Babies Born April 1st - 15th 2008 #1

[Nettie]

Well Liam was a little trooper again last night - self settling. But he woke up 3 times crying and needed the dummy put in to get back to sleep (and we think his hands were cold because he'd gotten them out of the wrap, so we re-wrapped him). Then he slept through until 6.30 am this morning!!!! He's never done that before either so there's firsts all round this week.

I think I'll take some new pics today because he's looking different to me like he's grown up a lot this last week. I'm wondering now if it was a wonder week for him as he's doing a few new things like growling and a couple of times he's chuckled - but I can't get him to repeat it unfortunately.

Nothing else to report. I hope everyone else is doing well

[Butterfly_Princess]

AAAH Isabell was up from 6am!! And i feel sick, got a sore throat, think im getting a cold, got a massive headache, feel spew sick, just wanna sleep!! She has had one 2 hour sleep so far, and i slept for that time, but i still feel absolutely horrible

[alittlegrubi]

AAAH Isabell was up from 6am!! And i feel sick, got a sore throat, think im getting a cold, got a massive headache, feel spew sick, just wanna sleep!! She has had one 2 hour sleep so far, and i slept for that time, but i still feel absolutely horrible

Sorry to hear that Meg, but it might explain Isabell's change to routine - she might have the same feelings.

I'm getting good daytime sleeps at the moment, but I know it is because Greer is sick, sleeping it off so to speak. Means I get time to clean and about to put her down again now - hope she stays asleep so I can give DS some attention.

[jenh30]

hi all

i think we may be going through a growth spurt here with Isabelle. she has been really cranky for the last two days but luckily still sleeping her 12 hours at night. i had been considering the move to her room this week, but i thinki might wait until this growth spurt is over and she's had her 4 month vacs.
It's been pretty quiet in here, hope that everyone is doing ok.

jen

[Fire]

Grubi, I haven't much time (just came to read) but I can give a quick tip to try. For a deeper explanation, look at the video on my blog about breathing in the asthma sections. The simple version is, if you overbreathe, lack of carbon dioxide stops oxygen getting into the cells (eg, the brain). It seems converse to what you'd expect to happen from overbreathing, but CO2 is needed to transport the oxygen. This sets up a cycle where all kinds of crises happen in the body. And a panic attack causes over breathing almost as bad as asthma does - that panting, big breath, shock type breathing. To avert an attack almost immediately, hold your breath. Sounds too simple, but as the CO2 builds back up in your system, your body and mind will start to relax. Cut off the loop by cutting down the breath. Then "mouse breathe" this is what we describe to children to make it fun, but it's just breathing so small that you can barely feel it when holding a finger in front of your nose (btw, NEVER mouth breathe!!!). It will feel uncomfortable, like your dying to take a deep breath or that your starving of air. Ignore it, and soldier on. Stay uncomfortably needing air for a good five minutes, then resume regular (gentle nose) breathing. Don't deprive yourself to gasping stages, that's counter productive. But do starve of air a little.

My brother, an addict and panic attack extraordinaire in his hey day, can avert a panic attack with breath alone now.

[Fire]

Sorry I've forgotten who it was but someone else here had cradle cap issues. Are they in this thread or the other one? I'm wondering how you treated it and if it went or got worse, etc.

Thanks.

[mgm]

fire that was probably me. i think i mentioned earlier that ds's miracle cradle-cap formula failed to work instantly on dd (it was 30ml almond oil with 3 drops each of geranium, lavender and roman chamomile). i had just about given up but over the past couple of weeks it's worsened and she's been scratching her head a lot and drawing blood occasionally. so, i've been putting the oil on an hour or so before her bath (which is more or less every second day), then brushing her hair/scalp just before bathing her and washing her hair. with the brush, circular movements seem to do the trick. there are several small bits still on her head, and a couple of giant crusts that i'm scared to lift off, but at this stage i'm pretty sure they'll all come off in time if i continue the oil-brush-bath method. i've also had to use baby shampoo to wash her hair, otherwise the oil just stays in there. does ci have bad cradle cap? how's his eczema going? i've had that myself recently, not pretty...

meg hope you and bubs are better soon.

hi to everyone, not much time to write now as ds is demanding food. hope you all have a good day

**oops - that should be ONE drop each of the essential oils, in case anyone feels like trying it! it also makes a lovely baby massage oil.**

[Sequoia]

Janine - I have ordered Infant Scalp cream from Moogoo. I use their Oil cleansing method and have ordered some milk soap for my sister who has keratosis pilaris. Will report back once I've used it.

