My intro and some questions

kit_kats_mom wrote: Hello, My name is Cary and I am a former PP message board addict.
I live in Florida and I am a WAHM. My DD Katherie was born on Labor Day (9-2-02) so she is 7.5 months old.
We are still nursing but she is taking some solids. She is VERY active and extremely sweet. We have been practicing the attachment style of parenting and I think it has been good for both of us. However the last couple of weeks have been rough. She has been wanting to nurse all night long and my back and boobs are paying dearly for this. I kinda resent being used for a human pacifier but I also need my rest. My resolve to just let her cry seems to disappear at 4am. She wakes up and screams if I pull her off and it's driving me nuts. I have tried the "no cry sleep solution" to no avail. This child loves her boobies and just refuses to let go. Any suggestions? BTW, she was on a really nice schedule but that got all screwed up 3 weeks ago when the in-laws visited and so she has no real schedule now.

One technical question too. I cannot upload an avitar. Why? In the meantime, if you would like to see some pics of our family, go to www.lwright.com, click on Wright Family and then on Photos we have ALOT of pics.

Nice to "meet" all of you!

Cary

MommyToAshley replied: Hi Cary!

Glad you joined us! Nice to meet you! I am a WAHM to Ashley (9/5/02) -- almost the same age as Katherie!

I nurse Ashley, but she sleeps in her crib. I have been having problems with her lately too. Some nights she will sleep 7-9 hours straight, and other nights she will get up several times. The last few nights, she has been wanting to nurse every couple of hours. I asked in a different post if there was a growth spurt at this age?? I know that there is a 6 month spurt...and Ashley definately went through that one, but it seems like she has been wanting to nurse around the clock the last couple of days.

One thing I do notice with Ashley is that she sleeps better at night when she gets her naps on time. She doesn't like to sleep and fights now not to take her naps, but when she does stay on schedule, she sleeps better at night. Maybe start by trying to get Katherie back on a nap schedule and go from there?

I know I haven't been much help and I am probably not the right person to give advice because Ashley isn't the best sleeper! She is just too much of a busy body. She doesn't get the 14 hours that baby's this age should get, but I am not too concerned because she is growing well, developing well, and such a happy baby. I am just one tired Mommy, but I know she won't be small forever!

There are a lot of helpful people on this board, I am sure someone will have some better advice for you.

<<HUGS>> Hang in there! I hope you get some rest soon!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Hi Cary! Welcome!!

Here's a solution - don't let the in-laws visit again!!

(j-k!!)

Seriously though... I don't nurse anymore, but I still have the clingy baby who insists on tugging on my hair to fall asleep in my bed... Maybe you could invest in one of those bottles with a hose.

It sounds funny, but what it is is a pacifier with a long "straw", which goes to a bottle. So it's like they're sucking on a pacifier, yet they (or you) don't have to hold onto a bottle... I don't use it, nor will I...but it's a thought.

Duh, I'm just realizing she is nursing - in that case, drinking from that contraption would probably screw her up even more!!! (But it seems to be great for future car rides...maybe we'll use one then...)

Poor little muffin...hope she gets back on track soon!!!

ps - there are lots of wonderful people here, I'm sure you'll feel right at home!!

MommyToAshley replied: I loved your web site...she is precious! We can help you get the avatar uploaded. It might just be that it is too big??

Try the advice in this thread:
http://forums.parentingclub.com/index.php?...ct=ST&f=3&t=170

If that doesn't work, just email the pic to avatarhelp@parentingclub.com and TLCDad will upload it for you!

Your little girl is precious and we need to get that avatar up!

5littleladies replied: Hi Cary-
I don't have any advice on the nursing problem-I just wanted to say welcome.

As far as the avitar goes-It took me almost 2 hours to get mine to upload-the file was just too big. I'm still not sure how big the file actually has to be-the one I finally used was about 8 kb. I wonder if MommytoAshley or TLCDad know the exact size limit? That would be helpful.

Anyways-welcome again from a fellow 9-02er.

Schnoogly replied: Hi! I am an AP'er too, cosleep & all-night nurser. Well, he does OK for the first 5 hours (sleeps from 8-1ish) but then up every 1 to 1.5 hours. He's only 4 months though. I also have tried the no cry sleep solution. Have you done the "pull off"?? One thing that Dr. Sears suggests is having dad give it a try, and you go sleep in another room so she can't smell you and want the boobies. Check out Dr. Sears website:
askdrsears

I know in the book she says you have to do the whole plan, not halfway. I haven't really implemented the whole plan yet since Iain isn't old enough yet to sleep through the night. But I have had success with the "pull off" method. If he's almost asleep and I delatch him he will go back to sleep about half the time. Also I have found that the better he naps during the day, the better he sleeps at night. I have tried to be better about noticing when he's tired during the day and getting him to sleep sooner than I used to and it is working a little bit. Now he goes to sleep in 15-20 minutes instead of 1.5 hours and will sleep up to an hour and a half (usually only 45 minutes though) instead of 20.

