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what do you give babies to chew on? The only way I've been able to stop Isaac from crying or being unhappy and restless is to put my thumb in his mouth. He is gnawing and biting on my thumb knuckle right know like a mad person and it hurts! What am I supposed to give him? I don't have any teething toys or anything. I think I'm going to have bruised fingers tomorrow
i've always used little gel filled teethers, you can pop them in the fridge too and they like that (when they're full-on teething). Most supermarkets do have them or toys with "teethy" type things on them if you wanted to buy some. Ermm I'm trying to think of what else you could use... but my brain just ain't working sorry
Bec - no ideas here -but I like the sound of belfie's idea. Hope you don't get bruised and battered from being gnawed. They are quite strong those little gums & jaws. And OMG about the chips ( and other stuff) - there are just so many things wrong with those food choices for a 6 month old... Each to their own in a way... but that is just abusive and neglectful and lazy. Geez, and I thought I was pretty relaxed and non judgemental about others parenting styles.... hmmm me thinks not. Oh like the avvy to with the giraffe in the background and the camera. Nice touches to make it truly individual.
Belfie - omg - not being able to talk is scary I imagine. I seem to be having a recurring dream where I can't talk or move and it's frightening enough in a dream but at least I get to wake up from that. Glad it was all ok. And what a way to celebrate Annika's BFP! Nice story for her 21st....
So you're not the only ones to rant....
Well, for some bizzare reason I decided to try Hannah on some rice cereal today even though my intention was to hold out for as long as possible. I expected her to push it out and not take it, but she seemed ok. But she also seems ok with BF'ing still so I am not going to offer any more "solids" for a while. That's ok isn't it? I have no idea what came over me. And afterwards I let her play with the bowl and mush her hands through it. Afterall - food is fun right? Pretty messy though. BF'ing is much tidier. Oh well it's late so I should try to get some sleep before the little one wakes up.
Belfie - cool thanks I'll get some of those things tomorrow and see what works.
Dory - Yeah I'm not so non-judgemental of other parenting styles either apparently, I thought I was but some things people do just make me a bit angry, like the chips thing. And what makes it worse is that I found out today she's giving out bad advice to others. That's weird about the rice cereal, because I've been strangely tempted to try Isaac on it too and I don't know why! I haven't yet though. I want to wait until at least 6 months, but lately the strange temptation has been there. Weird. Oh and thanks, I love my new avvy!
If it helps any, both my paediatricians (yes one for each kid :doh:)) AND the Royal Children's Hospital Allergy Clinic have advised me to start between 4-6 months & not to wait until 6 mths anymore. I was also advised (VERY strongly) not to avoid ANYTHING (obviously don't give in a form that is a choking hazard tho). They said that studies are showing that giving the "risky" foods earlier is actually more likely to be beneficial, for example with things like Coelic's disease, apparently waiting to introduce gluten isn't necessarily beneficial. So for us with all our food malabsorptions & allergies, we're going to go with earlier - even though it does feel very odd! I should start Annika but I'm just slack and I really really don't want to yet! (more work lol). Oh and for those who are BF'ing, giving foods whilst you BF is also really good, hence when some ppl only feed to 6 months & intro all the foods AFTER 6 months apparently that backfires... as the BM will help the gut to cope with the new foods.
Well we had a sleep consultant out here today - I was feeling rather desperate with littlie missie "i-only-catnap"... so we're trying some things for a few days & fingers crossed it will work. She spent 5 hours in her cot & slept for 3.5 - which is well more than usual. Left to her own devices I'd be lucky to get more than an hour or so out of her. Apparently she should be getting between 5-7 hours in the day at this age... I'm just daydreaming about that lol!
Bec, I saw on FB that you said Isaac is waking with wind pain after 40 mins (we get that after 20 mins DOH!)... the consultant told me to burp Anni more often. She feeds so efficiently (4 feeds a day about 10-15 mins) she said she's getting so much so quickly it makes her windy... and to take her off & burp her after 5 mins. I wondered if that could be the case with Isaac?
Thanks Belfie I'll try taking him off and burping during feeds. The problem is though because he feeds while he's just about asleep during the night he's really hard to burp. He doesn't wake up when I pick him up to burp him, and I can never burp him when he's asleep no matter how I hold him (either on my knee or over my shoulder). The burps just don't come out. Then usually after 40 minutes he's pulling his legs up and twisting around from the belly pains. Seems the only way I can help him is by giving him another quick feed, but then it happens again. It's a viscous cycle. And at 2 or 3am my brain doesn't work well enough to think of a different solution so I just keep doing it. I'm going insane. I gave him some Infants Friend earlier (previously has not worked for him), and now he's been asleep for two hours. Fingers crossed he is ok tonight.
