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Professor Bananas posted:My son is almost 9 months and is starting full time daycare in just over a month's time. He's an awful sleeper, has been bed-sharing for months and even then wakes up every 2 hours at best (cot is every 1 hour and harder to resettle). He's fed to sleep except daytime naps which are in the pram as it's the only way he'll sleep for 90mins with no one beside him. And he's still breastfed on demand (along with his solids). So it's going to be a really big adjustment. Is he jumping straight into full-time care or is there a trial period? Our 8-month-old just finished a week of 3-hour days as a trial, and this is his first week of full-time. My wife doesn't go back to work until mid-August so in a pinch she can pick him up early (although luckily that hasn't been necessary). I would see if you can do some short trials first to get him and the caretakers warmed up. It took him a few days to get used to new people feeding him; the first day he didn't take any milk but yesterday, for example, he drank all of the milk that we sent with him. Have you tried a straw cup? Our son never took bottles so we went straight to sippy cups, but we recently tried a straw cup and he really took to it (he downed 6 oz of water while I was looking up ways to teach him to use a straw cup  ). It's definitely easier than a sippy cup, because sucking on a straw is a lot closer to breastfeeding than having to learn to tilt the cup enough to get anything out of it.There are a million pieces of advice about sleep out there, so I'll just tell you what worked for us. At around 7 months it just sort of clicked and putting him to bed became a breeze (usually), and he started sleeping longer stretches at night (then he started teething and it got bad again, yay for babies): - Making sure he got 3 naps per day (but remaining flexible, if he woke up late then napped late, then his 3rd nap might just become his bedtime) - Lengthening the bedtime routine so that he's really tired and relaxed by the time he goes in the crib. After my wife feeds him, I read him books for about 20-40 minutes in his room, lights dimmed and noise maker on, before even putting him in the crib. - Using a lovey and the seahorse. The lovey is crucial for him, the seahorse he can do without but it does help him stay calm. - Trying to limit how often we nurse to sleep. We know he can fall asleep without nursing so we're not too strict about this, but if he can ONLY fall asleep while nursing then you should work on developing alternative habits.
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Jul 30, 2013 20:28
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. I was making slow progress with not feeding him to sleep but if he's going to want to feed at night more then that's probably going to go completely out the window anyway.
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Papercut posted:Is he jumping straight into full-time care or is there a trial period? Our 8-month-old just finished a week of 3-hour days as a trial, and this is his first week of full-time. My wife doesn't go back to work until mid-August so in a pinch she can pick him up early (although luckily that hasn't been necessary). I would see if you can do some short trials first to get him and the caretakers warmed up. It took him a few days to get used to new people feeding him; the first day he didn't take any milk but yesterday, for example, he drank all of the milk that we sent with him. Thanks for all the advice! He will be settling in during the week or two before so I hope that will help. Can I ask which straw cup you use? Some say 12m+ and I'm worried the Nuby one I like will be hard to clean (he likes his Nuby sippy cup but the valve is so hard to clean I don't think it would be hygenic with milk). I can't seem to get him to take a lovey and the seahorse has only started helping him drift off after 6 months of use - he gets his naps but we could probably be making bedtime a bit more relaxed. He's still amped up at bedtime and sometimes spends an hour or more rolling around the bed. I really thought he was weaning himself off of feeding to sleep - he started rolling over to get comfy when he was done eating. But this week he's back to wanting to feed all night. I've honestly never minded it so I've been reluctant to change, but I am worried about his safety in the bed now he's more mobile, so I think it might be time to be consistent with the cot. I'm a bit worried he'll miss out on all the snuggles and milk he could be getting when he's been away from me all day though so it's hard to toughen up and do it  .
