The 2009 MOMS & MOMS-to-Be Club

[Beach Club Babe]

Congratulations! That's wonderful news!

[Georgesgirl1]

Congrats!

I need some advice about getting babies on schedules. How old was your LO when he/she was on a schedule. I am going back to work in a little less than 7 weeks and I know we are going to have to get on some sort of a schedule. I will have to be waking up at 5am in order to get myself and Myers ready and be at school by 7am. Right now, he is going to bed at night around 10pm and getting up once at around 4am and then we wake up at 8 or 9. Obviously this schedule is not going to work once I go back to school. I wanted to slowly move to a 8 or 9pm bedtime. That way he would wake up around 1 or 2 am and then I could get him up around 6am once I am dressed and ready for work. Of course, he is also still sleeping in our bed about half the time. I hate to just leave him to cry himslef to sleep in his own room, but I think it will have to come to this soon since I am unable to get a restful night sleep with him in our room or in our bed. Do y'all let your LO's cry themselves to sleep? How long did it take before they didn't cry every night? I am wondering if I started a nap schedule would he sleep better at night. We try not to let him nap after about 4 or 5pm, but sometimes he falls asleep while we are playing with him. Any advice would be appreciated!

[meldan98]

With Maddie, she's been pretty flexible. When my dh has to go out of town, all of our schedules go out the window. She takes it in stride. I might suggest, just gradually adjusting her schedule, maybe a half hour a time over a few days.

The sleeping thing is a whole differnt story. That can be more difficult. There are a few methods that you can research, one of the them is the Ferber method and I don't recall some of the other methods off the top of my head. I have not read any of those but, what I did was transitioned her from our bed to a pack n play next to our bed then to a crib. I would only let her cry about 10 minutes, and then check her diaper, feed her and then try again. It's all a matter of personal choice on how to move forward at this point.

So, Maddie had her 4 month well baby yesterday and she is still really little weight wise, but is very long. 14% for weight but 65% for length. The dr is not concerned though since she is on the same growth pattern so far. She was not well for her well baby though. She had to go to daycare last week since my dh was out of town. The provider's son was really sick with what I thought the 1st day was a cold. It turned out to be pnemonia (sp?) by the end of the week. So, sure enough, on Saturday, Maddie started sneezing and by Sunday, she was congested, coughing and looked just miserable. The dr took a look at her and said that she more than likely has RSV. She said that they have had a ton of cases come in over the last couple of days. Word of advise, keep your little ones away from those with cold symptoms. Maddie actually started coughing last night and sharted choaking. It was scary, but she was okay.

[IloveJack]

I need some advice about getting babies on schedules. How old was your LO when he/she was on a schedule.

Kristin, I'm pretty sure our schedules are roughly the same, with us both being teachers. Now, Sam's been sleeping through the night since 8 weeks, so that's a bit different. But I thought I would tell you her schedule and maybe you could tweak it to fit your needs.

Bedtime is at 9, or as close as we can get to that. She wakes sometimes during the night, but once I replace her bink, she's out again. Before I got to bed, I get everything of hers ready for the next day (diapers, wipes, cereal, spoon, bottle, bib... and lay her outfit out.)
She wakes me up between 4:30-5am to eat, then I put her back to bed. I get up at 6 to get myself ready for school. While I'm getting ready, my DH gets her up, changes her diaper, dresses her, and puts her in the carseat. (She typically falls back asleep then).
Now, I take her with me to school, and keep her until 9am, but since you're pumping, it could work about the same. I wake her at 8:30, give her cereal, and then nurse her.
At 9:00, she goes to the sitters. She naps from 10-12, and then has a bottle around 12:30. I get her back at 2:00.
We're home by 4:00, which is when she eats next. I try very hard not to let her sleep more than an hour between then and her next feeding. Of course, she's older, so that helps.
At 8:00, she gets another bowl of cereal and is nursed. Then we change her into her pj's and keep her up a little longer. She typically gets drowsy around 8:50, so we pop the bink in her mouth and calm things down. We put her in her cradle (still in our room) around 9:00.

Now, as for your other questions, that doesn't mean she falls asleep immediately. But we know that if she isn't drowsy, she isn't going to sleep right away. I made the mistake of letting her take a 4 hour nap between 4-8 last night (I had a stack of papers 5 inches high to grade, and she was quiet... I just couldn't bring myself to keep her up). We didn't get to sleep until almost midnight! But that's not normally the case. I don't let her cry it out, but I don't hold her til she's sleeping, and I usually don't stay with her. I put her to bed and leave the room. When she cries, I return, give her bink back to her and leave again. I don't want her relying on my being there, so that the transistion to her room will be easier. By the way, we plan to do that over spring break (week after next). That way, if I don't get to bed on time, it's okay. I'm also thinking about starting some veggies then... haven't made a solid decision there.
And yes, nap schedules help! An overly tired baby won't sleep well at night, either. Of course, if Myers is like Sam, he'll probably start sleeping longer at night pretty soon.

