What is/was your baby doing at 14 weeks old? Is mine quite advanced?

[BabyGenius]

I'll get hung drawn and quartered for saying this, but mine eats food- feeds himself with a spoon as long as I put the food on the spoon for him. His favourite food is banana, he loved it and cries when it's all gone and refuses his bottle for it sometimes. He feeds himself 'finger foods' (only very basic things at the moment).

He laughs.

He laughs at ceebeebies when the characters or presenters laugh.

When I say 'dada' he says 'ah-ah'. When I make gurgle noises he copies me. When I squeel he squeels and then laughs.

He sits up by himself.

He loves anything colourful.

He laughs his head off when anyone says 'boo'.

He sleeps 11 hours at night.

He holds his own bottle.

He wants to stand up allllllllll the time, he's very strong.

If you say 'kiss' he opens his moth for a kiss, and 'cuddle' he puts his hands either side of his neck. And if you say 'kiss baby' he opens his mouth to kiss his newborn cousin.

And loads of other stuff.

He just seems really advanced to me. Do all babies do these things by 14 and a half weeks old?

Not to worry Riven, sorry for jumping down your throat.

Shame on BananasandCream, and very strange might I add.

HI BG

Glad you are surviving your thread- huge respect to you for sticking it out and taking so much in good humour.

I just wanted to mention the Gaviscon administration. I am a nurse, and whilst no specialist on reflux, I have also worked in neonates for quite a few years - not permanently, but I know enough about reflux. Also about the meds used for any kind of GI problem as I specialized in GI medicine ( again, not paeds but anatomy is the same whatever age... )

Just wanted to say that gaviscon has little use when mixed with aonther fluid. It needs to be in direct contact with the oesphagus on the way down, as it's this which helps the symptoms. Gaviscon only really helps with pain. other similar symptoms as it coats as it's swallowed, then neutralises the stomach slightly, which does help the burning feeling improve. So, in that sense it is possible it will help mixed, however it really is far far more effective given slowly, from a syringe, and not in the milk... I know it can be difficult to get into them at that age, due to flavour etc, yet it's really quite important that if he can swallow ( and does) that it is swallowed...

Of course there are patients who can't swallow, that still have it, just as I say, its better when swallowed...

The other meds work on the sphincters and help them open so they are fine mixed with milk, though, again, are better given by syringe.

I assure I'm not having a go at you, i'm just passing on some advice/ information you may not be aware of .

Hi Susie, I didn't know that. How do I go about giving him it without putting it in his bottle? He has his other meds in syringes, so I have syringes I could use.

It's in powder form- so do I put it in water and then suck it into a syringe? Or is that me being really dippy?

oh, no... if its the infant powders, it mixes with milk. sorry, I wasn't thinking properly! The most effective form is in liquid. It really works the fastest and most effective. however, the powders play more a role in neutralizing and stabilizing stomach contents. SO, they do help, honestly, just liquid is more preferable.

I'm certain you can get it in liquid form for babies, but i really could be wrong on that... ask your pharmasist/gp next time you get a script..

Sorry, I didn't mean to give you false info, i was thinking you had the liquid... So sorry!

Good luck though with it all, sounds like you are coping really well and he is doing fines.

susie, is that really true what you said about weight bearing early? my ds took weight on his legs at about a week old. he has had a closed hip reduction at 1yr (successful) and the hip problem was diagnosed pretty much at birth but we were never told not to let him weight bear.

There is a whole generation of teens out there who were weaned at 3 months old because we were told to. Don't remember my mother saying it was too early so not just a generation but population over 13.

When did the new guidelines come into play and what is the consequences of early weaning? Not being arsey would really like to know.

At first I genuinely thought you were winding people up because your post did appear boastful but I suppose its easy to forget the first few months and how everything revolves around 'baby' and what he is doing etc.

Ds1 appeared extremely bright as a baby could mimic the sound 'hello' at 12 weeks and loved to stand up etc. He did talk early and reach all his milestones without problems. However I have had such a stressful time since he started school as he hasn't picked up reading easily at all and it has nearly driven me mad. I think he has a form of dyslexia with regards to reading as both dh and db have a similar problem. He's not too bad but not the genius I expected either.

Enjoy your baby and be proud of him. He sounds beautiful

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet but have you tried SMA Staydown?

as you are on bottles anyway, it is served cold then the thickening agent is activated when it warms up in LO tummy.

We were prescribed it for my DS and he stopped vomitting, but as soon as he went back to normal milk it started again. eventually sorted itself about 6months.

