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Thanks for the support, y'all. I've looked up a ton of stuff online and it all boils down to, "Nursing twins stinks and there's nothing you can do to make it easier, but do it anyway." It made me feel so much better to hear from mommas I know and love.
The twins passed their weight checks! Leni is 6 pounds, 8.5 ounces and Camille is 6 pounds, 1.5 ounces. Leni has finally surpassed her birth weight and Camille only has 1.5 ounces to go. We're excused from weight checks for the time being.
quote:I have a hard time remembering that in the middle of the eat like crazy part, though.
Tell me about it. The twins mostly sleep through the night, but I completely forget that on the rare bad night we have.
kq, I don't think Leni would eat if I pumped at the same time. We're just at a point where I can watch t.v. with the sound off while I nurse them. Thank goodness for my iPod, because I can only sing so much and sometimes my voice stimulates them too much.
hansenj, happy birthday to Baby James! I saw his pictures on Facebook and what a sparkplug! He just looks like the cutest, happiest little guy. And big heads hold big brains, so good for him.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I'm always so jealous of people whose babies sleep through the night early on. At eight months, Duplo is still not doing it. Lego didn't until I made him learn at 18 months. *sigh*
I'm glad for your sake that you're at least getting decent sleep, though, Mrs.M. I can't imagine caring for twins while sleep deprived.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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At 28 months, John sleeps through the night if he starts the night in our bed. If he starts the night in his own bed he often wakes up and crawls in with us sometime between 1 and 3 and immediately goes back to sleep. We make sure to leave his step stool at the foot of the bed so he can get up by himself. I'm all about the lazy nighttime parenting -- he's welcome anytime, but I don't want to have to sit up to pull him in. Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I second the lazy night-time parenting. I wouldn't've felt comfortable cosleeping with Nathaniel when he was teeny--but now!! It is wonderful!!! He still wakes up at least once a night, I'd say--usually around 5 AM--but the truth is I'm not positive about that. I've said more than once to my husband: "Hey! I think he slept through the night last night...oh, wait. Hm. Maybe not. I'm not sure."
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Mrs. M, I never thought of that because I don't really "pump"; I put a cup under the na-na while the kid is on the other one and let the milk fill it up... I guess that would be really distracting. Too bad though.
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I am rather amazed by Maggie's attention span. She will sit still and listen happily to a whole (or almost a whole-- sometimes she makes it just to the last page) Boynton board book before she grabs the book to eat it and wave it in the air. She loves books. She loves stories. Of course the attention span also shows up when you are trying to distract her with a toy you want her to have instead of the dangerous/fragile thing she's got...
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Co-sleeping didn't work as well for me with Celeste as it did with Drake -- she started kicking and flailing after about 3 months! It was great before that but by about 4 months I had to kick her out and now I'm just sooo tired. I'm ready to let her CIO all night long but my husband doesn't think she's read because she's not a good self soother. She does rather remind me of myself in terms of anxiety. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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((Christine)) I know that must be so hard for your whole family. (especially you!)
As for books--Nathaniel loves them. He has favorites. He will listen to The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss as many times as we are willing to read it. He used to sometimes like looking at pictures and turning pages, but now we are required to always read, too. If I don't get started reading a page fast enough, he'll turn around & look at me & say "Bap."
Daddy thinks it's funny to deliberately read the wrong thing (for example, in the animal book, instead of reading "Bear. Bee," he'll say, "Potato. Ostrich."
Nathaniel won't turn the page until Daddy reads the right words. If Daddy keeps it up, he gets scolded with a "Bap."
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Mrs.M - I'm so glad to hear the twins are doing well! I'm so impressed that you're nursing both of them. That's awesome!
((Christine)) Sleeping problems really are awful. I hope you're able to find something that works for you.
Beanie started waking up a lot at night again a couple weeks ago. She's slowly reducing the number of times she wakes up (we're down to about 4 times a night), which is good because I'm so tired (and being sick makes me even more tired).