Professor Bananas fucked around with this message at 22:25 on Jul 30, 2013 |
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Jul 30, 2013 22:22
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Professor Bananas posted:I think that to help him adjust to daycare I should be trying harder now with routines, sleep and giving him bottles. But I really really want to just coddle and baby him for our last month together, though I'm scared I'll hand him over and he won't eat or sleep (and they'll think I'm a terrible mother). My kid is also an awful sleeper, so when he started staying with a babysitter during the day, I was concerned that he wouldn't nap. Turned out to be no problem. When he first started, he was with a SAHM with a little girl his own age, and she had the time and patience to cuddle and rock him to sleep. He wouldn't always sleep for very long--sometimes only 15 or 30 minutes--but he would sleep. His new in-home daycare has three or four other kids and he reportedly just lies on his mat at naptime and off to sleep he goes--sometimes for 3 or 4 hours. This is unheard-of at home still; he won't sleep for that long unless he's very tired AND we are sleeping with him. He also played hard-to-get with the bottle, and again, the answer proved to be "Mom, get out of the way, you are not for bottles, this nice lady is allowed." So I guess what I'm saying is just enjoy being with your baby for now and let later take care of itself. It's hard to imagine what they would possibly do without us, but usually they do just fine. 
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Jul 30, 2013 22:51
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Professor Bananas posted:I really thought he was weaning himself off of feeding to sleep - he started rolling over to get comfy when he was done eating. But this week he's back to wanting to feed all night. I've honestly never minded it so I've been reluctant to change, but I am worried about his safety in the bed now he's more mobile, so I think it might be time to be consistent with the cot. I'm a bit worried he'll miss out on all the snuggles and milk he could be getting when he's been away from me all day though so it's hard to toughen up and do it I know of a decent number of babies in daycare who reverse cycle-- that is, nurse basically all night long instead of all day long. It's pretty common, at least among my mom circle! As for straw cups, we use the Playtex ones, and they're both easy to clean and easy to get back into the lid.
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Jul 30, 2013 23:38
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Professor Bananas posted:Thanks for all the advice! He will be settling in during the week or two before so I hope that will help. Can I ask which straw cup you use? Some say 12m+ and I'm worried the Nuby one I like will be hard to clean (he likes his Nuby sippy cup but the valve is so hard to clean I don't think it would be hygenic with milk). It's a Zoli but we didn't do any research or anything, it was just what was on sale at the local store when we needed one. The straw part is definitely hard to clean. Also we were really worried about the daycare getting our son to nap, because we often have a hell of a time getting him to go down at home, but they haven't had any issues. They know what they're doing, and I think being around all of these people and other babies is pretty exhausting.
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Jul 31, 2013 00:38
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We use playtex. They're easy to clean and assemble, but you can't get the last centimeter of milk out of it.
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Jul 31, 2013 01:41
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frenchnewwave posted:I've posted before that I am an accidental co-sleeper and I know several people here are proponents of it. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in sharing their (hopefully successful) experiences because right now I'm getting the feeling (and immense pressure from my mother) that I'll never be able to get her to sleep in her own crib. I also breastfeed her to sleep, which is another "bad habit" according to my mom. I don't want to cause a stir on the thread since I know this is a hot topic, so if you are interested in PMing me I'd surely appreciate it. I can also provide my email address. My wife and I have an awesome 27 month old son who started to sleep (finally!) by himself for real-for real around 23 months. We co-slept almost immediately after trying to fight his clear desire to nurse at will all night. I don't think any pediatrician would tell you it's a bad habit, necessarily. A good night's sleep for baby and mom (and dad too!) is really, really hard to put a price tag on - and I don't think I've heard of any modern healthcare professionals who look at nursing a baby to sleep as a bad habit! You're mom is pretty much just uninformed about these things, and she's allowed to be. Don't make her feel like an idiot for it. I'm sure our kids will think we're idiots for the stuff we're doing now after another 30 years of medical discoveries. We are strong proponents of the attachment parenting thing. That means breastfeeding on demand, it means lots of holding, lap, reading on laps, hugging, snuggling, etc. As a pre-dad I dreaded diapers, but never had any idea how many sloppy mouth kisses I would receive from my kid... At around 18 months, he didn't want me in the bedroom when he was nursing to sleep. Eventually he didn't want to be in our bed at all. For a period of about 6 months or so, she would have to go to his bed in the middle of the night for one quick feeding on occasion. Now, he's completely weaned, and sleeps all night long 95% of the time. Sometimes he wakes up and joins us in our bed. Sometimes he wakes up and we can get him back to sleep in his bed. Right now, he's super independent and confident and we couldn't be happier. Give your mom a break, but let her know that it's okay now to nurse your kid to sleep and to co-sleep. Our ancestors did it exclusively until about the 19th century in Europe, and in some places humans never stopped. And I'm not trying to say that attachment parenting is the only good way to raise babies, but it worked for us. Do what works for you. If that's nursing to sleep then you should feel zero shame.
