Pooley - our TV is wall mounted about 3 metres above the ground...i put V's activity mat about 2 metres out from the wall and she just lies on her back and stares up at it for ages. The TV is extrmely large so it is hard to miss! But we don't have a coffee table or anything in the road...i can understand not wanting to move furniture all the time! I did wonder how the formula feeding would go in a country where you can't drink the water. my understanding was that even boiling the water is still unsafe, and your not supposed to use bottled water so what are you supposed to do? Stick to 1st world countries! Does F have a dummy? does that help in his unsettled time?
Art - wow in the crawlers huh? what kg range are they for? V is still pretty comfy in the infants. V's weight is starting to plateau a bit so she might stay in them for a bit..only now 5.8kg...my arms are already hurting!
Taurean - how is it all going with the breast feeding? All going well? Yeah i didn't go overboard on packing and it still was a lot - don't know how women do it on their own - travel that is with the bub and all the luggage!
I had a few 'bite my tounge' moments over the weekend with my in laws (MIL,SIL's) who love to tell me what to do. I was chastised for not burping my baby, not using a pacifier (umm she won't take it i can't force her), not putting bows in her hair on a daily basis, not putting her in dresses. Violet is so good, she never cries, she is a happy baby that is feeding well, i am calm so i think she is calm because of it...i think i am doing a pretty good job. I just want to scream "SHE IS MY BABY AND I WILL DO WHAT I BLOODY WELL LIKE - BACK OFF B****ES!".
LOL Sanchez scream all you like hun. People always seem to find the need to offer advice to new mums. I've learnt to nod and smile politely and then do what I want with the advice. My MIL is constantly giving advice. I know she means well and wants to help but she is very old school. For example she said the other day that I should start thinking about starting Ethan on rice cereal. Um no he is only 11 weeks old!!! My DD started solids at 6 months and she used to say that I was starving her. She was such a happy bub and was always up in the 75th percentile for weight/height so clearly she wasn't too starving.
Taurean - I have a serious addiction to sprout. My DD has so much of it and I've got a few sprout outfits for Ethan too now. I'm waiting for the post-Christmas sales to go and get more. DH will probably kill me lol!
Art - I'm really looking forward to Christmas with DD too. She is so excited already. Sounds like your little princess might be a tall girl! I'm a shorty so I'm hoping my kids are taller than me.
Pooley - sounds like Frazer is in a really good routine, makes life so much easier when you can predict how the day is going to pan out!
Bloominroses - great to hear from you! How is your little man going?
AFU we are going ok. Ethan is still sleeping really well at nights and cat-napping during the day. I'm really happy with his routine at the moment and I'm just waiting for the 12 week growth spurt to come along and stuff it all up lol! No sign of it yet and hoping it comes and goes without too much fuss Anyway I can hear him waking from a nap so better go, have a great week all!
Sanchez- Frazer used to LOVE his dummies when he was younger now he only wants one when he's going to sleep sometimes. I can get him to sleep without it but sometimes when he gets to the "screaming like a banchee" moments it calms him down, but not always. He also looks as though he doesn't know how to suck it anymore IYKWIM?? If I try to give it to him when he's sitting upright he has 2 or 3 sucks and then it kinda just slips outta his mouth. BTW, I never realised you couldn't used bottled water for formula, not that I was planning on it or anything. Do you know why?
I am so lucky my MIL and SIL are the best. They are always asking to do things and never pushy about stuff. I think they think they need to tread on egg shells with me 'cause of my BIL's wife. She is anal about anything to do with her kids and instead of just telling my MIL politely no, or I do things this way etc she just snubs them, doesn't talk to them or bring the kids over and they find out 2 days later via my BIL why she is cranky at them. Dumb woman.
My SIL baby sat on Saturday night for me at like 3 hrs notice. It was my first time out, I went to a cousins 21st. Frazer was suppose to come and DH had a gig and I just thought, bugger it I deserve to have a night out!! He was so good she said she'd do it anytime if he has a repeat performance! Yay!
Am also planning to go out with my besty on Friday night to the Brizzy casino. She has just come back from Canada where she was working on the 3rd Twilight film and am looking forward to getting the goss. I kinda get a little sad 'cause DH and I were gonna go and visit her in Vancouver this September before I found out I was pregnant. We were dead set on doing the cruise and seeing the Orcas (killer whales) together.... she went without me and got some great picks though. Sooooo jealous.
