DH's birthday is next week and as his main present I've booked a weekend trip to Niagara Falls! I'm SO excited, neither of us have ever gone there before and this will be our first ever vacation with just our family, even counting time before LO was born. Anyone have any tips for things to do there (aside from seeing the falls, obviously)? We'll be going there Halloween weekend and staying from Saturday into Sunday. Also we'll be bringing LO with us so whatever we do has to be ok for a 5 month old.
We live 15 minutes from the falls! Although we are on the canadian side which is a lot more exciting than the American. The maid of the mist (can't think of what the American one is called) is most definitely worth it. Whenever we have out of town guests visiting who want to see the falls, it is a must, and it never gets old! There is also journey behind the falls (again can't remember what the American 'version' is called, but it is also pretty spectacular. If you're deciding between the two though, I'd do the boat. There is also a small aquarium on the American side. Goat island is also nice to take a picnic if the weather is nice and Seneca casino is right down in the same area too. There are malls in nearby buffalo - walden galleria being the best/biggest. Lewiston NY is also nearby and is a quaint little town. I hope this helps... Enjoy your trip
Thank you so much! The journey behind the falls sounds interesting, but is it stroller-friendly? I'm hoping to use our baby bjorn carrier, but as of right now, LO hates it, and is much more comfortable in the stroller. I'm hoping that changes but am planning on using the stroller the whole trip just in case.
The aquarium sounds like a good bet too. DH loves stuff like that and it would be fun to show LO thanks again!
For those in New England, DH wants us to go to the Big E this year (essentially a state fair for those of you from other places). I'm terrified at being stuck over an hour from home in case she decides she doesn't want to be there. I'm not sure if DH is being overly ambitious or I'm being too timid. Probably a mix of both.
@hoodoll82 we've gone to the fair with LO and he was into it, when he wasn't sleeping. Of course, our fair was a 10 minute walk away, but we were there for about 3 hours. Conversely, because of where we live, we are about an hour's drive away from anything. We just make sure we feed him and change him and get him into that post feeding / clean butt happy state before we set out. There might be some hiccups, but you'll probably do fine! Good luck, and have fun! Eat lots of yummy fair food!
For those in New England, DH wants us to go to the Big E this year (essentially a state fair for those of you from other places). I'm terrified at being stuck over an hour from home in case she decides she doesn't want to be there. I'm not sure if DH is being overly ambitious or I'm being too timid. Probably a mix of both.
We took LO to our church's carnival at 2.5 months and had a very similar experience to @mellymar - we were a 5 minute walk from home and LO loved people watching, so we were there for at least an hour each night that we went. In fact, when we did leave, it was usually because I was ready to go home! LO probably would've been content for a while longer! One thing that was challenging for us was changing her while we were there; we couldn't find a bench to set her down on and changing her in the car seat on top of our stroller didn't seem like an ideal option. Because the carnival was at our church, we knew most of the people running it and 2 of our friends were in the school running the prize exchange, and they were totally fine with me running in there to change LO's diaper as needed. One has a 1 year old and the other is expecting her third baby this month so they get it haha. But if we were at another carnival where we didn't have the connections that we did at this one, I think diaper changing and, if necessary, feeding would've been challenging. Like I said, there weren't very many places to sit quietly and do whatever needed to be done.
TL;DR festivals are fun, even with a LO, but have a game plan for how you'll address things like diaper changes and eating in a place where there are lots of crowds and you might not be able to sit down.
of course my LO is all chatty and smiles this morning. not a clue about the impending doom that awaits him. as a newborn he slept through his hearing test and blood work.. so lets hope today is similar.
@hoodoll82@kes166 my sister sent me a diaper clutch type thing... It folds in on itself and has pockets inside for wipes and maybe 2 or 3 diapers. Its meant to just grab when you are planning on being out real briefly and don't want the whole diaper bag. Point being, one end unfolds into a changing pad that's wipe-able. When we needed to change LO at the fair, we just pulled over to a spot between two booths where it was grassy and unfolded that sucker, put it on the ground, and changed him. I ended up giving him some boob action later that night, too, but for my own comfort we went way off behind the scenes to a grassy area and sat down on the ground.
I attached some pictures of my diaper clutch thing, I've seen them at Walmart for like 10 or 15 bucks I think. We just keep it in his diaper bag, but we've used it all over. The YMCA flyer in the picture is for scale, the flyer is printed on just regular 8x11 sized paper
@hoodoll82@kes166 my sister sent me a diaper clutch type thing... It folds in on itself and has pockets inside for wipes and maybe 2 or 3 diapers. Its meant to just grab when you are planning on being out real briefly and don't want the whole diaper bag. Point being, one end unfolds into a changing pad that's wipe-able. When we needed to change LO at the fair, we just pulled over to a spot between two booths where it was grassy and unfolded that sucker, put it on the ground, and changed him. I ended up giving him some boob action later that night, too, but for my own comfort we went way off behind the scenes to a grassy area and sat down on the ground.
