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Quite honestly, I don't know. But I'll tell you what the best thing was for our kids-- get a baby washcloth, fold it into a little rectangle, get it wet, wring it out so it's damp, not completely wet, and freeze it. It's soft when frozen still, but very cold, and quite chew-able. (Of course don't leave them alone with it.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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My kids never liked the gel teethers much, but they loved the washcloths. I just kept a couple in the freezer at all times. The other thing they liked was mesh fresh food feeders with frozen cantaloupe or other fruit in it. That makes a huge sticky mess when the juice runs down their face, though. Thinking about it, frozen banana might be a better choice-- still a sticky mess but not quite as juicy. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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We also did the slices of frozen fruit, once John was eating solids. But his very favoite teether was this one from discovery toys. It's made in Italy. It was a gift and I thought it was the most ridiculous looking thing I'd ever seen (and Bob thought it was a dog toy) but John just loved it. He's started pulling it out of the drawer and chomping on it every now and then again -- I think he might be started to get his second year molars.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Beanie likes when we refrigerate her pacifier (those blue ones like they give you in the hospital). She sometimes like the washcloth like kq describes and she loves the RazBerry teether, which we also keep in the fridge (and occasionally pop it in the freezer for a few minutes). I'm planning to get some of those mesh bag feeders here soon. A friend of mine said they work just as well with ice cubes (if a bit messy), since (for allergy reasons) we're holding off on introducing foods for at least 4 more months (8, if we can do it).
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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How do you know whether you should give your baby a pacifier?
I've had moments when I think she might be using me as a pacifier, but it's not for long, and then she usually just drops off to sleep. Sometimes she sucks on her fingers/fist, and sometimes she even manages to suck her thumb. But that's usually only when she's hungry and there's no nipple around yet.
She's a very happy baby without it, but I wonder sometimes if she might be soothed by it when she isn't actually hungry.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Whether you should or not is one of those fairly personal decisions and can be hotly debated. For me, I didn't mind giving her something. Having the comfort seems to make a difference when she's going to sleep (which is hard for her when she's teething and is where the refrigerated pacifier comes in). I can tell immediately when she's switching from eating to comfort mode on me. She also enjoys sticking her fingers, thumb, and or fist in her mouth.
If you think she's happy without it, she probably is, though if you want to try one, I think that is fine too. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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If she eats until she throws up and still wants to suck, she probably needs a paci. That's my rule of thumb. If she's happy with her fist I'd say there's no reason to give a paci. Emma only needed a paci for a few weeks until she managed to get the fist in the mouth on a regular basis. Bridget used a paci for about 7 months before she gave it up (and when they give them up I make them all disappear!)
Maggie is a BIG sucker. We use the RazBaby Keep-it-Kleen pacis, which we picked up on sale to see if they would work, and we are LOVING them.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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hmm.. katababy spits up a lot. I wonder if that's why. She tends to get a lot of gas, too.
I figure that it's better to use a pacifier than to let the child get addicted to sucking their thumb. You can take a pacifier away, you can't take away the thumb.. Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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See, I'm the opposite. I think a thumb is better than a paci because the thumb lets them self-soothe without having to have anything on hand; if they get dependent on the paci, heaven forbid they all get lost or are in the wash at the same time... I don't see stopping thumb sucking as a big priority issue, Bridget did it and has mostly stopped on her own, without us ever saying anything about it.
That's why all parents are different. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Sophie never sucked at all; Haley was interested in her own thumb from about 3 months to about 7 months, but then gave it up.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Well, that's something to consider as well, kq. I haven't made up my mind, which probably means katababy will decide for me. It's definitely not something I feel strongly about either way.
On another note, my aunt sent me the most beautiful quilt. It's the first one I've ever had, although I suppose technically it's Katababy's, but it's up to me to take care of it until she's all grown. It's pink and yellow with cool designs and holly-hobby like girls in the squares. I absolutely love it!
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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N-derdog is 15 days old (he'd b e two days old if he had come on his due date), and we've had all sorts of fun with breastfeeding. At this point the LLL-recommended lactation consultant recommends we go to pumping almost exclusively for a little while, which has raised mom's spirits. The little one has no problems getting food (and hasn't all along), and is really (so far) all we could hope for. He cries, sleeps, eats and needs changing, but there is nothing of the extraordinary. It seems like he gives us 2 3-4 hour stretches of sleep every other night. We won't ever complain about that, considering the stories we hear/read.
