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Newborn Baby-GAF: Sleepless Nights Deluxe HD Remix

DJ_Lae

Member
So the wife is complaining about the baby "dropping" in the last few days. We're still 30 days out from the due date, and she says that he feels like he's going to fall out at any moment. Just curious at what stage your wives/gfs felt like this, if at all.

It was about that time, if not a week later, I think.

Baby ended up arriving a couple of days before the due date, so I think that's pretty normal.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
So the wife is complaining about the baby "dropping" in the last few days. We're still 30 days out from the due date, and she says that he feels like he's going to fall out at any moment. Just curious at what stage your wives/gfs felt like this, if at all.

She never got that feeling I guess...the baby was always low on her during the end. Probably why my wife was hardly showing for being along 9 months.

Baby came 11-12 days before the due date.
 

mrkgoo

Member
So....strollers.

What do you guys recommend?

We've been using a capsule thing with a Quinny set of wheels, but we're only borrowing it. We're coming on 7-8 months and need our own.

Is this one of those situations where we will need like a big robust one for outdoor use (we like air-inflated wheels), but have another light and small for travel?

DOes anyone have a quicksmart easy fold stroller? I saw one in the store, and it seemed high quality and sturdy enough...


What are tips and hints for getting one? I do understand that getting one, the most important feature is that we will use it, and all teh whizz-bang features means nothing if we don't end up using it because it's too cumbersome or doesn't fit into our car for example.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
So....strollers.

What do you guys recommend?

We've been using a capsule thing with a Quinny set of wheels, but we're only borrowing it. We're coming on 7-8 months and need our own.

Is this one of those situations where we will need like a big robust one for outdoor use (we like air-inflated wheels), but have another light and small for travel?

DOes anyone have a quicksmart easy fold stroller? I saw one in the store, and it seemed high quality and sturdy enough...


What are tips and hints for getting one? I do understand that getting one, the most important feature is that we will use it, and all teh whizz-bang features means nothing if we don't end up using it because it's too cumbersome or doesn't fit into our car for example.

Here you go...best of both worlds...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006QH45BG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I have it and love it. Big wheels for outdoor, but not ridiculously huge of a stroller. Folds nicely in half. I went mall walking with my wife and baby yesterday. It was great.

The day before, we walked on the sidewalk and the wheels handled all the bumps just great.
 
Just got off the phone with the paediatrician and our son has had a bad night in the nursery. His blood oxygen levels have been dipping, he has had some bad nappy rash and might have a low grade fever/infection.

The blood oxygen thing might just be reflux from too much food or it could be anaemia. We're getting the results of a blood test later today. Also, the nappy rash is somehow being made worse by the caloric fortifier they're putting in his milk, but there is no way of cutting back on that without restricting his growth.

I'm at work and there's been a big IT disruption so I'm not really getting a lot done, but there's nothing I can do until we get the blood results back.

:-/
 
Just got off the phone with the paediatrician and our son has had a bad night in the nursery. His blood oxygen levels have been dipping, he has had some bad nappy rash and might have a low grade fever/infection.

The blood oxygen thing might just be reflux from too much food or it could be anaemia. We're getting the results of a blood test later today. Also, the nappy rash is somehow being made worse by the caloric fortifier they're putting in his milk, but there is no way of cutting back on that without restricting his growth.

I'm at work and there's been a big IT disruption so I'm not really getting a lot done, but there's nothing I can do until we get the blood results back.

:-/

Any coughing? Faster breathing?
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
My boy is just over 2 weeks and wow, I already measure life as "Before Sean" (ie, the distant past) and "After Sean" :)

He is fussy, but consolable from 8-12 each evening, then finally settles down for about 3 hour blocks till sunrise. The wife and I have been trading off keeping him calm in the evenings. It is sooo frustrating, he seems sleepy and you want to just put him to bed but he'll quickly rev himself up to the "waaaa waaaa waaaa"s and wakes everyone on the block :) guess it is just baby fussiness, hopefully it doesn't morph into colic!

Poor guy tries so hard to poop :)
 

aceface

Member
Babies can get thrush now? As if I wasn't already feaking out about SIDS, whooping cough and stomach bugs :/

Yeah, it turns out our baby did have thrush, but the midwife prescribed a medicine we've been swabbing her mouth with the past three days. It's almost completely cleared up, which is a relief.

