Thanks to all of you who took the time to answer my questions. I got some good info from you guys! I have always thought that I would be a super-strict-schedule-momma...many people did...but for whatever reason I have been more "go with the flow". Don't get me wrong...we have a "general" schedule...Nick gets up with Caroline at 5-5:30am...I get up with Parker around 6am...they eat...usually go back to sleep until 8-9am...eat...play...nap again...etc. Pretty consistent...just in more general time frames...nothing on the dot.
Inquiring minds want to know...
1. How do you know when to move to the next size nipple for the bottle?
(We are still using Level 1 Dr. Brown's.)
Based on what you guys said, I think we are still at Level 1...but then today Parker seemed like he was showing those "signs" of being ready for a faster flow nipple...so tomorrow I will sterilize the Level 2's and see how it goes.
2. How do you know when to up the ounces per feeding?
(We are doing about 4 ounces per feeding...unless it's a 2 ouncer for a snack...mainly because of Parker's acid reflux. The doctor said to not go over this amount...but when is it time to up it?)
I have been stopping at 4 ounces and this still seems to be working for us. If we go over this amount we seem to have more spit-up issues. They eat (depending on the time of day) every 2, 3, or 4 hours and of course longer at night...they have been doing around 6 hours at night. I would say on average they eat about 30 ounces in a day...mainly 4 ounces at a time...sometimes less.
3. How many naps per day are you guys doing?
We nap A LOT in this house. (I try to sneak them in too!) It is hard for the babies to stay awake after a bottle many times...but we are seeing longer stretches of "wake" time...especially in the afternoon. Wake time hangs out around 1.5 hours...but the long ones are around 2 hours. I would like to get them to take naps in their cribs...and we have 2 times attempted CIO/soothe...I just don't think they are quite ready for it...maybe when they are 4 months old? (I know...it's like saying "I'll start my diet Monday..." and Monday never comes.) They really love to sleep in their bouncy seats for nap time...at bedtime the cribs are no big deal and they (usually) go down without too much of a fuss.
4. What bedtime seems to work best for you...and more importantly your babies? (Yes...I'm hilarious I know. Trying to get a schedule going before I head back to work...yuck...in 1 month.)
The bedtime that seems to (for now) work for us is somewhere around 9 unless it is bath night and then we start with bath time around 8pm and go from there. Well...at least last bottle starts at 9...feed...burp...hold upright for the reflux...and of course a little snuggling. They are in their cribs by 11pm...sometimes earlier...sometimes sleepy but awake...and sometimes "knocked out." Nick doesn't get home from work until around 6:30pm...and wouldn't really have any "baby time" if we didn't do it later. We also like to walk with the babies in the evenings (although it has really been way too hot in GA lately) and can't do it after bathtime because we/they get sch-weaty.
Thanks guys! Looking forward to hearing what you have to say...
Again...thanks for taking time to answer my questions...means so much!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
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9 comments:
I love a questionnaire! Let's see if I remember...
1. When they seem irritated that the liquid isn't flowing quickly enough into their mouths. Vague and subjective, I know, but that's pretty much how parenting goes.
2. I don't remember how much we gave when...I think by 3 or so months we were up to 6 ounces each feeding, 4 hours apart. Again, ours seemed hungry and was still sucking away when the bottle was empty. I figured...feed them more?
3. At 2-3 months, was 3 naps. Up at 7 (yes, I woke up babies to keep a schedule), eat, play, nap at 8:45. Up at 11, eat, play, nap around 1:30. Up at 3pm, eat, play, bath & final feeding. We kept all 3 naps until 8 months, then went to 2 naps, and kept 2 naps until 15 months. Now just one, and OHMYGOD I hope we keep one nap forever.
4. Our last feeding was 7pm and lasted until about 8pm, and we'd go to bed after that. I did the bath routine starting at 5:30-6pm, mostly to fill time when they were cranky. At 2-3 months, I'd also go to bed when they went to bed, 'cause I'm a sleeper, and needed that rest. Ours went through a major growth spurt around 4 months and woke up to feed at 11pm again, fyi, but I did that in the dark, no lights. From 8 months-15 months bedtime was 6:30, then at 15 months we went to 7-7:15, and now we're back to 7pm. Nothing stays the same, it seems.
I just reread my answers and the me of olden days wouldn't believe I was so militant about a schedule! Boy how they change us. Seems crazy, but it works!
1. When it was taking too long (45 minutes) we tried Avent size 2's- Sam loved them and Anna choked on the faster flow, so we knew she wasn't ready. Ironically, Anna was ready for the size 3's before Sam- he choked on them the first time we tried them. (Again, a long time of sucking was our clue)So our clues were that it was taking too long to eat and they didn't choke on the faster flow.
2. When they are consistently finishing bottles... do you try to see if they want more? We never really limited amounts for our twins' severe reflux, just fed them more requently which naturally limited the amount. If our twins slam back a bottle, we always mix a few more ounces to see if they will take it. We want them to have full feedings. So I would say, if they want more, give them more. They won't overeat. If you find they are always finishing another ounce or two, make that many to start.
3. Our twins nap at approximately 8:15am, 11:15am, 2:15pm, and have a catnap at 5:15 pm. At 5:15 pm they sleep for 30 min to 45 min- the other naps our goal is 1 hour 30 minutes. We found their wake time window (before they start showing sleepy signs) is now 1 hour 15 min to 1 hour 30 minutes. This just increased recently after they turned 3 months. Not too long ago their waketime was only 1 hour before they showed sleepy signs (yawning, slowing down, getting fussy).