Off to footy, must dash. Made a cake for afternoon tea (all players families must bring a plate) but DH and I ate it yesterday, oops!

SG
xo

[Fire]

Yeast live in the scalp feeding on the oils there. If you use oil plain, like olive oil, you feed the yeast. But with the lavender, it is an antifungal. Yeast overgrowth in the gut can make the immune system fight the normally benign yeast on the scalp. This can make cradle cap turn into the nightmare we have. Seborrheic dermatitis. I thought it was part of his eczema but it is a separate issue. Apple cider vinegar is good (alters the pH) and I'm using an antifungal and dermatitis shampoo (first time tonight), which is antifungal. He currently smells terrible, with a teatree/lavender blend on, and the smell of tea tree makes me feel sick. But it's clearing, finally. I'm attacking it with everything I have.

Shoegal I look forward to hearing how moogoo goes. I've heard good things about goat milk too but I'm already using so much what I really need now is a good moisturiser that doesn't contain petroleum products (parrafin, mineral oils, etc) and that isn't oil based. All but impossible, I think.

I'm eating only chicken and rice, and today I added carrots. Sigh. But his skin is at baseline so now I can see clearly what triggers it. I am also going to NAET tomorrow, an emergency appointment. Cos we're not sleeping and sleep dep is doing my head in, I'm getting very low from that and lack of nutrients and weight loss and have to call "emergency" before I drop. They fit us in last minute.

[Fire]

Re Zinc, from a previous discussion here, I found this today while looking for something else. It seems to explain the zinc/depression/baby link quite well. They even found that "waking at night to attend to the baby makes me less tired when zinc levels are good".

Improved Breast Feeding Retention Rates
Associated With Postnatal Maternal Oral Zinc Supplementation

If you don't have PDF capability, it can still be read here.

[bellelass]

Thanks heaps Janine for the pattern. Take your time, whenever you run across it give me a shout... I hope things are getting easier for you as of late.

Everything is fine here, Lila has settled into sleeping from 10pm to 6-7am and a morning nap which is weird. Also I have to take her walking every day now or she gets really unsettled.

I found a job and its good for what I need. There's a quilting shop just down the road from us, the kind of place that stocks everything you could possibly need for quilting and they have lessons and classes and clubs that are always going on. I saw a sign up for help wanted and inquired. The woman in charge was so nice, said they could work with me on hours so I can work when Lila would be looked after, and that I can have ebm breaks etc. It's right up my alley, been sewing and crafting for years and I'm good. Not a career or anything but it'll help pay my student loans and put money back for our move to Europe without sacrificing baby's well-being so I say.

Hope everyone is doing well.

[BabyWrangler]

Just on the cradle cap thing....BJ had a little, not heaps but some, and we had tried a few things and someone (can't remember who) suggested, and I also looked it up on the net, that its essentially infant dandruff and so to try a very small amount of Anti-Dantruff shampoo.
We used Selsun Blue 5, tiny amount at bathtime, rubbed it in gently using fingernails, then rinse and gently scrubbed hair dry.
We did that every 2nd day for a week and he hasn't had CC since (we did this at about 8 weeks).

[BabyWrangler]

COPIED POST FROM OTHER FORUM

Ok, I think it was Nettie (if not sorry!) who was talking about making up bottles as you need them etc?

I had always made up BJ's for a 24 hour period and stored them in the fridge, but he's been quite fussy of late and we wondered if that was why, so, heres what we do, and it works a treat (in terms of mixing the formula in properly etc, which I know may still be an issue with the special bottles etc).

