Mommy to Ethan

I'm starting a new job in 2 weeks. My son will be 4 days shy of 8 months at that time. Currently, I pump at work, but over the past 3 months, I've had to supplement w/ formula. I think because he goes to bed so early and doesn't wake to eat every night (he does wake 1 time most nights).

My question is, if I quit pumping at work, will my body produce enough to continue feeding him in the morning, before bed, and when he wakes at night. I'm just not sure I want to continue pumping while starting a new position. Thanks.

My son is 7 months old. He currently gets breastmilk and formula while I'm at work (I work full time) and only breastmilk when he's with me.

I've thinking about stopping pumping at work. It's becoming very difficult (I pump in the janitor's closet) and my supply is slowly decreasing. I'm taking Fenugreek, but it doesn't seem to be helping. I know I'm taking enough because I smell like maple syrup!

I recently cut out the 5:30 feeding because we had no time to play if I did that. We get home at 5:30, play till 6, eat solids, bath, massage, book, eat, bed by 6:30. He wakes once a night to eat, but a couple nights last week, he didn't wake up at all.

Basically, I told myself I'd at least keep it up until he quits eating at night, but I'm just not getting that much, so a big part of me wants to quit.

I just can't seem to do it, though. It hurts me to think about not doing it anymore. It makes me sad. Any one else feel this way? Any one else have trouble quitting? How do you cope?

My son is 6 months old. We're going to visit his grandmother this weekend. When I mentioned that I needed to bring the pack n play this time (we haven't been up there since he was 2 months and still fit in the bassinet she had), she said that she has one.

This play yard that she has was her sister's, whose youngest is now 9. My MIL gave it to her sister after she bought it at a garage sale. When I was pregnant, her sister gave it back to her. My MIL gave it to her sister after she bought it at a garage sale.

I said that there's no way for me to know if it was ever recalled or how old it is, etc. I told her I'd be more comfortable bringing mine. She insists on me using what she has. I understand that she got all this stuff from friends, garage sales, etc., but I told her not to get most of the stuff if it was outdated because I wouldn't use it. (The pack n play is just one of the things she insists I use that I'm not sure about).

This is my first child, and I know you're always more protective with the first, but is it really safe to use a play yard that's more than 10 years old? Am I being too protective? I mean, I do have a brand new pack n play that I know meets the JMLA standards.

This weekend, my son became very fussy. He wanted to eat quite a bit more than usual, so I think part of the issue is that he's going through a growth spurt.

He has also (for the past 2 nights) started waking up around 10:00 and refuses to go to sleep until around midnight or 1:00. If I hold him, he'll doze, but tries to keep himself awake. When I lay him in his crib, he's quiet as long as my hand is on him, but the second I start to leave the room, he opens his eyes, stares at me, and then cries when I walk out.

Whenever his daddy holds him, he's not fussy, but he stares at me the entire time if I'm in the room. If I leave, then he'll play with him. If I look away, he tries to get my attention. I'm okay with all of that, I just don't know what's going on. I think it's too early for separation anxiety. He doesn't cry when I leave the room or when he goes to childcare. He just stares at me when I'm there and cries at night until I pick him up.

Any thoughts? Could this just be part of the growth spurt? Thanks.

We started getting a pretty good routine down. My son has always been a bad sleeper, but we got him to where he might wake once, we'd give him a paci, then he'd go back to sleep. Then he'd wake around 2 to eat and sleep until 5:30 or 6.

The past week has been AWFUL. He's waking much more often and is harder to soothe to sleep. It's killing us. Last night he woke at 10:00 and wouldn't go back to sleep until 1:30! The night before he woke at 4 and wouldn't go back to sleep in his crib. He just stared at my face while I was holding him. The night before that, he woke at 11:30, 12:30 and 2:00. Then he was up again at 4 and wouldn't go back to sleep.

We have a consistent routine.

5:45--breastfeed

6:15--sweet potatoes

6:30--bath

6:45--massage, read, breastfeed

7:00--bed

Bedtime varies by 10 minutes either way, depending on him. He naps for about 45 minutes in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. Why is he doing this? I'm going crazy and my husband and I are at each other's throats.

