4 month update

Well my girls are doing so much better these days! Thank you everyone for getting me through those first few months. I am soooo happy they are over! The girls are much more predictable now and much more fun. Claire is quite the talker...very loud! But it means she is happy and I love it. Carlie is my smiler/giggler. It doesn't take much to get her going! We are really enjoying them. They seem to be starting to notice each other too. I have caught Carlie smiling/talking to Claire when lying on the floor. They are only getting up once a night, but their napping is still not so hot.

I took them last week for the 4 month check up. Carlie is 11lbs 8ozs, 23.5 inches. Claire is 11lbs 4ozs, 23 inches. Claire is in the 10th percentile for everything which is a great improvement since she wasn't on the chart at 2 months. Carlie is 10-25th for weight, 25 for height, and 75th for hear measurement!! She has a big head! Both are on cereal now too.

Here is my concern, or should I say the peds concern. The girls are not rolling ove yet. I thought Claire would be by now since she has been somewhat trying...she gets to her side. Carlie shows no interest but she is very strong. The pedi asked about putting them on their belly. Neither one is fond of it...Claire will tolerate it for a little while, but Carlie HATES it! She as AR, which the pedi knows, and even said that is why she doesn't like to be on her belly. She then tells me that if they are not rolling back-to-front, front-to-back by their 6 month appt. that we have to start Early Intervention therapy.

I don't know what to do. I am not going to keep them on their belly if they are crying...especially Carlie.

Plus, one more thing, Carlie has eczema. I can no longer use the lavender on her which completely bums me out. It is on her arms and legs. Any advice on what to use to make it better, and will she out grow it?

April

 

We did modified tummy time for Ana because of her reflux and spitting up. We'd lay her on her belly on our chests, or put her on a boppy with burp cloth over it. Also, do it for very small amounts of time. If they start to fuss, just move them.

As for the eczema, my sister has bad e even now at 21 years old.... here is her advice: Vaseline, aquaphor (sp?) or cortisone cream (but only if your pedi says its ok).

 

Try not to worry too much about the rolling... DS has always been our man in motion, but DD still only rolls back to tummy, not the other way. And it took her longer to learn that too. There is such a wide range of normal!

Also, is the pedi taking corrected age into account? (Can't remember how early your girls were...) Mine never does, and it drives me nuts.

Anyway, if they do send EI, try not to freak out about it. EI comes to us every 4 wks, and it's actually really fun. They just play with the babies and observe them and chat with you, and they know SO much about development (way more than pedis).

 

QUOTE(Leighann @ Dec 17 2007, 08:08 PM) [snapback]537852[/snapback]
We did modified tummy time for Ana because of her reflux and spitting up. We'd lay her on her belly on our chests, or put her on a boppy with burp cloth over it. Also, do it for very small amounts of time. If they start to fuss, just move them.

As for the eczema, my sister has bad e even now at 21 years old.... here is her advice: Vaseline, aquaphor (sp?) or cortisone cream (but only if your pedi says its ok).


Thanks for the advice Leighann...I will have to try that and use vasoline too!

April

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Dec 17 2007, 08:15 PM) [snapback]537865[/snapback]
Try not to worry too much about the rolling... DS has always been our man in motion, but DD still only rolls back to tummy, not the other way. And it took her longer to learn that too. There is such a wide range of normal!

Also, is the pedi taking corrected age into account? (Can't remember how early your girls were...) Mine never does, and it drives me nuts.

Anyway, if they do send EI, try not to freak out about it. EI comes to us every 4 wks, and it's actually really fun. They just play with the babies and observe them and chat with you, and they know SO much about development (way more than pedis).


No, they don't take that into account...they were 3.5wks early and I do take it into account. Thanks for tips on the EI. I wouldn't mind if they came here....would be much easier then dragging them out into the cold weather.

April

 

Don't know if this will make you feel better but my DD Paige didn't roll till she was at least 15 months. It just seemed that she didn't want to and even now will sometimes yell stuck till I tell her to roll over. It is almost like she forgets about it. She was sitting great and doing tummy time too but just didn't want to roll. At 9 months she would wake up at night and I would turn her to her belly and she would fall back to sleep. My pedi was never worried about it and never said anything about EI.

Alexandra on the other hand rolled all over the floor once she learned how but did not sit well till after learning to crawl.

All babies do things on their own schedule. If their muscle tone is good I would not worry about the rolling.

 

My DD who is 6 1/2 months old JUST rolled over last week for the first time in either direction. My pedi wasn't at all concerned at their 6 months appt. She said as long as she shows interest in her environment, it's really not a big deal.

Try not to stress too much!! You know your daughter best, and you probably have a gut feeling one way or another whether or not EI is really necessary. I knew with my DD that she just wasn't ready. She would also get almost all the way over and stop, and she also hated being on her tummy!!

