Re-sleep train?? : by Jean

It's been a week since all sleep training has gone out the door.  I don't know if it's a coincidence with my mom visiting for a few weeks, or teething, but Miles has not gone down to sleep at night without one of us laying down with him in our bed and transferring him to his crib.  Not only that, he's woken up in the middle of the night screaming, which results in us again having to bring him to our bed and then eventually transferring him back to his.

What the #%$#!???

Miles is now almost 17 months and it has never gotten this bad for this long since we first started sleep training him (read about my story here and Amy's here.) Yes, I'm tattling on Miles. 

Does he know that grandma is here and he can get away with it?  Is it the change in the weather? Growth spurt?  Teething...yet again?!  I did notice he has some molars coming in from the top-- one on each side.  Could that be it?  I've heard molars coming in is a different experience from other teeth.

Why are we the only mammals that have to deal with sleep training our babies?!

What do I do?

Re-sleep train and let him CIO until he passes out?  Let him be because it's just a phase?  Or am I doomed forever now that we've helped him fall asleep for almost a week now, on and off?

Will we EVER get decent sleep in our lifetime?

On a separate but related topic...Miles woke us up at 3 am one night and decided to "hang out" until almost 5am.  We were just too tired to deal so let him play around in our bed (thank God for king size) until he finally passed out. We were too tired to transfer him so we all passed out together.  He woke up in the morning, and I assumed it was around 6 or 7am, his usual wake up time.  But it was 9:45am!!!  It was the first time EVER he "slept in" past 7am.  Too bad we didn't feel refreshed at all since he kept us up for 2 hours.  

Do sleep patterns change once babies become toddlers?  Do they need less?  More?

Yes, a lot of questions and no answers today...feeling very frustrated and sleep deprived! 

"just blame it all on teething" by jean

A couple of weeks ago, Miles woke up around 3am with a screaming cry.  He's cried in the middle of the night before, probably because he was teething.  I usually just let him be, and he falls back asleep.  This time, it was a weird screaming-cry, so I couldn't ignore it.  He also was standing in his crib looking out, very angry, wondering why we weren't coming to him.  I took him out of the crib and tried to calm him down.  I put him back down.  More screaming.  I held him out in the living room hoping he'll fall back asleep in my arms.  That wasn't happening.  I put him back down in the crib and tapped his back "umma's here, umma's RIGHT here, shhhh shhhh".  As soon as he sounded like he was asleep and I walked away, SCREAMING.  I slumped over his crib for over 30 mins and then eventually took him out again since nothing seemed to work.  Did he not eat enough today?  Is he hurting somewhere?  Teething?  By then it was 5am.  We were so exhausted, so we did what we've never done before- bring him to bed with us.

Sleep training is a sensitive topic.  Here's how Amy sleep trained Logan, and here's my story.  I was never a big advocate for having the baby sleep with me in bed.  I know there are studies out there that suggest that bed-sharing gives them a sense of security, etc.  For me, it's pretty simple, if I don't get good sleep, I'll be a cranky mom and a cranky roommate.  No one wants that!  But when it became 5am and Miles was STILL not sleeping, and I had a few more hours before having to get up for work, I brought him to bed, and we all passed out.  

Now, I was terrified.  Was Miles going expect this every night?  Am I going to have to sleep train him again?  It's crazy how we re-think all we've done because one night didn't go according to plan.  

It happened for the next 2 nights and I was a zombie by the 3rd night.  I read about nighttime terrors on baby center but they say it's mainly for kids who are a bit older, so he must be just teething...can all things just be blamed on teething at this point?

By the 3rd night, I knew nothing was wrong.  He didn't need a diaper change; he didn't need more milk; he didn't need me to help me soothe him because I knew he could, eventually.  So the cry-it-out began when he woke up at 3:30am.  We both sat still and waited to see what would happen.  7 minutes of "I'm-miserable-come-get-me-out-because-I'm-angry" cry came out of Miles and then *silence*...he was sleeping!  Hallelujah!  So what happened??  Who knows.  I blame it on teething because I have no explanation.  Isn't that what you do?

Fast forward to this week:  Miles pulled the same thing on us a few nights ago.  Why?  Who knows.  All I know is I will have to let him cry it out again and hope that it's not for too long.  

What things do you blame on teething?

