Parenting Check-In (August 11th)

Jazibel

Good Morning,

How was everyone's weekend?

Any new developments, challenges or accomplishments?

QOTD: How much has your child (or children) taken over your house?  Describe your kids room or playroom. Bonus points for PIPs.  :-)



Parenting Check-In Roster:
(If you'd like to be added let me know) 

@KH826 – Will born 6/4/14

 

@ATXmommas – Sebastian (“Ash”) born 11/21/13, other Momma is Z

 

@Wallace323 – J and L born 8/8/13, surviving triplets born at 31 weeks

 

@Trisholio – Proud foster parents to M born 2/6/12 and K born 8/22/13; and pregnant expecting a third daughter in September 2014.

 

@JGY – Gabe born 3/24/13, other Mama is S.

 

@Stringy813 – M born May 2013

 

@Filmfanatic82 – Charley born 3/15/14

 

@Mamosry – R born 2/25/14

 

@2brides – G & C born 5/18/06, other Mom is L

 

@Jrtmom – Henry born 8/15/13, other mama is L

 

@Sarahtrpt – C born February 2014

 

@CageyMack – W born 3/16/13

 

@Themommymonster – C (DS) born 2/18/09

 

@Clairmeij – Alarico born 6/28/13, other mama is V

 

@Mystjava – Little Bear (LB) born 3/31/10, other Mummum is Shawn

 

@winstan1 – J (DS) born 9/10 (currently 3.5 years old)

 

@newmompeanut – N (DD) born 2/12/13, other Momma is B

 

@herbabymam – C (DD) born 12/10/13, other Mama is K

 

@AmandaG47 – Twin girls born 2/22/14, other Mommy is J

 

@mwagner25 – Oliver born 11/27/13, other parent is L

 

@jazibel – Kaden born 7/13/12 and Owen born 5/2/14, other parent (Aya) is EV

 

@redrockmama – M born 6/19/14, other Mama is J

 

@ball.and.chain – B born 6/28/14

KH826

Will had his 2 month check-up on Friday.

He weighed in at 14 lbs and measured 24 inches long. The pediatrician was happy with that, and said he was in the 75th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight (but only the 60th percentile for weight compared to his height). He is definitely a big boy, but the pedi says he is healthy and strong and has not said anything negative about his size, so I am not going to stress over it (even though it is my instinct to do so, because I am nuts like that!).

He also had his first round of shots for his vaccinations. He did a great job. He let out one quick cry with each shot, and then we picked him up and he was totally fine. Didn't even fuss. We were prepared to give him Tylenol if needed, but he didn't even seem fazed, so we didn't give him anything. He napped a little bit more than usual that afternoon, but otherwise everything was business as usual. I was really impressed and relieved!

My middle sister and her boyfriend came to visit this weekend. She hadn't met Will yet. The visit was really nice, and I think we all enjoyed it (which was a relief, because this sister and I have not always been close). We went out to dinner with them last night, and my MIL came and met us. It was very nice, and Will did a great job. I think he likes restaurants HAHA!

In other news, he has been doing lots of tummy time lately. Sometimes he rocks it and pulls his head right up and is looking around and sort of rocking back and forth like he wants to somehow figure out how to move... then other times (usually if he is tired) he totally hates it. He will fuss and cry a little, then just put his head down, suck his thumb and fall asleep!

He is still sleeping pretty well at night. Usually a 6-8 hour stretch depending on the night. 7 hours seems to be his sweet spot most of the time (10pm-5am). I know we are lucky, and I don't expect it to last. Every night that he sleeps like that I take as a small victory! His sleeping during the day is still fairly inconsistent. He isn't really on a daytime schedule yet, and I think that is fine. He will nap for an hour or so at a time if he is being held or in the mei tai carrier, but if we put him in his swing or anywhere else he will only nap for a short period of time before he wakes up and wants attention. He is usually very happy during the day as long as he is fed, has a clean diaper and is being held. So, for now we will take that!

