Co-Sleeping

Yes we have written a post about co-sleeping. So till today we still go to bed with Shane, but now he's at the side of the bed (instead of in between us). Currently we built a "wall" at the edge of the bed - lined with pillows and a blanket...

We are at the point where Shane is able to roll over by himself from back to front at any time. He's already learnt to do the 90 degree roll to the side, and we see him moving his legs a lot, and trying to do the 180 deg flip from back to front! So co-sleeping with him on the side of the bed is now not the safest thing to do.

Just trying to decide over a few options. 

1. Bed Rails

They're not bad, and go for about $40. The reviews I read for the Safety First suggest that this is a pretty good option. The only concern I have is that I'm not sure if the rails will fit the bed frame.

2. Family Sleeper

If I had all the money in the world… I would definitely get this one. Cost a whooping $215 (plus tax and shipping). But this product totally makes sense.

I could move his crib right next to ours and then use this on his crib and roll it to our bed so there isn't a gap between the crib and our bed.

Still tossing around with both options.

I'm not sure what other options there are. If you can think of any, let me know! Email me!

Update to post:
I read this… and thought this was a pretty damn good idea - A DIY Co-Sleeper
http://amandamedlin.com/2013/11/diy-co-sleeper-pretty-little-quilt/

Hugaboo - love it

If this were not so expensive, I would definitely buy it. Settled for a bumbo instead

Day 86 - Feb 26

Over the last few days since we got back from NYC, we have been getting the baby into a routine with morning naps, afternoon naps and evening naps and an early bed time. But that means we have to be discipline ourselves with our time… (at least… one of us has to put him to bed)

Clearly Z did a fantastic job putting baby to sleep (somehow I can't do it like he does), and he goes to bed himself too…

Day 84 - Feb 24

We just noticed that Shane has been developing some face rash and neck rash after sleeping on our bed and our clothing. Wondering if he's allergic to our clothing detergent.

Today, Shane has been really edgy the whole day. Refused to be put down. He was fine this morning, until after his morning nap. He suddenly woke up crying (as if he had a really bad dream). Since then, we could not put him down, and he had to be carried everywhere.

So the question is… do babies dream? If so what do they dream about? How do they know what's scary and what isn't?

Day 82 - Feb 22

We were baby sitting Luke for a short 3 hours. Don't know how people cope with twins.

So fortunately Shane was tired and sleepy, and was knocked out, so I could carry Luke. Perhaps he was in a different environment without his mummy and daddy, he was a bit needy. So I know what to expect if I leave Shane with baby sitters.

Z entertaining the babies

Hi Luke... Hi Shane

What I managed to do in the 3 hours (whilst carrying Luke):
1. Prepare ingredients for dinner - Z did the cooking
2. Made Chocolate chip & Walnut Cookies
3. Eat dinner

I Survived New York City with a 2.5 Month Old

We're taking the afternoon train to NYC for his interview. Just a 2 days (actually 1.5 days only) and 1 night trip, there's so much to think about.

Here's what we were worried about, and how we got around / managed most of them

Concern #1: Getting onto Amtrak with the stroller
So we did not have any issues at all. Amtrak has a red cap service that took us to the elevators where we could access the train tracks easily. The trains had an area for passengers with disabilities (and could be used for strollers as well). Usually people will give their seat up if they see a stroller & baby.

Concern #2: Getting around NYC with a 2.5 month old stroller

From Penn Station to the Grand Hyatt (which is about 25 mins walk), I saw a total of 5 strollers only. Clearly no one takes their baby out in a stroller. Funnily, I did not see any babies on carriers as well. Anyhow, it was a little tough navigating through the millions of people on the streets. And people don't really care if you have a stroller. They will not step aside for your stroller. So best to not take the stroller, especially smaller streets and construction zones. Larger avenues are not too bad.

Concern #3: Diaper Changing Facilities
Well, Shane loves spraying all over any changing area, be it a changing station or the chair or the floor. Yup, he did it too at the Grand Hyatt.

NYC has the tightest toilets around and it's way too difficult to change him. So in the end, we just used an area against a wall or the stroller bassinet to change his diapers. It was hard to give him a thorough clean, so a bath in the evening was definitely a must!

