Hellobee Boards

@MrsRcCar: oh my goodness - i'm so sorry, so tragic.

@hilsy85: J always has cold hands! especially since they're always in his mouth & wet - doc said it was fine as long as his body was warm... sorry to hear he was up so much again! BOO - hopefully you're almost through it...

We finally had J's 4 month checkup today (at 18 weeks) - he's 15lbs and 26" --- he, like many of your LOs, also dropped a little in weight, he was usually around 50th percentile now he's in the 30th, but Ped thought it was fine, said it might be before a growth spurt... and he's still pretty long, but not in 99th% anymore.

trying to decide if we will start solids - I may wait a few more weeks. Interesting thing - the Ped recommended starting with pureed meats (gross, ha!) but she said they are the best source of iron out there which is what they need at the young age (6 months)... so, we'll see. We might just try the rice cereal first & see how that goes.

J WAS waking at 3am to eat for the past 2 or 3 weeks and knock on wood, has been sleeping through the night again, so hopefully we're back to normal... Now I'm FINALLY going to try to get him into his crib. I think it's going to be a rough transition but I think now is the time - I just noticed that I think he is aware that we are next to him when sleeping & I don't want him to get used to that. I love having him in our room, but I think it's time our babies are getting so big!

Oh, I forgot to ask - we're thinking about changing pediatricians for J. The one we go to is highly recommended and people seem to love the doctors there, but we think they're not very nice. They seem very rough and not very sweet. I know they need to manipulate the babies' joints and pull them up and poke them and everything, but I think you can do that in a nicer way? Are your pediatricians gentle?

@hilsy85: she was perfectly fine after her shots, woke up from a long nap and was cheerful. Phew! Sounds like L isn't ready to give up the swaddle yet then! I think if it works for you guys then that is the right thing to do. Btw L's hands are always cold too. We keep it 71-72 in her room and she has a footie and fleece sleep sack and her hands are still cold. I might even be overdressing her?

@Beehive: L misses J too! We should try to get together maybe when the weather is warmer? Sorry about J dropping some percebtiles, but LOL about the baby zoolander! Good luck with the pumping! If he isn't hungry, how are you going to get him to eat? I know if L isn't hungry she will scream if I try to put her back on. Hopefully J is more amenable there are two PEDs at my place and one is cold and has terrible bedside manner. But she is gentle physically...the other is warm and gentle...I prefer the latter obviously but she is leaving in May. Then we will just have to go to the cold ped. But its a block away and its convenient....plus she is well qualified I think. I can stand a little coldness I suppose. Anyway maybe some of the moms in your moms groups will have suggestions?

@Beehive: @SleepyMonkey: @mrskc: @hellobeeboston: I guess the cold hands thing is common! I just felt so bad--his hand was ice cold. But the rest of him was warm...I don't know. His naps have been really good the last two days fully swaddled so I kind of don't want to mess with it now!

@Beehive: J and L have almost the same stats! L also doesn't seem hungry after nursing and can go up to 5 hours during the day between sessions (I hardly ever let him because he's so skinny)...I'll have to see what our pedi recommends when we go back for a weight check.
@hellobeeboston: our pedi also recommended pureed meat as a first food! She said that she knows most parents won't do it, however, as it's kind of gross!

@mrskc: thanks for askinG! Nursing is going...ok. I did figure out that at least some of his fussing was because he was annoyed with a slow flow--which is ironic because I have a very fast/overactive letdown! I guess then it gets slow and he's not happy? So it helps if I massage my breast while he nurses--however this is really annoying and uncomfortable for me, but I guess I'll do what I have to do. However, a bigger issue now is that he just isn't really interested in nursing for a lot of the day. He'll only nurse for a few minutes for 3-4 of his nursing sessions during the day. I know they can get a lot in just a few minutes, but it still just doesn't seem like enough. As for supply, I really think I have enough milk--whenever he's on my breast, I can massage some out or have it spray out, so there's definitely milk in there. I've been drinking mother's milk tea daily though, just to help a bit.

I'm debating buying a baby scale so I can know how many oz he's taking per feeding. Part of me thinks it's silly when we have a weight check at the pedi in 2 wks, but I don't want to be really caught off guard if he hasn't really gained anything by then.

@Beehive: Ours is super gentle, almost motherly toward DD! I wouldn't be okay with a mean/rough doctor either!

