Oh man, when I said "put her down" I meant in the most literal terms.. physically PUTTING her down lol. Lila can tell the second she's not being held! It's so weird because she was a great sleeper. She's since decided no naps for her unless she's in arms. The big girl has taken advantage of the fact that I'm strapped to the couch.
We still don't have any major talking just "hiiiiiiiiii" when Daddy comes home, it's hilarious! She's clearly flirting with him!
Mae's the same, thats why I nurse her in bed. So I don't have any body parts under her. If I so much as step on something or shut the door with noise she will wake up and I have to get back into bed with her and nurse her until she falls back asleep.
We put the window A/Cs in last weekend (so glad we did-- it's been in the 90's and humid), so the white noise from that keeps him from waking up. Even before then I would usually get a fan running (even when it wasn't hot) just for the sound... that way his sister running up and down the hall doesn't wake him up and I can even tiptoe in the room if I need to get something, without him waking up.
We put the window A/Cs in last weekend (so glad we did-- it's been in the 90's and humid), so the white noise from that keeps him from waking up. Even before then I would usually get a fan running (even when it wasn't hot) just for the sound... that way his sister running up and down the hall doesn't wake him up and I can even tiptoe in the room if I need to get something, without him waking up.
I might have to find our fan so I can do that.
gosh the nap talk made me feel so much better! i get all sorts of flack for not putting Tso down for naps. he naps in my arms mostly. sleeps on his own at night. i employ the roll away and tiptoe out the room technique then! maybe i should try it during the day too. But it doesn't seem worth it when his naps are so short in anycase?
We have clapping and waving happening here. And an absolute obsession with standing - he tries to stand up - crawling is so boring apparently. I feel like he's going to just get up and walk one of these days and skip the crawling altogether. Lots of babbling too.
Lila is sooo cute! And so is Caden - sounds like he's having a ball on holiday!
I've been trying to get DD to nap independently, but she's not having it. She makes it maybe ten minutes on her own. When she wakes up, she's up—and grouchy—until the next nap. I keep trying, but having her nap in the sling has been so much easier.
Aww thanks for the Lila compliments. There are few things I enjoy more than showing off my baby!
I'm sorry that naps are so hard to come by, but it's comforting that it's not just mine who has decided naps are for chumps. I swear today she slept for about 6 minutes in the sling while I grocery shopped, and about 1/2 an hour laying on my belly while I laid on the couch. Even if she's sleeping 8 hours a night that's not enough.
I picked up a mesh feeder and fed her a breastmilk popsicle. She loved that! hopefully we can get these next teeth in quickly!
I have a mesh feeder but havent used it yet. Planning to with the watermelon this weekend because the thought of her swallowing large seeds just bothers me. I mostly got them to give her ice cubes during the summer to help her cool down some
And yeah... even trying to stay in there with her now she refused to nap. at all. all day. so yeah, is it official that children at this age decide that naps are unnecessary even though they are very very necessary?
She is so cranky and rubbing her eyes and "MA MA MA MA" grabbing at my boobs... but the moment she starts drifting she gets up and moves around as much as she can so she doesn't pass out!
It has been awhile. Wow such beautiful babies. They are all past the newbie stage, it's so amazing how fast time flies. I think we've made the cutest babies ever.
Clayton is 8 mos and got his second tooth last night and started crawling :) He did a "booty scootch" thing before that by getting on all fours, swinging his butt over, then sitting back up. He hasn't had any more seizures and we're going to see the Dr again in July and hopefully get another EEG done and if that is clear he'll be weaned off the medication. He takes it so well now though, so it isn't a battle. He says "Ma" and "Mama" for me, "Nuh nuh" to nurse, "Da" and "Dada" for my husband, and "Ba!" for his brother (and sister).
We are having sleep issues, he rolls all night so I think we're going to try to move to a crib. I'm just so scared of him rolling off the bed and can't really make my bed into crib lol. He hates to be set down when sleeping (still) so it'll probably be a long process :( It's really hard though, I love cuddling with him, but can't function on no sleep with 2 others to think about.
It is so refreshing to come in here and see that you all are dealing with the same things we are!
T is a perpetual motion machine of late, on the go all the time. And sleep has gone to hell, so bad that I (incorrectly) assumed that he had another ear infection! He's constantly moving, even when he's sleeping. Both top teeth cut through in the last couple of weeks too--he has a huge gap, Kelly! And whoever said that their kid is dissatisfied with cross-crawling? So right. He is getting faster by desperately seems to want to walk. I think he will walk sooner rather than later. He's still not talking much, but he's trying to mimic--just this week he tried to say "dance" and "Gaga" which is my mom's nickname. So cute! He's also loving solid foods so much that he stole a chocolate donut from his sister in the car and crammed it in his mouth. Piggy!
