Questions 1/14

[nessness]

1. S/o of the overnight diaper thread - is it weird that my baby doesn't pee at night? I change her then feed her before bed, and in the morning she'll still be mostly dry, and sometimes totally dry. She seems to pee plenty during the day.

2. How often do you change your nosefrida filter?

3. When did you start bathing your baby every day?

[smock]

1. Mine wakes up with a dry diaper about 50% of the time. Then she usually makes a big ol' pee within a short time of waking up. I don't think it's a problem since she pees enough during the day.

2. Um . . . I've never changed it. Am I going to get leprosy?

3. I thought we'd start bathing more often once she started solids, but at 7.5 months we still usually bath 1-2 times a week.

[bluelikejazz]

When I feed on the right, I sometimes feel pulling in the left boob. Normal?

[shelbyann]

Jan 14, 2015 12:16:01 GMT -5 bluelikejazz said:

When I feed on the right, I sometimes feel pulling in the left boob. Normal?

Totally normal. I almost always let down on both sides. It's…messy. LOL.

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2015 12:02:34 GMT -5 nessness said:

1. S/o of the overnight diaper thread - is it weird that my baby doesn't pee at night? I change her then feed her before bed, and in the morning she'll still be mostly dry, and sometimes totally dry. She seems to pee plenty during the day.

2. How often do you change your nosefrida filter?

3. When did you start bathing your baby every day?

1. I don't think it's weird.  It's awesome.  B looks like a Depends commercial in the morning.

2. Never? We barely use it though.

3. We don't.

[linz]

Is it ok for a baby's hands to be cold overnight? Thats my main reason for still swaddling arms.

[luv2rn4fun]

1.  When did you introduce a pacifier, especially if you breastfed?  Did you have issues breastfeeding if it was introduced too soon?
2.  C sometimes goes crazy when breastfeeding.  He will act like he's still hungry, latch on, take a few sips and then come off the boob screaming and angry.  Anyone experience this before?  Any idea what's causing it/how to fix it?
3.  Did anyone have 2 separate witching hours in a day?  It seems like maybe C does...usually around 6 pm and then again at 4 am.  The past few days these have been very hard time periods dealing with C as he's completely inconsolible and screaming no matter what I try (feeding, soothing, etc).

[motzie]

Jan 14, 2015 12:02:34 GMT -5 nessness said:

2. How often do you change your nosefrida filter?
I wash it wish soap and water after every use and replace it whenever every few months.


3. When did you start bathing your baby every day?
Every day? Never. Every other day, probably around when she started crawling.

[bowies]

Jan 14, 2015 12:35:44 GMT -5 linz said:

Is it ok for a baby's hands to be cold overnight? Thats my main reason for still swaddling arms.

Yes. Babies aren't great at regulating the temperature of their extremities. As long as the core is warm, you're good. 

[bowies]

Jan 14, 2015 12:37:02 GMT -5 luv2rn4fun said:

1.  When did you introduce a pacifier, especially if you breastfed?  Did you have issues breastfeeding if it was introduced too soon?
2.  C sometimes goes crazy when breastfeeding.  He will act like he's still hungry, latch on, take a few sips and then come off the boob screaming and angry.  Anyone experience this before?  Any idea what's causing it/how to fix it?
3.  Did anyone have 2 separate witching hours in a day?  It seems like maybe C does...usually around 6 pm and then again at 4 am.  The past few days these have been very hard time periods dealing with C as he's completely inconsolible and screaming no matter what I try (feeding, soothing, etc).

1. 10 days. No issues.
2. Your letdown may not be fast enough for him.
3. He might be gassy at 4 am. DS got bad gas overnight as a newborn.

[motzie]

When did you start 2-3-4 scheduling with baby?

Did anyone successfully discourage finger sucking? DD2 is 9 weeks and I really would rather her take the paci, but she is determined to get her fingers in there too.