I have a 5-month-old son whose exclusively breastfed. Well, he was until he started solids.

Anyway, at his last appointment, he hadn't gained as much weight as I expected. I think it's because he wasn't getting enough food (milk). I work full time and pump at work. I'm only able to get as much as he needs for the next day. He takes 3 bottles at child care and I bumped his bottles up from three 3.5 ounce bottles to one 3.5 in the morning and two 4 ounce bottles. He weighs just over 14 lbs. At home, I feed him at 5:30 and again at 6:45. He goes to bed at 7. He wakes up once a night to eat and then I feed him at 6 before I leave for work.

If I go by 2.5 ounces per pound, he should be getting about 35 ounces. He only gets 11.5 ounces during the day and only eats 4 times at home. I've tried increasing my supply by feeding him every 2 hours on the weekends and pumping shortly after feeding. It worked, but I'm having trouble at work. I can pump more when I work from home, but at work, I have to pump in a dirty storage room, the bathroom, or in my car. I can't get as much at work. I've tried a heating pad, picture, reading, etc. to relax. Nothing seems to work at work.

I know he would take more than 4 ounces. I'm wondering how awful it would be to just give him one bottle of formula at child care. I would still pump as much and feed him when I'm with him. For some reason, I feel like I'd be failing him if I do this, but I know he's not gaining 4 ounces a week. I'm not a fanatic about breastfeeding, but I'm having trouble accepting the fact that maybe I should supplement him. I have no problem with people who give formula. I just haven't. Any thoughts? Is this horrible?

I've asked about cry-it-out before, so I know I'll probably get a lot of opinions about why I shouldn't do this at all.

My son is 4.5 months old. We moved him to his crib around 2.5 months. The transition was a slow one, as I would start him there and then move him into our room after he woke. Eventually, we just tried to keep him there all night. At first, it was great. He would wake just a couple times in the night. I'd quickly go in to return his paci and he'd fall asleep. He also woke up once or twice to eat.

As time went on, we began noticing that he was waking more and more with the need for us to replace his paci and sit with him until he went back to sleep. Now, it's gotten so bad that we average 3 hours of sleep a night. 3 hours! We both work full-time, and I work an hour away. Last week, I fell asleep at the wheel!

I'm desperate. I've tried everything. We have a routine that we follow EVERY night. We put him to bed around 7:00 pm (I'm thinking of trying earlier because he seems on the verge of overtired at that point). I put him to bed drowsy, but awake. I have to sit with him until he goes to sleep, though. We've tried co-sleeping, but that's not a solution we want to stick with.

My question is, has anyone else done cio at 4 months? What was your experience. I plan to do 15 minutes, 20 minutes (my Pediatrician recommended). 1 hour for naps (Weissbluth). BTW: The only I can get him to take naps is if I sleep with him. He takes 2 naps at the same time everyday at child care, though (it's an individual, not a facility).

My son is 4 months. We didn't get the 2 month vaccines because he had really bad colds from 6 weeks to 12 weeks. 3 back to back colds.

Now we're starting them at 4 months and I just want to know what to expect. How did your baby react. Did they sleep a lot, cry a lot, want to be held more?

All of those things are fine, I'm just wondering. I'll be giving him Tylenol every 4 hours.

I'm desperate. My 4-month-old son will not sleep. He used to wake once a night and only a need soothed maybe twice after that. For the past month, he's been regressing. It started by needing to be soothed more often for longer periods. At this point, he will not go to sleep unless I pick him up and hold him. And he won't sleep for my husband.

My husband has been very involved from the beginning. In fact, he used to sleep with him while I caught up on sleep. We took turns. But now, he will only sleep when I pick him up. He's waking non-stop all night long. I'm afraid we've contributed by going in at every whimper when we first moved him to his crib.

As soon as I get him to sleep and put him down, he wakes back up. At around 3:00 am, he won't go back to sleep for well over an hour. Does anyone else have this problem? Is this a habit that just needs broken? He's not waking up to eat more...he just can't get himself back to sleep.

