-
@edelweiss: we survived! He definitely didnt sleep as well, but he went down easily after both feedings.
My baby 411 book says dont worry about habits until 2 months. It says newborns aren't aware of their surroundings enough at that point to form habits.
G sleeps on us or in the bouncer during the day and in the PNP at night. He does fine in the PNP at night, but I he only lasts about 15 minutes in it during the day.
-
@edelweiss: we've started working on her sleep habits. I spend huge chunks of time yesterday doing the drowsy yet awake pick up/put down shuffle. LO would go down then a few (3-4) minutes later would fuss. As soon as I'd pick her up she'd quiet down, smile, and nod off again. While its adorable and I love that she loves me, I can't let her sleep in my arms forever. Eventually I started singing to her (the ABCs because I don't remember other nursery rhymes) and putting her down then sitting next to her crib and holding her hand while singing until she was out. The whole thing took about 45 minutes for an hour long nap, but her next nap was much easier and last night we got 6.5 hours followed by four hours so I think it's working.
@jedeve: are you more rested today? ETA we overlapped! Glad you're feeling better.
@coacheswife123: I'm glad you and DH got over it. I'm the same way with mine. It's tough giving up control! Two weeks ago he decided to go to bed early and I asked that he change the baby first. Well, he did, but he didn't put the diaper on properly and about 15 minutes later the baby, myself, and my side of the bed were soaked in baby urine. I was sooooo pissed.
@littlebug: I still can't believe your in laws brought a sick teen to hang out with your newborn! I probably wouldn't have let them come through the door.
@birdofafeather: I think I follow you on IG. My screen name is my real name it looks something like wayaliana but the w=m.
@allison: I smell like you, but with a hint of spit up and hand sanitizer.
Has anyone tried bathing with your LO? It would be nice to kill two birds
-
@edelweiss: Yeah, D only guess down if he falls asleep in my arms. Drowsy but awake isn't happening for us yet, either. Arty night, I nurse/rock him to sleep, then put him in his crib. During the day, he sleeps on me. Occasionally I can get him into the rock n play, but usually he wakes up in a few minutes.
So every now and then, D will be sound asleep, then start almost crying. Like, he makes his crying face, and starts to wimper. He totally looks like he's going to burst into tears. Then he'll just stop and go back to sleep. I wonder if he's having a bad dream?
-
We've been trying for that drowsy state and sometimes we get it and other times she's just out. At this point if rather her sleep and since she can't self soothe with her hands or whatever, I feel like its my job to soothe her still. So I would say its a goal but not a must right now.
I've been sleeping okay since I haven't slept a whole night through since before I was pregnant. I would love to sleep the whole night but at this point, I'll take what I can get. She usually has a longer stretch first thing and then two more 3ish hour stretches. I'm hoping those just keep getting longer!
I also have a grunter so I do my best to ignore her until she's fully crying. But usually I can tell when she's going from fussing to fully awake/crying so if I can, I grab her before that point.
@oliviaoblivia: found you! Mine is my name too. Not consonants but the other kind of letter: aeiou and sometimes y.
-
@birdofafeather: I'm adding you on IG. Mine is my real name and my last name is so odd I can't disguise it haha ! My initials are LT! I will look for you other ladies too!
-
We survived last night! It was a great concert and I'm glad we went but we didn't get home till 2 am and I am exhausted.
Re the sleep habits - I'm not stressing about them for a few more weeks at least, ANY sleep at this point is so important for all of us.
-
Instagram: my real name. last name is ladder, but second d=n.
-
@dagret: I totally agree about the sleep thing. I'm just doing good to get him to sleep at this point. We'll work on him putting himself to sleep a little later.
He LOVES to be rocked in the RNP. It's kind of awful because a lot of the time he wakes up if you stop rocking. I'm glad we returned our swing because I think I'd be addicted to it if we had it.
Are y'all using swings?
-
@allison: J likes his swing but we don't use it a lot. Maybe every other day and when he falls asleep in it I turn it off! He sleeps in the RNP every night. We are prob setting ourselves up for a struggle with that one. But right now I just feel like doing whatever works.
-
@dagret: Glad to hear you went to the show...I'mstill super jealous!
@allison: @coacheswife123: I saw you both in @birdofafeather:'s list on IG, so I'll follow you, too! My username is e***_i**.
-
I have been MIA...having an 8 week old and a 3 year old is A LOT of work!!! Hope you mamas are all doing well! Your babies are soo adorable!. Here is a new picture of Molly. She is getting so big and has her two month check up this week
-
Baby Name: Molly Isabella
Birth day: December 21st
Birth weight: 7lbs 13 oz
Current weight: over 10 1/2 I think
Birth height: 19.69 in
Current height: not sure around 21 I think
Type of birth (vaginal/caesarean/miracle): C Section
Recent milestones: Big Smiles
How is sleep going?: some nights ok 4-6 hour stretches and others every 2-3! not so good
BFing?: yes and pumping
Any concerns?: how to get her to sleep longer...
