Posts
best baby monitor with room temperature image
Emokid
I often see the baby hiding under her mother, though sometimes it does not appear as if she is nursing. Also, sometimes when she looks like she is trying to nurse, her mom will walk away from her. Is this bad?
Answer
If you want to know for sure that the kit is nursing, you need to buy a gram scale and monitor her weight once a day at the same time. A kit should gain 2 gm of weight a day to start out and then progress from there. They will sometimes gain 7-8 in a day once they really get going.
Other ways to tell if she's nursing well is if her tummy feels warm and round, and if her tail curls up over her back. If she's not gaining weight, she doesn't display the things I mentioned, and mom is constantly walking away, you may need to step in and take over.
Here is an FAQ I wrote regarding kit care:
Most of the time, the chinchilla mom will take care of everything and you can just have fun with the kits. The more you handle, play, and socialize with the kits, the tamer they will become. However, there are several things to watch for and do, for even healthy, thriving kits and mom.
1. To help with the milk production you can give mom an additional water bottle with 1/2 cranberry or apple juice (non sweetened) and 1/2 water. Make sure she still has her bottle of plain water also.
5. Kits will be left with mom until they are weaned at 6-8 weeks of age. You may notice your little one eating hay the very first day, but they still need all the nutrition they can get from mom. Many people say wean at 200 gm, but if your kit is a month old and 200 gm, it doesn't mean you have to wean them that soon.
6. An 8-week-old male kit should be removed from their mother and from any female siblings. The female kits can stay with mom, as long as dad is in a separate cage.
Hand Feeding
If it does become necessary to hand feed the kits, there are no commercial formulas available. One possible supplement is 1 can of goats milk, 1 can of water, 1 tablespoon baby rice cereal
Also, as a handy tip, since the formula makes such a great amount, and you only use a small amount at a time, use ice cube trays to freeze your formula. Pour it into the trays, cover them with saran wrap, then once frozen put them in a Ziplock freezer bag. When you need them, simply remove one ice cube at a time, let it thaw, and throw away the unused formula. The formula should not be kept more than 48-hours at a time. Once the 48-hour mark is reached, it's time to throw away that formula, and bring out a new ice cube.
The formula should be room temperature or slightly warmer when used, never hot. Test it as you would baby formula, against the underside of your wrist. An insulin syringe works wonderfully for supplementing kits and is easy to control, though some people have good luck with glass eye droppers. When you feed the kits, DO NOT put the food directly into the kits mouth. If you do, you could cause them to aspirate and result in their deaths. Instead, place a drop of formula at a time on their lower lip, allowing them to lick the formula off. They may struggle and hate it at first, but once they get the hang of it, they'll do great. If you need a bit of help, place the chin in a washcloth, burrito style, to help gently restrain them for feeding. You will need to feed the kits a minimum of every two (2) hours. Once they are taking 2-3 syringes full at a feeding, you will be well on your way to having healthy growing kits. As they start to get older the formula intake may increase but then once they start to eat pellets and hay the formula intake will decrease.
As an added nutritional boost, you can place the following formula that the JAGS developed in the cage with mom and the babies. Moms seem to enjoy it just as much as the kits. Be sure to provide hay, pellets, and fresh water along with this formula.
1 part calf or goat milk replacer (a dry formula-purchase at a feed store)
1 part crushed pellets
1 part 50/50 mixture of dry rice and oatmeal baby cereal
(Tip - A coffee grinder makes quick work of the pellets.)
I edited out the parts that were not pertinent to your little one at this time, because there's not enough room to post it all! If you want to read it in it's entirety, or if you have any more questions, please go to http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com. It's under the FAQ section and has some weaning information contained in it as well.
Good luck!
If you want to know for sure that the kit is nursing, you need to buy a gram scale and monitor her weight once a day at the same time. A kit should gain 2 gm of weight a day to start out and then progress from there. They will sometimes gain 7-8 in a day once they really get going.