Sangie- We are hoping Frazer skips his 12 week growth spurt unsettled time too. He definately isn't eating more yet and is still doing between 7-9hrs overnight. His grouchy time is still between 4-6 but the pram usually works well so can't complain. DH is home today so it's xmas tree putting up time!! Hope everyone is having a good day.
Thansk for all your support ladies. Its great to hear Im not alone with the cat napping. I have put an end to the cluster feeding from 5-8pm and have started putting Jackson to bed at 7pm every night. And so far so good. He sleeps 7pm-5am usually, although the other morning he woke at 4am. But I dont mind cos its still a great sleep
Ive decided that Im just going to go with what ever he is doing now. Fighting him is only upsetting me and DH and its not good. At the end of the day it just means less gets done and I have less 'me' time but ah well. Im convincing myself its 'just a phase'
Aww Shanchez vent all you like. I thankfully have a MIL that knows when to stop dishing advice, but my own sister is good at offering sometimes 'unwanted' advice.
Art I reckon Jackson will be in 00's soon too. He still fits 000's but for summer I think it will be nicer if he is in slightly looser clothing.
I have a spare few minutes to myself..the out-laws have taken the boys to the beach and Indi is asleep. I just put her in 00 new style wondersuit..I think they are smaller sizing than the original ones, she is waking once or twice over night but is generally a good baby.
Now that she is over 12wks I have changed formula to Karicare Gold + as her poos were to hard and had a consistancy of toothpaste..she was always straining to get them out. The Karicare poo is more like a soft breastmilk poo..and as a bonus it is a few dollars cheaper a tin. It is also made in NZ which I like
Im using the Grobag brand swaddle wrap which is the best one I have used. But she is nearly getting to the stage where nothing will keep her arms in and a Grobag will do. Also I dont know what you guys think about controlled crying but Im totally against it for bubs under 6mnths as there is always a reason why they are crying. The sleeplessness is worth it to hold/rock your bub if it means they are happy.
We are moving from Brisbane out to the country at the end of next week..to Esk for those in QLD. There isnt too much out there but it will be a tree change IYKWIM.
Hi everyone,
Nicola - glad you've got the NZ made formula ;-) Sounds like its suiting Indi which is great. We found that one a little hard to mix and it fluffs up a lot - but smells nicer than some other brands. I'm wondering whether to let Tadhg cry it out, but tending to agree with your thinking, surely they only cry because something is wrong - even if its overtired and they need help to sleep. So i think i will try and stick with settling him when he wakes (which is a lot in the day) and soon he'll work it out - hopefully! The annoying thing is no-one else can settle him so if i go out his Dad tends to get crying and more crying
BoB and others - the whole catnapping thing seems to be a common phase when babies start waking in their lighter sleep cycles. We are going through the same - thank goodness for good night sleeps! I think the afternoon crying is because they get so overtired from not sleeping in the day - its horrible huh Hoping its a phase! I hate to tell you the 2nd immunisations were a bit worse than the first, Tadhg really cried - but only for 1-2 minutes (compared with about 30 seconds last time) and he got a big lump in his leg which is apparently a common reaction. But still not all that bad!
re TV's - i've been avoiding letting Tadhg look at it, thinking it wasnt good for him somehow - but now i did a quick look on the net, i'm not sure its bad for them other than not providing as much learning skills as other options.
Taurean - how is Izzy's sleeping now? What a bummer losing the all night sleeps again - just when you got used to it! Tadhg seems to have skipped the 3 month growth spurt, or is going to have it a bit later as all seems relatively normal at the moment. He could do with a growth spurt to be honest! Just changing to infant nappies today, and only because i've run out of newborn size! Looking forward to a weigh in next Tuesday, but i don't think he'll be much above 5kg. Bummer about the swimming - i didn't realise you handed her over for it, mostly in NZ you stay with your bub I think. Tadhg would most likely cry too i think, he gets scared in big noisy spaces, like coffee group / out and about.
I'm doing my head in with this not-sleeping business. It's really confusing. Tadhg now wont sleep when i'm out shopping or in the car, although i think he did sleep for one car trip today. After a 10 minute nap he thinks he's done. Half the time we end up with a crying baby, and the other half a smiling giggling one pulling his hands out of my attempt to swaddle to suck his thumb. What do you do if your baby lies in his cot for an hour cooing and looking around!? It's very weird - but i know he has to be tired because he has hardly slept today. Anyway - just being thankful that 'so far' today has not been a crying day and he should still go to bed at 7:30!
