Okay, now I know what people were raving about...

We had a really good week here in our little corner of the world last week.  John got paid, our renter coughed up the rent, and everything cleared the bank in a timely manner.  Consequently, I got to go shopping for baby stuff.

Mommy Dance!

I finally used the completion discount on our Baby Registry, and snagged quite a few very necessary items.     The first of these arrived yesterday, and JJ has taken to it so well that I just had to share.

The First Years Newborn Pacifier

Otherwise known as the Soothie... and they are not kidding.  This little gem has swiftly ousted all other pacifiers for acceptability.  We've tried Nuk, Playtex, and several others, and while a few have been tolerated, none hit all our points of ideal.  

The Ideal Pacifier  *drumroll*

* Baby takes it, doesn't lose it when relaxed but not yet asleep, and doesn't fuss or spit it out when he clearly is only sucking for comfort.  (JJ will refuse the breast when he doesn't want food.)

* Made in one piece to reduce germs and ease cleaning.

* No latex or other potentially issue-causing substances. ;)

* Promotes a good, deep latch and strong sucking so that it's use will not interfere with breast-feeding.

* Qualifies as orthodontic ... less likelihood of it screwing up his developing teeth.

* Safety  handle for easy removal ... yeah, it's seemingly a given, but you never really know, do you?

* Gender-neutral color = good, and must be cute!  Must not distract from teh cuteness of teh babeh!!  

The Soothie

* It took a little practice, but JJ quickly got the hang of holding onto the narrow nipple.  After going down for one nap with the Soothie, he immediately began rejecting all his other pacifiers, even the ones which had been previously acceptable.  He refuses it only if he wants to eat or isn't in a sucking mood at all, and when he wants it he actually yells if I take it away!

* One-piece design, can be boiled to sterilize.

* Medical grade silicone... pretty simple.

* The nipple is shaped ... here's a concept ... like a nipple.  Long and narrow instead of short and flat and bulbed like more traditional pacifiers.  This encourages baby to keep his tongue down and suck deeply and strongly, since it's not as easy to hang on to, and that helps to promote good feeding habits.   One nifty feature of the design is the hole down the middle... you can actually see what baby is doing inside his mouth!  The deep latch and strong suck reduces the air swallowed, and I noticed an improvement in JJ's latch at the breast (and consequent reduction in air swallowed during feedings = less gas!) within hours of introducing the Soothie.

* The symmetrical nipple shape means there is no "upside down" with this pacifier, so it's far less likely to create or exacerbate issues with the teeth and jaws.  Because it's a little harder to hang onto, it makes baby work a little harder, which is all to the good for the development of strong muscles in the mouth and throat.  The material is soft enough to give with the sucking motion, like the breast, but firm enough that little JJ is using it to soothe his cranky gums.  (Note: The Soothie is not for babies with teeth.  First Years makes a whole line of pacifiers that are age appropriate as baby grows.)

* While the one-piece design means that the Soothie lacks the traditional "loop" handle, that tab you see sticking out is surprisingly easy to grip and hang on to in a pacifier tug-of-war!  Those two holes are bigger than they look, and would easily accommodate the ribbon from a standard pacifier clip.  There is also the option of purchasing the Soothie as a Wubanub, a stuffed animal with the Soothie attached to its mouth.  The Wubanubs reputedly help teach baby to keep track of his own binky... might have to get one of these later!  (Note: While there have been reports of babies getting the entire Soothie into their mouths (thus creating a choking hazard), this really falls on the parents to pay attention... if you even think baby could fit the whole pacifier into his mouth, it's too small and needs to be replaced with a larger binky!)

* Green... nice and neutral!  And while some prefer flowers, cartoon characters, bright colors, and other such, I think the Soothie is adorable.

Even if it does make him look a bit like a sucker-fish!

All in all... I'm pretty sure it's got to be the perfect pacifier.  At least for us!

The reason they're so darn cute

So we don't strangle them at 2 am when they won't stop screaming.

Instead we cuddle, change, rock, feed, bounce, burp, cuddle, rinse & repeat until they finally pass out.  Do I know that sometimes babies just cry because they need to cry?  Yes.  This isn't that sort of situation.

Little man has developed a severe gassiness issue that has him screaming bloody murder through the late afternoon-evening, and none too comfy the rest of the time.  Poor little guy whimpers in his sleep, when he does sleep.  Mornings & early afternoons aren't too bad, but once he gets rolling around 4 or 5, he won't go down to nap, he'll only sleep if I leave him at the breast, and then only for 15 - 20 minutes at a time.  Screams and curls up, thrashes all over the place, fights at the breast & yet is obviously ravenous... Makes for long evenings, lemme tell ya.  And then somewhere between 10pm and midnight, it just shuts off like somebody threw a switch, and he passes out until morning.

Having tried the "He's not getting enough" route for a week & a half and getting nowhere (ie, nurse, nurse, nurse, and when in doubt, nurse some more), researching like crazy, and passing out from sheer exhaustion one too many times, I'm starting to think we're actually dealing with an over-supply problem.  Apparently too much foremilk doesn't just make for green poos (yeah, when did you ever think you'd see THAT in print), the excessive amounts of lactose not balanced by the fatty hindmilk cause stomach discomfort and intestinal gas for baby.

Ouchie. :(

Having hit the La Leche League website and quite a few other places, I'm trying "block-feeding" for the next several days to see if that makes a difference.  Means that from the time he gets up for the first feed in the morning, the day gets divided into four-hour blocks.  Each block, he gets fed from one breast only.  Every time he goes to the breast during a given block, he goes back to the same breast.  From what I've read, this results in successively lower volume - higher fat content feedings during each block.

Yes, we've been to the doctor.  No, the medicines don't help.  They actually make it worse, because they're so thick & syrupy that he swallows more air in the process of taking them, which then has to be burped, & that syrupy stuff makes that harder too.   = Shrieking baby.  Not good.

What does help is a very small dose of mint tea.  Small, as in a quarter to half a teaspoon.  It settles his stomach, calms down or even preempts the screaming entirely, and seems to make it easier for him to burp, meaning less air gets into his stomach & guts in the first place.  It's gotten to where he recognizes the dropper and knows he's supposed to get that before the breast, since it makes him feel better, so he scowls and yells at me if I forget.  Yes, I know about the menthol in mint and babies, but I watch him like a hawk and he doesn't seem to be sensitive to it, so I'm going with what works.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand passing on my obsession with herbal teas.  Yay!

On the flip side, about a week ago he started to noticeably smile.  And I mean GRIN, people.  Experts be damned, it's not just gas, he specifically reacts to our voices and faces.  It's cute as heck, and as soon as I get him to hold it long enough, I'll take pictures, I swear.