Other ways to tell if she's nursing well is if her tummy feels warm and round, and if her tail curls up over her back. If she's not gaining weight, she doesn't display the things I mentioned, and mom is constantly walking away, you may need to step in and take over.
Here is an FAQ I wrote regarding kit care:
Most of the time, the chinchilla mom will take care of everything and you can just have fun with the kits. The more you handle, play, and socialize with the kits, the tamer they will become. However, there are several things to watch for and do, for even healthy, thriving kits and mom.
1. To help with the milk production you can give mom an additional water bottle with 1/2 cranberry or apple juice (non sweetened) and 1/2 water. Make sure she still has her bottle of plain water also.
5. Kits will be left with mom until they are weaned at 6-8 weeks of age. You may notice your little one eating hay the very first day, but they still need all the nutrition they can get from mom. Many people say wean at 200 gm, but if your kit is a month old and 200 gm, it doesn't mean you have to wean them that soon.
6. An 8-week-old male kit should be removed from their mother and from any female siblings. The female kits can stay with mom, as long as dad is in a separate cage.
Hand Feeding
If it does become necessary to hand feed the kits, there are no commercial formulas available. One possible supplement is 1 can of goats milk, 1 can of water, 1 tablespoon baby rice cereal
Also, as a handy tip, since the formula makes such a great amount, and you only use a small amount at a time, use ice cube trays to freeze your formula. Pour it into the trays, cover them with saran wrap, then once frozen put them in a Ziplock freezer bag. When you need them, simply remove one ice cube at a time, let it thaw, and throw away the unused formula. The formula should not be kept more than 48-hours at a time. Once the 48-hour mark is reached, it's time to throw away that formula, and bring out a new ice cube.
The formula should be room temperature or slightly warmer when used, never hot. Test it as you would baby formula, against the underside of your wrist. An insulin syringe works wonderfully for supplementing kits and is easy to control, though some people have good luck with glass eye droppers. When you feed the kits, DO NOT put the food directly into the kits mouth. If you do, you could cause them to aspirate and result in their deaths. Instead, place a drop of formula at a time on their lower lip, allowing them to lick the formula off. They may struggle and hate it at first, but once they get the hang of it, they'll do great. If you need a bit of help, place the chin in a washcloth, burrito style, to help gently restrain them for feeding. You will need to feed the kits a minimum of every two (2) hours. Once they are taking 2-3 syringes full at a feeding, you will be well on your way to having healthy growing kits. As they start to get older the formula intake may increase but then once they start to eat pellets and hay the formula intake will decrease.
As an added nutritional boost, you can place the following formula that the JAGS developed in the cage with mom and the babies. Moms seem to enjoy it just as much as the kits. Be sure to provide hay, pellets, and fresh water along with this formula.
1 part calf or goat milk replacer (a dry formula-purchase at a feed store)
1 part crushed pellets
1 part 50/50 mixture of dry rice and oatmeal baby cereal
(Tip - A coffee grinder makes quick work of the pellets.)
I edited out the parts that were not pertinent to your little one at this time, because there's not enough room to post it all! If you want to read it in it's entirety, or if you have any more questions, please go to http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com. It's under the FAQ section and has some weaning information contained in it as well.
Good luck!
When should I start having my daughter sleeping in her room?
Lorelei's
My daughter is 15 weeks old. She sleeps in a Co-Sleeper in our room. The entire upstairs is our room and her room is downstairs. She is sleeping through the night and has been for awhile. When do you think I should have her start sleeping in her room vs. the co-sleeper in ours?
Answer
If your daughter is already sleeping through the night, then you can have her sleep in her room. If her room is far away from yours and you've got good sound proof walls, then put a monitor in her room. If her room is close to yours or your living area and the walls are not quite as sound proof, I recommend you do without a monitor. One thing I found out with the monitor was, babies make noises when they sleep... some more than others... but they're sleeping. I was a nervous wreck while I had the monitor on because I could hear every little noise my son made (these machines are incredible!). When I turned off the monitor though, I found out that many of the harmless noises were blocked out and I would only hear him when he really was crying, which actually helped him sleep without my interrupting him all the time and which also gave me peace of mind.