It was reflux-but not severe enough to warrent surgery etc. GP said the sphincter muscle at the top of his tummy wan't quite strong enough yet. apparently v.commen with boys.

just wanted to add a well done for coping with the bitchy comments babygenius. Of course you are proud of your lo, and so you should be.

It may be that he is very bright, or he may even out with time in relation to other babies, but enjoy him whichever it is. I dont know why some people feel the need to be quite so bitchy. Guess it keeps them entertained.

trurnip head- I stand corrected I couldn't remember the formula used for very small people yes it's what I meant by stabilizing the stomach contents, it also had a role in neutralizing the acid. ( not completely of course
As for giving gaviscon liquid- just syringe neutral flavour slowly into mouth...

Dollybird- I don't want to tell you that you were not given the correct information. I'll gladly give you more advice though. Firstly though did your DS have a harness/ splint of any kind to wear as a little baby, and how old was he when he was diagnosed? What was the exact diagnoses, DDH? CDH?

I was a missed diagnoses myself of CDH ( congenital dislocation of hips it was also bilateral ) not spotted until the age of 22 months. I know for certain most of the damage caused was as a result of the hips being dislocated and therefore the acetabulem (socket) not forming, then with weight baring added to that. I've never been without problems ( many many surgeries on both, from that age still on going) I had a replacement at the grand old age of 27. waiting another...

It takes almost a year ( average) for those little bones to be dense enough to fully weight bare. Yes many children walk earlier than this, as they are ready, which if done naturally it doesn't ( necessarily) cause a problem. Another argument against those baby walkers on wheels < shudder>

Sorry to hear about your DS. I'm please the op went well, was he in a spica or frog plaster afterwards? what a nightmare for either. My DD was also diagnosed with bilateral hip displasia, diagnosed at 12 weeks. She wore a fixed harness for 12 weeks. May still need surgery. we have been told that it will definitely helped her, that she'd not had any weight baring. i.e. if she'd been older then diagnosed with same problem and had been walking, complications would have certainly occurred and surgery almost definite.

So, letting Lo's stand too much, putting too much weight through immature bones is just not a good idea as it can effect the development of those bones. It really is a different case if they already have a diagnosed dislplasia. I am surprised, i have to be honest, that if your DS was diagnosed with DDH or CDH and it was early i.e. at birth or 6 weeks, that you were not told to try and discourage full weight baring early on. Light boucing on your laps, with him standing is not quite the same as walking or lots of standing, so i'm pretty sure you've not caused any further damage to him.

Allowing full weight baring at the correct developmental stage i.e. pulling themselves up, then furniture walking, then walking is not the same thing as I'm talking about as you do these things when you are ready. is that what you meant?

So sorry i've really gone on and on, just wanted to try to cover it all. Please feel free to ask more aout it if you like. I've got a fair amount of experience in this area.

BG - your baby sounds gorgeous, and he's doing even better to be so happy whilst taking so many extra meds etc. Well done for taking all of the negative posts so well. I can appreciate how you intended the OP to come across, needless to say you've probably learnt a valuable lesson about how touchy other mums can get if you look/sound slightly boastful? I know I have.

Personally I've found it quite difficult to refrain from boasting about my DD's (12wks) accomplishments so far, especially to my baby-free friends. I'm the first out of my group of mates to reproduce and it's been a steep learning curve where discussing "all things baby" is concerned! As for other mums, it became apparent quickly that not only should I be careful how you discuss your LO's development without sounding like you've given birth to the next einstein, but to also take everything other mums say about their LO's with a pinch of salt! Hence, why youve had a large amount of skeptisim.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that as well as learning about how to be a mummy to my LO, I found that I'm also learning how to be a mummy socially without pissing other people off! DD is so amazing to me and DH and all we wanna do is shout from the rooftop that she's a miracle in our eyes! (But we'll keep it between us me thinks!)

Sorry for the blabbering on, just wanted you to know that your like every other mum - PROUD.

I know you have been already told but you dont appear to be too concerned/ bothered but just to echo -

Please dont feed your 14 week old solid food as it can lead to all kinds of health problems also, watching television does definately, definately not stimulate the brain in a baby that young in anyway shape or form, it does in fact the complete opposite (could go into it but thats a whole other thread)

Yes - I have to agree with you on the solids concerns Barbie, definately worrying.
But I got the impression that BG was only implying that she allows her LO to be distracted by the TV whilst she gulps down some food, and not that she plonks him infront of it for hours at a time?

sma staydown worked great for us, I oculdnt breast feed due to major medical problems and the medication I take and dd had terrible reflux but staydown really helped.