Nappy Change @ Grand Central

Nappy change in the bassinet which was a lot easier

Alternative toy stores or baby stores like FAO Schwarz have diaper rooms! I heard there's one at babies r us & destination maternity too.

Concern #4: What happen if it rains?
Use a carrier and an umbrella! Or just brave the rain. I took Shane out in the carrier and used my waterproof jacket to cover him and his head (by wearing the jacket the other way around). We'll it wasn't pouring so I could still do that. The light drizzle meant I was wet after a 15 mins walk. But my baby was nice warm and dry cos he was shielded from the wind and rain.

Alternative was to chill out in the hotel - which we did because he had to have his morning nap, and is figured he'll sleep better in the bed.

In the afternoon, when it was pouring, we just used the carrier & umbrella. Shane slept all the way in the carrier. Bliss.

Concern #5: Dining with a baby??

So I thought I could breast feed in the restaurant. But I realized NYC restaurants are mostly tight and small. Chairs are not large enough for me to bf without Shane's legs sticking out and potentially kicking / tripping someone. He also struggles a little when under the nursing covers. Also, space is tight and tough to burp the baby. So I decided to pump a bottle in advance and feed him instead.

We met up with friends at Oysteria on 42nd St, and Zengo on 3rd Ave. Stroller friendly. Ask for the booth table at Zengo. Food was good. And Shane was well behaved!

Concern #6: Bathing the baby

Initially I thought we could skip a bath for the baby since it was only a day... But because I couldn't really give him a proper clean during diaper change, skipping the bath for a day was not an option we felt we could take. So the Grand Hyatt had a miserable looking shallow tub that looked dirty and had a rusty/greasy sink hole and there's no way I'll fill up the tub with water to bathe Shane.

So I scrubbed the back of the tub, and made it as clean as possible for sitting down (and I sat on a hand towel in the tub). Since the shower head was fixed to the wall, we turned on the shower and ran baby's body through the water , using one hand to shield water from his face. Then using a hand towel, we cleaned up his face and head.

Yup… I think i could do this again!

Day 79 - Feb 19

Starting to pack for our 2 days NYC trip. It's only 2 days and my bag pack and diaper bag are all filled with Shane's stuff.

Feeling pretty nervous about the logistics especially since NYC is not a stroller or baby friendly place.

Day 78 - Feb 18

So we are trying our best to make life just as per normal before the baby came. Tough, but all it takes is some thinking about the logistics and making do with the situation we're in.

Aside from the usual Tuesday sessions at Hall Mercer, we were invited to a friend's birthday on Market Street. Normally, we would just walk there. But since we had a baby in tow, we took a cab there. We would have liked to walk one way, and cabbed back the other way, but because we had to bring out the car seat (otherwise no taxi would take us), we couldn't walk one direction. I tried to order the Bugaboo car seat adapter but we missed the UPS delivery this morning.

When you walk into a restaurant carrying a huge car seat, you get stares from all the waiting staff. So we were figuring out where we can put the car seat, but it's a little tough finding space, and we did not want to put Shane in a car seat on the floor. So we took 2 chairs and placed the car seat on the chair. BUT!!! The restaurant did not have extra chairs, and they were fully booked. Gasp… Thankfully a genius waitress said, let's just turn the baby chair up side down, and use that as a base for the car seat. AWESOME! This meant that the car seat was at table height, and we could see baby Shane sleeping throughout dinner. That's something new we learnt. Nice trick to try at other restaurants.

Check out the car seat propped on an upside down baby chair

Day 77 - Feb 17

Survived Day 1 since mum / popo left. Phew

So I managed to go to Walmart to do a bit of grocery shopping, then proceeded to Ikea for a quick snack and to pick up a couple of things, pick Z up from Uni, drop off a UPS package in the city, prepare lunch, visit the doctor's office, baby's laundry completed, prepare dinner, bathe the baby, and update my blog.

I did most of my outdoor errands in the carrier, and the awesome sling where Baby slept on me while I was running errands.

Working around the house with baby in tow

May tomorrow be as easy as today.

Day 76 - Feb 16

We took a 2.5 hour car ride (5 hours 2 ways) to drop mum off at the airport. Not sure if Shane was very sad to see her leave (he probably doesn't yet know how much she's done for him), but I sure am very sad to see her leave… Always nice to have mum around the home!

Don't go 婆婆! Who is going to carry me to sleep now?

