*~*~Our litte love-bugs*~*~ FEBRUARY 2013 CHAT « Back to Group Discussions

[Kamiro]

Hey Gals,

Hope this month finds you all well, your babes well, and every one getting plenty of SLEEP...

Our babes are all entering their 9th month earth side (at least anyways, some got a bit of a headstart - little stinkers ;) )

What is babe doing?

How are you feeling emotionally/physically?

Who is ready to do it again? LOL ---just kidding.

Please think and pray for Cookie's son. KM84 let us know at the end of January's chat that Cookie's boy Z has a fracture and as we all can imagine - they are under a bit of stress....

I would really love it if any one had an update about Ezri or June. I've contacted the Mama's but no reply

Lots of love to you all.

[JynxGirl]

Patrick has become Mr. GO GO GO!!! He is all over the place on us! 

The biggest hurdle for us right now, is his allergy. Apparently, Patrick is allergic to wheat, so we've had to cut it out of our diets. It has not been an easy transition for me. He is a lot happier without it though, so I'm begrudgingly happy to do it. :)

[cristeen]

Hi ladies -

I'm not on MDC anymore, and don't even have access to my computer most of the time.  So it took me a while to respond to your PM, Onemore.

We're doing well.  Ezri is (and has been for a while) crawling, cruising, and climbing.  We've managed to keep her on EBM thus far, and I still have quite a bit in the freezer and more coming in.  She has 4 teeth, all in the last 6 weeks.  She's in 12 month clothing, and is looking to be a tall slender kiddo, just like her big brother. 

We had a follow-up with cardiology back in December.  Everything is looking perfect, and they don't need to see her again until June.  At that point we'll be having both kids scanned, just to make sure there's nothing undetected going on with Avery.  They're following her at this point to make sure that her repair grows as she grows.  If it starts building up scar tissue, it can prevent it from growing properly, but so far so good.  And even if it does happen, it can usually be repaired with a balloon catheter, and would not require another extensive surgery. 

Home health comes by periodically to check on her.  They were by last week.  The Occupational Therapist came with the nurse to assess her, and said that there's really nothing for her to do here.  She is ahead of the curve physically, since she was happy to show off her skills to such an attentive audience.  She is slightly speech "delayed", in that the noises she's making now are the coos and trills that most babies make around 5 months.  But that's a wait and see issue, to determine if it's just a normal variation, or if she sustained some damage from the ventilator. 

Other than the scar, she is a perfectly normal, happy baby.  She is just a content little one.  She is a thumb-sucker and in the middle of the night I can hear her sucking away at that thing.  It's hilarious when she starts blowing raspberries with her thumb in her mouth.  Funniest thing ever.  Overall she's just not a whiny/crying babe.  Not like her brother, who was super fussy at times.  Although I do have to say that I love my swing.  I don't know how I would have managed without it.  She's happy to hang out in it for hours every day. 

I'm at the point of having to follow Avery around and make sure he doesn't drop any choking hazards.  It's not easy, since he's in a destructive, take everything apart into it's smallest pieces phase.  He started preschool back in September, so for a good chunk of the day it's just me and Ezri. 

She enjoys eating, but we're still at the beginning.  She's eating banana and chicken so far.  I have some avocado that I've been waiting to get ripe, so she'll be trying that today or tomorrow finally.  And I have some sweet potato in the fridge for her to try also. 

Jynx - unless you've had him tested, you can try just removing wheat until after his first birthday, or even 18 mos.  Babies don't have the ability to digest grains until then, so you may be seeing his body reacting to the undigested grains, rather than what would be considered a "true" allergy down the road.  That being said, removing wheat from your diet is actually a very good thing for all of your health, and I admire your fortitude.  I've tried many times, and so far have not been able to sustain that removal. 

Oh, and I guess I could share about me, too, huh? 

I'm okay.  Sleep deprivation comes and goes.  I'm currently weighing as much as I did at 9 mos pregnant with Ezri, which is my highest weight ever.  Not a good thing.  And yet I can fit into my pre-pg clothes.  I just finished my 2nd pp AF.  Something is definitely going on with my body right now, and I need to go see a doctor about it.  I need to have hormone panels done, but I need to actually have a list of what I want him to order so that we can make sure all the bases are covered.  Between not making any milk and this weight gain, that's saying something is out of whack with my body, and has been for a while. 

