The Official New Mom Thread

[copper68]

my dd still takes a binky at night.. she's 15 months old and i figure that's the least of my worries.. she doesn't walk around with it in her mouth all the time, she only wants it when she goes to sleep.. so, i don't think it's a big deal..

 

[becka]

It is interesting that the binky discussion is coming up here because it was a topic of discussion around our house yesterday. Allie definitely is more of a "sucker" than DS ever was so we have used a binky at times to help her calm down when she needed to suck for comfort. However, I have never given it to her when she wanted to sleep because I didn't want to get that started.

Yesterday at daycare they mentioned to my DH that they gave one to Allie during her naps yesterday and she kept it in her mouth while she slept. I told DH that I didn't want them to do that when she was sleeping because I didn't want it to become a habit for her and end up being something I will have to break her from. She has shown some interest lately in trying to get her fingers in her mouth but I guess I am not as concerned about that. Nathan did the same thing and I don't think he has ever sucked his thumb unless his was imitating another kid. He sucked on his hand for a month or two but by then he could hold and chew on a rattle or teether and that is what he did during the day but they didn't go to bed with him.

I guess I have just been influenced by several of the kids in DS's 2/3 year old class at school that still have a pacifier for naps, etc.. I may have been lucky with DS but we just never had any issues with pacifiers/thumb sucking. Of course, this is also a kid who voluntarily gave up his bottle by the time he was 10-11 months old.

 

[floridafam]

My previous 2 children wouldn't take a pacifier.

Our new DD loves hers. She was born with raw sores on both of her hands from sucking on them in the womb.

We'll see if she likes it still in a few weeks.


Have any of you mommies switched your babies to Lactose Free formula and why? I thought that Kona was starting to become constipated and thought about switching to low iron formula. The Dr. advised against this and said, if anything, switch to the lactose free.

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks.

 

[DisKim]

Hi everyone! May I join in? I've been on the moms-to-be thread but I must graduate to the new moms thread now. My son, Aidan, was born on 4/18. I was laughing at the discussion on diapers. I had an incident with a Huggies diaper last night. I just want to throw them all out! I have a question for all of you. I just brought my son home yesterday. Our first night did not go well. I did not get to sleep until 4 am. He keeps power sleeping in the afternoon. For instance, today he started napping at 3 pm. I woke him up for a 5:30 pm feeding. He ate and now he is right back to sleep. I'm just looking at him wishing he would sleep like that at night! His doctor says I should wake him up. That's easier said then done. He won't wake up no matter what I do. Does anyone have any advice or do I just have to tough it out? BTW, I have 2 other children so sleeping when he sleeps during the day is not much of an option.

 

[Alice28]

Hi all,

Haven't posted much cause my DH was home on leave for 15 days. He left this AM and won't be home until he's finished, which isn't until next Jan or Feb!

Pacifiers- my oldest took one- lifesaver. He gave it up at 6-7 months on his own. He loved his bottle, however, until 2 1/2.

Younger son would NOT take a pacifier and oh how I wished he would have! All he wanted was momma and it was tiring.

Molly will take one and I am glad. I too dislike seeing 2 and 3 year olds walking around with pacifiers in their mouths, but she's 6 weeks right now...I'm not sweating this one.

Molly is sleeping pretty well- she super power naps in the AM and early afternoon and has her wake/sometimes cranky time in the evening. She sleeps usually from 10-3 and then eats 2 times between 3 and 7:30 (when I have to get up to get DS7 off to school). DisKim---I would say it's really to early to start trying to wake baby up to get him on a schedule- my kids were the same way as far as being impossible to wake up! And I had to do that with #2 and #3 cause they were supposed to eat every 2 hours....the one thing that sometimes worked would be to rub a lukewarm/cool wasahcloth on them, and then I felt like such a meanie doing that.

Several posts back I was lamenting about the cute Gymboree clothes---the line I was in love with was marked down 25% yesterday and then I had an addt'l 30% off my purchase coupon. So I spent $75 this AM.. I could have spent more....I still want the matching sandals, but I cannot predict her shoe size at 12-18 months....size 4? She already has very long fingers and feet. If any of you are Gymboree shoppers, you can think of me when you see the Bonjour Provence line, cause I just bought 6-7 items from it! I may look again when they mark stuff way down, maybe around Memorial day.

