Labby, sounds great. Yeah Im sure pumped breastmilk, like formula, can be offered with a sippy cup!! All the articles online that I have read, says sippy cups essentially teach our babies how to drink from a different source. So juice, formula, water, breastmilk are all game.

I bought a couple of "begginer" sippy cups from Gerber at Wal Mart today. They have handles and some sort of valve that prevents the fkuid from spilling out of it. Ive been researching, and some sites say that it may be too hard for baby to get the fluid out, and that they may become frustrated and wind up not taking to the sippy cup. So, should I keep the valve in, or take it out? Here are the cups I bought. The style of cups I bought though, are girly themed. These were the only pictures I could find online:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3642427

Nessa - I give it to her both ways. If we are just at home and I don't care about her getting soaked then I take the valve out, but if we are out and about or in the car or a place where I don't want her to end up soaked then I leave the valve in or use the one with the straw. During the day when she's at day care it stays in as they don't want the mess since they have enough messes to deal with. The one kind that I have doesn't require a whole lot of sucking at all (can't remember the brand off the top of my head). There's another kind I have that she has to suck a bit harder at and that one doesn't have a removable valve so we don't use that one a whole lot.

I used the disposeable ones early on with Wes (Take N Toss - you can reuse them too sorta like the ziplock/glad plastic containers). They don't have a valve but are still sorta spillproof. He still doesn't drink more than a few ounces out of a sippy though, and then only straw sippers, he's been using those since he was about 6 months. I'd like to get him from the bottles onto the cups but its not happening yet. We've also got some Nuby cups he likes, with a soft spout they have to bite on to get the liquid out.

Thanks ladies. I will try out 1/2 and 1/2 juice and water later with and without the valve. And let you all know!!

Happy Birthday Labby!!!

We also use the Take n Toss sippy cups. I just wasted money on buying new sippys--the ones she needs to bite down on--they are already out of rotation--I don't recommend those if you're breastfeeding because, well, you don't want the baby to get used to biting down to get liquids, believe me!! She's at the point where we can just use the canister type things with straws anyway. I don't know why I wasted money on buying more sippy cups!

Happy birthday Labby, fellow Gemini! Mine was last week!!

Thanks ladies! And happy belated birthday to you, DG!

Hi Ladies,
Isaiah tends to vocalize in his sleep. Nothing serious, he stays awake and all but he at times giggles ( which make me smile) and cry out ( no tears but bothers me...) Do you guys have any experience with this?

Ambrosia - ALL the time! Olivia will sometimes be sound asleep for hours and just like that let out this ear piercing screech. I used to go running into her room to find her still fast asleep. I now just let it go unless it becomes a persistent crying/screaming because I was always running into her room for no reason and I think sometimes *I* would end up waking her. I guess she's just like me. I tend to talk in my sleep sometimes and have even been known to walk a few times. I hope she doesn't take after me that much in that area!

My kids always drowned themselves with sippys without valves. I got the soft nippled valuved type ones and they did great with those. I also started them at 6 months, with water, diluted juice, or breastmilk.

Happy belated bday labby---I just remembered ours are the same day!

ambrosia--I never got back to my pre-preg bras, which were Ds already! And my kids both talked/made noise in their sleep..nothin to worry about.

THANKS GUYS! DH thinks he's dreaming...

Happy belated birthday to you too TDG! I totally forgot we shared a birthday!

Ambrosia - we say the same thing of Olivia! I wonder what they really do dream about!

Mine let out a laugh at 2 w age! I was so startled. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been holding her and seen her lips move.

Just a quick minute....

Wow, Congrats Ashley!! Less trouble this time, huh!?

Regarding sippy cups... Bryony that's really interesting about why you shouldn't use the spout thingie. I've been worried she would get too much too fast, but have noticed she hardly gets any! I like your idea Labby. We use diluted juice. Can be kinda wasteful... you have to fill it up far enough for her to get any when she tips it, but then she doesn't drink that much (and wouldn't want her to). I save it, but worry a little about "backwash bacteria" (the same reason you aren't supposed to spoon feed directly from the jar unless you feed the whole thing). Probalby I'm overly cautious on that.

As for feeding... We are mostly "baby led weaning" and also some jarred purees. She has some odd favorite foods... Cucumbers! Red and yellow peppers! Just added beans, which she loves (and good pincher grip practice). Also some cooked eggs (latest AAP guidance is actually that holding off completely on allergenic foods may be unnecessary and even make them worse, and we have no family allergies). She had the funniest reaction to the eggs at first, but then liked them.

Random baby noises, cries, smiles, and laughs.... Yes, all normal! Allie also cries out sometimes! And I remember those early smiles and laughs that I do think were "involuntary" at the time, but were a nice glimpse into the future. Now everyone comments on her "quick smile." She's a really happy baby, and it's nice.

Blah, at work and swaaaaamped! Pumping break over so gotta dash...

I have been thinking lately of how my heart is going to break when i go back to work July 1st. Yes, he will be cared for by grandma and aunty, yes my job is only 8 mins away, yes I have absolutely no fears about his well being but just the thought that i wont be there for some hours of the day is so HARD! GOD HELP ME PLEASE....

Ambrosia - I think we have all been in your shoes, and I'm not going to lie, those first few weeks are HARD. But it does get easier with time, especially once you get into a routine. I still have my days though when she is being especially happy and cute in the morning and it breaks my heart to leave her. But when I pick her up and she is all smiles and happy to see me it makes me feel a bit better. Good luck and try not to stress about it too much, I think that can just make it worse!