When my son was 5 months old, we moved to a different appartment. By that time he already could recognize the environment well enough to know that he was in a different room. It took him a while to adjust to it. I heard that babies start to recognize the ceilings at 4 months. I don't know if it's a proven fact or someone's experience, but it appeared to be the case with my son. So, if your daughter is already sleeping throughout the night, then I'd say move her sooner than later, so that she can get used to how her room looks, smells, and feels like.
One last thing I would like to add is, for a room to feel comfortable enough for sleeping, it has to be dark, quiet, and adequately warm. Of course, you know to make the bed/crib safe by removing all furry stuff animals and choking hazzards and making sure the sheet is tightly stretched and there are no loose pieces of cloth or clothing anywhere. If you can give her this type of environment, then she'll sleep soundly and safely.
Edit: After I had plenty of proof that my son could sleep through the night, unless he was sick, I normally do not check up on him in the night. I got up often to do that when he was little so that I could understand his sleeping patterns and make sure I had his environment just right... especially the temperature. But, after I knew exactly how to adjust his thermometer and knew how many hours he would sleep, etc., then I just put him down at night, and check on him again the next morning. This way I was able to get really good nights' sleep. If he is sick though, I respond to every cry (little or big) for the duration of the illness, but he still stays in his room.
Definitely try placing her in her room downstairs and check on her for as long as you need to give yourself that peace of mind. But, once you get to know her habits better, you won't need to check up as often. Also keep in mind that the bigger they get, the louder they cry. So I think you won't have trouble knowing when she needs you. Good luck with the transition!
If your daughter is already sleeping through the night, then you can have her sleep in her room. If her room is far away from yours and you've got good sound proof walls, then put a monitor in her room. If her room is close to yours or your living area and the walls are not quite as sound proof, I recommend you do without a monitor. One thing I found out with the monitor was, babies make noises when they sleep... some more than others... but they're sleeping. I was a nervous wreck while I had the monitor on because I could hear every little noise my son made (these machines are incredible!). When I turned off the monitor though, I found out that many of the harmless noises were blocked out and I would only hear him when he really was crying, which actually helped him sleep without my interrupting him all the time and which also gave me peace of mind.
When my son was 5 months old, we moved to a different appartment. By that time he already could recognize the environment well enough to know that he was in a different room. It took him a while to adjust to it. I heard that babies start to recognize the ceilings at 4 months. I don't know if it's a proven fact or someone's experience, but it appeared to be the case with my son. So, if your daughter is already sleeping throughout the night, then I'd say move her sooner than later, so that she can get used to how her room looks, smells, and feels like.
One last thing I would like to add is, for a room to feel comfortable enough for sleeping, it has to be dark, quiet, and adequately warm. Of course, you know to make the bed/crib safe by removing all furry stuff animals and choking hazzards and making sure the sheet is tightly stretched and there are no loose pieces of cloth or clothing anywhere. If you can give her this type of environment, then she'll sleep soundly and safely.
Edit: After I had plenty of proof that my son could sleep through the night, unless he was sick, I normally do not check up on him in the night. I got up often to do that when he was little so that I could understand his sleeping patterns and make sure I had his environment just right... especially the temperature. But, after I knew exactly how to adjust his thermometer and knew how many hours he would sleep, etc., then I just put him down at night, and check on him again the next morning. This way I was able to get really good nights' sleep. If he is sick though, I respond to every cry (little or big) for the duration of the illness, but he still stays in his room.
Definitely try placing her in her room downstairs and check on her for as long as you need to give yourself that peace of mind. But, once you get to know her habits better, you won't need to check up as often. Also keep in mind that the bigger they get, the louder they cry. So I think you won't have trouble knowing when she needs you. Good luck with the transition!
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
