Sick babies continued - 29 October

The boy still do not feel too well.

After we returned from the International SOS clinic, Cameron went straight to bed. But he woke up so often because he could not sleep well due to his blocked / runny nose. He could not sleep, unless being carried upright. Even then, he couldn't sleep for a long time. Lester carried him til 3am, while I took care of Cayden. I took Cameron over from 3am and it was tough. I slept with him lying on my chest, on my shoulders while I sat up straight. In the end, I put him on the rocker and rocked him while I layed next to him on the floor. This lasted til 6.30am. Rough night.

Cayden also had fitful sleeps. He constantly woke up coughing and crying. Both Lester & I did not sleep the entire night.

During the day, Cayden was seemingly worse. He was lethargic, & slept & watched TV most of the day. He ate very little too. Cameron was better. His fever went down and after talking to my PD, I gave him Prospan for his cough and he was better. His nose was still runny, but it was starting to get green, so its a sign of improvement.

My PD asked why treatment was not given since they were suspected of having H1N1. I told her that baiscally we were turned away by International SOS clinic. She told me to give them either Tamiflu or Methisoprinol. I couldn't find it in Mongolia so we made arrangements for Lester's office to pick up the meds and send it via DHL. It was sent out immediately.

Thurs night was better, but not too good. Cameron slept til 2am and woke up crying. We gave him milk and he took 90ml. He had a fever, so I gave him infant Panado. He spit out most of it. He slept til 4am and woke up crying. Gave him water which he took, but not milk. He also had no voice, so his cry was like a whimper. Crying like a little kitten.

Cayden was woken up at 2am to take his antibiotics. He was better when he woke up in the morning.

International SOS Clinic Mongolia

It has been a rough 3 days & 2 nights.

On Tuesday, the boys did not get better, in fact, they got worse as the day progressed. I continued to give them their medicines. Cameron, for his fever, and Cayden for his fever & cough.

On Wednesday, the boys were really sick. I made an appointment at the International SOS clinic for Thursday, as the pediatrician was only on duty on Thursday afteroon. Cayden was lethergic, still had fever, had no appeitite and was coughing. He took a long nap in the afternoon. Cameron started to have runny nose and he was so grumpy. His fever also spiked up to 39.4 degrees c at about 3pm in the afternoon. I decided not to wait and went to the clinic to see the GP. Afterall, Cameron needed some medicine for his nose and cough, so that he can sleep better at night.

Who knows, this was a bad decision. After we reached the clinic, the nurse stopped us at the entrance and took our temperature. Because the boys had high temperature of about 39 degrees, they stopped us from entering the clinic. We had to wait outside (in the cold!) and put masks on us. Then they instructed us to drive our car to the back of the clinic and enter a room. We had to have nose swabs taken to be tested for H1N1. This really scared Cayden and he was really clingy to me. I was feeling confident that they would not be tested positive for H1N1, as we had not been out of the house at all, since Cayden sprained his foot.

During the wait, the nurse came in with Neurofen. She wanted to give them both. I was comfortable with them giving Cayden coz he had it before. But for Cameron, I was more apprehensive. I wanted to be sure that the dosage was correct. She wanted to give him 2.5ml (according to the dosage on the box) but I refused! It stated 2.5ml for babies 6months to 12 months. But Cameron is only 7 months. Also, don't they have to check the weight of the baby and determine the dosage??? She consulted the doc again said it was ok. I had no choice. (For the records, I checked with my PD. The 2.5ml dosage is too high for Cameron. He should only be taking 1.5ml at most. And also she told me to avoid Neurofen if possible coz its too strong for him).

After 30 min of waiting,  they told us that they boys tested positive for H1N1 so they have to send us to the Centre of Infectious Diseases to do more testing. (as International SOS clinic do not treat infectious diseases). The test the clinic did is only 75% accurate. I was livid! It seemed like we had no choice and had to go. So off we went to the centre in an ambulance. I called Lester and updated him, so he also made his way down to the centre from his office. We discussed that if it was confirmed, we do not want the kids to be treated in Mongolia. We will air-evac the kids out to Korea or Singapore.