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Jul 31, 2013 03:10
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Amelia Song posted:I know of a decent number of babies in daycare who reverse cycle-- that is, nurse basically all night long instead of all day long. It's pretty common, at least among my mom circle! I highly suspect he's going to do this as I already have trouble getting milk in him in the daytime and he likes to eat at night (he's hugely distractable, and eating is boring apparently - even in a dim quiet room he'll just roll around and babble rather than eat). I think this means co-sleeping is still going to be the only way to save my sanity! Slightly off topic, my parents are coming to visit next week and as they had two babies who slept really well they think that mine sleeping badly is all my fault (in the nicest way possible), so I'm going to be trying to convince them yet again that some babies just don't sleep.
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Jul 31, 2013 10:16
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Do not get the Nuby straw cups. I got a couple and both cracked after being dropped from the within 3 days after purchase. If something made for toddlers can't survive a 3 foot drop, it's crap.
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Jul 31, 2013 16:58
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I like the Avent straw cups. http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Avent-Straw-Ounce-Blue/dp/B008M0TUO2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375295245&sr=8-1&keywords=avent+straw+cup However, I purchased mine from Buy Buy Baby .
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Jul 31, 2013 19:28
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Those Avent ones are so cute but apparently they aren't in the UK Avent range, someone is selling them on Amazon.co.uk for the equivalent of I think over $20 for 1 with shipping, which seems like a rip-off. I've ordered a couple of the Playtex ones though and we'll give them a go. Thanks for recommendations everyone, hopefully it'll help as even the Nuby boob-shaped cup and Tommee Tippee free-flow ones he likes have never been drained more than about 1-2 oz of juice/water, so I can't rely on those, and his Nuk trainer bottle was met with a gag of disgust even though reviews indicated that breastfed babies took to them well. Also whoever mentioned Boon Swap spoons months and months ago, thanks! They're awesome and the only ones that don't seem too big and clumsy for his mouth, and the colours are cute too (we have all 4).
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Jul 31, 2013 22:37
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Let's talk rechargeable batteries. Bouncer and swing both take C batteries, which can get pretty expensive to burn through. I'm thinking of getting a nice set of rechargeable C batteries and a charger. What should I know about rechargeable batteries?
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Aug 1, 2013 19:16
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Never was a fan of them for a few reasons. Luckily my swing came with a power cord, and I bought a 6V power supply off amazon and hardwired my baby bouncer to the wall. No more batteries. Cost 9 bucks plus some spare wire I had laying around and I had the tools already. Spend the money and get good C cell rechargeable batteries like the Tenergy 5000 mAh ones off Amazon and get a really good charger as well that can handle those kinds of batteries. The cheap C cells are nothing but AA batteries in a C cell. Expect to spend 70 bucks on 8 C cells and a decent charger. You could also find a place to buy the Alkalines cheaper. Monoprice just started selling batteries and they're selling a 2 pack for 98 cents
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Aug 1, 2013 19:41
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skipdogg posted:You could also find a place to buy the Alkalines cheaper. Monoprice just started selling batteries and they're selling a 2 pack for 98 cents Planet be damned, I think this is probably the best option. Thanks.