How cute is DH with LO?: very cute. She is a daddy's girl
Next Pedi appointment: on thursday 2/21
Is it easier or harder than you expected?: i expected it to be hard with 2, but i feel like i NEVER sit down! Once Molly is alseep Oliver wants to play and run and be crazy!!! I need to start putting the baby to bed a little earlier(she goes down between 9-10), so I can have a little down time before the day begins again! -
I better get on IG!
We are definitely going to be home within 2 weeks. We may have to get a g-tube...we will see...but we will be home.
We went outside for the first time yesterday!
-
@shoemama: how precious she is a doll!
@Mrs Green Grass: YAY for going home !
-
@shoemama: So cute!
@Mrs Green Grass: Sunshine and going home soon! Congratulations!
@coacheswife123: @littlebug: I just added you both on IG.
-
@oliviaoblivia: added you !
-
@allison: we didn't get a swing for various reasons, including the fact that we have a small apartment and were trying to conserve space! and the RNP sounds like a magic charm--understandable why people love it so much!
@shoemama: she's beautiful! considering what it feels like to have 1 newborn, i can't imagine what it's like to have a toddler in the mix as well--kudos to you, you're doing a fabulous job! i'll cross my fingers for more 4-6 hour stretches at night (both for your little one and mine)!
-
@Mrs Green Grass: congrats on getting to go home soon!!
-
@shoemama: She's beautiful!
@Mrs Green Grass: Yay! The end is in sight!
Went for D's one-month appt today. He's up 1lb, 10oz from birth, but hasn't gotten much longer. I asked the doctor about "drowsy but awake." She said we're still in survival mode, and he won't understand what we're trying to do yet, so to just keep doing what we're doing for now.
-
@littlebug: we had our 1-month appointment today also, and like you, i asked about the drowsy but awake stage and when we can start sleep training. the pediatrician didn't have too much to say except that the general wisdom is that sleep training tends to stick better starting at 6 weeks. we'll keep doing what we're doing (swaddling/rocking/lullaby, giving pacifier or picking up when he inevitably fusses), and at some point we'll get more serious.
it sounds like little E has some reflux
we had some nursing and bottle sessions in recent days that were HORRIBLE because he would finish feeding and then all hell would break loose, and he was inconsolable for 30 minutes straight. he also would pull off the breast and arch his back. so now we're going to burp much more often during feeding, and keep him upright for at least 20 minutes afterwards. hopefully the reflux gets better. i'm also hoping that he wakes up less after being put down in the crib if we work on his reflux, but that hasn't really panned out yet...sigh...
it is a terrible feeling to feed your baby and have him scream at you in pain for 30 minutes. so i'm taking a break today and just giving him bottled breast milk, and pumping.
-
@Mrs Green Grass: yay!! So excited for you! Here's hoping he keeps eating well so it's an easy transition for him! And yes, get on Instagram! I'm addicted to seeing all the little ones!!
-
@edelweiss: Are you having him sleep more upright too? You can't put anything in your crib, but you can elevate the crib itself from the feet - like with phone books or a a couple 2x4s or something. The Rock n Play is also angled so it can be good for reflux. Positioning is the #1 thing that helps ease symptoms.
Also, rocking and somewhat even burping can exacerbate the problem. I definitely burp lo, but I try not to move him around too much and if I rock at all, I do it very slightly.
Did the doctor suggest any meds?
-
@Mrs Green Grass: congratulations on going home soon! and that's wonderful that you had an outing--you guys have come such a long way, and we are all so happy for you!
for the sleeping, i ran out and bought some firm pillow wedges and stuffed them under the crib sheet. i hadn't thought about elevating the whole crib--that makes sense too!
thanks for the tip about not moving him around too much. i know, the whole "let him digest" but also burping (with all the jostling it can entail) is kind of contradictory. i'll keep that in mind when we're burping him--thank you!
how frequently do you burp your little guy during a feeding?
-
@edelweiss: Probably halfway through the feeding and at the end. I do it because I know I need to, but I also notice him trying to avoid it a bit. I burp him by leaning him forward with my hand supporting his face around his chin.
