mapleyther
New member
Unpredictability is the name of the game. I feel like we read all the guides, schedules, lists, and recommendations and somehow the babies let us know that they're in control.
Seven months and change with our babies and they are definitely keeping us busy. Our whole family had our first Covid experience with all four of us getting it after dodging it for so long. Overall not a pleasant experience but the babies did seem to weather it well. Tough little buggers. They had fevers up to 102.5 for a few days, but baby motrin/tylenol seemed to do a good job of keeping the fevers down to manageable levels. We did have a slight scare and took a trip to the ER because baby boy seemed to have some breathing issues, but it was just an extension of his laryngomalacia that he's always had. They monitored for oxygen saturation, which was fine, and sent us home with an inhaler to use prn. Baby boy also got fitted for a helmet a few weeks ago because of the plagiocephaly on his back side, which he is adjusting well too, albeit some skin issues with existing eczema. Seems like so many little things, but again, the babies handle it better than we do a lot of times.
We are currently adjusting to the babies teething and growing/moving a lot more, which is creating a few challenges that we are adjusting to. Teething and rolling/crawling seems to affect sleep a bit, and although they have a lot of good nights where they'll sleep a good 10 hour stretch, there are still some expected rough nights. All signs of development, but it's never fun waking up at 4am to start the day super early. We did have a good stretch of sleep training, but with covid, helmet, and some feeding issues, we had to go back to feeding them to sleep. A few steps back, but I'm sure we'll get there. Naps have been super interesting, as they will still only take 30min naps when they're on a three nap schedule. We have tried transitioning to two naps this week, and they are able to connect sleep and go 1-1.5 hours for naps, which is so much better. Inevitably wake windows are extended a bit longer than we'd like, but they go down super fast, which is great.
Feeding for them: They're taking less formula than they did a few months ago when they would pound 1000ml+ per day. We attribute it to introducing solids and the lengthening of feeding windows. On a good day they'll go through around 800ml of formula and a few ounces of solids. They are very easily distracted when feeding, and we've been trying to minimize the stimulus and potential distractions when they are feeding. We did go through a rough patch where baby girl would just completely stop drinking formula after 60ml, which was maddening, but it seems to have been a phase that only lasted a few weeks.
New things: Baby girl has started crawling up a storm and tries to get into everything. Baby boy is happy just lying on his stomach, and the helmet seems to add a bit of weight, so he's more content lounging on a jumper/activity center. A reminder that everyone develops at different paces. They're both around 19-20lbs with baby boy still about 1lbs heavier than baby girl.
After covid, we took a weekend trip and rented a house with a pool so we could introduce the babies to water and so that we could test out babies handling travel. We purposely chose a house with hardwood floors so they could spend more time on the ground, and it wasn't as bad as we expected overall. They slept about the same in travel cribs, and we feel a bit more confident about taking them around on trip now. Baby steps!
Overall things are well, and that is all we hope for at this point. Things are still difficult, but in different ways than when the babies were newborns. I think it was more mentally challenging for the first six months, and now it's more of a physical challenge.
Experience and advice is always welcome with what's working for everyone else at this stage. Thank you!
Seven months and change with our babies and they are definitely keeping us busy. Our whole family had our first Covid experience with all four of us getting it after dodging it for so long. Overall not a pleasant experience but the babies did seem to weather it well. Tough little buggers. They had fevers up to 102.5 for a few days, but baby motrin/tylenol seemed to do a good job of keeping the fevers down to manageable levels. We did have a slight scare and took a trip to the ER because baby boy seemed to have some breathing issues, but it was just an extension of his laryngomalacia that he's always had. They monitored for oxygen saturation, which was fine, and sent us home with an inhaler to use prn. Baby boy also got fitted for a helmet a few weeks ago because of the plagiocephaly on his back side, which he is adjusting well too, albeit some skin issues with existing eczema. Seems like so many little things, but again, the babies handle it better than we do a lot of times.
We are currently adjusting to the babies teething and growing/moving a lot more, which is creating a few challenges that we are adjusting to. Teething and rolling/crawling seems to affect sleep a bit, and although they have a lot of good nights where they'll sleep a good 10 hour stretch, there are still some expected rough nights. All signs of development, but it's never fun waking up at 4am to start the day super early. We did have a good stretch of sleep training, but with covid, helmet, and some feeding issues, we had to go back to feeding them to sleep. A few steps back, but I'm sure we'll get there. Naps have been super interesting, as they will still only take 30min naps when they're on a three nap schedule. We have tried transitioning to two naps this week, and they are able to connect sleep and go 1-1.5 hours for naps, which is so much better. Inevitably wake windows are extended a bit longer than we'd like, but they go down super fast, which is great.
Feeding for them: They're taking less formula than they did a few months ago when they would pound 1000ml+ per day. We attribute it to introducing solids and the lengthening of feeding windows. On a good day they'll go through around 800ml of formula and a few ounces of solids. They are very easily distracted when feeding, and we've been trying to minimize the stimulus and potential distractions when they are feeding. We did go through a rough patch where baby girl would just completely stop drinking formula after 60ml, which was maddening, but it seems to have been a phase that only lasted a few weeks.
New things: Baby girl has started crawling up a storm and tries to get into everything. Baby boy is happy just lying on his stomach, and the helmet seems to add a bit of weight, so he's more content lounging on a jumper/activity center. A reminder that everyone develops at different paces. They're both around 19-20lbs with baby boy still about 1lbs heavier than baby girl.
After covid, we took a weekend trip and rented a house with a pool so we could introduce the babies to water and so that we could test out babies handling travel. We purposely chose a house with hardwood floors so they could spend more time on the ground, and it wasn't as bad as we expected overall. They slept about the same in travel cribs, and we feel a bit more confident about taking them around on trip now. Baby steps!
Overall things are well, and that is all we hope for at this point. Things are still difficult, but in different ways than when the babies were newborns. I think it was more mentally challenging for the first six months, and now it's more of a physical challenge.
Experience and advice is always welcome with what's working for everyone else at this stage. Thank you!
ops , they are actually close to 11 months old