I may be a dad, but he's a beautiful kid that I can't stop smooching.
I go back to work for a partial week on Monday, and it's going to be hard to leave him.
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Congrats!!! I can't wait to see pictures!! I hope the breastfeeding works out eventually! I'm so glad she has a good lactation consultant to help out! Because of the timing of Beanie's birth, there weren't any at the hospital while I was there. I was in absolute agony for the first couple weeks and was almost ready to give up before my mom found me a lifesaver. I'm sorry you have to go back to work on Monday. It's wonderful that you got to be with him for the first couple weeks! I'm trying hard not to be jealous of your sleep and the time you got to spend with your little one (my hubby had to go back to work about a week after we came home) - I'll just be super happy for you two instead!
I moved Beanie's cradle into her room on Friday. I was a silly blubbering wreck after putting her to bed, but she did fine with the switch (though when I first started putting her to bed, she looked around with this look on her face like "this isn't where I go to bed!"). She's still only sleeping in mostly 2 hour chunks (and waking up around 5am), but I'm sure it'll get better. The fun upside of having her in her room is that dad looks in on her more now (he stays up later than I do, so several times when I've heard her crying, I go in to find dad with her). At least she's taken a few hour long naps the past few days - it's almost impossible for me to get any extra sleep (or anything else done) when she only naps for 30 minutes.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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My son wouldn't even take a pacifier so it may the choice easy. He used my breasts as a paci for a few months but outgrew that. He never sucked his fingers.
I think if I had to choose, I'd rather a baby suck a thumb or finger than a paci. Most kids will stop sucking their fingers on their own if you leave them alone and meanwhile, it's theirs to control and to give up when they are ready. With the paci, you have the early problems of them falling out and needing to be reinserted through the night. As time goes on, there seems to be a lot of temptation to misuse them. I've seen toddlers with pacis in their mouths all the time -- playtime...anytime. It's harder to play with a thumb in your mouth.
But like I said, my first didn't even give me the option so it was kind of a moot point. I'm sure there's something this baby could do that would make me decide to try her on a paci but I don't know what it is yet. Comfort nursing doesn't really bother me that much.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I had a really heavy supply so if she sucked, there was food. She didn't like that, so she wouldn't comfort nurse, but she really wanted to suck. Of course, weaning her off the pacifier is probably not going to be all that easy.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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Maybe, maybe not. I had one who suddenly gave up the pacifier at 4 months for no apparent reason, one who gave it up gradually by the time he was about 10 months (with some encouragement from us), and one who never much liked one to begin with.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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scholarette, that's exactly how Bridey was. She gave up the paci on her own at 7 1/2 or so months. At that point she switched to her thumb, but she gave up the thumb for the most part by 1 1/2, although if she's VERY tired or hurt she'll still suck it occasionally. (I still bite mine, I know how she feels...)
Emma was a comfort nurser anyway. If that meant she ate so much she threw up, that was that.
Maggie seems to be the same way as Emma was.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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What's the deal with "using [me] as a pacifier"? I hear people talk about that a lot like it's the worst thing ever (other places), but is there really anything that bad about it? Baby K took a pacifier for about two days before rejecting it (hates bottles too) and now likes sucking her fingers and thumb and what I suppose you would call comfort nursing as well. If it doesn't bother me, is it still an Absolute Bad Thing? I suppose there could be some medical/developmental reason it's bad, but I can't think of any. And why do people get upset about it?
Posts: 2762 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
It can be physically uncomfortable for some women, and others may find it emotionally uncomfortable -- or simply awkward -- to have the baby attached all the time.
posted
Lissande: It's really all down to how the mom feels about it. Honestly, there is no developmental reason for a baby or even a toddler not to comfort nurse. I tend to lean towards attachment-style parenting in my choices and in my opinion, there's no way to spoil a young baby. Any amount of touching, comfort, etc. that they want is good and healthy and teaches them that mommy is there for them.
