Info overload

{I adore this pic of E & his soft Sweet Dreams book. I hope he will be an avid reader.}

I spent much of Ethan's naps yesterday reading the food allergies section in Baby Matters (thanks S-Anon for the suggestion). Today I've been reading even more online. I've been sorting through tons of info. It has been very interesting but too much info for one sitting (probiotics, enzymes, leaky gut, sensitization, ELISA testing, immediate-reaction allergy, delayed-reaction allergy, ETC). I need to bookmark and return when I'm not so overwhelmed.

I knew that Ethan's allergies contributed to his trouble sleeping but found it interesting to read that several wakings can be a 'symptom' of allergies.

Allergies are complex and difficult to determine. A person can be allergic to/intolerant of ANYTHING!

I've been looking back at what I have eaten and the timing of Ethan's symptoms. It could be anything but one common connection MAY be tomatoes.

I'm considering eliminating strawberries, tomatoes, Sunbutter Crunch bars, and possibly beef for a while then add them back in one at a time.

Look at this face!!

THEN...


These were right after our appt with the allergist on Friday. My tough guy with his bandage from the blood draw. He was all red and patchy. The patches on his cheeks were oozing more than ever.

NOW...


Then here just 2 days later... a much clearer face already! He's been happier, sleeping better, and seems to be A LOT less itchy! His cheeks are still a little pink but no open, oozing spots, and they're much softer already.

Also, his 2nd tooth broke through over the weekend.

Matt and I keep commenting on how much he's changing. It truly is amazing to help and watch him grow. I've also heard a few people say that Ethan is starting to look more like me. He's been a mini-matt since birth but now his looks seem to be changing some. I can see similar facial features as I had as a child, especially his nose, mouth, and chin.

Stay tuned for some more pics and videos.

Busy with the following:

Sorry for the lack of posts ... life has been busy with:

-Tracking E's sleep patterns. He was barely at daycare this week (only for 6 hours on Thurs) and has been waking just 3 times a night. I know that can be considered a lot but it's an improvement for us. The allergist thinks it's highly likely that Ethan is waking so often b/c he's itchy.

-Dealing with his eczema. We had it *almost* cleared up then it flared up again! I ordered Vanicream & it arrived yesterday so we haven't tried it yet. Thanks for the suggestion, Anon commenter. Our allergist gave us tons of samples of their products too. She loves their stuff.

-E being sick this week (low fever, fussy, diarrhea, diaper rash), uncertain whether we can attribute this to teething or a virus.

-his FIRST tooth! It broke through last weekend and the next one looks as though it's going to break through soon too!!

-Ethan is flat out REFUSING bottles. Last week at daycare they were able to get him to take a half ounce to an ounce here or there but now he either turns his head from the bottle or screams when you try again. We bought a couple of Adiri bottles and he took a few sips from it the first try but then not again. I'm hoping that this bottle strike is a phase. We introduced the bottle when he was 4 wks old and he did great with it for a long time. When he was about 4 months old he became distracted at daycare and wasn't eating as much, but now he gets mad when you try to give him a bottle at all. A friend of mine went through this with her daughter, who is 2 weeks older than Ethan. She had always had difficulty with the bottle. It took her more than an hour to take a few ounces from it. They introduced a sippy cup and she would drink the tiniest bit of water from it. What eventually worked was handing the bottle over to the baby and letting her feed herself. I'm so surprised that a 6 month old can hold her own bottle and feeds herself but she really does. My friend says that she's not a pro at it but it's the ONLY way she'll drink from it. We will try this route with Ethan too.

-Family drama.

-Paperwork.

-Client crisis.

Ethan just woke up from a much needed nap. I'll write a post about our appt with the allergist later.

