Babies Born June 1st - 15th 2008

Hi Amy :D

Day time sleep is something I'm interested in too. I understand that all babies have different patterns (if they have them at all!), some are really good nappers, some are terrible, some sleep in only batches of 40 mins (one sleep cycle) and others will sleep for hours apparently. I've read it should be on average 15 hours sleep out of 24, with 10 at night and the rest during the day in naps. Obviously that varies by baby and day to day. Also, I've read that for some people keeping their babies awake longer works, but for others it just leads to an overtired baby and an overstressed mum.

How are we ever supposed to know if what we're doing is right?

I've spent a few weeks trying to track her sleepy times and all I can tell is that Freyja is one of the crappy nappers. She tends to sleep for 40mins IF you can even get her down. Some days, no matter how tired she is or how well you read her sleepy cues, she just will not go to sleep. I have had many days were most of it was spent dealing with a screaming, overtired baby who is hyperalert and still won't go to sleep. :wall:

Occassionally I will be able to resettle her. More often than not she will seem to be completely wide awake and playful when I go through, so I think, "ooh, she's had enough sleep for once!", then within a few minutes it becomes obvious that she is still tired and I have to deal with her being grumpy until I cam try and put her down again.

She tends to need to sleep after being awake for an hour and a half like you mention Grace does, but sometimes it's only 40 mins, others she can go several hours and these periods don't seem to relate to how much napping she's done. Although the longer periods do tend to coincide with us being out and about, or her daddy being home. Very occassionally, perhaps once a week at most, she will sleep for several hours at a time - it's bliss!!

I was told yesterday by another mum that her daughter was crap at napping until they upped her solids to 3 meals a day, including a big brekkie. Freyja had a big brekkie today, which she loved, but it made no difference to her sleeping. She woke up at 6am today and has only had two 40 min naps since, despite a cumulative total of several hours of trying to get her to sleep.

Also, since Freyja learnt how to turn onto her tummy, settling her day or night have been impossible. She will just be nodding off when all of a sudden, she turns onto her tum for no reason and then of course she starts howling. She also now seems to favour sleeping on her side - all the easier for turning onto her tum accidentally! At least it has allowed us to start patting her bum to help her settle (give that a go btw, I was amazed at how well it works), rather than allowing her to hold our hands to her face and pat herself on the head with them. She has a death like grip so you're there for the duration when she does that.

Problem is, no matter how good your baby is at napping or night sleeping, it all goes out the window when they hit a development point - I'm now convinced Freyja is having a 6 month long one! :rolleyes:

Freyja is now going to sit in her high chair and watch mummy doing the housework because she is still awake. Perhaps I can bore her to sleep? :)

Hi Kerry,

Thanks so much for your reply. I know what you mean about the confusion re: are we doing it right?!! Don't you just wish they could tell you when they're tired!!

Well, a few people have told me that kids that need less sleep are often intelligent so maybe you have a genious on your hands :-)

I think with Gracie I've developed a thick skin of late. Sometimes it can take up to an hr for her to settle and these days I just go about doing whatever. When she was younger, I'd sit nervously waiting with baited breathe to see if she was going to settle to sleep and then at the 40min mark pray that she didn't wake completely. Ohh...how we traumatise ourselves! These days I just go with it a bit more. If she wakes at 40mins, I leave her for up to 30mins (unless she's screaming the house down which she rarely does) and then if she doesn't re-settle I get her up and make sure I put her to bed 1.5hrs (or less) the next time.

At night, if she wakes, I go in and check her and if she's not hot/cold, out of her wrap, head up against the bars, etc then I leave her. Sometimes it can take an hr for her to re-settle but patting, rocking etc never worked for her.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what the others have to say...thanks for affirming that sleeping is different for every bub and isn't easy!!

Zeke is a fairly average napper, he has 2 or 3 short naps during the day that last about 30-45mins and a longish one that is about 1-2 hours. I just kinda go with the flow and start trying to get him down when he is tired. When all else fails I just feed him and snuggle... at least that way he is resting.

When he wakes at night, it's usually for food so he eats, and goes straight back to sleep... which is fantastic, he's rarely up for more than 20 minutes!

I've been packing a bit more into his days now, so he's sleeping a little longer for naps... but has made no improvement on the night sleeping, which is what I'm really trying to work on, at least dropping the 2am feed. He doesn't really seem to want it, so I'm just trying to comfort him first, and most of the time it's working, occasionally he is still hungry, but most of the time he's woken out of pure habit... cheeky boy!

hi girls,

i havent been on in a while,i think cammi is going throu a long development point and she just got over a virus she wont be put down to play for 5mins the past week its stating to drive me nuts...lol hope it passes soon...as for her sleeping she only sleeps 40min at a time and only has 3 maybe 4 sleeps throu the day...she is a excellent sleeper of a night we go to bed bout 8:30-9 she gets up at around 4 but only for a feed and is asleep within 5min but i co-sleep she wakes again round 9-10am..its good to hear how other bubs sleep...