Molly is still getting gifts almost daily...well, at least this week. For being my third child she is certainly spoiled. I honestly think part of it is people really are thinking of my family and wanting to help in some way with DH deployed and buying a baby gift is an easy thing to do! I think I have practically every Carter's summer romper in the 3-6 month size---at least 6 or 7 she received as gifts in the last 2 weeks. Funny!

 

[Alice28]

Congrats DisKim on baby Aiden!

I meant to say that before----he will be a smart, outgoing & lively boy---I know because we share the same birthday!!!

 

[lissawynn]

Congratulations DisKim!

Alice 28 I hope you had a wonderful time while your DH was home!

Jimmy slept throught the night again last night. There were a few trips across the hall to put the binky back in his mouth, but no crying for a bottle. I'm hoping things stay this way until school is over. I am really appreciating the extra sleep I'm getting.

 

[MommyPoppins]

DisKim: If you feel that Aiden isn't sleeping so well at night because of his sleeping during the afternoon I would try getting him to have a good awake time during the evenings. This wasn't so much a problem with us because Kaleb wanted to do nothing but eat/cry in the evenings. I finally found a good system to getting him to sleep at a decent hour and then I went to bed too. I would give him a nice warm bath get him dressed, feed him and put him down to sleep. I would start this process about an hour before I wanted to be in bed. Usually between 8-8:30 so I could be asleep by 10. It worked for us really well. It is nearly impossible to get them to wake up when they don't want to. Sometimes even a wash cloth doesn't work. Your best bet for now is probably just to try and keep him awake for a little while in the evening. Play with him and try not to let him get too comfortable because as we all know its off to dream land if they get comfy. BTW Congrats and remember that it won't last forever and try not to think about the night during the day. That was always so discouraging to me.

Pacifiers: We stopped and got one on the way home from the hospital with Kaleb because he kept me up for 4 hours the second night wanting to nurse, he just wanted something to suck on and I was it. He took it a lot and I gave it to him everytime he slept because I was desperate. I was afraid of the fall out, I remember with DS1 I used to have to get up everynight to put it back in his mouth...but this time Kaleb has just stopped using it. He doesn't really take it at all anymore. I am very thankful.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Since I saw the Pacifier Discussion...I need to ask advice. DD is going to be 18 months on Sunday...and we can't get rid of the Binky at nighttime. She only has it to go to sleep and it's kept in her crib. But here is the deal...she doesn't need it. My DayCare provider didn't know that I gave her a binky so she has NEVER gotten it there (and has been going there since 3 mo old). And she still naps 2 times a day so she can certainly fall asleep without it. Any suggestions for getting rid of it at home? At this point, she knows what it is and asks for it when she gets in her crib.

And while I'm on the crib subject, would love advice on that too. We are thinking of switching over to a toddler bed as my little Houdini is back trying to get out. When she was 11 mo, my husband and I heard a crash upstairs while watching the World Series. Yup, she had gotten out and we couldn't figure out how (we had long since taken out all the bedding that would give her extra leverage...ie pillows and bumper). Well I think that scared her because she hasn't tried it again. Within the past week...she's gotten one leg over the rail and trying to get back out. My concern is her bedroom is on the 2nd floor and stairs are right outside her room. My thought is to gate her bedroom door and the top of the stairs...but if she can get over the crib...won't she be able to get over the gate???

 

[DisKim]

Thanks for all of the advice. My DH was actually able to get Aidan to sleep in his bassinet from 11:30 to 1:30 last night. I was shocked. Of course, from 1:30 on, I was on duty and he wouldn't go down again. He only wants to sleep on me. I'm so tired that I fall asleep with him on my chest and wake up a couple of hours later. I know this is dangerous. I don't know I'm doing it. I just konk out. I don't remember being this tired when my other two were born. I think it is because I have the other two to take care of. I could have gone back to sleep this morning but my DS4 was up at 6:30.
Alice 28 - Happy belated birthday!!
Pacifiers - My kids never liked them. Do you think this could be because they nursed? I tried to give Aidan one and he looked like he was going to throw up.