Wheat & Sleep

I was SO excited to finally re-introduce wheat into my diet. I spent 2 days trying to decide WHAT I was going to choose to eat. First I thought about Sunchips. Then I thought about pasta (fyi, rice pasta is not so great). Then I decided on CEREAL and wondered why I didn't think of it first. I could eat cereal for every meal of the day. I probably eat 2-3 bowls a day and was growing tired of Rice Krispies after 2 months straight. Then came the choice of WHICH cereal I should pick. After reading labels and continuing to avoid things like high fructose corn syrup, tophocerol, etc. I came across plain old Life cereal and it seemed harmless. I knew that it was dairy and soy free. I was so excited to eat breakfast on Sunday morning only to regret it for the rest of the day. Ugh. My stomach was not prepared for change. It was a BAD choice to re-introduce something on an empty stomach. I felt sick ALL day. Nausea, stomach cramps, etc. Just a tip for those on an elimination diet- don't make the same mistake that I did. On top of being sick, the prior night was E's worst night of sleep yet. Those days as a newborn where he would wake every 2 hours were dreamy compared to this.

He followed that horrible night with a not so bad one. He woke 4 times but got a total of 9.75 hours of sleep. If you're attempting the No Cry Sleep Solution or any other sleep training I think creating a night-waking log like Elizabeth Pantley suggests in her book is a great idea. At first I thought, eh, I don't need to do that b/c I'll remember what times he wakes up. Yes, I might vaguely remember times but seeing
-what time he woke
-how he woke
-how long he was awake, what occurred
-time he fell back to sleep
-how he fell back to sleep
-how long he slept for that stretch
was very helpful. According to her book, a baby Ethan's age should be sleeping about 10-11 hours (she notes that it does not represent uninterrupted stretches of sleep). Seeing that made me feel relieved, sane, normal, and motivated.

I've also noticed that Ethan is itching his eyes less. He seems to itch/rub his eyes and head when he's tired and as a soothing technique when he's falling asleep. Sometimes it seems to wake him up more (when his eczema is bad or when he's having trouble sleeping) and other times he falls asleep with the back of his hands covering his eyes.

I look forward to the day when we can introduce a lovey (anyone have experience with this?). He seems to like to squeeze or rub something as he's falling asleep. One day he fell asleep repeatedly squeezing a crib rail. I think he needs a stress ball :)

I love those chubby little fingers.

4 month wakeful

We've been trying to figure out WHY our son is not sleeping as well and WHAT to do to help. Ugh, who has the time or energy to read sleep training books while you're sleep deprived and caring for an infant? I'm so confused by them and have no idea which book to read, if any at all!

Ethan was previously sleeping 5.5 hours for his first stretch. One time he even gave us 7.5 hours. The second stretch of sleep per night was usually 3 hours. Not too bad. It's been more than a week and he's been getting up 4+ times a night!

Since he wasn't sleeping anyway we decided to transition him to his crib. The first night was sad for me as I was climbing into bed and saw the empty bassinet next to me. I could see his sweet little face on the video monitor though. He didn't seem to mind at all that he was in his crib instead of the bassinet.

We thought we'd try to break him of the swaddle too but that was a big FAIL. He went to sleep fine without it but woke up 3 hours later and would not go back to sleep until we swaddled him back up. For the past few nights it seems he would sleep through some of his wake ups if he stayed swaddled. Somehow he squirms out of the Swaddle Me. It's still in tact but he gets his arms out. Matt thinks it's a sign that we shouldn't swaddle him anymore but I'm not convinced. I think he'll wake up more w/o the swaddle or won't go to sleep w/o it like our trial last week. I guess we could try again.

I was reading another bloggers post about how her 4 month old wasn't sleeping. In the comments someone posted this link. I am SO glad that I read it. I forwarded it to Matt and his response was a thankful one. It made us feel normal and reminded us that this too is just a phase. It is Ethan to a T. He is very distracted during daytime feedings. Our daycare providers mentioned that he would eat an ounce, take a long break, look around, then eat another ounce. It took him more than an hour to finish a bottle. He's been more distracted while nursing too. It seems he's catching up at night.