Oh, thank you! Happy to say he is still asleep. And I am right behind now

Good night!

We never let our baby (alomst 1 year old now) cry for more than 5 min or so. Five min feels like an hour to me anyway. I dont know if we just have a really good baby or what, but if we go up and down the stairs a bunch of time (I posted this earlier on another thread and someone responded that I should stop doing that) he does eventually fall asleep and I figure, what the heck, I could use the exercise. I dont think he does it to be manipulative, I think he is genuinely having trouble falling asleep and I genuinely feel like I owe it to him, as his mother, to try and help him/soothe him as much as possible. On rare occasions, he will sit up and grin. I dont stay long when he does that. But for the most part, I think you can tell when your child genuinely needs you and lots of crying to me = a cry for help.

FWIW, we did co-sleep for five months and then moved him to the crib because co-sleeping was too much of a distraction for him. He genuinely likes his crib and will play for a long time in it, before and/or after sleeping. But if he cries, we go right to his side so he knows we are there. But for example, just now, I put him down and he was fine. Five min later he started to cry. I went in and patted his back. Then he got happy and sat up. So I told him I loved him and walked out. Then he started to cry. But he only cried for 1 min and now I think he might be asleep. Had he kept crying, I would have gone back and told him, "shhh, its bedtime, I love you" pat the back, etc. Okay, as I write this now, he is crying out - that desperate, woes me kind of cry.....then it stops. Then it starts. Then it stops. Then it starts. Ok, be right back.....

He was standing at the end of the crib, staring forlornly down the hall at our bedroom. Smiled when I came in. I picked him up and he put his head on my shoulder so I know he is tired. Put him back in the crib, laid him down. He is now quietly laying on his back, clapping his hands and staring at the mobile. He will probably go to sleep now. There is a chance I will go thru this routine one or two more time in the next 10-15 min. But then that is usually the end of it. I don't mind. I think he is just having trouble drifting off and I think it is my job to let him know that I am still here and love him. Who knows what he is really thinking? I would never want to take a chance that he is worried about me coming back. I think I still give him enough time to learn to soothe himself. It also all depends on the kind of cry - the fussing on and off crying I let go longer because I know it is just him trying to get to sleep. But even after 5-10 min or so of that, I check in on him.

So there you have it - a "live" example of how long I let my baby cry!

And while I am at it - who remember Free To Be You and Me?

15:34 poster here....I almost forgot about Big Blue Marble....

Yeah, there is NO WAY today's shows can compete with when we were kids. Nuh uh, no chance....(um Kojak anyone? hahaha! Get Smart? Batman & Robin? Wonder Woman? The Bionic Man/Woman? The Carol Burnett Show? Sonny & Cher? Phil Donohue? Dinah Shore? Lawrence Welk? The Osmonds? Ok, I am getting a little crazy here....but I do sometimes pine for simpler, campier, days.....)

I do remember catching Zoom a few years ago (could have been 10? Who knows....) but I remember thinking it was not at all like what I remember. Had more of a Disney/slick feel to it then I remember from my rough and tumble youth....)

Hi

I moved out here a few mos ago and need a regular doc for me. I guess you call that a family practitioner or internist? I have not had one for a long time - just my ob - but this morning I woke up with pink eye! Yuck

If anyone could recommend their doctor, I would really appreciate it.

thank you

Oh, and we started DS on prunes and rice cereal at 4 mos.

I'm pretty sure I was eating pizza by the time I was a month.

I can't visit my mother without her putting something in my DS's hands every time I turn my back. Forturnately, it is just things like crackers and bananas but still, I was shocked to see him shoving a whole banana into his mouth! (she does get it though about the allergies and does not pressure us too much but I also know many peopel that have fruit and nut allergies as adults and can trace it back to starting them at a young age. My siblings and I are very, very lucky!)

WF my H in Germantown (but originally a DC native)

Thanks for responding.

We are in Germantown, but we just moved here so don't know our way around (feels like another planet coming from DC, but hey, we wanted to buy a house to grow in....)

My DH would love to take him out on the bike - any suggestions as to the best way to hook our kiddo up? I think there are 3 ways to do this (front, back & pull?)

We also use a "changing tbale only" toy - he LOVES that stupid rattle (I guess bc it is the only time he gets it). It keeps him from sticking his hands in the poop!

My LC recommnded Nuk nipples for paci or bottles for mimicing the way baby uses his mouth on it most like a nipple.

Good luck

Sorry - meant to add that that was after 10 mos of nursing. We are done now and I think my boobs have settled in and and are going to stay where they are.

*Sigh* I had the GREATEST perky B/C boobs before baby (seriously! my friends hated me b/c I was 39).

Now I have the SAGGIEST B/C boobs post baby. Oh well. He was worth it. The monster left stretch marks and an extra 20 too. My more bikini for me.....

I was hijacking another thread so thought I would start a new one....My son will be 1 in June and we are getting very excited for spring/summer and the ability to do lots more things with him. What are some good activities that a 1 year old can do? Is the Port Discovery in Balt geared for kids that young? Are there other places like that for him? What did you other mommies & daddies do you with your 1 year old? We do belong to pool within walking distance and are VERY excited about that because he LOVES the bath....but what else? Where can we go? We live in the suburbs but are DC natives and can't wait to get back into town. What museums, etc did you take your 1 y/o too?

Got my pen & paper ready!

Thanks!

Okay, if I had had a blackberry at the time, I might have used that (now that I have one, I am an addict.)

That being said, I am very glad that I did *not* have one then. So I still stand by my original post - take a break and enjoy it!

(I don't think I even watched tv and I was in the hospital for a week. But I had a very hard and long and unmedicated labor that ended up in a c-section, so my recovery was difficult. If I was going to be in the hospital for a week and *knew* it would be easier, I might be saying something else....