rocksteady1983
Member
May want to try some probiotics. Gerber soothe or mama bliss are both good. We use them both and have seen good results.
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ParentGaf OT: Birth, Bib and Beyond
- Thread starter User 100115
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Icefire1424
Member
Pedialyte helped our little one stay hydrated when she had the runs too.
Milksheikhs
Member
This is me like everyday for the past few days including tonight. I'm so tired, but there's like so much to do. Also, I want to indulge in my trash guilty pleasures.
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
This is me like everyday for the past few days including tonight. I'm so tired, but there's like so much to do. Also, I want to indulge in my trash guilty pleasures.
That is soooooo me right now too. Been struggling to get mine to bed and to stay asleep, so once I do, I linger awake for an hour or two of desperate me time, but by then it's midnight+. She's even been sleeping in slightly longer stretches for the first leg (4-4.5 hrs), but I 'squander' it trying to get a bit of that relax time. *sigh*
And I say 'relax' time, but that's usually my only opportunity to pump, so I still feel cheated in a sense. ;_;
Milksheikhs
Member
Skellig Gra
Member
This is me like everyday for the past few days including tonight. I'm so tired, but there's like so much to do. Also, I want to indulge in my trash guilty pleasures.
My wife was like this too. I've been trying to take Pete on long walks that I call "male bonding time" so she can get some time to herself. Not sure how much it actually helps but hopefully it does a little.
Any sort of respite is a godsend... I would volunteer for morning and afternoon pushchair duties, I'd get exercise and she'd get a break!
Any tips for a stubborn as fuck 3 and a half year old that refuses to potty train? I feel I've tried everything except taking away her diapers. I've tried candy, toys, bribes, sticker charts, etc. She just flat out refuses and will even hold it in to avoid the bathroom conflict.
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
Solidarity, I feel ya.
[;_;]/ <3
It helps a lot, believe me. This has been the hardest part for me, mentally-speaking. That feeling of being trapped, of never getting a moment to yourself. It wears you down, especially because you feel like you NEED to be on call 24-7. If your wife is able to express or you guys use formula, do start taking a part in the feeding (if you don't already) so that maybe you'll be able to offer her bigger blocks off. Even just doing the bedtime routine by yourself so she can have a cup of tea and some uninterrupted hours of personal time would do wonders. My husband's going to attempt that tomorrow night.
Good man!
Gabe is very strong willed and wouldn't go on the potty. We tried putting him on it every half hour and he'd sit there and then the moment the diaper went back on he'd fill it. We kept the potty in the middle of the living room and just left him naked after that. You live in the south right? It should be nice and warm. Within an hour og being naked he used the potty and has been potty trained since. As a reward every time he went we'd give him a sticker act super excited and proud and do a dance. I think he's had less than 5 accidents in the following 2 years and most of those were while sick. After a few weeks we stopped giving stickers since he was mostly interested in me dancing every time he peed. Now of course we're still struggling to get him to keep his clothes on but it's a far better problem to have abd he's getting better.
I know that feel all too well. With Gabe I was the sole financial provider and my wife was the stay at home mom. Not to toot my own horn but I was a very attentive and damn good father who spent a ton of time with him. That said it's a completely different beast being the primary caregiver and never being relieved of duty so to speak. At the end of the day having this beautiful fragile baby being primarily your responsibility to keep alive, healthy and happy is exhausting.[;_;]/ <3
It helps a lot, believe me. This has been the hardest part for me, mentally-speaking. That feeling of being trapped, of never getting a moment to yourself. It wears you down, especially because you feel like you NEED to be on call 24-7. If your wife is able to express or you guys use formula, do start taking a part in the feeding (if you don't already) so that maybe you'll be able to offer her bigger blocks off. Even just doing the bedtime routine by yourself so she can have a cup of tea and some uninterrupted hours of personal time would do wonders. My husband's going to attempt that tomorrow night.
Also i tried pumping in the beginning. Nothing came out but it made me feel all tingly, so we bottle feed.
MiniBossBattle
Member
Hey remember having free time or being bored? Yeah, me neither.