I measure out the bioled water into the bottles and put them in the fridge (cause we know that a 200ml cold bottle takes exactly 1min in our microwave to heat).
I then have 2 of those formula containers where you measure out the scoops for if you're gong out etc, and I measure out 6 x 4 scoops (4 in each section..obviously!).
Then at bottle time, we microwave the water, then pour in the pre-measured formula, lid back on, shake like crazy and feed.

Usually I'm lucky and I can do it all with BJ on the floor or something, but, if he's arking up in a big way, I do it the same, but stand the bottle in an empty coffee cup while I shake the formula in (to stop it tipping over).
Its been working a treat for us, and because the water is warm, with a good shake the formula mixes in really well.

Im not sure if it would work with the special bottles for Liam or not, and you're probably doing it exactly that way anyway, but if you aren't, thats how it works for us really well.
Having the formula pre-measured makes it soooo easy!

[mgm]

If you use oil plain, like olive oil, you feed the yeast. But with the lavender, it is an antifungal.

Fire that makes sense. I still use that oil blend on DS's skin at night. I suspect part of the reason DD's cradle cap was so much worse is that she sweats a lot when she cries, which can't be helpful. But I seem to be on top of it now (the fungus, that is - not the crying!).

steph sounds like things are going well for you and lila. job sounds great too!

shoegal what is the infant scalp cream made of?

grubi i saw your birthday cake pic on the other thread. i think you did a fantastic job! i'm quite into making birthday cakes and am so pleased to have a girl so i can (one day) make one of those cakes with a doll stuck inside it.

hi also to meg, babywrangler, jen, nettie, shoegal and anyone else i've missed (my memory's not the best these days).

[Sequoia]

shoegal what is the infant scalp cream made of?

Hmm, not sure mgm. Google moogoo and it's listed on the LHS with the rest of their items.

HTH.

SG
xo

[Fire]

Steph, what does lila do until 10 pm? Is that her last feed or bedtime? The job sounds perfect, too! Congrats.

[bellelass]

Janine- How did the NAET go today (also what is it I don't have a clue)? I really really hope things get better for you, you're such a cool person. And you are such a good mum.

Lila is just Lila until ten I guess... We usually have a two hour cluster feed in the morning, two or three half hour feeds over the afternoon. Around 7 I watch Friends and then clean the kitchen and she'll have another feed. Then she hangs out with me. We chatter and she plays next to me while I knit or write to friends or do Bellybelly til 9 when I change her for the last time, rub her down with lavender lotion and put her in the grobag. I always take my time changing her because we both really enjoy it. Then she feeds for half an hour, falls asleep and I hold her for another half hour to make sure she's good and sleepy. Then I put her down and that's that. I remember it used to take about 2.5 hours to put her down, the time has just gradually gone down to half an hour. Only just made the connection about that. huh.

[Nettie]

SG - I was very excited to see Kobie McGurk on TV yesterday! Go Hockeyroos!!!

Well, we had our 4 month follow-up with Neo-Natal today.

Liam is now 5.7 kgs and 60.5cms long with a hc of 41cm. I think he's small for his age, but they tested his development too (with a physio and also a paed) and he seems to be well advanced developmentally.

They were impressed with his hand movements, eye coordination, interraction and also his efforts with tummy time & sitting up.

When the physio had him on his tummy, he almost rolled over - front to back! He hasn't done that before! He seemed to really enjoy it so I think I'll try to do more tummy time with him. She used some rattles to capture his interest and he really liked them. So we went to Toys 'r' us and bought some for him!

We were so proud of him as he was quite tired at the beginning of this appointment and thought he'd start getting grumpy, but he was a real trooper smiling and having a great time with everyone who saw him for the full hour & a half that he was 'seen to'.

We fed him straight after and he went straight to sleep (though not for long!). Then we went into the city to do some shopping and he was great through that too! Only had little naps through the day - 20 mins, up to 40 mins - but he was never very grumpy. He's now down in bed and self-settled like normal. He seemed very relieved to be back in his cot though! Couldn't get the smile off his face when we got home!

to everyone - sorry I don't have time for personals. Need to make up the bottles for Liam before Spicks & Specs starts!