So if anyone has any information on this kind of stuff, I'm happy for the info.  I know I need to have my thyroid tested, but it's not just the TSH I want done (what was that other test called, Maryam?).  I need to have pituitary and adrenals tested, but there's more than one test there also, I believe.  And then I think I need my insulin levels tested, but it's over time - does the A1C test insulin or blood sugar, Jynx?  I hate looking this stuff up. 

Oh, and while I was in here fooling around on the computer, Ezri put herself down for her nap.  Wonder if I could get her to do that every day. 

Edited by cristeen - 2/4/13 at 10:32am

[KM84]

Sooo, DH and I haven't been so careful about birth control (I know, I know), and I'm officially in a 2WW with some weird cramping that I really hope is just ovulation. Because I am so not ready to be pregnant again.

[SaguaroMoon]

Cristeen - I'm so glad to hear that Ezri is doing well (and you, too)! I was reading back through the threads (I hadn't been on here for a few months myself) and wondered how you were.

KM84 - I had a lot of weird cramping with ovulation during my two (very irregular cycles) as well - more so than I did with my actual flow. I'll hope for you as well! As much as we dislike condoms, we're using them for now. I couldn't imagine being pregnant at this point - it would be kind of devastating for us (whenever I'm unusually hungry, or tired, or once when I felt nausea, DH asked, really alarmed "Are you sure you're not pregnant??!!". Lol.). We might want another one eventually, but definitely not now.

K just pulled up all the way from sitting to standing yesterday! He's trying really, really hard to crawl. I've been trying to give him as much floor time as possible. He's really mobile in other ways; he can roll and twist and turn to anyplace he wants to go, but he still really wants to crawl.

I think this is part of why the last few days have been really hard for us. He doesn't want to sleep. Whenever I try to get him down for a nap, he FREAKS. He gets up on his hands and knees and tries to crawl, even though he's exhausted. It's like he's saying "I can't sleep! I haven't learned to crawl yet!!!". This would be cute if it wasn't for the fact that this lack of any sort of nap has transformed him from a happy, friendly, enthusiastic, good-natured little guy into a whiny, angry mess. It's like he's a completely different baby when he doesn't nap. I've been reduced to tears quite a few times in the last few days; last Friday was the first time in many months that I can remember calling DH at work in tears and asking when he could come home (this happened from time to time when K was a newborn).

I've tried all kinds of things. He doesn't really sleep in the carrier anymore. We have a running stroller; he loves it, but doesn't sleep in it. I used to be able to put him down on the bed, after a short naptime routine, pat his back for a few minutes and walk away; he was never a great napper, but he might nap anywhere from 25 minutes 1 hr & 15 minutes. Now, he screams hysterically, even if I lie next to him and pat his back for an hour (we actually tried that once; it felt like we were doing constant-contact-cry-it-out. No fun.). He absolutely loses it if I leave the room. Today, I found something that sort of worked, I guess; I lay down next to him and held him; he screamed like I was torturing him by holding him, but then I started to sing, and it distracted him enough that he passed out. I lay there with my arm under him for an excruciating 20 minutes, gently eased it out; he woke up. I started singing again, he fell back to sleep. I moved a little to get myself into a more comfortable position; he woke up again. I sang to him again, he fell asleep, and I lay there for another 30 minutes, trying not to move or breathe too loudly while he slept. Again, not so much fun.

Anyway, sorry for the long drawn out vent; this has been really hard for me. Other than this, K is doing fine. He's just gotten really into eating in the past week, which is cool (although the new poops are not as cool; DH practically panicked when he saw the first one). As I mentioned, we have a running stroller now, and K really enjoys it. In a way, I feel like I can connect with him more when he's in that than when he's on my back; at least I can see what he's doing, and we can make eye contact! I still wear him on my front for short distances, but he's way too big to go for more than a mile walk that way, so he's often on my back now. He also says "Dadada" and "Mamama", although I'm still not sure if they're aimed at us. Also, I think he's said "Hi!" back at me a few times.

[Kamiro]

Km84- we are all in 2ww for you too. LOL

A lady at the store where I work had her baby the first of June...She is 20 weeks pregnant already I do NOT envy her.BUT- Its always an exciting  milestone when some one in the DDC conceives again (to me). It is like we've all come full circle. I'm weird, its ok.

