Coffee Group Catchup - Ellerslie 06/10/2014

Thank you for today, lots of morsels of information. Question (2 parts), is there an age that babies should be in their own room and sleeping in their cot. Our 12 week old still sleeps in her Moses basket in our room. Thank you, Belinda.

HI Belinda
the recommended co sleeping (when a baby sleeps in the same room as you) is between 6 and 12 months. I find that each individual family finds the right time to make the decision on when to put their baby into their own room.    

Hi Dorothy,

Thank you for yesterdays advice. I was the mother talking to you at the end about a grumpy/bad 5month old sleeper. I have a few more questions for you.

1) If he wakes after an hour on a day sleep and won't resettle is that sleep enough to keep him awake for the next recommended 2 1/2 hours or should I put him down earlier?

2) last night we put him down to bed, did the swaddle and "dump" and as usual he started to frantically cry I left him for the 5mins then went in and did the "patted the bum" technique in the cot, he did stop crying after 5mins but this process then continued every hourly - two hourly (I did do a feed at 12.30)At 4am he could not be settled at all with this method he was crying for an hour and a half.....HELP......Is it just perseverance? Or what am I doing wrong? Do I keep "patting the bum" until he is asleep or drowsy?

Thank you
Kylie

3) What was the teething drops/gel called?

4)Do you do in-home visits?

Hi Dorothy

Thank you for all the tips yesterday.

I was wondering what your thoughts are on our current situation with our 6 month old.

Up until 3-4 weeks ago he slept from 7-7 with a feed at 10/10.30, he was also able to self settle and resettle during the day and night (apart from a blip from weeks 8-18 when he couldn't stitch together his day sleeps). His day sleeps are 9am (for 45 minutes) 12pm (2/2.15 hours), and a band aid sleep after 3.30 (20 - 45 minutes).

The current situation is that he will wake up during the night at least once, and has woken up twice a few times. When he wakes up he will only resettle if he is rocked in the pram or fed - we have made a point of not having to do either of these things to settle him and he has been able to resettle and self settle by himself until now - and is still fine with his day sleeps. Sometimes giving him paracetemol/bonjella helps. When he is feed during the night he is not interested in his morning milk - which makes me think it's not hunger related.

A few other factors:
- He has been skipping his afternoon band aid sleep more often than not, but will go to bed earlier when this happens.
- He has been 'travelling' in the night and will be in a completely different place in the cot when I go to get him in the morning - he seems unaffected by this though as will often be chatting.
- he may be teething - he has the telltale signs of a face rash, diaper rash (although he has had this for a few months), biting toys etc.
- We started him on solids 3 days ago (has had a teaspoonful each day so far), but this hasn't changed things - eg last night he woke at 10, fed, then had to be held/swayed slightly until 12pm in order for him to sleep, he rewoke at 4:30am but thankfully resettled basically straight away after being given paracetemol and bonjella. Speaking of which, it would be great to see the teething chart/document you mentioned to me after the session!

Also, any tips on making a smooth transition into/out of daylight saving would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help
Becky

Hi Dorothy,

I'm wondering whether I should be concerned about my 6 month olds reluctance with solids. I started him on solids at 5 months as he was showing lots of signs of readiness, he took to them very well and was eating two small meals, breakfast and dinner each day. A few weeks ago he started refusing and clamping his mouth shut. I tried feeding him off my finger as you suggested and he took a little at one meal. I can occasionally get a little into him at dinner time now but not like i used to. Should I be concerned? Should I keep trying twice a day or leave it a few days? He has been eating home made puréed fruit and veges.
Thanks for your help!
Diana

HI at 9 weeks your baby is ideally having wake times of around 1 1/4 hours and having naps of a minimum of 1 1/2 hours.

When you put her down at 6.00pm how long has she been up for. Has this wake cycle been she wakes, feeds, baths, feeds and then into bed

Are you having a good balanced diet from mid day onwards - protein snacks, protein shakes. You are probably running around and need to up your food intake - see how this helps.

At her age she has the ability to feed within a minimum of 5 minutes (yes I have seen this and the babies have been happy and contented and putting on weight) or she can take as long as 30 minutes.    I would suggest doing both the madonna (1/2 cradle hold) and rugby hold to ensure she is emptying your breasts well and just by changing the position it sometimes gives the baby a renewed interest in the feed.

It is her sleeping cycle that will give you the stretch or dictate how often she feeds and at the moment she will be feeding anywhere between 2 3/4 hours or up to 4 hourly
Dorothy

Hi Kirsty
It will take time trust me. I would suggest trying after the evening bath when she is nice and relaxed and just offer very day. Eventually she will take it.     I wonder why you are wanting her to take a bottle and if it is because you are going back to work it is important to realise that a baby may take expressed milk from a bottle, but later down the trace she may not take formula from the bottle.

Once you get her back onto the bottle I would suggest doing a bottle every day
D

Hi Ladies
Thank you for all your questions and hopefully the answers will help you. It was lovely to meet you all at the OHBaby Coffee Catchup.

Remember before you do anything STOP, THINK, and ACT – work out what you are doing, why you are doing, and what you are trying to accomplish and then act.

Remember YOU are the baby’s mum and so listen to your heart and instinct.   Yes, we all don’t do it by the book, or get it right the first time, but you need to make ‘mistakes’ to get it right for you.   It’s a time of learning a little person’s personality and figuring out what works for your home life.

If you have the time I would love to see you pop over to http://www.facebook.com/BabyWithin and 'like' it. You can then keep up with information that I post from time to time or hear from other mothers who write on the wall. Also there is now a “recommendations’ section and it would great to hear your comments.

Please remember as a parent or carer that you should understand and acknowledge that Dorothy is NOT a licensed medical doctor or other licensed medical provider and the information that I share with you has come from experience and working with numerous families and babies and toddlers