This baby has been completely unpredictible so far. Right after I made that post about being in newborn baby hell, she had about three perfect days where she slept all day and most of the night, was super quiet and no trouble at all! We were thinking "This baby rocks!" but then last night she was super fussy again and I only got about 3 hours of sleep. The fussiness has continued most of today and this evening the only thing we can do to get her calmed down is put her in a baby carrier. She is currently sleeping in a carrier on my chest while I lay on the couch. I'll probably spend most of the night sleeping this way. We're hoping this fussiness is just a phase and she will go back to being perfect baby again soon.

On another note, we named her "Mei" and I'm shocked at the amount of trouble people are having pronouncing the name. Does it seem clear to you guys the way Mei should be pronounced?
 

mrkgoo

Member
Here you go...best of both worlds...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006QH45BG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I have it and love it. Big wheels for outdoor, but not ridiculously huge of a stroller. Folds nicely in half. I went mall walking with my wife and baby yesterday. It was great.

The day before, we walked on the sidewalk and the wheels handled all the bumps just great.

Thanks, we'll take a look and consider it! (well, if it's available in New Zealand).

Just got off the phone with the paediatrician and our son has had a bad night in the nursery. His blood oxygen levels have been dipping, he has had some bad nappy rash and might have a low grade fever/infection.

The blood oxygen thing might just be reflux from too much food or it could be anaemia. We're getting the results of a blood test later today. Also, the nappy rash is somehow being made worse by the caloric fortifier they're putting in his milk, but there is no way of cutting back on that without restricting his growth.

I'm at work and there's been a big IT disruption so I'm not really getting a lot done, but there's nothing I can do until we get the blood results back.

:-/

Hang in there! Hope it all works out. All this stuff can be super stressful.

Yeah, it turns out our baby did have thrush, but the midwife prescribed a medicine we've been swabbing her mouth with the past three days. It's almost completely cleared up, which is a relief.
Our midwife thought our bub had thrush, and we got some medication, tried it for a while, didn't finish the treatment, and it went away - we figured it was probably milk tongue in our case. We had none of the other symptoms aside from the white appearance.

This baby has been completely unpredictible so far. Right after I made that post about being in newborn baby hell, she had about three perfect days where she slept all day and most of the night, was super quiet and no trouble at all! We were thinking "This baby rocks!" but then last night she was super fussy again and I only got about 3 hours of sleep. The fussiness has continued most of today and this evening the only thing we can do to get her calmed down is put her in a baby carrier. She is currently sleeping in a carrier on my chest while I lay on the couch. I'll probably spend most of the night sleeping this way. We're hoping this fussiness is just a phase and she will go back to being perfect baby again soon.

On another note, we named her "Mei" and I'm shocked at the amount of trouble people are having pronouncing the name. Does it seem clear to you guys the way Mei should be pronounced?

I would pronounce it "May" also. Incidentally (and we have experience with this), Siri on iOS pronounces it "My", annoyingly.


As for our own situation, our daughter is creeping up to 8 months. Time flies by so fast. So fast. We've hit a few developmental milestones, nothing out of the ordinary so far - she seems par for the course (rolling, teething, solids, etc). In some ways she's easier to handle, as we've managed to sort of figure a routine, but in other ways, it's tougher, since she cannot be left alone as much.

We have issues with her sleeping (intermittent and unpredictable) at night, her hating her cot and so forth, so we are trying something called the Sleep Sense program, recommended to us by a member in our group - they said after they tried it, their baby was sleeping through the night after 3 days!

The first 3 days are the toughest. What it seems to amount to, and it's TOTALLY logical, is that baby needs to be able to fall asleep unassisted, so that they don't learn to rely on parents and activities such as nursing and rocking. To ensure they don't signify going to sleep with any such activity, you nurture them into a sleep routine. By slowly allowing them to come to the realisation each night that sleep time is coming, they learn it, as opposed to suddenly launching into bedtime from nowhere and thus relying on something else to get to sleep.

The basics of it require setting up a series of activities as part of a 'going to bed' routine, that must never falter (at least initially). Baby soon realises that when activity 1 is followed by activity 2 etc, that a path down to the cot/sleep is initiated so that when they are finally put there, it's not a surprise.

I haven't read the book yet, but from a skim ,that seems to be what it entails, and it seems totally sensible.

We've tried it for 3 days ourselves, and our baby has already gone from hating the cot entirely, to not minding it and being able to sleep on her own, with occasional grumps, but totally manageable.

Because of this, we've been able to observe some other behaviour that she seems to need to get to sleep, and other patterns. So far so good.
 
Lots of thoughts are going through my head - what if we can't get pregnant?

Then you won't have a baby, and if it really important for you just adopt one.

Started reading this thread, I guess even before I was not so hot on the idea of having one, but this only convinced me it was the right choice.
 

Dash27

Member
Just popping in to say: Bath before bed works wonders for my 8 month old.