That's interesting about solids. I'm a bit scared to introduce cereal now, it seems to me that it won't leave enough room for breast milk which is so much more nutritious. Kind of makes sense about allergies though by getting them used to different things.
Belfie - hope Miss A gets some better sleep habits soon. Sorry to hear about the wind pains after 20 mins. That is so hard. Chin up - you can do it! Thanks for the allergy advice too. I have NO idea why I started solids as I am seriously lazy and want to avoid work... I just wanted to try and honestly expected her to refuse it.
Bec - if you're doing purees and not baby led solids, then they start with such small amounts it won't interfere too much with the breast milk Isaac will take, at least initially. Really it's just about getting them used to the whole thing and you too. I hope to try and make it fun for us both. It is messy though. It's so hard to know - if he's having so much trouble with wind, maybe it isn't time to start solids? Some bubs have little tummy upsets when they start as their digestive system adjusts. Maybe that's why I am not going to give Hannah her next taste until the weekend.
LOL - the cats are very cuddley today and are rubbing on the computer and trying to "type". Funny little guys. Oh good news here - saw the Obs today and got the all clear medically and physically to try again when we are ready. It will be a long hard journey with the same precautions as last time but will be harder as little Hannah Bear will need attention. But after the PIH/PE/HELLP it's good to know the doc says it's all good to go. Yay. ( When I have rough days, the thought of ttc is the last thing on my mind, but I have this insane and very strong urge to go again, already.... I know insane.. part of me feels guilty, like I am not stopping to enjoy Hannah at this age, but that same concept would apply no matter what age she was).
Hi ladies,
Sorry I have been MIA lately - busy and tired.
Belfie - Thanks for the info re starting solids it is very interesting to hear the advice for allergy prone bubs as I think that is what Pearl is but I assumed the opposite would be true. We are in the same boat re sleeping - I am struggling to get more than 40min out of P during the day and night times have gone back to being crap! I try to rock the cot to get her back to sleep in the day time it works maybe once out of five times (and not since Sat!) Did the sleep specialist have any other ideas? What with not sleeping great at night and these tiny day sleeps this mummy is tired!
Dory - I know what you mean about the weird urge to go again. Maybe it has something to do with not taking it for granted that the next preg will be trouble free and not knowing how long it will take to concieve?
Bec - I hear you about the chip thing but a while back when I said something like that to the child nurse here (who is vegan and healthy) she said chips are not as bad as we think for babies as they are a vegetable and babies don't need low fat - I never really thought about it like that. I reckon the salt would prob be one of the worst things about the chips but prob a bad idea all round for such a young bub - what was the bad advice she was giving (I am nosy!)
Anyway must go - I have taken up being a scout leader again after giving it up when I had that big bleed at about 13weeks. It's only my second night back and the leader is away (I am assist) so I have P and 5 X 6-8year olds to look after!!! should be interesting!
Belfie - does Annika get the wind pains that soon after every feed? Poor bubba. Just what you need on top of everything else. Was her sleeping better last night and today after seeing the sleep specialist? That's interesting about solids, thanks for that.
Dory - I am too scared to try any solids yet because of that, the digestion I mean. I don't want to upset his tummy with anything new so I'll wait until he starts to show signs that he is ready. I'm interested in baby led solids, I'll have to read up on that. That's fantastic news you're all clear to try again! Wow I'm not even thinking about that yet. Not that I really have the option, but you know what I mean.
Chuckie - that makes sense about the chip thing, I never thought about it like that either. The bad advice was telling another mum to just ignore the age advice on food packets as it doesn't mean anything. If it didn't mean anything it wouldn't be on the pack in my opinion.
We had a better night last night, I gave Isaac Infants Friend at 11pm, he woke at midnight, then 3, then I think he slept until 8! I can't remember the 5am feed.. I think he may have slept through it. Unless I slept through it. Anyway it was a much better night. I've given him infants friend again tonight, and as soon as I did he settled right down and went to sleep. What is in that stuff? Is it ok to use it every night if I need to? It seems to have worked a bit of magic, and I'm worried I might be tempted to use it too often.