When we reached the centre of Infectious Diseases, we had to wait for a long time inside the ambulance. After that we were ushered into a small room, with 3 doctors and maybe 8 patients. The doc who checked Cameron and Cayden checked their lungs and said their lungs are clear. Their condition is not serious and they can be treated at home. They cannot confirm for sure, if they do have H1N1. I wanted the doc to check their ears & throat to see if it was infected. Something must be causing their fever! But the doc said they dont do that. She only prescribed some medicine.

When we returned to the SOS clinic, I thought the doc there would check them, but who knows, they did not even allow us to enter the clinic! We had to wait in the car and the doc will come out with the prescribed medicine. They only prescribed Cayden an antibiotic and Cameron a high fever supportsitory and for both of them Vitamin C. USELESS BUNCH OF DOCTORS! I wanted the doc to give me some medicine for Cameron's cough. He gave me Robutassim and but told me its not recommended for kids under 2. If I wanted to give, I can do so in a lower dosage. Its my choice. What kind of doc is that????? I rejected and told him I preferred to consult my own PD in Singapore.

So in the end, it was a futile visit. All for nothing. Boys did not get more medicine to get better. We were only hassled more.

I have to say it again. The International SOS clinic in Mongolia is completely, utterly useless. I will definitely NOT sign up for membership again.

Cayden

Its been a week, and Cayden's foot is still swollen. We were told by the doctor that it is normal to take up to 2 weeks to recover. Lets hope he starts to walk soon. He has been crawling the house like a baby. Plus the fact that he is sick, he has been as grumpy as ever.

After he woke up from his nap this afternoon, he wanted to watch some TV.  I refused and told him that he can only watch some TV after he has done an activity - be it colouring, playing with playdoh, playing with his trains etc... He whined & whined and cried. I refused to give in. In the end, he said he would colour. After 10 min, he came to me and said he has finished his colouring. I went to look and this is what I saw...

This little man only coloured 3 catcus! I couldn't help but laugh. At least he didn't lie and showed me other previously coloured pictures. So I let him watch TV, but only 1 short one that lasted 10min coz he coloured little only.

2 Sick Babies

Its the time of the year again. Weather is colder, air is smokier, and kids fall sick.  Damn polluted air.

I have 2 sick babies at home. It started with Cayden waking up yesterday with his double eyelid on his left eye. I saw it and went "Oh, oh". Yes, that double eyelid always appear when he is either VERY tired or about to fall sick. True to form, he started coughing during breakfast and his fever started at 10am and he was really grumpy. To make matters worse,  I had invited some friends over for lunch, so I was really busy with the lunch preparations. Anyway, we managed through yesterday without much drama.

Today, the little fella still had a fever and his cough had developed into a phelmy one. He refused to eat and complained of being in pain when swallowing. So I became Dr Yeo. Out came Neurofen (for his sprained foot and fever), Prospan (for cough), Mucosolvan (for phelgm), and Leftose syrup (for inflammation - sore throat).

As for Cameron, he started coughing last night. Heard him through the baby monitor. I was in denial. I told myself that its just a one-off cough. Then this morning, his cough was more apparent, more often. Then he had a fever. Not a high one. A low grade one of 37.4 degrees c. So I gave him infant panadol and pasted a Kool Fever patch on him. With an infant like Cameron, I don't dare to be Dr Yeo, so I will monitor him and see how it goes. Hopefully they will be well soon.

First Sprain

Cayden sprained his foot for the first time in his life last night. I was putting Cameron to sleep and I heard Cayden wailing away. I thought it was a short cry and it lasted for quite a while. I quickly went out and saw Cayden in the arms of Dada, tearing streaming down his cheeks. He was crying quite hard. I asked what happened and Dada told me that he was demonstrating a jump from the bed and landed on his foot, awkwardly.

He was still crying very hard 10 min later, and I knew it must hurt real bad. We managed to calm him down and but he said he couldn't walk. We had to carry him downstairs to drink his milk, to pee pee and everything. In the night, he couldn't sleep well. I think its due to the pain. We fed him some panadol for pain relief.