Hi all hope everyone is well.......:)
Taj is a great sleeper during the day!
His daily sleep pattern is usually up btween 6am-7am...has a feed and a play and about an hour and a half later goes down for a sleep. This is usually at least an hour sometimes 3!!!
Up again for a feed and more play time then about 2pm he goes back down for a sleep for about an hour and a half sometimes a bit longer.
Once his up at 3.30 I keep him up and bath time is 5.30pm then a feed then bed by 7pm and he has been sleeping till 4am then waking for a feed and half an hour later back asleep till 6-7am!!
He dropped his 2am feed himself about a week ago which has been great!!! More Sleep!!!

He is still not interested in solids so he is sleeping a lot for this age and just being BF(Ebm and bottle fed due to his cleft lip) So I don't think eating solids has anything to do with how they sleep, it just means they will probably cut out a few milk feeds and have more sleep or nap time!!

He isn't always routine tho and these times can vary a bit and also depending on wether I am at home or if I have gone out! I have noticed tho that he needs a morning and an afternoon sleep definately!!! We play heaps during the day and lots of tummy time really tires him out!!:p

My neice is 8 months old and she and Taj have almost the same sleep patterns and she has been on solids for 3 months!! It's weird how they all vary in what they do and when they do it!!!

I week and 3 days till Taj's surgery...Agggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh:rolleyes:

I totally agree... it's amazing how different all our babies are... all the different patterns they have and yet they were born within a few days of each other.

Leisha... I will be keeping my fingers crossed especially tight for you over the next couple of days. I hope that Taj's surgery goes well, and he recovers quickly!

Thanks everyone for letting me know :-) Amazing little creatures they are!

For anyone who's started solids, did you find rice cereal constipated your LO? I'm starting in the next few weeks and a gf of mine suggested skipping rice cereal and sticking with something like sweet potato first.

Any thoughts???

Thank you Mirandabelle it's nice to know people are thinking of him!!!:dance:
It's just awful knowing your little bubba has to have surgery......they don't deserve it.
I often wonder why bad things happen to good people??:doh:

Yeah Leisha... I know how you feel. But it's good to know they will get the care and treatment they need. It would be far worse if this wasn't available to them.

Amyhunz, Zeke hasn't had a problem with the cereal constipating him... so far he's been fine... but he did have issues with the pumpkin. Sweet potato is a great starter veggie though - most bubbas love it! The only way you will really know if Grace will be ok is to try her on a little... good luck! And remember to take lots of photos, they pull some fantastic faces the first few times!

hi all,

thought i would pop in and see how everyone was going...
goodluck on taj's surgery i hope everything goes smoothly....
has anyone got any teeth yet??we are still waiting
cammi had a virus the other week she was vomiting had a high fever and the runs it made it so hard for her to sleep...
i got cammi weighed for her 5months and she is 7.65kg and 65cm long...
well its really quite in this thread..


skye

Hi girls :)

Just been catching up with the posts that were added whilst I've been offline. Our furniture finally came, so we're having a great time unpacking! :rolleyes:

Leesha - good luck for Taj's surgery. I hope everything goes smoothly and don't worry!

Amy - I did find that the porridge and rice cereal constipated Freyja and I've found out why now! It's because it's got added iron, which is good for making your bub healthy, but can make them constipated. You should introduce it slowly and if your bub does seem constipated, then cut it out and then reintroduce again in smaller amounts apparently. Oh, you should always make sure you offer plenty of water to drink when they're having solids too.

Being the bad mum that I am, I wasn't offering Freyja any water, because of always being told that if they're thirsty, you offer them boob! Also, I just went straight into the Farax with no slow intro. She was having hard poo that was really dark, almost black, and was really struggling. Poor thing.

Now I actually give her either the Heinz Organic porridge with figs from a jar (no added iron and she loves it) or homemade porridge for brekkie. I bought quick cook oats (it's ground) and make up a batch with water, then add some Heinz Organic pureed fruit. I will be adding my own now I have my food processer!

It's a little lumpy, so prob best to wait till bub has had solids for a few weeks before trying it, but Freyja loves it and I've been adding a portion of it to her pureed veggies etc too.

