*Baby Corner*

[Nizzy 1]

We haven't really started potty training Kavi yet which makes me feel a bit odd now since I am seeing many talk about it for younger kids. Oops. We have been talking about it for awhile and plan to start very soon. We have tried explaining about the toilet and he can tell us when he pooped but haven't set him on one. I don't think I was potty trained until between 2-3 yrs old. I thought 2 was a good time to really start...now I feel a bit behind. He turns 2 on Feb 1st.

Eman will be 3 Feb 11th and I feel awful about not having him out of pull ups. This is his last pack so...fingers crossed!

[chri'stina 190]

Eman will be 3 Feb 11th and I feel awful about not having him out of pull ups. This is his last pack so...fingers crossed!

Good luck!

When I worked with preschoolers, they had to be potty trained to attend but some of the 3 year olds still had accidents once in awhile. I assume that is normal. hehe.

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Girls I´m here!!!!

Still enjoying the nice weather in Peru and all the love from my family I REALLY WISH I CAN MOVE BEACK HERE WITH MY HUBBY, my life would be so much easier. My parents want to take care of the baby all the time and want me to relax, go out with my friends and forget about all the stress,they are so different from my in laws.

We are going to the pool very often and OMG Sofia loves the water, today she started crying when we took her out from the pool she kept pointing at it,she is just like her mami.

Redblue@ Congrats on your pregnancy!!! If I was in you position I think I´ll have the baby in my own country and get as much help as possible, then move to the States

[caybee 21]

Good luck with the potty training, you all!

Vi, so glad you are having a good time back home. Poor Sofia begging to swim some more! I don't know if I ever said so, but Rayan would have been Sofie if he'd been a girl. I've always loved that name.

I have been trying to hold out on introducing rice cereal until that 6-month mark, but honestly, I don't think we'll make it. Although Rayan feeds maybe every two or three hours during the day, he has taken to cluster feeding again at night, ALL night. If I can get him to stay swaddled, I may get two straight hours of sleep, but last night, he just kept breaking out of the swaddle, and I must have been rolling a little away from him because he kept having to wake me up to latch on. He doesn't seem famished during the day, and my supply seems fine; I can still pump enough for my husband when I'm at work.

He can sit up in his booster chair, and he has good head and neck control. In fact, sometimes the only thing that will settle him is to support him or hold his hands while he stands and looks around. He mouths everything he can get his hands on, and he's very interested in whatever we're eating and reaches for it sometimes. I don't know whether he's lost that reflex to push food out of his mouth, but he seems to be giving us all the signals that he's ready. He'll be 5 1/2 months this weekend, so maybe we'll give it a try mid-day Sunday with a very thin, small amount of rice cereal and see how he handles it. I want to wait on the next step until at least his 6-month birthday.

Last night, my mom told me they started me on rice cereal when I was 4 months old, as instructed. She mixed it according to the recipe she was given, and she said it wasn't very thin. One pediatrician had recommended a bottle with a larger hole in the nipple, so they used that to feed it to me. She said I "inhaled" it and my stomach blew up, so they never did it that way again. Oh, she also told me she thinks I walked and never really crawled. It wouldn't surprise me if Rayan is the same way. He hasn't rolled at all yet (except for that aborted front-to-back roll where I got so excited that I scared my husband and he snatched Rayan up thinking something bad was happening). He does push up well, and he scoots backwards just a little, so maybe he'll crawl before long, but he loves being vertical so much that it won't surprise me if he's cruising the furniture within a couple of months.

His messy diapers are more sporadic now, and the other day he went four days without a messy one. I read this wasn't unusual for breastfed babies his age, but hubby and I kept asking each other if he'd had a messy one yet. If he had gone one more day, I would have called his doctor just to make sure, but on the fourth day, he gave us (well, me ) a really messy one, otherwise normal. Then he waited three more days. On Monday, we came home from shopping, and when I reached to get him out of his car seat upstairs, he'd had a major blowout all over his clothing. I stripped him on his changing table and wiped him down some, then carried him straight to the bathroom, tossed his tub into the big tub, and put him in his dry tub. I'd never done that before -- I'd always filled it carefully, checked the temperature carefully, put him in slowly so he wouldn't freak, poured water over him carefully. Not this time -- messy boy went straight into his tub with no complaint. Then I filled it with the hand shower at his feet, and it didn't scare him at all. The water got dirty quickly, so I drained it with him in it and started over. This time, I tried spraying the hand shower directly on his legs and tummy and the back of his head. He loved it! He cooed and kicked and splashed around. I miss my fragile, little baby, but I'm enjoying this new, more active and adventurous stage. When we took him swimming for the first time a few weeks ago, the photos from the waterproof disposable camera turned out too dark to see anything at all, which was a disappointment, but he enjoyed it, and we can't wait for beach weather. I think my mom told me I hated my baths as a baby. I'm so glad he's not the same way about water.

