Feeding schedule

It seems like moms of 10 month olds are all over the board as far as how and when they are feeding their babies. This is what I am doing. Does this sound right?

7:00am: up for the day, breastfeed.
8:00am: breakfast- usually cereal mixed with fruit.
10:00am: nap
11:30am: breastfeed
12:30pm: lunch- mostly finger foods
2:30pm: nap
4:00pm: breastfeed
5:00pm: dinner- mostly finger foods
7:00pm: breastfeed then bed.

He gets a sippy of water throughout the day.

Cow's Milk and Weaning

So my little one will be turning one (gasp!) on Saturday, and I'm hoping to wean her shortly after that. I know that breastmilk is excellent for her and all, but I've been struggling to keep weight on and she doesn't take a bottle (I got lazy when she was about 6 months old and didn't pump for a couple of weeks, and when I tried to give her one she'd forgotten how to take it), so I can only leave home in certain "windows." My husband and I are looking forward to going out on dates that don't have to start after her bedtime feeding. =)

So here's my question: for those of you who have done this before, how long did it take (days, weeks, months), and did you have to get our kiddies settled on cow's milk first? I know you're technically supposed to wait until they're 1 to even try cow's milk, but I cheated and tried it last week from her sippy and she was very uninterested! She did have a little though, and didn't seem to have problems with it (she doesn't have any other allergies, so I figured it would be fine). Any suggestions for introducing cow's milk or for weaning in general?

Pumping at night

Thanks to Richard Ferber, NJ is sleeping through the night. He was since 6 months but then went through a regression and now he's back. He'll usually sleep a 10 hr stretch, wake up for a mini breakfast (1/2 a boob's worth), then go back to sleep for another 2 hours. Then he'll wake up and have the other boob.

I've been pumping before I go to sleep at night, usually around 10/11. Is this advisable? I know that my boobs need to be "trained" that they don't need to produce as much milk at night and the pumping might be throwing things off. But I think they're transitioning anyway b/c when I first used to do it, I'd still be really engorged around 2/3am and even be woken by the discomfort. Now, when I nurse NJ at 5/6am, they don't even feel full.

Thoughts?

My baby has ADD while nursing

NJ is exclusively breastfed and he is having a harder and harder time nursing. He is way too distracted! He will latch off to any little noise he hears. And nursing while we're out and about? Forget it! He is the same way when I try to give him a bottle. All of my old tricks aren't working. the only time he will nurse a decent amount is right after he wakes up. That is the ideal time to nurse him but it doesn't always turn out that way. When he is sleepy, he will nurse anywhere from 10-15 minutes. When he's awake, I'm lucky if I can get 3 minutes out of him. I don't think he is nursing more efficiently while he is alert either. Anyone else? Any suggestions?

oh baby legs...

I posted this on my own blog but thought it'd be nice to share here. I got a pair of BabyLegs for my almost 8 months old and thought it'd be good to DIY using scrap from home. I had a pair of cotton dress socks and a pair of thick stockings that my 2 yo daughter never used. Didn't take long to snip away the ends and Hayden loves it!
(btw The BabyLegs we got was cute but it's very tight around Hayden's thighs and calfs. I ended up using the DIY more often).

Training to Sit Still

So I almost called this "Church Training," but it applies to more than church and I didn't want to narrow my responses to those of you who go to church. This could also apply to something like storytime or watching a program at an older sibling's school...any situation where you want your little one to sit calmly and quietly on your lap and...well...he or she wants to do otherwise.

So the official question...how are each of you going about training your kids to sit still and quietly when appropriate? What has worked? What hasn't worked, and why hasn't it worked?

I ask because I really, really want to train my daughter (10.5 months old) to sit through our church service on my lap. Yesterday was one of the worst days yet...she was loud and all over the place. We've been working a lot on "don't touch" at home, and she normally obeys very well, but she was even disobedient in that regard yesterday. I add this because I do think she's "old enough" to learn to listen. I was really frustrated that she was loud and wouldn't sit still, but when I got home I realized something: I haven't taught her to. She doesn't know how I want her to behave, so it's not fair for me to expect her to act accordingly. I do need to teach her, I'm just not sure how. Any thoughts?

