I have a 1.5 year old, and we are starting to think about future schooling. I am curious what the HHI cut odd is for private school financial aid. Trying to figure out if it would even be worth checking out further. My DH works for fed gov't and I am at a public interest group, and full tuition is def out of the question. We are in DC by a not very good public school, but charters are an option. Thanks for any help.

OP here. Just wanted to chime in that I appreciate all the perspectives and experiences shared. It's helpful to hear from parents and educators about the benefits and drawbacks. You've given me a lot to think about, not just in terms of Montessori, but also more generally in terms of what kind of preschool/elementary school experience would be best for my child. Thanks!

I've been reading past threads on Montessori as I consider where to send my child to preschool. Over and over, it seems like people say that some children thrive there, while others have a bad experience. I would love to hear more about this--what kind of children are likely to do well with a Montessori program? And do some children only do well in the preschool program, while others thrive in the elementary school program (through 6th grade)? The schools we are looking at generally go through elementary school. Thank you!

Obviously everyone is vying for spots at the super popular charters. Don't need to list them here; we all know which they are. But what about ones that are less popular but have early childhood ed programs--I'm thinking Kipp and Meridian, Shining Stars Montessori, etc.? Would you consider those? I know some have not conducted their lotteries yet, but for those that have, has anyone gotten in or a decent WL number, and are you considering?

I'll be applying next year and am curious about Appletree and other schools with multiple locations--do you apply to a specifi location or is it a general application and they place you wherever? I would only be interested in the Columbia heights location..... Thanks!

I went last year with my six-month-old and had a blast. I would say it is definitely worth it, though not if the weather is bad.

We tried Dr. Brown's at the BF Center's suggestion, but the flow was too fast at my daughter wouldn't take them. Pat at the BF Center suggested BreastFlow, which were ultimately the only bottles that my daughter would take. I would recommend buying a bunch of different bottles and just seeing what your child takes. Don't buy a full kit unitl you know--we wasted a lot of $ on a dr brown's kit!

No problem. I asked Pat at one of my first appointments after I had my daughter -- she had a bad latch and I met with her three times to get through the first very tough weeks. One thought is that you could go to the "breastfeeding the older baby" class -- free and meetings once a month on Thursdays. The instructor, Margaret, is very willing to answer questions privately before or after the class, or of course you could just ask her in the class if you are okay with it. They have a book where they can easily look up that info down in the BF center itself.

Good luck!

You could also see if the Breastfeeding Center has any info on this. Pat should be able to look up the half life of Adderall. I agree that talking to your child's ped makes sense.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much for the replies!

I now see I messed up by giving in after 1.5 hours of crying -- that sucks!

That said, yes, I do think she is used to being fed. So should I first gradually diminish the nursing, then move to just soothing? And finally not go in at all?

I'm tempted to try and just soothe, but don't babies freak out when you don't offer the boob?

RE feeding -- I think it is chapter 6 in the Ferber book that deals with it. Essentially, he says if your baby is used to eating in the middle of the night, it is hard to just cut off the feedings; she will be hungry. As a result, he recommends gradually decreasing the amount you feed at night, and they naturally will begin to eat more during the day.

If you haven't read the actual book, I recommend it. I found chapters 2, 4, and 6 good reading. I liked the book because each chapter deals with a different topic, so you can pick and choose to see what is most appropriate for you. 2 is how babies sleep; 4 is about associations (the main problem they face when trying to put themselves to eat); and 6 is on feeding at night. There are tons of copies of the book available at DC Public Libraries if you want to pick it up.

Good luck!

Have you talked to a psychiatrist about this, to find out, e.g., what the half life of the meds are? Then you will be better able to know whether you can nurse at night. I was surprised to find out that I could take Xanax for panic attacks and still nurse just a couple of hours later because the half life is so short.

FWIW, I totally support your need to take care of your mental health, and I EBF.

Good luck!

We Ferberized at 7 months. There have been some regressions, and when that happens, we go back and re-Ferberize. It was very, very hard to deal with middle of the night wakings, and at first my DD cried 2 hours. We followed the numbers in the Ferber book -- went in at 3 mins, 5 mins, and 10 mins until she eventually fell back asleep. Is your baby hungry? If so, I would recommend te chapter in t he Ferber book about getting them to stop eating in the middle of the night first and THEN go to the intervals. Basically, you have to deal with the hunger first or there really is a reason for them to be crying.

The thing that helped me through the crying was remember what Ferber says -- if you give in and go while they are crying, then you have actually made the problem worse; they now are more likely to cry to get what they want. It would have been better to go in right away and nurse.

FWIW, it took 2 nights to successfully Ferberize the first time, and now when she regresses, it almost never takes more than one night (knock wood).

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and all smiles with this baby doesn't mean she's not tired. Hard to explain if you don't know her...but only DH and I can tell that she's tired even if she's smiling.

No need to explain! My daughter is exactly the same.

My 10-month-old wakes up at 5 a.m. to eat but then goes right back down to sleep until 6:30. Can you put your baby down again after eating?

OMG I would kill for this problem! Just to put it in perspective, my daughter is almost 7 months old and sleeps from 7-11, and then wakes up every 30-60 minutes after that!