I'm desperate for some sort of solution or hope. I drive 45 minutes to work each way and I almost fell asleep on my way in this morning. I can barely keep my eyes open and filling up on caffeine isn't an option as I'm breastfeeding. I'm only getting MAYBE 2 hours of sleep at a stretch...and I'm usually up from 3:30 on....

Any insight?

We put our lo down between 7 and 7:15. Lately, he wants to stay awake when he wakes to eat around 1:00. I'm just wondering what bed time you have/had for your 4 month old?

I've read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. He advocates extinction (leaving your baby in the room to cry to learn how to put himself back to sleep unless he needs fed, changed, etc.)

Has anyone else tried this method? Did it work for you? How long did it take? Was it worth it?

My son is 4 months...I'm just researching right now.

Has anyone tried to use Weissbluth's sleep training to help their babies get the right amount of sleep?

If so, at what age? He recommends 4 months, but I'm not sure.

Just curious.

I'm just curious to know the average time that an infant extends his/her arms toward you to be picked up, held, or taken from the current holder?

My son gets 3 expressed bottles at child care. When he gets home, I try to feed him and he latches on and off and cries. He seems agitated that the milk isn't coming out quickly because he's okay once I let-down.

Any one else have this problem? Is there any way I can get my milk to let down more quickly? It's EXTREMELY frustrating.

That's been in the fridge for about 30 hours? I know they say 24 hours, but is there a huge difference in 6 hours? It's been in a fridge that is never opened.

My 3.5 month old infant has started eating 7 times a day during the week. He eats between 1:30 and 2:30 am, 6:30 am, 8:30 am, 11:45 am, 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm, 7:30 pm.

I used to feed him at 10, but I've since dropped that feeding and he sleeps until 1:30 to 2:30 in the morning, which I didn't expect. He eats 3 bottles of expressed milk during the day and then I feed him in the evening.

On the weekends, he eats more frequently, although he's been eating for less time....like 5 to 7 minutes and he's done.

Is this okay? Anyone else have a baby like this?

My 14 week old son had a bout of diarreha the 2 days ago. He went 4 times. He normally goes once or twice every other day. He didn't go yesterday, then went once out of his diaper today.

Yesterday morning, he was content to just sit and be held. Last night he went from 7:30 to 2:30 without eating, which isn't normal for him. He usually eats every 3.5 to 4 hours. Today he slept about 2 hours more than usual. He had wet diapers today, but I'm not sure how many as he goes to a child care provider during the day. From 3:00 to 7:00, he's had only one wet diaper. He barely ate this evening (breastfed). The last feeding at 7:15, he fell asleep, but probably because he didn't take his normal catnap at 6:00.

He's not overly fussy. He smiles and played on his mat for about 30 minutes, laughing and grabbing at his toys. He's very attentive and acting relatively normal outside of not wanting to eat much. I normally feed him at 5:45...he didn't eat that much then.

Last night when I fed him, his sheet was wet near his head, like he had spit up. It smelled like soured milk.

There's a stomach bug floating around, and I think he got that and is working it out of his system. My question is, should I be concerned? His diaper wasn't that wet this morning, but he did only eat once last night. His soft spot isn't indented any more than usual either. He doesn't have a fever. Is he just sleeping off the past couple of days?

Any advice is appreciated.

I've been reading about sleep a lot lately. Our LO goes to bed about 7:45 to 8:00. I wake him to eat at 10 (he doesn't really wake up). Then he sleeps for about 3.5 hours, sometimes more. So he wakes to eat around 1:30 or 2. Then he will sometimes make it to 6, but most often wakes around 5 or 5:30. Lately, when he wakes at 1 or 1:30, we give him his paci and get another 30 minutes to an hour out of him, so he wakes up a little later in the morning. 6 or 6:30.

I was doing to research on sleep (how much they need and when they sleep longer stretches) and came across the 4-month regression. Most people who've complained about it have infants that are already sleeping in 5 to 6 hour stretches.

My question is, do all 4 month olds go through something like this? Or did yours slide right through it? Anyone have infants that started sleeping longer around 4 months?

He's breastfed. I don't mind the waking up one to two times, but I'd hate to go back to every 2 hours!

I've heard they're the worst. What were your experiences like? I'm trying to determine if that's why we're struggling so much here.