So we're picking up a few notes from this short drive for our Niagara Falls trip.  I know on Facebook, some people suggested drugging the kid and making him drowsy. But i think there's no need to do that (yet).

I'll need to remind myself again for future trips...

1. No need to feed the baby before we leave. He's going to want to eat half way through the journey anyway. That way, minimize diaper change.

2. Pump in the car. (That's why I got the battery pump). You might not find a place to stop along the way unless you're willing to stop along the highway (next to a pile of snow / ice sheet). Then feed the baby. That way, there is no need to heat up the milk.

3. Bring multiple toys for the baby and give the baby one toy at a time because he'll get bored with one toy, and you need back up!

4. Tough to change a diaper in the car. Shane spews all over the place quite regularly.  If possible, stop at a hotel. They might have decent changing facilities. (We ended up at an awesome Crowne plaza with very clean changing station). Otherwise someone recommended a good place to change diapers is in the boot. But bring along a disposable mat because the boot is so dirty.

5. Remember the pacifier! It soothes the baby and puts him to sleep for hours. When he wakes up, he'll continue sucking on the paci.

6. Remove those layers to make the car seat more comfy

7. Bring the head support for the car seat.

Day 75 - Feb 15

Gasp my mum leaves tomorrow… Not sure what I'd do without her… She's been helping with the laundry, all our meals and baby sitting (by far the most valuable help)…

So Shane is used to having grandma carry and put to sleep… gasp, will I have to do the same….

Day 74 - feb 14

This morning we did something different since it was Valentine's Day. We headed out for morning brunch at Honey on South with the baby and my Mum. I'd say it's our first brunch out! 

Had Eggs Benedict - something I've missed since I got pregnant - since I can't have poached eggs while being preggy.

After breakfast, I went for a swim with Andrea… and it was then I realized how painful my left shoulder is from carrying a 7kg baby!

Day 73 - Feb 13

My trial on probiotics (for myself) worked well.

When Shane was born, someone told me to take probiotics which is good for relieving gas. It's basically good bacteria like what you get eating yoghurt and drinking yakult. Since I wanted to be all natural and no funny nonsense for the baby, I decided to skip that piece of advice.

Over the last month, Shane has been having lots of gas , and sometimes he curls up in pain and cries. I suddenly remembered what I was told and decided to try it out to see if it works. I spoke to the lactation consultant and the pediatrician to see if it was OK or not if I took probiotics (because it will come through the breast milk), and I was given the green light.

Since I got the order of probiotics in the mail through Amazon about 12 days ago, I've been taking it, and I haven't yet seen an episode of his gassy pains up until…. 2 days ago when I decided to stop taking it. Today, he little boy was all curled up again and cried in pain. I don't think it was a co-incidence, so well, i'm back on probiotics again.

Day 72 - Feb12

Some children books have so bad English. I'm not sure if this is intentionally written this way, or is this American English. 

Photo of the Day

Day 71 - Feb 11

I'm not sure if it's common with babies, but I've noticed that Shane has started the habit of burning his head and rubbing it on all sorts of surfaces… that includes me (and my T-shirt) or whoever carries him, the bed, the play mat, the matteress, etc. Just worried he starts suffocating!

So today was the last class of the Part 1 session for the parent and child program at Penn Hospital. Signed up for part 2. Todays session was more about dealing with unsolicited advice and in-laws. So far, I don't think either of us have in law issues, but definitely dealing with unsolicited advice from all around.

Also at today's class, Shane did 40 straight minutes of tummy time and showed off his crawling skills! So proud of my little boy!!

With his new friend...

Day 70 - Feb 10

Shane does not like smiling at the cameras. He plays around happily, but whenever the camera is whipped out, he pulls a frown. Just like the photo below.

Day 69 - Feb 9

Shane & Papa listening to pastor preaching @ church

Day 68 - Feb 8

So Shane hadn't pooped in the last 48 hours and we were getting really worried. This morning at 9am, he decided to do one big massive one… no… rather, three massive poops. It's like 2 days worth of poop stored up. No wonder he was in such a foul mood the last 2 days, and nothing would seem to soothe him. His feeding patterns were… wait, there was no pattern at all. After an hour, he would cry uncontrollably. So I guess he probably wasn't hungry, but was just feeling really really poopy.

