oh Nanny De.....

[Heidi]

woaw....put the breaks on...

apparently, my math skills aren't what they used to be.


She's only 12 weeks old, not 16. little difference, and def. rules out the cereal business!

I think I'm going to go back to putting her down for nap right away like before. Even if she's grinning at me when she gets here. I think she just wants more night sleep and can't have it. I''ll try that tommorow and see if it helps get things back on track.

Mom says she's been doing this sleep-no eat-no sleep thing at home quite a bit too. We're probably waiting too long for sleep signals, is my guess.

[Lavender]

Put down for nap right when she arrives. Sleep till a.m. feeding around 9

LOADS of belly time about 45 minutes after eating and for 1/2 hour before next feed.

Feed about 45 minutes before nap so you have time to get feeding in and burp cycles and some time to sit up straight

Feed at 3 when all the kids naps are over.

At four months she should be able to do with three feeds in the timeframe she is with you. Parents will need to feed when they get home in p.m.

What if the child is hungry before 9 or not hungry yet at 9 based on what time they ate at home in the AM? Do you feed them when they are hungry or do you stick to your schedule?

[blandino]

What if the child is hungry before 9 or not hungry yet at 9 based on what time they ate at home in the AM? Do you feed them when they are hungry or do you stick to your schedule?

I can answer for myself, to get a baby on a schedule I offer it at the times that i know I can offer the bottle, and they should be close enough that a child's hunger won't be at an extreme if they deny the first bottle, by the time I offer it again. I would assume the offering times are based around the babies usual bottle time increment - at least for me that's how I do it.

Most of my babies eat at home at 6/6:30 and I offer another bottle at 9:00/9:30 and lay them down for nap. If a baby didn't drink their 9:00 bottle, they will get another offered at 10:45/11:00, when nap is over. Now keep on mind they are 8/9 months - but we have been doing this schedule sice a out 7 months.

[nannyde]

time to start oatmeal Dr.s are not going with rice as a first cereal anymore. You want to stay away from baby rice cereal. It sounds like your baby is hungry and needing a bit more. I always go with the babies schedule under one and lean towards my schedule. Another idea is this baby is gassy or teething. Try moving the legs gently up towards tummy and down again after a good burping or between burping. Swaddle like a burrito for rest, they love that close comfort. Pick baby up when happy so he doesn't put crying get's me picked up. Enjoy it is a fun age. Tummy time to gain strength and wiggle out those gasses. Hope this helps. If you have tried everything then Mom needs to take him in to be evaluated by Pediatrician. I am guessing this little one is just ready for a little something more then Formula.

cereal at 16 weeks?

[nannyde]

What if the child is hungry before 9 or not hungry yet at 9 based on what time they ate at home in the AM? Do you feed them when they are hungry or do you stick to your schedule?

I would work with the parents to make SURE they are doing a feeding right before brining to child care. I don't do a hand fed bottle within two hours of arrival. If the child ate in the early hours of the morning they would need to do a topper offer bottle right before care. If she's arriving at seven thirty there should not be a problem with a 1.5 hour nap immediately and no feedings during that time.

I would put her right back to bed when she arrives and then do the 9-12-3 schedule. My schedule is ALWAYS for nap.... to get everyone in the house down at nap time. It takes a few weeks to get it going with a newborn but I haven't had ONE that didn't adjust quickly. I also do a ton of belly time and we go outside weather permitting.

[nannyde]

apparently, my math skills aren't what they used to be.


She's only 12 weeks old, not 16. little difference, and def. rules out the cereal business!

I think I'm going to go back to putting her down for nap right away like before. Even if she's grinning at me when she gets here. I think she just wants more night sleep and can't have it. I''ll try that tommorow and see if it helps get things back on track.

Mom says she's been doing this sleep-no eat-no sleep thing at home quite a bit too. We're probably waiting too long for sleep signals, is my guess.

I don't do any solid food including cereal until they turn eight months.

[Angelsj]

Babies tend to go through a change/growth cycle about every 2.5 months for the first year. They shuffle their needs for food and sleep. If you don't fight it, it is usually short lived.

Keep in mind I am very child led (so take this advice how you like) but I would go with her needs. She needed sleep and you read her just fine. Usually two or three days of shuffle and you two will find balance again.

For the record, 12 weeks, and even 16 weeks is way too young for solid food. The earlier you start food, the more likely food allergies. Do some research about that before you recommend it to parents.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Babies tend to go through a change/growth cycle about every 2.5 months for the first year. They shuffle their needs for food and sleep. If you don't fight it, it is usually short lived.

Keep in mind I am very child led (so take this advice how you like) but I would go with her needs. She needed sleep and you read her just fine. Usually two or three days of shuffle and you two will find balance again.

For the record, 12 weeks, and even 16 weeks is way too young for solid food. The earlier you start food, the more likely food allergies. Do some research about that before you recommend it to parents.

I completely agree with everything she said. happyface

[Lavender]

I completely agree with everything she said. happyface

Me too

[Heidi]

I would work with the parents to make SURE they are doing a feeding right before brining to child care. I don't do a hand fed bottle within two hours of arrival. If the child ate in the early hours of the morning they would need to do a topper offer bottle right before care. If she's arriving at seven thirty there should not be a problem with a 1.5 hour nap immediately and no feedings during that time.