So it's official we have a baby girl with 2 bottom teeth! thank goodness her getting up every hour the last two night has had a purpose! I'm hoping now that they are poked through she will have a little bit of a relief and can sleep better.

Thank you all for the thoughts for my family. It is times like this I am glad that I am part of this community.

@LuLu Mom: Yay! How Exciting!

@mrskc: I actually ended up ordering a baby scale off amazon, lol...it should be here tomorrow so I'm going to start doing weighed feedings. It's really weird thoug, he'll unlatch and there will be milk dribbling out of his mouth, so it's like he's just really not hungry/interested in eating! But it only happens during the day--his MOTN feedings and when I nurse him to bed are always good sessions. That also makes it hard to think about sleep training, since I don't want him to miss out on those good nursing sessions. @Beebug: oh my goodness, that's terrible. my heart goes out to her.

@SleepyMonkey: It's been rough that is for sure. I'm thankful she did 2 at once though, only 18 more to go

Alia is rolling back to belly and belly to back now. She is starting to do it with purpose which is really fun to watch.

For everyone that has started solids what foods have you tried? I've been really hesitant when trying new food because I'm terrified of an allergic reaction.

I'm sorry I haven't commented for awhile, sometimes this thread gets on top of me! Hope all your LO's are growing nicely and I can't believe that our wee babe's are going to be six months old in a month or two!

Anybody else feel like they're going through a bit of a slump at the moment? I'm not sure if it's sleep regression, teething or a combo of lots of stuff but I swear it's like we've gone back in time three months! Today started badly at 5am with me discovering I'd leaked breastmilk all through our bed (I've never leaked more than a few drops so this was a surprise!) followed by Miss A throwing up her entire feed all over the bed in her room and me (yay for a 5am bedding and pajama change for both of us) and then wakeups at 6am and 630am. We've also had a really fussy and non sleeping day so I hope tonight / tomorrow are better!

A's night wakings have been all over the place for the last couple of weeks, we've had a 630 sttn wakeup one night / morning (yay!) followed by a 430am, 530am, 630am the next, daytime naps have also been all over the place and I just feel.so.tired. I know this is just a phase and will pass but it's hard work...

@Mrs.B: I think we're going to start solids once A hits five months in a couple of weeks, I'm thinking of starting with pureed carrot or bananas and then moving onto baby led weaning after a wee while. I gave A a smear of icecream on a dessert spoon the other night and she just about fell over with excitement! Girlfriend definitely knows what to do with a spoon too

@hilsy85: Miss A is being funny with her feeding at the moment, she's definitely hungry but wants to arse round and bend away from the boob which is just so frustrating because it's negatively affecting her latch. I'm sure your LO is taking enough calories even if weight gain has slowed, as long as you're getting good outputs and he's thriving then you're doing good! From what I've read the slowdown in weight gain is really common at this age and several of the babies in my coffee group are going through the same slow down (Miss A on the otherhand is still packing on almost a kilo a month!)

@Beebug: So sorry to read about your friend, this would have to be any expectant parent's worst nightmare.

@LuLu Mom: Exciting news about the teeth!

@MrsRcCar: My thoughts are with your family, hope you're all holding together ok.

@Kemma: Thank you for your thoughts. Everyone seems to be getting through, I won't say over but through. I hope A's sleep gets to be more regular.

DH and I have been traveling like crazy the last couple of weekends. N has handled all the traveling extremely well. I am blessed that he rides so well in the car.

This past weekend I met up with @TURTLEDOVES:. It was so awesome to meet up with another mom. Most my friends don't have kids or their kids are way older then N. I am hoping to meet up with more HB moms in the spring or summer.

As I wrote this post DH and I are driving back home from the ENT with N. They thought it best do clip his lip so they went ahead and did it in office today. Poor N screamed like crazy for about 2 minutes and now he is fine. In fact he is asleep in his car seat.

I hope everyone is well.

Ps. N is 5 months today. Time flies.

@antsmom: sounds like he's a pretty awesome sleeper!! I think one wake up at this age is really normal. As for waking up early some babies are just early risers I think...if you leave him in his crib for a bit will he be content?

@MrsRcCar: yay for getting the lip tie taken care of!! Have you guys tried nursing yet to see if it feels better? i'm so glad they did it--and that it was so quick and easy!

