^^ We do a lot of what you said too. We have categories for each thing. Before I decided to quit we made up a stringent budget. Also, we're going to combine his account and mine. I like the cash system (have used it before) and will probably do more of that now.

2/25/2012 3:46:31 PM

how much breastmilk did you mix with the formula? going to try this out for one of his bottles tomorrow as a test run. an early bottle to gauge how much gas he'll get from it, if at all.

in other news, fingers crossed I'm as lucky as punchmonk and get dismissed from jury duty. as much as I'd like to serve, I can't see how they'd want someone that will need to slip away every 4 hours to pump to sit.

2/26/2012 5:27:35 PM

I did half/half...so for 6oz then 3 if each. Seemed to work...

Trying to figure out how to get my supply back up since ill be becoming a SAHM at the end of March....it has drooped tremendously...

2/26/2012 8:38:21 PM

It should up just bc you'll be around nursing more. or do you exclusively pump and offer bottles?

Mine is fine when I'm with him...it's just when I'm away and the pump is just not as efficient as he is. That and the introduction of solids (now i feel I did it too early) has not helped.

2/27/2012 9:19:07 AM

http://www.lowmilksupply.org/powerpumping.shtml

Try power pumping. It will simulate the cluster feeding that babies do when they're hitting a growth spurt and tell your girls to kick up the milk supply.

When I was trying to exclusively pump for Amelia, I did this along with "hands on" expression and breast compression and it really helped.

But LK is right, if you're at home with the baby and breast feeding, your girls should respond.

[Edited on February 27, 2012 at 9:36 AM. Reason : .]

2/27/2012 9:34:51 AM

Just an FYI if you LOVE leg warmers and tights for your little babies, BabyLegs is having a leap year sale.

http://www.babylegs.com/

Too bad I already have what I need.

2/27/2012 6:44:21 PM

yay! i don't have to report for jury duty my supply is happy.

I'm going to try that power pumping though. I definitely need more output in between nursing sessions. An attempt to feed him formula today to see if he'd even take it did not go over well. He was like, "what tha fack is this ish!?"

2/27/2012 8:10:36 PM

So I have know since my son was 9 months old he has had issues with eggs. Even with the negative testing, I have only given him eggs in baked goods, etc. At 13 months I let him have french toast and I was about 5 seconds away from taking him to the hospital. (If Brier Creek emergency room was already open then I would have gone, but the hospital is 25 min from here.) Vomiting, shortness of breath, rash, hives, etc.

Well after he kept getting kicked out of daycare for breaking into hives constantly, I took him to the Duke clinic for further testing. They want him to go completely egg and soy free. I really have no idea where to start. I am suppose to start this immediately and keep a log of outbreaks. So I am guessing I will have to make absolutely everything. Have any of you guys gone through this? He still tested negative today for egg

2/27/2012 8:14:07 PM

I've tasted both formula and breast milk and they're just two different beasts. The texture is definitely completely different. If your baby is use to one, they may not take kindly to the other. If you're going to have to switch your kiddo, just gradually dilute your breast milk with formula. I wouldn't go straight to the 50/50 split if your little one is rejecting the formula right off bat.

Power pumping can be daunting. I think I pumped 10 and then rested 5-10 for an hour at the time. By the time I finished washing everything up, I felt like it was time to start over again. A helpful hint that I wished I had known about earlier was to put your attachments in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag between pumping sessions instead of washing them every single time.

2/27/2012 8:26:20 PM

elkaybie - my little man did that too. He was like "oh hell no". It took several days before he'd take it easily even diluted. I had to do 50/50 just because of how much he was eating and how much I was pumping.

I am hoping my supply will increase back when I start being at home. I nurse at home, and pump at work (once or twice depending on how much time). So today it was...nurse at 6am, pump at 9am, nurse at 1pm, nurse at 7pm. Even still nursing I see a difference in supply. Pumping output has decreased too. going to try the Feungreek again and add blessed thistle to it.

So very ready for my job to be over.

2/27/2012 9:29:09 PM

So... Little B has now started rolling back to tummy. The problem is that he's always slept swaddled because he's CONSTANTLY moving and waking himself up. I can't swaddle him anymore for fear he'll flip to his tummy and not be able to roll back without his arms. We have tried not swaddling him to sleep and he sleeps in 1 - 1/2 hour increments at most (where he was sleeping 5-6 hours straight before). Any suggestions? I feel like a walking zombie.