Evening dilemma

NJ isn't an early bird anymore. I guess it was a phase? He usually goes to bed around 7:30/8:00pm and wakes up at 7:30/8:00am now. He usually is able to stay up for 2.5 hrs at a time, except first thing in the morning. So his routine goes something like this:

7:30- up, breastfed
8:15- solids
9:30- nap#1
11:00- up, breastfed
11:45- solids
1:30- nap#2 (this nap tends to be longer than nap#1)
3:00- up, breastfed
3:45-solids
5:30- nap#3
6:00- up
7:00- breastfed
7:30/8:00- bedtime
(He still wakes up once in the night to eat, usually anytime between 2-5 am. If it's closer to 5, I feed him 1/2 a boob and top him off when he wakes up.)

My question is about his final nap. I try to keep this a catnap. It is usually a struggle to wake him up from this nap. I can tell that he wants to keep sleeping. 5:30 also seems a bit late for a naptime. But if I try to keep him up even to 6:00, he is a wreck. And 6:00 to me is a bit early for a bedtime. What should I do? I try to keep him up longer during the day (to 3 hrs) to stretch out his day and phase out his 3rd nap, but he ends up getting overtired and not napping well at all. Thoughts?

When to see the pediatrician?

My sister called me that her son (6 months) is running a fever of 102.6, and of course it would be a Saturday night. She was asking me when she should take him to the pediatrican, and this has always been something that I'm not entirely certain. My general rule of thumb has always been to call the doctor's office if Chloe's temp goes to 103 and take her in if she starts to act lethargic or out of her norm. (I think this is what the nurse told me, but it's been a few months. *knock on wood*)

When do you take your little ones to see the doctor if he/she is sick?

Convertible carseats

We are finally getting around to switching the infant carrier to a convertible carseat for NJ. We have a Graco Comfortsport that I got off of my registry but it seems that everyone else is getting a Britax Marathon/Boulevard. Should I be concerned? The B is way more expensive, but I wonder if I'm sacrificing quality by going with the Graco. What convertible carseats do you have? Any recommendations? If need be, I will look into returning the Graco and getting another one.

Late Night Feedings

Ok, so I've been having some issues w/ feeding Rachel before she goes down for the night. Originally, I thought it was b/c I was spacing her breastfeeding and solid food sessions out too far so that it was like she was constantly eating and wasn't hungry at night. Although changing her solid food sessions to be closer to her nursing sessions has helped out tremendously, I still run into the issue of her being really tired at the end of the day and sometimes unable to take in a full feeding. This morning she woke up at 4:30AM (and she was crying); she ate from both sides rather vigorously, and then I laid her back down and she slept until 7:15. So, obviously, she's hungry. Yesterday, she woke up at 5:30. I was able to hold her off until 6/6:30 to eat, but she wasn't interested in sleeping anymore pre-feeding or post-feeding. She was wide awake. She was doing well for about a week after I had reorganized her feeding schedule, but it seems like we're falling back in the same pattern. She can't stay awake any longer than 1PM usually in the afternoon, and yesterday, she wound up going for her afternoon nap pretty late (2PM), since the sitter didn't realize what time it was, and then she didn't fall asleep until 2:30. She then slept until almost 4:30. I fed her then, and then fed her again at 7PM before bedtime, but she still fought me at 7PM. I know teething rears its ugle head, but I hate to always assume that and give her more Tylenol. I do give her Tylenol, but I just don't want to do it every night. Sure, sometimes it makes a difference, but other times it doesn't, so I'm thinking either that may not be her issue or it varies from night to night what the issue is.

So, if anyone has any thoughts/advice on this or has run into similar situations, I'm all ears. Generally, Rachel has been a good sleeper and slept through the night (11-12 hours) from about 7 weeks on. But, since 5 1/2 to 6 months, it's been a little hit and miss at times. So, I'm a bit baffled as to why she seems to be more hungry but isn't taking in enough during the day......

Neoprene swim suits

In case any of you ever run into the same problem as we did of cold child in swimming pool, dress your little one in a neoprene swim suit. I bought one for my daughter off of iSnorkel.com. It was expensive but so worth it. My little one used to turn blue when she was in an unheated pool, and we had great success with a regular bathing suit worn underneath the neoprene suit.

Teething order

NJ has been very fussy today and refusing to nap or nurse. He already has his bottom 2 central incisors in as of 5 months. I checked up top and didn't see anything- I'm not really sure what swollen gums are supposed to look like. But when I checked on the bottom, his lateral incisor (next to the central ones) on the left side has broken through! So he must be teething and trying to break the other one in on the other side. Is this normal? I thought the top 2 buckteeth :) come in next.

