Baby Corner

[chnst 6]

nice! I am trying to talk hubby into taking us to Disney since Ben was born, haha! That's the reason why I had kids, so I can go to disney. Have fun!!

Yeah we never had problems with the cruisers when Ben was in diapers, I guess every baby is different. I googeled it and there are a lot of parents apparently having the same problems and very similar rashes. I really think it's from th chemicals in the diapers, it happened so fast! I hope I can exchange all the pampers boxes for 7th generation. And hopefully I will get a hang of the cloth diapering soon, so I don't have to worry about that anymore. chemicals in baby diapers, wth?? I mean who cares if the diaper is a little thinner? I'd rather use a thicker diaper if that means there are no chemicals released onto the skin!

[Anna C. 4]

@ Steffi: I'm so sorry I hope Kai's rash will clear up soon. My oldest sister had the same issue with her son, she used Pampers Cruisers however and once they put Drymax in it, bloody rash. She switched to another brand (DM store brand) and was fine then... We never had drymax diapers in the house, Jona got rashes just from simple BabyDry Pampers, but also from Huggies (a little less though), so that's when we switched to cloth. The preemie Pampers btw have no Drymax - Eloise wore them the first week just with a little redness (which I expect from disposables with my kids at this point), and then I got cheap and bought Walmart brand (Parents Choice) -huge mistake, we had bloody blisters there. But that cleared up really quickly, I just use cloth wipes with water (the disposable wipes really irritated her skin) and all natural butt paste or weleda diaper rash cream. I also have some non-toxic whatever organic baby powder, and that really helps too (it doesn't dust like old fashioned powder so baby doesn't breathe it in).... We are much happier now in cloth, even though prefolds are a tad more work than pockets/all-in-ones. But even hubbie knows how to do it so it's not too bad... And since she's gaining well we should be able to move into the smallest setting of our one-size pocket diapers pretty soon. At the rate your little man is growing he probably already fits in those! They are super easy...

I'm so exhausted as we are trying to do so many things at once... We got new appliances and the new countertops will be in soon too... So many choices, so many trips to the store, argh. I now know why people hire interior designers, so you just don't have to bother with countless Lowe's trips!!!!

[JVKn'CVO 11]

Hello moms,

Hope all the babies are doing well. We did not have any problems with diaper rashes. We use pampers baby dry and a diaper rash cream I brought from Argentina called Hipoglos. I our diaper rash cream, it's a miracle worker.

Sebas got a twin size bed with a rail last week and has been sleeping great on it. A very easy transition considering we've been cosleeping since he was about a month old. We got the same mattress we have and I think that helped. He goes to sleep in his bed between 8:30 and 9 and wakes up somewhere between 1 and 3 am and at that point we bring him to our bed and he goes back to sleep. I think that is a good stretch of sleep and he does go to sleep in his bed, so overall a very successful move.

We've been considering starting potty training. Sebas keeps taking his diaper off, and likes to follow me to the bathroom and flush the toilet for me (was that TMI?). Today he was in his room, took off his diaper, came to look for Justin and I in the kitchen and peed on the floor He does not wake up dry though. I'd be interested in hearing stories about potty training, specially for the moms with boys.

Saludos,

Caro

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Hi Mommies!!!

We are doing very well. Sofia's 2nd b-day was yesterday, she is 2 years old now ,can't get over that.

We had a little party for her, just family = 7 litle kids running around. It was crazy but Sofia had alot of fun. Everything was "Elmo". You can imagine how exhausted we were at the end of the party but we decided to clean up everything and today the Princess woke us up early again .

Diapers? we love Pampers, never any problem and now I buy the cvs brand from time to time.

I still potty train Sof, we go to the bathroom every morning, she sits down and reads a book but then gets bored and leaves. She pee in the potty maybe three times (in a row) but then she stopped. She will be ready .. soon I hope

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Caro,

Potty training a boy? hmmm well Zaid will be 3 next month and isnt potty trained. He loves sitting in poop and pee. No joke he fights with us to change his diaper. it drives me INSANE! He will pee on the potty anytime hes naked but he refuses to wear underware or pullups so it makes it very complicated. Im really hoping theres some changes soon bc im sick of changing his grown man sized poops.

Stef, we use huggies bc pampers to me stink sooo bad of chemicals and my nephew got bloody blisters from them.

