They're half a year old! Feb 08 babies, August thread - Page 8

[eilonwy]

i'm still amazed that Bear is too tall for an infant seat. Bella was in hers until she was like, 14 months old.

[Juise]

After all that hopefulness that the thrush was on it's way out, it's back with a vengeance : the pain which was almost gone is waaayyy back, although only on my right side for now, the left is just a bit sore : And now Kaia has it again. She'd been fine since she first got it and we treated for a few weeks the first time, around 6 weeks old or so. This time it's worse, it's completely taken over her mouth and this time her little bum too, which she didn't get last time So I have a purple baby again, and a huge purple mess. I'm just so outrageously depressed about it now. I mean, I've had it all along, but after thinking it was finally getting kicked.... argh! Some day nursing will NOT be a painful experience, right? My heart sinks every time she says she's hungry I don't want it to be that way. Her sucky sleep has now turned into absolute crap and I'm having a really, really hard time dealing with the 12 daycare kids. I just don't have the energy for their issues, and that's not fair, either.

We've never really had to deal with spitting up, though. For the longest time we only changed her outfits for the fun of it. Now she actually gets dirty. So to all still dealing with that. And although I don't wish discord upon anyone, it is kind of reassuring to know that I'm not the only one still struggling.

[nolonger]

i guess my first attempt at measuring Terran's height was correct after all; he's by no means one of the heaviest babies in our ddc, but his infant seat has been outgrown long enough that i'm getting over my disappointment that the Britax Marathon did nothing to alleviate our automotive woes and chalking up the misallocation of funds to an amusing "all new moms make silly mistakes" anecdote. The wonderful baby pants (picture coming when i have time to upload it) (snail mail coming to Julie when i have time to draw it) are size 12-24 months and his size 1T T shirts are a bit smallish so I'm refashioning his tie dyed bamboo newborn gowns in 2T.

I don't feel creative and crafty, just frustrated by my lack of skill and experience. I didn't sew for my older kids because i could always find something adequate in ready-to-wear, but the great pants conspiracy that was making it hard enough for Cynthia to switch from sposies to CDs even with Alex's lightweight whisper wraps kind of makes it a necessity with Terran's fleece covers; i tried a single layer of the heaviest fleece from joann's and had several embarassing soakthroughs, so i guess i just have to face facts and be grateful that i CAN afford the materials to adequately clothe my own child with my own blood, sweat, and tears instead of having to beg for money to buy sweatshop made clothing.

My parents would have spent $120 for four Biobottoms for dd and ds1 and never would have let me hear the end of it; Terran's fleece only took me two or three weeks to make (out of leftiver scraps from my dormant or deceased WAHM business) and a bit of cursing and screaming and self-loathing and a huge hole in my thumb frojm pushing pins through five layers of fleece that had to do because i couldn't afford to buy thinner "non-wicking binding"--a term thaqt has become my new curse word.

After that, the wonderful baby pants were a joy. I wish there were 25 hours in a day so i could make some for Rosemary too.

Julie, thanks again for the care package and I'll DEFINITELY send or post pics of the minkee lined green corduroy Mei Tai with the serendipitous leaf print panel i'm working on for next winter's snuggles on chilly mornings.

[Mama2-4]

Hi Mama's, I am way, way behind in reading this thread as usual. I just wanted to see if anyone has any advice for me. Last Friday I woke up in the morning with a milk blister and very swollen milk duct. The blister popped and we went through the weekend with no problems. Yesterday morning I woke up again with a very swollen and painful milk duct and have yet to get it to clear. I have tried

nursing very frequently and always starting with plugged side
hot compresses, hot showers
massage
lecithin 1200mg 3xdaily
lots of vit. c
nursing on all fours
Drinking extra fluids

my midwife suggested filling a diaper with parsley and applying that as a moist compress, or potato.

We are leaving on Friday for 10 days and I am so worried it will turn into mastitis. It is sore, not red or hot and I have no fever....ugh. At the moment the hard knot is is closer to my areola...maybe it is working its way out?