On the other hand, I've heard of babies with such an overwhelmingly strong need to suck that you can't get up and go to the bathroom so....you just kind of got to weigh your needs and the baby's needs. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Thanks, rivka and Christine. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing some vital piece of information. I've read or heard comments here and there all treating it as an obvious bad thing (my mom: "You have to put a stop to that") and I was always left wondering why it should be that harmful, if K and I are both happy. It's not like she is attached all the time, anyway. Posts: 2762 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Yeah, the nurse in the hospital told me, "Don't let her fall asleep nursing!" I just smiled and said, "Okay."
I mean, it's one thing if she's falling asleep before she gets nutritive milk. It's quite another if she sucks 7 minutes, falls asleep, and wants to comfort nurse for a few minutes.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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My memory of the first few weeks of nursing is OWWWW! Even if my baby had wanted comfort nursing, I could not have handled the pain. Within 24 hours of having her, I had horrible cracked and bleeding nipples. I had to ice them before every feeding in order to keep the pain down. And based on every nurse and lactation consultant, I was in the right position- though Bin was playing with her tongue.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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Yeah, for me it's about being able to get up and do things like use the bathroom. And sometimes she gnaws more than sucks for food, and that hurts. I don't mind a lot, I'm really all for attachment parenting. If she needs it, she can have it.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
Granted, I've worn my sleeping baby (in her sling) to run to the bathroom and that worked ok. But I can't quite imagine trying to nurse at the same time. Color me impressed!
I also lean towards attachment parenting, and while I don't have a problem with nursing for comfort, I don't want to be her only source of comfort. She also sometimes gets weird when she's falling asleep at night. Shortly after switching from eating to comfort nursing, she often gets really wiggly and pinchy and so it just works better for both of us if I pop her off, give her her pacifier (all that wiggling usually stops immediately), and lay her down.
In happy news, Beanie did a 3.5 hour sleep stretch this morning (granted she woke up every hour for the first few hours of the night). Too bad she decided to be up at 4:30. I'd woken up at 4 and realized she'd been asleep since 12:30, so I went and peeked in at her to make sure she hadn't stopped breathing or anything (paranoia, I know). So, of course, as I'm just drifting off again, she starts making noise. When she started to cry I tried feeding her and putting her back to bed, but she was convinced that it was time to get up (I gave up trying to get her to go back to sleep after 45 minutes). She was also wonderful for grandma today (this was the first time I'd left her at grandma's house, though she'd spent time with grandma at our house before and time with me at grandma's house) while I went for a doctor's appointment! She went for almost an hour and a half with no whining or crying or anything! It may seem silly, but she's been pretty clingy lately, so I was worried she'd scream the whole time I was gone. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Maggie is two weeks old today! And her umbilical stump fell off. Both a happy occasion (no more being careful of it) and a sad one (she's not so tiny anymore! I think she's grown about 1/2 an inch, too, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's gained at least 1/2 a lb. past her birth weight, and she LOST half a lb. off it before leaving the hospital... Her head is definitely bigger than it was.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I have a Harmony Medela pump, and I bought some extra bottles that fit it made by Lansinoh.
I don't have any nipples that fit those bottles, though, and Medela doesn't seem to carry any. There weren't any Lansinoh nipples where I bought the bottles, either. I have a playtex drop-in's bottle with one nipple (it's supposed to be like mother) that is too big. I can use that bottle until I get some smaller nipples.
So any suggestions for where I can get nipples to fit those bottles? It took me less than 10 minutes to pump 5 ounces on one side (the other side didn't pump well at all)... so does that mean I should get a fast, medium, or slow flow?
I want my baby to prefer the breast, and after 10 weeks of establishing good nursing, her doctor says that there won't be any nipple confusion. I would be very upset if she suddenly would only take the bottle. That's only to be used when I'm not available. I can work mostly from home, but I'm going to start going in to the office for a couple of hours a few times a week. So when I'm home, I'm going to nurse as usual.
posted
I like variable flow nipples, if available. But if you want baby to have to work for the milk, get slow flow.
Having looked at the bottles, they come with collars that look like they should fit most standard nipples. I'd buy a few kinds and see which ones fit.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Some of my kids nursed for comfort. Constant snacking isn't so much of a problem, but I draw the line when I become a chew toy.
Our #5 kid, Moose, teethed early and started chewing. He weaned that day.
I prefer binkies to fingers--you can't sterilize fingers.