She's always loved books. Her favorite thing is to just turn the pages. She's obsessed with opening and closing (books, doors, cabinets, tupperware, plastic easter eggs, etc.). Edit: Just this afternoon she was sitting reading a book to herself. I was holding the book as she flipped pages and said "A yeah, a yeah" to herself.
I'm having lots of fun with my budding "big helper". Her favorite thing lately has been helping me push the laundry basket around when I do laundry. She'll look up at me while she's pushing and grin. She also loves carrying things around for me. It's so precious.
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So, Maggie woke up sick this morning. She's had a fever all day and she's refusing food, even bread (her favorite.) She actually took the bread, looked at it, and threw it. Instead, she has been nursing non-stop (and I kid you not) for the past 9 hours. She nurses on one side for about 10 minutes, takes a 1 minute breather, switches to the other side. If I take her off for a minute and lay her down (to change her diaper, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, try to care for her sisters...) she screams. It's heartbreaking. So today has been a tv day; the older two are watching PBS and I am on the computer while the baby nurses. And nurses. And nurses. And I think my nipples are going to fall off.
I know she's doing what her body needs to stay healthy but it's starting to wear on me. I took a nap with her and she nursed all through the 2 hour nap. I think we're ordering dinner in tonight because I can't even make the kids sandwiches at this rate.
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Well, she screamed but I HAD to eat. We had dinner delivered and I just let her scream while I scarfed it down. What else could I do? All I'd had today was a French pastry at noon and a few cups of water. I couldn't keep it up. Now she's back on me and I'm drinking my huge extra-large horchata and feeling somewhat better. I sure hope she gets over it soon though.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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So, um, Maggie introduced herself to dairy... twice in 2 days... and now chocolate, too...
Yesterday she grabbed Bridey's pizza, and took a bite.
Today, she grabbed her chocolate milk and started chugging it down while my back was turned.
This is the problem of having the baby "eat with the family" when you have a two year old who is not always attentive to her food and/or thinks it's funny when her sister tries to eat it.
I think I'm going to give in and let her have dairy. (Not milk, obviously, but cheese and yogurt and such.)
I've never allowed it before just before 12 months, but she seems to be a fairly non-allergic child (hasn't reacted to anything yet, unlike her sisters) and I'm inclined to think it will make my life easier, and my ped is okay with it after 9 months (she's almost 10 months now.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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There are a lot of different opinions on when non-milk dairy is ok, anyway. (I've never seen anything but 1 year for milk itself.) I went with 8 months for both of my kids. I was following a book to the letter for my son and that's what it said. With Celeste I've been following her lead and doing more table foods from the start but 8 months still seemed right. I'm not doing a lot of dairy, though because it's more filling and seems to encourage faster weaning than I'd like, but introducing it really does open the door to letting the baby eat a lot of the foods we eat.
I'm actually following a completely different plan with Celeste and liking it much better. I started her on table foods, skipped the purees entirely, and just let her explore the foods at her own pace. Now she's eating all kinds of things -- last night she had pizza with spinach and pine nuts. Loved it!
She and I have been splitting an avocado for lunch for weeks now. I'd never had avocado (except in guacamole) but it seemed like a great first food because it's so soft and mashable. Now I'm putting avocado in everything -- salad, sandwiches, pizza...mmmmm....I'm obsessed. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Because of a family history (a big one) of severe allergies and asthma, we tend to introduce foods very, very slowly to our kids (although I go easy on the purees and let them have table foods from early on, they like that, but I keep the ingredients limited.) I want to make darned sure that if they're allergic to something I know what it is, and I give plenty of time to find out between foods.
Maggie is feeling somewhat better. she's still a bit warm now and then, and sleeping a bit more than usual, but after 2 days of non-stop nursing and lethargic behavior, she had a NASTY smelling green diaper, and shortly her fever broke, plummeting from 102 after the Tylenol to about 99. So I guess she really did do what her body needed. She's still not eating as MUCH solid food as she has been, and nursing more, but she's doing better, energy-wise.