Mae didn't use her knees to crawl very long. She quickly learned hands and feet move her faster... and getting mommy to hold her hands so she can walk gets her there fastest.
Accidentally found a way around holding her while she naps today. Kids had an inner tube my in-laws bought them over spring break laying on our livingroom floor... I put her in the middle because she likes to flip it over herself (like that ring stack toy) and next thing I know she's lounging like this and dozing off on her own.
The cause of Mae's crankiness: One bottom tooth, two top teeth. All at once. She's not a happy camper. None have broken through yet but I see them bulging the gums so it cant be too much longer... I hope!
My friend Rebekah is a professional photographer. She got this picture of Silas a few weeks ago.
He's doing the rocking and scooting, but no crawling yet. He REALLY wants to crawl. Still lots of sounds and squeals, but no new words.
He's cutting his top two teeth. He is a biter! Sere, I'm totally thinking about weaning. I know that here on this wonderful AP forum, people think it's child abuse to wean before 2, but I feel like it depends on the baby. I'm not going to do hard-core forced weaning, but I have moved into the "don't offer, don't refuse" stage. When I first started that, I realized I was nursing way more than I needed to. I was offering the breast whenever he started to look fussy or peaked, and only after that didn't work did I try the potty or a different toy or other things. Offering the breast AFTER trying everything else, I've discovered I'm only nursing about 4-5 times per day (he gets a bottle of breastmilk in the mornings when I'm at work), but a lot at night. I hope to have him day-time weaned by 12 months, but I think we'll be night nursing up to 18 months. What DO people do when they want to comfort baby but don't want to nurse? I'm at a loss.
Does anyone STTN yet? Silas sure doesn't.
But he's cute and interesting and getting more fun every day. So there we are. It's so fun to see everyone's babies growing and developing--and all so different.
Oops, he's fussing. Got to go!
Mae - You may not want to hear this, and hopefully you'll fare better than we did, but about 4 weeks ago we had a fussy, non-sleeping baby and could feel a sharp tooth on the bottom (she has two already) plus see two beneath the gums up top. They still haven't popped. The top ones are very prominent, and she touches them a lot, but the bottom one we can't feel anymore, though she still presses on that spot a lot.
Also, we rarely nurse for comfort here, except for sleeping. Caitlin nurses a lot still, day and night, but doesn't really want it if she's upste. If she gets a head bonk or something like that, I just hold her and rock a bit. If it's bigger comfort, like we're in a busy place with lots of strangers and she's a little apprehensive, I wear Caitlin and bounce a lot. Snuggles, bouncing, hugs, and toys are the main comforting tools here, with shushing as necessary if she's really upset.
OMG Silas looks like Ozzy. The reddish hair, the big pretty eyes, the awesome chubby arms :D He is a cutie.
And LMAO at this: "I know that here on this wonderful AP forum, people think it's child abuse to wean before 2, but I feel like it depends on the baby" It depends on the baby and it depends on the mother. I don't extended breastfeed (past one year ish). I think EBF is great, but not for us.
With my firstborn, we started nightweaning at right about 11-12 months, and nightweaned before day weaning. I felt like getting sleep was more necessary at that point (hell I was about 5 months preg with Ozzy and exhausted). We did Jay Gordon, modified (about a week for each "stage" instead of 3 days)-- if you haven't heard of it, google Jay Gordon night weaning. It's very co-sleeping / AP-ish friendly. After she was night-weaned, and was eating regular food meals, her day-nursing really regulated itself-- iirc, it was first thing in the morning, right before the nap (she was down to 1 nap at that point, she hates sleeping), right after the nap, and before bed. So we started cutting those sessions out, one at a time, once every week or two. I think the first one to go was the after-nap... instead of nursing I would just cuddle her for a few minutes then get her a snack right away, then we'd go on with our day. Then the before-sleep-- she was always a rock-to-sleep baby, so I would just rock her like usual but would give her a sippy-cup of milk (the kind with the soft "nipple" so that she still got some sucking urge satisfaction) and hold her and snuggle and rock until she was asleep. I forget when we stopped doing the sippy-cup of milk... it phased out gradually, probably a month or so after the weaning was done. I think that "gradual" is the key word for anything weaning... there's no rush. But yeah, you don't have to nurse for any specific set of time just because some other chick does, just as you don't have to stop at any specific time just because other chick already weaned. :D You'll know when it's right for you and him.
Oh-- and Ozzy just got his top two teeth (3 and 4). They were stretching and bulging at his gums for well over a week. It was awful.