Bec - I don't think there is anything wrong with using it often. At one stage we were adding it to each of George's bottles. It didn't really do too much for him, but that's because he was suffering from Silent Reflux and we hadn't worked it out yet.
I also have a gel-filled teether, which we haven't needed yet... lots and lots of drool, but no signs of teeth yet.
Dory - I definitely don't have the urge to go again! Hehe I was thinking about it, and I dont know if I can go through the whole thing again - ttc, pregnancy, labour and the newborn lack of sleep etc - geez it was hard! But if you feel ready, do for it, I wish you all the luck in the world! Definitely don't feel guilty about it!
As for solids, you all know that George has been on them for a while now. The main reasons for starting him on the solids were:
- He's a big boy and 1000mls of milk a day wasn't satisfying him
- We were hoping the solids would help his Silent Reflux (they did!)
- His paed didn't want him to fall too far behind his birth age
At this point, George eats 3 meals a day, and he is loving it. He opens his mouth for the food and swallows it with no problem. At the start, when we were giving him 1 meal a day, his milk intake didn't change. Obviously now it has, but that's ok because he was really drinking a lot, and milk has a lot of calories, so he couldn't sustain that for too long.
Apparently babies are generally only prone to allergies if their parents have food allergies, and neither of us have any, so we're not too concern, but still being careful obviously.
Again, it's TOTALLY up to you guys what you do with your bubs, I'm just letting you know what happened with George.
On Saturday night we had a weird night. George is usually in bed and asleep by 7pm. On Saturday, I put him to bed and he cried, not normally crying... screaming! From 7-9pm he just went nuts, even while I held him. I have no idea what it was, but at 9 he calmed down, so I put him back to bed and he fell asleep right away. After that, it was a standard night - he slept through till 7:30am.
Bec - meant to say earlier, love the avvi too. Re the infant's friend, I always thought the ingredients were quite natural & I had patches of using it with my kids a lot then they seemed to grow out of needing it - so I wouldn't stress. If it's working for you, run with it.
Re sleep & wind. Annika is an awesome night sleeper, I'm very lucky with that (11-13 hours VERY consistently) but I think it's cos she's a shocking day sleeper. Left to her own devices I'd get nothing but 20 min catnaps. Maybe 3 catnaps in a day - often about 2-3 hours sleep tops (and that's usually with intervention such as walking her in the stroller etc). But that wouldnt' be so bad if she was happy but she's not, she gets very overtired & grizzly and get's harder & harder to get to sleep. Hence the consultant. Now sometimes I can be a bit shy of revealing things on BB when I know the prevailing opinion might not be supportive, but I want to share in here with you guys because I think we all benefit & learn from each other & from what each other has tried.
So the sleep consultant (who's also a midwife) basically described a very overtired baby (Anni to a t) and one that sleeps well (Xander to a t). The rested baby can be transfered, can self-settle etc. The approach was basically to let her cry. Not to get distressed but to let her work out how to get herself to sleep. Her description was that an overtired baby cries themselves to sleep then cries themselves awake (that is my Anni). They startle, they're unhappy with loud noises, they don't like strangers. All what we're experiencing and DIDN'T with X. But I just thought, oh different personalities.
So she said that a lot of the patting & sssshing basically disrupts them settling themselves. So I tried it - basically minimal intervention, letting her cry (more than I usually would). I wasn't sure, but I felt like listening to her cry (and holding back from intervention was more about my guilt as a mother than about how much she cries (given that normally she still cries from overtiredness it's just i'm holding her and ineffectually trying to comfort her! So I feel like I am doing something normally - but with this I wasn't doing anything which is oddly harder). So first 2 days - tough. Basically she should be sleeping 5-7 hours a day, and our new routine is a LOT more time in the cot. Listening to her cry, trying to work out what hte cries meant & when to go. Going in and thinking had I let it go on too long? Picking her up & she was sobbing, I felt awful. I used my sister & a friend for support (disadvantage of a consultant is that they're not able to be with you the whole time). But... today the magic happened. She slept more. She was calmer. She was happier. She seems to have realised that she's supposed to sleep more. It's like by taking away a lot of her playtime, but reiterating this lesson it helped her to learn.