QOTW: Well, we converted what was our dining room into a playroom, and it was the best decision we ever made. Aside from the lounger (graco version of rock-n-play) in our bedroom and then everything in his nursery (which is still a work in progress) the playroom is where all of his gear, toys, etc. live. We don't currently have anything baby related that lives in any other room of the house (aside from his baby bathtub on the counter in the laundry room and our bottle drying rack next to the sink in the kitchen). The playroom is baby land -- we have his swing, pack-n-play (which we use as our downstairs changing table -- it has one of those inserts), bumbo seat, play gym, all his toys, books, etc. in there. It is great to have one room that feels like all of the baby "stuff" belongs there and the rest of the house hasn't changed too much at this point. I expect that to change as he gets older, but for now this is working for us. As for his nursery... well, we admittedly need to give it a little TLC. It is still pretty bare. We took down all of the "Lucie stuff" and now the walls are empty and it is basically just furniture in a room. We bought a blanket and two things to go on the wall, but we have yet to hang them. Since he is still sleeping in with us, and since the playroom is where we hangout and it feels like "his room" our motivation to do anything to the nursery really seems to be dragging...

ATXmommas

We had a crappy weekend.  I started feeling sick late last week - went home early from work on Thursday and worked from home on Friday.  By Friday night I was in a lot of pain - fever, chills, vomiting, aches, coughing - the works.  I was truly miserable and all I could do was wait for it to be over (along with taking nausea medication and antibiotics).  I stayed in bed all day Saturday, but ended up getting out for lunch and to the grocery store yesterday - though I probably shouldn't have.  I went into work this morning even though I felt pretty miserable again and ended up coming home after a couple hours.  Ready for this virus to pass.  Ugh.

Parenting while sick is such a challenge.  Even though Z stepped it up and took on most of the responsibility, I still had to nurse him amidst the worst of it on Friday night and I felt like such a bad parent that I didn't feel very engaged with him over the weekend.  

Oh, and I mentioned in a separate post that Ash had two spells of vomiting in the same night last week - happened again on Saturday.  But, no fever and seemed unphased by it.  But, still no teeth.  Ah well.  It will happen when it happens, but it's a bit startling when your child throws up like that.  And, I'm certain he doesn't have what I have.  I'm 99% positive his vomiting is teething related.

QOTW:  We don't really have one, which is a huge challenge for us right now.  We live in a small space - 1000 sq ft.  We spend most of our time upstairs where the bedrooms are.  So, he has his bedroom and our bedroom where he gets to do most of his exploring.  We're starting to let him explore a little bit downstairs, but not too much - there's not a lot of empty floor space. 

The problem with our bedroom - it's not completely kid friendly.  There is lots of floor space, but there are also a lot of things plugged into the walls - cell phone chargers, computer charger, nightlight - and then there's cups of coffee on the nightstands, shoes on the floor, open closet door, etc…  We try to make sure that the area is rid of those things when he's roaming, but we're not always successful at it.  His room is definitely more kid friendly, but we need him in the bedroom with us while we're both getting ready in the morning.  It would be nice if we didn't have to keep such a watchful eye on him while we are running around in the morning, but right now we constantly have to stop what we're doing to redirect him to something else.  We really just need to buckle down and rid the space as much as possible with the items that are not baby friendly - or make space to store them when he's roaming.

Along the same lines, I think part of our  problem is that we don't toys that really stimulate him at this age.  We have lots of soft toys that he doesn't seem particularly interested in.  While we were visiting my parents, I realized that he likes toys that he can bang together or that he can pull up on.  Started searching the internet last night for more appropriate toys for his age.  I don't want a house full of crap, but I do want him to be engaged and stimulated for those times when we need him to entertain himself in ways that don't include munching on wires or licking the bottom of our shoes.  My kid.  Love him.

JGY

ATXmommas said:

 I don't want a house full of crap, but I do want him to be engaged and stimulated for those times when we need him to entertain himself in ways that don't include munching on wires or licking the bottom of our shoes.  My kid.  Love him.

This totally cracked me up.  And sorry you feel like poo, I hope it eases up soon!