[pinotgrig]

Jan 14, 2015 12:39:08 GMT -5 bowies said:

Jan 14, 2015 12:35:44 GMT -5 linz said:

Is it ok for a baby's hands to be cold overnight? Thats my main reason for still swaddling arms.

Yes. Babies aren't great at regulating the temperature of their extremities. As long as the core is warm, you're good. 

x2

[pinotgrig]

luv2rn4fun

1. In the hospital on like day 3. No issues with bf'ing.
2. How quick is your letdown (if you can tell)? He may me angry at not getting milk quickly enough.
3. Possible, yes. The 5 S's were helpful for is. Hang in there - it will pass.

[shelbyann]

Jan 14, 2015 12:44:21 GMT -5 motzie said:

When did you start 2-3-4 scheduling with baby?

Did anyone successfully discourage finger sucking? DD2 is 9 weeks and I really would rather her take the paci, but she is determined to get her fingers in there too.

Around 7 months. Loosely. She sort of fell in to it on her own.

Curious as to why you want to discourage finger sucking? DD has never been a finger sucker or a paci fan so I have no direct experience but I always thought that finding their fingers was an appropriate and important form of self soothing.

[robyn]

When did you start pouches and puffs? We are planning to let DD start solids after her 6 month appointment in a couple of weeks. We are looking mainly at BLW, but I know that some kids take to it and some don't. If she doesn't we are fine with doing purees, or a mixture of both. I know some people don't like the idea of pouches, should it be something we avoid for awhile? What are some other do's and don'ts for starting solids that helped you?

ETA: We are taking DD to our local children's hospital to be evaluated for her head tomorrow. Our pedi thinks the shape and flat spot are concerning. My question is so stupid, but do I take her in the stroller? Wear her? The campus is huge and I'm not exactly sure where I am going. Instinctively I want to wear her to  keep her close to me, and to keep people out of her face. And yes, obviously I am focusing on the stupidest most trivial thing to not think about the scary part. 

[robyn]

Jan 14, 2015 12:44:21 GMT -5 motzie said:

When did you start 2-3-4 scheduling with baby?

Did anyone successfully discourage finger sucking? DD2 is 9 weeks and I really would rather her take the paci, but she is determined to get her fingers in there too.

DD has been a finger/hand sucker since the day she was born. I've tried to introduce a pacifier several times but she's just not interested. Some kids are hand/finger suckers and I'm not sure there's much you can do to change it unless you can find something she likes better maybe. 

[luv2rn4fun]

Jan 14, 2015 12:47:08 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

luv2rn4fun

1. In the hospital on like day 3. No issues with bf'ing.
2. How quick is your letdown (if you can tell)? He may me angry at not getting milk quickly enough.
3. Possible, yes. The 5 S's were helpful for is. Hang in there - it will pass.

how can you measure letdown? FWIW, the craziness typically happens quite a bit into the feeding. At first I thought it was because he couldn't keep up and now it seems like maybe he's not getting as much as he would like. Typical feedings are 30 min. He seems to be growth spurting non-stop right now (he's 3w3d old).

[game blouses]

Jan 14, 2015 12:44:21 GMT -5 motzie said:

When did you start 2-3-4 scheduling with baby?

Did anyone successfully discourage finger sucking? DD2 is 9 weeks and I really would rather her take the paci, but she is determined to get her fingers in there too.

1. I had to Google 2-3-4, but DS #2 started doing it naturally around 6 months or so. 

2. Finger sucking is way better than the paci! They can't lose fingers in the crib or the carseat. DS #1 sucked his thumb and slept WAY better than DS #2, who doesn't suck on anything despite my best efforts.

[nessness]

Jan 14, 2015 12:37:02 GMT -5 luv2rn4fun said:

1.  When did you introduce a pacifier, especially if you breastfed?  Did you have issues breastfeeding if it was introduced too soon?
2.  C sometimes goes crazy when breastfeeding.  He will act like he's still hungry, latch on, take a few sips and then come off the boob screaming and angry.  Anyone experience this before?  Any idea what's causing it/how to fix it?
3.  Did anyone have 2 separate witching hours in a day?  It seems like maybe C does...usually around 6 pm and then again at 4 am.  The past few days these have been very hard time periods dealing with C as he's completely inconsolible and screaming no matter what I try (feeding, soothing, etc).

