Apparently we have exceptionally gassy boys. As with most infants, they screamed when they needed to pass gas. But their true gas issues are really from the waist up. We started to give the boys Mylicon Gas Relief Drops when they were only a few weeks old, hoping it would relieve their discomfort. For many, these gas drops do not work. But for us, it relieved the pain from the gas in their stomachs, but not the pain from gas in their bowels.
We would have to burp the boys often throughout a bottle because if we did not, the gas bubbles would want to come up and take all the formula with it causing massive spit ups. We mix large batches of powder formula which creates foam which creates gas in my babies' bellies. So we now add a small dose of Mylicon to every bottle, and it helps tremendously.
Because we go through so much Mylicon, we actually buy the Target brand of infant gas drops. The price difference is unbelievable!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
(sleep) Noise makers
(It seems that caring for 3 growing boys has prevented any new posts in a long time!)
One of the greatest inventions ever would be a noise maker, a sound machine, white noise, whatever you want to call it. When the triplets were about a month old and going through a colicky phase, we were desperate to do anything we could to settle the boys and help them sleep. We watched The Happiest Baby on the Block and learned about "shh-ing", and spoke to other experts explain the benefits of white noise. The noise at this age helps distract them and manages to calm them.
So after much research, we purchase the Marpac Sound Conditioner because it actually creates white noise instead of playing a looping white noise soundtrack. We set it up in a moment filled with 3 screaming babies and it was not loud enough. (We have since learned that you can twist the machine to open the vents to make it louder. So we now keep this noise maker in our room and love it!)
Marpac Sound Conditioner
Since the Marpac model did not seem to work at the time, we purchased the Conair Infant Sound Machine. You may be tempted to use the other sounds like "heartbeat", but from our experience, the white noise was the best for settling screaming babies. We even kept the sound machine in the crib with them when they were tiny and not moving. I remember hearing (I believe on the Happiest Baby DVD) that the inside of the womb was louder than a vacuum cleaner. Or was it a hair dryer? Either way, pretty loud. We found that it helped to turn the sound machine up fairly loud (louder than you're comfortable with at first), and once they settle (or after about 10 minutes or so) turn it down and keep it running all night.
Conair Infant Sound Machine
To this day, we turn the sound machine on for every nap and bedtime. The boys are now trained to know to that it is time to sleep when the sound machine turns on. And amazingly, they wake the moment it is turned off. When we were trying to keep all 3 on the same schedule, if two were awake, we would turn the sound machine off and the 3rd would wake automatically!
One of the greatest inventions ever would be a noise maker, a sound machine, white noise, whatever you want to call it. When the triplets were about a month old and going through a colicky phase, we were desperate to do anything we could to settle the boys and help them sleep. We watched The Happiest Baby on the Block and learned about "shh-ing", and spoke to other experts explain the benefits of white noise. The noise at this age helps distract them and manages to calm them.
So after much research, we purchase the Marpac Sound Conditioner because it actually creates white noise instead of playing a looping white noise soundtrack. We set it up in a moment filled with 3 screaming babies and it was not loud enough. (We have since learned that you can twist the machine to open the vents to make it louder. So we now keep this noise maker in our room and love it!)
Marpac Sound Conditioner
Since the Marpac model did not seem to work at the time, we purchased the Conair Infant Sound Machine. You may be tempted to use the other sounds like "heartbeat", but from our experience, the white noise was the best for settling screaming babies. We even kept the sound machine in the crib with them when they were tiny and not moving. I remember hearing (I believe on the Happiest Baby DVD) that the inside of the womb was louder than a vacuum cleaner. Or was it a hair dryer? Either way, pretty loud. We found that it helped to turn the sound machine up fairly loud (louder than you're comfortable with at first), and once they settle (or after about 10 minutes or so) turn it down and keep it running all night.
Conair Infant Sound Machine
To this day, we turn the sound machine on for every nap and bedtime. The boys are now trained to know to that it is time to sleep when the sound machine turns on. And amazingly, they wake the moment it is turned off. When we were trying to keep all 3 on the same schedule, if two were awake, we would turn the sound machine off and the 3rd would wake automatically!
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