BTW, daylight savings this weekend.  That's gonna mess up the sleep schedule once again. Grrrreat.
Why do we observe daylight savings again?  ugh. 

smelly smelly! : by jean

i recently noticed that miles sometimes has stinky breath!  i usually don't think anything of it but sometimes i would pick him up in the morning, give him my hug and kiss, and expect to breathe in his nice smell-- except it isn't so nice!

does your baby sometimes have bad breath?  i guess it could be morning breath.  after all, he is human and eats human food.  he currently has 4 teeth with 2 more on the way.  he also sucks his 3rd and 4th fingers when falling asleep.  i was so curious i literally googled "smelly baby breath."

parenting.com had an article from dr. sears about this.
some possibilites were:

Chronic sinus infection
Large tonsils
Dental problems
Foreign body stuck in the nose
Dry mouth
A stinky tongue
Gastroesophageal reflux     

i don't think miles has any major issues.  if anything, i think sucking on his fingers probably worsens the smell.  he also slobbers all over his hippo blankie/animal thingy that he likes to hold while falling asleep, so that probably doesn't help the cause either (but thanks, hans!  he loves his hippo!). 

so what did i do?

i started making him brush his teeth! 

baby banana bendable training toothbrush $8.49

i don't really know if it's making a difference but i'm at least getting him in the habit of brushing.  plus, he LOVES it.  he thinks it's a game.  HA, sucker!

since i've only noticed it now and then, i'm not gonna fret about his stinky breath, but has anyone else ever experienced this?  i thought babies were always supposed to smell good! :)

"what to expect" says you should take your baby to the dentist at around 6 months from when they first start having teeth or when they turn 1 year old.  web md also says you should take your baby to the dentist by the time he's 1. 

did you take your baby to the dentist by the time he/she turned 1?

the world's most famous baby teething toy : by jean

meet sophie the giraffe!

Sophie the Giraffe Teether $20 @ amazon.com

but you already knew about her and most likely have one for your baby, right?  what makes this 7 inch natural rubber (phthalates free) so famous??  it stimulates each of the baby's senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.

i have to say, i was definitely a bit skeptical when my friends insisted i get this giraffe for my unborn child, but these days we don't leave the house withOUT her!  he loves sophie especially now since he's starting to master the grab and put-everything-in-your-mouth stage.  there's something about sophie that makes her so squeezable, lickable and bite-able more than any other "chew" toy.  is it her texture?  her long neck and grab-able head/face?  the rubbery feeling of her skin?  i just don't get it, but she works every time!

amy and i were recently at j.crew when logan was playing with sophie.  we were in the elevator with a man who recognized sophie right away and said "ahh he has soh-FEE!?"  he was clearly French. :)

here's an article from the wall street journal about sophie's journey from France to your home.
read about it here!

 miles & sophie                        logan & sophie

miles and logan both love sophie.  they both seem to enjoy taking her by the neck and biting her ears.  oh boys. :D

how many of you have sophie for your baby??
share with us a pic of your baby and sophie!  email us at umma.etc@gmail.com

from teething to biscuiting : by amy

Fortunately for Logan, teething hasn't been so terrible as some moms have described it to be.  His mouth was a drool hydrant for awhile, and he had a very runny nose and a mild fever before the first tooth surfaced.  We went through stacks of bibs and tied one of these suckers onto his car seat/stroller:

green sprouts Cool Soothing Teether

Stick it in the freezer/fridge to keep cool, which not only provides teething relief, but also makes it a better toy for the hot summer days!  Miles has one too!

Then, we started solids.  He's mastered the purees but isn't much of a chewer just yet.  We've been giving him pizza crusts and Earth's Best whole wheat teething biscuits to strengthen his jaw muscles, but here is the king of teething biscuits:

Baby Mash teething biscuits

Founder, Molly McDonald, and her cutie patootie, Maren

Baby Mash was born in Brooklyn, NY by Molly McDonald, a dear friend to my sister-in-law.  You may have seen her biscuits in the recent DailyCandy article, Grub Street NY article or Wall Street Journal blurb.  Yes, all of the articles mention that she's the wife of this chef, blah blah blah (no offense to Brad...whose restaurant I we ate at this past weekend!), but come on, the real star here is Molly!  She's an umma who realized there had to be more than pizza crusts, stale bagels and sugar-filled teething biscuits for a baby to gnaw on.  Baby Mash rings are organic, dairy/soy/gluten-free and jam-packed with whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  Their chunky textures make it fun for babies to hold, and they stand up pretty darn well to those drooly mouths.  They currently come in three scrumptious flavors:  Stewed Apple & Oat, Banana & Oat, and Pumpkin & Oat (this one smells like Thanksgiving!)  You can purchase Baby Mash through her website, or if you're a local, look for her at Brooklyn's Smorgasburg!