We recognized two patterns last week. Two that we immediately knew we needed to put an end to. Two that had the potential to become bad habits.
Pattern #1:
Since Chase was born he has been held A LOT. He is our first, he is the first grand baby, nephew, etc. It kind of makes sense, but now we are making sure he isn't held as often. Why? Because two things happened last week; he would cry when put in his bouncer or on the floor and he would fall asleep in your arms easily but wake up the moment you laid him down.
Since we figured that out we've made some changes. He's placed in the bouncer or on the floor unless sleeping or feeding (well, or when mommy wants to cuddle or when daddy comes home). He doesn't like it at first but soon calms down and especially when he realizes someone is still there with him. He's a social little guy, we can already see that for sure! As soon as he falls asleep in our arms, we lay him down and he's finally sleeping through the movement. He even put himself to sleep a few times already! (You know it's bad when that is a big deal!)
I love holding him, but not all of the time, because believe it or not, it does get tiring! Plus I wasn't getting much done. Our place has been a lot cleaner since he lays down without fighting it:)
Pattern #2:
"Grazing"... that's right, feeding ALL of the time. He would be feeding every half hour - hour or so it seemed. I began to feed him almost any time he cried, in order to soothe him. That quickly became tiring as well plus with all of the "grazing" he wasn't getting full. That was why the feedings were so close together. I've now recognized this, a few weeks late, I know. Now when he cries I soothe him by rocking and giving him a binky. That calms him down right away. Funny how much time and energy I could have saved! Not to mention the fact that now he eats better and lasts longer and even sleeps more because of this!
He loves to suck, which I at first blamed the hospital nurses for because they gave him a binky right off the bat, but I read recently in a few books we have, that most infants enjoy sucking often. That doesn't mean on mom...
Silly me.
"coo-ing face"
Our little guy has been coo-ing like c r a z y lately! It's as though he wants to talk to us! We are loving that for sure. Ah, so sweet.
Green poo? Yep! I mean so so so so green. When I changed him yesterday it was in 3 diapers and freaked me out. I was worried even more when I looked at the index in The Baby book and 'green stool' had it's own few pages! Yikes. Well, no worries, because it turned out to be a problem I could easily fix. Basically this green poop (not all green poop is a result of this, sometimes it's more serious) was caused by a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Sounds complicated, but it's really not. Foremilk is thinner, the lower fat milk that he receives at the beginning of a feeding. Hindmilk comes a few minutes later and it's higher in fat. The reason we were having a problem is because of my abundance of milk. I am now pumping in between feeding to relieve myself of the weight and the aching and in order to not overwhelm my little man.
It could be worse, as in little to no milk. I shouldn't complain!
Well, that's it for today!
2 comments:
I really enjoy your updates thank you so much! He is such a beautiful baby boy! During my pregnancy and even now as Landen is growing i enjoy reading babycenter.com updates i just wanted to share this with you as it relates to this blog. "Babies love and need to suck, so don't discourage it. In fact, you may have already discovered that a pacifier works wonders in helping your baby calm down. When the "binky" or your finger isn't available, your baby may even be able to find her thumb or fingers to soothe herself.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends using a pacifier at nap time and bedtime, based on evidence that using a pacifier may reduce the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). That said, there's no need to reinsert the pacifier if it falls out once your baby's asleep."
Love you girl
talk to you soon
Danielle
Hey Jami, I read about how you pump in between feedings. I have a piece of advice that was really useful for me. Well as I hear you do, I was a milk machine also, I made so much milk and I know how painfull and heavy it is. However, I suggest you hold off the pumping in between feedings because then your breasts will never get used to producing the correct amount of milk for Chase. After a week or less of not pumping, your breast will get used to making just the right amount of milk for Chase. Our breas are made to make milk according to the sucking and suction that your baby does. At first it will be complicated cause you will be uncomfortable and you might shower chase in milk at first, but then your life will be so much easier cause you will only make milk when it is time for Chase to eat. For example if you feed him every two hours, your breast will make the right amount every two hours. I dont know if I explained myself well enough but I hope this piece of advice is helful.
God bless,
Ethel
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