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Aug 1, 2013 20:17
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I picked up the last seahorse at Smythes in time for Aaron's 4 month birthday. It still took nearly two hours to get him to sleep last night.
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Aug 3, 2013 11:06
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I Had short-lived success with the Seahorse. I still try breaking it out every now and then on the off chance that it will work, but at nine months she's not really interested anymore. For about a month or two it was a godsend though.
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Aug 3, 2013 13:36
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My almost three year old son still sleeps with his seahorse 
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Aug 3, 2013 13:39
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I turn it on when Emily is nursing to sleep and she gets this wide eyed, freaked out look. Hopefully she'll get used to it.
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Aug 3, 2013 14:23
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It's basically just a distraction for us, when Logan starts to get really fussy in the crib I turn it on and it distracts him long enough for him to take a deep breath and relax. I'm still the one who has to get him to sleep (well me and Sandra Boynton, he loves books)
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Aug 3, 2013 15:08
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Yeah, it never really worked in getting Rory to sleep but it really helps him chill out in his cot and let me get stuff ready for the bedtime routine. If he starts to wake up soon after being put down, it will help lull him back to sleep, though! I don't know, I think it's worth having He's four months+ now and has started grabbing for my food and generally chomping down on any and everything he can grab hold of so yesterday I made up a couple little spoons of baby banana rice for him to try. I fully expected it to go everywhere but his mouth but he smacked it around and actually swallowed most of it and went in for more. What the hell? I wasn't expecting him to want food so early.
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Aug 3, 2013 15:14
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Any tips on how to get an 8 month old to not bite? He seems to like to do it at the worst times like carrying him in the grocery store. He snuck up on me the other day while I was trying to get netflix going on the tv and bit me on the side!
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Aug 3, 2013 15:40
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Alterian posted:Any tips on how to get an 8 month old to not bite? He seems to like to do it at the worst times like carrying him in the grocery store. He snuck up on me the other day while I was trying to get netflix going on the tv and bit me on the side! I don't think there's any simple solution, unfortunately. When my son bit me at that age, I tried to react as little as possible, just remove him from me if he kept doing it. Also give him something other to bite in case it was his teeth bothering him.
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Aug 3, 2013 15:57
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Alterian posted:Any tips on how to get an 8 month old to not bite? He seems to like to do it at the worst times like carrying him in the grocery store. He snuck up on me the other day while I was trying to get netflix going on the tv and bit me on the side! Same situation here... Ava snuck up on me and bit me in the ankle last week... She has started pulling herself up on things now too and I'm going to have a small, mobile shark in my house, I can tell.
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Aug 3, 2013 16:05
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He's cruising and crawling really well so it can be easy for him to sneak up. He is teething. He has 6 teeth already and I think his molars might be starting. He likes to do this thing where you move your hand against his mouth while he makes a noise, sort of like a stereotypical native american war cry. Not entirely sure what you would call it. He tries to do it himself with his arms or hands or objects, but he also likes to do it on larger things like the couch or your shoulder. When he does it on you, he usually bites right afterwards. When he does that, its easy to catch him before he chomps. Its the stealth chomps that really get you.
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Aug 3, 2013 16:10
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Does anybody have any issues changing there little ones diapers? My little girl just hit 13 months old and can not stand to get her diaper changed, we have to strap her down to the changing station to stop her from rolling over and falling off the thing. She has not had any traumatic injuries such as falling off it or anything too, she just fights, rolls, cry's and just puts up a huge fuss when she needs her diaper changed.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:08
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Aaron's 13 months and has been like that for awhile. At this age he's just so active that having to stop what he's doing to get changed is pretty equal to torture for him. I have a few things he only gets during diaper time to distract him, and sometimes it helps, otherwise just grit your teeth and go as fast as you can! Dad just reminded me that counting or singing the ABC's very loudly and clearly sometimes entrances him as well.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:25
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We stopped changing my son on the changing table when he started fighting like crazy around nine months. We just keep a portable changing pad and diaper caddy both upstairs and downstairs and change him on the floor or on the side of the couch. Both places allow me much better leverage to keep him under control and don't carry the danger of a tumble off them.