I actually get bored constantly. Most of my time is spent holding him and cuddling wishing I could be up doing fun things like laundry and dishes.
Captain Tuttle
Member
Still in diapers? I had my kid wear undies and then his diapers, if he went in his diapers he felt uncomfortable enough that he got the message. Today's diapers are high tech, no discomfort for the kid.
That said, we didn't push it, one day they decided it was time and it was done. About 4 for my son and 3 1/2 for my daughter.
Pull-ups now. We are thinking of going cold turkey and making her wear just underwear. With an infant we really want to get this done.
First doctor/midwife appointment is booked in like a month just for the initial tests etc. Seems ages away, really want to tell all our friends and family but it's way too early, at the most were 1 month pregnant right now.
I read we shouldn't tell people until we're 12 weeks? That's seems too long to be able to hide it surely
I read we shouldn't tell people until we're 12 weeks? That's seems too long to be able to hide it surely
Skellig Gra
Member
It's not too long at all. With a healthy diet you aren't meant to gain any weight in the first trimester. If you want to explain a miscarriage to everyone you know that is the risk you are running. The time will fly by I can promise you that.
Milksheikhs
Member
I didn't really show until like the middle to ebs of my last trimester. Everyone is different though. I think you probably show less with your first (at least that's the case with everyone I know). And I know it seems like forever, just hang in there ;p
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
It's tough, especially with expectations regarding 'duty' vs. 'work' when it comes to the SAHM and wage earner. I feel like the wage earner sometimes sees daddy duty as extra or something, like they're doing you a favor to take turns with the baby. :/ Had a bit of a confusing Sunday regarding all that when I tried to have my 'me' day, and it was all capped off with the baby not being happy with the bottle again and screaming like crazy when he tried to feed her for bed and now he's (husband) completely frustrated and borderline against doing it again. Felt terrible for him and just terrible in general now. Awful day/night. Any bottle tips? Going to try switching brands and techniques this afternoon, but any expert advice totally welcome.
As everyone else has said, best to wait. Really, really best to wait. If something does go wrong, it'll make it that much more painful, believe me.
I'm honestly not sure what it could be. The baby could have disliked the change in the routine or could have just been randomly fussy. Are you talking about bottle brands not formula? Assuming you expressed the milk and it went in the fridge, did he warm it up? We've always used Dr. Brown's. They are a bit harder to clean but they give the baby less gas.
I got excited and told all my coworkers once that my wife was pregnant and then had to let them all know we miscarried. It was not fun.
Septimus Prime
Member
We have Dr. Brown's, too. They aren't that bad to clean if you have a dishwasher.
Honestly? Probably just one of those days, no reason at all for it. Stick with what you know for a couple more days, it's probably a one-off. If it carries on for a couple of days, then yes, look at changing one variable at a time.
We waited until the second scan (so 20-23 weeks) before telling anyone other than very very close friends and family (who we told after 13 weeks). Everyone is going to be far too polite to ask whether you're pregnant or not - unless friends and co-workers are rude assholes
Jive Turkey
Unconfirmed Member
I found my dishwasher didn't get the cream-colored valve thing very clean, then again it could have just been my dishwasher. I just used a dab of dish soap and the little pipe cleaner that comes with the bottle.
Septimus Prime
Member
It comes down to positioning, I think. We have this thing: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0038JE61O/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Putting the valve thing in there, with the flat part on the bottom and the tube part of it facing upward seems to work the best. That tray also has a side slot where we can put the blue tubes from the bottles straight up, which helps a lot for cleaning that, too.
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
Well, it wasn't a big change, really. She'd taken the bottle (expressed BM) a few times before this, and last night was the second time that the screaming and choking happened. It was heated and tested, so no issues there. Because it was the second time with the same results, my husband fairly lost it (though he carefully set the baby down first before just dropping the bottle on the bed sheets and leaving for another room). I had intended him to try earlier in the afternoon to get some practice in before the nighttime feed but when it came time he just handed her off to his mother and decided to go jogging...