I attached some pictures of my diaper clutch thing, I've seen them at Walmart for like 10 or 15 bucks I think. We just keep it in his diaper bag, but we've used it all over. The YMCA flyer in the picture is for scale, the flyer is printed on just regular 8x11 sized paper
I actually use something similar to that for our diaper changes around the apartment! I didn't want a changing table because we don't really have room for one. I agree, it's definitely super helpful and worth having! Where we would've run into trouble at our church's carnival was the fact that it was in the school's parking lot so there is no grass whatsoever and I didn't want to just set her down the concrete, even with a changing pad. So having friends in the school who didn't mind letting us change her in one of the classrooms was a huge help!
How big was everybody's LO at 3 months? Mine is pushing 15-16 lbs and some people try to make me feel as though that is too large while my peditrician and family love how big he is. Of course I think he's perfect as is. I also exclusively breast feed.
@MamaSky my LO isn't 3 months yet, he was 10 weeks Monday, but at his 2 month appointment (7 days after turning 2 months) he weighed 13 pounds 11 ounces so I have no doubt he'll be 15-16 by 3 months. If your pediatrician isn't concerned, then don't worry about it.
How big was everybody's LO at 3 months? Mine is pushing 15-16 lbs and some people try to make me feel as though that is too large while my peditrician and family love how big he is. Of course I think he's perfect as is. I also exclusively breast feed.
We don't go at 3 months but LO was 15 lbs 10 oz at 2 months! He was 98th percentile in height & weight. My pedi wasn't a bit worried. DH & I were both big babies and we're tall adults. I'm close to 5'10" and DH is 6'3". I have a brother whose 6'5". People always make comments when I say his age, and I have to remind people to hold his head because he looks like a 5 or 6 month old. Embrace it...your baby is healthy! That's what I tell myself anyway. My LO is also EBF.
@hoodoll82 ugh I want to go to the big E. I won't with LO though just because it's so much walking. And she gets miserable if she's hot. I wouldn't do it but I also hate not sitting down I'm sure a lot of others would go!
TTC: 1/2014
BFP: 9/24
EDD: 6/8/2015
Sorry for the poor man's siggy...ticker won't load regardless of how many tips I read.
@mellymar I need that in my life!! I don't use the diaper bag because mine is so big and uncomfortable so I just throw extra diapers and wipes in my purse and I ALWAYS forget the changing pad
How big was everybody's LO at 3 months? Mine is pushing 15-16 lbs and some people try to make me feel as though that is too large while my peditrician and family love how big he is. Of course I think he's perfect as is. I also exclusively breast feed.
LO is 12 weeks today and weighs 14lb10oz. Does your paediatrician plot your babies weight on a growth chart - that might help reassure you that everything's going well. Here in Australia everyone gets a red record book for their baby and you can track your babies growth and see that it's following the right trajectory.
It's annoying when other people try and tell you what your baby should be weighing or doing. My FIL keeps making comments about my LOs weight (he's a chubby little monkey, but appropriately so). I keep telling myself that it's not meant in a bad way, but when you get "Don't make him obese please" posted about his picture on Facebook it's hard to bite your tongue!
Here's my LO weight-for-age growth chart. The vertical axis is weight and the horizontal axis is age. The lines represent the 97th, 85Th, 50th, 15th and 3rd percentiles. When you plot your babies weight it should follow the curve of those lines without crossing percentiles.
How big was everybody's LO at 3 months? Mine is pushing 15-16 lbs and some people try to make me feel as though that is too large while my peditrician and family love how big he is. Of course I think he's perfect as is. I also exclusively breast feed.
my LO isnt even 2 months yet and he is 14lbs 11oz
i saw another couple while at the health center and they almost gasped when they found out he is only 8 weeks. their baby was over 3 months (they never specified) and my LO was noticeably bigger.
also when they were changing their baby's diaper they asked him if he had a "boom boom".. i internally laughed.
EBF babies tend to gain quicker in the first 3 months and then it slows down, and the opposite for formula fed.
But just for reference I was EBF and always in the 99th percentile for weight until I started to walk (clothes barely fit over my head and neck), and then I was skin and bones for the rest of my life. Every baby is different!
TTC: 1/2014
BFP: 9/24
EDD: 6/8/2015
Sorry for the poor man's siggy...ticker won't load regardless of how many tips I read.