[Edited on February 29, 2012 at 7:10 PM. Reason : ed]

2/29/2012 7:09:26 PM

Try swaddling one arm out and letting him sleep on his side with the arm as a prop. Then after a week or two of that, do both arms out and resume back sleeping. We did that and it worked well.

2/29/2012 9:41:44 PM

Also...how old is he? When buddy started rolling back to tummy (and tummy to back) well and freely (6 mo?, I stopped worrying about how he slept. He's been a tummy sleeper since that day and we went both arms out of the swaddle.

3/1/2012 2:13:26 AM

He's 4 months. Kid is super motivated to move. I'll try the one arm out and see how that goes. I did both out last night and he only got up twice so maybe he's getting use to it.

On another note - shots today. =(

3/1/2012 7:16:29 AM

If you cloth diaper, this is pretty funny.

http://crappypictures.com/2012/03/cloth-diapers-the-good-and-the-crappy.html

3/1/2012 6:54:19 PM

I loooooooove crappy pictures! One of my favorite parenting blogs
I'm glad she won a bloggie.

3/1/2012 8:38:45 PM

I am not sure if any of you are looking for a used BOB but there is on on the Wilmington Craigslist (a double) that looks fairly nice.

Anyone using a double stroller?

I think I am going to go with the Baby Jogger City Select. I have read great things about the City mini double except more than one person told me mismatched (in weight) children make it quite difficult to steer.




I will have an 19ish month old (32+ pounds, 34.5 inches already) and an infant seat. My son currently LOVES the stroller. I have tried to get him walking with me but he has no interest. I know this might change in while, but I think in my situation I need to plan at least for 1-2 years good use. It would seem that the resale value would hold if I took care of it.

3/2/2012 5:17:23 PM

I'm really against "engendering" (as 73 says) your child. I get really upset whenever I see an infant or toddler who is unable to express any sort of opinion doing things along the lines of sporting earrings, wearing clothes that shout princess or diva, wearing nail polish, etc.

But this weekend, I got really really bored and painted my little girl's toenails bright pink. And I think that it is super cute and it makes me want to squee! I feel like such a traitor.

Anyone else find themselves doing crap like this?

3/3/2012 8:15:01 PM

The people I nanny for are fairly cool and laid back. Mom doesnt give a damn that the boy likes princesses like his little sisters, but thursday I sat uncomfortably as the father questioned the children about why the boy was playing with the jasmine doll and the girl had aladdin. I had just finished praising them for sharing because they are very possessive, to the point of destroying something so they dont have to share it. He told them that boys play with boy dolls and girls play with girl dolls, and kind of looked at me like I needed to enforce this. The boy was very upset. I have always told the kids they can do anything, no matter their gender. I dont know if I should just start enforcing this rule the dad came up with, or talk to the mom, or him. Mom seems to be alpha when it comes to the kids.

3/3/2012 10:36:32 PM

^i don't see how playing with the boy doll is any "better" than the girl doll. it's still a doll

^^i think where my opinions on that come from is not being allowed to play with the toys i wanted to play with as a kid (i had & liked dolls, but also wanted to play with the boy toys too), as well as my complete lack of understanding of girly concepts like cute clothes, makeup, nail polish, etc. if you like it though, then go for it.

3/3/2012 10:55:49 PM

^^Elise, there really isn't going to be much that you can do about it. As a nanny, you're being paid to support Mom and Dad's philosophies on child rearing. You can discuss your concerns, but the bottom line is that it is up to the parents. I would continue to do what you believe is right unless the parents specifically ask you to enforce what they consider to be gender appropriate toys. And if you end up being asked to enforce it, there are far more delicate ways to go about it. You should never make a child feel like they are wrong or something less than and it sounds like the way that the father is doing it is in danger of that.

3/4/2012 9:20:58 AM

Buddy went to the grandparents' last night, and we were successfully able to get him to take a 4oz bm and 2oz formula mixture before going. My mom cont that. She wrote this morning and said during his night feeding (yeah...an 8 mo old that still wants to nurse/a bottle at night, whatevs...I'm not stopping him despite what our ped says) she gave him a 50/50 bottle.

So thanks for the tips ladies. pumping has gone better and I'm getting a little more stored these days, but this is helpful.