At any rate, I tried with, of all things, the free bottle that came with a play set we'd bought, and had no issues. I'm going to ease him back into it and have him do an afternoon feed tomorrow, but it was really puzzling (and frustrating). Really hoping for calm from both parties. -_-
And I'm sorry to hear about your earlier loss. We had the same thing with our first attempt but hadn't told anyone except close family. Was still awkward and bad.
Honestly? Probably just one of those days, no reason at all for it. Stick with what you know for a couple more days, it's probably a one-off. If it carries on for a couple of days, then yes, look at changing one variable at a time.
We waited until the second scan (so 20-23 weeks) before telling anyone other than very very close friends and family (who we told after 13 weeks). Everyone is going to be far too polite to ask whether you're pregnant or not - unless friends and co-workers are rude assholes
I'd think it was just an off day too, but it was the second time in a row. Will definitely be trying again. He just needs more practice (and patience and a different bottle), I'm sure. I also don't want him to think I'm micromanaging him, so I'm trying to give him space to figure it out, but...argh. So hard when giving advice or hovering frustrates him and it going bad frustrates him at the same time. Was it like that for any of you dads? I'm sure it just takes communication and patience, but you don't often hear the dad perspective on this sort of stuff.
Septimus Prime
Member
I bottle feed pretty much whenever I'm home. Is your husband having your daughter sit up while feeding her? It's important that he does to control the flow from the bottle. I usually use Phillips Avent bottles, which have transparent nipples, so I can make sure that the nipple is only half full when feeding. Don't worry about her interesting air. I know the conventional wisdom is that that's bad, but it should be fine, as long as you burp her properly afterward.
Since you're also breastfeeding, make sure to never increase the nipple level past 1 (yes, they level up, apparently), since the high flow ones can have higher flow than your breasts and could cause your baby to get frustrated when breastfeeding.
EDIT: I get the "You're doing it wrong" all the time. It sucks but isn't worth fighting about. I'll usually just make whatever "corrections" I need to to be left alone about it.
Jive Turkey
Unconfirmed Member
Haha I have that exact same basket. It was great for all the other parts but I could never find a position where there wasn't some grit still in the valve.
I love how ParentGAF is late night GAF
Very similar. I love OXO though and use them for a lot of my cooking tools.
We put it the dishwasher. They're fine that way if I rinse them right away. Some times I don't and I'll need to use a bottle brush to get the dried stuff off before putting it in the dishwasher, but maybe the fault lies in our dishwasher. Still I agree.
We have this one http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Deluxe-Dishwasher-Basket-Colors/dp/B000RI8Y30/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1463390220&sr=8-1&keywords=bottle+dishwasher+basket
Very similar. I love OXO though and use them for a lot of my cooking tools.
Practice and patience sounds good. If he's stressed the baby is going to pick up on it. Yeah being micromanaged is never a good feeling. With Nick I had completely forgotten how to swaddle and preferred to practice with him when my wife wasn't in the room. I love her to death and she's great, it's just embarrassing when you feel like you are struggling to do something that should be simple but isn't. We bottle fed both our boys so I've been feeding both since week one and it was never a struggle. Gabe never latched so we had to bottle feed and by the time we gave up on breastfeeding he was so thankful for the bottle he would take it whenever. Nick is very drooly when he eats but is a really good eater, as you can see from the pictures. I don't have any advice on tips since it was never anything more than put bottle in babies mouth, keep it at an angle, hold there until baby is done eating. If anything the technique I think lies in finding a comfortable position for both of us. I sit in a rocking recliner and he sits on my lap in the center with his head in the middle of my chest and he is supported by my belly. I hold the bottle "backwards" with the nipple near my pinky and keep it at a 30-45 degree angle while resting my elbow on the arm rest. It sounds complicated when I spell it out but it's whatever feels comfortable and natural.
It's patience. Men are not patient people. We also dislike anything illogical. Think that sums it up!
inB4 notallmen
Depending on how old little'un is, you might be going through one of many growth spurts / sleep pattern changes - they happen, then it settles down again.
Potty training and bottle feeding problems. Bringing back memories. My son is 8 1/2 and my daughter turns 6 in less than a month. They're about to finish third grade and kindergarten. They spend so much time in school now. I miss them when they're not around the house.
