The Baby Sleep Site™ Community - Group: Parent Chit Chat

ajp33 on Second Child Decision

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:46:49 +0000

We are starting to consider a second child (we currently have a 14 month old) but are struggling with how we're going to cope as my wife and I both have pretty full-time jobs and not sure how we can manage to balance work with two children.

Any thoughts, suggestions ideas?

Cynthia on Waking up too early.

Wed, 26 May 2010 11:19:42 +0000

My 14 month old wakes up at 6:00 (sometimes 5:45) every morning like clock work (together with this nagging mosquito!). He takes a 1 1/2 hr morning nap, then an 1 1/2 afternoon nap. Goes to bed at 8:00 pm. We put him to bed at 7:30 a few nights but still woke up at 6:00. Room is dark and cool. Is there anything else I can do to help him sleep in later or do I just face the truth that I have an early riser? Looking forward to time change in fall!!

Kimberly on 6 month travel

Tue, 18 May 2010 14:32:56 +0000

Glad you found the articles helpful. Thanks for posting back and letting us know how it went. I especially appreciated that you posted what specifically items you brought along and what you wished you had brought along. This is great information for other parents on the forum who are looking for travel tips as well.

mlindberg on 6 month travel

Sun, 09 May 2010 11:59:51 +0000

mlindberg on 6 month travel

Sun, 09 May 2010 11:59:50 +0000

Hi Kimberly,

About our trip: He didn't do well on the plane descent: puked twice! We had a really busy schedule so he didn't nap well, and woke 3-4 times at night. I figured we would get back on track upon return. It took about 5 days, but he is doing better now.

I loved both travel articles, and the tip I liked the most was about bringing a thick mattress cover for the crib. Our hotel's crib was covered with a paper/plastic like sheet that was folded over the mattress. We brought along our crib cover, but it didn't work for the size. Also the spaces between the bars were big, and our son's arm kept coming out. I wish we would have brought his crib bumpers! I'd like tips on products to bring along. El Salvador has mosquitos so we are definitely buying a net to put over his crib. I'd like to know if there is something for the day time. I bought a sunscreen stick, and a sun hat since it's pretty hot down there. Great articles and awesome advice! Thanks for the support!

Kimberly on 6 month travel

Fri, 07 May 2010 11:49:30 +0000

Hi Mayra,

I'd recommend taking a look at these posts with some great tips for traveling with baby.

http://www.babysleepsite.com/t.....leep-tips/

http://www.babysleepsite.com/t.....y-tips-11/

Let us know how the trip went and if we can help with ideas for your summer travel.

mlindberg on 6 month old starting formula feeding

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:11:05 +0000

Thanks for the great advice. I was reading that it's best to eliminate the breast feeding they don't care much for, and that the hardest to go are the first thing in the morning, and the one before bed. Lucas does take formula here and there, but he prefers the breast. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted. Hope Jacob is sleeping better and his tummy grumbles have lessened or disappeared! :)

Mayra

mlindberg on 6 month travel

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:08:05 +0000

Thank you Miriam!

I had to look up what a rusk was :) I didn't even know what they were. I will definitely enjoy the change since my husband will be there and help out with Lucas.

Australia, huh? That's awesome that we can chat even though we live so far apart. I live in Reno, Nevada (4 1/2 hours from San Francisco, California.)

Mayra

Miriam on 6 month travel

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:32:40 +0000

Hi again! We live in outback Queensland Australia so have to fly 3+ hours to get anywhere and it's always a juggle with little ones. I'd suggest trying to keep him up as long as you can before the flight and have a bottle or bf ready for take off and landing to help his ears cope with the pressure changes. This will then hopefully help him to drift off to sleep for at least some of the flight. Other than that, take some snacks for him, maybe a rusk to chew on (Is that what you call them over there?) and a couple of familiar toys or books. Maybe wear some interesting jewellery (bracelet, necklace, earings etc) that might keep him interested as he sits on your lap. I used to sing (quietly) a lot to my little girl on flights as that we her thing that she loved and was pacified by. Overall for travelling, I'd recommend not worrying about trying to keep your "routine" and just do what you need to do to keep him happy and for you both to enjoy and participate in your conference. Feed him when he's hungry or grizzly, and let him nap when he wants to. It may take a few days but he'll slip back into routine once you get back home. Sleeping in stroller and port-a-cot may be a bit hit and miss depending on how good your baby is at sleeping, but when he's tired enough he'll sleep. Just drape a cloth or something over stroller to darken it. If he takes a pacifier, take lots so you have plenty of spares on hand for when they inevitable get dropped onto floor. A plastic bag or something to then keep the clean and dirty ones separated in your handbag is also quite handy. I truly believe that if you and your husband are happy and relaxed while you're away, your baby will be also be happier and sleep better too. Just enjoy the break from the routine and worry about reinstating it when you get back home. Have fun at your conference!