 

Life in our house is crazy-time these days.  It's fall sports season so S will be home less and less as the days and weeks progress.  Boooo.  G is ALL over the place and into absolutely everything.  He climbed over the baby gate to the kitchen this weekend (awesome, except not at all), and I regularly find him halfway up to the top of the piano.

In good news, he is transitioning to the next room up in daycare starting today.  I'm nervous about it, but I'm sure he'll adapt eventually.  I honestly don't think he'll care about being seperated from his current teachers and other kids (though I really do LOVE them), but I'm terrified that they'll never get him to sleep on a cot.  And that's a requirement for this next stage.  I know they deal with kids like this all the time, but I can't help but think it's going to be a pretty big challenge for them, and him.

QOTD:  Sigh.  G's stuff is everywhere.  Our bedrooms are upstairs.  There isn't much of his stuff in our room, but there's plenty in his room.  Problem is, it's difficult for us to spend any time up there because of the dog.  The dog needs to be in our sight at all times, and when he goes into G's room, he just starts grabbing stuff and chewing on it.  So most of the "Toys" are in our living room, or the downstairs office which has really just become a playroom.  We had some water damage this winter due to ice on the roof, and ended up having to clear out the office.  Long story short, we haven't put anything back.  It's all sitting in the basement, and the space has been invaded by G and all his crap.  It actually works really well as a playroom, unfortunately our small house doesn't really leave us the luxury of dedicating an entire room to his toys.  At some point here we will need to turn it back into an office.  Not sure when we'll have time or energy to do that, but it needs to happen.

 

mallory4284

@JGY said:

In good news, he is transitioning to the next room up in daycare starting today.  I'm nervous about it, but I'm sure he'll adapt eventually.  I honestly don't think he'll care about being seperated from his current teachers and other kids (though I really do LOVE them), but I'm terrified that they'll never get him to sleep on a cot.  And that's a requirement for this next stage.  I know they deal with kids like this all the time, but I can't help but think it's going to be a pretty big challenge for them, and him.

 

Coming from someone who has worked in a toddler room for the past five and a half years (spent about 1 1/2 years in an infant room prior to that) you'd be surprised how well they adjust to sleeping on a cot! If his daycare is anything like the ones I've worked at, they'll sit with him until he falls asleep.... There have even been times that I've "rocked" a child to sleep and then laid them on the cot.... Then, if they start waking up before nap is over, I'll go back and sit next to them and pat them back to sleep (to help them adjust to laying on the cot to fall asleep, without having to be rocked) but either way, we always sit with our kids until they're asleep! I'm sure he'll do great, if not at first, then definitely after he gets used to it!

JGY

Thanks @mallory4284.  That does make me feel better.

Though I should probably clarify that I'm less concerned for him, and more for the teachers!    G can be a trying kid, at times.  And anything having to do with sleep brings out the worst in him.  If he doesn't want to be there (and again, anything having to do with sleep ...), well he just gets up and leaves.  Roll, pop-up, stand, run.  These are the days I wish there were webcams.  Okay not really, because creepy internet stalkers, but kinda of.

 

mallory4284

Lol @JGY‌ believe me, I've had my share of kiddos like that!! There are only two of us so obviously we can't sit next to all of them right away so there are plenty of times there will be one or two (or three or four!!) running around while we get the "easy" kids to sleep! (Lucky for me right now, we have a lot that will lay on their cots and wait for us or end up falling asleep on their own before we get to them... Not gonna lie, it's nice lol) and honestly, if that's how he is, it would probably be better for them to let him kind of run around and let off some energy as they put the other kids to sleep.... And just leave him for last. That's prob what I'd do! Even the most challenging can be relatively easy as long as you know how they tick!

JGY

@mallory4284 this only goes to reinforce my belief that daycare teachers could teach me A LOT about parenting my child better.    I wish they had seminars for us.  I would totally pay for that.

 

ATXmommas

I love listening to the experience of professional child care providers - thanks, @mallory4284!  

