Chicken egg trouble - Help on baby facts!

June wrote: Hi, My name is June, and i'm 17 years old. I want to make it known that I do not have any kids, nore am I pregnant. I'm askinh for help because I need to know facts on babies. Why? At my school, in the course of "Social Human Behaviour" we have a little project to do. Take care of a chicken egg for a week. My teacher excussed me from the project, knowing the poor egg would not get out the door in one peice
Instead he wanted me to make a report on babies. New borns acually. So I came here, searching the help of qualified mothers
What I need to know is the facts on taking care of babies.

How ofter do you feed and change them. How long do they usually sleep for. How early can you put a child into day care (It's unthinkable to put a new born there I know, but the kids in my class may become desperate) and what is the cost? How much diapers and baby food usually cost. What is the usual amount of time you get off after delivery? DOes this have to do with only certain jobs? Can you get this with a low working job?

Lots of questions i know, but please, would some one please help me?

kit_kats_mom replied: I'll try to answer some of your questions. we have ladies here from the US and Candada as well as some other places so you may want to clarify where you want your data to be applicable to so that your maternity leave data is accurate. I'm in the US so these answers apply only to my personal experience.

There are many schools of thought on when a newborn should be fed. Some say to put them on a schedule, while others say to feed them on demand. I subscribe to the second school of thought and I fed my daughter at a minimum, every three hours and often more frequently. Breastfed babies need to be fed more frequently than formula fed babies because breastmilk metabolizes faster. Keep in mind that a newborn's stomach is about the size of their fist so they generally require many small feeding in a 24 hour time period. Breastfed babies usually deficate after each feeding. You go through alot of diapers those first few weeks. I think we went though about 15 a day.

Newborns don't really know the difference between night and day, that is something that they learn from the cues given to them by their parents. Newborns do sleep alot though and usually are only awake for feedings. I think I read somewhere that a newborn can be expected to sleep 20 hours per day, you may want to check that though.

I think newborn diapers were about 25-.50 cents apiece for name brand. It's been awhile though so I'm not positive. I seem to recall paying about $15 bucks for a package which lasted about 3 days.

If you breastfeed like I did, feeding a newborn is free. Formula varies in cost but I know it is not cheap.

The daycares in my area will not accept any baby under 6 weeks old.

The maternity leave laws in my state say 6 weeks is considered post partum recovery and that you should be able to return to work then. However, my employer allowed 12 weeks and then I saved my vacation so that I had 16 weeks off.

A&A'smommy replied: wow lots of questions, thats great first off let me tell you i spent the whole time i was 17 pg and i just had my baby she is two months old....okay here are a few answers to your questions, my baby usually eats every three to four hour during the day and about 6 to 8 four ounce bottles, during the day she will sleep for about thirty minutes and stay awake about 2 to 3 hours and then go back to sleep at night she sleeps through the night because she is formual fed, so about six to seven hours unless she doesnt feel well and then its usually longer, i wouldnt know about child care because im a stay at home mom, uhh and a baby should have six wet diapers a day and at least one bowl movement every other day (at least my baby has one everyday). diapers cost about 10.00 dollars for a good pack and about 7.00 for a cheap pack (we use expensive because they work better) and formuala costs about 150 dollars for a 31 day supply sometimes more just depends on the kind you use. I hope this helps and that you get all the information you need. Good luck!

June replied: Thank you greatly for this informtion, this will be very helpful

Kirstenmumof3 replied:

When my baby was born I struggled to breastfeed. She was tiny and I was told to breastfeed her every 2 hours not going longer than 3 hours between feedings. She did sleep a lot when she was a newborn, I found that with all 3 of my children they slept lots during the newborn phase. We buy generic Walmart brand diapers and they are $12.98 for 48, but you can buy a Mega pack which has about 125 diapers for $25.00. I live in Canada so you might be interested in how things work in Canada. Here we are allowed a year Maternity Leave. Your place of employment might extend this and you recieve about 55% of your salary and your place of employment might offer some other type of benefits. Infant cereal costs about $2.50 a box and jars are roughly $0.60-$0.80 per jar. In Canada your child has to be at least 4mths old before they can attend Daycare, I know there are some acceptions.

Good Luck with your project and please come back and let us know how you did. Also I had to do the Chicken Egg project as well and my egg didn't make it to the end of the week!

ediep replied:
Hi

My little guy is 16 months old now, but when he was newborn he was fed every 2-4 hours. HE didn't sleep in longer streches until he was about 5-6 months old, but every baby is different in this aspect. Day cares in the U.S. require babies to be at least 6 weeks old. Jason's formula cost about $7.99 and that lasted about 3 days. Diapers cost about 12.99 for a pack of 60 newborn size, that lasted about 5-6 days. I am a teacher and I am tenured, so I had 4 weeks disability leave, (paid through disability insurance) 6 week maternity leave (unpaid) and 12 week infant care leave (unpaid), but my medical insurance lasted all those weeks. I was also able to take off the rest of the school year since I am tenured and the school hired a long term sub for my job.

