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I would believe she's just that way but she slept better the first week at home than she does now. The day we brought her home from the hospital she woke every 3-4 hours. She steadily worked it back to 6-8 hours at a stretch by 3 months old. Now she's at 2 hours.
Plus, she's not giving me anything to work with here. I'd have her in bed with me where I could tend to her quickly and go right back to sleep without really waking up but she kicks, claws, grunts, and we both wake each other up. It's not like our night wakings are fun bonding experiences. She's never liked comfort nursing or even cuddling. I would have loved to keep her in bed with me longer than this, actually. Sigh...maybe my issue is more than just night waking. I haven't honestly figured out how to be this baby's mom. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Have you asked the pediatrician for suggestions, and had the possibility of an ear infection or the like checked out?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Hmmmm...I didn't think about that. My son got a few ear infections, a little later than this but still. Definitely worth checking out!
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I ask because that seems similar to what my second did when she wasn't breathing well because of massive congestion caused by reflux. The main sign that she had it was that she would wake every time we put her to sleep grunting, arching, and kicking.
Judicious use of the bulb syringe and saline spray and putting her down on her tummy (she also had a small chin and large tongue, and when on her back it was falling back and blocking her airway, and she couldn't breathe through her nose because of the congestion) to get her to sleep. Then she slept really really well. (It took my mom to notice that, though...)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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She does arch her back a lot, too. I thought she had a little bit of silent reflux for a while but she stopped hiccuping/belching so much and I thought she outgrew it. Maybe she didn't....she did roll over 2 weeks ago and ever since won't sleep on her back. I know we have a great big thing of saline spray around here somewhere...I'll try that after her nap and tonight to see what happens. Thanks for the idea!
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Have you heard of The Wonder Weeks by Hetty Vanderijt and Frans Plooij? They say that there are 8 developmental leaps that occur in a specific order in the first year of a child's life - usually occurring at specific weeks. One of the weeks is at 4 months and 1 week.
The 'wonder week' is usually accompanied by unusual fussiness and/or problems sleeping, because the baby is spending so much time trying to figure out the developmental leap. Once the leap has been made, the fussy/sleep issues resolve on their own.
I didn't discover the book until my oldest was past a year, so I haven't had a chance to track it with my own eyes, but I intend to pay attention with my 2nd.
Posts: 3 | Registered: Feb 2004
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1) Does she have reflux? 2) Is she sleeping in the same room as you? 3) Is she on a schedule of any kind?
Since 1 and 3 have been addressed, I'll ask #2. Lego slept horribly at the same age you're describing, so I slept on the floor in his room. He was too wiggly to cosleep comfortably by that age, but I also didn't want to walk too much back and forth all night. But one night I decided to try sleeping just outside his door instead. He slept much better after I left the room. I wonder if my presence was rousing him or if I snore or something. It sounds like you're not cosleeping anymore, but it made me wonder where her bed was.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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On an unrelated note, I got a prescription to help with Duplo's reflux. I gave him his first dose before nursing him this morning, and while he's still spitting up, he was considerably less fussy. We'll see if it works even at his predictable fussy time in the evening. *crosses fingers*
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Whitney, now that you've posted a couple times, is this just the beginning, or are you more likely to fade back into lurkerdom? Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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The only reason I signed up before is because I was close to posting in 2004, but decided against it.
I'll probably show up again when I have a response to a question that I don't see anyone else mentioning.
Posts: 3 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Welcome (sort of) Whitney! Welcome to posting, anyhow.
Hugs to you, Christine. I don't have any constructive suggestions...or at least nothing you haven't already tried. I have noticed that Nathaniel has bad weeks every few months. He was sleeping through the night pretty consistently at just around 3 months, but started waking again at the end of his 4th month and now a full night is pretty rare. It seems like the developmental milestones have been pretty constant since then...and when he's not trying to learn to roll over/ sit up/ creep etc., he's teething.
Nathaniel does sleep better when we cosleep--I'm sorry that's not working with your baby girl. Isn't grunting a symptom of reflux?
I know you know this, but you *are* right now figuring out how to be the momma that this baby needs. *hug*
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I don't really have any constructive suggestions for you Christine, but I know how tough sleeping problems are. I think we are just now coming to the end of the horrible problems we've had for almost 2 months now (I honestly don't think I had more than about an hour and a half of uninterrupted sleep during that time and became a total zombie). I hope you will be able to find a good solution!
quote:Originally posted by Whitney: I'll probably fade back into lurkerdom.
Fair enough. But now we know you're listening . . .
ludosti, it's simple evolution. The babies that weren't cute got left on mountaintops. It's similar to my theory of why colic doesn't kick in until the baby is a few weeks old. The ones who shrieked like that from birth got left on mountaintops too (really far ones!), but by the time you get to 3-4 weeks old, you've bonded (and the neighbors have noticed the kid ), so it's too late.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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My dad extends that to smiling. He says for most babies social smiling comes on right as the parents are sleep deprived enough to abandon the baby to get some sleep. At that point, they smile, and the parents go nuts for them all over again.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Quick update... Grace is HOME!!! : ) Olivia failed her apnea test - so they'll re-hook her up to the super sensitive monitor next Sunday and if she's good for 24 hrs, they'll send her home!!! WOOHOOO!!!!