I know this is getting long... sorry

Melissa, I'm sorry to hear that Maddie has RSV, such a horrible thing for a baby! Sam's right there with her, though, in regards to the long and skinny thing. At her 4 month, she was in the 10th for weight and the 80th for length! The cereal seems to be putting some weight on her now, though.

[IloveJack]

I just wanted to shout it. WE'RE GOING TO WDW! After some calculations, I think we can afford the free dining promo. So I booked us from Sept. 27 - Oct. 1. Now, I'm just hoping we can get CRT on the morning of the 1st for Sam's b-day... ::crossed::

BTW, for those of you on FB, please keep this a secret. We can't afford the trip to So Cal for my friend's wedding, so she won't understand this. But all 3 of us can go to WDW for 5 days (including resort, park hoppers, and dining) for the cost of just plane tickets to So Cal.

[Lacy]

Congrats January-2007!!! Welcome to the great club of motherhood.

Susan what wonderful news!! That will be such a fun way to celebrate Sam's birthday.

Kristin ~ I don't have much advice for you on the schedule since we haven't figured out how to get Elias on a schedule yet. He consistently sleeps at night but doesn't take consistent naps. Since he is sleeping at night and happy during the day we haven't worried about getting a schedule. The one thing I will say is that we don't gain anything by trying to keep Elias awake in the evening. In fact some nights when we've tried to keep him up he sleeps worse than the nights when he naps from 6-9.

Melissa ~ so sorry that Madeline had RSV. I hope she is doing better.

Elias had his weight check today and he's up to 13 lbs at 5 months. They said height and weight he is 5th percentile but I don't need to be concerned since he is back on the charts. He's just going to be small. And they said no cereal or anything for another month.

[Georgesgirl1]

Melissa- It must be really hard to have a sick little one. I hope Maddie is feeling better!

Susan- I'm glad you figured out a way to make it to WDW for Samantha's b-day. If you can't get CRT think about 1900 Park Fare. I couldn't get CRT for my birthday last year and we did Park Fare instead and had lots of fun!

Lacy- I'm glad Elias is back on the charts. I think Myers is going to be tiny too. He finally hit 9 lbs at 7 1/2 weeks. Some of my friends kids were that big at birth!

Thanks for all the advice on schedules. We have started giving Myers his last feeding at 8pm and then start trying to get him to sleep around 9pm. He has been doing pretty good most nights. We have had to go in a few times a night when he cries until he finally drifts off by himself. Friday night he actually slept from 9pm-3:30am! Of course then Saturday he wouldn't go to sleep until close to midnight! Then again his schedule was a little off b/c his my parents came to babysit him while George and I went out for his 30th birthday. We went to see Slumdog Millionaire (very good) and had sushi for dinner. It was nice to get out, but after being gone for 4 hours I really started missing Myers. It was the longest I have ever been away from him.

BTW it is snowing pretty hard right now. I think we might have a good bit of accumulation (well, a good bit by Georgia standards). I may have to bundle Myers up and get some pictures of him during his first real snow!

[Emme&TeddysMommy]

I just wanted to shout it. WE'RE GOING TO WDW! After some calculations, I think we can afford the free dining promo. So I booked us from Sept. 27 - Oct. 1. Now, I'm just hoping we can get CRT on the morning of the 1st for Sam's b-day... ::crossed::

BTW, for those of you on FB, please keep this a secret. We can't afford the trip to So Cal for my friend's wedding, so she won't understand this. But all 3 of us can go to WDW for 5 days (including resort, park hoppers, and dining) for the cost of just plane tickets to So Cal.

We will be there the same time as you! That's so exciting!

[Emme&TeddysMommy]

I know it’s been a while since I have posted, but thing here have been really crazy. I was doing daycare for a friend for a few months, but quickly discovered that watching 4 kids under the age of 2 ½ was insane. So I decided that in order to keep my sanity our two little ones were enough for me.

Gavin just had his 18 month checkup. He is in the 55% for weight, but here is the kicker he is off the carts for height. The doctor says that they project he will be 6 +. I don’t know how much I believe in predicting height at such a young age, but it’s hard to think my baby will be towering over me someday. My husband is 6’ 4” so that shouldn’t surprise me. We just enrolled Emme into preschool and she can’t wait for fall to get here!