In the morning, he still complained of being in pain. Thats when we decided to bring him to see the doc. At International SOS clinic, the doc took a look at his foot and sent him for an Xray. Everything is ok. No broken bones. Just a sprain. The doc mentioned that if he is still in pain 2 weeks later, then he has to be brought back for another Xray. It could be a hairline crack.

Oh well, broken bones and twisted ankles and sprained foot incidents are starting to happen now. Cayden is not a toddler anymore. He is a boy.

Who's the wife?

Today is the beginning of Fall break for Cayden. So he doesn't have to go to school with his dad. When his dad left for work this morning, he cracked me up with what he told his dad:

"Dont worry, dada! I will take care of Cameron! I will take care of him, good."

"Ok! Thank you, Cayden!"

"Oh dada? Remember, don't be too late tonight!"

"Hmmm... ok!"

Now, shouldn't I be nagging his dad instead of him?

Cameron's Weight

I tend to weigh Cameron weekly now, since his milk strike. It has been 10 days since I last weighed him. He is now 8.7kg. Yay! His weight is increasing...

Independence

Cayden has been constantly surprising me with his independence recently. I realised that he can wear his own shoes (though he keeps forgetting to pull the "tongue" out). Today, I realised that he can wear his own coat.

Cameron Sits!

First time that he sat independently for more than 5 min. Yay!

Smoky

Picture taken at 9am in the morning. Check out the smoke...

International Week

This week is International Week at ISU. All students are required to turn up in Mongolian costume today. Thank goodness we have one. I bought  Cayden a deel over a year ago, as he had to wear it to perform at the year end consert his previous Mongolian kindergarten. But the government ordered all schools to close early due to the outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease in Mongolia. So the deel was kept in cold storage.

Today, we have a chance to use it! Yea! The boots were too small, but he still fits in the deel.

Pictures below:

It was freezing outside, but I still made Cayden stand outside to take a picture coz the lighting was better.

 

A brotherly moment. Cameron looked kinda stunned.

Gloomy Sunday

We woke up to a backyard flickered with snow. Its must have snowed lightly last night.

The whole Sunday was cold, wet, gloomy.

Took a picture when the boys and I waited for Lester to buy our weekly groceries at Mercury Market.

Busy Friday

I had a busy day. 

I had invited some friends over for morning coffee. It was good to have friends over and chat. Some adult conversation is needed but I have an overdose of baby talk for the last 2 months. We talked about everything. Our grievances with the country, the lack of hot water / heat, the school, losing weight etc... 

Morning coffee was followed by lunch. Aivee went to school to collect both Lucas and Cayden. Lunch was Tau Yew Bak (but instead of pork, I used chicken). Lucas ate fast, but Cayden was slow & distracted as usual. I told Aivee that we should swop kids during lunch, since Cayden generally eats fast and eats everything at her place. 

After lunch, Cameron woke up from his nap and we proceeded to Aivee's place for a while. The boys had FUN, playing everythig from trains to ball pools to play acting pirates. While watching them play, it dawned on me that my first born is no longer a toddler. He is now a BOY. Playing big boy games. 

 

Since Lester wasn't coming home for dinner, once Cameron fell asleep, I agreed to let Cayden watch "The Little Mermaid" in my room. I allow him to do that once in a while, during weekends. He was so happy and told me "Mama! I am so excited to watch Little Mermaid!" 

He really tried to finish watching the movie, but he didn't. Since he did not have a afternoon nap earlier, and he had such a full day playing, he finally caved in at 8pm. He told me "Mama, my eyes cannot open so well..." haha. I tucked him into bed and started my own reading. Peace & quiet.


 

Cameron's Weight

Weighed the little fella today. He is now 8.4kg. Thank god he is putting on weight. On the other hand, mama needs to lose weight. :-p

Cameron's Update

Cameron's drinking has somewhat improved. For the last 4 days, his total milk intake has reached 800ml. I have been giving him a mixture of Nestle Nan Probiotics and Similac. Somehow, he doesn't like Nan at night, or at bedtime. So I learnt to give him Similac during these fussier times.

Eating solids is a still a challenge. We started him on bananas 3 days ago. He doesn't really like it either. I have also changed his eating position. I place him on his bouncy chair, instead of his high chair. He took half tablespoon of bananas mixed with rice cereal and milk reluctantly. Its a slight improvement, though.