Sag/K- D, was acting the exact same way. I'm convinced it was growing pains and teeth. After about 4 nights it stopped. I put her in the Boba carrier and gently bounce or roll on the birth ball. That works like a charm every time.

Sometimes she just struggles and fights sleep. I just stay consistent. This time frame is bed and we go lay in bed together and I nurse her to sleep. If she doesnt want to go to sleep (and yes doing the crawl thing, but with her it is doing the standing thing) after a few minutes I'll strap her in the bag and bounce. She is just trying to keep herself awake most the time. I use Belladonna for teething pain and it is working really well for her.

[Kamiro]

Cristeen - I am overjoyed to hear Ezri is doing well. Truly. I have been praying for you both and hoping all was well. On all the other stuff, well...Life.. You know? You are truly an awesome, caring mama. I'm going to keep you in my prayers though I have no idea about all that hormonal stuff.

Now if only we could hear from Junes mama.

[cristeen]

After my first pregnancy, I started getting Mittlesmerch, ovulation pains.  Some months it was really strong.  I didn't know anything about it at the time, but it is not uncommon with all the changes your body goes through with pg and birth. 

Saguaro Moon - That's a completely normal thing that he's doing.  It's a stage when he's developing really quickly both physically and mentally, and sleep just takes too much time, like he doesn't want to miss anything.  With my son, I had to go back to swaddling during this stage to get him to take a nap.  I didn't swaddle his legs (he was too big for that), but a blanket folded into a triangle, and wrapped around his upper body to pin his arms - tied well so he couldn't get out of it, helped him with naps.  It doesn't usually work for tummy sleepers though (which is why I can't do it with E).  Does he sleep in the car?  In the stroller, try blocking out all external input by covering the whole thing with an opaque blanket.  Ezri has to be put to bed in complete dark now, or she'll refuse to sleep.  If you give him nothing to look at or interact with, you may have some luck.  Hopefully something there helps. 

Also, how many naps is he taking?  We're getting to the point where some of these babes will be going down to one nap/day.  We're not there yet, but with my son it was around 10 months we dropped the second nap. 

HTH

[MLog]

How sweet - I was struggling to type out a reply on my phone and DH offered to get my computer for me so that it won't take me hours to respond to everyone.

I checked in on June's caring bridge page.  The last entry was from October, after their 6 week post op follow up.  It seems like June's surgery went really well and she is progressing nicely.

It's so great that some people we haven't heard from in awhile are checking in.  I'm especially glad to hear how wonderful Ezri is!

Jynx - gluten free can be tough.  DH acknowledged he is gluten intolerant a few years ago so we transitioned to a gluten free household but I still ate wheat when we'd go out.  And while I was pregnant I even kept bread in the house for me so that I could make sandwiches and have toast.  Elliott used to spit up a lot until DH suggested I try cutting out gluten.  Now he hardly ever spits up unless I sneak some gluten in here or there.  I have a great cookbook that I used for making baked goods.  All the recipes are super simple and use potato starch and cornstarch as the flour substitute.  It's not the most healthy but I've found the recipes to be consistent and delicious.  I've just started branching out in to the more whole grain flours.  But honestly, I found it's much easier and healthier (and cheaper) just to avoid the carbs altogether.  For starches we eat a lot of rice (hopefully the arsenic won't kill us), quinoa, potatoes, and cornbread.  And then we primarily live off of fruits, veggies, and protein.  We don't really eat out and try to stick to asian food when we do and we make sure to eat before attending social gatherings since most party food is gluten-full as we like to say.  Anyway, the bottom line is that I feel your pain!

We were having some major sleep issues in January.  There were several nights when Elliott would wake every two hours to eat and then spend half the night screaming.  It may have been due to teething, erratic schedule, who knows, but I finally got the No Cry Sleep Solution book.  We started implementing a better bedtime routine and now we are able to lay Elliott down in the co-sleeper and he puts himself to sleep at night.  He still wakes up to eat every two hours starting around 12-1am and then stays in bed with us after that, but I'm able to just nurse him side-lying and go back to sleep.  We haven't been so successful getting him to put himself down at naptime yet, but I'm just happy not to be up for hours at a time during the night.

Whew - I'm exhausted.  I want to just write and write, but I need some sleep!  Night mamas.