Any other ideas for me? I am feeling desperate! Oh and I tried pumping too, I only have a hand pump so was unable to get much out after she had nursed.

I will hopefully be back later to catch up on you all. I miss you as usual and hope things are well with all of you and your little babies!

Hugs,
Andrea

[firecat]

Originally Posted by Juise

firecat Cute cute pics!! Such a handsome little man!

Thanks!! I love bath pics even though dh is totally against them...

Originally Posted by AislinCarys

Do you have a potty bowl? I'm not sure where you'd get them in the US, all the potty babies use them here - even for older children, when out. They are easy to stick in your bag, and you can discretely potty your child in your lap - most of the time noone even notices there is a potty! If you can't empty it afterwards, just put a nappy square or pre-fold or something in it, to prevent it pouring out. Also, we use BabyLegs when out, so it is easy to just remove the nappy and onto potty!

I don't have a potty bowl.... I have been considering getting some gladware type bowls for use as potty bowls but : what can I say I am lazy I really do need to invest in a little potty for home though. Also I wish I had some babylegs, but again with the $$ there is not much to go around.

Originally Posted by eilonwy

Bear's been up half the night screaming bloody murder. I think his ears are bothering him again. : I'm so tired I can't see straight... but i need to clear my head enough to drive.

I hate it when they get sick.

Sorry to hear he's sick and hope he's feeling much better now!! and : on the standing!

Originally Posted by applecore

It's my birthday

Happy belated birthday!

Originally Posted by sarahn4639

I just got a Kitchen aid mixer, the "professional" one (oh, it is a thing of beauty!!) with the grinder attachment so I may grind some meat for him at some point as well. The mixer was a refurbished model so it was a great price and we are going to process several deer this winter for ourselves so I need some way to grind some of that meat to stretch our pastured cow we are getting. So anyway.......

Oh yes, this is so gross.

Oooooh, that mixer sounds heavenly!! on the poo incident ~ don't the most wonderful things happen sometimes Last week before we went camping Jackson pooed all over his high chair and himself so I had to give him a bath.

Originally Posted by cwoodard

Closing in on a month of lousy sleep,

I am right there with you (and a lot of other people it seems) on the sleep... jackson has decided he want to wake every hour from 11-3 and nurse. I think the only reason he sleeps longer after 3 is because by then I am too tired to put him back in his bed so he sleeps next to me for the rest of the night

Originally Posted by Juise

I made a couple tutus for her with crowns

Oh my those tutus and crowns are sooo cute!! I wish I had a girl sometimes....

Originally Posted by noordinaryspider

i'm needing to get caught up too, but i figured i'd go ahead and post instead of just pm'ing cynthia about Terran's new pants: they only took a few hours, are comfy and cozy, and pulled right up over his CD with the slightly too large fleece cover.

Those are really cute pants. I would love to start sewing again but I have enough just trying to get the house cleaned and jewelry made every week.

Originally Posted by kailotus

I am new to this thread. My daughter is Lotus Ruby and was six months old on feb 6! She is 16.5 pounds and has no teeth. She is crawling well and has started to pull up on to the furniture in the past week! She is all about mommy right now and won't even let me leave the room without hysteria! Anyone elses baby very attached right now?

Hi and welcome! I love your baby's name!! Jackson has some mommy-anxiety but it's not very bad.

Originally Posted by smokeylo

Robin fell off the bed 2 days ago. She cried out of fear more than anything, I think -- she has not a bruise or red mark on her. I felt awful. I guess it's an unavoidable thing. Now I'm really paranoid at night and wish I'd ordered the damn Snugtuck Pillow a month ago!!!

Jackson has fallen off the bed too. He fell off the guest bed when dh was watching him one night. Dh felt sooo bad. I was like, he's ok isn't he? And said oh that's gonna happen sometimes. Since I wasn't there I wasn't freaking out about it. But a few days later he fell off our bed (which is much higher) on my watch and I totally freaked!! I was really worried he could have hurt himself but like you there weren't any marks and he has been acting fine so... Anyway, he's not allowed to sleep by himself on the bed anymore!

