mums_the_word

so we found 2 baby birds in our attic, and usually we give them to my aunt, but she's on vacation... so we're stuck with them until she gets back... but i haven't the first clue on how to really care for them past the first day or so (feeding them cat food b/c its high in protein)

they can't go back where they came from... because that's my attic. they'd die up there. right now i'm feeding them pedigree wet cat food (chicken and gravy) but i'm sure there's something better suited for them out there. they have some feathers, not all of them, "pin" feathers i guess, their butts are still bare. i'm not sure how old this would make them...

any advice would be greatly appreciated. no one else will take them in my area. my aunt's the only one - she gets all the abandoned birds in the area. but she's out of town and can't be reached.

thank you!

My situation is as follows:

My ex (never married, never lived together) and I have joint LEGAL custody and I have full PHYSICAL custody, so because of this, I have the ability to claim our son on taxes, however, I am in school and my parents are helping me to support my son by allowing me to live with them while I finish school, and they pick up whatever costs my son acquires outside of what child support covers. My parents claimed my son last year (2007, he was born in December) for taxes before my ex and I went to court over support and custody (he wasn't paying a dime until august of 2008). My ex wants to claim our son for the next tax year (2008), but I feel my parents should still be able to claim my son, as it is pointless for me to do so. I know there is a form I can fill out designating that someone else can claim him as a dependent.

How do I go about obtaining this form? And can you sign over your rights to anyone? Or does it HAVE to be the father? I really do not feel that he should claim our son as an exemption, as he is only paying support because the courts are making him. He wasn't willing to step up and care for his son on his own, and as my parents are supporting their own children still as well, I feel that they should receive that money as reimbursement for the thousands of money my son has cost them to date.

Not like it will matter, and not like they will take it to heart, but as a loyal fan, I want to lodge a complaint about this season. They did such a phenomenal job with last season, and did something that no show had previously done before - skipped ahead 4 years after all the main characters had separated and brought them back together in new dynamics.

And now they are absolutely ruining this show. It's only two episodes into the season, and I am already wanting to give up on this show. I wanted to stop watching 10 minutes into the first episode. But I figured I'd give it a fair chance. Now, in the second episode, I am absolutely disappointed in this season and in the direction this show is going. I will not be watching the remainder of this season, or any subsequent seasons. They have lost a fan.

When did your baby start to crawl?

My son's 9 months next week and he's not quite there yet. I know that every baby goes at their own pace and the doctor has said that my son has low muscle tone anyways, so it will be awhile. I was just wondering when the latest was. All my friends' babies crawled at like 7 months (with the exception of one of my friends... all 3 of hers crawled at 11 months because they had heads in the 90th percentile and bodies in the 20th!), so I'm just feeling a little impatient. It'd be nice to hear from moms who had late movers.

Also, how soon after they started crawling did they start walking?

Thanks!

My baby is almost 8 months old. He has been holding his head up on his own for months, and I usually only noticed it when he was really tired (just before nap, just before bed) that his head would wobble (kind of like a bobble head...), but lately he has been doing it ALL the time. It's making me and my mom a bit nervous. He has also been shaking his head a lot lately (like saying no) and he does this a lot, too. Is this normal baby behavior? Or should I be worried something neurological is going on? He is pretty much average in development (although he isn't sitting up or crawling yet... close to both, a few more weeks I think).

I am currently in a custody/visitation dispute. We have temporary orders for visitation and joint legal custody. I have sole physical. We had 3 joint visitations to re-acclimate my son with his father (who disappeared for 4 months after filing suit). My child is still nursing every 2 hours, and it occasionally coincides with visitation as he is not on a strict schedule. His father gets really annoyed when I have to nurse our child during visitation and pretty much keeps telling me I have to figure out a way to get him to eat just before visitation or else he won't eat. He as much as told me he'd keep the 2 hour long visitation and would not bring our son back to eat unless I agreed to give him extra time with him (90 mins travel time for round trip plus 30 minutes feeding time). I feel this amount of time is unreasonable, as his total visitation is supposed to be 4 hours, and i don't feel that travel should be "free time".

If he were to not bring him back when he knew he needed to

I don't want to know what the Catholic religion has to say about tithing on child support, but if there are any Assemblies of God or "nondenominational" Christians out there, what is your opinion on this?

I know the Lord says in the NT to give freely and to give with a glad heart. Thing is, I am about to start receiving child support (finally) and I have been conflicted over whether or not to tithe on it. My mom says I should not, because it's not a direct income. But I feel that it is, in a way, a direct income. That's the only income I have. And I feel if it's all I have, I at least have that and I should tithe. But then I also feel regretful of how much money it is to tithe.