[Astraia]

Hahaha, I was actually coming in here to complain, "He NEVER sleeps!" and "oh my god, I better not be pregnant." Seems everyone else has the same thoughts!

Everett now only naps if he's swaddled with LOUD background noise and nursed to sleep in a dark room. Once he's down, sometimes he's out for 15 minutes (and wakes up in a bear of a mood), and sometimes he will miraculously sleep for 2 hours. He's up every hour at night, wanting to nurse- but then instead of nursing, he's trying to sit up and climb on me or biting or just flailing and crying. I can sometimes get him back to sleep by  stroking his eyebrow or ear and sushing loudly, sometimes i need to sit with him swaddled and sing, sometimes I'm just too exhausted and lay down beside him and he eventually fall asleep. This is made so much harder by my sister ("she sleeps 7 hour stretches at night!") and a friend of mine ("I put him down in his bed, awake, and he falls asleep on his own and wakes up at 6 am in a great mood.")

We have a consistent bedtime routine, and pretty consistent morning and afternoon naps, but it doesn't seem to help much. He's super busy and active and moving constantly so I think like everyone else he just doesn't want to miss anything- but MAN, I'm done in. Between Everett waking constantly, the other two being up all night with a flu a few days last week, then a nasty cough/cold that kept all of us awake for weeks until it cleared up we're all run down and exhausted (me especially). DH is also only home Friday-Sunday and gone from 6 am-10 pm the rest of the week, and the last two weeks he's so exhausted he's a miserable sot all weekend.

So it could just be sleep deprivation making me feel way more exhausted then normal, vaguely nauseated most of the day (I often get sick when I'm tired), crampy/bloated/blah, super thirsty all day long, and some foods i used to love are revolting all of a sudden- all typical pregnancy symptoms.  Or exhaustion, or the fact that we're just coming off a stomach virus. Who knows. The last couple of months have been REALLY hard, though. Pregnancy seems pretty far fetched. We're careful, and DH is never home.

Okay, getting boys down for naps now while DD is out with Grandpa. Hoping to catch up on housework after the last 3 weeks straight of illness (oh joy!). 

[Kamiro]

Oh Grace..I remember those days...Eh, nm. Not really. I have proof in 3 little stair step aged munchkins that I lived through those days, but not much memory!

I forget how hard it was until I run in to a mama going through it.

You just got to get through the next 3 years and it will be easy peasy.

Enjoyable even.

Huggles and snuggles and rainbow farts. But most of all, my complete sympathy and understanding. It is so rough. You'll be victorious though!

I am tired this morning because I stayed up way too late coloring rice for a sensory box. Omg, it is so worth it to do. Basically I took a round  plastic jar with lid (old beef jerky container) dropped a bit of wiltons food gel in it and about 2 tbls rubbing alcohol (sometimes 3) and added a bunch of rice and shake, shake, shake.

I added some food extract too for smells. It looks awesome. For the baby I just layered the rice in a couple baby food jars and let her enjoy shaking them to mix them up. Fun activity for the family, but with food prices the way they are I felt somewhat foolish for using rice in this way.

[maryamrose]

I want to properly update this thread soon (I have an iPad now so I have no excuses!) but I wanted to respond to Cristeen briefly - first off, I am thrilled to hear that Ezri is doing so beautifully! The thyroid tests are free T4 and free T3. Checking thyroid antibodies is also helpful. I have a feeling that my smooth postpartum [physical] recovery is because my thyroid is being monitored and treated so I really strongly recommend pushing for the tests. They're fairly routine though not as common as TSH; I've noticed that in the last 5 or so years doctors have been much more willing to order them when requested.

[Astraia]

Originally Posted by Onemoreontheway 

Huggles and snuggles and rainbow farts. But most of all, my complete sympathy and understanding. It is so rough. You'll be victorious though!

Thank you! Honestly, hearing from people who have BTDT is way more encouraging than people saying "omg, I feel so sorry for you, you must have it so tough." Well, yes, perhaps - but saying you feel sorry for me makes me feel stupid and depressed more than anything! That and it's also kind of my life now, I need to feel strong and encouraged and like I CAN do it more than anything!

I've seen a ton of stuff on the rainbow rice and it looks fun, but I just can't be bothered. I bet they'd love it, but I'm worried they'd only love it for about half an hour.