1. Like a half hour after she was born (they took her to the nicu while I was being stitched up and asked my mom if it was okay, who obviously didn't know. Oh well). No issues breastfeeding.
2. DD did this sometimes and I was never sure why. PP is probably right that it had to do with slow letdown. ETA: After reading your follow-up, try burping him then trying again in a few minutes. DD would alternate between crying and eating frantically when she needed to burp.

[DarcyLongfellow]

Jan 14, 2015 12:02:34 GMT -5 nessness said:

1. S/o of the overnight diaper thread - is it weird that my baby doesn't pee at night? I change her then feed her before bed, and in the morning she'll still be mostly dry, and sometimes totally dry. She seems to pee plenty during the day.

2. How often do you change your nosefrida filter?

3. When did you start bathing your baby every day?

1. Apparently this is a sign of being ready to potty train. DD1 always peed at night until the day she decided she was too grown up for pull ups at night and just stopped cold turkey.

2. Almost never. The snot gets nowhere close to it. I have changed it a few times -- always after a big illness where we used it a lot.

3. Never :-) I bathe my kids when they're dirty. There are times that's every day (early days of solids for a baby, summer when they swim and get sweaty), but I think every other day -- or even every third day -- is plenty for them. Call me gross if you want :-)

[robyn]

Jan 14, 2015 12:58:55 GMT -5 luv2rn4fun said:

Jan 14, 2015 12:47:08 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

luv2rn4fun

1. In the hospital on like day 3. No issues with bf'ing.
2. How quick is your letdown (if you can tell)? He may me angry at not getting milk quickly enough.
3. Possible, yes. The 5 S's were helpful for is. Hang in there - it will pass.

how can you measure letdown? FWIW, the craziness typically happens quite a bit into the feeding. At first I thought it was because he couldn't keep up and now it seems like maybe he's not getting as much as he would like. Typical feedings are 30 min. He seems to be growth spurting non-stop right now (he's 3w3d old).

There is a 3 week growth spurt, I would guess you have hit that. If he's acting that way further along into the feeding I would try to switch sides. When DD acts like that (which usually is only during a growth spurt), changing sides seems to help. You can't really "measure" your let down. I had an over active let down, which meant she was getting a lot at the very beginning. I could tell because I could her her gulping when she would first start to nurse. I never really felt my let down, but others who have a more noticeable feeling letdown may have ideas on how to measure it.

If switching sides doesn't work, or you have already switched sides, try burping when he starts to act like that. DD, especially when she was tiny, would fuss like that when she needed to come off and be burped.

[game blouses]

Jan 14, 2015 12:53:15 GMT -5 robyn said:

When did you start pouches and puffs? We are planning to let DD start solids after her 6 month appointment in a couple of weeks. We are looking mainly at BLW, but I know that some kids take to it and some don't. If she doesn't we are fine with doing purees, or a mixture of both. I know some people don't like the idea of pouches, should it be something we avoid for awhile? What are some other do's and don'ts for starting solids that helped you?

ETA: We are taking DD to our local children's hospital to be evaluated for her head tomorrow. Our pedi thinks the shape and flat spot are concerning. My question is so stupid, but do I take her in the stroller? Wear her? The campus is huge and I'm not exactly sure where I am going. Instinctively I want to wear her to  keep her close to me, and to keep people out of her face. And yes, obviously I am focusing on the stupidest most trivial thing to not think about the scary part. 

1. We started purees with both kids around 5 months. DS #1 loved purees and DS #2 only wants solids. It depends on the kid. Mum Mum crackers are the best because they are rice cakes that dissolve when wet, so the baby can't choke. I never really found a need for pouches.