Now they're little social creatures. I live in a safe neighborhood but I still get nervous when the boy walks around the corner to his friend's house. Adjusting to them having social lives has been weird for me, even though of course it's totally natural. It's also funny seeing how other kids behave at your house. Some kids are polite and others ransack your fridge when they walk through the door.
Now they're little social creatures. I live in a safe neighborhood but I still get nervous when the boy walks around the corner to his friend's house. Adjusting to them having social lives has been weird for me, even though of course it's totally natural. It's also funny seeing how other kids behave at your house. Some kids are polite and others ransack your fridge when they walk through the door.
Septimus Prime
Member
Just did my second in-car diaper and clothing change. He just loves to blow out his diaper while my wife is seeing her doctor.
Skellig Gra
Member
I know your pain. I wanted to tell everyone right away but believe me there will be so much baby talk by the end that you will wonder why you were in such a hurry in the first place.
MMBosstones86
Member
Moderately on topic question.
I've been thinking about getting a tattoo "of" my daughter. As I have none, this came as a surprise to the wife. Nothing big, probably just her name somewhere.
Has anyone done this for their kid, or am I crazy?
I've been thinking about getting a tattoo "of" my daughter. As I have none, this came as a surprise to the wife. Nothing big, probably just her name somewhere.
Has anyone done this for their kid, or am I crazy?
greendomo's ghost
Member
Wife's due to give birth to our fourth any day now. Hold me GAF.
Jive Turkey
Unconfirmed Member
Tons of people have their kid's name tattooed. Not something I'd do but I'm not a tattoo guy.
Fourth? And here I am nervous when I think about trying for our second! Good luck to you!
Man, potty training is hard. So on Sunday I put my 3.5 year old in underwear. First day went fine. Tried potty whenever I asked. Peed on the 6th try. Huge celebration. She was proud, we were too.
Yesterday, I give daycare a heads up on the underwear. Brought a bunch of extra pairs of undies and pants. Pick her up. Was dry all day. So I speed home so she doesn't pee in the car. Get home and get in the potty. No go. We eat dinner and try again. Pees again. Awesome! Maybe she gets it.
10 minutes after this, poops in her underwear. No problem. We encourage her and say it's okay.
Fast forward today. I pick her up at school. She's in different pants and shoes that aren't even hers. Accidents happen. We get home and ask her every 20-30 min if she needs to go. No she says. Then she both pees and poops in one shot while playing, right after we asked her.
So we clean her up. New clothes and undies. I go out to mow the lawn. I'm in the backyard when my wife opens our bedroom window and says she had two more accidents immediately after sitting on the potty.
So I'm not sure what to do. Obviously we don't make her feel bad when she has an accident and we don't force her to sit on the potty. It's her choice. But it seems like the two times she did pee on the potty it was just coincidence or good timing. I feel at 3.5 she should probably get what we are trying to do.
Yesterday, I give daycare a heads up on the underwear. Brought a bunch of extra pairs of undies and pants. Pick her up. Was dry all day. So I speed home so she doesn't pee in the car. Get home and get in the potty. No go. We eat dinner and try again. Pees again. Awesome! Maybe she gets it.
10 minutes after this, poops in her underwear. No problem. We encourage her and say it's okay.
Fast forward today. I pick her up at school. She's in different pants and shoes that aren't even hers. Accidents happen. We get home and ask her every 20-30 min if she needs to go. No she says. Then she both pees and poops in one shot while playing, right after we asked her.
So we clean her up. New clothes and undies. I go out to mow the lawn. I'm in the backyard when my wife opens our bedroom window and says she had two more accidents immediately after sitting on the potty.
So I'm not sure what to do. Obviously we don't make her feel bad when she has an accident and we don't force her to sit on the potty. It's her choice. But it seems like the two times she did pee on the potty it was just coincidence or good timing. I feel at 3.5 she should probably get what we are trying to do.