@shameless370087 - that sounds rough and I'm so sorry.  I don't have any great advice, but I think being a SAHM of twin infants is one of the absolutely hardest jobs in the world and you also need and are deserving of sleep.  I realize I don't know what S does for a living and there are some professions that truly do need impeccable sleep in order to be in tip top shape, but if your situation allows, let S help you out at night more.  You are doing very important and hard work every day! I hope I'm not stepping on any toes by saying that, just wanted to offer that perspective and offer virtual support.  Hope those babies fall into to some better sleep patterns very soon!

Jazibel

@shameless370087 - no great advice either, except to commiserate that Kaden's sleep changed drastically around 5 months of age, but lasted only the few weeks that we were scrambling to adjust his sleep schedule.

Now having two (albeit different ages) I can only image the struggle of juggling both their needs with only your two hands.  A couple of thoughts/ideas. The thing that worked for us was to adopted a very stringent sleep routine and stick with it (exactly the same every night) until we established a good sleep pattern. (We don't stick with it as stringently now, we're more flexible, but Kaden doesn't need it as much, and Owen doesn't need it yet).  

The sleep routine is supposed to help them learn to fall asleep by themselves.  Around this age they are learning that they need to chose to go to sleep, and it sounds like your babies are fighting it just like Kaden was.  To implement the plan we did quieter time in the evening, softer music, cuddling with EV when she got home, sitting with us at dinner, then a very warm bath, dressed, diaper, nurse, song and bed. 

The first night in the crib he scream cried for forever (1-2 hours, not sure), I patted his back, sang, picked him up when he was really really upset. Left the room, entered the room... repeat. The idea was to have him "put himself to sleep". Not fall asleep on me. The next night it was an hour. With a few minutes (5-10) where he cried, and I sat with EV outside his room, freaking out but not going in. She held my hand. We were not doing cry it out. But she explained I needed to give him a minute - to well Cry it out.  The following night it was 20 minutes. Then 10, and since then he's mostly put himself to sleep. I always put him down drowsy or awake after that, if he feel asleep nursing I gently woke him and lay him to down awake.  Also for night wakings I would nurse to sleep until we got the bedtime routine down. But what was amazing is that once he learned to fall asleep on his own, he would wake less (he could roll over and go back to sleep easily), and if he woke, he knew how to fall asleep again.  We started with the bedtime routine and transitioned to nap-time.  This method came from a sleep training professional my friends paid to write up a plan for their kid and we benefited by reading/adopting their plan.

Also with two if putting them down together in the same space doesn't work could you separate their beds until they're comfortably falling asleep on their own?

Jazibel

We had a great weekend, Kaden and Owen loved having a BBQ at our house, lots of people to hold and play with them.  

I'm super proud of my Kaden, as I mentioned last week he started climbing out of him crib. Well the first night we put him back down 5 times, then 3 times, then 2. Now he goes to sleep and stays asleep even during naps. Hurray!  When I lay him down I ask if he'll go to sleep (to assign the responsibility of falling asleep to him, since he wants to sleep, but can chose to climb out. I figure I'm emphasize that it's his choice to sleep now).  He cuddles his stuffed alligator and says "sleep" and goes to sleep.  So cute!

Potty training is up a notch too. We're in underwear more now, and he's asking to go when he needs too. I'm going to start taking diapers away more and more, maybe all morning until nap and see how it goes.  

I love the age two, he's just full of life, and spirit. Also exhausting. My poor parents! We have a very independent relationship with Kaden. I childproof the house and yard (pretty much) and he just plays. I supervise, but I don't follow him around.  Well having him ride his balance bike or scooter without an adult around makes my parents nervous.  LOL.  

Owen is my little buddy. He's spending more time awake now, playing with his toys, sucking and chewing on things, I think he's really teething. I gave him his first teething tablets the other day.

QOTD:  Kaden's room is mostly for sleeping, we only keep hard books in there and a couple other quiet toys for him to play with when he wakes up (so hopefully he won't empty the closet).  We have a playroom/office, with a comfy leather chair, and shelves of toys, easel, basket ball hoop, etc. Our bedroom has Owen's bassinet and his clothes, diapers.  Downstairs I keep a few toys (Kadens wooden kitchen, wooden activity center, a wooden box with books and toys in it and a square footstool/storage thing with toys in it. Ok his Rody (blown up donkey to hop on) is down here too. Owen's toys are on another shelf, the swing is in the kitchen (so it can be behind the gate for uninterrupted sleeping), his chair is in the dining area.  Ok my house is taken over. Outside we have a huge blown up kiddie pool (courtesy of the grandparents), roller coaster, tunnel - various balls, scooters, broken sandbox.... All very brightly colored.  I think you can tell "adults" live here - but I'm not sure.