Oh. and she now gets plenty of water to drink with her food and her poo is now generally the colour of her pureed veg. soft and oh. my god it smells! :sick:

Skye - no teeth yet. We've been battling a virus for the last few days, so I think the temperatures and irritability are that rather than teeth. I'm perfectly happy for him to stay this way a while longer. He bites hard enough with his gums! It's really hard having a sick baby, Zeke will only sleep while I hold him but between him and I both having fevers, we wind up sweaty, uncomfortable and barely sleeping. Thank goodness it seems to be on its way out!

Kerry - Mum & I mentioned shipping yards today and it reminded me of you. I was just starting to wonder if you'd gotten your furniture yet, it must be wonderful to have all your own stuff back!

I'm glad you were able to sort out Freyja's tummy issues. You're not a bad mum - some babies do fine w/out the extra water!

Zeke has had homemade porridge a couple of times - I buy normal rolled oats and make them into powder in the blender - add some water, microwave for a few minutes, let it cool and he loves it!

Oh, and the nappies get worse again once you add meat to their diets! Toddler poo is THE WORST thing ever to change!

We had a checkup today, Zeke is 7kgs even and the pediatrician said Zeke is doing 'perfectly! I am so pleased with my boy!

Hi all....just retured from a week away with the in-laws...hectic! Anyway, we're doing pretty well. Gracie slept really well while we were away despite a very noisy house and first time in a portacot. I'm not sure what she weighs at the moment but she's always been slighty above average so I'm guessing around the 8kg+ mark. Still breastfeeding so it's always a relief to get a good report card. I'm just about to change her car seat around to face forward - how exciting :-)

Still haven't introduced solids yet because we've been away but planning on starting over the weekend.

No teeth yet but she was showing signs from about 10 weeks! Drooling, chewing on everything etc But then again, maybe that doesn't mean teeth...maybe it's just another developmental phase (??)

Anyway, good luck with the surgery (sorry I'm not sure what it's about cause I'm a newbie to this thread but I'll be thinking of you guys). Not a nice way to spend the festive season you poor thing.

Anyway, got ideas for Christmas pressies? I really want to get her a Jolly Jumper...

BTW - this may have already been asked on this thread, but where abouts does everyone live? You don't have to answer specifically but I was just interested in case we ever decide to do a get together? I'm currently living in a town near Bathurst, NSW...

hello everyone,
havent been on here for a little bit as bellybelly hasnt been working on my computer for some reason..its weird..lol i live in canberra
i have no idea what to get for xmas cammi has a joly jumper and she loves it and it wears her out to...lol thinking bout getting her a pool as it will be pretty warm soon...oh and a really nice walker..

Zeke is getting a ball, those foam floor mats that click together and probably some clothes or something, I haven't put too much thought into it really.

Amy - If you look at the top right of each person's post you can see their details including location if they filled it in. I'm a Melbourne girl myself!

Drooling and chewing can be associated with chewing, but it is also developmental, babies don't learn to swallow their saliva for quite a while, and chewing things is their primary way of exploring an object.

You'll have to tell me how Grace likes facing forward, I think we'll have a lot less complaining from Zeke when we can turn him around (he's not big enough yet) when he wakes up bored, at least he'll be able to see what's happening better.

We have a date for his MRI, which I'm really glad about, it means that Zeke's surgery can go ahead when they wanted it to, around Feb-Mar.

Leisha, today's the day - I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you... I wish you and Taj the best of luck.

Hello everyone!

My furniture came (yeah!) on Thursday last week, so we've had a house full until the rental stuff was picked up yesterday. It's sooooo nice having our own things and it meant I was able to put all Freyja's Peppa Pig and Tree of Life stickers up again so she has something to look at in her room. Strangely, she seems to have started sleeping better - I'm sure it's a coincidence!!

Freyja was waking every 2 hours (this was me on a daily basis --> :o) and was still not napping, but this week she's started napping better (Tuesday was a blip I hope!) and only woke me once last night. I don't know if it's because she's passed a growth or development point (she seems to have grown several inches and suddenly learnt how to stay upright in a sitting position!), or her room being more homely, or that she is now having home made food with lumps in, rather than pureed baby mush. No idea, but I hope it continues - although the MCHN has decided to send us to sleep class so my hubby is taking the day off specially. I must have looked a right state on Tuesday for our appointment :redface:

Have any of the other babies started to make big chewing motions? Freyja started this the other day and I'm not entirely sure if it's the teething or her attempt at asking for food. She also has started testing her gums against my nipple (ouch!), so I'm inclined to go with the teething.

Glad to see all the bubs are doing so well. Freyja is just under 7kg, but she's 25th percentile for everything - tiny and cute! Except for her big chubby thighs that she takes from her mummy.