I am so happy to hear that everyone is doing well and that your little ones are growing so quickly. It seems to go bye in the blink of an eye. I love reading on the progress of all you little ones.

Kristen good luck with your snow fall! After it’s done with you it’s headed my way. We are projected to get 8-10”. The kids are going to love playing outside tomorrow. I honestly can’t wait for spring.

[January-2007]

Hey everyone! I have been feeling a lot of morning sickness and was wondering how many months that usually lasts, just the first three, or more? We're going to WDW in August when I'll be about 6 months, and I sure hope I don't feel sick then. Any suggestions for planning the trip? Thanks!

[krose78]

It is supposed to go away after the 1st trimester but I am having a baby in 43 days and am still sick all the time. I hope it goes away for you so that you can enjoy Disney.

[Georgesgirl1]

January 2007- Morning sickness usually goes away around the end of your 1st trimester. I had one friend who had morning sickness her entire pregnancy, but her doctor gave her medicine to take since she was unable to function normally and couldn't keep missing days at work. A few things you might want to try are peppermints and ginger tea or ginger snaps. Those all worked well for me.
I hope you have fun on your trip to Disney. DH and I went when I was 25 weeks pregnant and had a blast! Drink lots of water and take lots of breaks. We went back to the resort right after lunch each day and took a nap and then headed back to the park around 4 or so. I think that would be even more important b/c of the heat in August.


Myers had his 2 month check-up on Wednesday. He is 9lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long. That's 10th percentile weight and 5th in height. He had to have three shots and it was so hard to watch. I think it was more difficult for me than it was for him. He cried until I was able to comfort him, but I wanted to cry everytime I thought about it for the rest of the day!

[meldan98]

January 2007 - You should be over most of your morning sickness by your trip, but you may still have triggers. By that I mean, smells, tastes or textures that make you queezy. For me it was mashed potatoes, bananas and things that had a really strong meaty smell. Weird, I know. By then, you should learn some tricks to help combat the icky feeling. I found that if I ate more protien in the morning, I felt better. I also found that if I snacked more frequently it also helped.

I hope that everyone in snow country is doing well. We have been getting a lot of rain, but we really need it.

Kristen - It sounds like Myers is a little peanut like my Madeline. The shots are the worst. With Abby, I cried worse than she did when they gave them to her. I still feel bad when they get the shots, but as they get older they sometimes don't even react. One time Abby actually slept through the shot.

Madeline's RSV seems to be clearing up well. We had been giving her an abuterol (sp?) treatments before bed and we had really rough nights. She wouldn't stay asleep, or she would get so upset, she would be difficult to get calmed down. Yesterday, she didn't cough at all so we skipped the breathing treatment and she did great, got some sleep and she doesn't seem congested at all. We also did her first rice ceral feeding last night. It went ok, she seemed to be indifferent about it at first, but then she took a couple of big bites.

My dh and I talked and it looks like we will be making two trips to DL this year! YEAH!!! We are going to use his hotel points and are going to just really watch our money when we go. I am so excited. We aren't going to tell our oldest about her birthday trip. It will be a surprise. We will be there on her actual birthday, so it should be a lot of fun. I will have to pull her out of kindergarten for one day for one trip and half of a day for her trip. Hopefully her teacher won't have an issue with it. I know I won't do it much if at all as she gets older.

[dumbo_buddy]

hi ladies! i'm 24 weeks now and DH and i just got back from WDW on saturday night. we stayed for 8 days and had a blast. there were so many pregnant women there! missing out on the thrill rides was a little stinky but just being in disney was awesome!!!

my question - do any of you ladies have Disney themed nurseries?? i really want to do a disney theme but am having trouble finding bedding sets. i'm having a boy so i don't want princesses and i don't want pooh (not b/c it's girly, just b/c i'm not crazy about pooh!)

any thoughts on where to find disney nursery stuff? or what kind of things i could do to decorate? i am a TERRIBLE decorator. anyone have pics???? thanks!

[Georgesgirl1]

Dumbo buddy- I'm glad you had fun at Disney. It is tough to have to skip all the thrill rides, but it's all worth it in the end. I missed Space Mountain this past trip, will miss it this summer when it is down, and hopefully I will be pregnant with out second on our 2010 trip, so it will be 4 years between times I get to ride it
We considered a Disney themed nursery, but couldn't find anything we really liked. I was at Babies r Us today and there was a really cute Mickey sports themed set that must have been new. I had never seen it before, but it was really cute.