It relaxes her, she loves it. Plays with her little water book and rubber ducky. She get's a kick out of us pouring water on her head too. After that it's into the PJ's and nurses, then off to bed. Great routine for us.
 
Just popping in to say: Bath before bed works wonders for my 8 month old.

It relaxes her, she loves it. Plays with her little water book and rubber ducky. She get's a kick out of us pouring water on her head too. After that it's into the PJ's and nurses, then off to bed. Great routine for us.

This is where we're at with our 18 week old at the moment. half an hour of naked time and Mr Men books being read by me, then a bath for more playtime, big feed and then bed. He's going down between 7.00/7.30pm ish until towards 11pm - when we wake him for a feed. At that point he'll sleep until after 7am. Never has more than a 20 minute power nap during the day though, which must be really tiring for my wife while I'm "hiding" at work.
 
Just an update. Apparently, it was a bout of reflux and a touch of neonatal anaemia, not any sort of infection. While that's still not great, I'm at least taking comfort in the fact that these things are both common in prem babies and manageable.

It pushes back when we can take him home a bit though, which is frustrating.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Just an update. Apparently, it was a bout of reflux and a touch of neonatal anaemia, not any sort of infection. While that's still not great, I'm at least taking comfort in the fact that these things are both common in prem babies and manageable.

It pushes back when we can take him home a bit though, which is frustrating.

Hang in there!
 

CrankyJay

Banned
My wife is getting upset that I can make the baby smile on cue and she can't...lol

All I do is just talk gibberish to her and she loves it.
 

mrkgoo

Member
Baby is projectile vomiting after some meals. There is no discomfort, and it can be tough to nail down any actual cause though we think rough movements after a full meal might trigger it.

We also think teething - did anyone else experience bouts of random vomiting during teething episodes? I've read they can come hand in hand, though it makes no sense to me.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Baby is projectile vomiting after some meals. There is no discomfort, and it can be tough to nail down any actual cause though we think rough movements after a full meal might trigger it.

We also think teething - did anyone else experience bouts of random vomiting during teething episodes? I've read they can come hand in hand, though it makes no sense to me.
My daughter had some vomiting during her first few teeth. Nothing you can do really, just keep baby hydrated. We found more smaller meals helped a bit, not a lot, make baby help keep more food in.

Hang in there.
 

alphaNoid

Banned
Baby is projectile vomiting after some meals. There is no discomfort, and it can be tough to nail down any actual cause though we think rough movements after a full meal might trigger it.

We also think teething - did anyone else experience bouts of random vomiting during teething episodes? I've read they can come hand in hand, though it makes no sense to me.

Never had that with my 2, teething only meant crying and drooling. Vomiting almost always meant their stomach did not like what we were putting in it. So if you're using formula, change it up and get something thats easy for stomachs.

My wife is getting upset that I can make the baby smile on cue and she can't...lol

All I do is just talk gibberish to her and she loves it.

Same for me right now. My daughter will giggle here and there for others including my wife. but anytime I just look at her she'll laugh endlessly. Even stop crying instantly and laugh, it drives my wife mad lol
 

mrkgoo

Member
My daughter had some vomiting during her first few teeth. Nothing you can do really, just keep baby hydrated. We found more smaller meals helped a bit, not a lot, make baby help keep more food in.

Hang in there.

Yeah, thanks!

Never had that with my 2, teething only meant crying and drooling. Vomiting almost always meant their stomach did not like what we were putting in it. So if you're using formula, change it up and get something thats easy for stomachs.

I don't think is anything in the food or formula. She's been on the same formula for a couple months now. Food wise hasn't really changed.
 

aceface

Member
So my three week old is pretty good so far. She sleeps most of the day and is pretty easygoing. However the main problem is that she has her main fussy period from 3:30-6:30 am. She doesn't want to sleep during those hours, cries a lot, and wants to nurse all the time. The only thing that can calm her down during that time is putting her in her baby carrier and walking around (I'm actually surfing gaf on my phone while doing that right now lol) and that even does not always work. Any ideas on shifting her fussy period to daytime?
 

phisheep

NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
So my three week old is pretty good so far. She sleeps most of the day and is pretty easygoing. However the main problem is that she has her main fussy period from 3:30-6:30 am. She doesn't want to sleep during those hours, cries a lot, and wants to nurse all the time. The only thing that can calm her down during that time is putting her in her baby carrier and walking around (I'm actually surfing gaf on my phone while doing that right now lol) and that even does not always work. Any ideas on shifting her fussy period to daytime?

