I have always burped my kids by tapping their backs like any other typical mom. My son burped so easily and when my daughter came along she did burp but it took a bit longer.
One day my mother fed my daughter as we were talking and then went to burp her. She hadn't burped after 5 minutes so my mom (without saying anything) just started rubbing my daughters back. She did this by holding her like she would if she were going to burp her normally (over the shoulder), then she firm but gently ribbed my daughters back up and down. She burped in less then a minute!
I had never thought of burping this way before. Apparently it works very well for my daughter and she always burps very quickly this way.
I felt like a light bulb went on and that I needed to share this as soon as possible.
I hope it helps someone whose baby is a tough to burp also.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Pacifier
Most babies use them and they are so hard to give up!
I recently has my daughter give up her pacifier (at 7 months) She did pretty well. I took them all away on a Saturday morning because she woke up every hour of Friday night looking for one. That is crazy! No sane person can live like that. More importantly, it is now one less thing for me to remember before we leave the house. She only had a meltdown for her first nap without it. She cried for an hour. The second nap she cried for 5 minutes. And, that was it.
For my son, we got rid of them at 11 months. We used to put ten in his bed and he would always find one. There was even a time when he would fall asleep with 2 in each hand and and 1 in his mouth. Awful! One day we went to the pediatrician ( who thought I should have gotten rid of them around 4 months), and she mentioned me still allowing him to use one. She also mentioned the longer I waited to get rid of it the harder time I was going to have. So that day at nap instead of handing him a pacifier I handed him a lovie, swiped the pacifiers and walk out of the room. He fell asleep just fine for 2 days. Then on the 3rd day at 3am he had a 1 hour and 30 minute meltdown, then it was all over.
He is 3 1/2 and still sleeps with the lovie! I don't care if he wants to take it to college with him. Lol
I recently has my daughter give up her pacifier (at 7 months) She did pretty well. I took them all away on a Saturday morning because she woke up every hour of Friday night looking for one. That is crazy! No sane person can live like that. More importantly, it is now one less thing for me to remember before we leave the house. She only had a meltdown for her first nap without it. She cried for an hour. The second nap she cried for 5 minutes. And, that was it.
For my son, we got rid of them at 11 months. We used to put ten in his bed and he would always find one. There was even a time when he would fall asleep with 2 in each hand and and 1 in his mouth. Awful! One day we went to the pediatrician ( who thought I should have gotten rid of them around 4 months), and she mentioned me still allowing him to use one. She also mentioned the longer I waited to get rid of it the harder time I was going to have. So that day at nap instead of handing him a pacifier I handed him a lovie, swiped the pacifiers and walk out of the room. He fell asleep just fine for 2 days. Then on the 3rd day at 3am he had a 1 hour and 30 minute meltdown, then it was all over.
He is 3 1/2 and still sleeps with the lovie! I don't care if he wants to take it to college with him. Lol
Water
You can start giving your baby water at 6 mons. At first you are going to think it's a joke. You will give them a sippy of water with each meal. Try not to put the water in a bottle. At 6 mons the baby should be trying and I stress trying (my daughter still will not do this) to eat 3 meals a day. Offer a sippy of water with each meal. Hold it up to their mouth and usually they will chew on the spout. At some point between 6-8mons, they will actually drink water from the cup.
This is a really good lead into cups and breaking your child off a bottle. I throw out all bottles the day my child turns 1.
This is a really good lead into cups and breaking your child off a bottle. I throw out all bottles the day my child turns 1.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Feeding Tip
If you breast feed...To get your baby to sleep a bit longer, top them off with a bottle after they have fallen asleep from breast feeding. You can use pumped milk or formula. Sometimes you can get the baby to take an extra ounce or two and that could help the baby push from 4 hours to 6 hours of sleep. Only do this at the bedtime feed!
Some people suggest doing a feed just before you go to bed. It is often called, "A Dream Feed." This works well the first few weeks, however if you do this after the first few weeks the baby begins to use it as a regular feed and depends on it to eat instead of pushing them to last longer. Also, as the baby gets bigger if you wake it up, it may try to stay awake.
I tried very hard to only breast feed and use no formula. It was a task I put onto myself, and made myself feel guilty for even thinking about formula before 6 mons. That was very silly! With my son, it didn't matter what I fed him-he ate. So switching from breast milk to formula was fine. For my daughter, it was so traumatic-she went on a hunger strike for a whole day. After this experience with my daughter, if I were to have another baby and did not want to use formula for a whole feed; I would try to do the topping of at night with formula. This way the baby would be used to the taste.
Every baby is so different, you need to find what works for you.
Some people suggest doing a feed just before you go to bed. It is often called, "A Dream Feed." This works well the first few weeks, however if you do this after the first few weeks the baby begins to use it as a regular feed and depends on it to eat instead of pushing them to last longer. Also, as the baby gets bigger if you wake it up, it may try to stay awake.