Hope this helps
Good luck

kimberley replied:

i guess things are different in Toronto. most of our subsidized daycares accept babies from 3-6wks old. i worked in a gov't daycare and those were the rules there and when i was pg with Jade i looked into the daycare at humber college so i could finish my school and they told me 3wks old and up. most of the people i know in the GTA who has their kids in daycare have an infant room with really young babes. daycare on average costs about $600/mo depending on which daycare you use.

time off from work depends on your job too. many low income positions in retail stores, restaurants, or warehouses will "terminate" the pg employee when they go on mat leave so their is no guarantee of a job afterwards. you then have the fun of being on EI which gives you about 55% of your earnings. the only advantage to being low income is that you are eligible for free (subsidized) daycare. with daycare, you have the opportunity to return to school or get a part time job, but it isn't that easy since you are not that flexible with your hours because the daycare has restricted hours of operation. (most are 8am- 5 or 6pm mon-fri). you also have to factor in the emotional part of it all. it is hard to leave your baby so young to people you don't know. you will be completely sleep deprived and highly emotional. these factors don't make a good employee most of the time.

diapers cost about $15 for a pack of 48 that lasts about a week. you can get formula for about $25/wk (ready made) but it is easier and more cost effective to breastfeed if you can. i think the powder formula is much cheaper. there are local community groups like (L.A.M.P) in Toronto that helps low income families to get things like formula and diapers for free, but they don't give you enough to live on.

don't forget to factor in all the other costs like diaper cream, wipes, clothing (because they grow so fast. what fit them last week is small now), stroller, crib, diaper bag, bath wash, baby vitamins, blankets, cloths, groceries etc.

newborns do sleep a lot (up for 20 min then back to sleep for 2 hours) and usually need a diaper change at every feeding which is about every 2 hours. at the daycare i worked at, it was checked every hour unless there was an obvious stinky.

good luck with your project! i hope you get an A!

if you have any other questions, ask away!

jcc64 replied: I think the other ladies here covered everything in terms of actual costs, time commitment, etc, but I think the most difficult thing to explain is what it's really like. How would your life actually changes on a day to day basis.
After going through pregnancy and labor, I felt like I really accomplished something. I felt like I deserved a break, a reward, to treat myself. Of course, there was this little baby to deal with, so we couldn't go out to a movie or a dinner or to hear music, so we opted for renting a movie. Well, we sat down to watch, and 15 minutes later, he was up crying. Paused the movie, had to feed him, change him, settle him back down. Turned the movie back on. Half an hr later, he's up again. Same thing all over again. Try to watch the movie again, but he's up screaming. Pooped through his clothes, now we have to strip the sheets off the crib, give him a bath, change him, feed him again, and quiet him down again. By now, 3 hrs later, who even wants to watch the movie?! 3 weeks later, all my friends w/o kids were having a Halloween party. My mom offered to watch the baby so I could get out. Well, I get there, crack my 1st beer, finally ready to hang out and feel like my "old self." The phone rings, it's my mom telling me that the baby won't stop crying or take a bottle, I need to come home, after being there only 10 minutes! I was so upset, thinking my life is over, I can't do ANYTHING fun, not even rent a movie. I never realized how different my life was gonna be. How it wasn't about what I wanted or needed anymore. And I was 27! I already had plenty of time and money to concentrate on nothing but my own fun. Trust me, when you're ready, nothing is more rewarding, enriching,or beautiful as caring for a child. But, think about this story, and all the things you can't do once you have a baby. I believe this is what your teacher is asking you to do. Good luck, and use birth control!

Schnoogly replied:
LOL that is so true. Your life will NEVER be the same, besides the money aspect. You don't just change them and put them back in the crib. It's a 24 hour a day job with no breaks, no lunch, no sleep.

A&A'smommy replied: ugh i totally agree on the birth control thing USE IT!!!! hehe i didnt and im a mom its a rewarding job but very hard and it take ALL your money!!!! Again good luck with your project!!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Here in Ottawa (Ontario Canada) we have 1 year maternity leave (mine is paid at 93% of my full salary - depends where you work, I work for the federal government.) but usually the maternity leave pays 55% of your salary. Employment Insurance, that is. You can get this with a low paying job, IF the emplyer isn't a pr**k. More often than not, you get *terminated*.