Try mucking around with the lighting. Babies are very sensitive to light. She might prefer a bit more/bit less than whatever she has got.

Also, in terms of calming her down when she wakes up, one thing that always worked for my three was to let 'em suck your nose. It hurts like hell but seems to calm the baby.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
So my three week old is pretty good so far. She sleeps most of the day and is pretty easygoing. However the main problem is that she has her main fussy period from 3:30-6:30 am. She doesn't want to sleep during those hours, cries a lot, and wants to nurse all the time. The only thing that can calm her down during that time is putting her in her baby carrier and walking around (I'm actually surfing gaf on my phone while doing that right now lol) and that even does not always work. Any ideas on shifting her fussy period to daytime?
Does a rocker not work? My son couldn't resist the hypnotic swing of ours.
 

aceface

Member
Does a rocker not work? My son couldn't resist the hypnotic swing of ours.

Nothing soothes her during her fussy time other than being in a baby carrier and with that she won't let me sit down. Now I don't mind her having a fussy/wanting to nurse all the time time, I just want to move it to daylight hours.
 

railGUN

Banned
T minus 2~ hours until my wife and I join the club. Posting from the delivery room as we speak, it has high-speed Internet, big screen TV (with cable) and enough room to do laps in. So excited, my wife is a trooper.
 

phisheep

NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
T minus 2~ hours until my wife and I join the club. Posting from the delivery room as we speak, it has high-speed Internet, big screen TV (with cable) and enough room to do laps in. So excited, my wife is a trooper.

Protip - if your wife swears at you during labour, swear back. It does both of you a load of good!

Oops. Just noticed time of your post. Hope it all went well.
 

railGUN

Banned
Protip - if your wife swears at you during labour, swear back. It does both of you a load of good!

Oops. Just noticed time of your post. Hope it all went well.

It went...alright. She did some swearing, but mostly (at the end) she said "I can't do this!!!" to which I replied "we'll you don't really have a choice, now do you". She's one tough cookie, what an intense event. Took about 4 hours longer than we expected, but we now have a healthy baby girl. I couldn't be prouder. Time to sub to this thread.
 

phisheep

NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
It went...alright. She did some swearing, but mostly (at the end) she said "I can't do this!!!" to which I replied "we'll you don't really have a choice, now do you". She's one tough cookie, what an intense event. Took about 4 hours longer than we expected, but we now have a healthy baby girl. I couldn't be prouder. Time to sub to this thread.

Good on you. Congratulations. And even more congratulations to your lady - please pass them on.

Best wishes to all three of you!
 

mrkgoo

Member
It went...alright. She did some swearing, but mostly (at the end) she said "I can't do this!!!" to which I replied "we'll you don't really have a choice, now do you". She's one tough cookie, what an intense event. Took about 4 hours longer than we expected, but we now have a healthy baby girl. I couldn't be prouder. Time to sub to this thread.

Congrats!
 

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
Here's my little guy on his six month birthday! I like how serious he is with his Mario doll:

379291_10200355120060479_1948863497_n.jpg


And here he is the same day, but with a much better smile:

530800_10200359060318983_656396573_n.jpg
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Man, our 8 week old is beating us up this week...lots of crying when she didn't use to in between feedings, fussy during feedings when she didn't used to be. It's tough. Wife is back at work working longer hours because of tax season so I've been picking up the slack with house stuff and errands. Dropped baby off at grandma's, went to the gym, came home and showered and let out the dog. Went to work, picked up dog from grooming, took him home, fed him, went back to grandma's to pick up baby.

Get baby home, there's a pile of dog shit at the back door (at least he went on a mat). I felt bad...he must have been holding it all day.

Baby starts screaming, I need to make dinner for wife...had to run to the store for something I forgot.

I'm wiped...lol. I don't mean to make a livejournal post in here...just needed an outlet.
 

aceface

Member
Man, our 8 week old is beating us up this week...lots of crying when she didn't use to in between feedings, fussy during feedings when she didn't used to be. It's tough. Wife is back at work working longer hours because of tax season so I've been picking up the slack with house stuff and errands. Dropped baby off at grandma's, went to the gym, came home and showered and let out the dog. Went to work, picked up dog from grooming, took him home, fed him, went back to grandma's to pick up baby.

Get baby home, there's a pile of dog shit at the back door (at least he went on a mat). I felt bad...he must have been holding it all day.

Baby starts screaming, I need to make dinner for wife...had to run to the store for something I forgot.

I'm wiped...lol. I don't mean to make a livejournal post in here...just needed an outlet.

