PAIF Graduates New Mommies - November 2018

mbradfo2

@Hopeful_mom
@Aera11
With the poops, we found two things helpful to keep everything moving --- using oatmeal cereal rather than rice (fiber) and offering some water with her solid food meals. I've found the poops really vary based on what she is eating though! If she doesn't like taking cereal by itself, you can mix a little into a looser puree to make sure she gets a bit of fiber.  We have some days where the poop is very firm and then others (like the past two days) where it gets looser. I adjust what she's eating based on how her poops go. If she gets pretty loose like she is now (not diarrhea just very mushy stools), I switch her over to a multigrain cereal or a rice cereal for a little bit to firm things up. It's really hard to find that good middle ground once they get into solids

And Anne got up at 4 am today (yay)....and pulled herself into a seated position on her own from her hands and knees (she's trying to crawl alot now). I walked into her room to give her a bottle and change her diaper and there she was sitting up in her crib looking at me, all smiles.  I think we're going to need to lower the crib again; we have it on the middle setting but now that she's sitting up, she's pretty close to the top bar and I don't want her to try to climb over (which she will). 

persnickity

We skipped cereal and purees and just did solids that were soft, like softened carrots or sweet potatoes, banana, and some baby yogurt. The faces were hilarious!! She's have this look of disgust while continually putting more in her mouth to eat. Haha

We found that Mackenzie's easily constipated bananas. She can have it once a week without any problems, but otherwise starts to get constipated. Not all kids respond that way though.

wildrainbow

So, my hips have been pretty sore since delivery, the pain radiates down my legs. My 6 week PP check up is next week, and I plan on telling my Dr. In the meantime, anyone have any stretches or something they recommend? I've tried some, but what I've done hasn't worked. 

2MomsHoping

Hi all just popping in to say hi. Sorry I’ve been so out of the loop. Going back to work has been very difficult and on top of it we are now on our second round of colds and little one has unrelated GI issues that they think is due to a milk allergy. We’ve had to switch to an expensive formula she doesn’t like to eat so basically she’s continually tired and hungry and fussy and eats every 2 hours tiny amounts to basically not be starving. Her regular pediatrician is back from vacation so we are going to try and get an appointment today or tooorrow to see if there is anything we can do because this is so not working for us. My heart breaks that she is so uncomfortable and I’m just plain tired so keeping perspective is difficult sometimes...and I also think I have the start of holiday blues. 

@gfgrump I hope he’s doing ok after his 2month shots. I think with parenting there are so many choices that are hard to make and no matter what you do you’ll get judged by someone. You just have to do your best to pick what’s right for your family. I’m glad you and your husband were able to come to a angreement on it. 

Hopeful_mom

@2MomsHoping sorry ur having issues.  Feeding every 2hrs is tough.  I’ve felt like I’ve had a new born for months now.  She’s first now getting to 3hrs on some of the feedings where I give her cereal.  Hoping your dr will have the magical potion to make her happy again! It’s so hard when they’re fussy and hurting as all u want to do is make it better!!!

@persnickity u really jumped to solids and the baby was fine just like that? Impressive!! What veggies besides soft carrots did u do?

@mbradfo2 good advice with the poo! My dr did mention having 2 types of cereal on hand! 

persnickity

@Hopeful_mom several of us actually jumped straight to solids. It's baby led weaning, if you want to read about it. Just give them options, then let them feed themselves. For veggies, we did soft broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, etc. Just make sure they're soft and bite sized. We also have her pieces of sausage or ground beef instead of meat purees. 

JWatt5

We did the same as @persnickity - best thing ever. We started with wedges of avocado and steam sweet potato. Broccoli and mango. By 7m Chicken breast strips or ground turkey...by 8 months he was eating everything including Lobster in Mexico lol. We LOVE baby led weaning. 