Good luck Leesha!! Let us know how everything went as soon as you can. Hugs to Taj!

PS - I'm in the outer Melbourne burbs :)

Kerry - I hope the sleep school goes well for you and you all get some more rest. Be aware from what I've read they teach "cry-it-out" or "controlled crying" methods mostly.

Zeke chews toys, his bottle teats, my fingers anything! (Fortunately not so much on my nipples yet :pray:) So I gave him a few tiny lumps in his food tonight and they all came straight back out... :doh: He chewed them all but wouldn't swallow, and he'd sucked all the liquid off them too!

Zeke is sitting up unassisted for about 5 minutes at a time now. He developed it so gradually I don't have an exact date for his baby book. I'm going to use today as the date though, because he chose to push off my leg and sit by himself rather than being put there. He probably would have stayed longer too, but I had to move away from him to get something and I didn't want him falling and bonking his head so I laid him down again.

Anyhow I'm typing with one hand cos Zeke is asleep on me... so we're off to bed!

Oh and Kerry which side of Melb? I'm eastern!

Kerry - I went to 2 Day Stays when Grace was 1 month so I could learn all the settling techniques, routine etc. I found them invaluable! Yes, they do promote controlled crying, but to be honest, it's worked a treat with her. She was a 11-12hour sleeper overnight from 10 weeks (with dreamfeed). She's certainly not perfect but she responded very well to routines and controlled crying (otherwise known as the "Ferber method"). Obviously parenting is a very personal thing so however you choose to do things is your choice and noone should criticise your decisions. I just found their methods to be very helpful to a new mum who was quite clueless in the early days!! Good luck :-)

Just gave Gracie her first solids! Sweet potato went down very well...

Developmentally Gracie is very good at tummy time these days...able to stay on her tummy for quite a while before her head gets a bit too heavy. She sits up but not for long at this stage without support. She's been doing the gumming nipple thing for about 2 months now - drives me crazy and makes me scared for when she gets teeth! Oouucchh!!

Have a great weekend all!

Amy, Sweet potato is a favourite here too! Don't worry if her poo is orange over the next couple of days, it's just the potato!

We've had a busy couple of days and I'm pooped! Zeke is being super fussy right now, but Daddy has him for the moment... phew!

Hi everyone,

It's quiet in here...

How's things? Gracie started solids last week. So far she's tried sweet potato, pear, pumpkin & apple. She LOVED pear. Ate the others but not overly keen. It's funny how some days they hoe it down and other days they couldn't care less. Hmm...

Gracie is SO close to sitting unsupported...has anyone's LO's started doing this? I'm putting off her 6monthly needles...hate them more than she does :redface:

MP - how did sleep school go?

Leesha - how did the surgery go?

Happy Christmas everyone!!!

Babies are funny about solids aren't they? But I guess we have hungry days and other days where all we'll eat is a couple of apples or a slice of toast, so it's no surprise that babies do the same really!

Zeke is sitting unsupported for about 5 mins at a time, but needs to be placed in that position. He's pushed from reclining to sitting a couple of times, but has not yet managed it from lying flat.

He had his 6mo needles on Wednesday, he was a bit louder this time, but still did great. Was pretty moody the day after though! Nothing a bit of TLC couldn't fix, but tiring all the same.

I'm about 1/2 done with my Chrissie shopping, still got a long way to go though. How are everyone else's Christmas plans coming along?

hi everyone,
its very quite in here....
hope everyone had a lovely christmas,cammi loved it she was more excited about the rapping paper than her presants...
i was wondering how much water your LOs are drinking as ive only just gave cammi water the past few weeks and she will drink 100ml in two days and sometimes want more on the second day and she still has boob alot aswel and still only has brekky and dinner im just about to give her lunch aswell soon...

hope the surgery went well leesha.

cammi had her needles a few days before christmas she screamed but was very good after and have had no problem...

miranda_hope everything goes on sceduale for zekes surgery and goes well...

Well hi everyone!!! Hope you all had a merry christmas!! Sorry I havn't been round but With the surgery and chrissy I was very busy! Thank goodness it's all over now!!

Taj's surgery went so well..he is a strong little bubba! He looks amazing now! They heal so quickly and handle the general anesthetic so well! I have put photos in the gallery if you are interested on how he looks! The swelling was gone only a few days after and not much bruising at all!!

He is now eating solids...just pumpkin atm and tomorrow I have some pears ready for breakfast...he loves the pumpkin!!

He is not quite sitting on his own yet but I think he is not too far off it!!! I also can't leave him byhimself atm as he could fall and knock his mouth! Hopefully over the next few weeks he will be!!