Originally Posted by slgt

Hi mamas! My word, if there was a prize for chattiest month, I think we would win!
...
Sleep: After 2 months of trying No-Cry Sleep Solution techniques that didn't help one iota, we decided (no flames) to try something else. She had been waking up every hour or less, sometimes as long as 2 hours, but still. We decided that when she woke, we would let her grunt for a few minutes, go in once her grunts became clearly on the verge of not being happy, and then go in, pick her up, soothe her, put her back down. From that point on, we would stay in the room with her, sing to her, "shhh" to her, keep a hand in her crib, but not pick her up. Lo' & behold, with about 10 minutes of tears one night, she suddenly started just hanging out happily in her crib and drifting back to sleep when she wakes up but isn't hungry!

I am so glad you have found something that's working for you. Sleep as I mentioned before has been iffy lately in our house too. I'm not sure what to do about it except just keep on keepin on. I am starting to wonder if it is a growth spurt or maybe my supply is low lately. hmmm.

Jackson is getting huge, 17 pounds according to our bathroom scale. Not sure how long he is, but I have already had to raise the carseat back once and I think it's about time to raise it again (I have a convertible seat). I had to remove the infant insert about a month ago because his head was getting too big! He is sitting up really well by himself and starting to army crawl around *everywhere* Not pulling up yet though (thankfully ~ I need to do some babyproofing, I've been having visions of him pulling the cd rack down on top of him).

Well I must see to dinner now

[applecore]

Andrea, I think the best thing you can do is to try not to stress about it. Stress is what always triggers mastitis for me. I'd get some homeopathic phytolacca decandra (are you all tired of hearing me say this? ) just in case it does turn to mastitis. I've never used it for a plugged duct, but maybe it would work for that as well. Hope it clears soon!

Juise, no advice, but big love! I'm so sorry you're dealing with this!

[slgt]

Juise, I'm so bummed that you are still struggling with thrush - I don't have any wisdom, just hugs to send your way.

Mama2-4, I have no wisdom for you either, but some more hugs to send...

I hope you are both able to find a solution soon

NOS, would love to see more pictures!

I'm semi-inspired to pull out my sewing machine & try to become crafty. I have aspirations. We have so many t-shirts & old clothes around that I could easily turn into clothing for DD...the biggest thing that I need to figure out is sleep sacks. All of the commercial fleece ones are flame retardant (thank you, but NO!), and I can't afford the wool ones, and I know myself well enough to know that trying to knit one is a bad idea and will end in me, frustrated, and baby, cold.

Fleece ones look fairly easy to make. Maybe i will hye me to the store this weekend and try to find some cheap fleece...

Had a money reality check today. We are on one income these days while DH is a SAHD. Yup, need to be a bit more careful. My desire to go out to dinner to a local pub tonight was satiated pretty well with homemade black bean/sweet potato burgers, kale, cucumbers from the garden salted with vineager, and corn chips. Pretty much pub food!

[eilonwy]

NOS-- I've found that two layers of the lighter fleece are much more water resistant than one layer of the heavy stuff. Also, for some reason, the ones with the patterns are better than the solids.

I miss sewing so much.

I filmed my mom & nieces today, and hope to get those videos up on Facebook either late tonight or late tomorrow. : I love being able to do that so, so much!

Also, the Olympic games spurred me to fiddle with the back of the TV and hook up the cheapass antenna. I absolutely love the games. Honestly, this is one of those times when i miss cable horribly.

So I'm thinking that i really want to buy some Rosetta Stone discs, but I'll have to find someone to go in on them with me... preferably someone who will keep the original discs, because while I've managed to keep some discs nice, I simply don't trust the kids not to eat any that look interesting (and they'd definately be interested!). I think I'll ask my sister about it. Her boyfriend speaks Spanish, and he's teaching the girls (he's the latest person to be wowed by BizzyBug's eidetic memory ); I think the discs would expedite the process. If she and perhaps my brother are willing to go in with me, it'll be reasonable enough for all of us. Well, maybe not my brother... languages are work for him, quite literally.

