A Few Questions About My 12 Week Old

My son is 12 weeks old as well and his bowel habits are exactly as you described. He goes once every other day....no straining, no pain, etc. My pediatrician says it's normal and I'm not concerned. As far as naps go, I would recommend the Miracle blanket. My son uses it and we love it. As soon as we put it on him, he knows it's nap time. He takes two 2-3 hour naps a day and he sleeps 9 hours at night. Teething...babies can show the signs of teething anytime and often begin a month or so before the tooth emerges. However, at three months they begin the production of saliva which most people confuse with teething. The books say teething begins at 6-9 months. It can be before or after that time period, though! :)

Hi,

Everyone gave great advice. The biggest thing is that it is all normal. Your daughter could be used to the daycare noise, like someone mentioned, or it could just be she is equating naps during the day with the daycare. Try some background noise, and make sure to stick with their nap schedule, time wise. In regards to the BM, it could be she is just maturing. My daughter went through the same thing and now she is 13 months and down to 1 a day, sometimes 2, but as long as there isnt any straining or anything, I wouldn't worry. The gas could also just be her system changing. Mine still gets it, some babies are just more gassy than others lol. As for the teething, it can happen at any time. There are a ton of symptoms, and some of them are: nawing on things, drooling a lot, looser stools, crabbier moods, trouble sucking/eating, pulling at ears or rubbing cheeks, and sometimes a fever, so it's hard to tell. Usually it starts, though, about a month or two before the first tooth starts to pop through. In my case, my daughter teethed an eternity and then 3 teeth all popped up at once. The first one can come in as early as 4 months, or, in my case, as late as 10 or 11 months.

What you wrote is totally the same thing that my daughter is doing she is also 12 weeks old born on Feb 2. I miss Madison so much on the weekends I love having with me so I never try to put her down for a nap. Your daughter probably really misses you is all. The bm seems the norm I believe her system is just maturing more. I read that one BM a day is normal.

Hi D.~ And Happy Birthday. Babies can start teething at any age. My son cut his first tooth at 2 months and had a full set by the time he was 7 months. On the other hand my Daughter did not get her first tooth until she was 1. It is also normal for a child to teethe for days, weeks and even months before the tooth actually cuts through the skin. Good luck with that and just try to keep her as comfortable as you can during this period. It can be very nerve racking for you as a Mom to watch your baby be in pain, but it's a normal part of a babies life. You being there to comfort her alone will make her feel more secure, safe, and comfortable.

As for the napping part...alot of people may not agree with me on this, but I live by this, and will share with everyone. I used the let them cry it out method with both of my babies. I didn't let them cry for long, but as each day passed they learned that they were to be sleeping. It finally got to the point where I would lie them down for their nap, and they would just lay their little heads down and go to sleep. This can also be nerve racking for a Mom, but the end result of getting a baby to take a much needed nap is worth it. I am not saying for you to lock her up, and throw away the key or anything like that. The first time you try it you should only let her cry for about 5 mins....the crying gets less and less each day:) Good luck with this too.

Bowel Habbits do change as a baby gets older. I would not be too worried about that at all. The only thing I would watch for are signs of constipation. If you feel she is in pain then definitely contact you PED. Since you say that she's not straining then she is probably fine.

Hope all that helped and it doesn't sound like a bunch of bable....lol Have a great day:)

J. C.

As long as she doesn't seem in pain, and the bm is not hard, she's ok. Babies bowel habits change as they grow, my 15 week old used to go every day, but for the last few weeks it's been once every 5 days-ish and his doctor said they go through that - a stage nobody mentions! I don't have good advice for napping - he sleeps great at night, but during the day if you lay him down he wakes up within half an hour and then doesn't go back to sleep. He averages a total of 3, 1/2 hour naps during the day (although the last couple days he's napped for longer, and even for almost an hour when I laid him down - hopefully this is a phase too!!!)
Good luck, and it's true, she probably just misses you! You could try a carrier sling so you can get things done and she could be close.