2. Stroller, but bring the wrap in the cargo place just in case. 

[yellowbrkrd]

This is a weird question, but is it normal to still have a bit of milk 9 months after weaning? Bc I can still express small amounts.

[pinotgrig]

Jan 14, 2015 12:58:55 GMT -5 luv2rn4fun said:

Jan 14, 2015 12:47:08 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

luv2rn4fun

1. In the hospital on like day 3. No issues with bf'ing.
2. How quick is your letdown (if you can tell)? He may me angry at not getting milk quickly enough.
3. Possible, yes. The 5 S's were helpful for is. Hang in there - it will pass.

how can you measure letdown? FWIW, the craziness typically happens quite a bit into the feeding. At first I thought it was because he couldn't keep up and now it seems like maybe he's not getting as much as he would like. Typical feedings are 30 min. He seems to be growth spurting non-stop right now (he's 3w3d old).

You can't really measure it, more just gauge if it's overly fast or slow. Some people can feel when they let down; I've never really been able to. If he seems like he's still hungry, can you switch him to the other boob? Or, it could be a gas bubble. Do you burp mid-feed?

[shelbyann]

Can someone tell me about and introducing WCM? DD will be 11 months next week so I'm not in any rush, but just thinking about how this transition is going to happen.

Right now she has only had water in a straw cup, she drinks maybe an ounce at a time, at meals and a couple other times during the day. (Won't take a sippy at all.)

She currently gets 2 X 3-4 ounce bottles of BM a day on my work days. She is not a big bottle taker and rarely finishes them. I'm thinking it would be good to start with these feedings as the first to be replaced with WCM. I'm excited to ditch the bottles because she is so bad about taking them. We nurse on weekend and days off and I'm not looking to wean any time soon.

Should I just start offering her BM in her straw cup to get her used to having something other than water in there? (I have plenty of freezer milk so don't mind using it for this.)

Should I do that instead of water at mealtimes?

Should I try again with the sippy cup and try to make that her way of milk drinking? They use sippies at the DC where she'll start in a few months. Not sure how that's going to pan out since she totally does not get them.

[luv2rn4fun]

I thought of more:

1. How helpful was your DH? DH is back to work. C is normally awake from 6-8 pm when DH is home. DH will offer to hold him but C is inconsolible during this time and it usually results in me feeding him and trying to get him down ASAP. Also, DH is zero help since Day 1 in MOTN. I basically feel like I have C responsibilities 22-23 hr/day while DH is at work, is able to workout and get ready for work without worrying about helping with C. It's getting a little old and I've tried bringing it up multiple times but he sees no use in helping with diaper changes/getting C back to sleep since I'm the only one that can feed him.

2. How does pump and dump work? When is the optimal time to pump after drinking? I honestly wouldn't even pump as I only want a beer or small glass of wine but DH doesn't think I should drink anything and then feed C )and he has no basis for this reasoning).

[nessness]

Jan 14, 2015 13:00:42 GMT -5 DarcyLongfellow said:

Jan 14, 2015 12:02:34 GMT -5 nessness said:

1. S/o of the overnight diaper thread - is it weird that my baby doesn't pee at night? I change her then feed her before bed, and in the morning she'll still be mostly dry, and sometimes totally dry. She seems to pee plenty during the day.

2. How often do you change your nosefrida filter?

3. When did you start bathing your baby every day?

1. Apparently this is a sign of being ready to potty train. DD1 always peed at night until the day she decided she was too grown up for pull ups at night and just stopped cold turkey.

2. Almost never. The snot gets nowhere close to it. I have changed it a few times -- always after a big illness where we used it a lot.

