I’m beginning to believe The Poo dropped on our doorstep fully formed, able to sleep, eat and poop all by her own self.
That’s what it feels like, ya’ll. Like I am a first-time mother for the second time. What’s THAT all about? Huh? Huh?
I can’t remember how to get him on a schedule. I can’t remember how much I should feed him. I can’t remember to change his poor diaper. I’m all, hey kid, this is a seriously wet diaper! Oh, yeah, its been four hours since I changed you!
Don’t go reporting me to social services, m’kay? I’m telling you this because I need advice.
Yes, that’s right. I am asking the interwebz for assvice, on purpose. I know that’s like putting out a dish of vitriol and asking ye olde trolls to come and have some, but I’m desperate.
Here is the 411:
Shaggy Boy is eight weeks and three days old. He seems to be taking two good naps a day, but he won’t sleep in the crib. He only wants to nap in his cradle swing. Which is, totally, my fault. I conditioned him into sleeping there, mostly because it was the only way he would sleep.
Now, my little Pavlov is addicted to it. And I admit I use that to my advantage, because the kid is powerless against that thing. He sleeps for hhhhhooooourrrrs. Hours I need to get shit done.
Very, very occasionally, he will sleep through the night. Like last night, he went to sleep at 9 p.m., woke at midnight for one feeding, and put himself back to sleep when he woke again at 3 a.m. But typically, he is up every three to four hours for a bottle.
Now, The Poo went to sleep the night she turned eight weeks old and slept like – wait for it – a baby for years. She has sleep issues right now, too, but that’s a post for another day.
I am putting Shaggy Boy in the crib, but most nights he falls asleep (*ducks*) in the swing. I know, I know! Terrible idea. Just ask Linda. I can’t help it. I NEED HIM TO SLEEP PEOPLE.
He is eating four ounces every four hours or so, and we are still fiddling with his formula. He is getting doctor-prescribed juice and soy formula, to see if we can curb the constipation. Should he be getting six ounces at longer intervals?
I’m still not convinced that he doesn’t have reflux. He spits up a lot and he also gets gas like nobody’s business, no matter what formula he is on. Any thoughts about/experience with that?
I need assvice of the eating and sleep-training kind, oh ye wise mamas. Because as it turns out, waiting three and three-quarters years to have another kid means that your memory has been wiped clean.
Otherwise, everyone in the world would only do this once – because LET ME TELL YOU, this shit is hard.
Now let me have it!
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
I forget everything between babies too! Weird.
I can’t get mine to sleep in the crib before about 4 months. I got nothin’.
Okay, I didn’t have time to read everybody else’s response, but here’s what worked for me. I fed my girl Isomil soy formula because I and everybody else I’m related to is allergic to dairy, and it made her constipated too. So one day my Mom says: just get a child’s suppository, just barely stick the end in her bum, and in 5 minutes she will poop. And boy, did it work! I did it every morning, and sometimes at night too if she seemed uncomfortable. And like, the next day, she started sleeping through the night. And after a couple of weeks, she just started pooping by herself and I didn’t need to do it anymore. Hope that helps!
Super Baby Food (Paperback)
by Ruth Yaron (Author)
It sounds to me that he may be very uncomfortable, gas, like you said… Soy is not a very sound option and you may want to rethink the doctor’s advice.
Relax take a deep breath and know you can only do the best you can, none of us have the answer to fix it for you so you know it is not easy. Even after four I still wonder.
However, I swear that if you get his gut settled you will see a big difference, and as long as he can’t get hurt while in the swing, use it to your advantage.
Think about it this way, you could be one of the mothers who has to carry the little bundle all the time to get a moment of peace. At least your arms are free this way. I am routing for you, you can do it and soon you will be the one giving the advice!
I have two special needs kids and one has severe stomach troubles, I have done tons of research on digestion so please contact me with ANY questions, if I don’t have the answer I will research it.
Also, I am a proponent of the “rapid return” method for getting babies to sleep. Sugarplumsmom set out a strategy, however if he is “unwell” it will just stress everyone out because it wont work until he feels better.
Take care my old friend,
S
Infant Formula Recipe
In addition to high levels of aluminum in soy estrogens in soy (a soy-fed baby receives the equivalent of five birth control pills’ worth of estrogen every day), recent research suggests that high concentrations of manganese in soy can lead to brain damage in infants.
2 Cups – Goats Milk
2 Cups – Enriched Vanilla Rice Dream
1 T. – Black Strap Molasses
1 T. – Liquid Acidophilus
1 T. – Flax Seed Oil
1 t. – Liquid Vitamin C
1 t. – Liquid CalMag (calcium & magnesium)
1/8 t. – Wheat Germ (powdered **)
16 drops – Trace Minerals (concentrated)
1 t. – Infant Vitamins (optional)
I wanted to add this before; I have not checked the validity of the claim against Soy however I am reading over and over again in different sources of how it may not be the great food it was originally touted as.
Take advice with a grain of salt and go with your gut, you are strong.
I swore by Rachel Waddilove’s The Baby Book: How to Enjoy Year One. I used her flexible schedule and my son slept 6 hours at 6 weeks and 12 hours at 12 weeks. She’s genius. I never felt like I was forcing him into the schedule. In fact, a couple times I noticed he didn’t seem hungry when it was time to eat, checked the book and sure enough it was time to add some time between feedings. You can get the book at Amazon.