I think this is the first time one of my babies has ever gotten sick and GAINED weight. She nursed so much she gained a pound in 2 days. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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My mother left today and we don't have a mother's helper lined up yet and I'm on the verge of freaking out. Tomorrow is my first day alone with all 3 girls and I don't know how I'm going to do it. Obviously I will, but I just can't stand to let the twins cry at all and I think I'm going to have to a little because Aerin needs to eat and get dressed and go to school.
They still won't eat at the same time. I think Leni would, but Camille is still a much weaker nurser and absolutely refuses. She's getting better, but still. I'm worried that they've gotten so used to eating alone that they won't ever eat together. That would be okay if they would let me put them down. They're going through this phase and it's killing me. Leni will go in the sling, but Camille hardly ever will. I can't think of a good solution and I'm not looking forward to the next few weeks.
Our honeymoon period is definitely over.
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Congratulations to all the mothers on board. And congratulations to Mrs. M on the twins. My husband prays for twins with every pregnancy. I haven't been here for a long while. I'm really supposed to be working on my master's while my husband takes the day off with the kids, but I just finished retyping half of a 25 page document that I lost and I'm taking a break.
I have been recently thinking of switching my 10 month old son to whole milk. We just found out that we are pregnant with our third and it seems to be getting harder to nurse, but he won't take formula, so it was good to hear that it might be ok. Our pediatrician really sticks to the one year mark.
As for books, my two year old loves them and always has as far as I can remember except for the couple of months at about one when she thought it was fun to bend the board books backwards until they broke. She reads constantly, quotes them, and tells the stories to her dolls. She remembers quotes from library books we read 6 months ago. I am constantly amazed by her. Currently we really like the Fancy Nancy books but it changes weekly.
Her little brother on the other hand is only interested in closing the books and eating them, which causes Alexa no end of frustration.
Condolences to all those with children with sleeping problems. Sleep deprivation is the pits. I don't expect to sleep through the night for another 10-20 years. Alexa had sleep apnea and woke up hourly until we had her tonsils and adnoid removed at 18 months. Hyrum doesn't sleep much better (waking about every two hours), but he gets to sleep with us because I am just too dang tired to do anything else and he doesn't kick nearly as much as his sister. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a middle of the night party with all the other mothers who are also up in the middle of the night, but I would never dare phone anyone on the chance that they are actually sleeping.
Ok ok. back to work. Carry on.
Posts: 240 | Registered: Jan 2001
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If you have to wean, one thing you can do is to mix formula and breast milk ... start with mostly breast milk and then slowly tip the balance to formula. This has worked for a few women I've talked to.
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Yeah, there's no way I'd give whole milk to a kid under one. Especially since my kids can't drink whole milk, it gives them tummy aches. I've never had a kid who consented to take anything with more than 2% fat. They get that from me...
When I say "dairy" in reference to what I will give my under-1 child, I mean "bread and baby foods with dairy ingredients, yogurt, cheese, etc." Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Blushes. Hey thanks. I'm sorry I misunderstood. I guess it's easier to hear what you want to hear when you want an easy solution. I'm glad I checked back before I gave him anything. We'll keep trying.
Posts: 240 | Registered: Jan 2001
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My daughter loves the Wiggles CD that my mother gave her for Christmas. She laughs, claps and dances to the music. The problem you say... Its driving me nuts at this point. Anyone have suggestions for something in a similar vein she might like. I don't actually mind the Wiggles, its just the repetition of one CD over and over that drives me crazy. So it can be similar in style just with different songs.
Posts: 416 | Registered: May 2005
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The Wiggles have about ten gazillion CDs. I like Here Comes the Big Red Car best of all their albums I've heard.
You might try Raffi, too. I've always thought, since we started listening to the Wiggles, that they are this generation's Raffi. My kids love both The Wiggles and Raffi.
Oh, and They Might Be Giants have some awesome kids' albums too.
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Here comes the big red car is what we currently have. I just ordered her a couple more Wiggles cds but I would like more variety too. I love TMBGs but Ellie doesn't get into them the way she does with the Wiggles. I'll have to give some Raffi a try. I always thought of Raffi as more quiet music. Maybe I haven't tried the right Raffi.