I tried very hard to only breast feed and use no formula. It was a task I put onto myself, and made myself feel guilty for even thinking about formula before 6 mons. That was very silly! With my son, it didn't matter what I fed him-he ate. So switching from breast milk to formula was fine. For my daughter, it was so traumatic-she went on a hunger strike for a whole day. After this experience with my daughter, if I were to have another baby and did not want to use formula for a whole feed; I would try to do the topping of at night with formula. This way the baby would be used to the taste.
Every baby is so different, you need to find what works for you.
Newborn, Day & Night Confusion
Many newborns mix up day and night sleep. You can avoid this for the most part but not always altogether. Here are some simple tips: Wake babies (very new ones) in the day to eat.
Never wake them at night!!!!
Do try and play with them, talk to them and be noisy around them in the day.
Have the baby nap during the day in a place other then the night time bed until day and night is 100% established.
Do wake the baby to go out and live life during the day.
Establish a night routine with your baby as soon as possible. A good pattern is to bath baby, dress baby for night with low lights, feed baby in bedroom (maybe sing to baby), burp baby and put in crib asleep or even if baby is still awake! It is never too early for them to learn to put themselves to sleep.
Infants between the age of 0-4 mons generally look to go to bed between 8-10 pm, infants 4 mons and older look to go to bed between 6-8pm, this is their body clock! If you want a nice life don't mess with it until they are older, just so they are awake when your husband gets home from work!
When an infant wakes at night, smell them ( if they did not poop -don't change them!).
DO NOT TALK TO THEM!!!!!!! Try to not even make eye contact.
Do not put the TV on!
Do not take them out of the room that they are to be sleeping in!
Turn on as little light as possible. A nightlight is best!
Feed the baby, burp the baby and put them back in their bed.
If they cry, pick them up and smell them, burp them and put the baby back in bed.
Do not play with the baby!
If the days and nights are badly mixed this could take up to 2 weeks to fix. Otherwise a few days should do the trick.
Always use your mothers intuition! You know your baby best.
Never wake them at night!!!!
Do try and play with them, talk to them and be noisy around them in the day.
Have the baby nap during the day in a place other then the night time bed until day and night is 100% established.
Do wake the baby to go out and live life during the day.
Establish a night routine with your baby as soon as possible. A good pattern is to bath baby, dress baby for night with low lights, feed baby in bedroom (maybe sing to baby), burp baby and put in crib asleep or even if baby is still awake! It is never too early for them to learn to put themselves to sleep.
Infants between the age of 0-4 mons generally look to go to bed between 8-10 pm, infants 4 mons and older look to go to bed between 6-8pm, this is their body clock! If you want a nice life don't mess with it until they are older, just so they are awake when your husband gets home from work!
When an infant wakes at night, smell them ( if they did not poop -don't change them!).
DO NOT TALK TO THEM!!!!!!! Try to not even make eye contact.
Do not put the TV on!
Do not take them out of the room that they are to be sleeping in!
Turn on as little light as possible. A nightlight is best!
Feed the baby, burp the baby and put them back in their bed.
If they cry, pick them up and smell them, burp them and put the baby back in bed.
Do not play with the baby!
If the days and nights are badly mixed this could take up to 2 weeks to fix. Otherwise a few days should do the trick.
Always use your mothers intuition! You know your baby best.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Illness
My family just survived our first full blown family illness. This was not fun and very difficult. We all took our turn having a virus. This made me think about the fact that there are a bunch of things that I did not know the first time my son was sick.
FIRST and foremost go out and buy a container of clear pedialyte!!!!!!!!! You always end up needing it in the middle of the night. While your at it make sure you have a good thermometer, Tylenol (or store brand), Motrin (or store brand-if your baby is 6mons or older), a cool mist humidifier, saline nose drops, nasal aspirator and vicks vapor rib
If your baby has a fever-105 or more call your doctor ASAP
Give the baby a dose of tylenol or mortin. Give the baby a warm bath and gradually add cool water. This will help the fever to come down gradually. A cold bath could shock the baby. If the fever does not come down with the 1st dose of meds, you can give both tylenol and motrin but 2 hours apart. My son needed this. His fevers were always so high they needed every trick in the book to come down.
If they throw up-1 time just watch the babies behavior. If they do this 2 times, wait 30 minutes and you can give the baby 1-2 ounces of pedialyte, continue this for several hours so that the baby stays hydrated. After several hours you can most likely give the baby a bigger bottle of pedialyte. Wait 12 hours before giving the baby a milk product again. Do not give the baby food! Although my daughter did enjoy chewing on a teething biscuit at meal times.
