Hooray Baby E has his first tooth. It arrived on Tuesday 23rd June 2009, and I simply can't stop looking at it!
His first tooth to come through was the bottom middle on the right side. I am amazed by how sharp it is, and how little fuss he made as it came through his gums. We had a few restless nights (aided by Calpol or course), and a few days where he had a red bottom, but nothing worrying. He was so relaxed I hardly think he noticed.
First the gum looked like it had a little indent on it, as if it were parting to let the tooth come through, then after a few days we could feel the tooth, but not see it. This was very frustrating for me as I was so excited to see what it looked like.
Now just over a week later there is a lovely white tooth shining out for all to see. It looks a little crooked, however I am sure it will straighten up when it has lots of other teeth to keep it company. Next his little tooth is another indent as the gum is preparing for it's neighbour to break through also. I think it will still be a few days until we meet the next tooth, as we are yet to see a sore bottom, but it is definitely on its way.
Both myself and my Fabulous Boyfriend have no cavities, and have never had a filling. I will forever be grateful to my parents for teaching me good dental hygiene, and am now feeling the pressure to pass this knowledge onto my son. I know I would feel a failure as a parent, and that I was not looking after him properly if he were to have poor teeth and heaven forbid a filling. So the day his tooth came through I set off on a mission to get the best toothbrush and toothpaste my wallet could buy. I went to my dentist and chatted to the receptionist who had been trained in children's nutrition and dental hygiene. She explained what snacks were safer to give him through the day as they are sugar free, and recommended some toothpaste and toothbrush. We (Baby E and I) left the dentist feeling satisfied with our purchase and a handful of leaflets on children's dental hygiene.
So now we have added teeth cleaning to our daily routine. Baby E has his own little toothbrush which he cleans his one tooth as I am cleaning mine. I must admit he mainly chews on the wrong end, but we help him out by turning the brush around and positioning the bristles over his tooth helping him to give it a little wiggle in the right spot.
Along with the tooth we have a new sound. Baby E is exploring his changing mouth and discovering he can make little clicking noises. They are so perfectly crisp and clear and very cute. This is a very exciting time, and he is changing almost every day, new noises, new teeth ... what will come next???
Showing posts with label Talking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Talking. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Monday, 6 April 2009
Baby E is 19 Weeks old
Baby E is now 19 weeks old. He is continuing to change and develop each week.
This week he has started dribbling for the first time. Baby E has had teeth growing in his gums for several weeks now, and has been putting everything and anything into his mouth to chew on. So far this has been without dribble ... until now. Baby E has the ability to soak any toy or item of clothing he puts into his mouth within minutes. He particularly loves sucking on his Giraffes ears or horns, and makes both these and the head very soggy.
Baby E has discovered a new noise. He has started whining, in a pathetic eeeh eeeeh high pitched stylee. At first I thought this was a sign that he was being clingy, and wanting his Mummy, however it appears that he uses this language when he is tired. It gives me another sign that he needs a nap along with rubbing his eyes, scratching his head, and showing signs of general unsettled behaviour.
We have now turned the pushchair to forward facing. Baby E used a form of communication known as screaming to tell me that he was no longer happy in his pushchair. After a few walks where he chose to scream at the top of his voice ... only to stop screaming as soon as I picked him up. There was obviously nothing wrong with him so there was only one thing to do. I decided to turn the seat around so Baby E could see the road ahead. This was particularly difficult when holding a wriggling baby on the side of the road as it required two hands minimum. I was relieved to find it worked, and Baby E is back to his normal happy self when we go out for walks. The weather has been particularly warm for this time of year, so we have enjoyed some long walks in the sunshine. Baby E is very good and happy to let me smother him in Nivea Childrens factor 40 suncream, he tries to eat most of it, but at least I know he is protected against sunburn.
Baby E has settled in well to his day naps in his crib. We have established a little routine, where I ask him if he needs to have a little sleep or night nights. We change his nappy, put on his growbag, have cuddles for a few minutes, Baby E lie down in his crib with his womb music and lamp on dim settling. I then turn on his lights and sound machine, and he settles to sleep while watching the display. He is normally asleep within two plays of the lights and sound. If he has trouble settling I pick him up and give him more cuddles to help him go to sleep. He seems very happy with this routine and gives a little smile when I put him in his crib.