Posts: 416 | Registered: May 2005
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May I suggest Rhapsody? My kids love it because I can find them just about anything they want to listen to. We have a "To Go" subscription, for about $17/mo. we can load music on our mp3 players for the car, the park, whatever as well as listening at home from the computer. I think we get something like 4 computers and 3 devices (mp3 players) authorized on our account for that price.
Raffi sings a mix of original, silly songs and traditional songs, as The Wiggles do; they both are very kid-centered and kids love them. That's why I have always felt they were similar. They have the same "feel" to their music.
Raffi sings lots of non "quiet" songs. Try "Little Red Wagon," "Brown Girl In the Ring," "Down By the Bay," "Joshua Giraffe," "Something in My Shoe," and "Yellow Submarine." Those are my kids' favorites he does (well, besides "Baby Beluga" of course) and always get them dancing.
And speaking of "Yellow Submarine" and dancing, have you tried her on The Beatles? I have met very few toddlers who don't dance to The Beatles. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Sandra Boynton and a whole host of musicians put together a CD called Dog Train that's actually quite good, and Lego likes it too. Wee Sing Silly Songs (and other Wee Sing albums) were a favorite of mine when I was little. And for an little-known Canadian goodie, try Fred Penner.
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One of our favorite preschool songs was the song from the Beatles Yellow Submarine Album with the counting and alphabet and then climbing into bed. No wonder I'm so messed up.
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quote:My husband prays for twins with every pregnancy.
Mine prays for a singleton. Another set of twins (or more) is one of our greatest fears. And our doctors'.
What about rice milk instead of dairy? We didn't give it to Aerin until she was well over a year old, but it might be okay. Aerin is lactose intolerant and soy milk doesn't agree with her, so rice milk has been perfect for us. Obviously, everyone should ask your own doctor before trying, but it might work.
We have a lot of childrens' music, but my kids mostly listen to what I listen to anyway. Aerin's favorite dance songs are I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones and Sinnerman by Nina Simone. She also loves Johnny Cash. The CD that quiets all the girls in the car is Celtic Women. Works like a charm every time, but Andrew and I are so very sick of it.
The babies are one month old and will be 4 weeks old on Monday (they were born on 1/12, which was 4 Mondays ago). They're starting to look around more and make the cutest noises. They have very different personalities already and look nothing alike. I'm going to try to get out with them more, but their feeding schedule is killing me.
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Thanks for all the music recommendations. I will have to give them a try. Maybe I will look for a cd for Valentine's day for Eliza. She does like the Beatles when it comes on the computer. I might have to look into picking up another Beatles Cd. Has anyone used the next step formula? I wasn't planning on using it and my pedi said that whole milk was fine at 1. However, I just got three medium sized cans in the mail as free samples. I am trying to decide if it is worth it to use them up. I am sure that is exactly what Enfamil wants me to do so I am hooked. I am worried it would start a habit and make it harder to transition to whole milk. But I also feel guilty about just throwing it out. Anyone have any experience on this one?
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Anybody hear about the latest peanut research, suggesting it may be a good idea to introduce peanuts earlier?
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I saw the results of the study in Parents magazine but they didn't mention the scope of the study. My pedi was still recommending not giving peanut butter but I am considering it. We don't have any food allergies on either side of our family. I may have to read more on the study.
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I was already planning to start PB when the baby is 1. That's when I started my son. My pediatrician says 3 and I think that's nuts. We don't even have any history of allergies.
I found an article about the study and it looked a bit inconclusive, to be honest. I'd say for those really worried about peanut butter allergies, not to jump to conclusions and that more study is needed.
The article mentioned that they recommend no peanuts while pregnant or nursing? Pfft! Not even.
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quote:Originally posted by Katarain: Anybody hear about the latest peanut research, suggesting it may be a good idea to introduce peanuts earlier?
Yes I read the recent report. It looks like waiting longer to introduce peanut actually increases the chances of developing peanut allegies. It also appears that food allergies are being significantly overdiagnosed.
