*Baby Corner*

[chnst 6]

@the latin ladies: we are invited to a baby shower next sunday, I think they are puerto rican, and I was wondering that they are having it from 6pm-midnight. Is that a cultural thing? what are we supposed to bring as a gift? Is a gift certificate for Babies R Us ok? They said it is more like a party but it is ok to bring Ben, there will be plenty of kids. They are also having it at a "club". Do you think it is really ok to bring a 1 year old or should we leave him with a babysitter? He usually goes to sleep around 9pm, but we are not planning on staying that long anyways because I have to go to school on monday. I just think the time is a little odd, but I know a lot of the latin folks stay up all night.

[Vi Mazzella 4]

chnst@ In Peru we usually have the baby showers around 6pm , but never until midnight. In a club? never heard of it. If I am you I won't bring Ben. And you can give as a gift whatever you want, the gift card sounds fine to me. Most of the baby showers that I went at home were on Saturdays. This sounds more like a party to me.

[Anna C. 4]

@ Evi: I said the same thing to hubbie today... Sometimes I wish I was dumb and happy - no worries! But anyways, he just got the shot at Walgreens. Nothing to worry now for us!

Hm Adam's mine-phase... I think it's actually overdue My sisters are 2 years apart and oh boy the older one had a very very long mine-phase. Even today she sometimes seems to be like that, no kidding. Anyways, she wanted to eat and drink the same food as the baby, it wasn't only the toys, so I think there are worse cases than Adam. It's hard anyways. I havent' read up yet how to deal with that. For now, Jona has learned to loudly protest when he can't have something (like remote control, cell phone, my shoes...)... Still trying to find a coping mechanism, for now it's picking him up and consoling him, going to another room and distracting him. He doesn't understand the concept of dangerous or hot yet (I point out it's like hot or hm deadly, but he thinks it's funny). Oh well, it will all come in time.

@ Vi: Hm I didn't get bitten often. He tried it at 10 months as a game and I delatched him and said NO BITING. The message works. After all, the kiddos want to eat and only start biting or gnawing when they are done and want to play. And many kids don't even try that.

[Eveline 9]

Argh, he's in bed now...oh boy. I really hope that phase is over soon. It is very very draining. My oh so laid back baby and toddler is gone. We have good moments too but as for right now the 'MINE' moments are just outweighing them . I just took him to bed and gave him kisses, he enjoyed the attention and snuggled with me so that was good .

As for biting. Thank goodness my kids both never really bit. If they did they were usually sick and had a hard time breathing through their noses so whenever they'd breath through their mouth, they kinda held onto the nipple...ouch. Right now I do feel like i have a newborn again though gg. Allie nurses so much at night that I had to unpack the Lansinoh again

[Chrissy25 0]

@Eveline i hear you about the mine phase! Dylan will pick up mollys teether, she has one of those sophie giraffe teethers and start chomping it, or just chewing her toys in general, it drives me nuts, then he ripped one of her books, not on purpose but still one of the few things she has yet....ughhh very annoying....hopefully it passes soon

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Sounds like im in trouble bc Zaid has already started the "mine" and will only be 17 months tomorrow. He is such a bully at day care. I found out today he ripped a toy from an 8 month old little girl and said "mine" and hit her on the head with it. He didnt hurt her but he spent 2 minutes in time out and apologized to her with a big hug. I swear no one tells you about this stuff. You never think your kid will be the one throwing tantrums at the store or being mean to the kids at the park. What did I do wrong? The day care lady says most kids go thru this stage and it will pass but its just so stressful

[Eveline 9]

@Zaidsmommy: I totally hear you. Nobody ever tells you about that kind of stuff. I always thought that you can make your kid be like that but obviously it's just another step in development. I had to LOL though when you wrote that he bonked that little girl on the head with the toy. That was too funny.

I asked Adam's teacher today how she did it. She said they are ALL in that phase (all nine of them) and it gets crazy at times .

Here's another thing. I might be the only uninformed person out there but did you know that the LATCH in your car will only hold the seat plus baby up to a certain weight? I did not know that but in our car you can only latch the carseat via LATCH for up to 48lbs which both my kids are over already...argh. So I went ahead and used the seatbelt plus the top tethers of the seat for some extra security. I'm just concerned about the seatbelt coming undone in a crash.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Ev, the kids are over 48lbs?>???

[Eveline 9]

No, Adam is 35 and Allie is 25 but combined with the weight of their carseats they are above 48lbs or right at it and apparently it is not 'safe' anymore (according to the seat-maker and the car manufacturer) to use the LATCH but you have to use the seatbelt instead. I have never noticed that but it actually says that on a sticker on the seats too.

Edited September 29, 2009 by Eveline

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Ohhhh i see. That stinks! Is it 48lbs per latch? Cuz I have 3 latches in my back seat, this has me thinkin

[Anna C. 4]

We don't have latch in the old explorer, but Dh doesn't want DS in the Hyundai. How does the thether work? I thought it was for LATCH cars only... I have a britax boulevard... And oh boy: Jona weighs over 29 lbs.... If we have a second kid, we are going to bust that weight limit in no time!