My daycare provider is in a private home, and she used to charge me 620$ a month for 5 days a week... and now since my 17 month old only goes for 2 days a week, che only charges me 288$ a month. Woopdidoo.

I breastfeed my 1 month old, but not exclusively...she also gets some formula. So far, we've only used 1 1/2 cans... so it's about 13$ a can, and it lasts us about 1 month, since she also breastfeeds.

Diapers - we buy them bulk-style.... so we buy a huge box of 144, for about 48$, size 5 for my son, and size 1-2 for my daughter, but there is 240 in the box or so. We buy diapers about 3 times in 2 months. A box lasts us about 3 1/2 weeks. As for changing - well Zach we change about once every 4 hours (which is wen he goes...unless he goes again before then, then we change him then too, and he sleeps through the night, so we don't change him at night, only when he wakes up) and our daughter, we change every few hours. I haven't really been looking at specific times...

Baby food varies - it depends onthe brand that you buy. I get Heinz brand for the cereal, and it costs about 3 or 4$ for a box - which lasts about 2 weeks at first. Then it goes by quicker, because they eat more in one sitting... and, besides, you add other foods, so te cost stays the same pretty much.

Jars cost between 39cents and 89cents, again, depends on the brand and the size. Organic brands cost 1.19 for a bigger jar, and about 79 cents for a smaller jar. Of a normal brand (Heinz or Gerber) they cost about 89cents for a big jar, and 59cents for a small jar...and no-name brand cost about 69cents for a big jar and 39cents for a small jar. I only bought jars of the foods I wouldn't do myself...like blueberry, strawberry...easily mashable foods I'd do myself, becuase it's way cheaper to buy 2 pounds of carrots and peel them, boil them, mash them, freeze some and feed my baby that than buying jars and hjars of it...know what I mean? but i always had some, for when we went somewhere, or for sitters etc...if someone else had to feed him.

It's not hard to love your kids...but it sure is hard to be around them at times...espcially when it hits you that your life is forever altered. I'm 21, and I have a 17 month old and a 1 month old...and at times, it seems that I will NEVER get some rest...but I do sometimes. It's harder to be around friends, since they don't share the same day-to-day activities anymore...they don't have kids to talk about...they don't have all those extra costs like clothes and food and medecine and having to stay up with them when they're sick...or having to pay a sitter when you go out... Bu t I love my kids and wouldn't trade them for the world!

Newborns (well mine anyways) both slept very well from birth - Zacharie slept 5 hour stretches at night almost from his first week, and Emilie is doing the same now. Just last night, she slept from 8:30pm to 4am. Yeehaw! (knock on wood...) but usally they are up every few hours, especially if they are brestfed....breastmilk is much more easily digestible, and so te baby requires to be fed more often...so USUALLY babies are awake every 2 hours or so. I also supplemented both my babies, so they slept longer in between feedings (from 3-4 hours) but I had very very good babies. They're not fussy or colicky or anything, so I don't have a horror story to give you. (yet! )

And they're not as fragile as they look. I was horrified when I had my son at the way the nurses would just kinda lift him and hold him and he'd be all over the place...and when I took him, it was always so delicately, I was afraid to break him...but they would just flop him around like a fish out of water....i guess they saw the look on my face, because they assured me that it was very very very difficult to actually mishandle a baby, as long as the head was properly supported.

And yes, they do cry, a lot - it doesn't mean you're doing a bad job, some cry more than others... as long as they're fed, changed, and warm, then all their needs are met, and it's just a matter of a change of position for the baby, or a tummy rub, or maybe the need for sucking that remains... it's different for every baby, and some babies are just plain the crying type. Thankfully, I never had a cry-baby as a baby.... heh heh

Oh and for daycare too, I forgot - my son was put in daycare when he was about 4 1/2 months old...but my grandmother had been the onle taking care of him during the day when I had to get a job when he was 2 1/2 months old and I couldn't be on maternity leave anymore. Long story, don't ask...

But the daycares around here take them after 8 weeks. They can take them earlier, but it's at their discretiopn, and it costs almost double for a newborn/child under 6 months as opposed to an older baby or a toddler.

I hope that helps!

June replied: Thank you soooo much you guys, that really really helped. I got an A, so good was the information. The kids in my class all went to me for information in taking care of their egg.

Once again, thank you soooo much, I'm glad you guys spoke up, I was getting quite in a panic.


Thank you!!!!!

kimberley replied: great job! congrats on getting an A! glad we could help.

MommyToAshley replied:

Congrats on your "A"!!!!

I must have missed this post, but it looks like the ladies here covered everything.

Great job on your paper!