OMG do I have a lounge room full of toys from christmas..I could open a toystore!!!

Hi there!

We had a lovely, but busy Christmas and I am very much pooped! Zeke was a bit more into the wrapping paper as well, but now that the paper is in the bin and the pressies are around, he seems to think they're pretty cool as well!

Zeke gets about 60-80mls of water every couple of days or so, but I don't think a lot of it goes in. We're giving it to him in a sippy cup and a lot of the water pours straight back down his chin. I don't think he's thirsty, just bothered by the heat. I figure if he was genuine thirsty he'd drink the boob or bottle I was offering. I think the water is more of a distraction than an actual drink!

We have one of those mesh feeders too, and he LOVES it. I put slices of mango or cooked potato in it and he'll sit there all day gumming it. They're not too dear, I really recommend picking one up and trying it with your LO. It's basically a dummy but with a mesh bag to put food in where the teat would be.

We ALMOST have a tooth - on Christmas day I noticed that there is a little mark on his gum, you can't feel anything yet, but you can definitely see it! Not sure how long till the actual tooth will arrive, I've been doing some reading and it can be anything from a couple of days (we're at about 48 hours since I saw it) to a month! Does anyone else have teeth yet?

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! I did, although now I am totally exhausted! And I have to clean up - we have a house inspection soon :(

Hi Skye,
Yeah Gracie liked the paper more than the pressies...me and DH were cheap-skates and didn't get her anything. We figured between our families she'd get HEAPS and she did! Her favs are her Bumbo and a Jolly Jumper...

Gracie has a bit of water when she wakes up from her day sleeps...not sure how much in a day but I'm guessing maybe 50mls(?) I've heard ppl say not to give too much but I'm not entirely sure why. I guess if it interferes with BF but you said she's taking just as much...I wouldn't worry then.

Anyway, we've had an eventful week of weaning the wrap and dropping her dreamfeed (finally!). All good so far. I bought this thing called a Safe T Sleep and it's been great. It stops her from rolling and the band around her waist probably gives her the illusion of the wrap (but she has her arms out so that's the major difference). Anyway, it's nice to go to bed when I want!

Happy NY everyone...I'm being boring and going to bed early. We've just got back from hols and am SO tired.

Ok I just read other ppl's posts...sorry I'm a bit slow...GREAT news about Taj's surgery!! What a little legend...what a relief for mum and dad.

Miranda - no teeth yet!!! :-)

hi everyone
wish yous all a happy new year!!

amy-ppl have told me if i give her to much she wont want to b/f as much the only difference is cause its been so hot she doesnt want her 1min feed cause she is thirsty she has some water but she still loves to have it for comfort all the time..lol
yay for dropping the dreamfeed more sleep for you...

leesha-i had a look at taj's photos and he looks wonderful its amazing how quick they heal and good to see him smiling so soon after the surgery...

miranda-cammi has a sippy cup to it took her a while how to suck on it properly now that she has she gets excited when i get it for her dont think she is thirsty either but she likes it and i give it to her when its really hot and she wont stop drinking it,lol
where abouts did you get one of those mesh feeders from have heard about them before but cant find them?it would keep cammi very occupied..
we have no teeth here yet,but she has started to bite me when i feed her and it HURTS so im a bit scared when she does get teeth that she will bite me...lol

cammi is crawling now its so exciting!!i cant leave her in a room by herself cause she gets into everything,i have to change my whole house around now its not very baby proof i didnt think i would have to do it so soon..has any other LO started crawling yet?and she has learnt how to say dad dad thats all i hear all day dp is so proud..lol

wow crawling! no crawling here...

funnily Gracie did better with a cup that has a straw rather than the trad'n sippy cup...she's a strong sucker so she gets more out than trying to tip it up and suck...

Happy NY!

What fantastic news about Taj! I am so glad to hear that he's doing well!

Zeke is sort of crawling, it's more of an army type crawl where he drags rather than up on all 4s but he's working on that fast!

Amy - the advice on not giving babies too much water is because it fills their tummies up w/out the nutrients of BM or formula. I will have to try Zeke on a straw... see if he likes that better, I imagine he'll just bite it though!

Skye - I got the mesh feeder as a gift during my baby shower, but I saw them in Baby Bunting (a large baby product store in Vic) and I think Big W or Target. You'd probably be able to find them online really easily too.

We got our first tooth on the 30th! It's barely out, just a few millimetres of white on his gum, but I am very impressed! Zeke keeps sticking his finger in his mouth and poking it too.

Anyway, he's creeping his way away from me and is about to rip all of his nappies out of his bag again so I'd better go!