@mvargas12 yeah it folds up pretty slim, maybe the size of a quarter? You could probably also fold up 2 or 3 diapers and some wipes inside it (I think it came with a thin plastic rectangle for wipes to travel in, I just don't use it) and have it be a little thicker when folded, but it compacts down to a nice size. It could probably live in your purse so you don't forget it
How big was everybody's LO at 3 months? Mine is pushing 15-16 lbs and some people try to make me feel as though that is too large while my peditrician and family love how big he is. Of course I think he's perfect as is. I also exclusively breast feed.
Mine is 16 at 2.5 months... Same was my daughter and she has been a tall stick figure healthy child now 12. Tell people to kick rocks .. Big babies=healthy babies
Don't know where to put this... But had to share. I put LO down for bed wrapped up tight in his swaddleme, flipped on the camera by his crib, walked to my bedroom, turned on the monitor and the screen showed his swaddleme laid out flat open and no baby. I was in a state of shock, I was searching the monitor looking in the corners of the crib thinking he magically escaped, or how did someone take my baby in a matter of 15 seconds on the second floor of my house without me knowing? Then the monitor changed to black, and flipped to a new image of LO swaddled and still in the crib. Strange shit that I hope I never experience again.
Don't know where to put this... But had to share. I put LO down for bed wrapped up tight in his swaddleme, flipped on the camera by his crib, walked to my bedroom, turned on the monitor and the screen showed his swaddleme laid out flat open and no baby. I was in a state of shock, I was searching the monitor looking in the corners of the crib thinking he magically escaped, or how did someone take my baby in a matter of 15 seconds on the second floor of my house without me knowing? Then the monitor changed to black, and flipped to a new image of LO swaddled and still in the crib. Strange shit that I hope I never experience again.
I think it must have somehow froze an image of when I turned on the camera before putting him in the crib, but definitely don't want to see that again.
This thread is making me feel nervous that my baby doesn't weigh enough. He's 11.5 weeks, 11.5 lbs.
That's what I'm sayin'. Big babies = healthy babies? So... Is mine not healthy? I know that's not what you meant, Hayes, but all these babies dwarf my little guy at his 10# 4oz. (10/4 good buddy!) I know he's doing ok cause his growth curve is on track and the ped said he was on track nicely after his struggles to gain weight. But its precisely because he struggled so hard to gain weight that hearing that everyone else's babies are so heavy (and some of them born after my LO) is giving me anxiety. Which I keep trying to squash cause like I said, I just saw the ped Monday and she said he's doing fine. But I stress about it. Its a vicious circle of baby weight nerves. :-S
This thread is making me feel nervous that my baby doesn't weigh enough. He's 11.5 weeks, 11.5 lbs.
According to my growth chart, your LO would be roughly at the 15th percentile. Basically 15% of normal babies will weigh less than him. So chances are he's completely fine. What can indicate a problem though is the rate of weight gain. If your LO started off at 50% and then dropped to 15%, it would be much more concerning than if he had always been at 15%
@aliciaspinnet I do have one of those actually! However when I went in to his two month appointment. The peditrician who had seen him previously (about 3 times) said he was big for 13 days old. Yeah considering he was actually two months old. They deleted his precious information from his other visits. Luckily I have written every height, weight, symptom down during every visit.... So I wasn't sure how okay I felt about that because I don't think many 2 week olds should be able to double their birth weight. She wasn't putting two and two together on her own so I was left feeling unsure. But I feel better now. I never thought you could over feed a BF baby. And I don't ever want to turn him away from feedings. Thank you for taking the time to photograph your chart !
@HayesRN13 Thank you! I basically do--- with my eyes. They usually compliment his chubbiness after that. It's like these older moms with so much to say forget what it was like when people were constantly commenting on their babies. Or I guess they didn't care.
@JessHeppell Oh no!!!! Boom boom???? Hahah. Well that makes me feel a lot better that I'm not the only one. I always feel great about his size. He seems strong to me. I just got annoyed when my midwife said something when he came to my visit with me. She told me not to comfort nurse essentially which really bothered me. As though I was force feeding him.
@mellymar and @KonaCoffeeBean I know both your LO's are 100% healthy and perfect! Everyone is different...babies included! I think most parents worry no matter what! I worry constantly that LO is too big, and it gets extremely old having people say things like, "wow, he doesn't miss a meal!" It's all I can do not to say, "no he doesn't because I don't starve my 2 month old."
ETA: this whole comment probably sounded like rambling...its 2 am and I'm tired. Also, I thought my LO had great head control but he still looks down when sitting up. Some of your babies are seriously holding their heads up like champs!