Does anyone have a water wrap or ring sling that they're using and love? My older two desperately want to go swimming, but I can't get my husband motivated enough to go on the weekend with me so I might need to try by myself... As is, with a babe in arms and the other two with no concept at all of how to swim, I don't see it happening- but possibly if I had my hands free it would be workable. I'd also love to spend a lot of time at the beach this summer, if at all possible, so a water sling would be handy for that too.

[cristeen]

I do have a water sling, used it in a pool a few times, but mostly in the shower with DS.  I should probably break it out and try it with Ezri at some point, but the fact is that at this point I'm lucky to get a shower every 10 or 12 days, and it's almost always after bedtime.  And it's the kind of shower with the lights off and I just stand under the hot water letting it beat the tension out until it goes cold. 

If your kid is used to a RS, and doesn't do anything dangerous, then the sling is probably a good choice.  E isn't at that point, since I mostly use a Mei Tai with her, I need one hand on her in the sling still. 

Thanks Maryam!  I was going to ask you about doing Kindergym with the kids as a play date, and then realized I've committed to babysitting every Friday for the foreseeable future. 

Whoops, reprieve time is over.  Screaming baby.

[forestmushroom]

Cristeen, glad Ezri is doing well! Astaria, sounds like your little one is going through a developmental leap. My guy is harder to get down these days, too. Onemore, I totally want to do the rice thing, too! I am going to do it ... now that you did it. :D

I wish I could write more there is so much more I want to respond to here but I feel like I am just zooming by and can hardly ever reply... I love reading along though!

[cristeen]

Bedtime tonight took over 2 hours of screaming.  And eventually DH walked out frustrated and left her in the crib still awake (daddy does bedtime every night, so this is unusual).  I had to go in and put her down myself.  I've been having to bring her into bed with me every waking the last few nights to get her back to sleep and it's not a good thing.  I don't sleep well with her in the bed because it's not safe for her, so I don't get any sleep stressing over having her in the bed.  She's definitely having a spurt of some sort, I think a double since she ate an inordinate amount of milk yesterday.  And I think she's sensitive to avocado at the same time.  The 2 nights that she's had avocado coincide with this crappy sleep pattern, a nasty open rash on her butt (something we combated for months with DS), and overall crankiness.  Guess that just means it's on me to eat the last 2 avocados sitting here.    Interestingly, avocado can have a cross-allergen in banana, but she hasn't evidenced any issue with those, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that doesn't change. 

Looking in the freezer, it looks like we're just going to make our 9 month goal on breastmilk.  We're not going to get much further than that.  I have 2 small loads to pick up, but that's not more than a few days worth each.  I have to be very grateful that we've made it this far, and that we found so many women willing to share their hard-won milk with us.  I'm dreading the transition to formula, and will be talking to my farmer about increasing our herd share come end of May.  But it is what it is.  Both kids made it to 9 months on BM.  A is a really healthy little guy.  He never got sick until he started preschool, so he's got a great immune system.  While hers is not as strong, she is still a healthy little girl, considering all she's been through.  But it definitely makes me sad to have to revisit my own inability to make milk for them.  So long as I was able to get her BM, I didn't have to think about it too much, but as I'm facing that coming to an end, I have to start researching formulas again (I haven't looked at them in about 18 mos), and thinking about all that again. 

Ok, enough depressing myself.  I'm going to go do something fun and stimulating... like clean the kitchen.  Yeah!  <sarcasm>

[Astraia]

Cristeen- this will be totally non-helpful, but I remember my mom laughing a bit at me when I started Nigella on part-formula (at around 7 months when my milk dried up with pregnancy). My sister is really allergic to cows milk, so when my mom's milk dried up while pregnant with me, her only option was to really start solids and the tiny bit of goat's milk that my sister would drink. I was so freaked out about the formula, and my mom was like, "well, at least there are options now!" Options are hard. Sometimes, I'm not sure I like options.

We've also never used a RS. And there is absolutely no way he'd stay put in a RS- even in our Ergo he's constantly trying to find a way to squeeze out the side of it and get down. I guess it'll have to be a wrap! (This is yet another weekend with my husband refusing to get out of bed to go swimming while the kids lay around crying because I made the mistake of telling them we'd go. For reference, swimming is from 1-5 pm). 

Everett is definitely going through some sort of developmental thing. I think his teeth are maybe starting to move again- his gums are looking really tight and white both top and bottom, so that could be related to some problems? Although thank god for no teeth- he is a biting MACHINE when he's nursing.