[Eveline 9]

Basically it is a weight limit per SEAT. So if you use up two latches (the hooks in the actual carseat) you can only go up to 48lbs. The tether goes either over the back of the carseat (when forward facing) or is being hooked onto an achor spot in the floorboard of the car (when rear facing). I think so far only BRITAX makes the top tether for the rear facing seat. I haven't seen it in the Graco that Adam had (the comfort sport).

Another thing. Adam has started waking up with Night Terrors tonight. Poor little kid, he wakes up and just cries, shakes and hyperventilates. I cannot really calm him down or wake him up either. It's so scary. I asked him if he was cold or something hurt (he has a little blister on his tongue too) but he said no. Scratching and rubbing his back helps a little, at least he calms down that way.

[JVKn'CVO 11]

@the latin ladies: we are invited to a baby shower next sunday, I think they are puerto rican, and I was wondering that they are having it from 6pm-midnight. Is that a cultural thing? what are we supposed to bring as a gift? Is a gift certificate for Babies R Us ok? They said it is more like a party but it is ok to bring Ben, there will be plenty of kids. They are also having it at a "club". Do you think it is really ok to bring a 1 year old or should we leave him with a babysitter? He usually goes to sleep around 9pm, but we are not planning on staying that long anyways because I have to go to school on monday. I just think the time is a little odd, but I know a lot of the latin folks stay up all night.

I'm just as lost as you are - we don't have baby showers in Argentina...and once I hit the third trimester, I was ready for bed at 9 pm I can't imagine clubbing during that time hahaha

Saludos,

Caro

[Staashi 371]

@the latin ladies: we are invited to a baby shower next sunday, I think they are puerto rican, and I was wondering that they are having it from 6pm-midnight. Is that a cultural thing? what are we supposed to bring as a gift? Is a gift certificate for Babies R Us ok? They said it is more like a party but it is ok to bring Ben, there will be plenty of kids. They are also having it at a "club". Do you think it is really ok to bring a 1 year old or should we leave him with a babysitter? He usually goes to sleep around 9pm, but we are not planning on staying that long anyways because I have to go to school on monday. I just think the time is a little odd, but I know a lot of the latin folks stay up all night.

I'm just as lost as you are - we don't have baby showers in Argentina...and once I hit the third trimester, I was ready for bed at 9 pm I can't imagine clubbing during that time hahaha

Saludos,

Caro

I was thinking the same thing! Must be the New Yoricans - they're a breed unto themself!

Edited September 29, 2009 by Staashi

[antda 13]

Hi VJ mommies!

Chnst-Lol..bellybutton piercing...nothing to be ashamed of really..Too bad the skin doesn't grow back for that though. As for tanning, just make sure you wear enough sunscreen, as you don't want to get burned. Glad though, that tanning worked for you, at least "hide" the stretchmark for a little bit. As for tanning for me..Well, I did get somewhat of a tan this summer (mostly on my arms and face)..but the stretch marks aren't in an area where I can tan. And if I tan too much..I just look too weird appearance-wise (well, at least in my opinion..). Actually, now that the weather is getting colder, I'm trying to think of ways to do the opposite..How do I un-tan? Lol..well, one thing is for sure...I don't burn as easily like my husband does....(lol..we stock up on sunscreen at my house). Thanks though, for the suggestion about tanning...Who knows, maybe I'll try that out someday and not feel weird about it.

As for the breastfeeding, I'm sorry to hear that your in-laws are hopeless when you try and explain the benefits about that to them. And I agree, it is none of their business to be telling others about your son's health issues. Lol..you would think that if they were old-fashioned, they would be more opened to breastfeeding, as women have breastfed for many generations to many babies. I guess not then. Oh well, as long as you see the benefits to bfing for you and your son, and you are doing what's best in that way..Who cares what they think! It's your baby, not theirs! And if they have a bad attitude about it, who needs to hang around them too long anyways?..lol...Interesting too, about the lower risk of cancer..didn't know about that before..hmmm...And yeah, it's too bad too, that bfing is one of those controversial topics that is rarely discussed. I'm sure if more people discussed about it, and see the benefits about it, then we would have a lot more healthier parents and babies, indeed.

@Ant: about stretchmarks: I have 2 really ugly ones where my belly button piercing used to be (shame shame), so far nothing has helped, the skin will not go back to normal because it is an elasticity problem. However, you can pretty much make them "vanish" by tanning. I spent a lot of time by the pool this summer and even with sunscreen got a nice tan and they faded a little.

about bf: hopeless case with my in-laws, they say you should stop when the baby is teething (that's what I used to think too, but then I realized it wasn't a big problem). It is very hard when the environment is unsupportive, but I don't really care much. It only drives me crazy when she tells me that all her friends and her doctor think that Ben is getting constipated because I breastfeed. I can't believe she would even discuss that with her doctor and friends. oh well. I tried to tell them about the benefits but they are just very old-fashioned. I tried to tell them that the longer you bf the smaller the risk of getting breast/ovarian cancer, all that stuff, but it's almost like with politics, its something you don't discuss.

JVKn'CVO-No problem about the response about the c-section scar. Glad to be able to help you there (that is, if I did help at all..)

Thanks for the responses about csection scar

Saludos,

Caro

Ant