Were doing good here. im going back to work Tuesday. Hubby will be staying home with the kids for a while and holding off on the truck driving job. I was able to figure out finances and I am able to afford all our bills and still have a 1000$ overhead a month for groceries/gas/diapers/etc so I think we will be fine, at least for a few months. We have some savings and once I work a full month again (april and so forth) I will start earning commision checks. Im grateful bc I really want the kids home with one of us until Salma is a bit bigger. Speaking of the princess, shes such a good baby. She hardly cries and is able to entertain herself in a bouncy chair or playmat for 25-35 minutes sometimes. She is SUCH a different baby from Zaid and I really think giving her BM is the reason. It makes all this hard work seem so worth it (yes im still pumping NON STOP and having supply issues lol)

I wanted to ask. Salma gets about 20ozs of BM and 4ozs of formula a day so I guess she would be considered a BM baby and based on what im reading it seems BM babies poop often. Well shes only pooping every 3 days or so and shes such a grunter. She was so miserable the other day hubby boiled some anise and put a teaspoon in her bottle and that moved things right out of her. She had SOOO much poop built up inside of her I felt so bad. I dont want to rely on things to make her poop so Im wondering what I can do to fix it? Thanks in advance

[chnst 6]

Caro: potty train him, sounds like he is ready! Ben was ready at 1 years old but out of inconvenience (I was comuting to school so much I didn't want to have to stop for potty breaks) I waited until he was 2. Bigger toddlers are more opinionated and like to "punish" or manipulate you because they figured out they can control whether they want to go pee in the toilet or in your purse/ the carseat etc.

Ben was pretty easy though, he didn't have many accidents. I started by just letting him run around naked and he had a few accidents when he was wearing underwear/pants because he thought he was in a diaper. That didnt happen too often though. Never never scold him for accidents. I sometimes bribed him with a treat/sticker for going to the bathroom, worked wonders! The most important thing is to send him to the bathroom regulary! Like right after a nap when you know he has to go! I got this advice from a mother of 5 and it worked. Also- don't use the little potty- go right to the "big one" if he isn't scared. I let Ben pick out one of these seat things that go on top of the toilet and he was fine with it. Hubby showed him to pee standing up and this is the way he goes now, haha.

We both took him to the bathroom with us too, and that worked great in getting him used to it. I am so happy to have him out of diapers now that we have the new baby!

He still needs help with poop (for wiping) but for pee he wants his "privacy". He knows when he has to go and tells us "be right back guys" and off he runs. He loves to flush the toilet, wash his hands etc because we made a huge deal of it.

Potty training was definitely way easier than I'd ever expected it to be, I just had to set my mind to it and commit to sticking to a potty schedule for a few days and voila! Good luck!

Kelly: exclusively breastfed babies may go 7-10 days without a bm. If there are no symptoms, like pain/distended hard abdomen etc then I wouldn't worry. But since she is getting part formula and fussy then maybe she needs some help. Massaging her tummy/"stirring" a thermometer/q-tip rectally may help too.

[chri'stina 190]

We bought a training potty for Kavi when he turned two. He liked sitting on it and standing on it(top folds down as a stool) but wouldn't go in it. We tried on and off for a couple months then stopped, though he still used it as a stool.

When he was 2 years & 7 months old we tried again and one evening just sat him on it until he peed. I bought him real underwear that day too and made a big excited deal about it. Once we put the underwear on him, he had a couple accidents over a week's time but seemed to catch on about going on the potty. The only problem was going poop, he got scared about it. I heard that from others too, a weird poop paranoia developed. But it went away after 2 weeks thankfully! Within 2 weeks of starting, he was in his underwear all day and not having accidents. He still wears a diaper at night though. (he turned 3 Feb 1st this year) He was familiar with the idea for months but it wasn't until we tried at 2yrs7mos that he really caught on. It can vary so much from child to child, and I always heard boys take longer.

Ever since a couple months ago, he only goes on big potties now. But the training one is still useful as a step stool for him.

Edited March 21, 2011 by chri'stina

[MARM 7]

Hi Mommies!!!

We are doing very well. Sofia's 2nd b-day was yesterday, she is 2 years old now ,can't get over that.

Happy B-Day to Sofia! Time flies!

[chnst 6]

We did the diaper at night too, but he woke up dry every morning, so we just stopped and he continues to wake up dry and the first thing he does is run to the bathroom when he wakes up.