Please, no atheists. No criticism. If you're a believer and a regular tither, please give me your honest opinion. Thank you

I've been using the BabyTrend snap + go stroller base, where you just attach the carseat. My son is getting older though and I'd like to find a stroller that he can sit up in. I had purchased the Graco Quattro Tour Deluxe stroller that was supposed to work w/ my carseat... but didn't. I've since decided to explore other options.

I want a carseat that can recline, not necessarily all the way, but one that leans back. I want one that has a cupholder for the parent, and a tray in the front for the child. I want one that is durable and can handle most terrains - including dirt and grass and gravel.

Problem is... I have NO idea what is good and what isn't and all the reviews online are conflicting!! I'm sure I'll get more the same here, but if anyone has any good input I would be more than appreciative! I can't afford any of the ultra expensive strollers, maybe like $200 or less.

Thank you!!

I currently have sole custody of my son, who is 7 mos old. I am in a custody/visitation/support battle with his currently estranged father. We will have temp. orders for joint legal custody and I will maintain sole physical custody.

I know there is always the possibility, but my question is - how often is it that in MA the father gets joint physical custody? The father and I were never married and never lived together. He works 5 days a week from 7 am until 6 pm and would have no means of actually caring for our son, except to put him in daycare. I live with my parents, and either my mom or I is always home to care for my son. The father lives alone in a 1 bedroom apartment.

I do have legal representation, and it is her understanding that in most cases the mother maintains sole physical custody. I just know there's always the possibility and wanted to know how common it is that physical custody is split. If anyone had any information/insight, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

So, I had a baby 6 months ago. Prior to getting pregnant I had been going to the gym everyday for about 2 months, using the stationary bikes and "biking" about 12 miles, and then doing a cool down jog/run of about 2 miles. Then every other day I'd add in weights - legs/arms. And I'd do 300 crunches daily. Well I kind of took pregnancy as a chance to veg and eat what I wanted (within reason) and gained 45 pounds... a lot of that was actually waterweight, but I am now at a point where I just cannot lose that last 10 pounds to save my life! I'm still nursing, so I'm sure this has something to do with it.

I just started to do Pilates about 20 minutes a day because I'm so out of shape and that's all I can cram in during a naptime. I was wondering how long it would take to see results with just doing Pilates? I'm trying to add a daily walk with my baby in, but some days its so hard to w. everything else. How long do you think it will take me to get back into shape? I'm not so concerned with

My baby's father and I were "together" at the time of "our" child's birth, but broke up almost immediately after. I just hadn't had the courage to break things off prior to. Well, my ex was fairly manipulative and guilted me into using his last name for the baby. He has a hyphenated middle name to honor my ex's grandfather and my great-grandfather. Well, now that we're split and my ex felt he wasn't getting the "rights he deserved" as far as "our" son went, he is now filing for partial legal and physical custody, while also claiming that i was sleeping around at the time of conception and that the child may not even be his...

so, anyways, i really want to change my baby's last name because my ex has really shown his true colors to be that of a jerk's, but i know i would have to petition him to change it and i know he will NOT agree. So, I was thinking that maybe we could compromise and drop one of the middle names and hyphenate the last name, or just leave both hyphenated...

so i just started pumping today... srt of as a trial run, and i only got about maaaybe 1 ounce out of the session, and thats from both breasts combined. I threw it in my freezer just bc I needed to get dinner started and its <1 oz... so i'm not too worried about it.

my question is for future pumping sessions - if i were to pump one session, freeze what i pumped, then the next session (like next day) can i then ADD to that freezed supply? can i put it in the same container? obviously keeping the old date on the bottle so that i don't give my baby milk that's gone bad.

i'm going back to school in the fall, and i have a lot of stuff that i plan on doing this summer that will make solely breastfeeding or even pumping all the time kind of a pain... so i'm hoping to build up a nice supply for when those days come. i'm just not up on the etiquette of storing breastmilk...

also, is it normal to only get about an ounce at your first session? or is that low? it was right after a feed

I have a question for you women... because you think quite a bit differently than a guy would, so you'd be better suited to answer my question. I have a friendly relationship with my neighbor, and I used to babysit her three children before I went to school, and babysat up until last November when I was just too pregnant and could not get down on the floor to play with her kids and was unable to really do much of any care-giving... but we remained friends up until I had the baby and was cooped up inside all the time.

Well, her and her husband just had an all-out fight, he had to be taken away by the cops and she's even changed the locks. She didn't really want to talk this afternoon, which is understandable, and she had her closer friends come by. I feel horrible and want to do something for her, but I don't want to make it seem like I'm prying... how exactly would you go about making yourself available to her if she needed anything without seeming nosy?

