Babies Born April 1st - 15th 2008 #1

oh yeah forgot to comment on the DH thing. mine works full time, longish hours (currently home by 7.30 but it used to be later) and always has work to do at night. he took 8 days off when dd was born - was supposed to be two weeks but he had to go back early. it was not nearly enough time... since then he's taken one day's leave to take ds to the snow. i do all the shopping, cooking, laundry, day-to-day cleaning (not that much gets done) and all the nighttime wakings/feedings/nappy changes - he does the occasional dishwashing and often tidies/cleans on weekend, but he really can't do much more than that because he does ALL the paid work that supports us. i wish i had more help, especially given dd's pathetic half-hour naps, but that's just the way it has to be. fire you are so lucky to have your dh at home! meg yours sounds very helpful too.

ARGH this is driving me insane!!!

Benjamin has a problem that just keeps taking us round and round in circles...
He sleeps on his tummy and has a dummy.
But when going to sleep, he turns his head from side to side (which we call snuffling) and as a result his dummy falls out, gets flung sideways...you name it...

We decided that now (as its getting worse) is a good time to get rid of his dummy, as his day sleeps are getting shorter, and he's getting grumpier by the day I looked up the plantley gentle removal technique as we'd like to avoid the whole controlled crying if we can..however, I can't get him to stay still with his dummy in long enough to be able to implement the gentle removal because he keeps snuffling the dummy out, but gets more upset by the second cause its not there, I end up trying to hold it in place while he frantically turns from side to side, its ridiculous!!

Ive tried letting him sleep with one, or both arms out, but that doesn't help as they randomly flap around and keep him awake.
If I put him to bed wrapped and on his back, 2 things happen...1, he talks to the shadows, the walls, the window, the curtains (and for all I know, the voices in his head) and doesn't sleep, and 2, the dummy falls out and he gets upset!

Any ideas?????


Oh and on the DH thing....my Dh leaves for work about 8am and gets home anywhere from 6pm to 10pm (and sometimes not at all cause of work)....but luckily for me, DH has been working only 3 days a week since BJ was born (mind you, when he IS home he doesn't actually help as such, apart from the occasional nappy change or bottle etc) he has just this week gone back to full time.

I'm not sure about the dummy thing, BW. Ci would do that also if he had one cos he is a tummy sleeper who moves his head side to side. does yours get a blocked/snuffly nose from tummy sleeping? This is causing drama here cos I can't let him sleep on his tummy all night because of it. It's the main reason I take him into bed with me, to sleep him on his side and back. Back to the dummy, can he fall asleep on your lap with the dummy and rocking and then teach him to fall sleep without it there with the Pantley pull off, then start putting him into the bed again to reteach him that way? It would take much longer, but there would be no tears. That's where we're at. He can put himself to sleep without feeding most of the time unless really wired and upset. But still with pats from me if he's in the cot, which we'll eventually phase out when he's ready.

I've forgotten to comment on something...

Oh yeah, solids. Don't you find that they're grabbing at everything and putting it into their mouth though, not just food? I don't think that's DSs sign of readiness to eat yet, cos it doesn't seem to matter if it's food or the newspaper. :lol: Although, he does seem to like sipping on my glass of water occasionally, and seems to know what he's doing when he does, too. Is there another sign of readiness I can watch for?

This teething thing is horrendous. He's a dribbling mess, just slobbering everywhere. He pukes more and is biting down on everythign. He seems totally preoccupied with it all.

On the DH thing - My DH will be the primary carer when I return to work (2 days this week, then full-time from next week :( ). He also helps out with the washing, dishes, floors, etc PLUS does most of the night feeds. We're sort of a reverse set here ;)

He doesn't always remember to do obscure things like clean the toilet or wash the floors unless they are most obviously filthy, but I can live with that flaw!

When I return to work, I intend to help out a lot with the housework so that I don't fall into the trap most dad's do (as primary work away from home parent) - but time will tell!

Went to 'Cleft clinic' today and they just asked about his feeding etc and we were told that we could try him on solids from 5 months but to make it quite runny to begin with (especially because of the cleft). We're going back in December to schedule the surgery for March-ish... Liam was fabulous again today - he's a real trooper, even when he's overtired, overstimilated and generally stuffed around with. What a little man!

Fire- yes they are grabbing at everything and everything goes into thier mouths... but its thw hole chewing while you chew and MJ also makes the lip smacking sound.


Dummy wise- mj is too fussed some times uses it, sometimes doesnt so i cant help sorry

and fire- yes i think you are very lucky to have any help at home!!! it wasnt til i was truly on my own i realised that even the small help matters

Hey girlies haven't been in for ages just haven't had the energy LOL... Um... trying to think of updates. Ava is now 6.60 kilo, teething full on, squeeling LOTS, can stand up against furniture. And has started solids. She absolutely loves them. She has rice porridge with some puree fruit mixed in it, in the morning with a bottle, then at night has vegies and a bottle. Hope we are all well and our babies are nice and healthy :D

Fire BJ doesn't get blocked up with his snuffling at all (Im happy about that!!), its just the turning from side to side.

If I can't get the plately technique to work in the next week Im leaning towards the whole complete and utter routine change.
Such as instead of wrapping, giving a bottle, putting into bed on tummy with dummy I'll totally switch to
Sleeping bag/gro bag, arms out, bottle still, bed on back arms out, no dummy (but maybe with is taggie as I'm more that happy for him to have them, they are big and he can find them himself!

I know thats a lot of change all at once, but we'll see!

fire re signs of needing solids, this is from an article here on bellybelly:

:

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How can parents recognise the right time to offer other foods to their breastfed baby?