If they have diareah-do not give the baby a milk/formula bottle, switch to pedialyte. You can give the baby simple food. Many people say feed them the BRAT diet. B-bananas, R-rice, A-applesauce, T-toast This helps to bind the baby.
If the baby cannot keep anything in for 4-6 hours, you need to call your doctor. The most important thing is that the baby not get dehydrated. You want to avoid a trip to the emergency room!
If the baby is coughing-there is no cough meds to give kids anymore. You can steam them in the bathroom. You turn the shower on hot, put a towel under the door and stay in the bathroom until the water starts dripping down from the ceiling like rain. Usually about 20 minutes! This will moisten the lungs and helps the baby breath and not cough as much. IT SUCKS! YOU GET SOAKED AND YOU ARE COLD WHEN YOU COME OUT OF THE BATHROOM! Make sure the baby is stripped into their diaper before you do this and wrap them in a towel before you come out so that they stay warm. It really works if you do it correctly. Also, make sure that you use a cool mist humidifier and vicks vapor rub is good too when you put them to sleep.
If their nose if congested-lay the baby down on its back, squirt the saline into their nose. Wait about a minute or 2 and you can use the nasal aspirator. Usually you will get a little bit out this way. If you can see stuff in their nose and you cannot get it with the aspirator, you can gently use a Q-tip around the outer edge. That usually gets it out.
GOOD LUCK!
FIRST and foremost go out and buy a container of clear pedialyte!!!!!!!!! You always end up needing it in the middle of the night. While your at it make sure you have a good thermometer, Tylenol (or store brand), Motrin (or store brand-if your baby is 6mons or older), a cool mist humidifier, saline nose drops, nasal aspirator and vicks vapor rib
If your baby has a fever-105 or more call your doctor ASAP
Give the baby a dose of tylenol or mortin. Give the baby a warm bath and gradually add cool water. This will help the fever to come down gradually. A cold bath could shock the baby. If the fever does not come down with the 1st dose of meds, you can give both tylenol and motrin but 2 hours apart. My son needed this. His fevers were always so high they needed every trick in the book to come down.
If they throw up-1 time just watch the babies behavior. If they do this 2 times, wait 30 minutes and you can give the baby 1-2 ounces of pedialyte, continue this for several hours so that the baby stays hydrated. After several hours you can most likely give the baby a bigger bottle of pedialyte. Wait 12 hours before giving the baby a milk product again. Do not give the baby food! Although my daughter did enjoy chewing on a teething biscuit at meal times.
If they have diareah-do not give the baby a milk/formula bottle, switch to pedialyte. You can give the baby simple food. Many people say feed them the BRAT diet. B-bananas, R-rice, A-applesauce, T-toast This helps to bind the baby.
If the baby cannot keep anything in for 4-6 hours, you need to call your doctor. The most important thing is that the baby not get dehydrated. You want to avoid a trip to the emergency room!
If the baby is coughing-there is no cough meds to give kids anymore. You can steam them in the bathroom. You turn the shower on hot, put a towel under the door and stay in the bathroom until the water starts dripping down from the ceiling like rain. Usually about 20 minutes! This will moisten the lungs and helps the baby breath and not cough as much. IT SUCKS! YOU GET SOAKED AND YOU ARE COLD WHEN YOU COME OUT OF THE BATHROOM! Make sure the baby is stripped into their diaper before you do this and wrap them in a towel before you come out so that they stay warm. It really works if you do it correctly. Also, make sure that you use a cool mist humidifier and vicks vapor rub is good too when you put them to sleep.
If their nose if congested-lay the baby down on its back, squirt the saline into their nose. Wait about a minute or 2 and you can use the nasal aspirator. Usually you will get a little bit out this way. If you can see stuff in their nose and you cannot get it with the aspirator, you can gently use a Q-tip around the outer edge. That usually gets it out.
GOOD LUCK!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Weight After Baby
Many people say it takes nine months to gain it and it takes nine months to loose it! It took me a year to loose it all with my son. It sucked! I did everything and then some to get all the weight off.
When I was pregnant with my daughter I ate better, gained less but 6 months postpartum, I still have 12lbs to go.
I breast fed both of my children for 6 months and people always say when you breast feed the weight melts off.
I am living proof and so are about 10 other moms that I have recently spoken to, the last 10-15lbs do not come off (typically) until after you are done breast feeding. We are pretty sure it is hormones. It is also very hard to cut calories to what you really need to, to get that last bit off.
Breast feed your babies as long as you wish, but just understand that you cannot expect to reclaim your former weight and your former body, until you are done 100%. I have tried it and failed. Be proud to breast feed your children if you choose to and it works for you and baby. Do not knock those that don't! And, don't be hard on yourself to look perfect too quickly. When your all done feeding your baby, you can focus on the rest. You are doing a selfless act!
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