 

[Tasha+Scott]

And while I'm on the crib subject, would love advice on that too. We are thinking of switching over to a toddler bed as my little Houdini is back trying to get out. When she was 11 mo, my husband and I heard a crash upstairs while watching the World Series. Yup, she had gotten out and we couldn't figure out how (we had long since taken out all the bedding that would give her extra leverage...ie pillows and bumper). Well I think that scared her because she hasn't tried it again. Within the past week...she's gotten one leg over the rail and trying to get back out. My concern is her bedroom is on the 2nd floor and stairs are right outside her room. My thought is to gate her bedroom door and the top of the stairs...but if she can get over the crib...won't she be able to get over the gate???

I was trying not to post on this thread until after I had DD but I can't help it after I read this. I don't really have any advice about the crib issue since I am due with my first child and have not had to personally deal with it yet...but my brother was like your DD with the crib. He could get out of it and we also lived in a 2 story house at the time. My parents had a safety gate at the top of the stairs and yes, my brother could climb over the gate and did. I honestly don't know what they did about it but I do remember him going over the gate and once he even fell down the stairs b/c of it. Luckily he was hard-headed (even back then!) and it didn't even phase him...just scared my parents half to death! Not trying to alarm you but thought you'd like to know that it is a possibility. I wish I had more helpful info.

Okay, well, ladies, hopefully I will "officially" be joining all of you soon! Have a great day!

 

[lissawynn]

DisKim Jimmy slept a lot during the day, too. I heard from lots of people that b/c he was born so early in the AM, that he had his days and nights mixed up. I, personally, think that's a lot of hooey. Once I started to get him on a schedule, he stayed awake more during the day and slept well at night. When he was that little, though, I just let him sleep when he wanted. I don't have any other kids, so I had the luxury of sleeping when he did.

Toddler Beds One of the teachers who works in my building told me to skip the toddler bed entirely and go right for the big kid bed. She bought her son one of those race car beds, and he never slept in it. They eventually bought him a queen size bed and also bought rails for the sides. She said he did much better with that.

When DS is old enough, he's going to have a twin bed. The set of furniture in his room came from my grandmother's house. One day in the late 1960s my grandfather came home to find twin beds in his bedroom. I'll bet that went over really well .

 

[copper68]

floridafam- i switched my daughter to lacto free enfamil lipil when she was 8 weeks old.. she was waking up screaming like she was in pain every 2 hours or so.. i switched her to lacto free and within the next week she was sleeping through the night.. i was worried she would be lacto intolerant for the rest of her life, but when she turned one i just gave her a little bit of milk and shes been fine with regular milk ever since.. no problems.. her doc had told me she'd probably grow out of it..

it was definitely worth it to try it i believe.. can't hurt..

Leah

 

[becka]

As soon as DS showed signs of trying to escape the crib we moved him to a bed. I figured it was only a matter of time before he came tumbling out. We switched DS to a twin bed with the boxspring and mattress on the floor with a bed rail. At first he didn't even realize that he could get out of it. LOL! He actually stayed put for a few nights but then he figured it out! After that we did put a safety gate at his door and that kept him in his room for a few months but after a while we didn't really need the gate. He still escapes but we have ways of convincing him that it is in his best interest to get back in bed!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I was trying not to post on this thread until after I had DD but I can't help it after I read this. I don't really have any advice about the crib issue since I am due with my first child and have not had to personally deal with it yet...but my brother was like your DD with the crib. He could get out of it and we also lived in a 2 story house at the time. My parents had a safety gate at the top of the stairs and yes, my brother could climb over the gate and did. I honestly don't know what they did about it but I do remember him going over the gate and once he even fell down the stairs b/c of it. Luckily he was hard-headed (even back then!) and it didn't even phase him...just scared my parents half to death! Not trying to alarm you but thought you'd like to know that it is a possibility. I wish I had more helpful info.