At around six months, or possibly later, your baby will let you know when she is ready for extra foods. She may seem unsatisfied even after a few days of more frequent breastfeeds. She may try to grasp food from your plate (or somebody else?s), or show an interest in eating when you do. Keep in mind though, that babies of this age (and earlier) often try to grab everything, and put things in their mouths. If this is the only indicator, you may like to wait a little longer. Let your baby take time to learn new skills. Some babies obviously relish the opportunity to try new foods. Others are very fussy and indicate their disapproval at being given food that isn?t breastmilk. If your baby does not show interest in family foods, wait a week or two before offering them again. Some babies are seven or eight months old before they begin solid foods.

---

The full article is here: http://https://www.bellybelly.com.au/baby/starting-solids-when-is-my-baby-ready

that said, i don't recall seeing any real 'signs' with ds - i just waited til about 6 months, then offered him tastes of things. this time round i want to avoid all the constipating foods (rice cereal, banana, cooked apple), or at least balance them out with more loosening foods.

babywrangler that sounds a difficult problem. i guess you might as well go with a long-term solution and eliminate the dummy completely... good luck!

hi also to nettie, kirstylee and beatrix :)

apple is constipating?

What are the loose foods?

hiya Beatrix...my MCHN tells me that Pear is GREAT for loosening up the bowels...

cooked apple is (apparently) at the 'firming' end of the spectrum. raw apple, of course, isn't - and neither is apple juice. something to do with the pectin, i believe? and yes pear is a good loosening one.

Ohh that's interesting, I haven't heard that. I've been giving ava-jayde pureed apple (which has been cooked) in her rice cereal and she still poos the same (unfortuneatly LOL they smell) But tomorrow she's gonna try pear.. and atm her favourite fruit is strawberry! its really funny watching her eat them like they're going out of fashion, then she hits a sour part lol

Just quickly on the DH thing.... if we are talking about the me time and balance etc....
Read this quote:
"The first thing we'd like to say is get over it. Your husband will never see things completely teh way you do. THat's the way it is, and you can go ahead and regard it as a fact of like. There are compromises to be made, treaties to be forged, but there will never be the exact same perspective, especially if one of you - you- is staying home and taking care of the kids and the other - he- is not. There are inherent differences that require understanding and acceptance by both you and your husband....'I remember getting advice from friends of mine who had been married longer. When I was in the first couple of years of marriage, I used to get so angry when my husband didn't understand my perspective on anything...Looking back I realize I was expecting my husband and me to have the same outlook on everything when that was actually an impossible expectation.I also realized I had two choices: I could continue to nag... or I could move on and work on other parts of our relationship. I did the latter and other parts of our relationship blossomed.... Men are different creatures that is just the way it is."

hey guys just thought i would share some pictures

My girls

hi ladies

not much to report here, things with Isabelle going very well. I've moved her into her cot in her room and there were (luckily) no changes to her sleeping routine. she still sleeps 12+ hours at night, last night she went to bed at 6pm and didn't wake up until 8.30 this morning! i had to keep poking my head in her room to check on her :)
I'm not starting solids until 6 months due to concerns over allergies and excema. she already has excema on her face and arms and my husband is allergic to loads of things, luckily james only gets hayfever, no other allergies.
Isabelle had a dummy for about the first two weeks, but then i remembered getting up to james during the night to put it back in, and decided it was better to do without it, shes never needed it anyway.
i absolutely love my grobags, wish i used them for james instead of getting up and tucking hm back in when he'd kick the blankets off, it's amazing how differently i'm doing things with isabelle compared to how i was with james. he'd make the slightest noise and i'd be in there."oh he's awake" but i've been letting her go for a bit longer to see if she really is ready to get up. the other day she woke up after 30 mins and talked to herself for 20 mins before sleeping again for and hour and a half, i wish i'd known this stuff the first time around, would have made life much easier :)
i hope everyone is doing well, no signs of teeth here yet, loads of drool though...and she's finally learned to roll over, and now wont stop!

Jen, I can help with the eczema. We beat it. It can be done. It's not very hard to do either. Are you breastfeeding? Let me know if you'd like some help. It can be really trying if they're itchy. Although, it doesn't sound like it's affecting her sleep! :lol:

Hi everyone

Sorry I've been MIA. I went to Perth for a couple of days, then to my parents to see them after they returned from Beijing. Baxter has a terrible cold and his routine has changed lots...which I am not liking at all!!

He used to have a lovely 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon, now it's only 40 mins! He is tired but having this cold distracts him from putting himself back to sleep. He's also dropped a feed too, so having 5 BF's a day plus 2 comp feeds.

He was 5 months old yesterday and I had a weight check appt. He was 6.240kg. We aren't going to start solids until he is 6 months old. He is sleeping from 9.00pm until 7.00am, but I wish he would sleep more during the day.

I'm doing WW Online and have lost 4.9kg, only 1.6 to get back to pre-preg weight so feeling very proud of myself.

On the DH front - DH's work (our shop) is 100m from home so he leaves at 8.00am, comes home for lunch at 12 noon and is usually in the door at 5.05pm. On Friday nights, he takes Baxter to footy training at the oval, we rug him up nice and warm and DH takes him, I live for those 2.5 hours each week! DH does the dishes and vacuuming and I do all other housework. He basically cares for Baxter from 5.00pm each night, all I do is feed. So I feel I am very lucky. A few times in the beginning he even took Baxter to work when things were really tough for me. I am lucky we own our business and things are flexible like that.

Will try to drop in more.

Brady
xo