Babies Born June 1st - 15th 2008

**amyhunz** · March 24th, 2009, 12:23 PM

Hi everyone,

Sounds like everyone is busy, busy!

Leesha - I've heard periods of food refusal is quite normal, especially in toddlers. As they become more willful it often occurs. But if you think it's medically (teething) related then hopefully it passes with the arrival of the impending (or should I say offending) tooth! Friends of mine have told me that their LOs refused for sometimes a few weeks and then just snapped out of it. One friend said feeding her LO from a metal spoon rather than plastic made a huge difference (who would have thought!). Glad to hear his bottles are fine. Hopefully he's making up for the food with milk. Anyway, maybe it's improved since you posted (??)

Skye - Gracie is down to 4 milk feeds in 24hrs. Occasionally 5 but rare these days. She has them roughly at 7am, 9.30am (sometimes - usually only a top up feed), 1pm, 4pm & 6.30pm. I've been BF the 7am feed but she's refusing all others from me so I'm expressing and also supp with formula. I don't know that there's any right or wrong, but I have read that by 6months(ish) babies can go up to 12hrs without a feed overnight. Gracie dropped her last nightfeed (the 10pm one) at about 6 months. But everybody's different so whatever you're comfortable with is perfect! I would hazard a guess that the only way you're probably going to help her reduce her feeds is to try and encourage full feeds when you want them, and then allow her to protest when you know she's just wanting a comfort feed. The older our LOs get, the more demanding they become!!!

Hope everyone else is going well. Miranda, I didn't realise Zeke was having surgery. All the best!!

Goodbye for now..

**Mirandabelle** · March 24th, 2009, 04:54 PM

Wow.. Zeke refused to eat pretty much anything while his teeth hurt. It sounds like Cammi is doing great with the food though, I can't get Zeke to eat 3 meals a day, he'd rather snack every couple of hours, like me!

We're not BFing anymore... Zeke decided to self wean a few weeks ago. He was down to 3-4 per day just before he decided to stop though.

If it's a comfort thing, maybe you can try giving Cammi a small snuggly toy while she's nursing to stroke, and let her get used to that being there, she might associate that with comfort instead of the boob, and be content to stroke the toy instead. I've heard a few people say that's worked for them. Hopefully it might work for Cammi too.

The best 'snugglies' I've found are the ones made like face washers with a head and paws on them. We have a duck one and that's been Zeke's favourite toy since he was 3 months old. You can get them in really cute animals, or cartoon characters too, I know a couple of babies with Eeyore and Piglet ones!

**skye+cammi** · March 27th, 2009, 08:44 AM

hi everyone,

the last few days cammi has only been bf 3-4 times in 24hrs i didnt think it would be so easy she protests a little when she wants it for comfort but stops after awhile and will just have her dummy and a cuddle it has been great except cause she was feeding so much before my boobs are so engorged its killing me cant wait till they settle down cammi still wakes up at bout 3-4am for a feed i have tried to stop that but no sucess..
wow zeke weaned himself does he still have milk throu the day?surprisingly after the first day of trying to cut down on feeding cammi isnt really interested in bf anymore if she can see food she wants it and when she cant have it she protests about it..lol
i tried giving cammi a teddy but she just chucks it every time...lol

**Mirandabelle** · March 27th, 2009, 10:36 AM

Skye - yup, Zeke is still on bottles of formula. We'd begun supplementing to improve his weight gain before surgery, and he began to prefer bottles. He usually only has 3 250ml bottles a day now, he's all about the solid foods! After about 8pm though he drinks and drinks and drinks! I've known him to have over 600ml in the two hours before bedtime. He likes to stock up.

With getting Cammi to sleep through, have you tried a dreamfeed? It never really worked for Zeke he'd either wake up and want to play or not wake enough to eat, but some mum's I know swear by it!

I've tried giving Zeke some porridge about an hour before he goes to bed and then a last bottle, so he is absolutely stuffed full when he goes to bed, which means he sleeps a couple of hours longer before waking for a feed... so I get 2 blocks of 4-5 hours each. Maybe giving Cammi some extra food before bed to really fill her up will help?

Amy - thank you! We're just trying to cruise along as normal with life, and not make a bigger deal of things than we need to. It's hard not to get nervous, but the happier and less stressed Zeke is the better, so we're keeping calm for his sake!

**skye+cammi** · March 30th, 2009, 08:38 AM

i normally do give cammi a dreamfeed..i tried giving her some more food before she goes to bed and it isnt working the last 2nights she has been waking up screaming and wont go back to sleep for an hr and has to have the boob or will scream!! last night she woke at 1am than 2am than at 4am its like she is tired and wants to sleep but cant and she only has 2 sleeps of a day if that sometimes..ive tried so many things to calm her of a night instead of feeding her but hasnt been working any ideas???????

