I had my daughter on June 26th at 35 weeks. Since she was so young and not very alert she couldnt latch on to my breast very easily. So the hospital had me supplement her with formula (Enfamil A+).
When we left the hospital the nurses told me to feed her atleast 50mls or about 2oz every 3 hours. I have tried and tried to get 2oz in but nothing seems to get her to eat all that, any ideas?

(I am pumping as well but my supply is really low and I can only get out 10-15mls or .5 of an ounce every 4 hours or so)

Thanks so much

How does one choose what formula to use? I had some free cans on Enfamil so that's what I've been using. Is that ok? Is some sort of trick to picking one or are they mostly just the same? I did use the small can of powdered Similac for the first few bottles and it seemed "clumpy" and didnt dissolve well, whereas the Enfamil is a finer powder and seems to mix better. So I like the Enfamil better for that reason.

Also, does anyone buy their formula at the big bulk stores like Costco? Is it cheaper there? I've heard formula can a bit expensive so I'd like to find the cheapest place to get it as possible.

And which kind is better, and cheaper?

So I pick my baby's nose.

What? He's not going to do it himself!

Is there a better way to clean it out? Saline and aspiration is a chore. He sees the saline coming and starts crying and fighting and turning his head. He really, really hates it. So we just let stuff build up in his nose and then fish it out when it's big enough (and by then they are huge! Big enough that it takes very little effort to get them out.) Until then he's got to deal with gunk in his nose. He doesn't seem to mind. If he wasn't able to breathe then I'd break out the saline.

Is this OK, or weird, or is there something else I should be doing?

For those of you who have a Jardine Crib involved in the recall or know someone who has, what provisions are you making for your baby to sleep while the crib is dismantled and we wait for a voucher? 
I got my packet today and they want us to dismantle the crib and send the piece back proving we have the crib.  Then we have to wait 1-2 weeks for a voucher.  THEN, we have to go to babies r us, buy a crib, and wait for delivery (another 1-2 weeks.)  
What should I do with my 16 month old for a month?  He likes to roll of of my bed and we recently took him to the hospital because he hit the floor hard and had a bloody nose, so cosleeping is not an option.  (plus baby #2 is due any day now - she has a small portable crib ready for her - not an option for my son because of the weight limits.)

http://www.jardinecribrecall.com/

There is the new singer named Charlotte Sometimes, and she pisses me off because VH1 has a promotion for her where she playfully states, "I'm Fiona Apple, if she listened to Top 40 and collaborated with Timberland."

Um, ok, you are NOTHING even close to Fiona Apple. Nice try though.

is it ok to give my baby some of the milk that comes out of my tits? i'm worried it's not as safe as regular milk, but it's SO much cheaper and when i tasted some it didn't hurt me, but i'm so confused. i don't want to continue buying milk from the supermarket because A. It's expensive, B. It only comes in 6 packs and he doesn't drink it that often, and C. He's not crazy about it anymore. if its not okay to give him milk from my tits, does anyone have any recommendations for other baby-safe milk?

thanks in advance!

So i want to thank everyone for the comments about what to do with my little dude for mosquitoes at the fire works. I used fabric softner sheets!! I just tucked it around my carrier. The whole time I smelled good, while everyone smelled like sweat. Dylan was so happy. I just wore him around and nursed him the whole time. He had an awesome time and beamed at the fire works. I did get a few stares because I was nursing. Ha, from a mother who was shoving a bottle of formula in her kids mouth, while the dad stood next to her smoking a cigarette. I wanted to say "hey, great parenting, formula and a cigarette!" But, I smiled and fed my baby, Hands free! :P

But anyway, thanks for the tips, but fabric softner man! Works like a charm!

How do I encourage my son to draw pictures? Today was my mother's birthday so I printed out a card for Noah to draw pictures on since the card was in black and white (no color ink). I told him to draw a flower and he said that he could not. So he wrote the word "flower" instead. I told him to draw a cat and he wrote the cat's name instead ("Mitty"). He used to love to draw pictures on his magnadoodle (and he was really good!) but now all he'll draw are letters and numbers. Which is cool and all, but sometimes I just want a stick figure mommy and daddy to hang on the fridge, ya know? Do you think this obsession with letters is just a phase?

( Here are some examples of what he used to draw )

Look how cute:

http://www.kitsel.com/boyhip.html

TRACY WANT:
http://www.kitsel.com/hugitout2.html
http://www.kitsel.com/whco1.html

I LOL'd:
http://www.kitsel.com/imporinow1.html
http://www.kitsel.com/milkdrunk2-b.html
http://www.kitsel.com/whnigiliyoud.html

Anti-Obesity Ad Aimed at Children

Is it just me or is it sad that this is necessary? Do kids really not play anymore??

It's late,
The baby is bathed, fed, and sleeping
I'm bored
& I'm wondering...why isn't there anything about teen moms on LJ?

