Hellobee Boards

@kjpugs: Hope things sort themselves out! Are you back on regular Similac or AR? LO is a "happy spitter" - she spits up A LOT but doesn't really have any other symptoms of reflux. We have Zantac but I seldom give it to her because I'm not big on medications if they aren't needed. Zantac does not really remedy the spit up but it helps if they are having discomfort from the reflux. I'm not sure what your plans for solids are, but you could think about introducing cereal - that is supposed to help with spit up!

@avivoca: How are you feeling? I hope you are feeling better and your supply is back up!

@kjpugs: I don't understand - does he mean that reflux babies teach themselves to sit up earlier because it helps them feel better? If that's the case, that is sort of sad!

PS: How are things going with the sleep consultant now?

@daniellemybelle: oh yeah and sleep training is on hold until we figure this all out.

@daniellemybelle: I'm actually glad because otherwise we probably would have just kept going like we were! She suggested that we look at it because she's had personal experience- I called the ped about it and they just told us to give it a try. When it didn't work they wanted to see us. The doctor today said they can be similar but that for every 1 milk protein sensitivity he sees 25 reflux. I'm more annoyed that the nurse was like "SURE TRY IT!" But I think it's maybe more of an E thing that the Alimentum didn't agree with her. Overall I'm grateful for this "ride" because it helped us figure out what's going on and realize that there really was an issue there, if that makes sense?

@avivoca: Oh no, that sounds awful. I hope you start to feel better soon on the new meds.

@kjpugs: Hopefully the reflux meds will help! Sounds like things are back on the right track at least. Hopefully your LO starts to do better soon.

@daniellemybelle: Is the sleep training still working for you guys? It seemed like we got past the 4 month regression but our LO's sleep is just awful again. I ordered Ferber's book and we are thinking about starting this weekend. I'm really hoping it works for her.

I have a question? How many times a night is everyones LOs waking? M goes down at 7:30 and wakes at 12, 3 and then up at 6. DH thinks we need to break him of a feeding but he's drinking a full 6 ounces each time. I think he's hungry and breaking him of a feeding sounds like starving him in my mommy mind.

@singingbee: thanks for sharing. Friday we had one wake up so that makes me feel like we are getting closer to more sleep. DH is being negative about it and it's making me sad. I needed to hear it's developmentally appropriate.

@avivoca: I'm sure! Being sick doesn't help. I'm actually laying in bed now. Matt had an upset tummy last night and had an extra, sad wake up. Plus his sleep hasn't repaired fully from the 4 month sleep regression. Daylight savings better not get in our way either!

@ladybee: Oh gosh, I forgot about DST! I'm skeered.

On the sickness front, I'm finally starting to feel better, but my husband came down with a 102* fever last night. Please, can we catch a break soon? Today is my second day in a row fever-free, and I'd like to keep it that way. I spent all last night taking care of Hyla and Daddy, and once she was in bed, I rushed to do the chores (dishes, cat boxes, bottles/pump parts) and had to rest after that before taking the dog out. BUT...I'm off one of my medications now! Now I'm only taking the antibiotic and the Prednisone.

I called my midwife, pediatrician, and consulted Kellymom/Toxnet to make sure my medications were safe for breastfeeding, and I'm still a little worried. So I'm sending her to school with at least one bottle of frozen milk per day to lessen her exposure to the drugs and I'll be throwing out my milk from my am pumping session since it's only about two hours after a Prednisone. The afternoon session happens right after I take a Prednisone, so I think it's safe and the levels will be low, especially since I take a decreasing amount of pills every day.

hello ladies

I cant seem to stay caught up on hellobee anymore... Things are so busy at work that i barely even have time to check my personal email and i get no cell reception in the pumping room at work to go on in there.

I think we've finally made it over the 4 month sleep regression hurdle and Fiona is back to sleeping through the night with only 1-2 wake ups. Hubs is back to his normal work schedule and i think we might actually defrost this coming weekend, with temps in the 50s.

Hubs and I planned our first night sans baby we booked a hotel room in philly for the night to go out to dinner and go out drinking with friends. I'm so looking forward to a fancy meal, getting buzzed, loud sex, and sleeping through the night! plus i know Fi will be in good hands at grandmas.

I think we're doing better weight wise but we'll know more at her 6 month appt in 4 weeks. Fi is now doing 16 oz at day care 4 of which are formula. I'm pumping away and with the help of More milk Plus, Mothers milk tea and lots of water i'm consistantly getting 12 + oz a day.