Yesterday, he had a slight fever of 37.4 degrees. I think he is really teething (although I have been thinking that since he started drooling at 3 months). Is he really? I (and everyone else) tend to blame "teething" for everything. Lack of appetite, crankiness, red cheeks, fever. He has all the symptoms, but no teeth!

His cheeks also developed a rash. Its rough, looks and feels dry, and makes his cheeks really red. I have been applying California Baby Calming Cream on him, I hope to see improvements soon. I wonder if its the result of switching from HA formula to regular formula?

Cameron has also been making new sounds. A few screeches, shouts - really reminds me that he won't be a baby for long. He is constantly growing.

Funky Baby

This is Cameron, wearing a romper from Baby Got Style. We were going out for lunch at Casablanca at Bayangol Hotel. I think he looks really funky! Love him in black.

My Friend

This week Cayden has been learning the concept of friends & family in school. He was asked to draw his friend. And he did. :)

Cayden

Cayden has been the usual... going to school in the mornings, staying at home with me in the afternoons. AT times, he goes to his 'best friend' - Lucas's place. He really gets along with Lucas now. Lucas acts as his "wife" sometimes. When I pick him up at school, Lucas will usually leave at the same time. He will go to Cayden and zip up his jacket, just like how a wife will fuss over her husband's outfit. Sometimes, Lucas will pick up Cayden's water bottle and ask him to take a sip. Adorable...

A pic of Cayden today, after school. Today is "D" day for Show & Tell, so he brought his Barney, the purple dinosaur.



Another pic of Cayden. Taken last 2 weeks - before he left for school. Doesn't he look like a gangster?

It still continues

Well, Cameron's drinking volume has somewhat increased yesterday. In total he drank 800ml, which was a relief.

I brought him to see the pediatrician at International SOS clinic yesterday. We weighed Cameron. His stats:

Weight: 8kg
Height: 63cm (when I measured at home, he was 65cm!)
Head circumference: 44cm.

He is of healthy weight, but he is short (Alarm bells! Is he short and fat?)

It seems that the pediatrician is not alarmed that Cameron's drinking volume has halved over the last 5 days. She said that Cameron's drinking volume is too high. At his age, he should only be drinking 600ml. But she is not accounting the fact that Cameron is on NO solids! For babies 6 months and above are usually established on 3 solid meals already, but Cameron is not!

Anyway in conclusion, she declared Cameron healthy. If he continues this strike for another week, go back to see her. Meanwhile she would like me to start him on solids. I have to try to find his accepted food, and his accepted way of eating. It sounds rather ridiculous to me...

Today, he has taken the usual 7oz at the morning feed, but took only 4oz at the 11am feed. Shall see how much he takes at the 3pm feed.

My 2 boys

Finally, I get a picture of the 2 of them. Got this picture before Cayden decided to be uninterested and dropped Cameron... No, its ok. He wasn't hurt. Just a gentle "plop". I think Cameron looked kinda "stunned".

Milk Saga Continues

Either my baby has really very sensitive taste buds or he really doesn't like to drink or eat very much. I wrote yesterday that I mixed the Similac formula with the Nan HA formula. At the 11am feed, he took it, but not as well. Made him 7oz which he took 6oz. Still not too bad.

At the 3pm feed, I made him 100% Similac 6oz, he took only 5oz.

At bedtime, I decided to mix it up again. Made him 7oz. He took only 4oz :(

At 11pm feed, I made him 4oz, he took 3.5oz.

Overall his drinking volume has not reached normal level yet. Yesterday's grand total was 750ml (25oz). Not great.

Today, I have decided to give him 100% Similac. Let's see if it will improve.

I have also made an appointment with the pediatrician at International SOS to check him out. To make sure he doesn't have any ear infection, ulcers or thrush in the mouth. I want to get to the bottom of this.

Despite his milk strike, he is still a happy baby.

Figured it out!