Okay, well, ladies, hopefully I will "officially" be joining all of you soon! Have a great day!

Thanks for the "advice". Congrats on your impending arrival! 39 weeks!?!?! You must be estatic!

Unfortunately we've already had a tumbling down the stairs incident...I don't want a repeat of it. Mind you, she didn't even have as much as a bruise afterward but let me tell you...it took her pediatrician forever to calm me down!!!

I'm considering a little trick my mom used to do on Xmas morning. She used to put a gate on the top on the stairs with bells on it. So if the bells rang, she knew we were trying to cheat and see our gifts!!! My thought is that if I put bells on the gate on her bedroom door and then have another gate over the stairs...she won't be able to get over both of them without waking DH and I up!

 

[MommyPoppins]

Thanks for the "advice". Congrats on your impending arrival! 39 weeks!?!?! You must be estatic!

Unfortunately we've already had a tumbling down the stairs incident...I don't want a repeat of it. Mind you, she didn't even have as much as a bruise afterward but let me tell you...it took her pediatrician forever to calm me down!!!

I'm considering a little trick my mom used to do on Xmas morning. She used to put a gate on the top on the stairs with bells on it. So if the bells rang, she knew we were trying to cheat and see our gifts!!! My thought is that if I put bells on the gate on her bedroom door and then have another gate over the stairs...she won't be able to get over both of them without waking DH and I up!

Not a bad idea...you could just close her door...? We don't have this issue since we have a "florida home"...no stairs. Ethan who is now 2 went through a climbing out of his crib stage....he fell to the floor 2 or 3 times. Didn't get hurt though. I still sometimes find him tettering on the rail of the crib... with some kids there's just no getting around it.

I didn't move him to a toddler bed because I wasn't ready to give away my freedom. There is nothing like being able to put him in his crib if mommy just needs a few minutes of peace...or a bath... Why are you opposed to closing her door(or can she open doors? My 2 year old still can't because he is so short. lol)?

Getting rid of pacifiers: When DS#1 was almost 1 we accidently left it in the car one night...neither of us wanted to go get it so that was the end of the pacifier. DS#2 sucks his thumb...but that's a whole different story. So you could just make the pacifier "disapear".

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Not a bad idea...you could just close her door...? We don't have this issue since we have a "florida home"...no stairs. Ethan who is now 2 went through a climbing out of his crib stage....he fell to the floor 2 or 3 times. Didn't get hurt though. I still sometimes find him tettering on the rail of the crib... with some kids there's just no getting around it.

I didn't move him to a toddler bed because I wasn't ready to give away my freedom. There is nothing like being able to put him in his crib if mommy just needs a few minutes of peace...or a bath... Why are you opposed to closing her door(or can she open doors? My 2 year old still can't because he is so short. lol)?

That was the problem that my parents had with my younger brother. Once he figured out how to climb out of his crib he also learned how to open doors (even the ones that were locked! They found him outside sitting on the porch one day b/c he learned how to unlock the front door shortly after he learned how to open doors.) and climb over safety gates. He was one determined kid...we blame his red hair! I don't know how he managed to do all of that since he was only a little over a year old, but like I said he was determined! I am not sure what my parents finally ended up doing but he is 21 and alive and well now so something must have worked. I like the idea of trying the bells and seeing how that works myself. Ah, the things I have to look forward to!

 

[J&D]

I returned to work on Monday. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. DD is doing great at the day care. All the ladies there keep telling us how cute, sweet, and good she is.

DD has been sleeping through the night for about two weeks now. She puts herself to sleep by sucking on her thumb and rubbing her head. We are glad that she has found a way to soothe herself, especially since she has started day care. We will worry about the thumb sucking when she gets a little older.

FYI- Gymboree.com is having a sale that ends tomorrow. Use code FRIENDS0405 for 30%off. Click here for store coupon.

Welcome, DisKim!

 

[becka]

I posted another thread but I also wanted to share here. Here are a few pics of Allie who is 3 months old today.

 

[copper68]

what a little cutie-pie...