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Aug 4, 2013 16:47
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Yeah, I have to change my one year old on the floor now, too. I guess it's the age! I have a narrow basket that I keep wipes, a couple of diapers, some diaper cream and a foldable changing pad in, and I just use that in the living room.
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Aug 4, 2013 19:23
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Good Lord, diaper changes. I cannot wait until Liam is potty trained and we are done with this nonsense. (Not like he'll be potty trained for another 6-12 months, but still.) He kicks. He crocodile death rolls. He howls "NOOOOOOOO! No wipe me!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!! I don't need diaper!" He would rather have pee run down his leg. We were harvesting potatoes out in the garden about a week ago, and he had taken a monster dump that I didn't notice right away, since he was covered with mud anyway. Then I smelled him. Then I realized some of that mud, wasn't mud. Oops. He then proceeds to use all his 2 year old persuasive argument skills to try and tell me that only his "knee" was "gwoss" and just to wipe his knee--but leave his diaper. I hosed him down with the hand shower, and THEN ran his bath. Good grief.
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Aug 4, 2013 19:58
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Since we are on diaper talk, does anyone use cloth diapers? I'm thinking of switching but on the fence still.
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Aug 4, 2013 21:01
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I use cloth... The only difference really is I do an extra load of laundry every other day. I use best bottoms brand which has liners that snap into waterproof shells. For diaper changes, remove wet liner, snap in new liner, put diaper back on, resume day. As long as the shell doesn't get soiled, you can reuse it several times. There's lots of types of cloth diapers-- all in ones, pocket, fitted, etc. Each have their own pros and con's.
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Aug 4, 2013 22:09
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We use cloth and have since around week 4. We use bum genius 4.0s the initial cost was a fair amount but we've only bought 3 small packs (nb, 1, 2) of diapers (sometimes I don't get the laundry done in time) and have really only used a half dozen from each pack. I also keep a couple disposables in the diaper bag as a just in case. The 4.0s are supposed to be for 35+lbs so I plan to use them until he's potty trained.
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Aug 4, 2013 23:03
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We go with disposables because she goes through few enough of them in a day that cost-wise we'd much rather not have to spend the time cleaning cloth. And even when we used more diapers, we still preferred to be able to throw them away and not deal with it. But to us, time is more valuable than money, and cloth take a lot more time compared to disposables.
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Aug 4, 2013 23:06
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Cloth diapers are nice - if you have your own washer and dryer and have the extra $$ upfront. It'll end up saving money in the long run but is an upfront cost rather than a monthly/every few weeks cost like disposables. My kids a hassle to change and just about 6 months. He rolls and rolls and tries to play with anything and everything. On a side note: I need a new diaper bag. What do you guys use? I can't decide if I want a back pack, purse or diaper bag.. They each have pros/cons.
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Aug 4, 2013 23:07
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I have this one which can be like a purse or a backpack http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-...rice+diaper+bag My husband also doesn't mind carrying it since its not garishly girly. Its not huge, but its big enough for us for every day use. Edit: I think the big thing about diaper bags is what their use is. For us we just need something to throw in the grocery cart or shove under his stroller or drop in the corner of someone's house. The amount of time it gets carried is about as much time as it takes to get from the car to the door of wherever we're going. If we were going out somewhere that we were trekking around more and had to carry all his crap I'd probably just throw it in an extra backpack we have laying around our house instead. Alterian fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Aug 5, 2013 |
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Aug 5, 2013 00:50
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I use cloth, prefolds and covers. I was given some prefolds and bought others off Craigslist. I got diaper cover seconds, Flip and Econobum cheap off cottonbabies.com that work as well as the regular retail ones. Upfront cost wasn't too much that way. I like it, I don't find doing an extra load of laundry every 3 days very taxing. When I was looking for a place to rent I had to make sure to find a place with a washer and dryer though.