[Staashi 371]

Girls I´m here!!!!

Still enjoying the nice weather in Peru and all the love from my family I REALLY WISH I CAN MOVE BEACK HERE WITH MY HUBBY, my life would be so much easier. My parents want to take care of the baby all the time and want me to relax, go out with my friends and forget about all the stress,they are so different from my in laws.

We are going to the pool very often and OMG Sofia loves the water, today she started crying when we took her out from the pool she kept pointing at it,she is just like her mami.

Redblue@ Congrats on your pregnancy!!! If I was in you position I think I´ll have the baby in my own country and get as much help as possible, then move to the States

Awwwwww, Vi! I'm glad you're having a great time. Enjoy yourselves and give big hugs to Sofia from the mommies. There are times when I wished we lived in Argentina - some things are easier some are not. But life is definitely a little slower and that I enjoy.

[Nizzy 1]

That is great, Vi. I definitely knw what you are talking about when it comes to the in-law matter. So glad to hear you and Sof are having fun.

[chnst 6]

Vi: so glad you're having a blast. Hope you and Sofia enjoy every minute of it, it is pretty cold in NYC right now!

Caybe: wow I can't believe Rayan is almost 6 months old!

pottytraining: I tried to put Ben on the real toilet this morning but he got scared about the noise it made when he peed... haha. I guess we will just use the baby potty for now and then deal with the transition later.

[Anna C. 4]

@ caybee: Yup advice has changed a lot... Like chnst said, my parents had us potty trained by age 12 months. They had some sort of instruction booklet handed out by the East German government and it was in calendar form...

I would try to hold out for 6 months, but 5.5 months is nearly 6 months anyways. Some kids really want solids. Both my nephews started 2-3 weeks shy of their 6 months birthday. They grabbed bananas from their mom's hands... They never had rice cereal though, they started with fruit and vegetable. I'm not fond of rice cereal and the only one that I liked is the Happy Baby cereal from Target. It's organic, BPA free container, contains probiotics (really important I think) AND smells & tastes good! It sort of tastes like yummy oatmeal....

@ chnst: wow you had success with pee... I never have! He sits on the potty, does nothing, gets up and pees on the floor. My parents had a "party" for us when we got rid of the potty. The "potty man" would come and take the potty but give us a present and then we could use the big girl toilet. My parents told us about it and we have pictures, but I totally believe I remember it... Hahahaha.

As of yesterday, I have a new niece! Emerson was born all naturally yesterday weighing 9 pounds 5 ounces (!!!), without a single tear! I can't wait to get pictures. I heard she likes nursing and has blond curls.

Edited January 20, 2010 by Anna C.

[Susita 175]

Girls I´m here!!!!

Still enjoying the nice weather in Peru and all the love from my family I REALLY WISH I CAN MOVE BEACK HERE WITH MY HUBBY, my life would be so much easier. My parents want to take care of the baby all the time and want me to relax, go out with my friends and forget about all the stress,they are so different from my in laws.

We are going to the pool very often and OMG Sofia loves the water, today she started crying when we took her out from the pool she kept pointing at it,she is just like her mami.

Vi ~ I hear you. Sometimes I think it would be so nice to move to Peru because Luis's family is so great with helping out and the kids and everything. Then I think about my mom & that would totally kill her - even though she doesn't help me out that much because she works still, she would still miss the grandkids

We're considering moving upstate though, it's much more affordable, our mortgage would be like 1/2 of our rent! (and we'd have an entire house). It's close enough to drive down for weekends and visit too.

[Nessa 23]

congrats on the new niece, anna.

