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Posted by Aimee on December 16, 2002 at 16:15:32:
In Reply to: Message for Aimee posted by MarybethW on December 14, 2002 at 21:19:53:
Hi Marybeth! Thanks for emailing. It's good to know that I am not alone. I should start off by saying that Brayden doesn't cry all day... it seems it at times though. He cries when I put him down to play. As soon as I pick him up he's laughing again. There are maybe three times out of the day that he will play by himself but it's only for 5 minutes at most. I usually spend my day on the floor playing with him. His problem is that he likes to sit or stand. He does not like to be on his back or his belly. So if I am not playing with him on the floor, he's in my arms. The past few weeks have been hard too b/c Brayden has had diarrhea for the past 13/14 days. It started with a gastrointestinal bug that he just couldn't get over. He's now on special formula for diarrhea that has been helping. He still poops a lot but it 's not watery.. thank god. His poor bottom was awful. He screamed when I touched it. I felt like crying every time I had to change him. My husband had to help b/c I felt as though I was making his pain worse. I think Brayden getting sick made things a lot harder on me and that is when I started to need more time to myself... especially since he is so needy during the day. I now let my husband's mother watch him for 2 hours on Mondays and I am going to start taking a night class just to get out and meet people. I know no one where we are. I have to get out in order to have my husband help b/c when I am home, I always complain about needing help but when he does I take over. It's very difficult for me to let go of Brayden. I just started rice cereal today so Brayden doesn't have any issues with food yet (and cross my fingers-- never). I really didn't want to start until Brayden was older but our dr. suggested it since the rice would bound him up some. I plan on keeping him on cereal for a month before I introduce any other foods to him. By the way, Brayden is very tired today. Is that normal for a first food day? What is an excersaucer? I would be very interrested in it. Brayden, like Alex, hates pretty much everything else. I bought the swing-- waist of money for sure, he hates the carseat in the car, let alone in the house... He likes his vibrating chair but he won't stay in it all day (and I wouldn't want him to). He will sit in that while I take a shower or we eat dinner. He sits next to the table while we eat and talk to him. Not surprising he is very good when Dad is home. Just watching him makes him happy. I think it is b/c he sees me everyday, all day and all night. Brayden never gets a break from his mommy. What I can't complain about at all is Brayden's sleeping habits. He has been sleeping through the night since he was 7 weeks old. The last time I wrote I think I mentioned that he wouldn't take naps, but now he goes down every 2 hours. He even puts himself to sleep... sad part is that I don't get the chance to rock him to sleep very often anymore b/c usually that gets him upset. He likes to just lay down and suck his thumb. He is a huge thumb sucker! He is beginning to get blisters on one of them b/c he sucks it so much. I guess that is what I get for not introducing a pacifier until he was about 3 months old:) I like that he can comfort himself though. Well.. I have written a book. I hope it all makes sense. Thanks for listening and for the advice. Aimee Oh! My mother lives in Albany area too. I grew up between the Albany and Saratoga region. I am now in between Rochester and Buffalo. : Hi Aimee, : First - where in Upstate NY? My folks are in NY, near Albany, and I grew up just over the border in the Berkshires. : Second - I think I remember responding to a post of yours a while back about your son's change in temperament and his needing to be carried around all day. I think I was one of the folks who suggested the carrier. : Just wanted to let you know my experiences with my daughter regarding this subject, mostly so you won't feel alone, but also to give you some hope for change. : From the get-go, Alex was one of those kids who just needed a lot of human contact and attention, etc... my husband and I accommodated as much as humanly possible. She also cried a lot, and slept very little. So, needless to say, I feel your pain when you say you're burnt. I felt very guilty, but when she was three months old I was so relieved to go back to work part time, just to get a break and be able to sit down for a few minutes and eat a meal with two hands. : When Alex was about a month old I finally started to question some of her issues. Long story short, turns out she's got lots of food intolerances. After we figured that out and started to accommodate her dietary needs (it took us a good 2 months to completely sort it out, which was right around the time I returned to work), her whole temperament changed. But, then she actually started to sleep less, because she suddenly felt like eating. And, as for independent play... pshaw! She still wanted to be carried and paid attention to all of the time, although she was less crabby about it. : Anyway, the real relief came when she was almost 5 months old and we could start using her Exersaucer. She hated every other single thing we ever tried to set her down in (swing, fancy schmancy baby seat, car seat, floor, etc...). But the Exersaucer was a big hit. She'll do 15- 20 minutes in there! Doesn't sound like much, but it meant a lot to me at the time to be able to get that much of a break. : Then, the next big relief came with her ability to roll over, and then to sit up, and so on. Over time she's become much more independent. She still needs to be carried and paid attention to a lot. I pick her up when she needs picking up, and then put her down again. That was the mistake I made early on. I never put her down. Because I was sure she would fuss. But, now I'm better at reading her signals and know when I can put her down without creating a big scene. : So, just wanted to share that with you, and let you know that I empathize and that it does get better. It seems like an eternity before it does, but it does. : By the way.... it concerns me that you said your son cries all day. Any health issues??? Undefined colic should have subsided by now. When babies don't feel well, they tend to want to be carried more. Just a thought. : MB
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: I read your response to Roll Call, and have wanted to chat with you since, so am making a point of it now.