Good luck and welcome! (Also your avitar pic might be too big in file size--this was my prob.)

Steph

MommyToAshley replied: That's a great idea...we should add that to the instructions. However, I don't know the answer, but will ask TLCDad when he gets back!

supermom replied: Hi Cary
I don't know if I will be much help, we went thru the same thing with my little one when he was about that age...we just kind of lived thru it is all. I know that we did try different positions (my switching sides of the bed with DH for a little while) so that Anders did have to kind of change his night time routine. It didn't help much with him needing to nurse all night, but it did help my back and sore boobies since he was nursing at a different angle.

Hopefully your little one will get over this stage fairly quickly. Hang in there, it's all worth it in the long run.

And, welcome to Parenting Club! Glad to have you, I am sure that you will meet a lot more of us soon...... <<HUGS>>. Sending some good, quiet, soft nursing vibes your way!

Kaitlin'smom replied: Hi and welcome.

I dont have much advice for you. I am pretty lucky to have Kaitlin on a good schedule with the help of her sitter. As some of ther others said naps deffinatly helps for her to sleep better at night. I can tell when she does not get a good nap in, she gets cranky at 7pish. In fact right now I am pretty strict with her sleeping habits and I am not letting anyone interfear with them. I plan things around her afternoon nap! If anyone gives me any kinda of grief joking or not I simlpy tell them either work with me or you wont see me that day, but so far they all have been good about it and understand. Besides I also tell them you want to deal wiht a cranky baby? that usually shuts them up. I hope things get better for you.

TLCDad replied: Hi Cary Welcome to Parenting Club!



Dee Dee is right, its probably the size of the pic your trying to upload. If you want feel free to email me at avatarhelp@parentingclub.com and I will resize the pic and add your avatar.

TLCDad replied:
The file size limit for an avatar is 32KB. However the viewable size limit is 100x100 pixels. If the pic is larger than 100x100 pixels it will shrink it to that size, sometimes making it look squished or stretched. So the easiest thing to do is crop your pic keeping proportional before uploading which would definitely keep it under 32KB in file size. I tend to go through new avatar uploads and if I see one stretched or squished I will try and fix em for ya.

booey2 replied: Hi from another former pp poster. What boards were you on? Your name looks familliar. No real advice regarding the sleeping as my 16th month old still wakes up 3 times a nite and my 4 1/2 yr still gets up some nights.. Good luck and welcome.

MommyToAshley replied: ohhh dear... I was hoping to get some sleep sooner than that. LOL

booey2 replied:
My only advice is sleep when she sleeps while you only have one child cause onces #2 arrives forget the napping when they do, unless your hubby is one to let you.

kit_kats_mom replied: Nice to meet all of you and we will get through it...I'm just a little bit fusterated right now.

Booey, I think I used to see you on the "happy as I am" board. I posted alot on the 9-02 EC & Playgroup, Breastfeeding board and also the AP board. I don't have nearly the amount of time I used to have but I still do enjoy the support of boards such as this. Just knowing that you aren't the only one going through something seems to help a lot.

Now my home network connection is screwy so I will have to work on the Avitar once I get my computer up and running again.

Thanks for the support and suggestions and honestly, if I could keep the crazy in-laws from visiting I would. LOL Just ask JDKJD about my in-law nightmares. Blech! She got the privilage of hearing me vent IRL, poor thing. Sorry to dump on you Jenn!

Thanks for looking at our pics too. I think she is pretty darn cute too! We just got back from the park and she LOVED her first swing. I got some great pics that I will put up later this week.

Cary

kit_kats_mom replied: I got it! I got my avitar up! Woo hoo.

Thanks TLC dad!
Cary

5littleladies replied:
My 3 girls all take a nap at the same time but it sure took some doing. Never give up hope!!

5littleladies replied: Oh and Cary your daughter is adorable!!!

TLCDad replied:
You welcome...glad to help.

MommyToAshley replied: Very cute Avatar!

You have an adorable baby!

Kaitlin'smom replied: she is cute!