Am at the coffee shop working — I mean, “working,” — and pretending I am you! I’M FAMOUS PEOPLE! I AM MRS. CHICKEN!!
Anyway, 1) after your first baby you can’t be expected to remember to change diapers until they are overflowing. Consider it your little gift to Mother Earth.
My boys slept in their swings until they were about 8 months old. My oldest slept in her car seat until she was 9 months old. They all had reflux. If you feel like Shaggy has reflux he probably does. Let him keep sleeping in the swing or otherwise upright. Deal with it later. My kids’ transitions from swing/seat to crib were very easy — one night of protesting and that was it.
My youngest was exclusively breastfed at first and her gas was TERRIBLE. Also she wasn’t constipated, but she only pooped every 5-7 days and seemed very uncomfortable the last half of that, even though her poos were smushy like they should be. They had me start supplementing with soy and that didn’t change anything, although later I did discover she had a soy allergy, which sucked.
My gassy baby was only comfortable sleeping on her belly, preferably across my lap so there was a bit of pressure on her tummy. Otherwise she would scream like a banshee and it was a bit unsettling, which is saying a lot coming from a mother who had one baby with severe reflux and twins with moderate reflux.
Poor Mrs. Chicken! Remember that it is okay to let your baby sleep in a swing, on your bed, on your belly, upside down, in a hammock, in a sling, or anywhere else he likes. Later on, when you feel that he is older and more ready, you can go right ahead and let him cry it out. But if you feel he is too little/ at risk of choking/ your beautiful son who you really don’t want to leave to cry… Don’t bother right now. Why torture yourself? And him? You will not spoil him, all that will happen is that you will be letting him sleep wherever he wants. That’s okay. Really! Truly! My boys all slept with me for the first year to year-and-a-half, because I WAS NOT about to get out of my cozy bed for (I thought) no reason. Once I was ready to move them to their own beds, I did. here’s how I did it, and it was fine. The moral of the story is, as you can see by all of the other great advice above, there is no “Right” way. If anyone tries to tell you that you are doing the wrong thing, glare at them and stick out your tongue!
My boys each had trouble with formula and the only one that worked for them was Nutramegen. It claims it’s for colic but it also helped with the massive spit up that Sam had. I’m talking enough to soak him, me and the floor all the way across the room. I hope you don’t mind but I included a link to the website so you know what it is that I’m talking about.
I will also let you know it’s expensive but WIC covers it with a doctor’s note if you use the program. I did just to help cover the cost. But I’m also in NY where everything is costly.
As for his sleeping…when I switched my kids to this they were able to sleep a ton better and started not to care where they were as long as they were able to sleep!
Also before I switched my babies also slept in the swing because I needed sleep just as much as they did! Don’t beat yourself up over that!
ps sorry I forgot the link to the formula:
http://www.enfamil.com/app/iwp/enfamil/productDetail.do?dm=enf&id=/Consumer_Home2/Enf_Products/ForInfants/NutramigenLIPIL2&iwpst=B2C&ls=0&csred=1&r=3400927011
Okay. You don’t know me, but I feel the need to chime in…8 weeks is nada, let me tell you, when it comes to swing sleeping. My babe is 7.5 months and we are still working on the swing ween. She is now at the stage where she starts out in the crib, and we attempt to put her back in the crib after she wakes in the middle of the night- with a success rate of about 50%. Nap time, however, is another story. My sister sure got her money’s worth on that swing, let me tell you.
And as for forgetting everything after waiting 3.75 year to have another kid…don’t feel too bad. My kids are only 22 months apart, and I seriously think I have early onset alzheimers as it relates directly to child-rearing. I can’t remember ANYTHING. Good luck!
My little one had reflux also. But he never spit up he just cried and could not sleep. He also had a constant runny nose from the reflux.
He might be sleeping better in the swing because of the angle he is in. Maybe try putting bricks under the feet of the head end of the crib so the baby’s head is higher. We had to do this for my little one and it really helped with the reflux.
I also tried every bottle made and found that the Dr. Brown bottle helped keep gas away. Hope that helps.
Little B. is 2 1/2 now and we probably will not have another for at least a year and a half, so I am sure I will be in the same position you are in about forgeting how to take care of an infant!
On the feeding thing: Zantac saved us. Could we be certain she had reflux? No. But the symptoms were indicating that, and so the ped had us try it, and it really made a difference. She had gas too, so a switch to the Good Start formula seemed to work for her (it’s hard to remember, but 6 oz sounds familiar). That, and LOTS of burping after each feeding plus gas drops as needed. And bicycling her little legs through a bad bout.
As for sleep issues, I’m not the one to ask. I held her for every nap and she slept in the swing for the first few hours every night so we could eat and get some things done before I took her into bed. The crib never worked for her, no matter what I did. She craved motion, and otherwise had to be ON me. I think you do what you have to do. You can train him at any time, so if the swing works, why not go with it?
It’s important to remember that training is never once-and-for-all anyway, as you always have to retrain (I’m doing it now, in fact, yet again). If you find something that works, stick with it until it doesn’t work anymore and then reinvent.
And yes, I agree with Meredith above, the swing may feel better if he has reflux, b/c of the angle.
← Previous Comments