-
So I feel like the worst mom in the world right now. It is 5am and I'm up with D fir the first time all night. Normally, that'd be cause fur celebrating, but I don't think it's actually because he slept through the night. Hubs' alarm went off at 5, and I of course woke up and realized D hadn't been up all night. I rolled over and realized the monitor had shut off at some point overnight. We run a fan in our room, and even though I can hear him from our room, it's not very loud, and there is s very good chance I could have slept through him crying. I turned on the monitor and he was awake, just laying in his crib. I immediately came running down here to get him, and he seems fine; maybe a littleextra snuggly. He definitely was up crying at some point, though, cuz he's got salt tracks on his cheek. Poor baby. I feel sick about it.
-
@littlebug: oh sweetie, i'm sorry about that. you are definitely not a terrible mom. we don't know exactly what happened, and even if he was crying, he's not crying now and is in the comfort and love of your arms. you take so many opportunities to show him that you love him and that you are there for him--that is going to completely eclipse any inadvertent "alone" time he may have had during the night.
also, if he had cried and gotten to the piercing shriek stage (something i've enjoyed the pleasure of many times already), you would have heard it, no doubt about it. so he didn't get to that point.
and, like i said, we don't know what happened--he could have cried for a couple of minutes and then was okay, like you said, he is fine and is enjoying the extra snuggles!
-
@littlebug: dont worry! you are not a bad mom! it happens and maybe he just didnt cry for very long or very loud, which is a good sign for his sleeping!
-
@littlebug: I'm sure he wasn't crying too loudly or too long. Don't beat yourself up over it!
So this morning L was fussy from 9am - 130 pm. Awesome. But I made the glorious discovery that if I put the RNP in the bathroom, and turn the shower and exhaust fan on, it soothes him for exactly the time it takes me to shower and do my am routine. I read about it in happiest baby on te block but was skeptical till I did it myself!
We are on our way back from a viewing - one of our friends passed away at 29 and MIL is still sick...and the dad Of our friend touched L's hand...I was so grossed out but he's grieving, ya know? So I wiped him down with hand sanitizer after we were out of the room.
On another note, it was hard to be at the viewing as a "mom."...and I'm terrified that L will end up with an addiction. I know so many people from good families who get sucked into drugs. It's sad.
-
@littlebug: I'm so sorry! I would feel exactly how you did but the ladies are right, if he was REALLY upset or hungry you would've heard him! I hope y'all had a wonderful day today to compensate for the mommy guilt!
@dagret: I have had some very irrational thoughts about something horrible happening to J. Anything from an addiction to cancer to a car wreck. It can be so unnerving to love someone so intensely. It's like my heart doesn't know how to handle it . One of my high school friends had a baby with a heart problem. He is fine but I recently saw pics from when he was born and all the tubes and needles in him really upset me for some reason
-
@dagret: I've been doing that, too, with the shower. It makes me feel like a new woman that I can actually shower! I'm sorry to hear about your friend. And I agree - being a mom puts stuff like that into a whole new perspective!
So after D's 8.5 hour sleep last night (if you want to call it that...I guess we'll never know), he went back to sleep from 6 till 9. Then at noon, he napped for 2 hours in his crib! And he just passed out in Hubs' arms after taking his evening bottle, so we took him upstairs, swaddled him, and put him down. When he was awake today, he wasn't fussy. Hubs had a really NICE evening with him - usually when Hubs gets home, D is hitting his witching hour and is a total crankipants. Tonight he was just awake, alert, smiling, and checking everything out. WOAH. Not deluding myself into thinking this may be a new pattern, but even for one day, I'll take it!
-
@littlebug: at this point, i'll take any few hours that are easy. we had an easy morning, of course when my mom was here--he took his bottle and burped like a champ, then for his nap went down with only one wake-up a few minutes into it. so i'm all, sweet! this is going to be a good day! totally jinxed myself. when i put him down for his late afternoon nap, he was fussing for well over an hour.
@dagret: oh, you are a trooper for dealing with 4+ hours of fussing! not being able to figure out what's wrong and to help them through it is very tough and can be frustrating (at least for me). i'm glad you found a way to take a shower and soothe him for a bit!
i've been saving my showers for the evenings when my husband is on his "shift".
speaking of, how are you and your partners dividing overnight responsibilities for your little one? when my husband comes back from work, he is "on call" until 1am (although admittedly i'm still involved because we give him a bath and whatnot), and then i take over after 1am so that my husband can get some stretch of uninterrupted sleep before leaving for work. it's working okay, although it hasn't been that long, so we'll see!
-
@littlebug: we are having our best night yet tonight ! I hope it continues through the rest of the night !
@edelweiss: when DH gets home from work he pretty much takes over and I do things around the house, shower, etc. we put j down together and once he is asleep I do it all. Since we are BF even if he gave a bottle and took over a night feed I would prob get up and pump so I just get up and nurse. He offers all the time but i just do it ! I'm super jealous of him in the sleep department to be honest!
-
@Mrs Green Grass: So happy to hear Dylan will be able to come home soon!