Good Luck!
Suzi

 

I am surprised the ped is worried about this at 4 months! As far as the tummy time goes, my babies hated it too, and I just did very small increments of time throughout the day until they got used to it. Also, having them raised up, like with a Boppy under their chest, tends to help too, so that they aren't just face planting! :hug99:

 

April, our babies share a birthday, and mine aren't rolling either. Not even close. They hate tummy time too because of AR, so just recently we started putting them on their Boppy's for tummy time and they like it much better. Mine both weighed 11 lbs 8 oz at our 4 month - so our babies are right on with each other!

 

My kids didn't roll until they were 6 or 7 months old. I'm curious why your ped is concerned at this early age...I wouldn't worry. They will be up and about before you know it.

 

Glad things are improving for you guys! You sound so much happier...

Seems like your ped is worrying you unnecessarily -- at 4 months, it's way too early to fret about rolling. My DS did roll early on, but my DD doesn't show any slight bit of interest at 6 months -- and our ped wasn't concerned at all at their appt last week.

My DD also has some eczema, and I've found that I can bathe her only in Cetaphil wash (for her hair) and unscented Dove soap, and then slather on a lot of Cetaphil lotion. I use Aquaphor on the worst spots, like cheeks, backs of knees and elbows, etc. This has kept it under control, and we haven't needed cortisone cream -- but, I have to be religious about the lotion, and not using any other products at all. Also, it helps to use a "free" detergent like All Free Clear, if your baby is particularly sensitive. We use it, but we also use scented Clorox 2 and Downy, and it hasn't really been a problem.

 

Wow. My girls are not going to be rolling by 4 months. I'm only just now seeing them consistently pushing up during tummy time.

 

Try not to worry about milestones, I'm suprised your pedi is worried this early. Neither DD rolled until 5 months then they were all over the place, it will happen. If you do get EI though, it is a good thing, we just started for gross motor development and the whole program is really great, we've been very happy with the entire thing. I would try to give them more tummy time but not longer than they will happily do it, just more often.

 

April,

I haven't read everyone's replies, so I apologize if everyone has already said the same thing... but at 7.5 months, only one of my daughters rolls, and only from tummy to back. My other daughter has rolled over a grand total of three times. At their six month appointment, I asked the doctor and he wasn't worried at all. We had an EI therapist come out to the house when the girls were 7 months, and she wasn't worried about the lack of rolling either. She said they'll do it in their own sweet time.

I mention this to let you know that apparently, it really does depend on who you talk to! Don't worry that your girls aren't rolling. If they're doing well with everything else, it'll happen when it does.

 

I'm surprised that your ped thinks it's even a thought of concern at this point. While Lorien rolled over at around 4 months, Arwen didn't roll over until 8 months! I was never concerned. I think it was just something she just wasn't interested in. My ped showed absolutely no concern as well. My concern was that if she didn't learn to roll over then she wouldn't be able to learn to crawl. She also HATED tummy time since she was a newborn so she didn't spend much time there. She was perfectly content to just roll to her side and then back to her back. She always seemed like she was about to roll all the way and then would just stay on her side. Funny thing is, once she did finally roll onto her tummy, it was only 3 weeks later that she started to crawl which was only 3 weeks after her sister. I really wouldn't worry at this point. It's so hard not to have the mind set that as twins, they will do things at almost the same time or to constantly compare them but they are 2 different babies with 2 different interests and 2 different agendas and will "do their thang" when they are good and ready. Try not to worry. It's really not a big deal. Not at this point.

 

I'm surprised too. When I mentioned that B wasn't rolling over at our 4 month appointment, she said that they barely even consider it a milestone anymore-- some babies skip it all together and they're seeing it done all over the place because of the "back to bed" movement. Mia's been rolling since about 3.5 months but Ben just started doing it a few weeks ago. Don't fear, they'll make it eventually!

 

I am another that is surprised by your Peds reaction. One of mine did not roll until just after the 6 month appt and my Ped was not concerned at all especially at the 4 mo appt. So yours were almost a month early and I would most definitely take that into account.

 

My James didn't roll until 6 months and Evan was 7 months - but he still only rolls from back to front and always to the right. I'm not worried at all. James is crawling, sitting, pulling up, cruising and babbling. Evan is trying to crawl, pulling up, cruising, sitting - they're just not big rollers (well, Evan anyway). I just try to remember that I've never met anyone who couldn't roll over!!

As for the eczema here's what works for us:

-2 days of the steroid cream to get things under control (only had to use it that one, original time)
-warm (not hot! not cool!) bath every day, with Aveeno oil in the water
-apply moisturizer directly out of bath, I like Eucerin - very hydrating and gentle
-only use Aveeno cream body wash
-apply vaseline to affected area multiple times per day (Evan's eczema in on his shins so I do vaseline after every single diaper change)
-use scent-free, dye-free laundry detergent
-don't use dryer sheets
-cotton clothing is best
-keep home as dust and pet-hair free as possible

We've managed to keep Evan's eczema at bay for 5 months thanks to the above tricks. Eczema is common in infants and usually disappears by age 2. Good luck! Feel free to PM me if you need any help.