Mommies (with good sleepers): how and when did your babies start getting into a sleep-cycle? How did you do it? I have 2 weeks left til I go back to work and Kai is almost 4 weeks old. eat/wake/Sleep-time is still kind of chaotic, which is normal I guess he's a newborn. But I'd really like to help him get on a better routine because I work nights and I am a little worried about the hubby being in charge of 2 kids when I'm not there. For example he sleeps horrible in his crib/bassinet. He sleeps 5 minutes, then wakes up and cries vs 4-5 hour stretches in our bed at night. I really want to get him to sleep in his crib or the bassinet though.

During the day he is very fussy, always wants to be held and eats at 1.5hr-3hr intervals with awake time. At night he sleeps from 10 or 11 til 3am then eats, goes back to sleep or just fussses til 9am. I am so tired and I really don't want to have the same problems with him as with Ben who is almost 3 and still waking up once or twice at night.

[Staashi 371]

Enzo got on a great routine because every night around 845 pm was bathtime. With his bath he knew that it was time to calm down, get his bottle and go to sleep.

[anya-D 8]

Hi ladies,I havnt been here in a while hope everyone is doing well.

We are heading to Venice, Italy this Friday and will be there for about 10 days. We actualy going to go to Ortisei to ski for a few days first, that should be fun!! This will be my second time flying with Sam but I'll have my whole in-law family and my husband to help YEY!

Sam just turned 9 months old yesterday. He is still wakes up twice to nurse at night and lately have been staying up and refuse to sleep unt il alomst 10PM (usual bed time was 8PM) He pulls up on everything, saying mama when he wants me, and walks along the endge of the couch, coffee table all the time. He drinks out of a straw and he also eats everything I ate. One time he got a hold of a curry paste package (thick plastic) and was trying to eat it (I was right there but he was doing something else the last time I looked at him.. he's super fast!) and accidently tear it and he got a taste of super hot cury paste!! He cried for 3 seconds then stop, that's my boy, loving spicy food lol. I gave him tons of water but he just had a tiny bit of taste so it didnt really cause him real pain.

My best friend just had a baby boy yesterday. I'm super excited. He has the same birth date (the 21th) and day (Monday) (and close in the time of day) as Sam but a couple months apart.. some how I think that's very interesting. He is about 3 weeks early though but doesnt seems to need any special care which is great!

well, that's the update

Anya

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Stef, Salmas pattern wasnt predictable til last week and shamefully she sleeps her first lag of sleep 10pm-2am in her swing and her second lag 230am-6am in our bed. I know its bad but I have to get sleep as I went back to work today. We also stick to the same routine every night. bath/bottle/bed and it works most of the time. I also always make sure to put the kids to sleep awake but im sure thats hard to do when nursing. It worked great with Zaid and he was always great at self soothing. I hope your transition abck to work is ok.

Speaking of work, today was my day back. it went much smoother then i thought. I was able to pump in a nice quiet office twice and wasnt horribly sad. Hubby did a great job with the kids today and I really think he enjoys the stay at home dad role for now.

I need some advice. I talked to my OB yesterday about my low supply and he said I should try to stick to pumping every 4 hours instead of 2-3. He said Im not allowing my breasts to fill and my breasts need to "Reach their capacity" or something. Does this sound like bad or good advice? I wish my supply could just get to about 30ozs a day bc I know Salma is gonna be hitting a spurt soon and moving to 4oz bottles rather then 3ozs. uuughh On a good note, Salma ate 9ozs while I was gone at work and thats exactly what i pumped while at work so i suppose thats a good thing. I cant believe ive stuck to this for 6 weeks. It almost feels like something ive been doing forever quite honestly. It doesnt piss me off anymore to do it. (ok well sometimes lol) but in all honesty im really enjoying my super happy breastmilk baby.

[chnst 6]

Kel: Kai is in our bed too all night. I start him off in the bassinet, but that only lasts 1 hour max. I figured I'd give him 8 weeks before I want to be a little "stricter". Or maybe lets just say I am in total survival mode and I would duct tape him to me if that would make him sleep, haha. I suspect that he may have some colic issues, he cries and screams almost every night for 2.5-3 hours, stiffens himself up and nothing I do not even nursing/holding him helps.

So for now, I am constantly holding him, wearing him in the ergo, rocking him, sleep with him etc, all the things I'd promised myself to cut down on because I think that's what made Ben decide to never sleep longer than 30 minutes the first 18 months of his life.