Is it OK to give a baby any types of yogurt BESIDES YoBaby? My son is a little over 9 months old and he's had YoBaby a few times with no adverse reaction. I don't want to continue buying YoBaby because A. It's expensive, B. It only comes in 6 packs and he doesn't eat it that often, and C. He's not crazy about the plain yogurt and most of the fruit flavors contain strawberries which we are delaying until one year. I bought some Dannon all-natural yogurt. The package says "no artificial anything!" Would it be OK to give him this? If not, does anyone have any recommendations for other baby-safe yogurts?

Thanks in advance!

Again, I wanna thank everyone who has helped Cole and I with all the stuff going on.

My next question is about Baby Acne.
Cole has it defintely on his face, has had it since about two weeks old, which I read is normal. However, he also has baby acne on his neck - back - chest and arms (around the elbows). I did look at it and they only get spouchy when he fusses or gets pretty warm.

Also, I took him to the doctor's last monday to make sure it wasn't a rash. She looked him over and told me flat out, it's baby acne. I asked her a couple times - explaining we haven't changed anything in the house (he is breastfed and the only difference was I stopped drinking milk). She again stated it was baby acne and that all kids are different.

Well, today my mother was being over-protective and kept calling it a rash while I kept telling her what the doctor said over and over. My mom kept saying it wouldn't speard onto his neck/back and onto his chest. I told her the doctor informed me that Cole's pores were just blocked and I would have to be patient. She doesn't believe me or the doctor. I then mentioned if she thought it was so bad, I would take him to MedPoint but he would be seeing the doctor again in 1 1/2 weeks for his 2 month check-up.

So, can baby acne go all over the place? It seems better when he is cooler, especially after a bath but when he gets fussy and upset, it looks horrible. I think my mother just put the mommy fear into me... Help?

Do you wash your hands after every diaper change?
(for those of you with kids in diapers)

What do you do when other little kids are mean to your child?

I'm a nanny to a 17 month old boy and on Thursdays we go to playgroup. It's a great place because there are loads of toys and loads of other kids and he basically loves going there. The problem is that there's this one little boy who often goes who seems to dislike him for some reason. I'm not very good at guessing a child's age but he's certainly older and seems to talk pretty well but is obviously still quite young. I'll usually stand back and let Alex do his thing, watching him at all times [in case he's doing something like trying to climb UP the slide while someone else is trying to go down it!] and whenever he goes anywhere near this boy, the kid either grabs him or pushes him away or shouts at him... The mother of this kid doesn't pay much attention to what he's doing as she's usually chatting with the other mums. Once Alex was trying to go into this play castle and the little boy grabbed his t-shirt and screamed in his face so my first instinct, as I was standing right next to him at the time, was to say NO! and grab Alex and take him away. I don't really agree with trying to parent other people's children but no one else was there to tell him off!

What would you do in this situation? All I can think of is constantly trying to keep Alex away from him, but that would require me following him around and having to always distract him whenever he gets near the boy which takes away the bit of independence he gets from being able to run around without me always leaning over his shoulder.

I just had an "aha moment" (as Oprah would call it, bwhahahaha) when I read the edit on this post:

http://community.livejournal.com/parenting101/3153122.html

I typed the following to the OP just now:
ETA: I just re-read your edit, and I just wanted to say something as a new mother of a 6-month old... (don't take it as snarky, PLEASE, I am not trying to be rude, because I did the same thing that you are doing)

You seem to think your baby LOVES things and HATES things, when in reality a 6 week old has very little knowledge of what she loves or hates. Just because she cries on her back once, doesn't mean she HATES it - it just means she was being a baby at that moment. She doesn't have a mind to remember that a certain position is uncomfortable for her - and the truth is, if she "HATES" it that bad, maybe consider there is something wrong and she is in actual PAIN. A baby shouldn't "HATE" being her back, kwim? Same with the she "LOVES" walking - has she smiled yet? Laughed yet? I don't think she LOVES or HATES as much as you think she does - she is just trying to adjust to life outside the womb. Take some control as the mother, you know, like if the warning says DO NOT SLEEP IN BOPPY, maybe don't let her sleep in Boppy. She isn't going to sit there and think, "Damn, where's that Boppy at?"

I WISH SOMEONE GAVE ME ADVICE LIKE THAT WHEN ANDREW WAS A FEW WEEKS OLD. He would have drank from the tap.

I think my one year has a slight tummy bug. What kind of food should I feed her? I know to try and keep her hydrated but past that I have no idea what I should feed her.

Does anyone have any experience with osteopathy for yourself or your children?

The Osteopathic Homepage has a pediatrics section which says it treats the following:( Colic... )

This sounds quite promising, I think. Also it would be convenient to be able to use the same doctor for all 3 of us (me, DH, and baby).

Do you have an osteopath? What is your doctor arrangement? Thanks.

shouldn't my almost 7 month old son be sleeping through the night? he wakes every morning around 4 to have a bottle and then falls asleep again until about 6:45. it's gotten to the point where i wake up before him and get the bottle ready because it's become a pattern. helllp.