ScottyG and some random thoughts

[ScottyG]

As for me, I just let the baby crawl (well, she doesn't quite crawl, she drags herself around on her belly) wherever she wants so long as she doesn't do anything dangerous. She plays with shoes, then wriggles into the next room to knock over a box of baby socks and roll around in them... no confinement here.

Again with the modern parenting theories, but the reason you don't see those walkers around much anymore is that some doctors were seeing kids who had a lot of trouble learning how to walk because they were developing the skills without the muscle to back it up, thanks to walkers. A very small problem, but since then walkers aren't recommended much.

Karen - about the small naps... she's NEVER taken actual naps. The past 2 weeks were the first time in her life she'd ever napped more than 30 minutes or so, and we were so excited about it. I guess that's why I was bummed today... thought we'd finally gotten her to nap well, after almost 8 months.

Also, I'm a boy. Not much hips. But that's why I've got arms. For carrying! The front-carrier thing is AWESOME. I can do dishes with a baby on me, make bread with a baby on me, do the laundry... and never have to put her down. It's pretty sweet.

Pat(&chicks) - she's DEFINITELY teething again right now, so I know I can't expect too much. I was just so thrilled for her first real naps in 8 months of life that I got sad when it stopped. Booo.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Well, that's a relief! I was starting to wonder! Never see babies on a hip around here anymore. I think that's why God made hips!

LOL - that's great! Now I can say "yeah, I got big hips FOR A GOOD REASON, you got a problem with that?"

I think once the younger kid gets old enough to be beyond carrying size (I still occasionally carry the 4 yr old though, so this will not be for a while!) I am going to need serious chiropractic work unless I want to spend the rest of my life tipped slightly to the right

Pat

My ds was 20 lbs at six months, my dd was 22 lbs at six months. (exclusively breastfed too BTW) I carried both of them on my right hip. (preference) By the time my dd was a year old, I was flat on my back with muscle spasms in my back. three months of physio later..... I was so glad they started walking at 9 months.....

 

[Beekissed]

Sounds like you throw big calves...like me! Mine were all big hosses! The 10 pounder had to be started on cereal at his first week's check up! Been eating with both hands ever since!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Sounds like you throw big calves...like me! Mine were all big hosses! The 10 pounder had to be started on cereal at his first week's check up! Been eating with both hands ever since!

I think I just had rich milk. Neither of them needed any other food til about 6 + months. that's when I started them on cereal. DS was 8lbs8 oz, and dd was 7lbs 4 oz. Glad they thinned out.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Funny that the flat head thing is mentioned...just talked with someone about this the other day!

Most of the babies with flat heads are ones who DON'T get held! They are either in carriers, strollers, carseats, bouncers...etc...My service coordinator from Help Me Grow told me that in our area, the mom's aren't holding the babies that much. Some cases have been so bad that babies had to wear helmets to fix their head!

Well, I've been told I hold my 3 month old too much, but guess what? No flat head here!

Oh and he sleeps in MY bed on his side cuddled right up to me! I know, that's dangerous, too I've heard all the arguments. I LIKE my babies with me! All of my kids slept with me and DH for their first year! It was important to me, we bonded to our babies that way. Now we are very close to our kids and the kids to us.

I think skin to skin contact with babies and parents is important, too. When I feed my son, I go to my bedroom and remove my shirt, so he is right against my stomach when I nurse him. He seems to be soothed with that skin to skin contact, and he sleeps better.

 

[Beekissed]

Bet your hubby likes it more also! I know what you mean, though. I loved it when my babies fell asleep in my arms. Maybe that's why mine weren't too bad to cry at night, I don't know.

Of course, I was a no nonsense mom about the whole nighttime fussiness thing, so that didn't hurt either.

 

[2dream]

You all keep typing here, I am reading it all. My DD is expecting at the end of the year. Since she now lives with us and probably will be living here for a while I need all the info I can get. Her son is 12 so babies are a whole new ballgame for me. I have younger grandchildren but don't get to see them often and when I do it is only for a few hours. So I am trying to soak up all the current knowledge about babies.

 

[Beekissed]

Might want to look into some of the "old" knowledge about raising babies, as well!

 

[ScottyG]

Well, I've been told I hold my 3 month old too much, but guess what? No flat head here! Oh and he sleeps in MY bed on his side cuddled right up to me! I know, that's dangerous, too I've heard all the arguments.

Q_A: Holding a baby too much is a ridiculous thing to say! That would be like being "too happy!" The more you can hold a baby, the better! Also, I think you may not care about such things as much as I do, but all the latest studies and research say that little babies co-sleeping in the same bed as you is EXACTLY as safe as them sleeping in a crib... no added danger whatsoever. So you can tell anyone criticizing you with "all the arguments" that even the American Academy of Pediatrics says sleep with your baby as much as you want, so nyaah nyaah nyaaaaaaah.

2dream: Everyone has different advice on baby stuff, but since it's my journal thread, I'll make a hearty recommendation for a little book called "Baby 411" if you want a nice, easy-to-read reference book about babies in the house. It's co-written by a mom/doctor on the board of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and another mom who's just got all sorts of good old-school baby knowledge from raising some. Answers all kinds of questions clearly and directly, and is pretty darn funny too. Gives you the "scientific" perspective and also the "I'm a mom and lived it" perspective at the same time. There are lots of cheap used copies of it floating around, which is how it came into my possession.

Everyone: The baby thing... you just can't ever apply one standard to all babies. They're all so different. My little girl can't sleep unless she's in a completely separate room from us, because she gets too distracted and upset by the sound of our tossing/turning. I have friends with babies who can't sleep in a separate bed. My baby hates cars. Other babies love cars. They're all just so different you have to figure each one out for yourself. It's handy to know things, but any time someone has THE THING for babies, it's only really for SOME babies.

 

[ScottyG]

Baby Rant part 2:

I can't stand all the "MOM" stuff everywhere. I mean, obviously moms are awesome. So are dads. But everything parenting is marketed for moms only, ignoring half of the parents out there. For starters:

1. "Parenting" magazine. Their slogan is something like "for moms who care." If you have a question for their editorial staff, you email "MomExchange@parenting." It's called PARENTing, not MOMing. I am a parent. I would like to exchange information. Why exclude me?

2. "Babies R Us." I've been shopping online for a portable crib, because we're taking the baby to visit her grandparents at the holiday season, and they don't have anywhere for her to sleep. So I went to the "babies r us" website to start, and they have a new page of bestsellers called "Moms' Favorites." Seriously, I'm shopping for GEAR. Aren't dads the gearheads anyway, usually? How difficult would it be to say "Parents' Favorites"?

3. "Baby Center." An excellent website I read with all kinds of information about babies, the latest recalls and health concerns, etc. Everything they write assumes the reader is a woman.

4. "Mothering" magazine. The only widely available baby magazine to engage with issues of green living, doing things yourself, alternative baby care, and so on. So, why Mothering? Is it not permitted for dads to do these things?

I know, I know, I can obviously use all these resources and just ignore the Mom part. And I get that probably 90% of the readership are moms. But in a world where everyone wants dads to be more involved, everyone thinks it's cool that I'm a (part-time) stay-at-home dad, and so on... why do they specifically set out to exclude me from the discussion? I can still participate in the discussion, yes, but not without feeling like an intruder, like someone who's not welcome but they'll tolerate if they have to. Drives me MAD.