A lot of Mums will be sarying Welcome to the club, Lucy! Now that your baby is used to sleeping in your bed, it's going to be difficult to break her of the habit. But I think you are going to have to because every child has the right to love their own cot and to love sleeping in it. Rather than controlled crying I would suggest Rapid Return and I think you and your husband are going to have to grit your teeth and decide that you are both going to be firm and strong and weather the emotional storm! I know how hard it is to listen to your baby cry, but as long as you are kind and gentle your baby will learn to self-quieten. I believe that all babies can learn this skill but they need Mum and Dad to guide them and reassure them that they haven't been abandoned. So never let you baby cry for longer than 2 minutes without going into the room patting her, and leaving the room in silence. Good Luck!
I was just wondering how much food a breastfed baby should be having at 6 months to not need vitamin drops? And which foods are most important?
Louise is 25 weeks and i've been gradually weaning her for a while, she loves finger foods and is able to put them in her mouth and chew so she is ready for food!
I forgot to ask what the best time for her dinner would be if she has a bath, milk then bed starting at 7pm. And how many breastfeeds she should be having at 6 months? She weighed 19lb 5oz yesterday!
[Modified by: Loopy Loo on January 06, 2009 12:30 PM]
I don't think your question is at all stupid and I think it's terrific that you want to take your little boy swimming when he's so little. It means he'll learn to swim when he's quite young and that's a great gift to give any child. However, Foxoox the weather is incredibly cold and even though you wrapped him up warmly before and after I think the buggy and the bus could be quite trying for him. So I would delay his first swim just until this cold spell breaks. I took my granddaughter to Winter Wonderland last Saturday night and even though she was well wrapped up I had to bring her home because the cold was painful.
I don'ty think you need to worry at all Rachel. I think your little boy is doing beautifully! Understanding spoken speech is much more important than talking. Babbling is early talking anyway so your little boy is showing the deisre to communicate which is great. One of the thing sI found useful with my twin granddaughters was saying very slowly to them 'Can you Say... Cat?' They quickly learned 'Can you Say...' prefaced a new word and it made them alert and attentive and their vocabulary increased quite quickly at the rate of about 2 new words a week. Don't forget boys tend to talk a little bit later than girls and if a baby's going through a growing spurt, speech will lag behind.
my daughter is 2 years 8 months old she over the last month she has been waking alot at night, and will not settle her self. i had a baby 17 weeks ago could this affected her in any way, if so how can i help her to sleep through again. thankyou for any advice.
Hi, My lo is 6 months on the 17th of Jan. He weighs 17 lbs 8ozs and was 8lbs 1oz at birth. He has been having solids since Christmas Eve after his 11am bottle and has tasted pear, apple, sweet pot, baby rice and carrot so something new every 3 days'ish. Taking it slowly at the mo. He is constantly moving-the only time he isn't wriggling to get free is when he's eating! We bought him a Jumperoo for Christmas so happily bounces for 20-30 mins a day which wears him out. Should I be waking him up at 11pm to feed him a bottle? He does mostly take it up to 8ozs. If I don't wake him, should I be adding another meal? He has a feed at 7pm after his bath etc-would this last him till 7am? Sorry if I rambled on and thanks in advance.
I think your HV is probably right, Tiger Lily. Holding a baby certainly doesn't encourage him to use his body himself. Babies master skills in order to do something that they enjoy so if you were to sit your baby up supported so that he could look around and follow you around the room he'd like to see what's going on and his back and neck muscles would become stronger. I would have to reassure you that there are lots of babies at 8 months that are in a similar place to your little boy. So don't try to force him. I think you should take the long view he is going to be OK and by the age of 12-15 months he'll have mastered enough skills to be upright and possibly even cruising round the furniture. I do think it's a good idea to get him to take his own weight by bouncing him up and down on your knee so that he feels his feet even for a few seconds. Don't take the developmental charts so seriously that you upset your baby.
I think that there are a lot of people out there Bubbub who think you are really lucky to have a toddler who sleeps so much and so well! I agree she is sleeping a lot but that could be normal for her, especially if she runs around a lot and is very active when she's awake. Personally I don't think she sleeps because she's tierd, it sounds like she sleeps because she's contented. I also don't think you should tak e any notice of what other people say, or compare your little girl to any other. A child should only ever be compared to herself. What does your Health Visitor say about her sleeping? Why don't you have a chat to her and I' m sure you'll find her answer reassuring.
I think it's admirable that you are breastfeeding at 8 months and want to contiue. I am a very keen advocate of breastfeeding - breast is always best. However, I think pregnancy plus breastfeeding could put an awful lot of strain on your body. I don't know if you're a strong strapping woman who could take breastfeeding and pregnancy in your stride and I think your Doctor and your Midwife could offer you some good advice. So while you must follow your heart, I would listen to what your medical carers have to say so that you can do the best by your baby and the baby that you are carrying.
This is going to sound like a silly concern but my 12 week old son is desperate to be on his feet all the time and I am worried that at this early age it could damage his development. He is a very big baby (over the 99th centile in height and weight) and has reached all the usual milestones early so far (chatting, smiling, laughing, sitting up, grabbing items and putting them in his mouth etc) He has never cried and is on a good routine.
But he gets very grumpy when I don't let him feel his feet. Its obviously going to be several months before he is going to be able to walk and holding him up all the time is very strenuous.
Am I harming his back, legs or feet by letting him do it?
