arm in/one arm out? What do you do about keeping them warm? its winter here so pretty chilly at night...ugh I wish I could just swaddle him until he's 16!

@ScarletBegonia: tell me more about how you sleep trained!! E was sleeping sooo great, like 10-6, eats and back down for another 4 hours. But now I think 4 month regression is hitting and she's harder to put down and will wake up more. Her naps today didn't last more than 30 minutes when I used to get 2-3 hours naps. We are also still in the RNP for all sleep because I'm chicken shit about transitioning to a crib. I'd love to know how you did it!

Hope all the March mamas and babes are doing well! Let's see some photos! Here are some recent pics of Emily:

So no judgement on the sleep training please. I know he's young for it (we started at 15 weeks exactly) and he actually is not a bad sleeper at all. The thing is that, every night bedtime was taking longer and longer. I would (and still do) nurse him basically to sleep, pick him up and rock him on my shoulder for a few minutes til he was asleep, put him down, he'd cry, pick him up, rock him to sleep, put him down, he'd cry, and repeat ad nauseum. When he finally would stay down, he'd sleep 45 minutes (you could set your watch) and then wake up crying, and we'd have to start all over except this time he'd last way longer with 45 mins of sleep under his belt.

To be honest we probably could have continued doing this for a while - once he is properly asleep he would do long stretches, sometimes 8-9 hrs, followed up by a 3 hr stretch, up for the day at 7ish. The more we talked about it though, the more we realised that we both wanted to nip the issue in the bud rather than have to deal with really ingrained issues at 6, 7, 8 months. Neither myself nor my husband are agains CIO. The first night he went down without any fuss after being nursed (in fact he was slightly awake when we put him down but put himself to sleep). Woke up after 45 minutes, cried. We checked on him and patted him at 5 and 10 minutes, but realised that he was waking up more when we were checking, so eventually just let him cry - it was never hysterical, always just whiney. He cried 28 minutes . It was terrible! But night 2 he slept right through the 45 minutes! Night 3 was bad, another 30 mins or so of crying, night 4 was great, slept through again, and we are now at 849pm on night 5 - i *think* we may have escaped the 45 minute wake up, but I'm not counting my chickens yet. It was definitely so hard listening to him cry, but I think we did the right thing...I'm pretty sure it would have been harder later on when he knows more what's going on around him.

Naps are still a total crap shoot. Sometimes he'll do 2 1/2 hrs, sometimes 30 minutes! Today was a horrible nap day.

Like I said before, I think things will totally fall apart when we swaddle wean - i don't trust my son at all to be able to sleep without a swaddle!

@fussygal: I'm so sorry to hear of your sleep troubles. I would definitely think about CIO but again that's just me. You have to do what works for you! Good luck!!

I don't understand what's going on with Lincoln's sleep! Anytime he takes decent naps during the day he sleeps like absolute crap at night...he sleeps well at night if he doesn't nap at all. It confuses me because usually the better they nap, the better they sleep at night. The past couple nights he has woken up every 2 hours and at both wake ups last night he nursed for an hour and a half each time! He is an intense baby though. He wants to move and sit up so badly. I think a lot of his crabbiness is due to the fact that he just hates being stuck! He was rolling back to front non-stop and then rolled front to back a couple times but this weekend he stopped rolling...I think he's just choosing not to roll because he hates getting stuck on his belly. He loves playing with the toys on his play mat, reading books (especially touch and feel) and he loves our animals. My sister gets married next weekend so we are traveling for a week. I really hope he does ok...but luckily my mom will be around to help us out too.

I'm glad everyone is doing well! The babies are so cute and getting so big! I'm hopeful L will start to grow out of his crabbiness and become more easy going. I would love to do more things with him, but leaving the house is so hit or miss.

@Mrsjets: I'm jealous Leah seems to like the Ergo! I thought L would love it but he screams whenever I put him in I did try the hip carry with him and he liked it a lot, but he's not quite big enough (his legs don't bend correctly). I can only get him in the ergo if he's sleeping.

@ScarletBegonia: we are attempting a combination of CIO and no-cry. We have tried leaving L in bed awake and his crying gets so out of control he can't calm down unless I nurse him. But he is distracted by me if I stay in the room, so I lay him down mostly asleep (but still sucking on his paci) and leave the room. If he starts crying (not just fussing) I pick him up and calm him then put him back down and repeat until he falls asleep. It's hit or miss on working...he will go to sleep but then wake up after an hour. So for night-time wake ups did you just nurse him and put him down or have him CIO on those too? Our issue isn't necessarily the initial putting down...it's the number of wake ups. I know he can go at least 6 hours without eating because he was sleeping that before we swaddle weaned. Some nights he will do a 5.5 hour stretch other nights it's up every hour. And he won't calm down for DH at night so I'm either laying awake listening to him scream or dealing with him. We might have to reassess at 5.5-6 months and try CIO again if he doesn't get any better.

@Mrsjets: ya I did...I use that username for almost all of my accounts and realized after googling it that I would rather not have my Hellobee account come up if you searched it. I can at least hide all the content in my social media accounts! I wanted to do it for a while but I couldn't come up with another name

I'm hoping L gets used to the Ergo...we do the blanket rolled up. I am assuming I am doing it correctly, but maybe I should post a photo to the baby wearing board. I thought he would love it because he likes to be held upright, but he hates it. I would love to get him in it because I nanny a toddler that is way too rough with L (he just hasn't learned how to be gentle yet) and I'm always afraid to turn my back if he's in the bouncer or swing. Making lunch gets difficult if L is awake!

I really hope the crabbiness gets better. I feel like I spend so much of the day worrying about him melting down because the meltdowns are SO BAD. I think you could be right about the digestive development. I also think he will be happier when he can sit up or move around more...at least I'm really hoping!