Karlamo

We are making our first batch of baby food as I type! Sweet potatoes are on the menu tonight. We decided to do purées and BLW. I'm thinking that tonight is his first taste of food, we'll let him play and explore with it himself instead of spoon feeding him. I hope he enjoys it.
I survived my week alone without @mamosey. I realize with her gone we make an awesome team of mothers. I could never be the mom I would want to be if I had to do it alone. It was really hard with no breaks other than going to work. When she came thru the door, R squealed. It was so cute.
We start sleep training this weekend. Fingers crossed it works.

QOTW: we moved from a 1,250 sqf house to 2,100 sqf and his stuff is still everywhere! I don't mind it in the new house because there's plenty of space to move about. The selling point of the house is the finished basement. It has a media player with movie screen and lots of open space. We're pintresting ideas of how to design the playroom down there.
Here's one we're planning on doing

mallory4284

@ATXmommas‌ you're welcome!! And I'm obviously not a mom yet so I can't help with parenting advice.... But I am more than happy to answer any questions anyone has about childcare! Every daycare is run differently but the one in work for is pretty amazing so I have a good reference lol.... And I'm not an expert but I've been doing it for a while and have my bachelor's in Early Childhood Ed, so I can try and help with any questions....

yachee

I almost never do parenting check-ins because I hate typing on my iPhone and I'm too lazy to go sit at the computer. But I'm currently stuck in a dark hotel room with two sleeping babies, so here goes...

@Jazibel‌ - any chance you could post that plan? We considered hiring a sleep coach but it costs $500! Oh, and our girls (A&L) were born on 2/27/14.

@shameless370087‌ - our five mo twins sound exactly like yours! We were coasting along just fine and then the four month regression hit, and I feel like we haven't slept in weeks! Luckily, we have one who sleeps for 8-10 hours and only wakes up for one quick feeding. The other, however, refuses to go to sleep unless I'm holding her or she's in the swing. She fights it like a champ though. She literally cries and pushes off or stands up while she's half asleep with her eyes closed. Once she's finally asleep, she wakes up every two hours or so to nurse. If we try not to give in and just soothe her back to sleep, she screams at the top of her lungs and wakes the other. It's a nightmare! And naps are almost nonexistent. We're lucky if we can get 45 mins out of either of them.

Right now we are on vacation with my wife's family at the coast, and it's been very frustrating. We tried to explain how important their sleep is and how persnickety they are about their sleep routine, but I don't think people without kids get it. So last night we kept them out until 8 (2hrs past their bedtime), and today we didn't even attempt naps so we could be out with the fam. Totally backfired! We had two (times two) epic meltdowns, and both babies are so cranky and tired that we didn't even attempt to take them to celebrate their grandpa's birthday tonight. So my wife had to go by herself and I am in a dark hotel room with two babies who very much need their sleep. Sigh.

QOTW: My wife is very particular about everything in our house (she is a photographer/architect), so it kinda looked like a West Elm/Crate&Barrel catalog before the babies came along. When we were registering for baby gear, we skipped all the bright colors and went for the pretty, modern stuff. Well, now that the babies are actually here, we've thrown all that out the window. We have a giant swing in our dining room and two of the ugliest, brightest, most obnoxious jumparoos in our living room (which both babes absolutely LOVE). And we just got a giant, primary colored gymnastics mat for them to play on. So, they've basically taken over the entire house. We did just stain their super fancy Norwegian high chairs to match our Crate & Barrel dining room table though, so we maintained a tiny but of sophistication.

