Hellobee Boards

@dagret: Ewwww...yuck! Not fun! Sorry you had a rough night. I was looking at the graphs on our baby connect the other day, and I could very clearly see when D was in the throes of the wonder week - his longest sleep got shorter and shorter until he was at the peak of the leap, then went back up incrementally. His worst was 4.5 hours, which was also the night it took me 2 hours to get him down. Maybe that's what's going on with L? Either way I hope it's better tonight!

@dagret: we had poop blowouts 3 mornings in a row that soaked through his clothes and mine, despite my efforts to hold him more upright during nursing (when the blowouts occurred) and a larger diaper. today, i went all out and put a disposable potty pad (we use them for our dogs) on my lap and stripped him down to his diaper, and...of course there was no blowout.

poop on the carseat and socks--it's going to happen to all of use sooner or later, so you're done with this rite of passage! now any other blowout won't seem so bad.

re: the 2-month checkup--oddly, it was his best day of sleep yet. i'm wondering if it was all the excitement of going to the doctor's office. funny baby.

@dagret: Blowouts are the worst! LO had her first one ever in public when I of course didn't have a change of clothes that fit with us. I ended up sending DH into Walmart to get her something to wear. So much for washing everything before she wears it.
And for the shots....It's rough seeing them in pain, but the extra sleep afterwards is a pleasant perk.

@edelweiss: We tried to fix a bedtime and I'll get her down pretty easily between 7:30 and 8 but for the past week she's woken up wanting to play at 10ish and won't go back down until 12. At least at 12 she'll then sleep through until 6 or 7. You'll have to report back on your methods of implementing an earlier bedtime.

I'm starting back at work (but at home) next week. I was suppose to be off for the full year, but my coworker quit and my boss is totally in a bind. So I'll be working part time until she can hire someone else.

Latest milestone: Yesterday I put Sophie in LO's lap and she straight away picked it up and put it in her mouth!

@dagret: i go back april 18, just 2 days after you! LO will be in daycare from about 8am to 4pm every weekday. the past 2 nights we put him down around 8pm and things went well, and then wouldn't you know it, i tried moving his bedtime to 7pm tonight, and i'm not sure what happened but apparently in his mind the universe exploded. so i thought, okay, he'll fall asleep around 8pm. um, that was about when he went into code red freakout mode and didn't stop until 15 minutes ago (9.30pm). not super late, but a total fail considering it was 2.5 hours after our first attempt!

@oliviaoblivia: unfortunately, see disaster described above regarding setting a bedtime! sigh.

for those of you who are going to send your LOs to daycare and are breastfeeding, how do you figure out how much bottled milk to send each day to daycare? we give LO a bottle at night, but the amount he eats varies and i have no idea how much he eats during the day. i guess err on the side of too much?

@littlebug: i agree, i think the first few weeks of going back are going to be total trial and error. although i feel like from your posts that you are as on top of things as one can be at this time! i think you'll get things figured out quickly.

oh my gosh i know about the napping. i actually had a dream last night about giving instructions to daycare about his schedule, and it was obviously all over the place.

is it horrible that a little part of me is hoping that daycare will be able to get him on a better nap schedule? i realize that's probably wishful thinking, but i also understand that they have way more experience with babies.

dude, i don't even have a feeding schedule down.

for those that breastfeed, about how often do you nurse?

I go back part time the 3rd week of April to ease back into things and full time in may. I dread it. I want to work but just wish I had shorter hours. 8-5 m-f makes me sad!!!

J takes a bottle and usually sleeps on us from about 7-9 them we swaddle him and put him in his crib. I will either nurse him or he will finish jus bottle if he didn't already. Then he will do anywhere from a 4 to 6 hr stretch followed by a 2-3 hr one

We successfully nursed in the side lying position this morning. It was so nice!!

@edelweiss: some days he will go to sleep at 8 and other nights not till 10! I have been bringing him to bed with me in the morning and sleeping till about 915 - I should probably cut that out.

And some days he'll have a clockwork schedule - up for 45 min, nap, up for 1.5 hrs, nap, up for 3 hrs, nap, up for 2 hrs, short nap, bed 1.5-2 hrs later....and then some days it's a sh!T show.

NO idea about the bottles - he won't eat that much out of a bottle when I'm home, but he will eat up to 4 oz if I'm not there. So 4 oz bottles maybe? I want to try and cycle in my frozen stash too. But also, I'm going to (hopefully) be popping over to feed him every day at lunchtime so who knows how he will eat for them... Sigh.

@Littlebug: like yours, L eats every 1.5-2 hrs still.

@coacheswife123: side lying is awesome but i feel like I get breastmilk all over the mattress! I was semi-reclined today and kind of draped him over me sideways...much more comfortable for both of us I think. Kind of laid-back nursing with a crossbody drape (he was face down?)

@dagret: I put one of his little blankets under us so we wouldn't make a mess !

@littlebug: you probably saw mrs. confetti's post about nap training, but just in case:
http://www.hellobee.com/2013/03/20/nap-training-at-six-months/

sounds like her LO had the same short napping schedule. the nap training didn't happen until 6 months, but it's something to keep in mind! not sure i would try to do it now because, among other things, my LO gets really pissed (not just fussy) when he wakes up from a nap, but maybe in a month or so when i'm more confident that training will "stick" and that he's more capable at comforting himself.

@Mrs Green Grass: that's awesome that your parents are going to help out with child care. so much more flexible and convenient. it's still so much to think about though, with all the logistics. i play out all these imaginary schedules in my head, which is kind of pointless right now because i don't know how his schedule is going to evolve this month!