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I did peanut butter at one. I didn't realize I was doing anything "wrong." My doctor said at one year, we could feed her anything, so we have.
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I was told no tree nuts until 2 and no honey until 3. Everything else was ok at 1. Sometimes it drives me crazy how every doctor has a different answer.
Posts: 416 | Registered: May 2005
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Our pediatrician told us our child was allergic to cow's milk, because he had persistent diarrhea when we let him have it. However he had no reaction to cheese or yogurt. We kept him on soy milk for over a year. Occasionally we'd try him back on cow's milk and it always resulted in diarrhea and terrible diaper rashes.
Finally one day I asked myself if he might just have a problem with the lactose. I bought a jug of Lactaid milk and he had no reaction to it. So we kept him on Lactaid for quite some time (we gave him the chewable tablets and then let him drink regular milk). Occasionally we'd try stopping the lactaid and he'd still have problems. But one day we tried milk without lactaid and he was fine, and has been since. I don't understand the causes of lactose intolerance well enough to understand what happened. I'm just glad he seems to be producing his own lactase now.
And I'm a little miffed that the pediatrician diagnosed an allergy when it seems actually to have been lactose intolerance.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I have stayed away from peanuts throughout pregnancy and nursing. I missed peanut butter something awful, then I found Sunbutter (from sunflower seeds) and almond butter, and all (most) of my peanut butter cravings are satisfied. I do miss butterfingers and reese's peanut butter cups, though.
The study said that the children in Britain who got peanuts much later were 10 times more likely to be allergic than kids in Israel who started eating peanuts from 8-14 months. (That's how I understood it, anyway.)
Since Katababy is nearly 1 year, I'm considering starting her on peanut butter in a few months. Not right away because she has had very few solid foods so far, so I'd like her to try other foods first.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Israeli kids are probably not getting peanut butter or actual peanuts at that age. They're mostly getting a horrible processed snack called Bamba -- full of saturated and trans fats, and loaded with sodium. (It is viewed as being healthy, because it's "all natural". )
Considering that peanut allergies appear to be less common among Ashkenazi Jews (and guess what the majority of Israelis are?) than the general Caucasian population, I think the study is utter hokum.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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So, Maggie went to sleep without me last night. (I didn't sleep.) She had to, poor kid, since I was in the PICU with Emma (who apparently has a UTI, which I didn't find out until her fever spiked from 99 to 103.5 and she had a febrile seizure. Yeah... Not fun.)
All I can say is OUCH. I am used to her nursing every few hours all night long and most of the morning too. I didn't see her for 16 hours. This morning I got desparate and one of the nurses got me a pumping kit and let me use the pump by the NICU to pump and dump. I felt really bad dumping 12 ounces (in 8 minutes! And I haven't pumped at all this baby-- I probably went slower than I would have if I had been used to it-- I just pumped enough to still be full but not UNCOMFORTABLY full) down the drain next to a NICU. But they have a lengthy pre-qualification process for donors, and they might not need milk from babies as old as mine anyway, and my baby won't drink expressed milk, and I don't personally know anyone who needs milk, so, down the drain it went.
So now I'm hoping that since I only pumped enough to not get too uncomfortable, and after the baby HADN'T been nursing when she usually WOULD be, I won't get mastitis. I've gotten some clogs today but none that couldn't be massaged away while the baby nursed so far. *crosses fingers*
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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...and she just cried herself to sleep while I took a bath. I am beginning to feel like she doesn't need me now. I know that's irrational since I should be ECSTATIC if she starts sleeping through the night... Except I'm not. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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She's had a fever all day and she's refusing food, even bread (her favorite.) She actually took the bread, looked at it, and threw it. Instead, she has been nursing non-stop (and I kid you not) for the past 9 hours. She nurses on one side for about 10 minutes, takes a 1 minute breather, switches to the other side. If I take her off for a minute and lay her down (to change her diaper, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, try to care for her sisters...) she screams. It's heartbreaking. So today has been a tv day; the older two are watching PBS and I am on the computer while the baby nurses. And nurses. And nurses. And I think my nipples are going to fall off.![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
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