[lovetobemama]

Hey all, still in the sleep fog here, but still reading and loving all you mamas and just wanted to say I can't wait till I can be more active!

So sorry to hear about things like thrush and possible mastitus and ear aches in some little ones!

Hugs to all!!
Em

[accountclosed2]

Originally Posted by firecat

I don't have a potty bowl.... I have been considering getting some gladware type bowls for use as potty bowls but : what can I say I am lazy I really do need to invest in a little potty for home though. Also I wish I had some babylegs, but again with the $$ there is not much to go around.

Potty bowls are good because of the rounded edges, which makes them nice for the LO to sit on, and easy for you to keep it up between your knees (you can sit quite relaxed, often no one notices the potty, and it is quite safe from falling over, spilling wees all over you!). We got DD four pairs of BabyLegs(3 cotton, 1 wool), which she wears instead of trousers. One pair lives in the nappybag with the potty, I rotate the other 2 cotton ones, so we always have one when the other is in the wash. Usually use the wool ones in the sling. Anyway, since she doesn't have any trousers, I don't think it has been very expensive(and we do not have much money, we actually haven't had an income for a while). However, several of my friends have bought ladies socks/knee highs, and either used them us they are, with booties to hold them on, or cut the foot off, and hemmed the edge.

[BabyBump]

Hello All!

Finally had a few minutes to read and catch up. Seems busy this time of the year. Mostly getting DD ready for second grade which starts next week. Trying to keep up with a mountain of work at work, housework at home, and a teething boy. I really need a day-kid free-to go top to bottom on the house. Mostly it's just clutter-projects that need to be finished, etc...

I agree with whoever said they were glad not to be alone with sleep issues. Eli has been up more than normal. Mostly because he wants his mommy to snuggle with. However he has been waking up by 4:30 am the past couple of days. Babbling, touching my face, rolling over to check out dad. Cute but I would prefer he stay asleep to his usual 6 am. He has started doing this little hop thing with his legs when he's on hand/knees. So close to crawling! Gets forward a bit doing the hop. Very mom oriented right now too like others.

Better go start the diapers again-let almost all my inserts soak in hot water and Bac-out tonight to get rid of the stinkies. Sunning helped but I finally restocked on the Bac-out. Hopefully it helps.

[LoveChild421]

Just wanted to pop in and say hi and send lots of love to all the Feb. mamas and babies! :

I just can't keep up with our threads! Always on the run and whenever I have a sec dp is bogarting the computer. :

But I am going to make it a point to catch up- I just read the last few pages and wanted to give big hugs to mamas dealing with thrush (we had 2 bouts of that and the gentian violet and me taking grapefruit seed extract along with both of us taking probiotics and me making sure to change my breast pads very often has seemed to help- have been free of it for about a month).

And big hugs to mamas dealing with sleep issues, sick babies, and bf issues. We have all of those too- my milk seems to completely dry up on the last 2 days of my period for some reason to the point that ds is horribly hungry no matter constant nursing so we have to resort of supplementing a bit (4oz of formula here and there) which I hate but not as much as seeing ds hungry. Sleep is ok- up every 3 or 4 hours to nurse but that's ok. And both the kiddos have an icky cold right now but nothing serious thankfully.

I went to WIC yesterday and they weighed and measured Grant and he's 28 pounds, 28 1/2 inches at 6 months old!!!

Needless to say he's been out of the infant carseat for a few months. I'm starting to wonder how much longer he can be rear-facing because his feet are all smashed up in the seat when he straightens them out. Looks like I'll be purchasing ANOTHER Britax Regent (had to buy one for ds1 when he was 2 for the same big and tall issues and ds2 is bigger!).

Gotta upload some pics from my camera and I'll post one of my giant.

[nolonger]

Thanks bunches, eilonwy! I have some very pretty brown lightweight fleece ($1.99 at Grocery Outlet for a clearanced throw) that I was going to give up on, but I'll try a double layer of that as soon as I get caught up a bit. These T shirts are going to be outgrown before they're made if I don't get on it and I have to pin the pattern pieces so carefully to make them fit.