I hope you all had a great NYE, however you spent it.

hi all,

miranda-wow first tooth very exciting!!i found the mesh feederthey didnt have them at target could only find them at "toys r us"....

it has been so hot how have everyones babies copeing?cammi is ok hard for her to sleep tho..
cammi has started picking at her bottom gums and its taking skin off them should i be worried?
i find if cammi drinks alot of water at once she will spew it back up...

Skye, did you give Cammi a try with the feeder? What did she think of it?

Zeke has been a little crankier with the heat, but he's also working on his second tooth, so it might be that as well. I haven't noticed him picking at his gums at all, though he does poke the tooth he has a lot. Maybe a word to your MCHN about Cammi would help?

I have to do food shopping today and Zeke is asleep when I want to go... blah! Of course he'll wake up at lunch time when the shops are crazy busy...

Luckily victoria hasn't been that hot so the heat isn't a problem just yet!!! I wish it was tho cos this is the first summer I havn't had to work in about 10 years and I havn't even been to the beach yet!
Taj is still being wrapped as he just doesn't sleep properly if his not so sometimes he gets a bit hot because of that...I've tried 1 arm out, both arms out etc but nothing seems to make him sleep properly unless he is wrapped. He alsways gets out of it during the night tho so I don't know why he just won't go to sleep without it??

I am assuming he is teething as he has been a monster the last week...he is irritable, not sleeping well, has gone off his food and doesn't finish bottles! Pulling at his ears alot and rubbing his bottom gum with his rusk or anything that fits in his mouth! Also greenish poo and smelly wee( sorry a bit gross)

He has come good today tho and is a bit easier to deal with although I also need to go to the supermarket and now I'm ready he is asleep and I ain't waking him up!!

No crawling here but we are a little bit behind cos of the surgery..I think he may have been by now as he was doing so well rolling around the lounge room and sitting up!! I'm not in any hurry for him to crawl tho as my house hasn't been baby proofd either!!

Lots of talking and words that sound like Daddaadaaddaaddaa Typical we do all the hard work and they say dad first....I keep repeating mumumumumum to him but to no avail!!! He just smiles and gabbles dadaddadadaaa................................

xoxox

Oh gosh! I haven't been on in two weeks and there's been loads of activity here. Lemmee see...

Firstly, Leesha - I am so glad the surgery went well and Taj is going great. I will take a peek at your handsome little man's pictures once I've finished this post. :D

The sleep class wasn't too bad, but it mostly covered stuff I'd already read about - some things I'd tried, others I'd dismissed. They didn't push CC or CIO methods at all, which surprised me really. In fact, the mothercraft nurse who took the class did mention Dr Ferber and how he apparently meant for CC to be applied to much older babies than most people try to use it on. She didn't seem before or against, but said that Ferber was (no idea if he's still alive!) a renowned sleep specialist and it's worth reading some of his work just to understand how babies' sleep works.

Amy - Freyja did sleep overnight when she was 3 months (no feeds and no effort from me!), but then she hit the 4 month development point and they all seemed to merge together into one long 2 month nightmare, from which point she's only slept a whole night a couple of times. I've been reading the wonder weeks book (got it from the library!) and apparently this always happens when babies hit development points. Some babies don't get as badly affected though - has Grace had any points when she suddenly stopped sleeping through and how long did they last?

I learnt that we're approaching sleep the right way (with her bedtime routine, recognising her sleepy cues, giving her sleep indicators like her iggle piggle etc), but that I need to review the way I deal with her during the day when she doesn't want to nap.

Normally, I follow her routine, put her down to sleep and leave her. If she cries, I keep reassuring her, but if she's awake after 30 mins I give up and take her out of bed again. Then I open the curtains with her and put her down to play in the living room as if her nap was successful, whilst keeping a close eye for her to show sleep cues again in 30 mins time.

What I should do is the popping in to reassure thing for 45 mins and if this fails, then get down on the floor at the side of her cot and do the patting and shushing thingie that we do at night when she's unsettled or overtired, for 15-20 mins. She should be asleep after this, but if not I should take her out of the cot and allow her to play quietly on the floor of her still darkened room before trying again.

They key is to take her right through the sleep cycle apparently.

For night-time, we should do the same thing, but obviously don't want to be allowing her to play and get more wound up, so if she doesn't go to sleep and is still crying after the hour, we need to start just picking her up, giving her a quick cuddle so she calms down, then popping her back into bed. Not snuggling up with her and allowing her to sleep on us. This is working suprisingly well, especially combined with our new trick of blowing her a big kiss, waving goodbye and saying 'good night Freyja, I'll see you in the morning' in a quiet but firm voice. You feel silly, but what the hell!

