Anybody else's child do this?

[Bodkin]

Following on from asking about my (nearly 4 year old) DDs left-handedness, I've noticed something she does which I find a bit odd. If she is holding something which she needs to shake (oh, I don't know, a rattle, a snow shaker, glitter etc.) when she shakes it, she shakes both hands at the same time (i.e. even the hand that is holding nothing) And also when cleaning her teeth, the hand without the brush is kind of mirroring the one with it. Something she'll grow out of, or something to be concerned about?

oh how sweet, maybe she's a bit ambidextrous, so no one hand is particularly dominant...?

Doesn't sound like anything to be concerned about

Look up "mirror movements". Considered normal in early childhood but should decrease with time. Cause for concern only if it persist into teenage years.

Thanks for that. I shall go and find something else to worry about now then...

Actually CotedAzur - I'm glad I bumped into you here - I wanted to pick your brains about something else.... (but didn't want to stir up a hornets nest...)

On the Baby Knowledge thread, you said about stopping night feeds at 4-5 months. I'd like to do this, I think, as my DD2 (4.5 months) only has one (at about 4am) and I think she could probably do without it now, but it's become habit. She;s BF, so it's the easiest and quickest way to settle her. Any top tips about how to gently persuade her its nil by mouth til 7am? I haven't started weaning yet, and don't intend to until 6m.

Thanks!

Try cool boiled water (with a tiny amount of sugar to make it more palatable) when she wakes. That or cooled fennal tea.This should fill her tummy with something warm until 7am feed.

Bodkin - dd is our first, so there might be better/easier ways to do this, but I can only tell you what we did, according to what her paediatrician told us to do:

Basically, Stop Feeding Her In The Night. When she wakes, pick her up, kiss, hug, sing to, juggle, shh shh, pat, etc. Do anything but feeding her. It will be tough for 2-3 nights, but she will sleep through the night thereafter.

This is what we did, because we are not fans of leaving a baby to 'cry it out'. When she cried, we were there for her. She never felt abandoned, she was comforted, but not fed. Third night we did this, she slept through and has been sleeping through the night ever since.

Here is the good news: Since you are still breastfeeding, your dh/dp will do all of this, and not you. Because your dd will smell the milk on you.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Thanks for that. Made a rather half hearted attempt last night, which took over an hour and resulted in me feeding her in the end. So I've probably made the job 100% harder now.

Don't think DP can be coerced into doing all the patting and soothing - he thinks i should just carry on feeding her (easy life for him ) but I really don't think she needs the night feeds now it's just habit.

Anyway, will give it a break for a week, and try again with firmer resolve. Might have to gaffer tape my boobs down to stop me cracking and feeding her

Should have put all this on sleep topic really, but couldn't face the flaming I'll get

Oh I actually wrote and erased "Whatever you do, Do Not Give In, because that will only teach your dd that if she cries long and hard enough, she can get whatever she wants." because I thought it would come across as harsh & heartless.

Remember, it is just for 2-3 nights, no more. And then the first full night of sleep is bliss!

I know, that thought was running through my head last night as I gave in and fed her That's why I thought I'd leave it a week now in the hope she won't remember!

I did manage it very successfully with DD1 when she was 7 months and it only took 2 nights. But with DD1 it was 45 mins solid crying, and then crashed out again, so I could handle that. But DD2s stop/start last night was driving me crazy - everytime she stopped I got all hopefull and then 10 mins later she'd start again.

Thanks for the advice though, I shall keep your words in my head when I try again