I "retrofitted" the diaper covers with a second layer of heavy fleece that should come off easily enough to be replaced with the lighter fleece. I have two solids and two prints, but tbh I like the prints better because they're prettier.

I'm pretty sure I have a copy of Rosetta Stone Spanish floating around here somewhere. It came bundled with Middle School Advantage and isn't being used right now since I don't have any homeschoolers at all.



I also had an introductory disc that gave the first few lessons in several different languages, including Portugese, but I'm not sure whether it got left behind in Philly or not when dd needed to come home right away. If your sibs don't come through, I'll see what I can dig up since they're just gathering dust right now and could do with some love.

Sleep issues--ah, yes, we have those too even though they are Terran-sized sleep issues so I don't like to talk about it in too much detail. I have been over and over why he is the way he is and whether there's anything I could have done differently with his siblings to make things easier, but the fact is that there are many variations on normal and I have no more right to pat myself on the back because one of my children is "easy" than I do to hate myself because another one of my children is "difficult".

I'm just so grateful that he wasn't my first. He seems to take after my older sister that way and I spent an entire childhood hearing, "What is the matter with you?!?!" whenever my mother's patience wore thin and believing it: that there was something inherently "wrong" or "broken" about myself that caused problems and that my family and the world would have been better off if I had never been born.

So I'm just going to enjoy Terran for who he is and the other kids for who they are. dd is going through some young adult "stuff" and ds1 is still the teenager from hell so it's nice to have a six month old who lets me sleep for more than an hour at a stretch.

: to all of you who aren't so lucky and please take extra good care of yourselves so you can take care of your little ones.

[accountclosed2]

Children can be rear-faced until about age 5 in the right car seats, and of course their legs have to be bent then. That is not actually an issue, there is more info in the Family Safety part of the forum! Rear-facing saves our children from getting de-capitated in a crash!

[Dea]

HI Mamas!
I'm sorry for the bfing issues that some of you are having. My heart goes out to you!

NOS you said something that rang true to me. You said that you can't take credit for having an easy baby, just the same as you can't beat yourself up for having a difficult baby. (I've totally paraphrased.) I feel the same. I get fustrated when people ask if Trixie is good. While she is considered beyond good, I feel bad for babies who might have difficulties and be branded as "bad" even though they can't control their colic, or other issues that make them "bad". To that end, whenever someone asks that I make a thinly veiled joke about how bad Trixie is with her all night partying, drinking and punk rock boyfriends.
It's a really silly thing to think of babies as good or bad.
Now that being said she is a dream to parent for, she is making parenting so easy for me that, as you all know, I'm ready for another, and another and another! I also make that clear when people ask, it's all her, I don't feel that I've done anything to make her so easy going. I just follow her cues and she is who she is!

So I have 2 questions:
1. Regarding EC, I wanted to start Trixie off at birth, but life got in the way and I kept putting it off in hopes of sorting out the breastfeeding issues, then the formula debacle... I think I read somewhere that there is a window that closes at 6 months... thoughts? Trixie is nearing in on 6 months.... I know I need to sort out her cues. When she was a wee little babe her pee cues were really obvious to me, but now they aren't, any ideas? I think tomorrow I will wear her all day with just a diaper and no cover, or should I just go no diaper?
2. Starting solids.... I know I linked to a self feeding article last month, but what has me worried is that it made a point about it being for breast fed babies. It did have a line about needing to give formula fed ones more water to make up for less liquids. So now I am still anxious to start with real food, skipping purees and such, but do you think it's a good idea since she's not breast fed? Parts of me think that going along with the mainstream ideal would be easier, but I just don't think that it's the best for her. I'm worried to start her on the path of overly processed foods full of synthetic crap which will lead to obesity, which scared the bejezuz out of me.

Sometimes I feel the weight of being a parent is so heavy, I'm responsible for a small person! I need to make the right choices!