I also learnt a bit more about adding patterns to the baby's day and found that the mothercraft nurses recommend the Baby Whisperer EASY method (i.e. baby eats, plays, sleeps and you get time to yourself). I've got the Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems from the library, so will read a bit more about this and see if there are any ideas in there that I can use, without becoming brainwashed into believing I am a bad parent because of my penchant for attachment parenting!

Now that Freyja is established on solids, we should also be trying to encourage her to sleep a longer period at night before waking for boob. The suggestion is that we continue to give her the roll-over feed before midnight (usually between 10-11pm) and then drop the first feed she has, which is currently around 2.30am, give or take 30 mins. She can then have her feed at 6am ish.

To do this, I should be co-opting Alistair's assistance because Freyja is more likely to relax and fall back asleep if there's no booby on offer!

Unfortunately, our plans to do that over his 2 week break at xmas didn't even start as she hit the 28 weeks, 'oh my god my mummy and daddy can put me down in my cot and just leave me here forever!' point. So we had 3 days of hell when it came to bedtime, then she slowly got better and has occasionally been skipping that first feed herself. I've decided to give her a chance to drop it on her own, but we may try to force it if she's still waking in February.

I did get a couple of good nights sleep at the start of December though when she had her needles and was tired as a side-effect. God, that was bliss!

Freyja has been having lumpy food since November and I started giving her stuff like toast at the start of December for her to chew on. She didn't push it back out (did you know that they do that with their tongues to produce saliva? The harder the piece of food the more saliva their little gummy mouths probably need to help them, so Zeke probably wasn't doing it on purpose!), but she didn't always understand that she needed to chew the bits first. We had a couple of coughing fits, but she's got the hang of it now thank goodness cos they're scary. Now she has cubes of cheese, pieces of chicken, veg, rice, pasta and even little sarnies with philadelphia on them!

We still enjoy sweet potato, but her current favourites are salmon (which I mix in with sweet potato or squash, warm it and then add a little milk) and pasta. She mainly eats what we eat now, though a less spiced and less chunky version. She had some of our favourite curry with rice the other day and loved it.

Freyja still has porridge for brekkie with fruit in it (Figs are a fav, but apple and pear are popular too), but I now give her a plate with some cubes of fruit and a piece of toast afterwards so she can help herself. Messy, but cool to watch her concentrating when she tries to pick stuff up and negotiate it to her mouth!

The thing she loves most is choosing which colour of spoon she'll eat with. She squeals with excitement, studies them all carefully and then chooses... green! Almost everytime :)

We have lots of multi-coloured poo! :rolleyes:

Miranda - have you tried blueberries yet? They do interesting things to poo! I mean for Zeke obviously, not you :p

She drinks loads of water as well as still having her boobie 4 times a day, though 2 of those times she doesn't always eat well, and then often twice at night. Skye, I'd say that Freyja drinks almost a sippy cup of water a day. We offer her little sips throughout the day as well as with meals though. Plus, the cup is usually near her when she's playing and she tries to help herself.

As for sitting up, we're doing really well at that. Freyja insists on sitting to play and stays that way for ages. At first she would occasionally fall over when reaching for something, then she started bouncing in her sitting position and after 2 weeks of that, it seems to have strengthened her legs a lot. Now when you let her take your fingers to pull her into a sitting position, she just pushes herself up into a standing one! At the same time, she started the whole becoming ram-rod straight thing when we try to put her in a sitting position when she doesn't want to (usually when putting her in her buggy). She's also started to rock herself forward from sitting to get onto her tummy when she wants to, has learnt how to roll from her tummy onto her back again and also, in the past couple of days, has been pushing herself up onto her hands and feet and rocking. Oh, and she's been making many more varied noises, laughing more easily and studying things intently. Plus, I swear she grew 6 inches in 2 weeks! :o

I can't wait for the proper crawling and am so jealous of you Skye. I've been dying for Freyja to be mobile, but she only manages to wriggle herself around or reverse under the sofabed. Not even army crawling like Zeke does. I'll probably regret this when she does though as we're not baby safe at all, what with Alistair never putting anything away (I found a stanley knife on the floor under the dining table today :wall:) and cat food and litter.

And a teeth Miranda! I bet you're glad they're finally coming :D Freyja still has no sign of any and is looking particularly gummy. I'm actually now fairly sure that all her fussiness has been as a result of development points, rather than blaming it on teething like I thought.

Leesha - from what you've described, it sounds like Taj is at a development point. They have a major one around 26 weeks and another around 32 (anytime between 30 and 35 apparently) when they learn how things fit together. Everything you describe (except the poo and wee!) fits in with what the wonder weeks book says and also what I've personally experienced from Freyja. Best not to try changing anything, but offer extra comfort instead until he gets over it. Could be a couple of weeks or so unfortunately!