[Staashi 371]

Congrats on little Emerson - she sounds sweet.

[chnst 6]

@Susita: where in NY do you live? We are in upper Westchester and house prices+taxes are insane. I go to school in Lake George waaay upstate and you can buy a mansion there for under $200.000. It's crazy how different it is just 3-4 hours north of NYC. I wish we could move upstate but hubby is tied to the city because of his job.

@Anna: congratulations on your niece! I love that name!! Is that a niece on your husbands side or your german sisters?

[anya-D 8]

Vi~ I'm so glad you and Sofie are having a blast!

Anna~ Congratz on the new niece, sounds like her birth was an easy one, I wish I'll have one like that

Ok momies, I need your help.

I've been trying to put a list of items I should have ready for the baby.. I think I got quite a good list but I still have no clue of what brand and how many I'd need. Here is my list -

Bottle

nipple

breastpump

Diaper cover

cloth diaper

bib

onesie

newborn cloth

pasifier

diaper bag

dresser

changing table

crib

car seat

stroller

play pen

boppy pillow

swing/bouncing seat

Is there anything else you think it's good/will come in handy that I should have? Or if you have any suggestion on what brand I should consider or avoid, that would be very helpful!!!

I'm giving up on the idea of taking my baby to Thailand during my leave as my sister just got pregnant and her due date is in Sept. So I think I'll wait until her baby is around 5-6 months then I'll go to visit her and the baby and also she can see my baby too

edit to fix my list!!

Edited January 20, 2010 by anya-D

[Anna C. 4]

Thanks. I just got pictures, what a little chubber!!! She's my DH's sister's second daughter....

@ Anya: Some of those things I never needed, and it's totally up to you what you want.... Carseats: we have the Maxi Cosi Mico (infant) and Britax Boulevard which both have excellent reviews. The Graco Snugride is also very safe. Don't ever buy used carseats, you never know if they were in an accident and then they are worthless... And if you ever want to use the seat for air travel, make sure it is FAA approved (I don't know if FFA is right, I mean that flight association, the seat will have a sticker on it saying it's ok to use on a plane)...

Stroller... Depends... I would make sure it is one that allows the newborn to lie flat on his/her back. And it depends how much money you wanna spend... We splurged on a Teutonia cause it's pretty and sturdy enough for the crazy weather up here. We also have a smaller buggy for the car/travel...

I used the playpen as bed in the beginning cause I just put it right next to me for easy nursing & changing. I do think a wipe warmer really is wonderful... Consider cloth wipes with your cloth diapers, so you can toss it all in one pail and odn't have to separate. Btw there are really cheap prefolds and covers available at little-lions.com - the seconds are as good as the normal ones but WAY cheaper. I only have seconds... And coolababies pocket diapers from Ebay (one size, absolutely no complaints, they are wonderful! http://cgi.ebay.com/24-Coolababy-One-Size-...em4a972d6f74)... Oh and Weleda butt creme is my favorite!

Get a tub of nipple cream and those nipple coolers (Target, BabiesRus, ...) for the first days. I had to use a nipple shield in the beginning, you might want to get one, but be careful using it, it might decrease the supply so talk to a lactation consultant about it.

Don't forget yourself: a sitzbath is wonderful during healing time. You can get really nice herbal sitzbaths these days, e.g. http://www.motherlove.com/. I'd also consider a nursing tea, several brands have that...

And if you want to use bottles down the road, I'd get a sterilizer (e.g. Avent microwave model). I personally prefer glass bottles, no second guessing about BPA there. But I never used them much so maybe the other mamas can input what they liked.

[Susita 175]

@Susita: where in NY do you live? We are in upper Westchester and house prices+taxes are insane. I go to school in Lake George waaay upstate and you can buy a mansion there for under $200.000. It's crazy how different it is just 3-4 hours north of NYC. I wish we could move upstate but hubby is tied to the city because of his job.

I live on Long Island. It's super expensive. I work for the gov't and there's a service center I could work at in Buffalo and I'm considering transferring up there in a year or two. I don't mind the cold whatsoever so it should be fine. I see nice houses in the Buffalo suburbs for around 100,000 - 150,000. I basically just want a ranch, 3-4BR with a full basement. I'm not looking for anything too big, I'm not big on cleaning