3/4/2012 10:36:28 AM

Yay! Good going, Ryan! LK, Amelia and Ryan are the same age. We still get up at night to feed her a bottle. I don't think that there is anything wrong with it. Her idea of sleeping through the night is 4-5 hours. We don't wake her up to feed her, but she inevitably wakes up for a bottle.

Ugh. Amelia's cleft palate surgery is coming up in May and we've been asked to start working on cup feeding. Not a sippy cup because that requires suction on her part, but an open cup. Ugh ugh ugh.

3/4/2012 10:48:31 AM

I've decided when we start that I'm taking him outside and stripping him down to his diaper. Or putting a tarp under his high chair good luck!

This baby yoga dynamics video that's making the rounds is absolutely sickening

3/5/2012 8:05:54 AM

So, I only made it through 90% of the thread before LO woke up, but I thought I would share a few things.

We don't cloth diaper yet, but multiple people have recommended Jillian's Drawers to us.
http://www.jilliansdrawers.com
You get a bunch of different cloth brands to try out and you can simply return whatever doesn't work for you. They also sell the gently used returned ones for a discount.

As far as car seat/strollers go... I have thoroughly enjoyed our set up, and it is black/grey/silver, so it is gender neutral, too.
Car Seat: Graco Snug Ride 35 (Can remain rear facing to 35lbs, easy to clean, LO loves it -- NOT for small cars... we both have American made cars and no issues, but other reviewers had trouble with small sedans)
Stroller: small, everyday use - I got the frame that holds the infant seat. LOVE IT. Easy in an dout, used 20% off at BRUS. Bottom holds a lot, cup holders are veryhandy (phone, keys, drink b/c always thirsty b/c exclusively breastfeeding)
bigger, jogging style, multiple positions: Graco Trekko
I waited until it was on sale and I had a 25% off coupon so it made it worth buying early. It can lay completely flat an dvelcro in the foot area to become a bassinet style (used a lot at home as a nap time option when she was first born, can strap in infant seat (most joggers don't offer this option), and still has multiple upright options, adjustible handle for comfort. Down sides - no cup holders(can purchase something to change this, I just got spoiled bythe frame stroller), bulky but it is a jogger and it folds amazingly easily, straps aren't my fav... wish they had made the 5 pt better quality... no issues with it, just something to note.

3/13/2012 11:38:30 AM

THANK YOU for posting that link!! I think that'll be very helpful!

3/13/2012 12:37:33 PM

Selling baby clothes:

Ok, I have started taking pictures of my stuff to sell. OMG my son had a shit ton

https://picasaweb.google.com/Amelia.Mallner/BabyBoyClothes?authkey=Gv1sRgCO_ptbyjhvz-bQ&feat=email

What is the best strategy in trying to sell them?

I have pulled out most of the super nice name brand stuff (Gap, Polo, etc.) and took pictures of a few sizes to get an idea of what I could make. I had it on craigslist and no one seems interested. I know I should go ahead and take pics of the rest of the sizes (I am selling 0-24 month boys), but do not want to waste the effort if I cannot sell them.

How have you guys done at consignment sales? Is it worth all the work ironing and tagging?

For example, I had someone ask how much for all the 18 month stuff and I said 65 dollars. I included more than 65 pieces/outfits (several new without tags) and 8 pairs of shoes with socks and she laughed at me. I know most the thrift stores I visit sell most things for $1.

I was thinking of trying to just take Old Navy and better and selling it at a sale.

[Edited on March 14, 2012 at 10:33 PM. Reason : ]

3/14/2012 10:32:59 PM

I don't know if there are enough kids on here with kids old enough to speak to this, but can anyone give me any first hand information on Intuniv or Focalin?

3/14/2012 10:37:33 PM

^^ I may be interested in some! is you 6-9 and 9 -12 spring/summer or fall/winter?

3/15/2012 8:07:34 PM

^I just finished taking pictures of everything except 24 months...I am working on uploading everything. I was successful in sell some things on craigslist and even traded some for things I wanted

I will have the rest of the pictures up probably by the end of the night. I will work on tagging/removing everything that is gone.


I really can't remember when he hit his sizes. I know he was in preemie/newborn maybe Sept./Oct., 3-6 Nov/Dec., 12 month by Feb. 18 months by April and 24 months by his birthday (Sept.). I am taking pics of everything in hopes of turning into things I can use.