 

[cristeen]

So this morning I answered the question as to the fussiness and screaming.  She cut her first tooth around December 16.  This morning I can see #s 5&6 pushing through.  DS did this too, got the first 8 all within 3 months or so.  I remember it being really hard.  Guess I remember correctly. 

Grace - I agree, options are hard.  One of the things that really sucks though is that you can't find regular formula that doesn't contain soy.  Even the organic ones use soy oil.  And we're a soy-free family, since I'm sensitive to it.  Because of GMOs, that also means that I'm also only willing to buy the organic formulas, so at least they're non-GMO.  But that means it's over $50/week for formula.  I guess I need to ramp it up with the solids.  We've been doing the 4 day thing because DS does have allergies, which means it takes a while.  Probably a good thing, considering this reaction to avocado.  I suppose the next one I need to introduce is egg, since she already has chicken. 

[SaguaroMoon]

Cristeen & Astraia - THANK YOU for the swaddling suggestion!!! Right after I read your posts, a couple days ago, I tried lying next to K and sort of pinning his arms; he fell asleep really fast! The next nap, I swaddled his arms, and he slept for an hour! Only problem is, he rolled to his tummy; while he's fine with turning his head, this made me slightly nervous. So, right now, I'm sitting on his playmat in the bedroom, while he's sleeping swaddling in the bed, supervising his nap. While I still miss the days of getting housework done during his nap, this situation is vastly better than an hour of back-patting and screaming, or no nap at all. So again, thanks!

I really like my water wrap (I forget the brand, but it's a basic mesh wrap); I haven't used it for a few months, but it seems the way that I wrapped him in it would make it pretty hard for him to get out; I think it's called a pocket carry (the one where you put baby in the X, and then pull the pocket up over his back)?

Cristeen - I'm sure you know this already, but there are some really great-looking goat's milk formula recipes out there! I've never tried any, so I don't know which to recommend, but when I googled "goat milk formula recipe", there were several websites that explained each ingredient in the recipe in great detail, why it is included, what the benefits are, etc.

K is enjoying food more and more! I've started to introduce him to spices; he LOVES cinnamon, and he seemed to like garlic okay. I'm pIanning on introducing mint, cumin, cardamon, coriander & turmeric this month, as well. We use a lot of spices in our food, and I really want K to get used to flavorful foods. It kind of bugs me how "kids' food" is always the blandest, most unhealthy stuff on restaurant menus (but of course, that's what most kids want because they are used to it).

Hugs to all the mamas experiencing teething; still no teeth here yet. I'm hoping that when they do come, he'll just get a bunch over with at once.
 

[Astraia]

I made a sweet potato, tomato, red lentil soup with cumin, garlic and star anise for dinner yesterday. Everett went NUTS for it, screaming angrily if I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough! Normally he gets a lot of the unspiced stuff (although he's had all those spices/foods before without reaction).

Cristeen- yeah, that sounds pretty hard! Allergies make everything harder, for sure (and GMO's and everything else). Hopefully you can find something that suits.

Swaddle- Everett somehow managed to get himself hopelessly entangled with his swaddle blanket around his neck and over his head, had rolled on his stomach, and burrowed under the comforter on the bed. He had been crying but he was so tangled i couldn't hear him- when I went up to check on him, he was drenched with sweat. I know a few people (via the interent) who recently lost babies to SIDS so I was seriously, seriously freaked out. We are no longer swaddling. I hold one hand down and just tuck a blanket around him to give him some of the feeling of a swaddle, but even loosen that off a bit once he's asleep and I leave. He's decided he wants to sleep on his stomach a lot of the time now, and I am also REALLY not comfortable swaddling a stomach-sleeper. Saguaro, you could try just tucking something around him that would untuck if he rolled over?

A store in town here carries a water pouch, I had them put one on hold for me that I'm going to pick up tomorrow. The last couple times we were at a pool Everett had 0 interest facing in towards me, wanted to be either on my hip or otherwise free to move around a bit. I'm hoping the pouch will be enough support that I don't have to hold him as carefully all the time (my arm got really tired!), but still give him that sense of freedom? The wraps all required paying shipping, and I'm going to the pool tomorrow with a friend so I would rather have it sooner than later. Hopefully it works. I hate spending money!