@littlebug: i tried that strategy today. for one nap it actually worked--it was a struggle for about 15 minutes of going in there and holding the pacifier in his mouth, but he did go back to sleep and i felt so victorious. then the next time it was another struggle and he didn't let up after 15 minutes. either i just taught him that he just needs to fuss and cry for 15 minutes, or he was really not going back to sleep.

@dagret: yay for good sleep !!! J did a great stretch last night too!

Let me preface this by saying I feel so fortunate to be able to take such a lengthy mat leave (15wks) but after 8 weeks of being mostly at home, not fixing my hair or make up, etc i am starting to feel like I'm losing a little bit of myself. I envy my husband at work every day because he can actually be around people haha. I know I just need to get up and get out but with breastfeeding is just so much easier to keep him at home and less stressful on me. I will be so sad to go back to work though. I feel very conflicted !

I've gone out most days this week, but lo doesn't eat as well so I stayed home today. Didn't even take a walk. It seemed like too much effort.

I'm taking D to a baby shower tomorrow about an hour away. My mom is coming so I can sit with him in the car, but I'm still nervous!

@littlebug: weird! Let me know how that nap goes and if he adheres to it when he's not at day care. I can't imagine R only taking one nap a day! Which CDs are you doing?

@birdofafeather: We're going with the Bumgenius Freetime. We decided that an all-in-one would be easiest for the daycare and the grandparents.

DH is away this week in Florida, so I've been solo parenting. Way hard! He's usually at work all day anyway so I figured it wouldn't be that different - wrong! I didn't realize how valuable his arms are when he gets home so that I can get normal stuff done.
And I'm working part time as well. I'm just full of bad ideas.

Anybody else in over their heads want to commiserate?

@littlebug: nice! I think we would have liked the free times but we went for the 4.0s and flips. We have 3 elementals but the way the flaps lay aren't my favorite not to mention that they don't wick away the moisture so Rowan hates those!

@allison: I've really been impressed with the flips and the stay dry inserts. They soak up a lot! We double them up with BG newborn inserts from the 4.0s too. I like the stay dry inserts because they wick away moisture and the organic inserts don't. Those things are hearty though and absorb a ton. I think when Rowan gets bigger and more used to being wet, we'll go back to those. But I also love the 4.0s! It can be another step that you might not want to bother with stuffing them but once that's done, it's pretty much like an AIO. The only thing is, you can't dry the covers in the machine so line drying could be an issue? I throw them in after they've dried out a big just on low to finish them off. We need to get a drying rack and then hopefully I won't have to do that! We pretty much just bought into all cotton babies sells! I like having the option of either the covers or the pockets depending on the day!

How are all of you doing with sending LO to day care? I go back in two weeks and am slightly freaking out about it even though I always knew/thought I wanted it. Luckily, I don't have to worry about the schedule right now because DH is working from home and can take Baby A after she wakes up whenever. I will have to nurse her before I leave, but she's been getting up around 5/6am recently, so if that holds, I can nurse her then and let her get some more sleep DH takes her to day care. The more she's home, the better, in my opinion.

I've been trying to be better about putting on real clothes. I've only lost 15 of the 29 pounds I gained, so I bought some extra large jeans just so I would have something to wear other than yoga pants. So bummed that breastfeeding isn't helping more with weight loss. Have started eating better but need to find time to work out. Have been trying to take Baby A for more walks.

@littlebug: did you get a chance to buy some new clothes yet? i think that's a great idea to get some going back to work clothes to help take the sting out of returning from maternity leave and putting LO in daycare. i'm still having a lot of anxiety about the return to work and what our schedule is going to be like. i'm also not confident that LO will nap on the train as i would like him to.

@oliviaoblivia: how is your week going? kudos to you for going solo! my days are completely up and down from hour to hour. i'm working on getting LO to nap longer than 45 minutes, and it's been pretty stressful.

@BlueWolverine: i started getting anxious last week about sending LO to daycare--i go back in 3 weeks, and his schedule is all over the place, particularly because he wakes up really easily after a sleep cycle is done, and a 1-hour awake and 1-hour asleep schedule is just not fun and i don't want him going to daycare with that schedule (i'm worried they'll just let him keep that schedule instead of helping him get on something more reasonable). that's great that your DH works from home so there's more flexibility!

@edelweiss: I did! LOFT was having a big sale, so I got a whole new outfit, plus another shirt. I also went to the Lucky store and got myself a new pair of "grown-up" jeans that actually fit properly, rather than my Old Navy and Target jeans that fall off my butt. I really did make me feel a little better (not that I'll wear the jeans for work, but...retail therapy, I guess!). I feel like my first day back might be a little easier if I am wearing a cute new outfit.

I felt better about talking to the daycare about their schedule. I was really worried about what they would do with him and whether or not they would work with him. They told us that they will feed him on demand for the first couple of weeks while he adjusts, but eventually they will get him on a schedule of eating at 9, 12, and 3. And naptime will be from 1-3 (which still shocks me). It helps me to know what I need to start working towards at home. I am attempting to stretch out his feedings. Anyway, my point is, maybe if you talk to the daycare about what their expectations/schedule is, that will give you some reassurance, and something concrete to work towards?

@edelweiss: his max is usually between 1-2 hrs but his last awake period before bed he usually does 3-4 ! He spends those being a fussy gussy before totally giving up the ghost and passing out !