My baby is a crib hog...?

JB

I have a baby monitor that has a tv screen, so I can see my baby when she sleeps. (awesome)-- While sleeping, she tosses and turns, goes from one side of the crib to the other, and one end of the crib to the other. Does your baby do this? and/or As a parent, are you aware of how much sleeping babies roll and move? This started when she was 4-5 months. She is now 7.5 months old.

Answer
Some people will say that they are rolling around looking to get comfortable, others so they can feel safe. Every baby is different. If she is giggling or cooing while she is doing this, chances are she is dreaming, and yes, babies can dream. If you have a couple minutes each day, write down things that she does or when she learns something new, that way if you see her doing something like it while she is sleeping, you'll know that she's dreaming about it. That sounds silly but trust me, it works. I couldn't figure out why a child I was babysitting was whacking at the bars of the crib until I mentioned it to his mom and she started laughing, apparently earlier in the day he was outside eating something and ended up with chocolate all over his face and the flies where bothering him.

Mothers of newborns/babies: can you answer some random questions for me?

Seafoodlov

Here are some random questions. My son will be 7 weeks old on Wednesday:

1) Do you usually sit in the backseat with your baby when someone else is driving? If you do, do you ever feed your baby while he/she is in the carseat? If so, is this safe?

2) What do you do to prevent your baby's head from hanging down or hanging to one side? Whenever my mom rides with me she drives me insane because she insists my baby's neck or head is in the wrong position. While I have noticed it does look a little uncomfortable at times, and I try to correct it whenever possible, what am I supposed to do? There is a built in head/neck support but he still manages to look slumped down. We have an Evenflo Aura carseat/stroller combo.

3) Do you hold your baby while he/she sleeps? I'm not talking about for a few minutes after they fall asleep, but I mean while they're sleeping (for 20-30-60 minutes or more)? My husband did this for a while after our baby was born and sometimes he seems uncomfortable when we put him down. He'll sleep fine in our arms but seems to be playing possum or he seems half sleep when we put him down. He moves and squirms throughout his sleep.

4) How old was your baby when he/she spent the night away from home? Or for those who haven't experienced this yet, when do you PLAN to allow your baby to spend the night away from home. My MIL asked us to let her take him home with her. I told her he could go visit (which I really didn't want to do but didn't want to seem like I was being rude ... as she lives one hour away) but she had to bring him back ... meaning that evening. She seemed annoyed when I said this. When I was about four or five months pregnant we were all at a restaurant and she said, "I know this one (pointing to me) isn't going to let him spend the night." She said it twice. I knew this would become a problem once he arrived and as I thought she has been hinting around about it. I told my husband before I had the baby that I didn't see this happening for a LONG time. But, because my MIL has practically raised her 10.5 year old grandaughter and keeps her a lot, because her parents are wrapped up in their own lives, I think she can't accept that this is not going to be that type of situation. She is used to being in control and being fully involved in everything.

5) How can I get the milk in my breasts to completely dry up? When I had my c-section there wasn't any milk available, then seven days later my breasts became engorged. They finally went down but they obviously still have milk in them because they leak from time to time.

6) Is it really true that a baby will stop eating when they're full? I can't tell. Sometimes my baby will eat and eat and then end up spitting up later. However, he seems to just spit up randomly regardless of how much he eats. It's a 50/50 chance at getting him to burp these days. It seems to take forever. Sometimes he spits up when he burps (either milk or grainy pieces of formula ... and I always shake the formula up good).

7) I have been trying to open the blinds during the daytime (if there's adequate lighting) so he knows it's daytime, and turning all the lights off with the exception of the TV (he cries when the room is pitch black) at night. It doesn't seem to be working so far. He is still sleeping with us. I have come to the conclusion that he doesn't like the pack and play. He'll sleep in the crib LONGER than the pack and play, but doesn't seem to go more than an hour or two. If we could get him to sleep in the crib, we'd sleep in the guest room (right next to his room) for a while until he gets adjusted. Is it safe to leave him two rooms away, toward the front of the house, if we use the voice monitor? Also, sometimes he'll sleep for a while in the crib and then wake up crying. When I go to get him he will fall asleep in my arms (before I can even get back to the living room) or if I put him in his swing or bouncer he dozes right back to sleep. Why? Should I return him to the crib when he falls asleep?

8) Also, regarding sleep ... if he sleeps (I would say 18-20 hours per day) ... and seems to want to sit up during the night ... should I continue to keep the room dark to let him know he's sleep time ... or should I play with him? I read something that said you need to keep contact to a minimum at night, and keep the room as dark as possible. But is that cruel if the baby isn't?
I realize babies cry when they're hungry, sleepy, wet or sick ... but my baby seems to just cry at certain times. He cries just about everytime we change his diaper. As of the past two weeks he's been crying the minute he wakes up. It's almost like an immediate reaction. Now he's starting to cry after he eats. Last night I fed him 4 oz. and he was still biting his fists and crying. I tried giving him a pacifier and he would only take it for so long. He squirmed and cried and whined until I gave him 6 oz. whic
9) I realize babies cry when they're hungry, sleepy, wet or sick ... but my baby seems to just cry at certain times. He cries just about everytime we change his diaper. As of the past two weeks he's been crying the minute he wakes up. It's almost like an immediate reaction. Now he's starting to cry after he eats. Last night I fed him 4 oz. and he was still biting his fists and crying. I tried giving him a pacifier and he would only take it for so long. He squirmed and cried and whined until I gave him 6 oz. which is the most he's ever taken. He didn't spit up after eating it either. Is it normal for their milk intake to vary?
10) Is it normal to feel angry due to lack of sleep? I dread night time because I know he has slept all day long, often times he'll wake up for an hour and a half or two hour increments for a total of about four hours, but I know he is going to squirm, grunt and whine throughout the night. I feed him, change him, burp him, hold him until he falls asleep (to let the milk digest some) and he still isn't satisfied. Often times he'll wake right back up and cry for more milk. This is such an adjustment for me. I love him to death and he makes me smile, but I get so frustrated during the night. I would never harm him but this lack of sleep is killing me ... and my husband ... but not as bad as me.

Answer
Take a deep breath, now exhale :)
You sound like a wonderful involved new mother . You are going to be fine :) I'm not an expert by any means but I have 4 of my own, the youngest is 14 months so we just went threw a lot of this. Feeding a bottle in the car if your in the backseat with the baby is probably OK. Just be sure the driver knows they may have to pull over quickly in case the baby chokes. Plus be aware you will need them to pull over so you can burp the baby when it is done eating.
Your MIL is going to have a period of adjustment to the fact that this is YOUR baby and is different from her other grandchild who has been half handed to her to help raise. This may take her some time to adjust to as this is the only way of being a grandparent that she knows. Be sure to speak with your husband about this in a positive manner and be sure the two of you are on the same page here before you speak with his mother ( if that's what y'all decide). But be sure to be firm that YOU are the mother and have final say in things concerning the child, I would watch for setting habits now that arnt what you may want later on.
TV is terrible for children's sleep. the flickering of the lights and the noise has been shown to cause them to sleep lighter and not get the deep sleep they need. A soft nightlight would be a better choice for Baby's sleep area. The only time I have heard of TV being useful for sleep is in the case of Colic , the white noise from a static screen tends to sooth but you should have the screen facing away from baby at that point.
Our little guy was a good sleeper even with colic and we think this is because of the colic soother chair we got when he was tiny. It moves back and forth and makes this obnoxious but tolerable mechanical noise that soothes the baby to sleep.

Hope some of this helps, but by reading your post I see you already have the most important mommy tool anyways, you love your baby and want good things for it :)

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