What do others think about crying it out - and also having a dummy to go to sleep?
Kelly
Kelly - Tadhg sounds exactly like Ethan in the sleep department. I'm forever trying to settle him during the day and then when I finally do get him to sleep he is awake again after only 20mins. Does my head in some days! He has also stopped sleeping in the car and the pram is hit and miss. I'm really hoping this is just a phase that he grows out of very soon! Although he has been a bit more unsettled than usual for the last couple of days (and feeding more!) so maybe this is the 12 week growth spurt??!! I won't leave him to cry it out, I just can't bring myself to do it. I'd probably end up in a teary mess too! He does have a dummy but lately he keeps knocking it out of his mouth with his hands as he rubs his eyes/face when he is trying to sleep. I gave up wrapping him a while ago as he hates it and just screams lol!
Nicola - good luck with the move.
Pooley - glad you managed to get some child free time. I'm going out Christmas shopping this weekend with my sister and my mum and leaving the kids at home. I really need some child free time at the moment, I just hope that Ethan will be a good boy and sleep for his dad as he usually only settles with me. Fingers crossed or else I guess it will only be a short shopping trip.
Bob - Ethan is in 00 growsuits now but wears 000 t-shirts, shorts and pants.
Arrggghhh there he goes again, have a good day all
I hope everyone is well. We are both really well, except my stupid upper back and neck which is still giving me hell
There's been lots of chatting about day sleeps, cat napping and crying so I thought I'd put in my two cents worth and tell you where we are out now and what we are doing.
Izzy is sleeping roughly 10 hours a night, straight through most of the time. She's woken at 3am for a feed 4 nights in the past 2 weeks and after our meeting with the maternal health nurse today, it looks like she's just trying to increase my supply - will elaborate on that later. Other than those random 3am feeds, she is sleeping straight through generally from 7pm-5am or 8pm - 6am. It's brilliant.
Day sleeps are fantastic for us now too. Izzy generally sleeps for 3 hours in the morning then has another couple of hours in the afternoon. If we are out in the afternoon (I'm avoiding going out in the mornings now as her routine is working well), she tends to sleep in the car or pram - generally another 1-2 hours all up. I learnt quite a lot from our day stay at sleep school (and regained my confidence with knowing her cries) and I'm using a lot of the techinques we learnt there to settle Izzy during the day. It's working beautifully.
We work on a 1.5-2 hour awake time schedule when we are at home and out. Izzy wakes up around 6ish say, has a feed (generally takes about 45 minutes) then it's play time - a mixture of play gym, rocker, reading a book with me, tummy time and chatting. I check her for tired signs around 1.5 hours after she's woken and start getting her ready for bed. I swaddle her and pop her dummy in and give her a quick cuddle and rock in our rocking chair in her nursery. After a few minutes I pop her in her hammock and gently rock and bounce her to sleep. Sometimes there is no fuss and she goes straight to sleep, other times I have to spend 10 minutes rocking her and putting her dummy back in. She often protests but I now know it's just her tired protesting cry and it doesn't last long at all. I don't leave the room until she has nodded off. If she stirs during her nap (ie cries) I go in and bounce/rock the hammock or give her the dummy if I think she needs it. I only get her up if she is really unsettled or if she is due for a feed and appears ready to get up. I repeat the whole process after her next feed.
When we are out I work on the same schedule. It doens't work quite as well while we're out as there is more going on (ie more for her to sticky beak at!) and she is interrupted ie in and out of the car, pram, shops, etc. I still stick to it though and often she will nod off in the car or the pram. I always take my Bubba Moe sling with me everywhere as if she won't settle in the pram, I pop her in the sling and she nods off without fail if she's due for a sleep.
Today we had to see the health nurse at 9.30am so I put her to bed at 7.45am and transferred her to the pram at 9.15 and walked to our appointment. So she got almost 2 hours sleep. When we got back I gave her a quick feed (she had been awake for 1.5 hours), swaddled her and popped her into bed. She was asleep straight away and has been down for 1.5 hours now.