Baby E has started to instigate game playing. He loves to play Boo! and will often pick up his muslin and place it over his face. He then gives a quiet giggle and kicks his legs. We start saying "where's Baby E, Where's Baby E" and he will remove the muslin for us to say "Boo!" at which he laughs. If he wants to play again, he just places the muslin over his face again. This is fantastic, and very entertaining.
This week he has started dribbling for the first time. Baby E has had teeth growing in his gums for several weeks now, and has been putting everything and anything into his mouth to chew on. So far this has been without dribble ... until now. Baby E has the ability to soak any toy or item of clothing he puts into his mouth within minutes. He particularly loves sucking on his Giraffes ears or horns, and makes both these and the head very soggy.
Baby E has discovered a new noise. He has started whining, in a pathetic eeeh eeeeh high pitched stylee. At first I thought this was a sign that he was being clingy, and wanting his Mummy, however it appears that he uses this language when he is tired. It gives me another sign that he needs a nap along with rubbing his eyes, scratching his head, and showing signs of general unsettled behaviour.
We have now turned the pushchair to forward facing. Baby E used a form of communication known as screaming to tell me that he was no longer happy in his pushchair. After a few walks where he chose to scream at the top of his voice ... only to stop screaming as soon as I picked him up. There was obviously nothing wrong with him so there was only one thing to do. I decided to turn the seat around so Baby E could see the road ahead. This was particularly difficult when holding a wriggling baby on the side of the road as it required two hands minimum. I was relieved to find it worked, and Baby E is back to his normal happy self when we go out for walks. The weather has been particularly warm for this time of year, so we have enjoyed some long walks in the sunshine. Baby E is very good and happy to let me smother him in Nivea Childrens factor 40 suncream, he tries to eat most of it, but at least I know he is protected against sunburn.
Baby E has settled in well to his day naps in his crib. We have established a little routine, where I ask him if he needs to have a little sleep or night nights. We change his nappy, put on his growbag, have cuddles for a few minutes, Baby E lie down in his crib with his womb music and lamp on dim settling. I then turn on his lights and sound machine, and he settles to sleep while watching the display. He is normally asleep within two plays of the lights and sound. If he has trouble settling I pick him up and give him more cuddles to help him go to sleep. He seems very happy with this routine and gives a little smile when I put him in his crib.
Baby E has started to instigate game playing. He loves to play Boo! and will often pick up his muslin and place it over his face. He then gives a quiet giggle and kicks his legs. We start saying "where's Baby E, Where's Baby E" and he will remove the muslin for us to say "Boo!" at which he laughs. If he wants to play again, he just places the muslin over his face again. This is fantastic, and very entertaining.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Crying Baby
Listening to a crying baby is very hard. Leaving a crying baby to cry is even harder.
This morning I am slightly traumatised by a Facebook comment from a new mum with a 14 day old baby. The post said ... "This ignoring crying baby stuff is very very very hard!!!"
There are two very divided parenting styles with regard to leaving babies to cry. The most old fashioned of those is that leaving your baby to cry for periods of time will teach them to settle themselves. That babies have a time in the day where they cry, and some people choose to leave them to cry-out. This may have a time and a place, and is dependent on the nature of your baby. I would certainly not advise any parent to try this with a newborn baby, I view this as baby abandonment, and find it completely heartbreaking.
Babies cry as a form of communication. They are trying to tell you something. Babies have many different types of cry, and it is hard to differentiate between them when you first bring the baby home. We believe that this was the case with Baby E, and we found that Baby E cried when he needed food, nappy changing, cuddles, winding, sleep, too hot, too cold, was over stimulated.
My brother came to the rescue when Baby E was born and recommended a fabulous DVD called Dunstan Baby Language. The Author is Australian Mum Priscilla Dunstan, who spent time listening to her baby crying and worked out what her baby was telling her. This is fantastic news for all new mums, as we need no longer get frustrated that we can do nothing about listening to our baby crying. The DVD gives short tutorials showing the different type of baby cries, and explains what they mean. It literally translated them into a language we all can understand. As soon as I watched the DVD it was as though life was so simple, and we knew exactly what Baby E was telling us. It really worked.
Dunstan Baby Language told us that Baby E was hungry. We found this to be a common occurrence, and only when we satisfied his hunger did we find that Baby E started communicating on other needs such as wind and finally tiredness.