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Aug 5, 2013 01:40
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I think a lot of people in this thread use cloth diapers.Lullabee posted:On a side note: I need a new diaper bag. What do you guys use? I can't decide if I want a back pack, purse or diaper bag.. They each have pros/cons. How much are you willing to spend? I have a few Jujube diaper bags that I love but they're pricey. Honestly you can just get away with a cheap backpack that has a lot of nice pockets if cost is an issue for you. I just picked up the Metro Retro tote by Thirty One cause I wanted something to just toss odds and ends in without all the extra pockets. However, I also have 2 kids and now have to carry around extras for my 4 year old such as a portable toilet cover that can take up a bunch of space. 
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Aug 5, 2013 03:38
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My experience using cloth. "Pocket diapers" from theluvyourbaby.com just watch that site for package deals and they're very reasonable. Another cheap site is alvababy.com but I didn't like their diapers as much. I prefer snaps over velcro. Things you will need. Diapers. Wetbags. Pail/pail liner. Diaper sprayer for spraying poopy diapers in the toilet before you put them in pail. When you get your diapers you wash them a few times to make them more absorbent. Then you stuff your diapers by putting the soaker pad inside the pocket of the diaper. Now your diaper looks like a disposable. Changing a diaper at home. Wet Diaper: Change as normal then after you're done take wet diaper to diaper pail with pail liner, remove insert from pocket and place in pail. Poopy Diaper: Change as normal then after you're done take soiled diaper into bathroom and spray off all solids into toilet. Remove insert from pocket and place in pail. Changing diaper when not home. Change diaper as normal and entire diaper goes straight into wetbag. Sometimes when I get home I remove inserts from diapers and place diaper pail along with the wetbags when I get home. Sometimes wetbag sits on washing machine til I do laundry next. Every 2-3 days I do laundry. My routine is. Take pail liner and dump it into washing machine. Turn pail liner inside out and place in washing machine. 1 cold water rinse. 1 normal wash on warm with cloth diaper detergent. Dry on medium heat. Stuff diapers and place them back under changing table. Disposables are easier. Cloth is not that hard. My wife told me when I brought it up. I'm fine using cloth if you want but you will be doing all the diaper laundry since it's your idea. I prefer using cloth even with the extra bit of work. Hdip fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Aug 5, 2013 |
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Aug 5, 2013 04:39
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We use disposables. I coupon and shop for sales, and I also grab whatever diapers I find in the bargain bin, no matter the brand. We've never had a problem with leaks with different brands, so we use Luvs, Huggies, store brand stuff, whatever. I use a computer backpack as a diaper bag for 2 kids and I carry this beast of a backpack with me everywhere. It is durable and versatile and only looks like a diaper bag because I have a toy hooked to the top of it. I highly recommend something of quality that will last, and the fact that I am able to carry so much stuff for 2 kids and keep it all organized in one reliable bag is such a relief! We have two seahorses. The first one we bought for my son lost it's singing voice early on, but it still lights up. The second one we bought is still going strong. Neither kid uses it to fall asleep, but they still like it as a temporary distraction. My 7-month old is now flipping over during diaper changes. I make sure to keep some kind of toy or noisy item nearby to place on her belly during changes. It fascinates her long enough for me to get the job done.
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Aug 5, 2013 05:04
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When my kid was going through the super squirmy phase during diaper changes (18-24 months or so I think?), I let him watch Gangnam Style on my iPhone. I figured I was going to have to suffer either way. ETA: Totally unrelated, but holy poo poo. I can't even imagine someone doing this to my kid: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katie-vyktoriah/what-happened-when-my-son-wore-a-pink-headband-to-walmart_b_3696113.html ChloroformSeduction fucked around with this message at 07:04 on Aug 5, 2013 |
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Aug 5, 2013 06:44
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