Skellig Gra
Member
I literally just did it. Although I have many tattoos and the tattoo was of what my son's middle name means in Irish as opposed to just his name. I know many people with tattoos referencing their kids so while we may be crazy you won't be alone.
greendomo's ghost
Member
Two is fine, you have man to man coverage. More than that and you're playing zone defense.
Just nervous I guess. Three is already quite the handful, although the elder two do help out a bit. Plus we live in LA so our cost of living is higher than most. But we'll figure it out.
We told after 12 weeks (I did a themed pregnancy announcement). They say that you shouldn't due to the higher risk of miscarriage but it's entirely up to the couple. However, we are keeping the gender a secret up until the end.
Speaking of, hi everyone! My wife and I are having our first kid at the end of October. It's terrifying. I mean, we planned it in the 'let it happen when it does starting now', but I did not expect it to happen after one time of not using protection. It has been kind of of a emotional circus for me due to stress/fear/anxiety all rolled into one. Juggling my retail job with my slowly growing photography business and a kid will be interesting to say the least.
We bought these temporary tatoo for our daughter when we were potty training her. I think it helped her.
BryanGT
Member
Try a pullup over her undies. That way she still feels the discomfort of wetting herself (which is part of the learning process) but she can't soil her pants or your plans.
We had both of our boys potty trained at 2 years, and that was part of the process. We also used incentives (new toys and treats) that they could stare at while sitting on the potty.
Yeah. What are you doing when she is successful. As I said we did stickers and dances when he was and if he ever had an accient we said in a calm and friendly voice "You silly, peepee/poo goes in the potty" and pointed to it. She has to have a reason to want to use the potty. You might have better luck on the weekend when you don't have to deal with day care. If that fails you can try going bottomless instead of underwear. Wet underwear may not feel that different from a wet diaper. Wet running down legs feels a lot worse. Just make sure you have carpet cleaner. It's easy to find in the pet area of the store.
Milksheikhs
Member
This summer I'm getting a tattoo for my kid.
It's going to be two foxes cuddle up next to each other: a baby fox with a daisy behind it's ear cuddled into a parent/mama fox wearing a Caesars crown. Surrounding them is going to be an oval/circle of sunflowers (almost like encasing them)
Maybe I'll post it for you guys when I draw it up.
matt360
Member
Help me ParentGAF, you're my only hope. Got a 15 month old boy who won't stop screaming. He's been doing it for about a week now. Anytime he wants our attention it seems, he just lets out these eardrum piercing screams. Maybe one every 30 seconds or so? I imagine it's just something he's started doing for our attention, or to see how we react, but honestly I'm not sure how to react?
Is this a normal thing? Just a phase? If you have experience with this kind of behavior, how'd you handle it? Thanks!
Is this a normal thing? Just a phase? If you have experience with this kind of behavior, how'd you handle it? Thanks!
I am not sure if this is normal, I'd have to Google that, but our first son Gabe did that, though I don't remember exactly how old he was about 15 months sounds right. To us it seemed like he just discovered this cool new thing he could do and wanted to do it every chance he got. We didn't take him out of the house much during this phase but is passed like they all do.
Speaking of phases we have entered the dreaded 4 month sleep regression with Nick. Now I'm back in the same boat as the rest of you up every hour. I thought it was just a bad night or two at first, and he has the start of a tooth coming in on the bottom, but it seems fitting symptom wise and time wise that it's sleep regression. I've been up every hour or two every night for the past 5 days or so. It's why I'm posting more here at night. Only 3 more days until the weekend when I get to nap.
My 13 month old daughter has been doing that a bit too. She usually does it during meals when she's either done or out of food or something. We've been trying not to react to it so she doesn't learn that screaming is how she gets what she wants. (Our first daughter might have done it too but I don't remember) I'm pretty sure it's just a phase that they grow out of when they learn to talk better.
Jive Turkey
Unconfirmed Member
My son did that around that age. My wife and I would just calmly (not always easy, I know) tell him that wasn't acceptable behavior and then took that as an opportunity to practice saying "mama" and "dada".
Of course that just leads to days like today where he woke up at 5:30 shouting DADADADADADADADADADADADADADA! and only stopped when I fixed him breakfast.