Weight Loss and Sleep

My eight month old has slept throught the night since night one. But I have found that he would take a nap just about any where. (which is very good) As long as it's his chair, swing or bed. I did have him in the bassinet untill he grew to long for it. A very good thing to let him know that We're still there. We would only let him be between us if we're watching a movie and fall asleep, other than that, he has been in a crib. across the room. Soon he will have his own room. Ryan will take two short naps and one long nap as well.

Hi J.-
What helped me with losing weight was just walking around the mall. I would go for an hour or two and just walk. Now my son is almost 20 months old so sometimes I take him there so he can run around and get tired! I hope this helps. I can't really give advice about getting your son to sleep in his bed because my son still sleeps with me and he still wakes up once a night. But good luck!

Well it sound like you are doing good to me. My youngest I had similar issues with he slept in the swing quite a bit, and on a pallet of blankets beside my side of the bed until he was 9 months old. I think you are doing great your motherly instints will tell you what to do. C.

I've done weight watchers and lost 37lbs. i've gained 8 back since Thanksgiving. I am Prgo now only a few weeks and was told by my coach to continue and add a few points. I can't go back and see till I have the baby and they have a plan for after the baby. WW worked for me the first time and i know if I stick with it after my baby I will lose it again.
It's a suggestion.
Hope Ihelped a bit

Hi J.- you have to wait until the abdominal muscle separation has gone away before doing ab work. It's different for everyone- mine was never fully separated and I was ble to do some 10 days after giving birth, but it took months for some of my friends. There's a great book by Elizabeth Noble called "Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year: A Guide to Health and Comfort Before and After Your Baby Is Born" that I would recommend. You can get it on Amazon.com for a really good price. I went to a workshop she did in town and was really impressed. Hope this helps.

HI J.-

I agree with the other moms as far as the sleeping issue. I will say that I had my daughter sleep in her pack and play at night right next to my side of the bed because I was breastfeeding. We decided to move her to her own bed around 6-7 weeks and I just had to get up and go feed her in her room. That is definitely a personal choice and every baby is different. Some sleep through the night fairly quickly and some don't. I would only say that you shouldn't try to rush into a routine with a baby.

As far as the weight loss, you said that you lost 30 already, so how much did you gain during your pregnancy and how tall are you? Make sure that your goal is a healthy one. When it comes to the abs, once your doctor has given you the Aok for exercising, go ahead. Something to remember when performing ab work especially after having a baby, make sure to breath out as you are contracting the muscle. So if you are lying on your back knees bent and hands behind your head, gently lift your shoulder and upper back off the floor while breathing out of your stomach. You should be able to see your abs go in somewhat. Pay attention to how your muscles feel during the contraction also. With ab work, it is always quality over quantity also. Try to do 10 to 12 crunches with good form and see how you feel. Once you start an exercise routine after having a baby, make sure to pay attention to what your body is telling you. Just cause the doc says its ok to start exercising, it doesn't mean that you should go full out. Be very aware of how you feel while exercise and after. I think that starting with some cardio would be good. Weight lifting is great too, but you want to get your body back into exercise mode. I don't know if you are breastfeeding, but if you are I would not recommend too much of a restricted diet. Otherwise, eat 5-6 smaller meals per day with a good balance of protein, carbs and fats. It helps to speed your metabolism and eventually lose some weight. Keep up the good work.

My daughter takes naps in her swing or in the car, so I wouldn't worry about it. She also never liked sleeping in her bassinet, so we moved her into a crib and she slept much better. I think the mattresses in the bassinets are crappy, so babies don't like to sleep on them. I would try putting him in a crib instead. If you don't want him in another room just yet, set it up in your bedroom if you can. Good luck, I hope this helps!

I lost almost 50 pounds after I had my son last year by doing Yoga. It's low key and it's something you can do at home. There is a program on tv that I watch to do it, or you can get videos or books that are very helpful.
For sleep: I always just let both of my kids nap wherever they happened to fall asleep. You could talk to his doctor and see what he/she has to say or if they have any helpful hints. Good luck to you!

Hi J., I hope your day is going well. I have tons of opinionis on the wieght thing. I am not sure when it is a good time to start losing weight but Weight Watchers has many cookbooks out there and their food is excellent and most of it is easy. Slim Fast is also good, I do a combination of both. They have a website that is completely free and will give you menu ideas and things like that slimfast.com. I hope that this is helpful. Have a great day. 10 lbs 2 oz. your my HERO J. :)

M. R.

I found a free site called spark people online and I have found that the support is awesome, I have currently lost 27 lbs, I have a lot more to lose but the site is a wonderful place to go for support, recipes and excercise, so if you can please try to go to the site and check it out, it is free so that is a plus!!!!!
D.

It's usually best to let babies have nap-time in an active room where they hear noise, have light, etc. so that they don't sleep as deeply during these times. We all respond to sleeping more deeply when it's dark, so save that setting for night time sleep. It may take a bit for him to adjust to sleeping in a bassinett vs being swayed in a swing, but it's better to setup reasonable behaviors now before he outgrows the swing, etc. I have all my doula clients use the Miracle Blanket www.miracleblanket.com which helps babies sleep longer - it's guaranteed to work or your money back! If you are in Tucson, you can get one directly by calling ###-###-####.

As far as exercising, you should have stopped having the lochia bleeding from delivery, and can exercise moderately. Sometimes the abdominal muscles separate in some women during pregnancy, so you can check with your provider to see what they suggest to get back into shape. Check online also! Congrats on losing so much on your own already - good for you ;)

Good luck!
C. Kinstle
Birth and Postpartum Doula

Hi J.,
I started within 4 weeks of having my little girl and lost all of the pregnancy weight within 3 months. I did everything from cardio to lifting weights and stomach exercises and had no issues.
As far as your babies naps and where, my daughter used to fall asleep in her swing all the time. Just make sure his head, if forward is resting on a blanket. I would put him in his bassinet at night though rather than having him sleep with you and creating other issues later because he won't want to sleep on his own. I had my daughter in her bassinet and later crip in my bedroom until she was about 14 months old and then I moved her into her own room. Hope this helps...:)

I have found that doing a good cardio workout while he naps is the best and easiest way to get a little exercise in while the weather is too cold to be outside. Do what ever kind of exercise you want, just do something! but remember that it took 9 months to put that weight on, it's going to take a little bit for it to come off, and unless you are breast feeding, watch what you eat, we can't eat like we did when we were pregnant!!!
As far as the sleeping thing, he's your baby, you know what's best for him. I found that no matter what I read or someone told me to do, he and I figured out what we needed to do to make bed time easy on both of us. I would put him down for naps all over the place! he learned that he wasn't always going to be home for a nap in his bed... sometimes in the swing, on the floor (on a blanket of course), in his crib, in his car seat, in the pack-n-play... I even made lots of noise while he was sleeping (my mom gave me this idea- helped him learn to sleep thru everything!!!!) Now my husband an dI can watch a movie with the surround sound on after he has gone to bed, not have to constantly "HUSH" guests if they get a little too loud... we don't worry about waking him up.

He's only 2 months old - you'll figure out what is best for you! Be Patient - Good Luck K.