Weekly chat thread end of April - Page 3

[Nicole730]

Napping during the day:

I think a lot of the suggestions have been said here and there, but here you go:

Put the baby down to sleep a the first sign of sleepiness. Could be as soon as only being awake for one hour. Especially in the morning, if I can get DD to lay back down about one hour after she wakes, she will fall asleep on her own.

Try a swing

Allow for one nap a day on you or with you- then you get at least one good nap and a less fussy baby

Nurse to sleep and then wait until baby is in a really deep sleep and slide off of you, make sure surface you are transfering baby to is not cold

Put baby on his stomach to sleep

Swaddle before nursing to sleep

Take Bjorn or other carrier off your body and leave baby in it. I did this with the snugli sometimes with DS. Works really well with a ring sling.

Take a shower with baby in the bouncy seat, sometimes the water/fan noises put baby to sleep, then tiptoe out of the room! (Leave the fan on for noise)

[Snapdragon]

excellent suggestions, thank you! At first I thought it was so easy as all I had to do was swaddle him and put him down. Okay- I am going to try some of those. I am desperate for a shower right now! Thanks again for the good list I think I should copy those out and look at them again.

what are some good swings?

[Nicole730]

DD was a lot easier to get to sleep in the beginning too. I can PM you if you want, the book I read that explained infant sleep, it really made sense to me as to why DS wouldn't sleep when I knew he was tired. But it is a lot about catching those early sleepy cues and getting baby to sleep right away.

Another first time mom thing I was hesitant to do, was put the baby down when he was awake. Now for DD I do that more often. She sits in her bouncy chair and watches us play, read, wash dishes, shower, etc... I felt guilty about doing that for DS, but I would have benefitted from it because I was always holding him while he was sleeping. So, if he was okay being set down when I did the dishes, it really isn't a big deal, you know? It's hard though. Some baby's just want their mama/daddy to sleep, no matter what you do. But it's worth a try on the other things.

We have the fisher price cradle swing that can swing either direction and has different angles for the chair. It also has a plug which is really nice. It was quite expsensive though. The cheapest I've seen them is from kohls.com with a coupon, but we got ours at BRU.

[Snapdragon]

yes, please pm me that book!
hm- I just notices a small red area under his neck- he gets this yucky goop stuff in the folds of his neck fat (!) and I usually just clean it with a soft wet clean cloth. Ome time about a wk ago, though, I used a little witch hazel and then I noticed the area got red. That was days ago. Now it is still red so maybe that is bugging him? oh well. We see the pediatrician in a week and hopefully this red thing will be gone sooner than that. sorry to go on and on all the time just radically adjusting to this newness over here. I do have IRL support I can get if I need it but I tend to be somewhat of an alone with my husband person, by choice.

[aramat]

Love the sleep suggestions, Nicole730!

Originally Posted by Katie34

It doesn't seem food related to me though everyone suggests that. I don't know but I do know the list of things to avoid and I don't eat much of that stuff at all. It seems more over tired related. On the days when he naps a lot he is a cheerful baby. Then there are the days when he just won't fall asleep and he is not cheerful at all!

I'd look for symptoms of reflux first, rather than looking just at your diet. Do you ever hear him re-swallowing? Does he only want to sleep upright? Do a google search for silent reflux symptoms. (I bring it up because it's important to rule out. Ju had this problem starting at ~4 weeks old. Does Teo ever cry like it's a pain, especially when he's full or after laying down? Ju would also nurse more frequently on reflux days because she discovered the milk soothed her esophagus.)

Showers -- I either sneak out of bed while Ju is still sleeping, or I put her in the bouncy seat in the bathroom while I shower. When we finally get around to buying a baby bathtub for her, I'll put her in that and bring her into the shower with me. (Right now she bathes in the sink.)

Naps -- Ju usually naps with or on me. If I need to get something done, she either naps in the sling, or I wait until she is awake and put her in the bouncy seat where she can see me.

Oh, and the red crease under the neck -- just clean with water frequently and keep dry; it'll go away. Diluted vinegar may help if it's thrushy.

[hapersmion]

We're still here! I have a giant happy baby - big brother is still nothing but sweet with him, which is great. He doesn't even try to lie on top of him like he does with his cat, thank goodness, though he has tried to throw baby toysto him, which didn't go so well. Babies don't play catch.

I was hoping to avoid the blocked tear duct this time, but maybe it's hereditary. It's even the same eye that his brother had a problem with. Really, sometimes I feel like I got a little clone baby.

I've been able to do some real exercise this week, and even cooked an actual meal! Now to try to get back to working in the garden!

[HappiLeigh]

Originally Posted by Katie34

hm- I just notices a small red area under his neck- he gets this yucky goop stuff in the folds of his neck fat (!) and I usually just clean it with a soft wet clean cloth. Ome time about a wk ago, though, I used a little witch hazel and then I noticed the area got red.

My grandparents say the "old-timers" called those neck beads. Funny. I call it neck lint. It's totally normal, just watch in case it starts to smell yeasty. I had to blow-dry DD's a few times to fight the yeasties.