There's a preterm chart you can look at too if your baby was early. My guy was 3 weeks early and is low for weight on regular charts but 50% on the other one. My doc uses that so I go with it!
DH's birthday is next week and as his main present I've booked a weekend trip to Niagara Falls! I'm SO excited, neither of us have ever gone there before and this will be our first ever vacation with just our family, even counting time before LO was born. Anyone have any tips for things to do there (aside from seeing the falls, obviously)? We'll be going there Halloween weekend and staying from Saturday into Sunday. Also we'll be bringing LO with us so whatever we do has to be ok for a 5 month old.
We live 15 minutes from the falls! Although we are on the canadian side which is a lot more exciting than the American. The maid of the mist (can't think of what the American one is called) is most definitely worth it. Whenever we have out of town guests visiting who want to see the falls, it is a must, and it never gets old! There is also journey behind the falls (again can't remember what the American 'version' is called, but it is also pretty spectacular. If you're deciding between the two though, I'd do the boat. There is also a small aquarium on the American side. Goat island is also nice to take a picnic if the weather is nice and Seneca casino is right down in the same area too. There are malls in nearby buffalo - walden galleria being the best/biggest. Lewiston NY is also nearby and is a quaint little town. I hope this helps... Enjoy your trip
Thank you so much! The journey behind the falls sounds interesting, but is it stroller-friendly? I'm hoping to use our baby bjorn carrier, but as of right now, LO hates it, and is much more comfortable in the stroller. I'm hoping that changes but am planning on using the stroller the whole trip just in case.
The aquarium sounds like a good bet too. DH loves stuff like that and it would be fun to show LO thanks again!
I am not positive, but I do remember there being stairs in the tour, so I don't know that it'd be stroller friendly. Here's the website: https://www.niagarafallsstatepark.com/mobile/caves-of-the-wind-tour.aspx. Maybe give a phone call? Also, here's the website for the aquarium: https://www.aquariumofniagara.org I haven't been there since I was a little kid but from what I have heard it's pretty small and a bit lame... Just so you're prepared and not expecting something more exciting
DH's birthday is next week and as his main present I've booked a weekend trip to Niagara Falls! I'm SO excited, neither of us have ever gone there before and this will be our first ever vacation with just our family, even counting time before LO was born. Anyone have any tips for things to do there (aside from seeing the falls, obviously)? We'll be going there Halloween weekend and staying from Saturday into Sunday. Also we'll be bringing LO with us so whatever we do has to be ok for a 5 month old.
We live 15 minutes from the falls! Although we are on the canadian side which is a lot more exciting than the American. The maid of the mist (can't think of what the American one is called) is most definitely worth it. Whenever we have out of town guests visiting who want to see the falls, it is a must, and it never gets old! There is also journey behind the falls (again can't remember what the American 'version' is called, but it is also pretty spectacular. If you're deciding between the two though, I'd do the boat. There is also a small aquarium on the American side. Goat island is also nice to take a picnic if the weather is nice and Seneca casino is right down in the same area too. There are malls in nearby buffalo - walden galleria being the best/biggest. Lewiston NY is also nearby and is a quaint little town. I hope this helps... Enjoy your trip
Thank you so much! The journey behind the falls sounds interesting, but is it stroller-friendly? I'm hoping to use our baby bjorn carrier, but as of right now, LO hates it, and is much more comfortable in the stroller. I'm hoping that changes but am planning on using the stroller the whole trip just in case.
The aquarium sounds like a good bet too. DH loves stuff like that and it would be fun to show LO thanks again!
I am not positive, but I do remember there being stairs in the tour, so I don't know that it'd be stroller friendly. Here's the website: https://www.niagarafallsstatepark.com/mobile/caves-of-the-wind-tour.aspx. Maybe give a phone call? Also, here's the website for the aquarium: https://www.aquariumofniagara.org I haven't been there since I was a little kid but from what I have heard it's pretty small and a bit lame... Just so you're prepared and not expecting something more exciting
Does anyone else find it super awkward trying to make other mom friends? I was at the hair salon yesterday and the girl next to me has a son who is 8 days younger than my LO. We chatted for an hour and compared milestones, birth stories, etc, but I didn't have the guts to ask her for her number so we could maybe have a play date.
I sucked at dating (met DH online for a reason, lol), and I feel like making friends is the same thing. I'm too awkward for this! Is there a match.com type thing for making other mommy friends?
Does anyone else find it super awkward trying to make other mom friends? I was at the hair salon yesterday and the girl next to me has a son who is 8 days younger than my LO. We chatted for an hour and compared milestones, birth stories, etc, but I didn't have the guts to ask her for her number so we could maybe have a play date.