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
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Hi, folks! Congratulations new mommies and daddies!
I know I've been gone awhile, and although I am not sure that this posting is appropriate to the current thread topic, I thought that it would be fitting to post here upon my return.
We brought home our bundle of joy 10 weeks ago. Calista was 7 lbs on the dot, 20 inches long, and 10 days late. She's up to 11 lbs 8 oz and has been eating voraciously! Things are just now getting back to some semblance of working order again around here.
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Thank you very much, Rivka! Both for the congratulations and also for remembering me after so long. Posts: 701 | Registered: Jul 1999
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Day 5 on the generic Tagamet. Not only is Duplo crying much less, I swear he's spitting up less too. Maybe it's just that I've been off dairy longer. Anyway, now that the screaming, refusing to nurse, and tension is gone from my baby, it's kind of fun to find out who he really is underneath all that. Turns out he likes to growl/roar, he can "scoot" and turn on his back by pushing off with his legs (and he gets around pretty well that way), and he really enjoys the rough way that Lego plays with him. Also, he's crazy about green beans.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Question for experienced moms out there... what has been your experience regarding introducing solids? Katababy is over 7 months, and we haven't started solids yet. We were going to introduce rice cereal at 6 months, but never got around to it.
Now I'm reading that it may be a good thing to delay solids, so I'm happy.
Did any of you delay solids? How long? What did you start your baby on?
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Another question... when are babies ready for solids you have to chew? I was going to start her out with mushy foods, but what about cheerios and other things you have to bite and chew? How many teeth does she have to have? How does she know she has to chew it and how do I prevent her trying to swallow foods whole?
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I don't qualify as an experienced mom, but we delayed solids for Beanie and just introduced them about 2 weeks ago (at 9 months). She still doesn't have any teeth yet, so I started with rice cereal. She took to it immediately. I still haven't really figured out how much to give her, but that's ok. We tried a little bit of carrots a few days ago, and she didn't really thrill to them (but I think it was the texture), so I'm adding them to the rice for a few days and we'll try something else new in a little while. My pediatrician recommended starting with rice cereal, carrots, squash, peas, before moving to fruits like bananas and peaches.
Beanie seems to have developing in leaps and bounds. She started crawling about a month ago, and has been cruising around against the couch the last week or so. Yesterday, she started pulling herself up to standing on her own, so it seems like she'll be walking her soon. We also have had great luck with sleeping this week, so I am thrilled. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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You'll find that even mushy foods, they try to "chew" as they learn how to eat them. When they have a "pincer grip" (can pick things up with thumb and forefinger) they are generally ready for Cheerios and the like (if they have been introduced to those ingredients.) Gerber makes "puffs" that dissolve when sucked on (of course some of them have strawberry, which they're not supposed to have until one year, so you have to be careful. I've always found it really stupid that Gerber makes so many things with dairy and strawberry and other things that many kids aren't fed for a year!) Before I introduce finger foods I usually put steamed veggies or soft fruits in a mesh food feeder bag and let them learn to get it in their mouths, they like that.
I like to start with bananas, then introduce ceral mixed with bananas (none of my kids would ever eat plain cereal.) If rice is tolerated I move on to oats because none of them like rice cereal much. (This time around I just went ahead and bought the oatmeal with bananas cereal, Maggie seems to like it.) Then carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, then meats and green veggies. (I don't use bottled green veggies, I steam and grind fresh or they don't like them.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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We did mashed bananas first with John at six months. By then he was already staring at whatever we were eating and had been playing with spoons for weeks, so we were pretty sure he was ready. And was he ever -- I started with four slices of banana mashed with a little breast milk and he gobbled it up and asked for more. I think I stopped him at half a banana that first day and by the end of the week he was eating a whole one for lunch every day. We followed up with baked pears (bake 'em whole, skin & core 'em and mush with a fork) then either avacodo or brown rice cereal, I don't remember which. We never used any "official" baby foods -- the rice cereal was ground brown rice from the natural foods section at the grocery store and everything else was fresh fruits or veggies that I cooked and/or mashed myself.
Once he had the pincher grip down I did a lot of roasted root veggies cut into short french-fry shaped pieces. He loved those.
Edit: he also accidentally got ahold of some wasabi at around 8-9 months and loved it. So when he stopped eating his mashed squash I put taco sauce in it and it was a hit. At 2 he's still an adventurous eater -- he likes mac&cheese and other "kid food" but he'll mostly eat whatever we're eating and I don't think he's ever refused to at least try a bite of something new, except when he's crazy-tired or otherwise upset.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Every baby is ready at a different age. I've heard of moms purposefully delaying solids for like 12 months but there is no evidence of benefit to doing this. (I haven't found any evidence that it hurts, either, so don't feel rushed.) There is evidence that waiting 6 months helps with allergies, so that much is good. After that, IMO, it's just another "all babies are different" thing. Some are ready at 6 months (heck, some are showing very clear signs before that), and some aren't ready until 9 or 10 months.
