Fun and games

Gosh, we've been trying all sorts of things in an attempt to make Kien feel better. He has developed wicked eczema on his cheeks, neck, shoulders, and behind his ears. It is starting to spread around his eyes too.

We have had 2 sessions with the cranial osteopath; only minor tweaks to be made and the last session will be next week. My friend Naadia also set up a session last week with a kinesiologist. It was a bit like voodoo but she suggested intolerances to wheat, nuts, and foods from the deadly nightshade family (potatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes). So I am officially gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and a whole food group that I love to eat also has been eliminated from my diet. I'm taking supplements galore; zinc (for immunity), vitamin D (so I don't go madder), omega 3 (neurotransmitter activity), tryptoval (helps with my stress level), and some bach flower/rescue remedy concoction. We have switched all of our household products to Eco Store stuff, and only dressing Kien in 100% cotton.

Boy oh boy, the lengths we will go to for our offspring...fun and games!

Kien can almost sit upright unsupported. He leans forward and holds himself up with his arms, but then will fall over to the side when off balance. He can almost crawl now as well. He tucks his knees in while he balances his weight on his head and feet. It is really funny to watch him scoot forward. I remember when he was practicing rolling over before he was 3 months old. He would be in tummy time and would use his head like a pendulum. Unfortunately he would also smack his head pretty hard in the process. A few weeks later he was rolling on his front and back again like a pro. How quickly they develop.

Today Kien has not been well. He has a runny nose and has been coughing. He also chucked up a couple of times; the second time only a few minutes after I changed him into clean clothes. Of course!



The family came and visited us on Sunday. It was good fun although I may have put Kien down for a nap a bit too early so he only managed 16 munutes. His next nap was 25 minutes and we had a really rough night - 3 night wakings of 35 mins, 1 hour 27 mins, and 41 mins spread throughout the night. As if waking me up for 4 feeds wasn't enough times already!!!

I have been taking him to Wriggle and Rhymes at the Grey Lynn library every Tuesday for the last 3 weeks. It is a half hour of interaction with other mothers and babies, singing and movement and noises. He seems to really enjoy it, however he is pretty worn out by the end and falls asleep in the buggy on the way home. We didn't make it this morning because he did a long nap so I could not have walked there in time.

Awake in cot when he should be sleeping

It really has been a couple of rough and arduous weeks. Kien has been rather grizzly during some of his awake time and I've really had to play it by ear with when to feed and when to give him a nap. Night wakings galore as well and can be 1-2hr duration. Our routine is such a mess these days! Not only that I also feel as though all the hard work of sleep training these past few months have gone out the window and he can't even put himself to sleep anymore. I have discovered that jiggling him in the cot and also shh/patting his chest firmly will eventually get him to calm down and go to sleep. However it is like we are right back at the beginning with me having to help him for ~20 mins, sometimes longer - even at night after he has taken a feed.
I guess until we sort out whatever it is that is troubling him I need to be a bit more lenient with the sleep training and the routine in general. The pediatrician last week has prescribed a different type of probiotic to treat yeast in the stomach. She said that a clear symptom for babies suffering this ailment is waking up after 2am and staying awake. Today is day 4 on the new stuff so hopefully it makes a difference soon. She also thinks he is waking because he is hungry (every 2 hours?!?), so I've been feeding him when he wakes. The results are variable. She also says that 4 hours is a long time for him to go between feeds, and since he has a small stomach and actually lost a bit of weight in the last week she advised feeding him more often. So I have been feeding anywhere within 2 1/2 to 4 hours. This has certainly increased his daily consumption totals, but we are no longer doing the 4 hour routine that he has been on since he was 4 months - not sure if it matters anymore :/

We took him to Western Park at the end of our street the other day. We put him in the swing for the first time. He did enjoy that.

In 2 weeks time he is going to be 6 months old and starting back on solids. Perhaps by then the bacteria in his gut will be at a good balance and the food will help with keeping him a bit fuller so he won't wake so often during the night and allowing Jef and I to get some sleep. Studies have shown prolonged sleep deprivation evokes insanity....yip, I can feel it!

2:30am and sitting next to cot

Here I am once again sitting in Kien's room settling him back to sleep. For some reason he has been unable to put himself back to sleep after a feed at night. So there is a lot of shushing and patting going on in the middle of the night, as well as more twinkling stars! I really hope we iron out his issues soon as both his dad and I are exhausted!

Can't believe he is coming up to 6 months old in 2 weeks.