Re: sleep. Good suggestions! (Was the book Sleepless in America?) I can put this little guy down sleepy but awake, if he's swaddled. I could never do that with DD. DD would only nap in the swing if she wasn't on me. DS will only nap on me or swaddled and with the #$%! paci in his mouth, so keeping it in is my biggest nap challenge right now. He also seems to like white noise. He doesn't care for the swing.
I'd also say, is there a time you can put him down *awake* and happy to get a few things done without holding him? I can put DS in the vibrating seat and turn on loud music, and that holds him for long enough for me to shower or do laundry or something. He'll also lay under his crib mobile for a while and watch it go around. DD liked being laid down in front of the open door to the deck, and she also liked ceiling fans. Anything that will buy a few minutes!

It's a beautiful day here in Kentucky. The Derby is this weekend, so the whole city is buzzing with visitors and traffic and festivities and...bourbon! (And come to think of it, so am I, quite, er, happi[leigh]. )

[NicoleS]

swaddling - nope. Oddly Caleb was the only one of my kids who really didn't care that much to be swaddled after the first month.

daytime naps - I'm not stressing about those just yet - just let him sleep when he wants. He generally takes one nap mid/late morning for an hour or so, and then sort of catnaps in the afternoon around what we are doing. If he is really fussy and I feel like he needs a nap, I lay him on his tummy on a blanket on the floor near me. For whatever reason that almost always puts him to sleep, and I can keep an eye on him.

[aramat]

I'm just beginning to swaddle Juju; the weather is turning cooler now as we head toward our winter. I swaddled my middle daughter until she was nearly a year old. That and white noise really helped her to sleep.

Any other babies losing hair (yet)? Juju (4 mos) is nearly going bald!!

[NicoleS]

CAleb has a bald spot on the back of his head from laying on his back, but other than that my kids really don't lose hair. Then again they don't have much more than peach fuzz until the are over a year anyways.

[Snapdragon]

I have to tell you guys: I went out on my own w- the baby forthe first time today!! It was great, we did great. I think maybe he and I had been fussy from spending too much time alone in the house together. I feel liberated that I am comfy going out again! (added edit- I mean in the car- we have gone out walking lots but today we went to town and went to a cafe and to a store!)

[HappiLeigh]

Originally Posted by Katie34

I have to tell you guys: I went out on my own w- the baby forthe first time today!! It was great, we did great. I think maybe he and I had been fussy from spending too much time alone in the house together. I feel liberated that I am comfy going out again!

Good! Sometimes a change of scenery does everyone good. I have no idea how many extra $$ I spent at Target the first year of DD's life because sometimes I'd make idle trips there in the afternoon, just to get out. (And because she wasn't old enough to care yet what we were looking at. Target kept me entertained. )

[feministmom]

Originally Posted by HappiLeigh

Good! Sometimes a change of scenery does everyone good. I have no idea how many extra $$ I spent at Target the first year of DD's life because sometimes I'd make idle trips there in the afternoon, just to get out. (And because she wasn't old enough to care yet what we were looking at. Target kept me entertained. )

I did/do this too. Target is dangerous!!!!!

[Ficus]

Originally Posted by aramat

I'm just beginning to swaddle Juju; the weather is turning cooler now as we head toward our winter. I swaddled my middle daughter until she was nearly a year old. That and white noise really helped her to sleep.

Any other babies losing hair (yet)? Juju (4 mos) is nearly going bald!!

We are totally losing hair! And it is patterning after my DS1, leaving us with a toupee.

I would love to introduce swaddling and have it work. Felix never was into it, where we swaddled my other until almost a year. Of course, we have been tummy sleeping since nearly the beginning.

I haven't been here in ages--it's great to hear how well everyone is doing! I cannot believe we are 4 months old, now. We have lots of belly laughs and are growing well...but are on a nursing strike and I am about at my wits end in how to get this boy to nurse during the day (nighttime is no problem). Damn bottles and childcare. I DON'T want to become an exclusive pumper, but I smell it coming...

[NicoleS]

Why you should always take a jacket while babywearing if it looks like rain:

http://img4.glowfoto.com/images/2010...530412492M.jpg

That is my shirt on OVER the meitai! Thankfully it was stretchy enough. He was facing in, and then it started to rain. So we got under an overhang and I put him in kangaroo style, got my shirt off (while still wearing the mei tai) and put it on over the top. My friend lent me her son's hat since her shirt was big enough to cover his head. She was smart enough to wear a tank under her shirt, so I just held her DS while she took her carrier and shirt off, but I just had a bra on underneath...so any onlookers got a good view of my back fat!

[Nicole730]

NicoleS - That picture is adorable!

[NicoleS]

Thanks!

[feministmom]

That IS adorable!! I love the chubby baby cheeks! how do you do the kangaroo carry? Do you froggy the legs? I like Miranda will like facing out fairly soon....How do you determine readiness? She holds her head up fairly well, but is still floppy when she's tired.

[NicoleS]

He doesn't like being frogged so I crossed them - sort of like he was sitting "Indian-style". He has pretty good head control but I'd only do it when he was awake...if he was sleepy I'd do the regular carry because he gets floppy too. I figured he'd let me know if he was uncomfortable.

[Nicole730]

feministmom - I've already put DD face out in our stretchy wrap too. Only when I know she'll be awake for a bit. I think I did "indian-style" too...otherwise just frog them.