[Edited on March 15, 2012 at 8:53 PM. Reason : ]

3/15/2012 8:39:04 PM

So my phone and me are fighting....I managed to only get 6 of the 50 pictures off of it. I going to work on it tomorrow.

3/15/2012 10:50:12 PM

All right...so pretty much everything is online except 24 months. I am still washing and pulling the size. He is basically a 3T top and 2T bottoms so I might even have 2T tops not sure yet.

He look WAY more pregnant than me and I am 7 months pregnant.

3/16/2012 12:31:22 PM

I wish we all lived near each other so we could do a baby clothing swap or something of that nature. I am trying to get rid of some kids toys as well.

3/17/2012 12:17:12 PM

Love the Beauty and the Beast tea cart set!!

3/17/2012 2:02:09 PM

^^where do you live?

Are you in NC? I am going to Charlotte to visit my sister next weekend and my mom lives in Wilmington and go there quite frequently.

3/17/2012 2:27:39 PM

i need some ideas. we're approaching 9 mos and the separation anxiety is in full swing as well as continued waking up and immediate standing in the crib in the middle of the night. he knows how to get down; he just refuses to. he wants "us" to come in there and lay him back down...and by us I mean me. getting to sleep is a non issue...it's being able to soothe himself back to sleep.

he no longer needs to nurse at night. i'm convinced now that he simply wakes up based on body clock between 3 & 4am as some nights he doesn't even cry out during those times. i just hear him awake in his nursery, standing, waiting for me to come in. the other times he wakes up during the night then gets up b/c of anxiety.

we've done night lights. we've removed night lights. we've got comforting favorite toys in his crib. he won't take a paci. he's up at a minimum 3 times a night.

i'm thinking i need to completely remove myself from night time parenting to see if he at least will stop waking up, immediately standing, and screaming at the top of his lungs. i think it's a wanting me issue b/c he ALWAYS sleeps better at my mom's be it naps or at night. he naps for 1+ hrs twice a day there. he naps here for only 30 min - 1 hr twice a day.

any other ideas or experience with this?

3/26/2012 10:30:17 AM

Have you tried ignoring it... aka the "cry it out method"

the older they are the harder it is for this to work.

3/26/2012 2:02:57 PM

Yeah did that last night. Pretty much a disaster. I know it can take a few nights for it to work, but last night just shows our kid has stamina

3/26/2012 4:16:50 PM

yeah, we went that route when our daughter was 5 months old, and it took about a week before she was able to self-soothe. At 8-9 months that's definitely gonna be harder on both of you.

3/26/2012 5:40:22 PM

I know that there are very mixed feelings on the issue, but we love cosleeping. Believe it or not, everyone in our family gets the most sleep that way. Our older one was out of our bed and in his own toddler bed before he was 18 months old.

Amelia is already out of our bed and into a pack and play in the same room. She is just getting to the point where she becomes upset when she notices that she's all alone at any given time. She soothes when she spots one of us or hears our voice. We don't have any sleep issues with her. I think that when she wakes up in the middle of the night and realizes she's not entirely alone that she goes back to sleep. That said, she still takes a pre-dawn bottle because the volume of each individual feed is kinda low for her age.



You can try what I call the Super Nanny Method, which is really a modified cry it out. I saw Joe do it on her show a few times and tried it with one of my charges several years ago. You go into the room with the child and sit down where they can see you, but you don't make eye contact or speak to them. It just reassures the child that you are there, but doesn't reward any of their ruckus. It takes a few nights, but the length of time that it takes the child to settle should shorten and then go away. The first few times, it can take a really long time for them to settle, but if you stick with it, it really does work.

3/26/2012 6:11:28 PM

^^We did CIO when he was ~5 mos in getting him to fall asleep on his own versus the rocking, bouncing, swaying routine only to result in eyes popping open b/c he wasn't asleep enough yet. You're right...it wasn't so bad then, but now that he's older it (so far) appears to be much more difficult.

^I would also call what we did a modified CIO, but I like what you've seen Super Nanny do. Might explore that.

We co-slept in the beginning and do when we travel, so I'm not opposed to the idea. But I don't know if that will help as when we do travel he still wakes up quite often (last trip 2 weekends ago the pack in play was right next to me on my side of the bed) and immediately pulls up ("hi mommy!"). one of those nights we put him in bed with us, and yes...he slept much better. but there was a king bed there and we have a queen. in our queen, that gif of the bed sharing baby positions comes to mind

a suggestion i got via PM was to change the scenery and put him in the pack in play in another room. I've recently thought the placement of his crib (by the door) might be part of the reason he immediately pulls up ("they come from that thing there..."). so i think that will be the next step before we go back to co-sleeping.

he's down now, and justin put him to bed instead of me tonight. we'll see if there's any change in how he sleeps tonight as a result.