Hi D.!

I have 3 children that are 4 years and younger. One of the most important pieces of advice I give to new mothers is about sleep habits.

With my first child, we started out rocking him to sleep every night and before naps. Big mistake. Then we HAD to rock him to get him to go to sleep. It would take us over an hour every single night to get him to sleep. And if he woke in the middle of the night, then he would cry until we rocked him to sleep again. We did this until he was about 2 yrs old (a loooong time). Around that time I was getting ready to have our second child and knew that there was no way we would have time to continue doing this. We always had a bedtime routine with my son. That is important so that your child has time to calm down in the evening and then knows that it will soon be time to go to bed. It may include a bath, reading books, etc. We finally transitioned my son to just going to bed on his own (after his routine), but it was not easy.

With our next child, we did things differently. By a few months old, we were able to just put her in her crib, say night night and walk away. It is important that your baby learns to fall asleep on their own, so you should place them in the crib BEFORE they fall asleep. This may take some transition time, but it is a LOT easier to do with an infant than with a toddler. You will not be able to do this with a newborn. When a newborn cries, they need something (food, diaper change, comfort, etc). But eventually, you will be able to let your infant cry for short periods of time to let them learn to sleep on their own (probably around 2 months).

By the way, my pediatrician recommended to us that we put our baby in the crib before he was asleep. We just didn't listen to his advice until we had the second. This makes SUCH a difference.

Also, our first (my son) didn't start sleeping through the night until about 6 months. My second (daughter) slept through the night at 4 months. My third (daughter) slept through at 2 1/2 months. I truely believe that a lot of this had to do with my daughters learning to fall asleep on their own.

Hope this helps! If you need any more specific details on how to transition your baby to sleeping on their own, let me know. I just didn't want this to get any more wordy than it already was...

L.

Hi D.!

Well, I can relate to your problems with the bowel movements and gas. Since my daughter was born, she had horrible gas and constipation problems. By the time she was 4 weeks old, we decided to stop feeding her anything but Soy Formula and since then she has been fine except for the constipation. We started giving her some prune juice in every bottle which usually helps her produce a soft bowel movement once a day. We've had problems since she started on cereal/veggies/fruit. Her gas has returned and more constipation issues. For future reference, if your daughter is still having constipation issues when she's ready for solid foods, our doctor had us start Katelynn on Barley Cereal because it will cause the least constipation. Its a serious problem that I know a lot of mothers deal with.

As for the sleeping issue, I'm not sure. My daughter sleeps differently at home then at day care as well. Are you letting her cry for a little bit? I'm a first-time mother too and that can be hard sometimes but I think its necessary. My daughter is a very good sleeper and can put herself to sleep because I let her cry it out. Some days she sleeps more than others so maybe when she's home with you, she'd rather stay up and play because she doesn't see you often.

Good Luck to you and hang in there, it will get better! Thankfully she is sleeping through the night which I know makes a HUGE difference!

Well i think its the noise level when it comes to naping. Think about all the noises at a daycare. Shes prob. used to all week sleeping with sound. So i would turn the tv on in the background while rocking her to sleep. Baths before shes naps helped me a great deal. a warm bath and full belly with knock me out too:D Best wishes...hope all goes well.
R.

ok i think i can still remember then. my daughter started teething when she maybe a little over a month. it is possible!!! ok for the second question, this might sound harsh but i had to do it to. if you put her down and let her cry it out she will fall asleep. i know its hard! i cryed the first time i did it. if you have to call someone so you can keep your cool. yes they are crying but sometimes you gonna let them work it out. i promise she will sleep with out you holding her. i had the same problem and now she is 1 and sleeping all alone. all i do is put her down in her crib and she is out for 2-3 hours. i love it now!!! ok i think at 12 weeks her poop should still be a few times a day. umm there is gas drops you can give her and see if that helps. im sure your due for the doctors soon so i would ask them about that one and see what they want you to do. well congrates on the baby and best of luck with everything that comes a head!!