Sideways blowouts

Whenever NJ poops, it almost always leaks out the sides, usually dirtying up the bottom of his shirt and pants. Occasionally, he'll have the classic blowout up the back. (Luckily, I have an awesome stain stick that leaves all his clothes stainless.) Is this something I just have to deal with? Or am I putting on his diaper too tightly? Or is it time to move up a diaper size?

Little Hivies?

I know on my blog I said that I may hold off on rice (in my diet) to see what it does to NJ's eczema. Well I changed my mind and decided to go a whole new direction- to start giving him rice cereal again. He will be 6 mo old on Tuesday, so I thought I'd go ahead and try again. (I had stopped at 5 mo and decided to wait b/c of his allergies)

He took it very well and his tongue thrust is gone, ate the whole thing. No reactions at all. BUT after a few hours I saw that there were little tiny hives around his mouth and on his cheeks. I mean they are tiny but still noticeable. He doesn't seem bothered by them.

Is this normal? Maybe I didn't clean him off as well as I thought I did? Or does my half-Asian boy indeed have a RICE ALLERGY!? Should I...
1. Keep trying rice for a few more days and see what happens
2. Skip over to oatmeal
3. Don't do any more solids until his 6 mo appt (Tuesday)?

How do you know?

I feel stupid for asking this. You would think that after 6 mo. I'd know my baby by now. But how do you know if baby is crying during naps/night due to
1. hunger (growth spurt)?
2. teething?
3. other sickness or discomfort?
4. reverting back to bad sleep habits? (wants to be rocked, nursed, held)

NJ has had the toughest time sleeping (naps and nights) after a week or so of great sleep unswaddled and decent sleep even before that. I don't know what to do.

Swaddle weaning update

Well NJ is doing fine without being swaddled despite the fact that it's the way he has slept since birth. The first night (no swaddle, no nothing) was rough. The second night (with sleep sack) was rough. The third night, he was up at 8:00, 9:00 then did a stretch from 9pm to 4am, which is great for us! The fourth night, he regressed a bit- up at 10:30, 12:30, 1:30, 5:00. He usually goes back to sleep with some light patting and shushing. We'll see how it goes tonight. He has rolled over with it but it was in his sleep and it didn't wake him. His biggest problem still are that he bumps into the railings and that sometimes when he transitions between sleep cycles, he scratches at his face and that wakes him up. I've been putting no-scratch mittens on but we keep losing them. Tonight, he has socks on his hands. Whatever it takes!

Teething woes and sleep

Don't laugh at me, I must have a very short memory since my elder daughter went thru the whole thing with me by her side... but my almost 6 month old Hayden is just killing me with his teething problems. He'd wake up with 30 min nap nowadays and desperately gnawing on his blanket, his hand, MY hand, everything... How long does this last for each tooth? And are all babies napping/sleeping like this during teething? Seems like he's been like this forever!

Anyone with "Baby tan-lines" in diaper area?

Did everyone else notice babies sometimes have "tan lines" on their tush?
My little girl Lexa had it as a baby. Since it was mostly summer time we were joking she went out to the beach while we were sleeping. As it turned out it's the bleach in the diapers (to make them snow white) that made her like that. After seeing our son with the same stuff (even tho he was born in winter and was always bundled) we switched to chlorine-free diaper. I got mine online for good price (just a bit more than normal ones, plus they have discount for first time customer), it's so soft and comfy, and Hayden's "tan line" is gradually disappearing now that it's been a couple of weeks. Just wanted to share...

Sleep Sacks

I thought I'd try a sleep sack to transition NJ from swaddling. Right now, he sleeps well swaddled with one arm out during naps, but at nights it is a disaster. So for those of you who have tried it, does it prevent the baby from rolling over? That seems to be biggest problem right now. He freaks out when he ends up on his tummy and has no control of his space, banging into rails all the time.
- kyung

It didnt stop my baby from rolling, it did keep her warm durng all that rolling bc loose blanket comes off, plus suffocation hazard :)
- ning

Going from 3 to 2 Naps

here's a question- NJ is currently taking 3 naps per day, usually lasting 1-1.5 hrs each or two 1.5-2 hr naps, and a 30 min catnap. I know that in the next couple of months I will have to drop the last nap. He currently stays awake for 2 hrs at a time during the day.

How did you go about transitioning your baby to 2 naps and increasing his/her awake time? Cold turkey? Or gradually? How gradually? When?