Thanks for the tips so far everyone

3/26/2012 8:29:17 PM

Well that was better in that he didn't scream and it was easier to get him down when he did wake up, but he woke up every hour on the half hour from 11:30 til 6:30. Culprit last night seems to be a runny nose. It's always something with these kiddies! I think I'm just going to accept the fact that I won't ever sleep for the rest of my life.

We'll try this again tonight.

3/27/2012 8:24:04 AM

They'll be old enough to pour themselves a bowl of cereal and turn on the TV one day.

3/27/2012 1:12:10 PM

I've been starting to think maybe my milk supply isn't keeping up with him. I tested the theory the night before last, and after I nursed him gave him 4 oz of straight formula. Husband put him to bed and then he slept til 3:45 am (much like how he sleeps at my mom's). I nursed him and he went back to sleep but waking on and off after that til rise.

Last night we did the same, but I ended up being the last person he saw before bed. Up at 12, 2:30 (nursed), 5, then rise at 6:30.

I know this doesn't confirm a pattern just yet, but i'm going to make sure we re-create how it went the night before last to see if we repeat that again.

3/30/2012 8:40:55 AM

^I had that problem. I was trying to nurse before bed and he was waking up a lot at night. I know I wasn't producing enough. I agree recreating it will let you know better if that's the issue.

We're on straight formula now. Had a little cry about it yesterday. I tried to power pump and got literally less then a 1/4 an ounce over an hour (20 min, off 10, on 10 and so on). And he won't nurse now that he's used to formula/bottle to really help re-lactate.. he gets to distracted and just starts looking at me/around/etc - and I have no milk to give which frustrates him. I'm having a really hard time with this. Although I'm glad I made it to 5 months (the first 3 exclusively breastfeeding). I am really sad that work made me dry up. I have some resentment about it and I miss nursing him. He really prefers a bottle at this point, but I am sad about it. Even though I know he'll be fine on the formula. This is also going to sound silly, but it makes me feel like he's less of a "baby" now that he's only drinking out of a bottle (and trying to grab his own bottle!).

Anyways, just venting for a minute.

3/30/2012 4:46:18 PM

My wife tried nursing/pumping at first, but with twins her supply wouldn't keep up. Once she was able to let go of the pressure of everyone hounding her about breast feeding and open up to just switching to formula, our lives improved dramatically. Kids ate fewer times, slept longer, etc...

The nice thing about formula was that we could pre-measure powder formula and put it in bottles. Keep those and a jug of spring water up there, and we were able to quickly get a bottle together in the middle of the night. Saved us from going down to the fridge or freezer and getting milk, heating it up, etc... all while the kids were getting worked up more and more. We did the same trick for day trips. Empty bottles with the powdered formula in them, and just ask for water when you stop at restaurants, etc....

3/30/2012 4:52:44 PM

^ It's definitely nice to be able to easily make a bottle anywhere and be able to still socialize without leaving to BF. There's trade offs to both sides.

I premake bottles, refrigerate and pop them in the bottle warmer for 3 minutes and they are ready. It's a pain to have to wash the bottles continuously though.

3/30/2012 5:05:49 PM

we're lazy parents. we use one bottle. rinse or wash bottle, scoop formula, warm tap water, shake and feed. at nine months, i'm gradually introducing cooler formula to get her use to cold milk from the fridge in a few months.

3/30/2012 5:29:00 PM

What I'm hoping is i will still be able to nurse in the morning and middle of the night if he wakes up, and perhaps alternating between formula and nursing throughout the day with formula before bed. Tonight he took 8 oz of formula after nursing if that's the case I'm definitely not keeping up with him anymore. My pump sessions when I'm away (which I try to do when he normally would nurse), and I know it's not as efficient, yields 3 oz on a good day.

And so far in our formula endeavor, we do the same as bottombaby

3/30/2012 8:16:51 PM

amelia had her first table food today. she had a couple of string beans and some diced banana. she chowed down like a pro without a tooth in sight. I'm going to have to hurry if i want to actually use my purees.

3/30/2012 9:51:36 PM