Ugh, what a horrible weekend. The in-laws were here for the weekend and the SIL that moved to AZ that I can't stand came in as well. Not sure if any of you from the pregnancy board remember my laments about her, but she came out to announce to her parents "in person" that she is pregnant. Wonderful. As I suspected all along, this kid is going to mean more to his parents than Olivia does. They have been talking for a while about moving out to AZ to be with her, but now that she is due in February all they could talk about is how they need to pick up the ball and get moved out there. His dad kept making comments about how it's "different when it's your little girl". I feel so bad knowing that Olivia as well as any future kids we have are going to grow up in the shadow of the kids she has. My brother has no intentions of getting married and having kids, so Olivia is going to grow up not really having/knowing her cousins or any of DH's family which just breaks my heart. They are the ones choosing to move, and we are the ones that will have to suffer. Blah......

And last night was a terrible night. I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep total. Olivia didn't sleep well all weekend but I just thought it was because of all that was going on and constantly being passed around and being overly tired. Well yesterday I put her down for her afternoon nap and I went out to run some errands and left her with DH. He said she woke soon after I left and he had a really hard time getting her back down. When she finally woke she was all stuffy and her nose was running so I thought she was getting a cold. Well I don't think it's a cold, but more teeth coming in. She was up ALL night crying. I gave her some Tylenol (generic of course!) around 11:30, then finally around 1 it dawned on me that it could be her teeth. I felt in her mouth and her top gum felt really swollen and she pulled her head away really quick and screamed. So I broke out the oragel and she FINALLY started to calm down. We then rocked for a while, both of us crying because I was soooooooo tired and just wanted to sleep and it hurts to see her in so much pain. I finally got to bed a little after 2, only to have to get up at 5 for work. Ugh, it's going to be a long one and it's only Monday!

Awww! I am sorry Labby! We have very similar family issues with DH's parents and it drives me nuts! I feel for Noah the worst as I don't want him to ever feel left out, but I do have great parents that live here who will spoil him as much as he can tolerate. DH's brother had a baby girl 17 days before Noah was born and they (DH's dad and GF ) bought them a super nice crib for Christmas and Noah didn't get ANYTHING!! Her birthday falls in Feb and we called and sent stuff and asked how her party went and they told us about all of the stuff she got from everyone and Noah's birthday rolls around and he didn't get a single card, NOTHING!! So..... since that I refuse to send pictures, or fly to FL again until they make an effort to come here or do more for Noah in an equal way, OH AND..... His brother is due for their second baby in like 3 weeks....

I feel for ya and it is BS!!!

As for the teething, have you tried a Motrin/Tylenol combo? It seems to have been the BEST teething advice given to me ( by the pediatrician ) as they work in different ways it is ok to use both, and some orajel until they kick in.

Aww Ash, I'm sorry Noah has to endure the "not good enough" syndrome too! That is what I worry about the most. I don't want her growing up thinking she wasn't good enough for his family. But like you, we live fairly close to my family and my family spoils her something terrible which I guess makes up for it. But yeah, his parents came out with a "gift" for Olivia which was this little dress. His mom left the receipt in the bag and when I looked at it she paid a whopping 4 bucks for the dress! I'm glad their grandchild who they only get to see every few months is worth 4 dollars to them! I can pretty much guarantee that they will be buying everything - furniture, strollers, car seats, etc for his sister's baby. And what did they get for us? The Bjorn carrier. That's it. They didn't even bring a gift when they came out to see her for the first time! Oh, and I also guarantee they will be having one huge shower for her. But when it came time for my shower his family couldn't be invited because they "don't believe in showers before a baby is born". We never did get any gifts from his side of the family - not even his sister - except from one of his aunts.

It certainly is BS, and I really cannot understand how anyone can be like that to their own children/grandchildren!

Ambrosia, like Labby said, the first few weeks are super tough!!! Do you plan to continue pumping after you go back to work?? I found that trying to lay out some routine before you go back, works pretty good. Like make sure you try and have Isaiah down by a certain time, and stick with it, wake up with plenty of time to shower, get ready, and pump immediately before leaving for work. I found it makes it a billion times easier. Also, the smiles and giggles that you get from Isaiah when you get home, will make even the worst day at work, so much better!!!!

Gosh, Im so sorry to hear about your inlaws Labby. Family drama can really put you in a bad mood. My sister in law (Hubby's sister) got married on Saturday to some guy that nobody in the family really knows, and shes only been with him for 10 months, and got engaged to have after only 2 months. She knew nobody was for it, or supported her, but it was her way or the highway basically. She knows I didnt support her. Anyways, I had to work on Saturday, and my hubby starts picking a fight with me (thru text messages) that he knows I made no effort to try and get the day off to go to the wedding (which is partly true), and that she is family and that I need to be there even if I dont support her. Hes been a butt to me all weekend, and Im very certain a lot of it, is because he's also upset she married this guy, and has no one else to let his frustrations out on (me). Anyways, shes packing all her stuff up and moving to Houston today. I dont know what to think anymore. Ever since she met this man she has put him before family, and doesnt care if she is hundreds of miles away from her family, and 7 month old niece.

Sorry for ranting!!

wow, seriously, I had no idea that the "not good enough" syndrome was so freaking common with inlaws!! We have the exact same issue w/ DH's parents. P, in no way whatsoever, can compare with my SIL's kids. They didn't even call or send a card on her birthday! I feel bad for my husband, because this really hurts him. Well, my parents totally love and dote on her, probably spoil her a little too much, so at least she has one set of grandparents that care about her.

Thanks for the advice ladies...
Yes nessa, I do plan on pumping.. there basically isn't an end in sight.
Labby/Ash
I am so sorry about the in-law problems you guys are having. DH's whole family is in another country so we can go a whole year or two without seeing them. I don't mean to sound rude/insensitive but even though it is nice to have fam around, all your babies truly need is you. If anyone makes the choice of not wanting to be around them, that's their issue; your kids will still get more than enough love from you...