Jazibel

@yachee, I can't share it because our friends personal information is throughout the pdf document... and its technically copyright material.  But I think they got it from the Baby Sleep site.  I'm so sorry. I'll see if I can figure a way to take some the of best tidbits out to post or email you :-)  It's a little specific to their specific routine/challenges but I found the advice pretty global and common sense (when not sleep deprived ;-) ).

mwagner25

Hello all! We are doing fine here.

@shameless370087‌ and @yachee‌ it was about 5 months that I hit a wall with sleeping as well. Oliver was a terrible sleeper (up every 2 hours to nurse) and I was starting to lose my sh*t. I was an emotional wreak, everything L did or said made me furious.... And normally I am a laid back person. Sleep is so important for the whole family. We also couldn't get Oliver longer awake periods during the day because his night sleep was so crappy. We met with a pediatric sleep nurse. If you have the time/resources I totally recommend it. Just having a concrete plan in our hands was half the battle and our insurance covered it.  For us it came down to either we co-sleep or do a modified CIO. Co-sleeping was not an option in our house bc my wife is adamantly against it after her work as a paramedic. So we did a modified CIO, went in every at intervals to soothe Oliver but did not pick him up. At five months he was around 18-19 lbs and our pediatrician gave us the green light for sleep training and that he no longer needed MON feeds. For Oliver he would wake up in the periods of his sleep cycle that were the "more awake" periods and like clockwork all night long would need nursing or rocking ect to get through these periods. The first night we did sleep training was terrible. At bedtime he cried off and on for 45 minutes until he fell asleep and woke up every 2 hours like normal. The second night he only cried about 6 minutes, and then only woke up once or twice, which for him was amazing. Within a week he was sleeping through the night and now he sleeps 10-12 hours at night. I am certainly not pushing anything on either of you, but coming from the mom of a terrible sleeper. .... I totally get where you are physically and emotionally. That's what worked for us.... Co-sleeping or some other tactic may end up best for your family. I hope you find a solution soon!

Oliver is a happy boy now that we have 6 teeth in.  He is getting more personality every day.  He is into everything and I feel like we can hardly keep up with baby proofing.  It's just a really fun time period right now with him.  

I am losing steam and need some sleep so I am going to have to skip the QOTD. Night all! 

yachee

Thanks, @mwagner25‌! That sounds glorious! We didn't really want to do CIO, but I bought Dr. Weissbluth's book and read through it. Even if we were up for it (or a modified version), I don't really get how it would work with twins. When one of them cries, it just wakes the other one up. I have this vision of a cycle of nonstop crying from at least one of them all night long. We've separated them to try to minimize the disruptions, so L is in the nursery by herself and A is in our room in the pack and play. The rooms are right next to each other though, so when they get hysterical they still wake each other up. Our 1928 craftsman isn't big enough to separate them so they won't hear each other. I suppose we could try a modified CIO with the bad sleeper (A) first and then try to put L to sleep after A is already down? But if it takes two hours and L misses her window, she turns into a bad sleeper too! Ugggghhh. Sleep training sucks.

ball.and.chain

Holding a sleeping baby.  Let's see how far I can get before my arm falls asleep or he wakes up.

Things have not been great in baby land.  B continues to be hungry all the time and still seems unsatisfied by nursing, I continue to have pain, and B isn't sleeping well which is probably linked to hunger.  He also cries/screams while nursing a lot and has been fussy.  After research and discussions, my wife came around on getting his tongue tie checked out/clipped, and then I dragged my feet on dealing with it.  First I wanted to do more research.  Then I couldn't decide whether to check with pedi first.  Then I decided to check with pedi but it was the weekend.  Then yesterday I couldn't get the time to call pedi because B was so fussy, I didn't want to try to have a conversation with her with him screaming in my ear.  Early this morning it occurred to me that the shooting pains I have been having in my breast are not normal and are probably not caused by latch issues.  I googled it and the most common explanation seems to be thrush.  B doesn't have white patches in his mouth, but it seems that they don't always appear.  The list of other symptoms/issues was like a list of all of the problems we've been having: inefficent nursing, crying while nursing, fussiness/gassiness, nipple pain, etc.  So I'm not a doctor and who knows if this is thrush but at this point I'm almost hopeful because it's something we can treat and it could help a lot of our problems.  I'm now wondering if the tongue tie is even causing a lot of the issues (he may still have one, but it may or may not be the culprit).  Anyway, I am calling the pedi today and already have a 6w follow up with my OB tomorrow, so we can get checked out and see whether we start doing better.  Also gives me the chance to ask her about the tongue tie, but if thrush is a possibility I want to treat that first.