I am going INSANE! My baby is 5 1/2 months old and has been teething for the last month, still no teeth. He is just getting over colic, and now he's got teeth coming in! He's also severely acid reflux. He has never slept through the night, and these past couple weeks has been a NIGHTMARE! Not even falling asleep until about 3 am and then waking up every 2 hours until about 8 am.

He is currently shrieking his head off because he is in pain, but I have already given him orajel. I don't like mixing orajel and tylenol because I don't know how safe it is, and I've hit my time limit for how long I can use them (they both say not to use on a daily basis for more than a certain amount of days)... HOW do you COPE with teething when NOTHING helps?!

Wet washcloths that have been refrigerated weird him out, so he won't even take them. Teething rings don't work. Massaging his gums doesn't help. Quite literally... NOTHING helps. except letting him scream himself into a deep sleep

so, my son is now 5 months old, and i have not had pain while breastfeeding since he was about 2 weeks old. however, lately, my left breast has begun to hurt while breastfeeding, just these past few days or so. i decided to look at it, to see what could be the problem, and i noticed a bright red lump just to the side of my nipple...

could this possibly be mastitis? some other sort of infection? has anyone else had this and has it cleared up on its own? or should i be contacting my OBGYN for this?

Is it possible for me to petition to have my son's last name changed to mine? He currently has his father's last name, however, his father and I went through a nasty break up and the baby lives with me and my family. We all share one name, and I feel it would be in his best interest to have the same name. He's kind of the "odd man out", so to speak, and it's really hard taking him to doctor's appointments or anything and having to use his father's last name given the situation.

is there any way i could make a case for his name to be changed? or is there no hope of that happening? his father is a real jerk and he, as of this moment in time, has no legal rights to our child. he's filing for partial custody, but due to his mental instability and lack of responsibility (has not paid a dime in support), i do not think he will be granted it.

what are my chances of having my son's name changed to mine?

So, I'm a first time mom, and I didn't grow up eating organically. I don't think people paid much attention in my generation. I did grow up with the mindset that putting something healthy into your body was better than resorting to chips or soda or junk, however. I'd like to instill that behavior in my child as well, but I'd also like to give him a good start by feeding him primarily organic foods. I know there are several baby food brands out there that are organic, but I have no idea which one to choose. I've never used any of them, and they should essentially be the same... but I was just wondering if anyone had any input. What brand do you use? Do you mix + match? What, in your opinion, is the best brand of organic baby food out there?

Thanks for the input/advice/opinion. Here's to hoping that some day EVERYTHING will be organic... so as not to perpetuate this organic vs non-organic controversy...

so... my question is this - my wisdom teeth have been bugging me for YEARS, but have never quite broken through my gums until now... of course, now the problem is, i have a 4 month old baby who is solely breastfeeding, and breastfeeding so often i never have a chance to start pumping.

one of my wisdom teeth is causing me SO much pain i am finding it hard to shut my jaw (as it pinches my cheek) or even swallow properly... i only have the 2 bottom teeth, thank goodness. i want to have at least this one removed, but the problem is now that i'm nursing, i don't know if i can even safely or realistically have it done.

how long does the surgery usually take? is there any way you can safely have the surgery done while nursing?

i've been trying to find a CLEAR answer about this, but i can't find anything that really definitively says yes or no...

i'm trying to clean up some new toys for my baby (4 months old!) and i have no idea what to use on them. i obviously don't want to use something that is toxic that will harm him, but i want to make sure that they are CLEAN so he doesn't get nasty germs in his mouth.

with toys that don't have batteries, i've just been throwing those in the dishwasher, and for stuffed animals, i've been wiping those down with a cloth/wipe. but for other toys that take batteries... can you use a lysol wipe on them? or clorox wipe? they are essentially the same thing, i believe. i just don't know if the chemical in them is too strong to use. i know that in daycares they use bleach, so i know bleach in certain quantities aren't harmful.

any input? i don't have the means to go out and buy new cleaning products either, so just a yes or no will suffice. thank you!

Never in a million years did I ever think I'd be asking this question, or anything pertaining to this question!

So, I have been ordered to undergo a paternity test, along with my baby and his "father". I've been doing a lot of reading about them, and I am really confused because I have found a lot of conflicting information. Basically, what I understand is the results can come back 0%, 99% or 99.9999% (or 100%). From what I've read, if it comes back even 99% conclusive, it still does not mean that the person is the father. So, basically it has to come back 99.99% conclusive to be considered a true match, right?

I guess my question is this - If the tests come back only 99% conclusive, does that mean that the "father" of my child has no legal rights to him? And I can walk away from him at that point in time?

Save the "two parents in your life" lecture, please. I'd rather my son had no father than the father that is in the picture.