[flapjack]

NOS, can I just ask a dumb question? Why not just make the pants from fleece and cut out the middle layer? You know, like longies? :

There are no rear-facing car seats for children past 30lbs available in the UK, Europe and several other countries. I can't find the comparative mortality rates online, though.
Andrea, two suggestions: homeopathic aconite (particularly because of the worry that is going alongside) and colloidal silver.

Juise, you need to get yourself to a homeopath right now. This has dragged on long enough, it appears to be a constitutional problem for the two of you and it needs a kicking to balance everything out. If money is an issue, I'd suggest trying to barter.

NOS, I have come to the conclusion that if you have enough kids, one of them is bound to be one of those children the baby books talk about which sleep and eat and giggle and all in the right proportion. It's the law of averages, y'know? I still can't get over my shock at River's temperament myself, so I get where you're coming from.
I had a bad day yesterday. We had the family eye test: Alex's eyes are still resolutely, 100% fine. Isaac's prescription has increased by almost two full points in one eye and I nearly cried during it: even with his glasses on, he couldn't read down to the 3.0 line : My poor brave baby. His squint is heading out of control as well, so we're back to patching and he's being referred to the orthoptic clinic with a view to supervised patching and perhaps surgery . I know he drives me insane, but he really is one of the bravest people I know- he was so excited about getting his new glasses, excited about the possibility of the surgery because he might be able to wear contacts in the future, excited about everything. He's so, so, freaking cool. EVEN if he did lose both his inhalers again yesterday and we had to spend two hours looking for them :

Dea, sorry we cross-posted. The point behind Gill Rapley's report wasn't that it is just for breastfed babies, but that all of the research she did was done on babies who were breastfed on demand. Given that Trixie is bottle-fed on demand, what's the difference, y'know? I say go for it. The skills you'll be helping her learn: when she's full, when she's still hungry- are essential ones for healthful attitudes to food and if she can learn them while she's still young then so much the better. I have noticed a difference in Alex and Isaac's attitude to food (one was entirely self-fed, the other wasn't)- the self-fed boy has a less sweet tooth, will often make healthier food choices and has less hollow legs.

[Jezzy]

Hi!! We are back from Croatia. Just wanted to say hi before I try to catch up here!

[lisavark]

Originally Posted by Dea

HI Mamas!
Regarding EC, I wanted to start Trixie off at birth, but life got in the way and I kept putting it off in hopes of sorting out the breastfeeding issues, then the formula debacle... I think I read somewhere that there is a window that closes at 6 months... thoughts? Trixie is nearing in on 6 months.... I know I need to sort out her cues. When she was a wee little babe her pee cues were really obvious to me, but now they aren't, any ideas? I think tomorrow I will wear her all day with just a diaper and no cover, or should I just go no diaper?

Yay! Yes, just jump on in! You're definitely not too late to start. I talked some mainstream friends into giving it a try at 7, 8 months. If I were you, I'd do exactly what you said: diaper with no cover, unless you feel like getting your sling and your self wet. Start with the easy catches: poos, and pees right upon waking, etc. Come on in the EC forum and tell us about it! Oh, and don't worry about not noticing pee cues. Some baby (like mine) never cue to pee...I just go by timing and intuition and it works great.

I'm addicted to EC...even on days like today when I got poo on my floor

Everyone with bf issues, I'm so sorry! Hope everything clears up soon.

Dang, I can't believe how big some of your babies are! You all made me nervous talking about outgrowing infant carseats. I gotta find the manual for mine; I'm not sure what the weight limit is. Yikes. We'll go to the pediatrician next week so I'll get to find out then how much she weighs now. I suppose I ought to get a scale for my house, but then I might have to weigh myself...!

Oh, but speaking of personal appearance, I got a haircut yesterday and I'm SO happy about it. I was a little worried it'd be one of those postpartum haircuts you regret, but I'm just thrilled with it. AND I didn't have to pay money for it--did a barter with my friend the hairstylist.