I sucked at dating (met DH online for a reason, lol), and I feel like making friends is the same thing. I'm too awkward for this! Is there a match.com type thing for making other mommy friends?
Try meetup.com to look for mommy groups! I'm a member of one (found a flyer for them in my OB's office) and they organize all their stuff on there. It's seriously been a such an enormous help for me, I can't recommend it enough!
Does anyone else find it super awkward trying to make other mom friends? I was at the hair salon yesterday and the girl next to me has a son who is 8 days younger than my LO. We chatted for an hour and compared milestones, birth stories, etc, but I didn't have the guts to ask her for her number so we could maybe have a play date.
I sucked at dating (met DH online for a reason, lol), and I feel like making friends is the same thing. I'm too awkward for this! Is there a match.com type thing for making other mommy friends?
I feel the same way. Most of my friends are child free by choice or their kids are 10. It would be so nice to have 1 friend IRL that's going through the same things.
There's a mom at daycare (Will's Mom) with a son the same age as DS and a daughter 2 mo older than LO. We chat whenever we see each other and in almost 2 years, I've never asked her name. My goal is to invite her and the kids to coffee before Thanksgiving. I just always chicken out. Fear of rejection x3 I guess.
ETA After writing this, I realize how dumb I'm being. Our sons are the same age, our daughters are the same age and they're in the same rooms. She also has always been friendly. This is the universe saying "Here's a mom friend for you, you just have to freaking introduce yourself!" So I wrote a note inviting her to coffee and I'm going to drop it in her son's mailbox.
Re: Randoms!
The aquarium sounds like a good bet too. DH loves stuff like that and it would be fun to show LO
TL;DR festivals are fun, even with a LO, but have a game plan for how you'll address things like diaper changes and eating in a place where there are lots of crowds and you might not be able to sit down.
I attached some pictures of my diaper clutch thing, I've seen them at Walmart for like 10 or 15 bucks I think. We just keep it in his diaper bag, but we've used it all over. The YMCA flyer in the picture is for scale, the flyer is printed on just regular 8x11 sized paper
It's annoying when other people try and tell you what your baby should be weighing or doing. My FIL keeps making comments about my LOs weight (he's a chubby little monkey, but appropriately so). I keep telling myself that it's not meant in a bad way, but when you get "Don't make him obese please" posted about his picture on Facebook it's hard to bite your tongue!
Here's my LO weight-for-age growth chart. The vertical axis is weight and the horizontal axis is age. The lines represent the 97th, 85Th, 50th, 15th and 3rd percentiles. When you plot your babies weight it should follow the curve of those lines without crossing percentiles.
i saw another couple while at the health center and they almost gasped when they found out he is only 8 weeks. their baby was over 3 months (they never specified) and my LO was noticeably bigger.
also when they were changing their baby's diaper they asked him if he had a "boom boom".. i internally laughed.
eta quotations
But just for reference I was EBF and always in the 99th percentile for weight until I started to walk (clothes barely fit over my head and neck), and then I was skin and bones for the rest of my life. Every baby is different!
2nd round exp 8/20/18.
Bah. Being a mom is stressful
Oh no!!!! Boom boom???? Hahah. Well that makes me feel a lot better that I'm not the only one. I always feel great about his size. He seems strong to me. I just got annoyed when my midwife said something when he came to my visit with me. She told me not to comfort nurse essentially which really bothered me. As though I was force feeding him.
ETA: this whole comment probably sounded like rambling...its 2 am and I'm tired. Also, I thought my LO had great head control but he still looks down when sitting up. Some of your babies are seriously holding their heads up like champs!
Editing to say 3 weeks is tech not preterm
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/babys-cells-can-manipulate-moms-body-decades-180956493/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=socialmedia
I sucked at dating (met DH online for a reason, lol), and I feel like making friends is the same thing. I'm too awkward for this! Is there a match.com type thing for making other mommy friends?
There's a mom at daycare (Will's Mom) with a son the same age as DS and a daughter 2 mo older than LO. We chat whenever we see each other and in almost 2 years, I've never asked her name. My goal is to invite her and the kids to coffee before Thanksgiving. I just always chicken out. Fear of rejection x3 I guess.
ETA After writing this, I realize how dumb I'm being. Our sons are the same age, our daughters are the same age and they're in the same rooms. She also has always been friendly. This is the universe saying "Here's a mom friend for you, you just have to freaking introduce yourself!" So I wrote a note inviting her to coffee and I'm going to drop it in her son's mailbox.