Teething : most often its around 2 months or so. My nephew was born with 2 teeth though!
My son had a horrible time teething though. He would just fuss and naw on his fingers all day long. I spoke with a Dentist friend about it though and she suggested using frozen waffles. They taste good, you dont have to worry about anything busting and making the baby sick. And they have built in drool trays lol!

My son still is iffy on naps, so I dont really feel comfortable trying to give tips on that :/

As for BMs..
My PED told me that the range for 'normal' is so large that its hard to say anything for sure. He said anything between 7 times in one day and 1 time in 7 days is pretty normal. Anything outside of that you should be concerned about.
But like someone else posted too, aslong as its not extremely watery or dry pebbles that are hard to mash, it should be ok. Always voice your concerns with your PED though.

Gerber has infant safe gas drops that my PED told me about. They are really great, and really help with gas. The drops make the gas come out in tiny bouts so they arent big and hurt or releave it all together. My son had such bad gas when I had to switch from breast feeding to formula. The drops helped soo much. Made his passing of gas more comfortable for him.

Also, Childrens Hospital in Columbus,OH ( "Childrens after hours" ###-###-#### ) has on call ped nurses that can offer advice, answer questions and tell you if its something you should go to the hospital with. They have lots of resources right at hand and theres always a doctor there that can answer questions that the nurses can't.

Hi D., i too am a first time mom of an 8 week old and have been having some similar issues. I am getting ready to go back to work on Monday so i too will be interested to see how my son does at the sitters, right now he does not sleep for me at all (day or night) he goes down in my arms but once he hits the crib eyes are wide open so I feel for ya. The thing I can probalby best answer is re: her BM. I have been reading alot (i have alittle OCD) and all the books say that it is normal after the first few weeks for the baby to go as little as once per week. I just talked to my ped about this as about two weeks ago my son went from BM every feeding to once every other day to day and a half, I was concerned b/c i was also switiching to formula for when i go back to work (cant pump at work really)... anyway the nurse said especially with breastfed babies that it is not unusual for them to start having BMs as little as once per week and that every other day was normal. She may be gassy if at the daycare they are not burping her enough during her feeding or maybe she is getting to much air from her bottles, not sure though just a guess. Good luck, I know it is hard trying to figure all this stuff out.

If you are breastfeeding, it is totally normal for the baby to only have a BM every other day. I remember the first time my baby (now 11 weeks) went 3 days without having a BM and I started to freak out and worry that something was wrong. I consulted a few books and my pediatrician and learned it was normal. And yes, there is a TON of it! As long as it isn't watery (diarrhea) or almost totally dry and pebbly (constipation), then you're fine. It just looks like an entire jar of mustard, doesn't it?!? Also...my baby farts enough to rival a fraternity boy, which my doctor also said is normal. That could be a result of things you are eating. If it doesn't bother you, it probably doesn't bother the baby either (I used to worry about it too, til I realized that 'farting doesn't hurt' and was like, okay, no biggie then!).

Something to think about with the naps is using one of your shirts for a blanket or even just putting a light blanket under her before you lay her down. My daughter is 5 months & still doesn't like going to sleep at night on a chilled sheet. While I'm burping her, a lay a blanket on her back. It gets body temp & I'm not laying her on a cold sheet. I used to have to wrap her (almost swaddle, she didn't like her arms restricted), then lay her down. We also used a radio on white noise for a couple of months. As for teething, I see places where Claire's first teeth will be & have for several months. At her 4 month check up, I ask the dr. I was told that typically they start at 6 months, but can be as early as 3 months. Obviously earlier, by other posters. It has been almost 2 months & I still see the area in my daughters teeth, so I'm sure that it will be a little while.
Same here for the BM's. In the beginning, it was several times a day & lots. Then, it got less frequent, but still lots. Now that she is starting cereal, it's getting more "normal".