Aprils High-Needs baby tribe...

[ann_of_loxley]

There I said it. I have a high needs baby. I am finally admitting it. In text -not out loud yet...

Who else is with me here?

Tips - tricks - advice - hugs?

Share share share!

[Knitting Mama]

I guess Cecilia is high needs in the sense that I can never put her down. If I hold her or wear her, she sleeps for hours. If I put her anywhere--we've tried swing, bouncy chair, Boppy, bassinet with sleep positioner, bassinet without it, even our bed since it's where we sleep at night-- she is awake in 10 minutes max. Overall, though, I don't mind; I like having her close.

[Carita]

aimee - mine is the same (ds too). i've chosen to think that is normal & all babies who are fine being away from mommy/daddy are the ab-normal ones! :

[Knitting Mama]

I think I agree; after all, she was cuddled and cradled 24/7 before! Why should she have less now. Plus it's been my experience that babies who are held/worn all the time cry less and are more confident toddlers (though I am sure that varies).

[rhiOrion]

I'll join, though I am starting to see some lightly longer times of quiet alertness, she is still more likely to be crying if she's awake than peaceful. We just got a prescription for Zantac today, so we'll see how it goes.

[ann_of_loxley]

I am fine with it - cept I wouldn't mind a shower. If he could just be happy for five minutes whilst I have a shower - then we can both be happy! lol

It is a good thing I already have slings and we do co sleep...cause if we didn't - he would certainly be the baby to convert anyone to MDC! lol

[Knitting Mama]

Showering has become a lot of fun for us. I shower when my husband's home and after I've washed my hair and body, he hands Cece in to me. She loves the shower SO much more than baths! Sometimes my husband joins us and then Cecilia and I get out while he showers. It's family fun.

[laughingfox]

I guess my babe probably counts as high needs.
She's generally pretty happy- unless I break the suction on her latch. It seems like she'll only willingly let go when she's asleep.

[rhiOrion]

L is starting to appreciate the swing more. I'm very excited right this second to be typing with both hands!

[Pepper44]

Ada also hates to be put down...ever! I'm not sure yet if she's high needs or just a newborn with needs.

My older DD was/is high needs. It became more obvious when she got past the newborn stage and was unable to sleep on her own ever, always needed attention when playing or doing anything. Now she is very...busy...at age 3. Constantly talking, asking questions, running in circles, etc. Quite exhausting! It's just her personality though.

I've survived one extremely high needs baby so far. I figure I can survive another pretty easily now that I'm well broken in. I no longer expect the baby to "let" me eat with two hands, sleep for hours, shower alone, not cry in someone else's arms or in the car...

I was prepared for it this time so it hasn't been a source of stress at all when I realized I can never put her down without her crying. Last time, with DD1, as a first time parent the total loss of space and freedom completely overwhelmed me! It was so hard to adjust, especially to adjust my mental picture of how life would be compared to harsh reality, lol. This time I just accept it for what it is and let it go.

[bubbamummy]

I think I can join, im not sure if Molly is 'high needs' or just more normal than my DS was. He would literally go days without crying, he wouldnt care if I put him down, he ate and slept and that was it. Molly on the other hand is fussy, she HATES the car seat with THE most amazing passion, so driving makes me a nervous wreck.

She has to be held 90% of the time and seems to cry so much compared to DS. Im pretty sure she has 'colic' as she cries most evenings for hours on end!

[rhiOrion]

geez, i hear ya on the driving thing. I thought I had the only baby on earth who hates the carseat, but i guess there are two of them

[Knitting Mama]

There's more than two! Cecilia hates it with a fiery passion. We even bought a convertible in hopes that she'd like it more than the bucket. No such luck...

[jenfl]

Another car seat hater! That's the only time Sprout gets a pacifier, because we weren't going ANYWHERE due to his screaming.

[Knitting Mama]

Cece won't take one, sadly.

[Pepper44]

Ada is a car seat screamer also. It's horrible!! She screams until she's hoarse, gasping for air, and purple in the face...and that's less than a 15 minute ride. It makes me so sad.

[bubbamummy]

its good to hear car-seat hating is normal. I see all these babies out and about in their car-seat travel system thingies and wonder where I have gone wrong-Molly would forever hate me if I put her in her car seat more than is necessary. She usually screams like im killing her as soon as I strap her into the bloody thing, i swear her screaming makes me drive faster...i will probably get a speeding ticket before she is 3months.

[rhiOrion]

i've wondered before what a cop would think if one pulled us over.

i will say that *occasionally* she'll fall asleep in there. And the other day we were in the car for about 6 hours total (back and forth to my parents' house), and she only cried for about an hour of it. Maybe an hour and a half.

But, to keep her from crying I had to tuck her magical fuzzy blanket really tightly over her arms, hold a travel fan in her direction, and carefully place the paci just inside the tips of her lips and not a millemeter further. Not very easy to do any of that when I'm driving and nobody else is around. My sister did all of that for me while I drove us to my mother's shower (yes, my mom had a "nana shower" since she's becoming a grandmother twice in one year), and my sister was joking around, "yes, and would you like me to peel grapes for you and feed you?!"

[snoopy5386]

hugs to all the mamas of carseat screamers. DD1 was one and it was one of my worst fears when we had DD2. Luckily she is much better - she is ok 70% of the time and screams the other 30%. DD1 was the worst though - screaming, beet red, covered in sweat, choking on her own saliva, it was awful. I would pull over every 10-15 mins of driving to take her out and nurse her and calm her. It was awful, absolutely awful and lasted about 6 months or so.