Ferber Method/CIO

Although Crying it out is highly debated and controversial, I can honestly say it is the best thing I could've done for my precious son. At 6 weeks, he began sleeping 6 1/2 hours consistently... every single night. It was amazing and we felt so lucky and blessed to have such a great sleeper. Unfortunately, it did not last. Around 3 months old, he started waking 4-5 times a night. I thought it was just a growth spurt or some kind of phase and that it would pass. It didn't. As time went on, he began waking every 45 minutes-2 hours at night. I felt lucky to get a 3 hour stretch on nights when he was extra tired. I began researching and even took a trip to the doctor and discovered that I had created this little waking machine. I nursed/rocked/bounced him to sleep every night and he had become so dependent on it that he could not fall back to sleep at night after completing a sleep cycle. If you are here, you have probably read/heard all about this. I began doing some research and started a bedtime routine hoping it would help bubby transition into a sleep state. I then started gentle, no-cry methods to help him sleep on his own. NOTHING worked. He continued to wake constantly. I felt I couldn't be a good parent during the day when I was so sleep-deprived I could barely function. I was getting more sleep when we first brought him home as a newborn. Not only was I exhausted, but so was he. At 6 months, I finally decided I would give the Ferber method a try. I had been anti-CIO all the way up until this moment. I honestly had no idea what else to do. I'm not going to lie, the first night was ROUGH! He cried for 2 hours before he finally fell asleep. I felt like a horrible mother but I knew this was the right thing for us. After he finally fell asleep, he slept for 5 straight hours!! I as amazed! He woke up, ate and went right back to sleep and woke up again in the morning happy and refreshed. We had a couple more rough nights after that but a week later and he now cries for 5-15 minutes and falls asleep and only wakes 1-2 times a night (which is totally fine for me). He does sometimes wake quite early (5 or 6) and I just bring him into bed with me so we can both get a couple more hours of sleep. We are both much more happy, relaxed, and rested. I do only recommend CIO as a last resort but if you are interested in trying the Ferber method, I highly recommend buying the book and reading it before beginning. Good luck to you & I hope you get the needed sleep you have been waiting for. :)

Homemade Baby Food Recipes

I love making homemade baby food for my little. It is so easy and actually quite fun. It is also a lot cheaper than jarred baby food and you are able to control everything that goes into your baby's little body. You just simply puree your fruits/veggies etc., pour them into some ice cube trays, cover with plastic wrap, freeze, then transfer to dated freezer bags. Since starting my little foodie on solids, I have been looking for different foods to make and mix together for him. I have compiled a list of foods I have made for him to share with  you all!

Some foods I choose to purchase organic but others I do not. When deciding whether to go organic or not, I refer to the EWG's website. You can find a list of foods I always choose to buy organically here.

Now for some fun recipes and foods to try with your little foodies. *Remember to always check with your pediatrician before starting solids or introducing new foods to your baby.

You can add breast milk/formula/cooking liquid to thin any of these recipes or cereal/oatmeal to thicken them.


Banana-Avocado (probably one of the easiest)

Take equal parts of ripe banana and avocado & mash together with a fork in bowl. You can also puree with a food processor or blender if you would like.
*Bananas or avocados separately make great first foods!
*I wouldn't recommend freezing bananas or avocados after mashing because they easily brown.


Squash-Sweet Potato

1 Squash
2 Sweet Potatoes (or as many as you would like)

Cut your squash in half length-wise, scoop out the seeds and put into a baking pan with 1 inch of water. Bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour or until the skin begins to pucker. Scoop the meat out and add to your food processor or blender. At the same time you are baking your squash, you can also bake your sweet potatoes by scrubbing clean, wrapping in tinfoil and adding to the oven. You then cut and scoop the meat out of those as well. You can then puree. (You can also puree and freeze separately then mix together before feeding).


Peachy Banana 

You have the option to mix your peaches and bananas right before serving to baby or using cubes of previously frozen peaches (or bagged frozen peaches) mixed with a recently mashed banana. Again, you want to mash your bananas right before serving to avoid browning.

To prepare peaches:
Wash, peel, pit, cut into chunks & then steam until tender
-or-
Wash, cut an X into one side, place X side down into a pan of about 1 inch of water, bring water to a boil, steam until tender, peel, then pit.

You can then throw the peaches and bananas into a food processor or blender
-or-
Put just your peaches into the food processor then mix the desired amount with a mashed banana and freeze the remaining amount




**lots more to come :)

Homemade Baby Food: To Buy Organic or Not?

When I purchase fresh fruits and veggies to make Bubby's purees, I choose to buy some organic and some not. I use the EWG's website to determine whether or not to purchase organic foods.

Here is a list for your reference that I obtained from their site:

The Dirty Dozen - These are the foods that I always choose organically because they are exposed to pesticides the most:

• Apples
• Celery
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Grapes
• Hot Peppers
• Nectarines (Imported)
• Peaches
• Potatoes
• Spinach 
• Strawberries
• Sweet Bell Peppers

4 Month Sleep Regression

So I had never even heard of such a thing until one night after having next to no sleep for almost a week, I decided to Google, "4 month growth spurt" & the regression is what I stumbled upon. My son had been sleeping like a champ since 6 weeks. We were consistently getting 6 1/2 hours of sleep per night and it was pure bliss. Once he hit about 3 months his sleep slowly began to suffer but it wasn't terrible. We started getting 5 hours then 4 hours then once he hit 16 weeks, all hell broke loose. He was now waking up every 45 minutes to 1 1/2 during the night. I was absolutely exhausted!!! (& still am). He was fussy all day and fighting naps like crazy. I was lucky to get him to nap for an hour during the day, which made for extra cranky evenings and an absolute war getting him to fall asleep. He would fall asleep in my arms and wake up screaming as soon as I attempted to put him down. I tried everything to relax him. I would give him a warm bath then a nice massage with soothing music in the background. I rocked him, bounced him, nursed him, walked around with him, wore him & NOTHING worked. So, on night five I did my Goggle search. According to what I found, at 4 months your baby starts to sleep more like an adult. They wake in the night except unlike an adult they are unable to easily fall back asleep. Unfortunately for me, my son needs to be nursed or rocked in order to fall asleep, so every time he would wake up our soothing process would have to repeat. I refuse to let him cry it out and such a young age like all the books tell you to do, so I would cry and nurse at the same time. I then downloaded, "The Wonder Weeks" app and discovered that my sweet son is going through a leap. This particular leap lasts an extra long time (weeks 15-19) and the signs of this leap include (quoted from the app):

• Your baby's head has to be supported again more often
• He asks for more attention, almost claims more attention
• He has firm mood swings
• He wants more body contact during feeding
• He seems to lack his usual "spunk" or seems absent

  
Yep, they nailed it! My son exhibited just about all of those signs. Although I was absolutely exhausted it was good to know that there was reasoning behind this lack of sleep and that it was not my fault. The fact that it would just be a phase gave me hope that I may someday get sleep again. Last night was night 5 of our ordeal and my sweet boy slept from 10 until 1:30 & kicked and screamed until 3 when he fell back to sleep until 7. I felt we had a breakthrough and I'm hoping and praying it only continues to get better as the nights go on. On the bright side to all of this, Bubby's development is clearly shining through. He began rolling from his tummy to his back yesterday and began scooting today! Those moments of mama's pride make all the long nights worthwhile. So, if you are experiencing this 4 month sleep regression, just remember that it is only temporary and the outcome of development will be worth it. I hope you too will soon get the sleep you so desperately need! :)

Thrush

So, it seemed our breastfeeding woes didn't end at tongue and lip ties. Unfortunately, we battled thrush for two months before it was finally kicked to the curb! It all began after I had an infection in one of my teeth and had to be on antibiotics. Little did I know, those antibiotics would be the beginning of a long and painful journey. After I had been on the antibiotics for a few days, I noticed my right nipple HURT! It hurt worse than when Bubby was first born. I had no idea why, so of course I did a quick google search and learned that thrush was more than likely the culprit of my pain. I called my LC who told me to get in touch with my OB and pediatrician to begin being treated immediately. My OB prescribed Diflucan for me but that nurse at the pediatrician told me that since Bubby had no symptoms we didn't need to treat him! Of course, that is horrible information and our thrush continued even after my course of meds. I finally took Alex in to a different pediatrician who started him on Nystatin. We used that for about a week with no relief still. He was then prescribed a different medication that still did not kick the thrush. I was devastated and again thought my breastfeeding days would have to end. Next my LC recommended gentian violet. I ordered online and began using it. It was extremely messy but gave me relief almost immediately! I was elated. After using it for a week, our thrush was finally gone! ... A few days later I began having horrible pains in my side and discovered I had an infection and would have to go on antibiotics again. This time I was prepared and took probiotics along with my antibiotics but the thrush came back anyway. We used the gentian violet once more along with an all purpose nipple ointment and finally kicked the thrush once and for all after 2 long months. We have now been thrush free for 3 weeks!
Yay! I guess the moral of these stories is that breastfeeding is not always and easy and natural as you would think. It can be frustrating, difficult and just downright painful, but it is soooo worth it! I am so glad that I have not given up and I can continue to give my son the best of the best! At 4 months old he is 16 lbs 9 oz and that is all from mama's milk! I am so proud of myself and of him for getting this far and I look forward to continuing our breastfeeding journey!

Tongue and Lip Tie

I'd like to start by saying that even before getting pregnant, I have been very passionate about breastfeeding my children. What I didn't know or realize is how difficult and frustrating it really can be. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I began reading. I read everything from magazines, to online articles to books. ("So That's What They're For" by Janet Tamaro is a great book by the way). I was determined to breastfeed and know everything I needed to know beforehand. I honestly thought breastfeeding would be so natural and enjoyable.

When my son was born, he latched almost immediately and ate for a few minutes. The next day however, I was not so lucky. Baby Alex began to not latch and developed jaundice. I partly blame myself because I was so tired and allowed him to sleep for 6 hours so I could sleep as well. Anyway, I ended up having to supplement with 10 cc's of formula to get his blood sugar back up. From then on I woke him every 3 hours to feed but had to use a nipple shield in order to get him latched on. I continued with the nipple shield for about a week and then was finally able to get him latched without it.

As the weeks went by, I realized that something wasn't quite right. Although my son was gaining properly and seemed to be transferring milk correctly, things just didn't feel right. I felt as if he was pinching my nipple. I finally went to see a lactation consultant when Alex was about 3 weeks old. That is when I learned my precious son was tongue tied. Before that I had barely even heard about tongue ties and had no idea how they could affect my breastfeeding relationship. I did my research and called a few doctors and found a doctor who would snip little man's tie. I was so nervous but the procedure took about 2 seconds and Alex seemed more annoyed that the doctor had his hand in his mouth than anything else. Unfortunately, I didn't notice much of a change in the way he was latching. The lactation consultant said everything looked good and that maybe I should give it a few days and see what happened.

 After a few days had passed and still no change, I began doing my research and found information on lip ties. I nervously lifted Alex's top lip up to find that he indeed had an upper lip tie. I went back to the doctor who told me that the lip tie would not affect breastfeeding and that my son would most likely fall in the future and end up tearing it (awesome!). He also mentioned that my son had a posterior tongue tie but that he was unable to take care of it. I was devastated. I thought my breastfeeding days would soon be over. I began pumping in preparation, but luckily I was able to stick through it and am still going strong at 4 months.

I was determined to have a good breastfeeding relationship. So, I dealt with the pain and continued doing my research. It seemed as if no one really understood the affects of tongue and lip ties except for other mothers who had children with them. I could not find anyone in my area who would even look at my son's ties, let alone do something about them.

Finally, I stumbled upon a group on Facebook called, Tongue Tied Babies Support Group and lo and behold, lip and tongue ties are far from rare and far from being no big deal. The group had so much great information and support and I finally made the decision to find a doctor as close to us as possible and make the trip to get these ties taken care of once and for all. Unfortunately, during this time we battled 2 months of thrush as well but that's a whole 'nother story.

Anyway, we now have our appointment set up and are prepared to take a 13 hour road trip to Portland, OR. I am a bag of mixed emotions. I am so nervous for my precious bubby, but I know it will be worth it in the end, not only for our breastfeeding relationship but also for his speech development and hygiene later on in his life. I really hope this procedure gives us some relief and allows both him and I to benefit from breastfeeding in the way that nature intended.

What They Don't Tell You

My son, Alex Jr., is now a couple days shy of 4 months old. Over these past few months, I have discovered a few things about parenting that they don't tell you in the books.

Here is that list:

1. You must always put the diaper on with the pee pee down! Otherwise you end up changing baby's outfit way more times a day than neccessary.

2. When bathing baby, you must clean well under the armpits, in the leg crevices, behind the ears, & in between the fingers and toes! If you don't clean these well, a white film will develop that STINKS. You'd think this would be common sense but I just recently discovered the "behind the ear stench" and it was not pleasant.

3. Although it may seem that breastfeeding should be the most natural thing in the world, it is not! It's not always easy, but it is so very worth it!

4. After having a baby, taking a hot shower with not interruptions becomes a much welcomed vacation.

5. Your body will never quite be the same.

6. You may have thought getting things done while pregnant was difficult, but getting things done with a baby is much more of a challenge. Things seemed to be a lot simpler when I could carry baby around in my uterus rather than in his bulky car seat. On the bright side, I am developing some nice are muscles. 

7. You do NOT need very many outfits in any of the early sizes. My 4 month old son has now flown through newborn, 0-3, and 3-6 month clothes. He is in 9 month clothing, size 4 diapers and is even able to fit some 12 month clothes (he is on the larger side though). 

8. The amount of laundry such a tiny being creates is unbelievable! 

9. When leaving the house, you of course want to pack an extra outfit for baby, but you should also always pack an extra outfit for yourself... just in case.

10. Lastly, the time FLIES by! Take LOTS of pictures and videos! Cherish every moment with your sweet baby because soon your sweet baby will be a rambunctious toddler!