It breaks my heart to think that new Mums are not listening to their baby's needs, and hoping that if they ignore the crying it will go away. Babies are people who deserve more respect than being ignored. I would not dream of ignoring a family member or work colleague who I found crying, so why would I not extend this philosophy to my own baby. Baby E was with me every day for nine months, my body comforted him, and nurtured him. He knew no pain, nor hunger nor loneliness. I want life outside the womb to be as enjoyable as I can make it, and so never let him cry, never leave him hungry, and never let him sit in a wet nappy (another thing I have witnessed new Mums doing).
Of course there are times with a newborn baby where things can be a little overwhelming, and you feel like you are about to crack. I can recall a few times in the early weeks where Baby E was crying, and I could not settle him. I was tired, and very emotional, I could not see clearly and so I would just start crying with dispair. I would cuddle Baby E and rock him gently, and will him to be calm, all the time crying! This is no help to a 2 week old baby, so my fabulous Boyfriend would always rescue me. He would let me sleep, and have some Daddy - Son time for a few hours. Baby E could spend this time with his Daddy, and I could have some Mummy time and get some well earned rest. Once we found and understood Dunstan Baby Language, this situation stopped occuring!
We spent time getting to know our Baby when he was born. Within a few weeks, we were tuned into Baby E's needs, and were able to give him everything he wanted. Baby E gets lots of cuddles, lots of love, lots of time playing with Mummy and Daddy. From birth he was a contented happy baby, who willingly played on his own from 3 weeks old, never cries when you put him down to sleep at night, and slept through from 8 weeks. Baby E loves to chatter and laugh, and he only cries as a form of cummunication when he is trying to tell us he needs something.
This morning I am slightly traumatised by a Facebook comment from a new mum with a 14 day old baby. The post said ... "This ignoring crying baby stuff is very very very hard!!!"
There are two very divided parenting styles with regard to leaving babies to cry. The most old fashioned of those is that leaving your baby to cry for periods of time will teach them to settle themselves. That babies have a time in the day where they cry, and some people choose to leave them to cry-out. This may have a time and a place, and is dependent on the nature of your baby. I would certainly not advise any parent to try this with a newborn baby, I view this as baby abandonment, and find it completely heartbreaking.
Babies cry as a form of communication. They are trying to tell you something. Babies have many different types of cry, and it is hard to differentiate between them when you first bring the baby home. We believe that this was the case with Baby E, and we found that Baby E cried when he needed food, nappy changing, cuddles, winding, sleep, too hot, too cold, was over stimulated.
My brother came to the rescue when Baby E was born and recommended a fabulous DVD called Dunstan Baby Language. The Author is Australian Mum Priscilla Dunstan, who spent time listening to her baby crying and worked out what her baby was telling her. This is fantastic news for all new mums, as we need no longer get frustrated that we can do nothing about listening to our baby crying. The DVD gives short tutorials showing the different type of baby cries, and explains what they mean. It literally translated them into a language we all can understand. As soon as I watched the DVD it was as though life was so simple, and we knew exactly what Baby E was telling us. It really worked.
Dunstan Baby Language told us that Baby E was hungry. We found this to be a common occurrence, and only when we satisfied his hunger did we find that Baby E started communicating on other needs such as wind and finally tiredness.
It breaks my heart to think that new Mums are not listening to their baby's needs, and hoping that if they ignore the crying it will go away. Babies are people who deserve more respect than being ignored. I would not dream of ignoring a family member or work colleague who I found crying, so why would I not extend this philosophy to my own baby. Baby E was with me every day for nine months, my body comforted him, and nurtured him. He knew no pain, nor hunger nor loneliness. I want life outside the womb to be as enjoyable as I can make it, and so never let him cry, never leave him hungry, and never let him sit in a wet nappy (another thing I have witnessed new Mums doing).
Of course there are times with a newborn baby where things can be a little overwhelming, and you feel like you are about to crack. I can recall a few times in the early weeks where Baby E was crying, and I could not settle him. I was tired, and very emotional, I could not see clearly and so I would just start crying with dispair. I would cuddle Baby E and rock him gently, and will him to be calm, all the time crying! This is no help to a 2 week old baby, so my fabulous Boyfriend would always rescue me. He would let me sleep, and have some Daddy - Son time for a few hours. Baby E could spend this time with his Daddy, and I could have some Mummy time and get some well earned rest. Once we found and understood Dunstan Baby Language, this situation stopped occuring!