Miriam

Miriam on 6 month old starting formula feeding

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:23:36 +0000

Weaning has certainly been different to doing it the first time when I could reduce feeds gradually which is what I'd recommend if you can plan ahead for your surgery. Although I went from about 6-7 feeds a day to zero, I'd been so sick for 2 weeks, my milk supply was down anyway. I certainly have had to express for comfort for the week after and have had lots of sore lumps to massage out to prevent mastitis, but am now feeling more comfortable, although still leak overnight. If you're going to be in hospital for a few days, I'd suggest taking a breastpump and breastpads (as mine was emergency surgery, I had to manually express before and after surgery and leaked absolutely everywhere before my husband could bring in the pump and pads. With my first child I had terrible engorgement when my milk came in and used cabbage leaves with some effect but I wouldn't think you'd need to use them in weaning process, especially if you can reduced BFs gradually. I also had the problem where Jacob was a total bottle refuser until I just wasn't around and he just had no other option. Does Lucas take a bottle even of breastmilk at the moment? If so, I would think that you could do a nice transition even from now of gradually reducing number of breastfeeds and increasing number of formula feeds. The only other issue which we are having is that I think because Jacob only just started solids before I got sick and then had to go from total breastmilk to total formula overnight, his little body seems to be taking a while to learn how to process it all and he is getting lots of wind and waking lots more at night with tummy grumbles and such. I'm assuming this will sort itself out with time.

Let me know how you go though with your weaning. I found it really sad and emotional having to wean (especially as the choice was taken away from me) as there's something special about feeding life into your little one hey. Good luck!

Miriam

mlindberg on 6 month travel

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:05:26 +0000

We'll take two 1.5 hour flights (one Friday and one Sunday) this weekend. We'll stay in a hotel for 2 nights. My husband and I are delegates to a conference and need to attend meetings Friday-Sunday. We can't leave the baby behind, so I need sleep tips for night time in the same room as us, and on the go naps. I'm bringing his stroller and gym and hoping he'll nap there. Any flying tips?

We'll also leave the country in July (he'll be 8 1/2 months then) and will have two flights. A 2.5 hour one to L.A. and then 5.5 hour night flight to El Salvador.

Thanks!

mlindberg on 6 month old starting formula feeding

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 05:19:11 +0000

No problem Miriam! Lucas doesn't really go to bed that early, but it's nice that Jacob does. I would try letting him go until he's hungry. The dreamfeed didn't work for me as he got up more often. Nicole actually said that the first stretch is the longest, and then their sleep gets lighter. Today he slept from 9:00 p.m. til 3:45 a.m. That's been his longest stretch ever! I think breastfeeding at this point might be more for reassuring since my pediatrician says he could physically go all night w/o food. I like that Nicole says some babies could night feed up til 9 months. I don't mind either. I got Nicole's books and read most of her articles because he was waking almost every hour to breastfeeed, for a couple minutes, and then went right back to sleep.

Sweet dreams!

P.S. How did you deal with drying up? I read cabbage leaves can relieve pain.

Miriam on 6 month old starting formula feeding

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:53:40 +0000

Thankyou so much for that. It helps a lot. It is somewhat close to what we've been doing the last 2 days except Jacob goes to bed about 6:30 after a feed as I just can't keep him up any longer. Haven't quite worked out whether to do a dreamfeed about 9:30 (which I used to do breastfeeding) or just wait and see when he wakes during the night for a feed. I've been feeding him overnight too and it's reassuring to know that your little one feeds overnight too as most of my friends have bubs who have slept through from very early on. I actually don't mind feeding him at night if he's hungry. Thanks again!

mlindberg on 6 month old starting formula feeding

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:37:56 +0000

Miriam,

I'm mainly breastfeeding, and formula feed here and there. I wanted to share my schedule to see if it helps. I feed on demand, sometimes he'll only drink 2 ounces from a bottle. Other times, he'll drink 5 ounces and will feed 2 hours later. I just started oatmeal/rice cereal 2 weeks ago.

Due to surgery/treatment I'll go through, I'll have to stop breastfeeding the first or 2nd week in May. I'll be interested to see what formula feeding routine/tips you get.

Have you tried putting him to sleep every 1 1/2 hour or so, after he wakes? That worked really well with mine for his naps up to 5 1/2 months. He is 6 months 2 weeks, and now he takes 2-3 30 minute to 2 hour naps, it varies daily. He does 1.5 -2.5 hours awake time, nap, 2-3 hour awake time, nap, and sometimes a 1/2 hour nap 2-3 hours later. So it's something like this:

awake at 7:00 a.m, and breastfeeds = bf)

bf/formula + 1-2 ozs cereal between 8:15-9:00

nap between 8:30-9:30

bf/formula between 10-12

nap between 1-2:30

bf/formula between 3:00-4:00

3rd nap (sometimes) between 5:30-6:30

bf/formula + 1-2 ozs cereal between 6:00-8:00

bf/formula right before bed

bed time between 8-9:30 p.m.

bf/formula 2-3 times at night.

Good luck!

Miriam on 6 month old starting formula feeding

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:26:44 +0000

Hi everyone. I have a nearly 6 month old who just last week had to go cold turkey off breastmilk onto formula as I had to have emergency surgery. My first child was breastfed until 10 months so I really don't know what I'm doing. He started a small amount of solids about a week before he started formula. Before the surgery we were in a good sleep, feed wake routine but as he can go slightly longer between feeds now we're all over the shop as he can't stay awake long enough to make the sleep, feed wake thing work. Does that matter at this age? I've looked at the sample schedules on the site which were pretty much what we were doing before surgery, but they don't really differentiate between bottle and breastfed babies which I am finding are very different. Can anyone share their experience and routines of formula feeding at this age? Thankyou!

Miriam