Myers and I were in the St. Patrick's Day parade in my hometown today. It is the kind of parade that no one actually watches, everyone just joins in on the parade as it passes by you. It was so fun. I used to be in the parade when I was little so it was nice for him to be able to take part in it as well. My mom made a sign for his stroller that said, "My mommy marched in the St. Patrick's Day parade and now I am too!" and it had pictures of me when I was little all dressed up. My mom posted pics on Facebook, so if you go to my page you can see my cute little Leprechaun!

[dumbo_buddy]

hey kristin - i will check out the mickey stuff at babies r us, thanks!

by the way...i just read your siggy and it says your 28th bday trip ended on oct. 4th....i turned 28 on oct. 4th! funny!

[meldan98]

Dumbo Buddy - If you don't find a theme that you like, you can always just improvise. With our first, we did blue walls and then did white clouds on the walls, some of the them in Mickey shapes, then we just did some Disney art and neutral bedding. This time, we did lavendar walls with a pixie dust stensil boarder and again neutral bedding and some Tinkerbell artwork.

[Lacy]

How is everyone doing with your little ones or pregnancies? It seems like it has been awhile since I've been on Intercot. I have Elias' 6 month check-up tomorrow....I really can't believe how fast it has gone!

I had a really long and awful week at work and we had a blizzard today but I'm very happy and had to share with my Intercot buddies that we just booked Elias' first trip to a Disney park!!!! We are going to Disneyland for one day on DH's birthday which is in a month. We started looking at the numbers and found cheap flights and decided that it would be worth it and we don't have to take time off of work. It will be a very fast trip but so worth it! I am just so excited about a day at Disneyland with Elias! And I can't believe that we are actually able to take advantage of the get in free on your birthday promo since DH's b-day is on a Saturday. Please don't say anything on FB as I have to tell my sister who is going to be jealous that she won't be able to go with us.

[IloveJack]

Lacy - I'm so happy that you get to go to DL! David and I decided to change the dates of our trip in the fall, but we're still planning to go. We just needed to use less vacation days. I've been doing lots of research on things at WDW that Samantha can do, and it turns out that most of the things she can do, we've never done before. Neither DH or I have ever spent much time around Fantasyland, other than to get character pics. So we'll be experiencing a whole new "world." We're going for 4 days, so I'm trying to decide which park to do twice. I see no reason to go to DHS, as Sam could do very little there. Although, DH will probabaly balk at not seeing Fantasmic. We may hop from AK to DHS one night, but I was trying to save the $100 and not hop. Decisions, decisions...

So last Friday, we overslept. DH jumped out of bed and raced off to work, making it there with 1 minute to spare. I wasn't technically late, yet, so I took my time getting Sam ready. She had this tiny little cough, that sounded like she was faking (not that she knows how yet, that's just what it sounded like). Well, when I picked her up from the sitter's, she said she felt a little warm. I took her temp and it was 99.9 under her arm (wasn't at home to get a rectal). I debated back and forth about calling the doctor, but finally decided I didn't want to deal with the on-call dr. if it got worse over the weekend. We raced in to the office, trying to make the last appt. of the day. It turns out, Sam had/has pnuemonia! I had no clue! She was fine on Thursday, and by Friday afternoon was panting for breath! So she's been on antibiotics for a week now.
I kind of expected her to get sick, as the sitter's kids were sick all the week before, but not that sick. Crazy kid! She's been really healthy other than this.

So how are the other little ones?

[meldan98]

Lacy - I'm so happy for you that you get to go to DL. You guys will have so much fun.

Susan - I'm so sorry to hear that Sam had pnuemonia. Abby had that when she was two and it was so hard to see her be so miserable. I'm glad that your momma bear instinct kicked in though on going to the dr. when you did.

Maddie has had a horrible week sleeping. She would get up almost every two hours crying. I checked her mouth on Tuesday to see if she was teething and everything looked fine. I figured, she was just going through a growth spurt. Last night was Abby's open house at school, so when I finally got home last night and ate, Maddie got super fussy and she just started screaming. She sounded like she was in horrible pain. My dh came running into the room asking if I pinched her or something. I had no idea what the issue was. I changed her into her pajamas and got her a new diaper and she was still miserable, so I took her into the kitchen and looked in her mouth again. There it was, a brand new tooth, just starting to break through the skin. A little tylenol and a little rub of some baby oragel latter, she was sound asleep and actually slept for 5 hours. Finally, our house got a little sleep last night.