Beyond orthodontic concerns, I'm not sure why it's so important to get kids OFF binkies/fingers by a certain age.
I was a hardliner about no binkies/fingers after 1 year old with my first two, and it seems like once you take away one crutch, they just find another.
For instance, my oldest daughter (sucks her fingers) is 6, very bright, but STILL sucks her fingers. Nagging doesn't work.
My oldest was weaned off binkies and bottles, but took to stealing my underwear and dragging it around the house.
I'd rather have the embarrassment of my toddler with a constant pacifier, than my toddler dragging my most colorful and silky underthings *ahem* through the house when company's over.
Posts: 575 | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
I cure biting by immediate removal of the child, saying "No" sternly, placing them on the floor or somewhere else safe, and walking away for a minute. It has never taken more than a day for them to learn not to bite me.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I tried that. That worked with my daughters; two of them nursed past 12 months without biting me.
And I tried that several times when Moose had teeth only on the bottom.
After telling him no and placing him on the floor, he would promptly throw a fit and fall in it, heartbroken at my rejection of him.
Then he'd refuse to nurse for 24-36 hours, crying in hunger and then crying harder when Mean Mommy would try to get him to nurse. DH and I would go back and forth on whether we should take him back off of rice cereal--should we let him be hungry, so he would nurse sooner, or feed him, so he gets at least some calories?
Finally, after 24-36 hours, he would relent and deign to nurse again. I'd present my engorged self, he'd latch....and immediately bite me again.
This last time he bit me, he had opposing teeth, bit down, and then scraped back like he was cleaning the last scraps of steak from a shish kebab.
I had to pry his jaws apart to release my (bleeding) nipple from his mouth.
I've nursed all five of my kids-so-far, and have come to expect that nursing for me is usually a somewhat painful process, but it was becoming bad enough with Moose that my milk wasn't letting down.
So....on to bottles. *sigh* And I so wanted that LLL trophy. Posts: 575 | Registered: Jan 2004
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My oldest was stubborn, but thankfully food was everything to her. She never rejected the breast, even when REALLY MAD, for more than six hours before she'd have a marathon nursing session because I was so cruel as to try to starve her. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
My eater didn't wean until 3 months after I got pregnant with her sister. I guess it didn't bother her much until then, or she was ready to wean anyway (she was 19 months.)
But when she did wean herself all of a sudden the pregnancy symptoms I hadn't been feeling hit full-force (thankfully only for a week or two until the first trimester was over.) It was like the nursing hormones masked the preg. hormones. Except the heartburn, that is. And the yeast infection that was the reason I finally tested.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I weaned before I tried to get pregnant again. I know lots of women who have overlapped successfully, but I didn't want to deal with it. Besides, my son was 18 months when I started trying for my second and that seemed good enough. Some fanatics got on me once for not letting him self wean and started quoting the WHO guidelines at me. I don't understand people sometimes...
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I tried to overlap--my older two daughters are 15 months apart, and I tried the first trimester pregnant with dd#2 while nursing dd#1.
It didn't go well for us. If anything, my nausea was exaggerated. My maternal caloric needs had doubled, but I wasn't getting much food down.
And with my history of pre-term L&D....
But then I am also one of those people who doesn't lose weight while nursing (I pack it on like a sumo wrestler) and for whom nursing never really feels good, no matter what I do. And despite my stubborn chubbiness, my milk supply is always scanty, and with a few kids I've simply run out.
Despite all that, conception is easy for me (I've been pregnant part of every calendar year since 1999) so I just count my blessings, including the blessings of formula and bottles.
Posts: 575 | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
Oh, yes--the guys in my husband's family are renowned for their super-sperm.
My SIL and I both had three "goalies on the ice" when we got pregnant with her #1 and my #2. (NONE of my 7 pregnancies have been planned; yes, I've tried most nonpermanent BC methods out there)
And, of course, all the kids look just like my husband's family as well. Like cookie cutters. For baby pictures, I may as well take one baby, and change their outfit and background several times. It's all the same anyway.
I'll be interested to see if getting older makes a difference. I'm 28 and DH is 34; maybe it'll slow down.
We always say the only really reliable form of BC we've found is pregnancy. Posts: 575 | Registered: Jan 2004
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