We spent time getting to know our Baby when he was born. Within a few weeks, we were tuned into Baby E's needs, and were able to give him everything he wanted. Baby E gets lots of cuddles, lots of love, lots of time playing with Mummy and Daddy. From birth he was a contented happy baby, who willingly played on his own from 3 weeks old, never cries when you put him down to sleep at night, and slept through from 8 weeks. Baby E loves to chatter and laugh, and he only cries as a form of cummunication when he is trying to tell us he needs something.
Monday, 30 March 2009
Baby E is 18 Weeks old
Baby E is now 18 weeks old.
His development is progressing in leaps and bounds. I can hardly keep up with how much he is changing every day.
Baby E is now 100% formula fed, and we now have a life free from crying. This formula feeding has resulted in Baby E putting on 6 ounces in one week. We were giving him 6 feeds a day, which has resulted in him eating approximately 36 ounces a day. This seems far too much, so we have decided to drop the 10.30pm "dream" feed. This is working very well, and Baby E is now sleeping through from 7.30pm to 7am. Suddenly it feels like my fabulous boyfriend and I have our evenings back, and we can spend some time together. We are now planning to find some time to organise Baby E's room, so he can move into the nursery. He no longer needs us at night, and so seems ready for a bit of freedom.
Baby E is sleeping more in his own crib for his day naps. This has improved over the last few weeks since his abandonment issue on the day he spent with his Grandmother. I currently have to rock him to sleep in the crib, as he is still fighting sleeping during the day.
Baby E is still chatting to us, and has included some raspberry blowing in his vocabulary.
Baby is loves standing up, and has started to play a game of stand up - sit down - stand up - sit down until he is all worn out. While doing this he likes to look around, or chew on your fingers.
Baby E's crawling is developing slowly. He is able to roll over onto his front and push himself along with his legs, he is still unable to co-ordinate both his arms and legs, and so only travels along a few inches before getting frustrated.
Baby E's favourite toy at the moment is some new teething rings I bought from ELC. They are fantastic as they are so light weight he is able to pick them up and put them in his mouth with ease. He likes it when they are shaken in front of him, and he will grab them, and chew on the soft textured sections, or harder plastic patterned section.
Baby E loves laughing, and is interacting more and more every day. He loves playing games such as Boo! and is especially fond of his nappy free time when he can play roley poley with great ease.
His development is progressing in leaps and bounds. I can hardly keep up with how much he is changing every day.
Baby E is now 100% formula fed, and we now have a life free from crying. This formula feeding has resulted in Baby E putting on 6 ounces in one week. We were giving him 6 feeds a day, which has resulted in him eating approximately 36 ounces a day. This seems far too much, so we have decided to drop the 10.30pm "dream" feed. This is working very well, and Baby E is now sleeping through from 7.30pm to 7am. Suddenly it feels like my fabulous boyfriend and I have our evenings back, and we can spend some time together. We are now planning to find some time to organise Baby E's room, so he can move into the nursery. He no longer needs us at night, and so seems ready for a bit of freedom.
Baby E is sleeping more in his own crib for his day naps. This has improved over the last few weeks since his abandonment issue on the day he spent with his Grandmother. I currently have to rock him to sleep in the crib, as he is still fighting sleeping during the day.
Baby E is still chatting to us, and has included some raspberry blowing in his vocabulary.
Baby is loves standing up, and has started to play a game of stand up - sit down - stand up - sit down until he is all worn out. While doing this he likes to look around, or chew on your fingers.
Baby E's crawling is developing slowly. He is able to roll over onto his front and push himself along with his legs, he is still unable to co-ordinate both his arms and legs, and so only travels along a few inches before getting frustrated.
Baby E's favourite toy at the moment is some new teething rings I bought from ELC. They are fantastic as they are so light weight he is able to pick them up and put them in his mouth with ease. He likes it when they are shaken in front of him, and he will grab them, and chew on the soft textured sections, or harder plastic patterned section.
Baby E loves laughing, and is interacting more and more every day. He loves playing games such as Boo! and is especially fond of his nappy free time when he can play roley poley with great ease.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