And speaking of money, we had my car stolen last week AND our equity line on our rental house (in a different state) was closed down, without the bank bothering to tell us. : It's been an interesting month. Fortunately I'll be starting work next week (four hours a week at my neighbor's little private school, and I'm bringing Anastasia with me )--won't be much money but every bit will help. Sigh. I do hope I can spend some of that money on another sling, though. I can never bring myself to wash the one I have...we don't have a drier so I have to wait for it to dry, and then I don't know what to do with Anastasia when she gets fussy. But the real reason, if I admit it to myself, is because I want a different color!

Sleep is much better now that I stopped worrying about it. Letting go of the routine I wanted has enabled me to let Anastasia put herself on her own schedule again, and it's not too bad. She falls asleep around 7:30 or 8 and sleeps alone in our bed or in her Amby bed for about an hour. Then she wakes up is up till around ten. Then she wants to go back to sleep but usually I just keep her in my arms because it takes her a while...she dozes in and out until we all go to bed around 11:30 or midnight. Then she sleeps till 3:30, wakes to eat and maybe pee, and goes back to sleep till 7:30 or 8:30. Oddly, the late-evening hour of being awake has enabled her to pretty much sleep through the night--that one brief waking doesn't really count for me as a wake-up, so I'm pretty happy!

Ah, sorry no personal messages--I just realized I'm wasting time again. I gotta get ready for my class since I start on Monday!

[firecat]

Originally Posted by noordinaryspider

He seems to take after my older sister that way and I spent an entire childhood hearing, "What is the matter with you?!?!" whenever my mother's patience wore thin and believing it: that there was something inherently "wrong" or "broken" about myself that caused problems and that my family and the world would have been better off if I had never been born.

NOS thanks for the reminder that our attitudes as parents are oh so important

Originally Posted by Dea

HI Mamas!
To that end, whenever someone asks that I make a thinly veiled joke about how bad Trixie is with her all night partying, drinking and punk rock boyfriends.
It's a really silly thing to think of babies as good or bad.
...
So I have 2 questions:
1. Regarding EC, I wanted to start Trixie off at birth, but life got in the way and I kept putting it off in hopes of sorting out the breastfeeding issues, then the formula debacle... I think I read somewhere that there is a window that closes at 6 months... thoughts? Trixie is nearing in on 6 months.... I know I need to sort out her cues. When she was a wee little babe her pee cues were really obvious to me, but now they aren't, any ideas? I think tomorrow I will wear her all day with just a diaper and no cover, or should I just go no diaper?

I just had to laugh at the vision of baby out all night partying!
ec: Yes!!! do it!!! Ive never heard of a "window" for ec and i *have* heard of many people starting later Jackson doesn't have good potty cues, Ialso rely on timing. To start I would focus on trying to catch waking pees and just noting what her "pee patterns" are...Jackson pees a lot in the morning, about every 30 min, and stretches out to almost an hour in the afternoons. Sometimes he'll do 2-3 hour stretches which really throw me! have fun and stay relaxed about it

AislinCarys, maybe when Jackson needs his next size clothes I will get some babylegs for him... it should be pretty soon as his 3-6 mo clothes are starting to get tighter!

BabyBump, hope the bac-out helps with your dipes... thankfully I have not had any smelly problems with my diapers although I do have poo stains. Any rec on how to get those out?? I try to sun them when i can but lately we have been having afternoon rains so... Jackson is about to outgrow his smalls and I would like to put them away clean!!

Juise, so sorry to hear about the thrush...

Andrea, not sure what to tell you about your plugged ducts. Try not to worry about it and hopefully your extra fluids, etc. and lots of nursing will take care of it. I have gotten some painful ducts here and there and I just have massaged them during nursing, tried to nurse extra on that side and they went away within a day or two.

Jezzy can't wait to hear about your trip!!

Lisavark, glad your like your haircut I remember getting one at about 3 mo pp and it was great. My friend held Jackson for me. I had to pay $$ for mine though

[Mama2-4]

Thanks for the help and suggestions re plugged milk ducts. I seem to be feeling better today!

I am hoping to catch up with everyone soon, we are off for vacation in the outer banks tomorrow morning! Looking forward to some very much needed R&R.

Stay well and hugs to you all and your babies.

Andrea