As for the poo and wee, I think with both together you might want to just check in with your MCHN or GP.

Now, off to peek at the pics of Taj and marvel at how massive this post is. I think I may have outdone myself! :redface:

oooh, almost forgot - I'm in Boronia Miranda. It's an outer suburb, so further out than Box Hill

hi everyone,

miranda-cammi loves the mesh feeder it keeps here occupied for ages till it needs more food in it,she loves watermelon but it is so messy..lol poor zeke hopefully it comes throu quick for him,cammi still has no teeth yet..

cammi can now sit by herself very good and yesterday pulled herself up on the lounge so she was standing then fell over freaked dp out cause she hurt herself...
she is now learning so quick its scary she is growing up,she is 7 months tomorrow where does time go?????????

kerry-thats great thats the sleeping class was succesfull..


sorry to cut it short but cammi is crying..

Just a quickie??

Taj is loving solid food now which is great! He has had Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Potato and Broccolli!
Bannana, Pears, Apple and Watermelon.

Farax in the morning mixed with apples, Fruit for lunch and Vegies for tea. Also still having at least 4 bottles a day, 2 EBM and 2 FF. I always offer a bottle first and offer food in between naps when he is awake.

Today he was very constipated....Yesterday he had a whole bannana and Farax( half in the morning and half in the arvo) Potato, sweet potato and broccoli mixed together for tea.

What in the last 24 hours would make him constipated? Is it Bannana? He has had farax solidly for almos two weeks so I don't think it is that. I bought some organic porridge today and am going to try that as I hear farax can constipaten them.

Any suggestions girls as to what maybe causing it or have you had any similar problems due to any particular foods??

He is sleeping much better now than last week..think it maybe a developmental phase mummy pig!

Hi Ive been meaning to post in here but I never get round to it :redface:
Im Rhiannon Single SAHM to Aiden (born June 1st) Just wanted to say hi and see if it was too late for me to stick my head in

welcome rhiannon of cause your welcome to join more the merrier...

leesha-thats great to hear taj going so well on solids,as for the constipation cammi had it aswell i thought it could have been the farex i now give her wholemeal cereal and she has been fine every since.

Hi Rhiannon! You're more than welcome to join in :D

Why don't you let us know all about Aiden and what stage he's at with everything? All our babies are at such different stages, even though they're so close together, and I think it absolutely fascinating!

Leesha - both baby cereals (because of the added iron apparently) and banana can cause constipation. It didn't kick in straight away for Freyja either, but as she ate more it got worse.

Should see an improvement in a few days if you switch to just plain porridge (I tried an organic baby one at first, not knowing it was also fortified with iron...), which you can get from the supermarket or a health food store. Cheaper from the supermarket and you can buy own brand quick cook porridge for a couple of dollars.

I'd suggest that you initially use a combination of rice porridge ('rolled rice' or 'rice cereal'), porridge oats and perhaps also millet cereal. You can get the rice and millet from the gluten free sections of supermarkets, or from a health food store, where again it will be more expensive but easier to find!! It's just that porridge has gluten in it and if you're bub hasn't been introduced to gluten products, like bread etc yet, you might want to do it slowly and watch for allergies.

I still give Freyja a mix of the 3 - I use 1/3 cup of each, stick them in a pan with 2 1/2 cups of water, bring to the boil and simmer stirring for 5 mins until thick. Because I don't use milk to make it up, I can store it in the fridge and this makes enough for a week. I usually add some fruit to it before it cools and I stick it in the fridge. Freyja loves either figs and pear, apricot and apple, or apple and pear. I change it every week.

Some dried fruit can have quite a high iron content itself, so this is worth checking before you buy it. Otherwise, figs are pretty good for getting those bowels moving again! You will probably want to use some of the soaking liquid from your dried fruit when mixing this into the porridge. Thick porridge is too stodgy and I found that Freyja would take ages to eat a spoon and then do this freaky thing where she took a really deep breath in through her nose. It makes a loud and scary noise, which kept making me think she was choking or couldn't breath. Scary! Can also add a little milk when you warm the porridge - I usually add it after warming it (40 secs in microwave) because then it thins it and cools it :)

Oh, you might also want to try Miranda's tried and tested tip at a tummy massage in the evenings before bed. This is good at helping relieve the constipation (will only work if you stop the food that's causing it though!) and will also relieve the painful wind Taj might get in the evenings for a few days whilst his bowels start working again.

Rhiannon - as you may have spotted, I have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy too much to say :redface: