Charts and More Charts Continued…

Each stage of  child development seems to bring a whole new series of questions and concerns. Is my child eating right, drinking right, growing right, talking right, playing right…? I know I should ask my doctor these questions first, but instead, who do I turn to? Friends, family, books, and good old trusty Google. Check out my latest questions and answers now that Will is officially a toddler.

p.s. click here to answer many of your baby questions.

(click pictures to enlarge)

How much should my toddler be eating?

toddlertastes.blogspot

What kinds of food should I feed my toddler?

 How much cows milk should my child be drinking per day?  

My doctor says 24 ounces, but I’ve been giving Will 18 ounces a day. This chart says 16 oz. per day, so depending on the child I would aim for 16-24 ounces a day.  How much cows milk do you give your toddler?

babble.com 

How many ounces of water should my toddler drink per day? 

aquasana.com

When can I turn the car seat to forward-facing?

The website states, “Keep your child rear-facing as long as possible. It’s the best way to keep him or her safe. Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by your car seat’s manufacturer. Once your child outgrows the rear-facing car seat, your child is ready to travel in a forward-facing car seat with a harness” 

safercar.gov

How much should my toddler be sleeping?

adoptmed.org

What sounds should my toddler be able to make?

What are the developmental milestones for toddlers?

When do toddlers get their molars?

 

What signs can I start working on with my toddler to help him communicate?

iloveaba.com

When is time to start thinking about potty-training? 

babyplayface.com

What immunizations will my child have in his upcoming appointments? 

healhtyfamiliesnow.net 

It’s Your Turn

“It’s your turn”. You are either saying it, thinking it or praying for it when your little one wakes you up at the crack of dawn. Every morning, it feels like I’m back in middle school, begging my mom, “just five more minutes, please“. Your bed takes on a whole new level of comfort, and you yearn for your warm covers the second you hear, “ba ba ba, da da da”.

Billy and I go back and forth about how to split up the morning shift. We’ve tried alternating days, week vs weekend, ignoring the sounds in hopes that they will turn back into blissful sleep, but we keep sliding back into the same routine. I feed and change Will at 5:30 a.m (when is he going to outgrow this phase?!) and then put him back to sleep. I then crawl in bed, cross my fingers, and pray that he lays down and closes his eyes. Sometimes, he gives us the gift of falling back asleep until 7:30, but other times he cat-naps until 6:00 a.m. Either way, that second wake-up time has become Billy’s shift.

If you are a stay-at-home-mom, like me, many people would say, (and Billy might agree) that the husband shouldn’t take a morning shift because he has to go to work all day. My argument is that it is the only time of day when he can spend quality time with his son (It totally works 😉 ).

Who wakes up with your little one in the morning? How do you split up the morning shift if one parent works? How do you split up the morning shift if both parents work?

P.S. This is me every night at 8:30…

 

Transitioning from 3 Naps to 2 Naps

As I mentioned last week, Will has been giving me signs that he is ready to move from 3 naps to 2 naps, so we decided to take the plunge. Most moms have a similar approach to this nap change, and this is what worked for us…

1) Test it out: try two naps and see how it goes. If your baby has a meltdown by the late afternoon, they probably aren’t ready.

2) Use the 3rd nap as a backup. If they can’t make it until bedtime, let them catnap in the car, stroller, or put them down even if it’s just to play in their crib.

3) Push the morning nap and afternoon nap back a half-an-hour or more.

4) Drop the last nap of the day, which unfortunately makes the witching hour even harder.

5) Distract your child. They are going to be tired and crabby, so the more you can get out of the house, the better. Going out to dinner at 4:30 has been my saving grace!

6) Feed them 3 meals a day + snacks and bottles. Ask your doctor about quantity of bottles or refer to the Charts and More Charts post.

7) Early bedtime. You can expect your child to be more tired while they adjust to the nap change. Push up their bedtime a half-an-hour or more (for your own sanity 😉 )

How did you make the transition from 3 naps to 2 naps? How did your little one adjust to his or her new nap schedule?

P.S. How funny is Will’s hair sprouting out from one side of his helmet?

Is it Time to Drop the 3rd Nap?

At 8 1/2 months of age, Will is pretty old to still be taking three naps a day, but I figured why rush it? Although 3 naps is limiting in terms of leaving the house, those three naps have been glorious. But he’s growing up, and he’s been giving me signs he is ready to switch to two.

1) It takes him 20-30 minutes to fall asleep. He rolls, he climbs, he falls, he sits, he babbles, he cries all before he finally gives in to his tired eyes.

2) He skips naps altogether. If he still hasn’t fallen asleep after 30 minutes, it’s safe to assume it’s not going to happen.

3) He’s eating more. Will is finally enjoying food (like his mommy!) and he is eating 3 meals a day, plus a snack, along with 4 bottles.

4) He’s napping longer. The second nap has gone from 1 hour to an hour and half or longer. Don’t mind that at all!

What signs did your baby show that he or she was ready to drop a nap?

(Click here for more information on how much your child should be napping, eating and every other question you can think of…)

Charts and More Charts

Reading a baby book is not the most thrilling thing. The author usually spends a whole chapter explaining his philosophy on child rearing, then another providing scientific evidence to back his belief, and another listing numerous examples of families who have benefited from his method. Jeez. JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO, AND MAKE IT EASY!

That is the purpose of this blog post. To answer all of the questions I’m constantly asking myself, my family, my friends, and my doctor. I hope you find these charts helpful! (Click on each chart to enlarge)

P.S Every child is different. Some of these charts may not apply to your baby or your parenting style. For me, the napping chart says Will should be at 2 naps a day, but he likes his naps (just like his daddy!).

How much should my child be sleeping? 

How many naps should my child take a day? 

WebMD

How many feedings should I do per day and how often? 

safefood.eu

How much formula or breast milk should I feed my baby? 

What solid foods are age appropriate? 

happyfamilybrands.com

How much Tylenol can my baby take when he is sick or teething? 

http://thedoctormommy.com/?p=1119

What vaccinations does my child need, and when will he receive them? 

What should my child be able to do by this age? 

Shhh…He’s sleeping

My mom has reminded me a few times (maybe, 20) that I need to stop being so quiet when Will is sleeping. I completely agree, but I still continue to cater to his nap schedule.

The thought of waking him up makes me do crazy things like, not flush the toilet (I know, it’s gross), confine myself to one room, whisper to Billy, and go outside to talk on the phone. We live in a one-story apartment, and we were really smart 😉 and chose to put Will in the bedroom right next to the kitchen and the bathroom. Therefore, I’m constantly walking on pins and needles around our house, which is hard when you live in an old building with creaky, wood floors. It needs to STOP, but I don’t want to risk waking him up early from a nap (can you tell how much I treasure his nap time?).

How do you handle noise during nap time?

What’s Wrong?

Last night, Will & i had one of those nights…

Billy was at a work function, so it was just the two of us. The night was going so smoothly, gave him a bath, went on an evening walk, fed him, and read him Red Truck, although he prefers his Red Ferrari. I put him in his crib, and he feel right asleep…for about five minutes. That’s when the crying started, a painful wailing that I’ve never heard him make before. This was very strange, because this has never been a problem since his sleep training.

Normally, I would just let him cry-it-out, but I was alone, and he was so sad. I picked him up, and went through the checklist (diaper, feed, change his outfit, comfort, pacifier), but the crying continued. “What’s wrong with you, little guy?” I asked him. Panic started to strike, “what should I do?” Last resort, I gave him some children’s tylenol, hoping that maybe he was “teething,” and this would ease the discomfort.

The medicine did the trick and he eventually fell asleep. Have you ever been in a situation where you can’t figure out what’s wrong with your child? How did you unravel this mystery? What was the result?

Until next time, Nurse Julie

Grab a Bottle of Wine…it’s Going to be a Long Night

Did I say night? I meant a week…and a half. At least for us it was, when we sleep trained Will at four months old. I can laugh about it now, but I’m not going to lie-it was complete torture.

Let me break it down for you, Will was waking every 2-3 hours for three reasons: 1) he came un-swaddled, 2)his pacifier fell out, 3)he was hungry. Our goal was to wean him off the pacifier, and transition from swaddling his whole body to swaddle his lower-half, and eventually switching to a sleep sack. This was a double wammie-taking away the pacifier, and the full swaddle.

We decided to use the book, “Solve your Child’s Sleep Problems” by Richard Ferber. I looked at others, like “Baby Wise” and “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child”, but Ferber’s method seemed to be the most direct. It really is personal preference, and you can take bits and pieces from each book.

If you decide to go with the Ferber Method, here are my suggestions:

1) Don’t try to do it alone– After reading the book, I was feeling ready to take on this challenge head on. “I’ll start today, with his nap schedule,” I told my husband. Big mistake. He cried for an hour, and I gave up. It was too much to handle on my own.

2) Pick an open weekend- Make sure you have nothing going on the weekend you decide to sleep train. We ended up canceling a babysitter because we didn’t want to put her through the ringer.

3) Make your husband be the bad guy- Someone has to go in the room and check on the baby every ten minutes until they fall asleep, and that person was Billy. Billy had to look into his sad eyes, pat his little back, tell him it was ok, and then walk out. By the end of the weekend, Billy was convinced that Will hated him.

4) Use a timer-Ten minutes can feel like forever when your little one is crying for you. The timer will ensure you don’t rush in to soothe him. The goal is for him to learn to soothe himself back to sleep.

5) Take breaks – Rather than staring at your husband, while your child cries non-stop in the background, take turns leaving the house. During one of Will’s long crying spells, I took a walk and picked up some pizza for us.

6) Don’t give up – By day 4, we were ready to throw in the towel. We didn’t understand, it only took 1-3 days for the people in the book. Will’s sleep training took longer than most babies, but I’m glad we stuck it out for the ten days.

7) Nap training comes second– I was hoping his bedtime sleep training would transfer immediately to his nap schedule. My friend had to remind me that naps are harder and take longer to master. My main priority should be getting him to sleep through the night.

8) Be flexible – Traveling, visitors, sickness are just some of the things that can throw off your newly accomplished sleep schedule. Give it a couple of days, and your little one with adjust.

If you’re like most new mothers, you don’t have time to read a whole book. Focus on these chapters:

Chapter 3: “Helping your Child Develop Good Sleep Practices”

Chapter 4: “Sleep Associations: A Key Problem”

Chapter 6: Feedings during the Night: Another Major Cause of Trouble

Nap Jail

When does nap jail end?! Will is taking three naps a day with two-hour waking periods in between. So, by the time I feed him and change his diaper, that gives me an hour and a half to race to the store, attend a class, or run an errand. The drive home from this quick outing is always fun because he is of course fussy right before his nap. I sing every song I know to keep him happy and awake: Itsy Bitsy, Twinkle, Twinkle, Wheels on the Bus, Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, ABC’s, I’m a Little TeaPot…By the time I get home, my voice is hoarse, and Will is no longer amused.

What age did you switch your child to two naps a day? How did you make that transition?