It'll get better dude. Once the baby is older you won't even remember this stuff. Case in point, even though this new baby is my third, having an infant in the house hit me like a ton of bricks. I know it was similar when my other kids were infants but damn I just was just not prepared for the lack of sleep.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
I just find myself trying to do as much stuff as I can while she's napping like doing the dishes or eating before she wakes up and freaks out.
 

aceface

Member
I just find myself trying to do as much stuff as I can while she's napping like doing the dishes or eating before she wakes up and freaks out.

You have a baby carrier? Like a Baby Bjorn or something similar? Being in one of those was insta-sleep for all my kids. Then with the baby strapped on, I go about doing the chores around the house or even play a game (standing up, heh).
 

mrkgoo

Member
It'll get better dude. Once the baby is older you won't even remember this stuff. Case in point, even though this new baby is my third, having an infant in the house hit me like a ton of bricks. I know it was similar when my other kids were infants but damn I just was just not prepared for the lack of sleep.
So true that you forget it.

Babies just change really rapidly. I wouldn't say it gets better so much as it gets different. Later they are in less of a sleep, eat, poop, play, sleep, eat, poop cycle and change and demand more attention.

Time management doesn't ever really get better via baby's end. I mean when they are young at least they are demanding only milk. Later when you are supplementing solids and having to cook and prepare that and that cleanup as well ...

It was like hen I started out and I was freaking out over the lack of sleep and toughness, but Marty was insisting that I was on a rough end of the spectrum but that the average baby was actually fairly easy to handle and that the toughness came later - I kind of see the point now.

I still wouldn't say it gets worse - it just gets really different. It's kind of up to the parent to find the right groove and rhythm. I keep reminding myself that in raising a kid, there's the attitude of the baby ... And the attitude of the parent. Both contribute to the experience.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
It went...alright. She did some swearing, but mostly (at the end) she said "I can't do this!!!" to which I replied "we'll you don't really have a choice, now do you". She's one tough cookie, what an intense event. Took about 4 hours longer than we expected, but we now have a healthy baby girl. I couldn't be prouder. Time to sub to this thread.
Congratulations! Enjoy every second!
 

railGUN

Banned
Thanks for the congrats guys. Last night was our first proper, full night with her... What the hell have I gotten myself into, lol. She cried all night until one of us held her, and we were bagged from the delivery the night before, but she finally quieted down around 5am and we got a couple hours to sleep. My poor wife was on her 3rd night with no sleep, but she's persevering.

Going home tomorrow, can't wait to get her home where it's a bit more comfortable, and I don't feel guilty keeping the entire maternity ward awake.
 

mrkgoo

Member
Thanks for the congrats guys. Last night was our first proper, full night with her... What the hell have I gotten myself into, lol. She cried all night until one of us held her, and we were bagged from the delivery the night before, but she finally quieted down around 5am and we got a couple hours to sleep. My poor wife was on her 3rd night with no sleep, but she's persevering.

Going home tomorrow, can't wait to get her home where it's a bit more comfortable, and I don't feel guilty keeping the entire maternity ward awake.

It's not an easy ride, and you will often ask yourself how you will get there when you see other older babies, but rest assured you WILL make it there!

A friend brought her 2 month-older-than-ours baby when our kid was maybe a couple months old. We marvelled at her size and behaviour.

Later down the line, our baby is matching hers in size and behaviour has certainly changed to be similar.

Basically, you WILL get there! The reason I'm posting is that I found it particularly reassuring to know others are and have been in the same boat and that it IS possible.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
You have a baby carrier? Like a Baby Bjorn or something similar? Being in one of those was insta-sleep for all my kids. Then with the baby strapped on, I go about doing the chores around the house or even play a game (standing up, heh).

Yeah I have a Baby Bjorn...I really need to set it up.
 
Poor Owen. He's 10 months now and the poor guy is really sick. Not the flu though(thank you based Jesus). Plus he fell off our bed this morning while we were getting ready for the day so now we're waiting to be seen by his doctor. Hopefully theres nothing wrong with him. Also whats an easier way to upload pictures to here? I wanna show off my beautiful baby!
 
Welp, time to sub to this thread. After trying for awhile and then seeking professional assistance, and only one IUI cycle, we're 12 weeks along on our first pregnancy. I was freaking out for awhile and I still feel like there is so much we have to do but we're managing to keep calm and take things one day at a time.

We're pretty much on our own where we live, and my wife doesn't drive (due to medical history that, for awhile, made us worry we couldn't get preggers) so I have no idea what life will be like after baby, but I'm sure it will be one hell of a ride.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Booking flights for infants: Any trick to this? Do I need to specify an infant in the lap at the
time of booking a flight or just book 2 adults as normal?
 
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