Bedtime is always around 7 (well that is our goal) so I alter the time frame and feeds later in the day to fit with that. Izzy gets a bit grumpy around 5ish as she knows it's wind down time to bed. If she's grumpy we take her for a walk and that keeps her happy. Around 6 we give her a bath then I feed her straight after that. We pop her in her Grobag then give her a formula top up (she'll have anywhere from 30ml to 160ml as my supply is low around then) then put her in the cot for the night. She goes down without any fuss.
So that's how we do it and it really does work well. The sling is my saviour if she won't settle while we are out and about - highly recommend one of these if you don't have one already. If you can afford a hammock, I highly recommend them too. It works a treat.
I hope that helps someone! One thing I did learn about catnapping at sleep school is often babies can be resettled after a catnap as they are often just coming out of their sleep cycle and need a little help to nod back off again. That definitely works for Izzy when she stirs after 45 minutes.
CC/CIO - I'm not a fan of it at all. Babies only cry to communicate with us and if we don't respond to their cries, then how are they supposed to trust us? Another thing I learnt at sleep school was that most babies need help to get to sleep and they will stir at the end of their sleep cycle, just like adults. The only difference with adults is that we know how to get back to sleep, babies have to learn that. Also remember, as adults we have restless nights when we struggle to sleep or we may sleep lightly, so we have to expect that babies will be the same, IYKWIM.
I'm thrilled with the routine Izzy has gotten herself into (I haven't forced it at all, it's all her own doing) and feel so much more relaxed now as I can predict her a little more and plan our days a little better.
Oh, before I stop babbling, Izzy was weighed and measured today. She hasn't gained much weight (she's only 4.74kg but has grown 9cm since birth though) so I need to try to sneak in a couple more feeds during the day when she's awake. That's the downside of a good day sleeper! LOL. I'm going to give her more formula top ups too from now on and I'm thinking of weaning once my last lot of medication runs out for my supply and vasospasm (in my nipples). Breastfeeding has been a hard slog and I'm ready to switch to formula if she doesn't gain much within the next couple of weeks.
Well I'm off now to jump on the Wii Fit before missy wakes up! Ciao!
PS: Losec has done wonders for Izzy's silent reflux too. I seriously have a different baby these days!
PPS: I posted my birth story in the 'Birth Stories' thread for anyone interested in reading it.
Last edited by Taurean; December 3rd, 2009 at 02:36 PM.
I have been reading but too busy to post. Just that time of the year I guess...oh, and looking after a baby
Kelly - so glad my post on our routine helped! It is interesting to hear how other mums are doing things and take what you like from all the bits of information. The 1.5-2 hour awake time thing really works for us. How cute are the rolling attempts?! Izzy has been doing that for the past couple of weeks and she's managed to roll onto her back from tummy time but that's it. She does fling her self around A LOT these days. I've got quite the little rigggle pot on my hands!
Interesting thought about giving top ups and bubs becoming a snacker. I hadn't thought of that but you could well be onto something there I'm pretty sure my supply has dropped off as Izzy dropped 2 feeds within a week as she started sleeping 10 hours overnight AND sleeping lots during the day so she was only getting 4 feeds a day . I've been giving her extra BF's where I can to try and boost my supply but we have been giving her formula top ups too. She seems to feed well still but also guzzles the top ups. I have expressed a few times in the past few weeks and although I know Izzy can get more out than a breast pump, the amounts have been a lot less than they use to be. I'll continue to BF but I think I might have to continue with the top ups. I'm a bit worried about snacking though now, that's a reallky good point! Oh well, if that ends up being the case I think I'll just wean her. I'll miss the bonding with BF but not all the other worries! LOL.
Sangie - yay for the 2.5 hour day sleep!! Did he do a repeat performance for you? Izzy is a real chatterbox (not unlike her mum!) and it cracks us up listening to her babble onto anything she thinks will listen to her. I find myself always saying 'oh, is that right?' all the time. I just love the baby talk
Sanchez - PMSL!!! I totally understand though and I *think* it's normal. What, with those big gapping holes we all have now. Ha ha ha! Flappin' in the breeze...charming. Sorry, I just brought that conversation to a whole new level didn't I ? I do have the same issue at the pool as you and I seem to do a lot more - TMI - fanny farts. I guess it will eventually bounce back into shape...maybe
I'm looking at joining DH on a business trip to Singapore and KL within the next couple of weeks. Can you give me some tips on packing and travelling with a baby?! I'm so scared about doing it and wonder how Iz will go (ie is it really worth all the hassle???) but would really like to go. We did so much travelling before we were parents and I really miss it. Any advice would be great!