@edelweiss: I do all overnight care of LO since DH is working mornings now. He helps after work and on his days off we take shifts overnight. We will see how it works when I go back to work.So glad to hear everyone's little ones are doing so good!
@edelweiss: We are now dealing with reflux
I know how much it sucks to hear them cry when you cant really help much.Well I had my first frustrated tired momma crying breakdown today. I had to call the Pedi again and I just felt pretty helpless, totally wish I had family that lived close by to help at times. Abi was put on Zantac today for reflux due to her new formula. If its not one thing its another! She now poops at least once a day if not more so that is great ( I cant believe how much she had in there!). But now with the reflux she has not slept longer than 2 hours for the last 5 days for naps or overnight
Most of the time she wakes up 45 minutes or so after putting her down and then it is like every 20 minutes after that until her next feeding. The only way we can get her to sleep longer is if we hold her but sometimes that doesnt even work. She fights sleep so bad she is up most of the day. She got up at 8am, i tried to put her down for a nap several times in different contraptions but she just wakes right back up crying. I finally got her down at 12:40 and I slept in the recliner in her room. She woke after an hour, but if you give her a paci she goes back to sleep but once if falls out she cries, it is a never ending cycle. I have been trying other ways to soothe her but she just wants the paci, does that have to do with the reflux? Cause since she has been having that issue I feel like she has become completely dependent on the paci, something I really dont want to happen. I finally gave up at 3:30 after half a dozen wake ups. The Dr said this is going to be the height of the colic as well but it should pass in a week or 2. Dh is off tomorrow so I am going to try and get some much needed sleep tonight.
And I too have completely irrational fears about LO and DH all the time! I cant stand it. -
@pinkb: i feel like i could have written your post. getting my little one to fall and stay asleep also feels like a never-ending cycle. you have been dealing with so much! i've had several breakdowns, and that's even when my parents live 5 minutes away and my sister was in town all last week! you are doing an amazing job.
i totally hear you on the game constantly changing--at first i was concerned that my milk wasn't coming in, then i was obsessed with his sleep (and still am), and now i think about his reflux an obscene amount.
for the reflux, we have him sleeping on an incline with the help of some pillow wedges. i was so relieved when he slept much better last night and this morning, but then everything went back to "let's wake up every 15 minutes for over an hour during a 2-hour nap".
regarding the pacifier, i read somewhere that using it helps stimulate saliva, which is good for babies with reflux. at this point, just do what you can to make them (and you!) comfortable. i talked to a couple of friends about my concerns over using a pacifier, and one said she only used it to help one of her twins sleep, and she weaned off on her own. my other friend, also with twins, said both of them weaned themselves off within a year.
do you feel like the reflux gets worse at night? i'm just wondering why my little guy is having a harder time in the evenings. sigh.
-
Sounds like a lot of us are dealing with fuss pots lately. Today R slept for a good while in the morning and then from noon to 7 refused to sleep more than 30 minutes and was cluster feeding like crazy. I went for my first Dailey method class tonight and DH tried to get her to sleep but instead she slept for 20 minutes and cried for an hour. We tried a bottle last night but she wouldn't have it and DH didn't try again while I was gone. I'm wondering if we're coming into a growth spurt because R is never like this!
I told DH to gear up for tonight. I'm scared because she's normally pretty regular! DH gets up and changes her diaper and then hands her off to me to feed. He is usually asleep before I let down! If he's getting up early for school I try to give him one pass for the diaper change so he can get some good hours in!
-
Dh just woke up sooo sick. Throwing up. I feel horrible for him and am worried if he has a virus that J will get it
-
@edelweiss: is there anything different that you've eaten in the evenings? Does he take more volume?
D is getting fussier too. It's hard to tell what he wants, but tonight a tight swaddle was magic!
-
Yeah, D was crazy fussy the past several days, and then yesterday it seriously was like we had a whole different kid. I think he was going through a growth spurt, and now we're in the other side of it. We'll see how today goes, but that's my current theory. That or we just had s good day cuz he was tired or reacting to the Hep B vaccine he got on Monday.
-
Ugh, I'm pretty sure I've got a plugged duct. The left side of my left breast is insanely hard and tender, even after pumping or nursing on it. Can't wait till D is done nursing right now so I can get a compress on it. Yeow!
-
@littlebug: oh no
feel better soon. Ps I love how this thread gets comments at ALL hours of the night ! Zombie moms !
we had some nursing and bottle sessions in recent days that were HORRIBLE because he would finish feeding and then all hell would break loose, and he was inconsolable for 30 minutes straight. he also would pull off the breast and arch his back. so now we're going to burp much more often during feeding, and keep him upright for at least 20 minutes afterwards. 
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite2
762 comments