Milk Intolerance?

So for the past few weeks B has had fairly severe chronic diareah, not fun. I had deduced that it was some kind of intolerance and we finally made it in to the dr yesterday. He wants us to start by cutting out all dairy from his diet. Honestly, I thought he would ask me to start with wheat, so I wasn't prepared for dairy and didn't even know what to ask yesterday! He wants us to start with no diary for three weeks. If that doesn't take care of it, we are going to move on to wheat/gluten products.

Have you ever thought about what includes dairy? Okay - let's start with the obvious - milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream. But what about pasta and bread and EVERYTHING that we eat!!!!!!! I left a msg for the dr today to call me b/c I want to know - should I cut out EVERYTHING that includes lactose or just straight dairy? And what about the fact that I am still breastfeeding (and had pizza last night and yogury smoothie this morning and LOVE LOVE LOVE milk?!) - does that affect him? Do I need to cut out dairy from my diet or wean him (I hope not to both questions! But I would rather reduce dairy than wean).

I have been trying to do some research about milk intolerance online - there is a lot of information out there but it is also confusing. I am hoping that if it is a dairy intolerance and if we do cut out all milk products for a few weeks, that we can reintroduce some things - how much would life suck if B could not eat my mom's pie crust? Or homemade cookies? Or spaghetti with meatballs?

not to mention that with Thanksgiving tomorrow, this is not really a great time, but that is a selfish statement and I will do anything for little B. Deb is going to make him mashed taters with soy milk which will be nice. At least we ran out of the breastmilk supply this week too so we don't have to worry about pitching anything leftover.

Oh - and quick sleep update - yeah......the sleeping thru the night thing lasted Sat, Sun, Mon and that's it. :) Last night he was up at midnight, 3, 5, 6.....we started nursing at 5am...oh little man, my little man - sleep will come someday...

Thanksgiving is almost here

So excited for Thanksgiving! We are headed to the lou tomorrow for time with the family - YAY! I want to stuff myself with Turkey and Mashed potatoes - yum yum. B-Man can't wait to eat up all the Turkey Day goodness either!

And yet another sleep update

This weekend was interesting.....
PJ was gone Friday night, so I just went to bed early and Brennan came straight to bed with me. And guess what, he didn't wake up until about 4:30am for a nursing session (that is the earliest I will nurse him now).

Sat night - he took a late PM nap so went to bed late. Same deal as Friday.

I was curious - what would happen Sunday night when we were back on a normal schedule and routine vs starting the night in my bed. Would he wake up around midnight like usual to snuggle with mommy? Or would he sleep longer? Maybe even until 4;30am?

Low and behold - I woke up with a start at 1am - no cries from B's room - and I was so tempted to go get him b/c of course my mind is going crazy - what if something is wrong, what if he fell out of his crib, what if what if what if - but I realistically knew things were fine and I fell back asleep. Then like clockwork - 4:30am hit and the cries came - so B came to nurse and snuggle with me until we got up at 645am! Will this continue?

Now - if only I could curb the 4:30am snacktime........one thing at a time though - just one thing at a time.....

And then not so much

Should I even wish for more than 1 good night in a row? Last night was miserable - lots of crying. lots.

A good night's sleep

Last night was heavenly! Brennan went to bed, woke up to come sleep in bed with me, easily fell back asleep, and slept until 4:30am - miracle, especially considering the two previous nights were not so fun......

New Playroom and New Sleep Plan

We finally got our playroom up to speed - check it out!

So a few months ago, I stumbled across an article called, "Changing the Sleep Pattern in the Family Bed" and it caught my attention b/c it really spoke to me and sounded like our situation! Don't get me wrong, I love having Brennan sleep with us (more like me!), but I was getting tired of the 24 hour nursing buffett - it didn't keep me up, as it is really easy to roll over and "offer", but as I looked in to the future, I just knew it needed to stop. I knew that B-man didn't need to eat all night and that he was old enough for the process of self-soothing to start taking place. So I waited until we were not going to be travelling or having guests for a while, and committed to the plan.

Nights 1-3 - those were rough. He was pissed when I pulled him off before he fell asleep. It was hard for me too b/c it meant being awake much more at night.....

Nights 4-6 - yikes, not much better. He hated me walking him around and the 1st two nights of this part, it took over an hour in the middle of the night to get him back to sleep, let alone me! He was fighting being in my arms.

Nights 7+ - this is where we are now. Sat night was the best night of all - I just let him cry next to me in the middle of the night, but offered a hand for soothing, and he quickly fell asleep. Last night, not so much.....he was struggling to stay asleep.

The thing I really like about this plan is that I am not banned from nursing him - I just have committed to no nursing during a 7 hour stretch - but anytime before or after that, I am free to do what we both want/prefer. It ends up being more than 7 hours (my 7 hour stretch is 10pm-5am) and Brennan tends not to wake up before 10pm, so really it ends up being more like a 10 hour stretch for him - 7:30-5am - and he is fine.

A key for us is having a sippy cup of water next to the bed for his middle of the night wake up - he does seem thirsty and it seems to calm him down to be able to take a few sips.

Hopefully this will be a good plan overall - I am happy so far! And Brennan still wakes up and likes to love on his mommy, so the pissed off phase in the middle of the night, sure doesn't last!

NOTE - this plan is for babies who are at least OVER 12 months old!

Finding Nemo!

Brennan had a great Halloween this year - he was Nemo! We had a party at daycare and then went to a few houses around the neighborhood - it was so fun. The only downfall, little man was sick all weekend. Even stayed home Monday and Tuesday! But that's okay - he got full election covererage and is so excited about Obama!