Hopeful_mom

Wow that so interesting!!! She’s not even 6m I’m first trying to make sure she doesn’t choke on her oatmeal. @persnickity @JWatt5 sounds great!!   Will have to read up on it thanks! 

mbradfo2

I'm with @Hopeful_mom
I' mterrified she'll choke if I give her anything but purees or cereals? How do you guys deal with those fears?

persnickity

@mbradfo2 babies are actually pretty incredible. They have a gag reflex located more forward in their mouths when they're younger and it moves backwards as they are. So they're more likely to gag and spot it out than choke. That said, don't feed your child solids until they're developmentally ready.

As for dealing with the fears, I put small bites on her high chair tray, watched her like a hawk, and never forced anything. She had to put it in her own mouth. Over time, I built up confidence that it would be okay. She hasn't choked, but did gag on a sliver of pepper that was too small. She spit up and then started reaching for more.

mbradfo2

@persnickity
Thanks! Hopefully I'll get over the fears as baby-led weaning seems like it would be perfect for us. Gonna try some new foods on her tomorrow so she starts getting used to "regular" food -- just mashed potatoes, soft carrots and some pumpkin. 

persnickity

@mbradfo2 If you go that route, give yourself permission to feel nervous about it. Just be careful not to make a fast knee jerk reaction to her coughing or gagging as she works it out. You don't want to scare her, causing her to have her own knee jerk reaction to swallow when she's not ready.

mbradfo2

@persnickity
Yeah, I might have my husband give the food to her since he's more relaxed XD  I tend to be hyper-protective mama

Hopeful_mom

Happy thanksgiving! Thankful for u all!!

mtpbadger

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m so thankful for all of you and your support! And especially thankful for my little turkey

wildrainbow

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

@mtpbadger that outfit is precious and so is she!

JWatt5

@mbradfo2 - Feeding Littles does an amazing course on BLW you could check out!

hottietoddy

Hi everyone, sorry been MIA, been following along more on the Facebook page.  

@BusinessWife I am so sorry for your lost, it must be such a hard time with the new baby to lose your mom. She is watching over you in heaven. I lost my dad suddenly and unexpectedly 7 years ago around Thanksgiving and my heart hurts each year still. But it does get easier eventually, just telling you so you know it will get better. 

@2momshoping. So bummed to hear Lucy doesn't like the new formula.  Stick with it mama, you can do it, and hope it gets better soon.   Our pediatrician suggested we try the milk free formula and see if William's diaper rash was related to milk allergy to know for sure.  I declined this and just use the special cream on him. I was super worried about switching his diet just for an experiment and so glad I did.  I also stopped drinking milk and eating cottage cheese or yogurt. I still eat cheese and it seems to help .

TMI poop talk:
William finally pooped yesterday on the 6th day!  I'' just so glad it wasn't on Thanksgiving. Pediatrician said pooping once a week is common and some babies only go a couple times a month. He said as long as his poop is soft and no hard stomach or uncontrollable crying and passing gas he is ok.  We've been giving him grape juice to help but I worry about the sugar.... They don't know why but they think breast milk is just very efficient and then if there isn't much to get out their little muscles aren't that strong. He did have a big diaper but wasn't that crazy....

mtpbadger

@hottietoddy Abigail would only poop about once every 7-10 days and it was always a diaper full (not explosion but very full diaper) and the ped said it was totally normal. Now that she’s a little older she goes more often (every 2-3 days if not every day). 

persnickity

@hottietoddy Mackenzie would go every 5-7 days when on just breast milk. Solids caused her to stay going every day or every other day. Totally normal!

mbradfo2

@hottietoddy
Yeah, my dad says as long as poops are squishy and they aren't straining, some babies can go only once a week! We had a few periods of time at the beginning where she was only pooping once every couple days and he wouldn't prescribe anything to help, even prune juices, since he said as long as the poops were soft and she wasn;t uncomfortable, it was fine

 ....once you hit solids....however....  I've been feeding her rice cereal this whole week trying to firm up the massive squishy poops a bit so they are easier to clean up, but no success there >.>  I guess I'm just stuck cleaning up huge squishy poops. Not diarrhea, just....squishy and lots of it spread all over her diaper area from sitting up and trying to crawl around.