I am also trying to get better about getting out of the bed in the morning.  I do fine when my wife is working a late shift or when she has a day off.  But Sundays through Tuesdays she is out of the house between 7 and 8, and since I get less sleep than she does (she works and isn't nursing, so most of the nighttime stuff is on me), I tend to stay in bed (with after she gets up.  Then I never make it into the shower and have a hard time getting normal meals because B is fussy.  Because I'm hungry/dirty/sweaty/cranky, I don't want to leave the house, and then I start feeling like a shut in, which makes me more cranky, etc etc.  If I get up with her, we can tag team baby duties so that we both get showers and breakfast.  I can always take a nap but starting out the day clean and awake and fed makes a huge difference in my quality of life and makes me more likely to go out to run errands etc.  Today I am hoping to go to a new mom's group nearby, but it depends on if pedi wants to see us and when.

Accomplishments: I finally pumped enough to put two bags of bm in the freezer!  And B turned 6 weeks and started smiling like a fool (when he is not fussy anyway) which is so adorable.  He is also more alert and attentive every day.  Still small but finally starting to outgrow his newborn clothes and fit into 0-3 months.

QOTW: We have a designated play room but never got around to setting it up before he was born and since he's not really doing a lot of playing right now, it still isn't.  His activity mat is in our living room, and his swing is in our family room along with a handful of toys.  His bouncy seat is in the dining room so we can put him in it while eating, which never works.  Other than that, most of his stuff (except for his bassinet) is in his room, which we rarely spend time in (just to change him and get his clothes, towels, bedding etc).

I don't have time to respond to everyone but I am thinking of those of you who are struggling with sleep issues, illness, etc!

JGY

shameless370087 I'm so sorry to hear about your sleep struggles.  Many of us on this board can totally relate!

I hired a sleep consultant (The Baby Sleep Site) and it was not $500 and it was TOTALLY worth it.  As @Jazibel noted, it's copyright material so I can't post it.  And also, as mentioned above, a lot of it can be common sense.  I think what helped us the most was not having to read through 5 different books with 5 different theories in order to come up with something that made sense to us.  The consultants asked us for TONS of information so that they could really address the problems that WE were having.  They also asked a lot of questions about our parenting style and what we were (and were not) comfortable with.  Then they put together a plan that really spoke to us, our needs, and our comfort levels.  I recommend it.

And hopefully this won't give you more frustration, I mean it to give you hope ... G has been sleeping through the night more often than not these days.  Finally.  And by STTN, I don't mean the true meaning (5-6 hours, I think - can't remember).  I mean from 7:30pm until 6:30am.  I honestly didn't think we'd be here until at LEAST 2 years of age.

A couple of notes ... mentioned above, once the kiddo learns to put themselves to sleep at night (even if it takes some crying), the night-wakings become less frequent.  We found this to be true as well.  Also, an earlier bedtime for us DID equate to an easier time going to sleep, and a longer period of overnight sleep.

Good luck everyone!

 

KH826

I wish I had more time to respond to each of you... there is A LOT going on with this group this week! I just wanted to say that I am thinking of those who are having sleep and other issues. Sending you lots of supportive thoughts!

Also @ATXMommas - I really hope that you are feeling better today. That sounds like an awful bug you have been dealing with. Hope today is better!

Oh, and @Ball.and.chain - I hope you get time to talk to your pedi today, and that you get some relief. I cannot imagine dealing with extreme pain when trying to nurse for as long as you have been struggling with it. You are a real trooper. Fingers crossed that you get some relief ASAP!

And I was going to take a pic of our playroom to post today, but I forgot. Darnit! Maybe on PIP Thursday...

OK, gotta run... hugs to all the super awesome parents around here!