@hilsy85: 5.5 oz is an awesome amount for one feeding! With numbers like that you definitely shouldn't worry about your supply

@MrsRcCar: good stuff on getting LO's lip tie cut, I really hope it helps with the breastfeeding. It sucks to hear baby upset at having it done but they bounce back so quick!

@antsmom: My Lo was born on the 16th and still does one night waking!

@mrskc: This week feels like it's been hard work and I'm seriously hoping we resume normal programming sooner rather than later. DH has been working night shift this week and LO and I have been busy and our routine is way off.

@antsmom: Welcome! My daughter was born 3 days after your son! Not sure on getting him to sleep longer, whatever you do in the hours from when he wakes to when you'd prefer him to wake could you be low key with him in his room (quiet, dark, not a lot of stimulation, etc?) and maybe that would push him to sleep longer (eventually?) maybe?

I'm the worst one in the world for any sleep advice right now.

@hilsy85: That is awesome about 5.5oz! Amazing!!!

Picked up C's next step car seat today, will be tricky these next few weeks, her "cozy" thing for her current seat makes it bulkier, but it's sort of starting to warm up, so not sure when we'll make the switch. It is so tight now (can't loosen it any further) with that (plus she's long, plus CDs). I pretty much carry her in to where ever I go now rather than leave her in the seat, so I don't think it'll be too much of a transition, except when she's fallen asleep in it and I can't just grab n go with the seat....

I've had a really tough few nights. DH is home for 9 days/nights as of Friday (March Break) so it might be time for some Paci weaning/CIO. She is rolling (just back to belly) like a crazy girl and getting herself stuck, so that on top of the paci and losing it (and now taking it out and chucking it (unintentionally, I think)) I'm a little spent. Last night I put a pillow and blanket beside her crib and just laid on the floor.

That being said she's currently sleeping on her belly. I'm beyond nervous about it, but if she can get herself there and stay asleep I have to let her, I guess??

@mrskc: wahhh so jealous! We had two nights where LO woke up only once, but now he's back to 2-3 wakeups a night. And last night he WOULD NOT go back down at 5am so I had to rock him for a bit. Boo!

I have a feeling we'll be doing some sleep training after his 5 month appt. @Beebug: how was C last night?

@hellobeeboston: Hope you can get out on a flight today and get the night out, sounds exciting!

@hilsy85: Thanks for asking! I am not sure if she's getting better or I'm just get more used to the awfulness, lol. DH and I now tag team it, it was about an hour and a half last night after I fed her of lay down, roll, her cry, flip her back, paci in, paci thrown, paci in, roll, repeat 80 zillion times. I finally got two big pillows and from her waistline down wedged her so she couldn't roll. She cried for like 30 seconds and then was out cold on her back, once I knew she was out out, I took the pillows away and hoped for the best. She woke like 5 mins later, paci back in and actually stayed asleep until this morning.

DH and I have been talking about sleep training, and we decided until she's sleeping on her belly regularly or can roll herself onto her back it's not really fair to her. In the meantime we will tag team, reduce daytime paci use and try to get her napping on her belly and hopefully things will come together. DH waking with me through this has really helped me mentally, and made him realize that sleep training is definitely needed. Before I don't think he was on board with CIO at all, but I have been sending him lots to read about it and he almost seems to have a handle on our plan more than me now, which is really re-assuring!

All that being said she's napping on her belly right now!! She looks so cozy, I stayed with her a bit, but needed to have brekkie, so we'll see how long it lasts.

We went on a huge walk this morning, the nice weather is coming! It's above zero, I walked with no weather shield on the stroller for the first time and it was so fun, I think she loved it! I had the sun shade down all the way though, sun was so bright!!

Dumb question, when it's no longer cold enough for snowsuit (it really wasn't cold enough today, but I did it out of our norm) what will I put her in? Jacket with blanket on top? Lighter snow suit like one piece? What does everyone else do in warmer temps? All I have ever used to date (and in the carrier too) is a gap one piece snowsuit that's like an inch thick of fleece with whatever she has on underneath, and then in the stroller a blanket on top of her, and then the plastic weathershield. Why do I feel so dumb with what she should wear now, oh my.

@mrskc: It seemed to me there were like two options for convertible seats versus the oodles of choices for infant seats. Ours is a "safety 1st" brand one, black, I read the manual last night, DH and I going to install it this weekend.