Fiona discovered her feet make excellent teethers, she's sitting up with out me holding her and had her first taste of cereal this week. Hard to believe 5 months has flown by so quickly.

@kjpugs: That does make sense! I'm so glad y'all are getting E sorted out.

@catlady: Sleep training has been up & down. I would say it is 90% "working." I definitely recommend Ferber's book, although he is light on naps, so I personally filled in the gaps with info I found online.

Good stuff: We are back to 2-3 night wake-ups to nurse which is not awesome but doable. She puts herself back to sleep when she wakes up other times at night within 5 minutes. A HUGE win is that she can also put herself back to sleep after her first sleep cycle during naps, so I no longer have to rock her back to sleep at the 40 minute mark 3 times a day, and she is consistently taking three 1.5 hour naps a day.

Not-so-good stuff: After several days of falling asleep in under 5 minutes with minimal fussing for naps & nighttime, we are back to crying The only thing I can think of is that we have had some car naps lately & got off her routine this weekend. If the only way it's going to "stick" is if we are 100% consistent all day every day, I don't know what we are going to do, because we will be trapped in the house!

@ladybee: What you described is almost exactly our nighttime schedule. We had to sleep train to it - she was waking up hourly for a while. I think waking up to eat every 3-4 hours is totally normal for a 4 month old. I have been only offering one boob at night though, and I have low supply so she is really just getting a snack. Maybe try cutting back one of his bottles at one night feeding very gradually, like a 1/2 oz every 3 days or so? If it makes you feel better, DH thinks LO should be STTN now, too.

@avivoca: Your poor family!!! You're right, you need to catch a break NOW!

Daylight Savings: Right now, LO's schedule is: Wake up at 6:30/7, nap at 8:30, nap at 11:30/12 (depending on the length of her morning nap), nap at 3, bedtime at 7. I'm thinking there's no need to adjust this for DST? We can just do the same schedule but an hour later. She won't know anything has changed. Eventually the days will start getting longer & then I imagine she'll naturally move her schedule back to 7-7. Does this make sense?

@ms.janedoe: Thank you! We had a really rough January and February. I started back at work 1/6 and Fi started daycare. We had back to back colds the weather was god awful and then at the end of the january, Fi got a stomach bug and we ended up in the ER for fluids. In February, we were dealing with her low weight gain at her 4 month appt, teething, really poor sleep more bad weather and my husband working night shift 7 days a week. At its worst, she would go to bed just fine at about 8:30-9 and wake up every 1 1/2-2 hours, by about 4am i would just bring her into my bed and let her comfort nurse until 6 when i needed to get up for work.

all in all we had about 6 weeks of really crappy sleep but like magic last week she started sleeping long stretches and only getting up once maybe twice during the night. My husband likes to think its because he's back to his normal schedule. So while we hit the 4 month sleep regression I think we had a lot of outside factors that made it way way worse.

@Sadieloo: thanks! Still working on that + sleep stuff. So anxious to start sleep training.

HAS AF RETURNED? haha omg. I wish not! I got it right after my 6 week PP visit.Same week my MIL visited and I went back to work. And I wonder why my supply peaked at 5.5 weeks.........

Hi Ladies, It's been FOREVER. Allow me to explain. I'm lucky enough to work part-time - right now one day a week and I only ever have time to hang out here on work days. Which are now crazy days since I'm cramming several days of work into one long, 12 hour day.

Anyway, Hope you guys, your partners and your sweet little ones are well.

Here's the latest on us : Georgi does not sleep. Ever. She usually wakes up every 3 to 4 hours at night. I'm on the fence about sleep training, but I'm wondering if she's not getting enough from nursing and hunger is behind her wakeups. Meanwhile, Mama is a ZOMBIE. On the days I'm not working, I'm usually wandering around my house in old yoga pants droopy eyed until about noon.
She hasn't rolled over yet, but we're working on it. Her head is flat, so we're in physical therapy for that and working really hard on tummy time. I keep blaming myself for the flattened head because she hated tummy time and I'd always pick her up, hold her, then put her in her infant seat when I had something to do. The guilt is enormous. Now we're tummy time champs, we just practice, take breaks, practice some more, and take another break...