**Mirandabelle** · March 30th, 2009, 09:26 AM

Sounds like maybe the food is giving her a bit of wind and indigestion, which is why she cries, and it might be a good idea to give that idea a rest if it seems to make it worse.

Have you read "The No Cry Sleep Solution" a few mums in my mum's group are reading the book, and it's helped them drop nightfeeds with their babies (who are a little younger than ours) and for the most part have a restful and uninterrupted night. It's pretty popular, you can probably get it from the library.

When Zeke wakes for a feed (I am not trying to drop night feeds until after his op) I just bring him to bed with me and feed him in the dark, then when he's done put him straight back to bed. He's getting to be very independant and being held or in my bed actually disturbs him more. I've always tried to keep night feeds calm, quiet and in a darkish room (the light outside the bedroom is on, with the door open about halfway) without too much talking or stimulation. I think the dead silence no eye contact rule I've heard about is too extreme, but a general vibe of calmness and peace has mostly meant that we've only been awake for a maximum of 30minutes.

I really hope you can get some more rest, my friend says insomnia is character building, but he's never had a baby!

**skye+cammi** · March 30th, 2009, 10:56 AM

no i havent read the book i will have to get it..i co-sleep with cammi still so it makes it easy to feed her with out desturbing her to much,i also think she is getting another tooth throu,if so i hope it comes throu soon..
has zeke put on much weight for his surgery?

**Mirandabelle** · March 30th, 2009, 01:28 PM

Maybe Cammi is getting ready to move to her own bed? Zeke will only co-sleep with us for an hour or so, then he starts to grunt and fuss and isn't able to settle back down untill I put him in his cot... you might need to start transitioning her to her own bed soon. Having her food so close all night possibly contributes to waking as well.

It could be a tooth too. Even the most routine oriented baby looses the plot when a tooth is on the way. Lots of Bonjela for Cammi! Try giving her hard toys to bite and cold teething rings or banana, it might help ease her pain.

Zeke is doing great. He's gaining plenty of weight he's always been a petite boy, but he's still stacking it on right now, he was 8.1kgs when he was weighed in Feb. I haven't had him weighed since, but I think he's easily up to 8.5kgs. He has 4 teeth now, the bottom middle two, and the outside middle two on top - he has fangs!

**skye+cammi** · March 31st, 2009, 09:39 AM

ive been trying to get her to sleep by herself we sleep in a seperate room so i will lay her day when she goes to sleep she will stay in there of a ady with out me but when i put her down of a night she wakes after bout 10 mins looking for me if im there she will just go back to sleep she doesnt like it when it is dark so i have to have a lamp on all night..but i keep trying,
thats good zekes put on weight i got cammi weighed about aweek ago and she was 8.8kg,and she has one fang aswell it looks quite funny when she smiles..lol

**Mirandabelle** · March 31st, 2009, 02:16 PM

Skye, have you tried putting a shirt (or something else that you've worn) in with Cammi when she sleeps alone, so that when she wakes she can smell you and maybe be comforted by that? Zeke has a pillow from my bed in his cot, and he loves it. I have to take it with me if he's going to be napping somewhere else, it really helps settle him, having me feel close the whole time.

The 'fang' look is so funny! And now that our babies almost always smile you get plenty of toothy grins. I'm still trying to catch a photo of Zeke's though. He always gets all serious when the camera comes out!

**MummyPig** · April 14th, 2009, 09:15 PM

In a slightly delayed reaction...

Welcome Mich!! Nice to see another new 'face'

Will read through all posts and perhaps even bless you all with one of my gigantic replies once I get a spare second

but just thought I'd let you all know that we're okay - just been a tad busy!!

**skye+cammi** · April 22nd, 2009, 11:40 AM

hi everyone

its very quite in here!!we have benn very busy..cammi has just started taking steps no more then 3steps at a time..
just wondering if anyone has facebook i am always on there..lol
if so you can add me if you like..

**amyhunz** · April 22nd, 2009, 01:10 PM

I do! What's your name on FB? I'm listed under Amy Cross Hunziker...

**skye+cammi** · April 22nd, 2009, 01:18 PM

mine is skye moore i just added you

**Mirandabelle** · April 22nd, 2009, 01:53 PM

I'm Miranda Beattie, I don't know how many there are, but my display pic is a shot of Zeke sitting on a bench and eating something with me in the background!

Or just search my email miranda_jeanne@hotmail.com

**leesha** · April 22nd, 2009, 08:23 PM

Im on facebook too! Alisha Marhad!!
I have been so busy chasing Taj around and dealing with the teething caper that I don't get on here as much!!
We now have almost 5 teeth and I can't get over how big the top front teeth are!! He has got a real personality now and can be a real little smarty pants at times!!

Glad everyone is well and will try and get back in here more often!!
xoxo