You kind of know when they're ready...they are keenly interested in food, trying to grab it, sitting up well, able to transfer food from the front to the back of the mouth (they are born with a tongue thrust reflex which pushes food out and this should go away typically between 4 and 6 months). There are other indicators people talk about that I'm not as convinced by...such as a specific age or weight.
With my son, he grabbed a handful of rice off my husband's dinner plate at 4 months old, put it in his mouth, and pronounce, "Mmmmm." I decided he was ready.
My daughter is almost 5 months and while she watches everything we do, including eat, I don't think she's really ready yet and I don't think she's especially interested in food any more than anything else we do, So we're waiting.
When we start her, I've recently decided to skip the purees. I think it was a waste of time and money. All food offered before about 12 months is really just for practice anyway, so it's not like you need them to be eating certain foods or in any certain order (although you'll get lots of opinions on this). Breast milk and formula have all the nutrition they really need. So I'm just going to offer her age-appropriate textured and finger foods when she seems ready for them. This is similar to a new approach to feeding solids called baby-led weaning. That approach emphasizes self-feeding more than I think I will. I'll probably end up giving her soft foods like mashed potatoes off my finger at about 6 months.
They can probably handle something like cheerios when they master the pincer grasp. Basically, if they can feed it to themselves, it's probably ok. Of course, you should never leave a baby unattended while eating.
Oh, and if you ask 100 people, you'll get 100 answers. Going into it the second time around, my philosophy is to relax and go with the flow. It's not that big a deal and definitely not an exact science!
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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The first time John had a chunk of food that I didn't smoosh with a fork was at a Mother's Day buffet, so he'd have been not quite 8 months old. He'd finished the bowls of food I'd brought for him, so I picked him up and went to get a piece of banana from the dessert table (there was a chocolate fountain with bananas and strawberries on wooden skewers). On the way back to the table he leaned over, grabbed the banana off my plate, yanked out the skewer and stuffed the 2" piece of banana in his mouth.
Edit: and of course Grandma got a picture. He was pretty pleased with himself.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Yeah, Maggie grabbed sticky rice at the Korean BBQ place we went to last month. I just watched to make sure she didn't choke, she gummed it up just fine! (Sticky rice of course is cooked softer than other rice, almost like rice porridge.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Not after you gum 'em for a minute. They soak up saliva like tiny sponges, and then they're mushy! And sticky! And, according to most babies I've known, yummy!
Brinestone, I'm glad Duplo's doing so much better! Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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They do. And they have a hole in the middle-- so they dissolve even faster. More surface area.
My mom says for some of their craniofacial patients with oral problems they recommend Fruit Loops instead because they dissolve even faster. Not recommended for non-special-needs babies, though, unless you want them to develop a serious sweet tooth!!!
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Update: For some wonderful but completely unkown reason, Celeste slept for 6 hours and then for 4 hours!!!!! After that, she wanted to be up at 6 in the morning but hey, I'll take what I can get. I didn't even do anything.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I'm glad to hear that all the babies are doing well!
A word on the Gerber puffs - they have wheat flour which can disagree with some babies. Aerin loved them, but they made her reflux much worse. The apple wheels were fine and she really loved those. We also gave her Fruity Cheerios as a special treat and she loved those. They're a bit less junky than the really sugar-y cereals.
BTW, Aerin didn't get her first tooth until she was over a year old and we gave her Cheerios well before that, on the advice of her doctor.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Don't Cheerios have wheat in them too? Smaller amounts but there. I think that's one of the foods I've used to introduce small amounts of wheat.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Nathaniel started on the rice cereal this weekend (he is just shy of 6 months). Very soupy and in formula.... And he HATED it. He'd never had a temper tantrum before this (he was always "upset" before, but this was clearly "mad").
Mommy called me today saying making it a bit thicker, and in water, produced a happy baby that ate 3/4s of a bowl (about 3oz of liquid plus the cereal).
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I understand, but is giving wheat at a certain age supposed to cause them or are we afraid that the reaction is going to be severe or are we just talking generally about babies we've already determined have gluten allergies?
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Some studies seem to show that early exposure increases the risk of allergies. Others not. So it's a matter of how cautious you want to be, family history of allergies, etc.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Speaking of food allergies, we've been battling one of our own over here.
When baby c was er..um...a bit more fresh out of the oven we had this mysterious rash that popped up on her face/neck that made these nasty little sores. We were told to treat them with a small amount of the liquid children's benedryl and to use aquaphor on the sores to get them to heal. They eventually went away. We were never really sure what had caused them, since they didn't seem to be baby acne and didn't act like eczema.
Fast forward to this weekend, when she was at her Grandparents for a couple of hours. We had given them some frozen, pumped breastmilk for when they want to watch her. She got hungry so they fed her. Last night we got her home and we are back to sores on her face.
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It's similar to my theory of why colic doesn't kick in until the baby is a few weeks old. The ones who shrieked like that from birth got left on mountaintops too (really far ones!), but by the time you get to 3-4 weeks old, you've bonded (and the neighbors have noticed the kid ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