4. Our bedtime is 7 pm. I read several places that babies' circadian rythms dictate 12 hours of "nighttime" sleep, so you want your bedtime to be about 12 hours before you want them to wake up. We used to do later, but you'd be surprised- our twins aren't fussy in the evenings anymore, because they go to bed at the right time for them. When I go back to work in the fall, we'll be getting them up at 6:30 am, so we'll move back their bedtime to 6:30 pm too.
1) I have no idea...I actually had the same question. Emma only gets a bottle of EBM once in a while so I don't want to make the job too easy for her out of fear she'll get frustrated breastfeeding. She's 3 months and still using Born Free #1.
2) When I do give her a bottle, she just seems to take whatever I give her and doesn't seem hungry after. It's usually between 3-4oz. But I think she'd drink more if I gave it to her.
3) She takes 3 naps. I try to limit wakefulness to 1.5 hours. That seems to be the magic number for her. But naps right now are my major frustration because she is waking up crying during them.
4) We start the bedtime routine between 6:30 and 7pm (bath, book, swaddle, feed) and she's asleep a half hour later (7-7:30pm). She definitely lets us know when she's ready! And it is really annoying if we miss the cues because then she cries through the whole bedtime routine.
Let me just say I've recently started asking myself all these questions!! So I love reading the answers. I don't know if I'll be much help since my twins are a little younger but here ya go!
1. We still use size 1. Our pedi said that most babies will stay on them for about 3 mos or so. She said when they seem to get bored and fall asleep is a good sign they aren't getting food fast enough. But if we tried the larger size they would choke if it was to fast for them.
2. Our babies at 7 weeks are taking anywhere from 3-4 oz. Sometimes I think they do just want a small 'snack' type bottle where they only take 2 oz. We just feed them until they won't take it anymore. Again our pedi said at this stage their little tummies probably can't hold anymore than 4 oz.
3. One thing a friend told me is to keep a consistent wake time to start their days every day. So our wake time is 8:30. Even if the babies have just fed (normally would be about 6:30) I wake them and basically top them off. They have very little wake time before going back down for a nap. They normally sleep until our next feeding about 11:30. They eat, play and are normally awake quite a bit longer at this feeding and normally only nap about 45 min-1 hour. We do our 2:30 feeding with eat, wake sleep and the babies generally take a longer nap with this feeding. They will sleep until about 5:30-6. And then we feed. They normally take another quick cat nap and then we start bedtime routine. Baths for both babies, swaddled, fed and put down for bed by 9pm. I think you have to do what works best for you with this one. Some babies go down earlier and wake earlier.
4. Again the 8:30-9 bedtime worked best for us. This also allows me about an hour to hour and half after the babies go down before I hit a wall. So I normally get bottles, clothes or a showers done during that time. It also allows good quality time with my hubby.
Hope this helps!!
1. Not to sure on the first one as my little one is still on level 1 doc browns too. I have heard houwever that they will start to get really annoyed at how slow it is flowing.
2. Right now my little one gets 4 to 5 ozs at a time. She lets me know when she wants more. She screams after feedings when she is stil hungry!
3. At 2 months we get up around 9ish nap from 11 to 12:3 or 1. up eat, play, nap again from about 2 or 3 and then maybe a small nap around 5 or 6 and she is in bed by 9 or 10 (that is the earliest we can get her out) she usually then sleeps til 4 ir 5 and then back to bed until 9ish. She HATES baths so we do that every other day in the morning she screams bloody murder after her bath. Not fun at all!!!! I try to limit the amount of time she is awake to 1.5 to 2 hours or she turns into an unhappy tired baby! It seems to be working pretty well at this point.
Oh as far as the food it is suppose to be 2.5 ozs per pound of body weight a day. So my little one gets about 30 ozs (sometimes a little more since it is 1/2 breast milk) and she is 12 lbs.Hope that helps!
Ok...Your 1st question is what I was asking myself today. Molly still takes a #1 but she doesn't get the bottle that often. At night, I've been giving her about 4 - 6 ounces with rice cereal in it and giving her a #2. However, tonight I forgot and gave her a #1 with the cereal and she choked. What gives?
2. She will be 5 months one week from Monday. GASP. She takes about 7 ounces each time she gets a bottle. Which, as I eluded to above, is not very often. I went into theoffice on Tuesday, though, and Mom gave her 7oz each time and she was satisfied.
3. We are on 3 naps/day...but I fear, quickly going to 2. She wakes up between 7 and 8, eats every 3 to 3.5 hours. So, an example is:
7:30 wake, eat
9:00 nap
10:30 wake, eat
12:30 nap
1:30 wake, eat
3:30 nap
5:30 wake, eat
*At least, this is what we did today.
4. She is usually in bed by 7:30 at the latest. Tonight, we went out to dinner and she wasn't in bed until 8:45. Again, GASP. I hope I'm not up all night...
Love ya and miss ya!
T
ha! i think you have gotten plenty of advice :)
Glad all of our comments were a bit helpful, but you're right, you have to do what feels right to you. You're the momma, and you know best! (I say this to myself daily, and some days I even believe it).
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