Many thanks,
Groomy
P.S. My partner and I had great fun with 'bonding with your bump' while I was pregnant - thanks
Jillycat I think your little boy is doing just beautifully at feeding himself. I belive in child lead feeding in other words providing quite an array of different foods in forms which a child can choose to pick up and feed themselves. I honestly don't think it matters when they start using spoons, knives or forks and I think your little boy is showing he's quite dextrous for 1 year old to be using a spoon successfully. By the way the more food you give him to choose from, the less fussy he will be and the longer you leave him to choose what he eats, the less fussy he will be. If you want him to eat vegetables, give them to him firs t when he's most hungy, and only add other foods when he's eaten the veg. Children around 18 months can sometimes manage a fork but there's no set age when they should. They use a fork out of adventureousness and the sense of achievement in spearing a piece of food and getting it to their mouths. But there's no set timetable. I don't think knives are appropriate until a child is much older. Probably after 5 years old.
thanx for your advice dr miriam,grace only feeds twice a day now(1st thing in mrning and before bed)so i dnt think it will tire me out doing it but just wondered if its safe to for the new baby?i am planning to wean her off when she reaches a year old so i only have 4 months left xxx
Faith, babies are born wanting to talk though of course they can't at the beginning they just burble, blow raspberries andbabble to themselves. This is their way of talking. However, in order to acquire speech a baby has to be spoken to. A baby who isn't spoken to will be slow to talk. My golden rule is that you start talking to your baby from the moment it's born and you never stop. We also know that babies who are sung to, who have nursery rhymes recited to them and who play clapping games with their parents from an early age, speak early. A baby needs lots of focused, caring attention to speak but if you are worried about his slowness to talk why not have a convesation with your Health Visitor who can assess him properly.
Faith, babies are born wanting to talk though of course they can't at the beginning they just burble, blow raspberries andbabble to themselves. This is their way of talking. However, in order to acquire speech a baby has to be spoken to. A baby who isn't spoken to will be slow to talk. My golden rule is that you start talking to your baby from the moment it's born and you never stop. We also know that babies who are sung to, who have nursery rhymes recited to them and who play clapping games with their parents from an early age, speak early. A baby needs lots of focused, caring attention to speak but if you are worried about his slowness to talk why not have a convesation with your Health Visitor who can assess him properly.
What a gorgeous little boy you've got Groomy. And he's clearly going to be a sportsman. I think it's great that he wants to be on his feet all the time and I can reassure you that he won't do hinself any harm at all - quite the opposite in fact. Every time he takes even a little of his weight on his feet, he 's stimulating his muscles, joint and bones to grow strong. He's also learning to balance and co-ordinate his body. You can even let a new born takes his own weight for a few seconds. So I would bounce him as much as you have the strength to do, and once he has head and neck control, you can try him in a baby bouncer and let him bounce to his heart's content!
That hour's gone quickly. I have enjoyed chatting to you this morning very much and am sorry that I have to go now. If you want more answers to your questions, you might take a look at my two new books, New Babycare and New Pregnancy and Birth which are published this month by Dorling Kindersley. Enjoy your babies!! Miriam
We've reached 1pm so this webchat is now closed - no more questions please. Many thanks to Dr Miriam for managing to give fabulous answers to so many of your questions. We'll be putting together a feature based on her answers so look out for that on the Baby development channel. Web Ed
Replies
I was just wondering how much food a breastfed baby should be having at 6 months to not need vitamin drops? And which foods are most important?
Louise is 25 weeks and i've been gradually weaning her for a while, she loves finger foods and is able to put them in her mouth and chew so she is ready for food!
I forgot to ask what the best time for her dinner would be if she has a bath, milk then bed starting at 7pm. And how many breastfeeds she should be having at 6 months? She weighed 19lb 5oz yesterday!
[Modified by: Loopy Loo on January 06, 2009 12:30 PM]
[Modified by: Loopy Loo on January 06, 2009 12:18 PM]
Also she is showing no real signs of wanting to potty train. Should I wait for her signal or do I attempt to train her anyway?
Thank you in advance
Clare xxxxx
My lo is 6 months on the 17th of Jan. He weighs 17 lbs 8ozs and was 8lbs 1oz at birth.
He has been having solids since Christmas Eve after his 11am bottle and has tasted pear, apple, sweet pot, baby rice and carrot so something new every 3 days'ish. Taking it slowly at the mo.
He is constantly moving-the only time he isn't wriggling to get free is when he's eating! We bought him a Jumperoo for Christmas so happily bounces for 20-30 mins a day which wears him out.
Should I be waking him up at 11pm to feed him a bottle? He does mostly take it up to 8ozs. If I don't wake him, should I be adding another meal? He has a feed at 7pm after his bath etc-would this last him till 7am?
Sorry if I rambled on and thanks in advance.
This is going to sound like a silly concern but my 12 week old son is desperate to be on his feet all the time and I am worried that at this early age it could damage his development. He is a very big baby (over the 99th centile in height and weight) and has reached all the usual milestones early so far (chatting, smiling, laughing, sitting up, grabbing items and putting them in his mouth etc) He has never cried and is on a good routine.
But he gets very grumpy when I don't let him feel his feet. Its obviously going to be several months before he is going to be able to walk and holding him up all the time is very strenuous.
Am I harming his back, legs or feet by letting him do it?
Many thanks,
Groomy
P.S. My partner and I had great fun with 'bonding with your bump' while I was pregnant - thanks
Web Ed