My friend Rebekah is a professional photographer. She got this picture of Silas a few weeks ago.
He's doing the rocking and scooting, but no crawling yet. He REALLY wants to crawl. Still lots of sounds and squeals, but no new words.
He's cutting his top two teeth. He is a biter! Sere, I'm totally thinking about weaning. I know that here on this wonderful AP forum, people think it's child abuse to wean before 2, but I feel like it depends on the baby. I'm not going to do hard-core forced weaning, but I have moved into the "don't offer, don't refuse" stage. When I first started that, I realized I was nursing way more than I needed to. I was offering the breast whenever he started to look fussy or peaked, and only after that didn't work did I try the potty or a different toy or other things. Offering the breast AFTER trying everything else, I've discovered I'm only nursing about 4-5 times per day (he gets a bottle of breastmilk in the mornings when I'm at work), but a lot at night. I hope to have him day-time weaned by 12 months, but I think we'll be night nursing up to 18 months. What DO people do when they want to comfort baby but don't want to nurse? I'm at a loss.
Does anyone STTN yet? Silas sure doesn't.
But he's cute and interesting and getting more fun every day. So there we are. It's so fun to see everyone's babies growing and developing--and all so different.
Oops, he's fussing. Got to go!
Oh, and as for how to comfort-- I remember freaking out when I was still nursing Emma "how will I get her to calm down when she weans?" But of course babies change as they get older. Different things work at different times. Picking up, holding, and singing softly have always worked with both of mine. Rocking. In the toddler stage, surprise distraction with something awesome - toy they really like, picture frame I grab off the shelf that has a pic of her in it, anything random that comes to hand that I can say "hey, what's this!?!" A lot of times with Em it's just to sit beside her and talk to her and rub her back if she'll let me. A few minutes of this and of her getting the tantrum out, and usually she'll turn around and hug me and calm down. There are a million ways to deal with an upset child other than nursing (although god knows nursing is the easiest, and I'll miss it, lol), and they change from month to month, and from week to week. Cross that bridge when you come to it.
Oh-- and Ozzy just got his top two teeth (3 and 4). They were stretching and bulging at his gums for well over a week. It was awful.
UH, T's were bulging like that for FOUR MONTHS! I am not kidding--he got his first tooth (bottom) just shy of 5m, and the ped told us at his 4m appointment she thought he'd teethe top teeth first. Luckily, he's only been a fussy teether lately, and that's because I think he's going to get about 6 at once. He just cut#3 and 4 about 10 days ago, #5 yesterday, and I can see at least 2 more.
nilatti--Hang in there with the biting. It does improve. To help in the meantime, offer him a frozen wash cloth or cool teether immediately before nursing. I plan to nurse till about 18m (nursed 16m with DD2 and made it to a year while pg with DD1), and I still don't offer unless it's naptime. I am not one to whip it out for an owie or a tantrum. You have a say in the nursing relationship too, and if it is not working for you, it is not working.
Mae--That pick of LM in the innertube is awesome!!!!
AFM--T is just picking up things left and right now, and it is sooo fun! He's doing "How big is T?" and signing more and all done. He's pulling up and cruising and really, really desperately wants to walk. And he loves the water--he keeps trying to climb into the bathtub!
sheesh... cutting #s 3s and 4s and more... and Mae still barely has her 1! lol. Oh I have it in for me, she will probably also cut 5-6 at once.
Oh, and as for how to comfort-- I remember freaking out when I was still nursing Emma "how will I get her to calm down when she weans?" But of course babies change as they get older. Different things work at different times. Picking up, holding, and singing softly have always worked with both of mine. Rocking. In the toddler stage, surprise distraction with something awesome - toy they really like, picture frame I grab off the shelf that has a pic of her in it, anything random that comes to hand that I can say "hey, what's this!?!" A lot of times with Em it's just to sit beside her and talk to her and rub her back if she'll let me. A few minutes of this and of her getting the tantrum out, and usually she'll turn around and hug me and calm down. There are a million ways to deal with an upset child other than nursing (although god knows nursing is the easiest, and I'll miss it, lol), and they change from month to month, and from week to week. Cross that bridge when you come to it.
You are so right about babies changing as they get older. Sometimes I forget that Caden won't always need/want what he does now... I forget he goes through a new phase every month or two!!
He's finally got ONE tiny tooth peeking out btw:) Sounds like most babes here have at least one!
Mae- C's favorite thing to do is hold our hands and walk around the house. He'll tell us where to go and NEVER wants to stop....
OH, he waved and said "buh buh" all on his own last night to his grandparents:) We pretty much melted at that:) So sweet!!
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