To me it's almost been like a kid that you want to spoil them & give them fun & lollies all the time, but then they get tired & over it and you have to be strict mummy cos otherwise you know they'll crash & burn. Seems to be kinda the same thing for us. She was just sending out her baby sonar all the time saying mummy, I can party now can't i? And I needed to learn how to tell her that while partying is fun, sometimes we need to rest too, and then we'll all be happier & more rested in our awake time. So I'm feeling positive. She slept for 2 hours this morning right after her first feed - this is unheard of for us. Our consultant also said to put her down for sleep quite quickly after the first feed, and same with the last feed. Then she slept for another 2 hours late morning, again no crying, just a bit of chitter chatter & re-settled herself! Afternoon sleep was a bit rockier, about 40 mins & not as happy... but I think we'll work it out between us. Oh and she's still doing her good night sleeps even with more day sleeps (which is what always happened with X too).
I want to stress that this was what seems to be working for us, in our situation, with the help of a consultant (who I spoke to every day). I have learnt that when I thought she was wide awake & wouldn't possibly go back to sleep, she actually can. You never stop learning with kids huh! So I hope it's interesting & informative for you guys - and now I've gotta go to bed!
Chuckie - oh sweetie - Pearl is having a rough trot which means you are too. I just hope it gets better for you soon.
Fuzzy - how is work going? How is Chloe coping?
Belfie - is Miss A sleeping any better yet? FX crossed for you.
Bec - same thing with Isaac.... that is hard yards waking those hours... but 5 hours btn 3am and 8am is awesome.
Connie - congrats on becoming a life subscriber. Hannah has weird episodes like that and usually at night and not long after her last feed or sometimes she'll wake up after being asleep briefly. It usually doesn't last anymore than 2-3 hours. It's pretty distressing for everyone... for Hannah I think it's digestion - usually wind, as laying on her tummy and rocking seems to help. Not a solution every time though. Other times I wonder if she's overtired? That's awesome about George generally sleeping through for about 12 hours. How are those christening plans coming along?
Hello to Wite & Harlow, Buzzy & Bella, Pantha & Lotte, Deana & Blake, Kirsten & Sam, and Penelope's mum! Thinking of you and hope you're doing fine.
Does anyone else's bubs wake up from their sleep crying as if they have had a fright? Hannah did it today and it took a while for her to be able to calm down. Poor wee girl - tears streaming down her blotchy red face, little bottom lip quivering, gulping a few ragged breaths. A picture of misery... just melts my heart every time. Today I did a crazy thing - I went for a walk in the morning ( had to put my sun phobia aside.... but it was a little overcast, and I also had to encourage myself to drag my sorry self outta bed) but once out and about it was great and I even went for 3 mini jogs. by mini probably about 100m each. It wasn't as hard as I thought.... and so far not too bad in terms of aches and pains. There is hope for me yet.
Belfie - we posted at similar times. Thanks for the awesome summary. Hannah startles easily, loud noises make her cry and whilst shes ok with strangers it's only as long as I am around.
By some dint of luck, it seems, I pretty much somehow managed to figure out by and large what you've just learnt with Annika... it's amazing how a "wakey" baby can actually go to sleep. I have learnt to assess the noises Hannah makes to determine whether I need to act straight away or just wait.... it does often see me waiting at the door to her room though, debating whether to go in or not. Like tonight, I went in once, and then thought oh this is it, we are in for a struggle, but I waited just a bit and all was quiet. I wouldn't have been able to put it all down like that in a way that makes sense though like you have. I was going through phases where she was like Annika, but until you wrote your summary I actually didn't know what it was that I was doing differently.
They need their sleep to thrive, so well done!
Belfie - we have been letting George cry a little from very early on, and it has definitely worked. He learnt to self settle at a very young age. I honestly think this has been the reason for him being such a great sleeper at night and quite good during the day aswell. I'm so glad it's working for you!
Dory - You were saying you were considering having Hanna dunked? Is there a reason for that? Our Christening plans are really taking off - we have sent out invitations - the date is 6th March. Now I just have to work out what I'm going to wear!
Side Note: Are we friends on fb??
Belfie – thanks, I’ve been using the Infants Friend a bit but it seemed it only had the magical powers the first time. Oh well. Last night rolling Isaac onto his tummy to sleep seemed to help his wind pains, so I think I’ll do that a bit more.
You’re lucky Annika is a great night sleeper. I think Isaac is too ‘normally’ (ie when he doesn’t have the belly pains) he does want two or three quick breastfeeds during the night but I can pick him up to try to burp him, change his nappy etc without him waking up. He goes onto “night sleep mode” and doesn’t actually wake up properly until 8:30am. So I suppose that’s kind of sleeping through? I don’t expect him to go hours and hours without a drink, I mean even I always have a glass of water during the night myself. Day times have become really predictable which is awesome. This is Isaacs natural pattern: wake between 8 and 9, play for an hour, sleep for an hour, up for 1.5-2hours, sleep for 2-3 hours, up for play, bath, massage, feed and stories, sleep for an hour, up for another 1.5-2 then the night sleep starts.