3. Never :-) I bathe my kids when they're dirty. There are times that's every day (early days of solids for a baby, summer when they swim and get sweaty), but I think every other day -- or even every third day -- is plenty for them. Call me gross if you want :-)

DD is only three months, so I don't think she's quite ready for potty training

I'm glad to see lots of people don't bathe their babies daily; I see it included in a lot of bedtime routines so I thought it must be something everyone did as they got older

[luv2rn4fun]

Jan 14, 2015 13:03:52 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

Jan 14, 2015 12:58:55 GMT -5 luv2rn4fun said:

how can you measure letdown? FWIW, the craziness typically happens quite a bit into the feeding. At first I thought it was because he couldn't keep up and now it seems like maybe he's not getting as much as he would like. Typical feedings are 30 min. He seems to be growth spurting non-stop right now (he's 3w3d old).

You can't really measure it, more just gauge if it's overly fast or slow. Some people can feel when they let down; I've never really been able to. If he seems like he's still hungry, can you switch him to the other boob? Or, it could be a gas bubble. Do you burp mid-feed?

I have tried switching sides and burpng...both work occasionally, there's really nothing consistently that works.

[robyn]

Jan 14, 2015 13:05:44 GMT -5 luv2rn4fun said:

I thought of more:

1. How helpful was your DH? DH is back to work. C is normally awake from 6-8 pm when DH is home. DH will offer to hold him but C is inconsolible during this time and it usually results in me feeding him and trying to get him down ASAP. Also, DH is zero help since Day 1 in MOTN. I basically feel like I have C responsibilities 22-23 hr/day while DH is at work, is able to workout and get ready for work without worrying about helping with C. It's getting a little old and I've tried bringing it up multiple times but he sees no use in helping with diaper changes/getting C back to sleep since I'm the only one that can feed him.

2. How does pump and dump work? When is the optimal time to pump after drinking? I honestly wouldn't even pump as I only want a beer or small glass of wine but DH doesn't think I should drink anything and then feed C )and he has no basis for this reasoning).

DH was incredibly helpful, but he was also not working when DD was born. He started his new job when she was 5 weeks old. I voluntarily took all MOTN stuff from day 1, and once I started back to work I really wished I hadn't. DD STTN for the most part by then, but occasionally she wakes up MOTN and it's hell to get him to get up and help. Plus, once I went back to work and we had to split things more evenly it was hard, and DH was pretty helpful even before that. I don't know if you're going back to work or not, but regardless things need to be fair to both of you. Keep talking to him about it. You may be the only food source for LO right now, but that doesn't mean DH can't do a lot of other stuff to help. DH would refill my water, get me food or snacks, do laundry, take care of the dogs, clean up. Your DH can take care of LO so you can get out of the house in the evening or on teh weekend, even if it's just for an hour between feedings. It's amazing how nice it is to go to Target or the library or the coffee shop by yourself and decompress. I made DH learn how to help DD when she was crying or upset too, he needs to know how to parent her just as much as I do. Stress to your H how important your mental health and well being are as well. Instead of asking, maybe just say "hey H, I'm going to Target and Starbucks tonight at 7:30. LO will need X, Y and Z in that time." And go. Your H will adapt.

From everything I've read, there's never really a reason to pump and dump. The truly optimal time is as you're nursing, strange as it sounds. By the time what you are drinking hits your blood stream, you LO will be finished eating. But truly, so little actually makes it to your milk that it's pretty well established now that pumping and dumping is obsolete. 

[motzie]

Jan 14, 2015 12:51:34 GMT -5 shelbyann said:

Jan 14, 2015 12:44:21 GMT -5 motzie said:

When did you start 2-3-4 scheduling with baby?

Did anyone successfully discourage finger sucking? DD2 is 9 weeks and I really would rather her take the paci, but she is determined to get her fingers in there too.

Around 7 months. Loosely. She sort of fell in to it on her own.

Curious as to why you want to discourage finger sucking? DD has never been a finger sucker or a paci fan so I have no direct experience but I always thought that finding their fingers was an appropriate and important form of self soothing.

Just for the ease of weaning when it comes time. Also my sister sucked her fingers and completely messed up her jaw because of it.