I would put her right back to bed when she arrives and then do the 9-12-3 schedule. My schedule is ALWAYS for nap.... to get everyone in the house down at nap time. It takes a few weeks to get it going with a newborn but I haven't had ONE that didn't adjust quickly. I also do a ton of belly time and we go outside weather permitting.

Just to clarify...you would do a 9-12-3 feeding schedule?

Nap when she gets here until 9ish. If she wakes up before that, hold her off before I feed her? If she is fussy/hungry again before 12, hold her off? I can do it, but she'll probably be fussy through our (the other kids and mine) lunch. I have noticed then when she acts hungry, sometimes a binky will do for a few minutes....IF I am holding her and distracting her. This could be tricky by myself, with other kiddos to care for.

So, she would be sleeping at 7:45-9, and then stay awake until after the 12' feeding. I'm fairly certain that would also be way to long for her to be awake.

I'm not arguing with you, just wondering if I missed something.

I can't remember any of mine needing so many naps, even at this age. It's been a long time though! BTW, the last young baby I've had to care for was 12 years ago...my son. I took a 10 year break from daycare, and my first few back were older infants...the predictable 2-nap a day age.

[Heidi]

Babies tend to go through a change/growth cycle about every 2.5 months for the first year. They shuffle their needs for food and sleep. If you don't fight it, it is usually short lived.

Keep in mind I am very child led (so take this advice how you like) but I would go with her needs. She needed sleep and you read her just fine. Usually two or three days of shuffle and you two will find balance again.

For the record, 12 weeks, and even 16 weeks is way too young for solid food. The earlier you start food, the more likely food allergies. Do some research about that before you recommend it to parents.

I'm not so sure I agree about the allergies, but I would not give a 12 week old cereal for sure.

We started cereal (I'm 48) pretty early in our day, and food allergies are pretty uncommon in my generation. The trend to start solids later does not seem to have reduced allergy issues. I personally think there are other factors at play.

That said, if a baby is content with formula until later; great. If, however, they are drinking full bottles and still crabbing or waking at night, I'd be likely to try cereal at 4 months.

[Angelsj]

The trend to start solids later does not seem to have reduced allergy issues. I personally think there are other factors at play.

I think you are right here to a degree. We had more real food then. Today, so much processing, so much modification of our food...just junk out there. Add all that to other environmental items (antibiotic everything, plastic everything..) and I think we are just sitting on a time bomb.
However, I did start solids later. Not because I was a smarter than average mom, but because we were broke and my kids were happy with breast milk.

[Scout]

Major respect!!!!

love this!! I can't believe someone could do that either! Good for you! I am hoping to not have to take care of infants!

[Loveyoustinkyface]

I mainly just care for babies too. At 12 weeks old, 6 ounces is quite a tummy full! I would say that every 2.5-3 hours is a perfect length of time in between feedings. I would NOT start any solids yet. And I have found that the time between their first feeding and their second feeding is the hardest of the day and need a nap in between.

[nannyde]

Just to clarify...you would do a 9-12-3 feeding schedule?

Nap when she gets here until 9ish. If she wakes up before that, hold her off before I feed her? If she is fussy/hungry again before 12, hold her off? I can do it, but she'll probably be fussy through our (the other kids and mine) lunch. I have noticed then when she acts hungry, sometimes a binky will do for a few minutes....IF I am holding her and distracting her. This could be tricky by myself, with other kiddos to care for.

So, she would be sleeping at 7:45-9, and then stay awake until after the 12' feeding. I'm fairly certain that would also be way to long for her to be awake.

I'm not arguing with you, just wondering if I missed something.

I can't remember any of mine needing so many naps, even at this age. It's been a long time though! BTW, the last young baby I've had to care for was 12 years ago...my son. I took a 10 year break from daycare, and my first few back were older infants...the predictable 2-nap a day age.

With birth thru three months (newborn) I try to WORK toward this schedule but often they are just too little to go that time. Now that I know she is twelve weeks I'm thinking that the six ounces is a LOT. I do about an once per feeding for every month. So if she is three months... I would be doing three to three and a half ounce feedings.

Try working her in fifteen minute increments closer and closer to the 9-12-3 feedings as long as you are certain the parents are feeding right before care. Once she hits four months you should be there.

What I do with newborns is have them feed the LAST thing I do before the kids go down for a nap and the FIRST thing I do when the kids are waking up from nap. So here I would have her START the bottle at twelve and then give the next feed 2.5 hours from the END of the noon bottle. So if she finished eating at 12:15 then I would give the next bottle at 2:45.

I do belly time right before the feeding... a good ten/fifteen minutes when she is getting worked up for being hungry and then do a hold/walk/rock to get her settle down before the feed. After nap time if she wakes up early I would do the same... have her do a rousing round of belly time before the next feeding.

YMMV on newborns... you have about a month before she hits the four month mark. By then you should be able to have her on the other kids schedule. I've used this system for 20 years and it works with every kid. I am always working towards ALL kids down during nap but the newborn timeframe interupts that. I know with every new baby that they will need to be worked into that. I also like the one to one time with them during nap to get to know them.