Art - A is so much more advanced than Izzy! Are you sure you didn't secrely pop her out a month earlier?! We inherrited the Fisher Price Jumperoo from DH's cousin and I can't wait to get Izzy in it. She's finally get a bit more neck control and is really strong in her legs and constantly wanting to stand now so hopefully she'll be ready for it soon. It looks like so much fun!
Pooley - how's little F going? I saw on FB that you thought he may be teething. Is he? So sorry to hear about you dog too. So sad. It's horrible when you lose a pet, they are just part of the family.
PB - hi! How are you?!
BoB - how are you too hon?
Us - going really well and really, really enjoying motherhood now. I'm so glad to have the first 3 months behind us. Don't get me wrong, I did love bits of it but the breastfeeding issues and silent reflux made the ride very bumpy indeed. I finally feel human again and we are returning to a somewhat normal life ie we are actually going out in the evenings again now. Woohoo!
Izzy is absolutely adorable, if I do say so myself She is such a placid, happy and smiley little girl. Everyone always comments on how smiley she is, we love it. She's still sleeping really well at night (although our day started at 4.30am today as we had her out last night so I stuffed up her routine) and getting in some great day sleeps. She usually does 3 hours in the morning (sometimes it's in one block, with a couple of bounces of her hammock in between to resettle her, and sometimes in two naps) and a couple in the afternoon. I tend to go out in the afternoon if we have plans so I can be pretty sure she gets at least one good sleep in for the day. She does tend to sleep in the car if we are out though and in the pram if it's moving so she gets several catnaps in the arvo. It's working well and it means I can have some sort of a life again.
We actually went out to lunch yesterday for a friends birthday and then we met another group of friends at Little Creatures Brewery (our old stomping ground) in Freo later in the afternoon for drinks. All up we were out from 1 - 7.30pm! Besides the fact that I only had 1.5 wines (oh, and I was feeding and nursing a baby!), it felt like the good old days! She did have to sleep in the sling but that was fine with me. It was just so nice to be out doing things I love again.
Izzy is a real chatterbox and really getting into playtime now. She loves lying on her playmat and tugging at the rings hanging from it and whacking the other toys. She's learnt to wriggle backwards too which is so cute but a bit scary as she is well and truly on the move! It started a couple of weeks ago when I put her down to tidy up the kitchen and when I checked on her, I found she'd done a 180 degree turn! New moves were duely noted and mental note to self was 'do not leave baby unattended any more'! I cannot believe she's more or less mobile at 3 months! Scary.
Iz has also found her legs in the past few days and loves to stand up while she's in your lap. There are lots of 'up/down' actions happening now and she thinks it's a right hoot. She also loves when we sing 'If you're happy and you know it clap your hands' and smiles like mad and throws in a few giggles for good measure. It is so damn cute!
We've been swimming again with the girls from mothers group but at the local pool at our own pace and the babies loved it, even Izzy. We are meeting again tomorrow for another dip. Really looking forward to it.
Well I might get back into wrapping Christmas pressies. I wasn't really in the mood for Christmas this year, it all just seemed too hard with a baby, but now all the shopping is done and the decorations are up, I'm really looking forward to it. I know Izzy won't give two hoots about it but it'll still be so much fun from now on.
Big hugs to all!
Last edited by Taurean; December 13th, 2009 at 10:24 AM.
Anyway I can hear him waking from a nap so better go, have a great week all!
I'm pretty sure my supply has dropped off as Izzy dropped 2 feeds within a week as she started sleeping 10 hours overnight AND sleeping lots during the day so she was only getting 4 feeds a day 
. I've been giving her extra BF's where I can to try and boost my supply but we have been giving her formula top ups too. She seems to feed well still but also guzzles the top ups. I have expressed a few times in the past few weeks and although I know Izzy can get more out than a breast pump, the amounts have been a lot less than they use to be. I'll continue to BF but I think I might have to continue with the top ups. I'm a bit worried about snacking though now, that's a reallky good point! Oh well, if that ends up being the case I think I'll just wean her. I'll miss the bonding with BF but not all the other worries! LOL.
? I do have the same issue at the pool as you and I seem to do a lot more - TMI - fanny farts. I guess it will eventually bounce back into shape...maybe 
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