Aunt Flo has been back FOREVER. I can't even remember when I got it. My supply is struggling, but I'm working hard to get it back up.
I think she's teething, lots of drool. Her hands are always in her mouth and she gnaws on my boob like its peanut brittle. Ouch!
Poop is still Code Green or Code Brown several times a day.
And my hair is still here -- it's shedding a bit -- but my hair is so long and wild I look like Chewbacca -- I'm getting cut and color tomorrow. Thank heavens.

Here's Georgi: She's my sweet Sugarbear, even she won't let me sleep. Who knew being a Mama would be so wonderful. I just had no idea I'd love her this much. On the other hand, I just want 4.5 hours of sleep. PLEASE!

@Sadieloo: No teeth yet but i have a feeling we'll be seeing them soon
We're still mostly EBF and we usually get one big poop in the AM when Fi first wakes up and another mid day at daycare

My hair is falling out in clumps it doesnt help that its long and curly and i wear it in a bun or pony tail most days but its getting ridiculous i clean the drain like every 3 days

No AF yet for me i'm dreading the return.... if on the mini pill will i still get it?

@abbylyn: Thanks for the words of encouragement. I feel like the only one. When folks say bedtime? I wonder what the HECK is bedtime at 8pm when she'll be up again at 11:30/12 and then again at 3am?
@avivoca -- Glad you guys are on the mend. Georgi's lashes astound me, I have none. I think most of mine fell out when I was pregnant. Or just transferred to other parts of my body. Here's to hoping you miss the blowout.

@Chillybear: I hope you enjoy your exciting night out! Your LO is so precious. What kind of cereal did you start with - rice/oatmeal?

@Sadieloo: Hey, good to "see" you!

No teeth, but the drooling & chewing intensifies every day!

S poops 1-3x a day & her poops are pretty much the same - really smelly, smily & gross. It's the formula we supplement with.

My hair didn't fall out at all after birth but it just now started! It's coming out in chunks & I find it EVERYWHERE.

No period yet, thank goodness! We are still BFing & I am not looking forward to its return...

@MrsMed: Georgi is so cute! We are tummy time failures too Honestly, waking up every 3-4 hours sounds totally normal to me! We were doing hourly wake-ups for a while - basically I'd nurse, put her down, and she'd stay down 10-20 minutes - but we're back to 2-3 wake-ups a night & I am thrilled with it! I think it's a bit too soon to sleep train for complete night weaning... we just sleep trained for fewer wake-ups.

@avivoca: I hope you are cured! Take a probiotic & eat yogurt so your nether regions stay happy!

@singingbee: How exciting that you started cereal! Oatmeal or rice? I think we will probably start at 5 months, too, even though right now at 4.5 months she is not really showing any of the major signs of readiness. My LC pointed out that "gastrointestinally" babies that have had formula are more ready for solids than EBF babies. I go back & forth between wanting to introduce cereal so hopefully we can cut back on supplementing, and wanting to start weaning & feeding her formula for more feedings!

@daniellemybelle: I'm taking probiotics like it's mah job. I need to pick up some yogurt this weekend.

What is a good first food other than rice cereal/oatmeal? My husband is chomping at the bit to start feeding food, but I want to wait until closer to six months. However, Hyla has been eye poaching for awhile and yesterday her bottles just weren't enough. We have sweet potatoes and bananas.

@Mrs. Yoyo: Not sleep hell, exactly, but Lucy is still waking up 3 times a night on average, and the last couple nights she's decided 5am is party time. I'm ready for STTN!

Soooo we attempted the crib last night. E's bedtime is around 6:30 so she went down in the crib. Woke up an hour or so later with her legs completely stuck through the slats. Woke up soon after screaming. This happened 3 times (the legs stuck seemed unrelated to the screaming though as they happened at opposite times.) Her teething seemed BAD last night so I don't know if it was that or what. I'm holding off on putting her back in there until we get breathable bumpers. When we finally get her in there I'll be sleeping in the bed in her room until sleep training starts in a few weeks. I'm so discouraged by last night

She needs out of the PNP because she's at the weight limit. It freaks me out. I also need to figure out these fussy "paci" wakeups. She sleeps mostly great until 4 or 5 am. Just one wakeup to eat most nights, around 3. But then VERY early, she wakes up whining/fussing and is "cured" when I put her paci in. I think the meds for reflux have helped that, so I don't know if it's gas, 4 month sleep regression, teething, or what. It's so frustrating. I really wanted to "cure" her of that before sleep training. UGH.