Belfie I think you are brave to admit to that approach here on BB, I understand why you would be hesitant to. It’s totally up to you how you settle your baby and I’m sure you’ve explored all options before trying this. It’s not something I would do personally.
I found that really interesting to read. Annika’s personality type sounds the opposite to Isaac though, Isaac wakes just looking around then when he sees me he smiles, and goes to sleep quietly and is quite comfortable with strangers. He only cries when there is a reason, and sometimes when he is overtired he will cry himself to sleep but I continue to rock him until he settles. I just figure it must feel nice for him to be comforted when he is feeling crappy rather than being left alone. I’ve been getting pretty good at reading his signs though and usually start to settle him as soon as he gets tired. I think maybe that’s why he doesn’t cry very much. He’s funny, when he tries to get my attention he just makes this funny moaning sound instead.
Good luck with it, and I hope Annika sleeps more soon :)
Oh a funny thing, Isaac seen a photo of himself for the first time yesterday, he looked at it, broke out in a huge smile then reached out to try to touch it. It was so cute! This is a pic taken a bit later, he's not smiling but wouldn't stop staring at himself!
Belfie - I kind of did the same thing with Chloe. Left her to her own devices a little more than I would normally, i.e. perhaps grizzly crying for about 20 mins. I would only go to her if her grizzles progressed to a proper cry. In that case I would give her a quick cuddle until she stopped, pop her back in and she was ok. It took us two days too and now she is fantastic at going to sleep in the day.
Chloe still wakes twice at night. Every night. And she is hungry when she does. She sleeps well during the day 2 x 1.5-2 hr sleeps and a shorter one in the late arvo.
She is on solids. I give her a little bit in the morning about an hour after her BM feed. Then I give her a little more either around mid-day or DH will do it when he gets home at about 5. In each case she only has about 2 teaspoons all up. I have given her rice cereal, and a lot of different purees - apple, pear, banana. Am yet to try her on some vegies. We are just taking it slow and at the moment she usually has enough milk that she is not really hungry enough for much food. I guess that will change in time when she is more ready.
I am back to work too. Well working from home about 15 hours per week. Which, this week, is a bit of a struggle!
Belfie - oh sweetie - I went back and re read your post and could really feel the trepidation about your posting it. I am with Bec - we each have to make our own decisions about how we parent our children. There will never always be agreement about parenting styles. I certainly don't think that what you are trying is harmful to Annika. Just have faith and confidence that you are doing your best and you are doing it with loads of love, and you sought advice and support. Nt much more you can do my dear, except to stop beating yourself up about it.
Connie - no real reason, it's just offered at the church.. it must be a new service they offer. I don't think we're friends on face book... little ole dory here is a bit shy about it all. But I will get up the courage to do it one day....it's not about you at all, it is totally about me my reluctance.
Fuzzy - Chloe sounds like she is going great guns. 15 hours a week seems manageable until I think about myself... some days it's too much effort to do the housework and gardening, so I do nothing and go out and have fun instead.... like yesterday. I do like to make sure that Hannah has one good long sleep during the day before we go out adventuring, or that she has the chance to do it in the arvo. I feel better about the idea of solids now as I wrote out a plan so I have some idea of what direction I want to go in rather than just do it haphazardly. Not sure when I will start though.... Glad you'e got DH in on the act!
Well little Hannah continues to prefer DH and I, but loves socialising if we are there. When I was visiting the Obs, his wife took Hannah to a different room and Hannah started to whimper after about 5 mins. But then a quick cuddle from me, and from my arms Hannah couldn't get enough of the Obs wife and reached out for her a few times and was all smiles. So maybe what I need to do is give Hannah enough time to "warm" up to people before I thrust her into their arms? Will see how that goes.
oh Dory thats so sweet she is attached to you both! I understand the need to get her used to socialising though..but its still pretty cool hey x
I just found out I get severance pay from my old work. 8 weeks pay! So so stoked. I thought I was going backwards with the mortgage but now it turns out that I am still kind of earning a fulltime wage until the end of Feb!!! Motivation to do some work today is now COMPLETELY GONE. woooohooo