Thankfully he had his Number 1 in the morning, so we could go to the mall. After the big poop, he slept and slept and slept almost the whole day. We were out almost the whole afternoon! Left at 1pm and returned at 10pm!

Shopping for Uncle Jeremy & Aunty Michelle's wedding

Shane & Papa @ Dinner

Day 67 - Feb 7

Shane has been really attentive lately, especially on the diaper table. I say changing his diapers is his favorite moment after his bath time. Today was the first time that he's been coo-ing / talking so much, including entertaining himself in his crib.

My mum took a photo today of Shane's lashes… He's got really long eye lashes that curls out like the camel's lashes. Is this a baby thing? (long lashes) Seems like Shane's friend, Kai, has them too!

Day 66 - Feb 6

I am so sure Shane is going through a growth spurt today. Started last night where he's up all night and almost all if today. We used to feed him every 3-4 hours, but now it's down to 1.5 hrs. Also he normally drinks for 5-10 mins and he's done. Now, he stays latched for 20-30 mins... So tiring!!! If we don't feed him immediately, his cries are as if he's in pain. Second time we hear that kind of cry (first time was at the doctors office when he got his vaccination).

Wondering how heavy he'll get again. He's gained 0.5kg already in 5 days since we were last at the ped. A whooping 6.7kg measured last night.

Over the last week, Shane has been sucking on his fist so much. Even his favourite pacifier could not take the place of his fist. Just now sure how clean his hads are sometimes... And especially paranoid when strangers touch him and then he sticks his fist in the mouth. There's some lack dirt stuff under his nail. Not sure where that came from. Everyday we clean the dirt, it just comes back.

Tasty hands!!

Day 65 - Feb 5

Took Shane out in the icy rain today. Roads were super slippery with sheets of ice forming over the path of those lazy buggers who didn't shovel after the snow. Didn't help that today's rain was icy rain. So I braved the icy rain and slippery roads to Andreas place with Shane in the bugaboo with a rain cover. And guess what... I just discovered 2 huge holes in my bugaboo rain cover! Where did they come from?!! So the boo was wet (but still ok) by the time I got to her place.

In the evening, we ventured out with Shane to the Malaysian restaurant in the baby trekker. So it's do-able (not taking the stroller out). We could use the trekker as a horizontal carrier too. But I think the mini monkey sling would have done a better job as a carrier while we were havin dinner. 

Yup and Shane did survive zero deg C weather in the baby trekker under my coat! 👍

Baby stares… @ 2am

Day 64 - Feb 4

We spotted a red mark on Shane's head yesterday. Don't know how we both managed to miss this over the last 9 weeks.

Luckily just the week before, Andrea did show me the exact same mark on Luke's  back and said that the ped said it's a birth mark. We would have freaked out if we hadn't spoken to Andrea. Never knew birth marks could be red (dotted) spots! Shane has got so many birth marks - the black dark ones - on his back and legs... I guess this one on his head just adds to his birth mark collection.

So we finally got to do our belated 拜年 with Grandma this morning. We have been so busy with visitors over during the CNY period, that we just didn't get it done.

Also had our first CNY visitors... 

& Baby Luke

Day 63 - Feb 3

Just realized today that my mum will be leaving the US in 12 days time. Gasp!

So many things were going through my mind today…

1. who is going to look after the baby while i need to use the bathroom?
2. if Shane is inconsolable, what do i do? can't turn to popo for help…
3. i need a break - who's gonna look after him for the short period
4. need to get some work done - what if Shane is crying and i can't put him down?
5. laundry, house keeping, cooking… plus looking after baby… how is this manageable?

I need to survive another 3.5 more months till we return to Singapore. Meanwhile, I guess I will have to take him out when he's upset!

This evening, Z and I managed to sneak out to Jane G for some Wharton Partner's event, and then a nice dinner on swings at Continental. It's also our first dinner date since baby was born. The swing was the highlight of the evening! Now we understand why babies can be rocked to sleep. 

My favorite photo of the day is of Shane in his baby swing, in his Grandpa outfit.

Day 62 - Feb 2

The doctor said we should give Shane a little more tummy time because he hasn't been able to lift his head high enough.

So this really feels like torture...

Go go go Shane!

Day 61 - Feb 1

The little one is now onto his third month!! How time flies…