I have tried the eat-wake-sleep routine and it works really well if I pump and feed him a bottle, he gets a full feeding and doesn't cluster-nurse all the time. I had some success too with putting him down for naps while he was sleepy but awake. more often than not he falls asleep on my arms, which is ok, but I just don't want to continue this and make it a habit. Hubby is not a light sleeper and I am so afraid that he will smother him if Kai continues to sleep in our bed. I could freak out just thinking about all the what-if's while I'm gone! I love my job and can't wait to go back but it feels just so wrong to leave the baby for 15+ hours at a time with my long shifts, especially nights. Sooo happy for you that your husband can stay home and take care of the kids, that must make it so much easier for you to get back to work. I only wish I'd have 12 weeks or could get part-time...

Kudos for pumping! I don't know, 4 hours seem too long if you're already having supply issues. A growing baby who breastfeeds cluster-nurses when she needs more milk, that's how mom's supply increases, by bf every hour at times. I'm not sure if cluster-pumping can mimic that but I'd definitely not go longer than 3 hours in between. maybe a longer interval at night but during the day I'd pump more often. get in touch with the la leche league or the hospitals lactation consultant, they are the experts!

Anya: haha funny he didn't cry long after eating spicy curry! I remember when Ben ate something spicy by accident he was crying forever screaming for "help, help!"

[Anna C. 4]

Sleep: it's still somewhat erratic here, sometimes she sleeps a lot, some times not so much, but by 7pm she gets really tired and sleeps 3-5 hour stretches, wakes up to eat/new diaper and by 630am she starts to really wake up... She even gave me a 7 hour stretch but I believe that was because she was sick... Eloise definitely sleeps more than Jona did who on the clock woke up every 3 hours to nurse. We didn't start a daily bathing routine until 12 months, because before that he hhaaattteeed water, I mean he screamed every single time we bathed him. Now every day at 630pm Jona has dinner, then a bath, and at 730pm it's good night time. He puts all his stuffed animals to bed too (so cute!) and is really great about sleeping.

Pottytraining: working on it. I could have pushed the issue earlier, but was too stressed out during the pregnancy with hubbie gone 24/7 and all the pains... He started to sit on it, but gives me grief for not wearing a diaper. Oh well now I put him on there without a diaper despite the complaining every day for a couple of minutes and keep stressing how everybody goes potty, yes, even our cats do (I call the litterbox the cat potty, so he can understand). He wakes up dry, he hides for pooping, he totally has bladder and bowel control, it's just a battle of the wills. I will try my parent's method that I earlier discredited as impossible, they started to just let us sit on the potty every day for a bit as soon as we could sit and all of us were potty trained at 1 year. My parents can't even fathom that their grandkids wear diapers beyond age 2. Oh well, every kid is different and parents learn too! I'm also bribing with stickers and favorite foods... One does what one has to do.

@ Kelly: It's great that you're still pumping and even better, that Salma is so happy, I'm glad it pays off. I don't believe it is right what your doctor said, as breasts that get full and aren't emptied send a feedback (hormones) to make less milk. The more often they are emptied, the more milk the body thinks it should make. It's unfortunate that many docs don't get taught much about how breasts work. Check out those two links below, one explains en detail how the milk cycle works and the other one addresses pumping very detailed I think. It's a great website that I frequent whenever I have a question, mostly cause they have a great list of approved medications.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumping_decrease.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/milkproduction.html

Ugh we have such terrible weather again today, horrible wind (patio furniture blew off again)... But yesterday was beautiful at the park... I can't wait to get our garden started, our shallots are already in the dirt and potatoes are to follow this weekend, whilst the tomatoes are getting a jumpstart with the growlight in the basement. And our aerogarden is finally paying off, the basil is growing like crazy and we love it. We could eat pesto or insalata caprese all day long

[Ontarkie 14,394]

Hubby is not a light sleeper and I am so afraid that he will smother him if Kai continues to sleep in our bed. I could freak out just thinking about all the what-if's while I'm gone!

I don't know what type of bassinet you tried but one day shopping I noticed this co sleeper that you actually place in bed with you. Its not very big looks like you can place it between the parents and it keeps baby safe from roll overs this might help you out and your little one since he sleeps better in bed. If it works that would give you the peace of mind.