We finally figured it out why Cameron was not drinking his milk. He doesn't like this formula. We have been giving him Nestle NAN HA since he started formula at 5 months. It was recommended by my pediatrician and he took it well. So naively, I figured that he will take it ALL the time. But this little fella has developed taste buds, so he decided NOT to like it. So all 3 days of his milk strike, he was drinking just enough to take the hunger edge off, and nothing more.

Yesterday, after a dismal amount of milk he drank in the morning, I started to panic. I also weighed him and he put on a little weight. Not much. When he woke up from his afternoon nap, he was very upset. Crying with tears. I wondered if it was pain (from teething?), if he was feeling unwell (maybe a cold coming?) or if it was hunger. I decided to try hunger. I made him a bottle of milk, but with Similac 2 this time. He drank it with gusto. Took 4oz at once. He burped and rested a bit and finished the remainder 2 oz within 30 min. I was soooooo happy and relieved! At last, he is drinking!

At bedtime, I made him 7oz of milk. He took 4oz before bath and rest of the 3oz after bath. No problems. At the 11pm feed, he took 4oz. Finished it all.

So now we face the problem of getting Similac here in Mongolia. Its not available. Friso is available, so we will try that. If he likes it, then we have no problems. Fingers crossed. If he only likes Similac, than we have a HUGE problem as we only have 2 cans.

We also brought over about 15 cans of Nan HA2 to Mongolia. Now we have to think about how to get rid of them.

Lester suggested mixing some Nan HA into his formula, just to see if he will take it. If he does, then we can finish off the 15 cans slowly. This morning, I made him a bottle with two-thirds Similac and one-third Nan HA. He took it, but not with much enthusiasm as with Similac only. I could be imagining it. I will try again at the 11am feed.

Milk Drinking Strike - Day 3

Day 1 (Sunday 27 Sep)
Drank only 540ml in total. Gave him 1tbs of cereal, he took it reluctantly.

Day 2 (Monday 28 Sep)
Drank only 550ml in total. Tried giving him 1 tbs of cereal & pears, but he rejected.

Day 3 (TODAY)
So far, he drank even less than last 2 days. 2 feeds - 270ml. No solids given. Decided to stop the solids for 1 week. I would concentrate on getting milk into him instead.

I am really worried. I wrote an email to my pediatrician in Singapore and she mentioned to try giving him regular formula (instead of HA), chill his regular milk (tried and no improvement), check his mouth of ulcers or thrush (nothing!).

I am desperately looking for teething gel here in Mongolia, but so far, nothing found.

Tried to make appointment with pediatrician at International SOS, but she is not going in til Thursday afternoon.

Weighed him today. He weighs only 8kg (compared to 7.27kg on 12 August). So he has only put on 730g in 48 days! That's really bad.

What to do? What to do?

Frustrating Sunday!

The day started with Cameron NOT drinking his milk. Instead of his usual 7oz, he takes only 3 oz. I was concerned. I proceeded with his usual bath and sleep routine and he slept for 1 hour. After he woke up, he drank another 2 oz of milk.

At 11am feed, he wouldn't take much. I let him eat 1tbs of rice cereal mixed with milk and he took it reluctantly. Right up to his afternoon nap at 12noon he took 5oz of milk. After a 2 hour nap, he drank another 2 oz of milk.

At the 3pm feed, he refused his milk. We tried for 2 hours and all he took was 40ml.

During bedtime, he took only 3oz of milk. Refused anything else. At the 11pm feed, he took only 40ml.

I keep wondering why? Is it the formula? We had to change from Nestle Nan HA1 to HA2. I read the ingredients and HA 2 does not have lactose and corn syrup, so it might be less sweet. But we offered Nan Probiotics to him at the bedtime feed and 11pm feed, he still did not take much. I doubt that is the problem.

Is it because of teething? But I can't feel anything from his gums. He has redden cheeks, he keeps biting everything in sight, he keeps drooling. All signs of teething. But no teeth.

All in all, he took only 540ml of milk, compared to his usual 800ml.

This morning, he woke up at 6.40am crying. I assumed he was hungry, at last! But no, he did not guzzle the milk. I made him a bottle of half HA2 and half Probiotics formula. Took lots of persuading to make him drink, but at least he finished his 7oz of milk before his morning nap. Lets see how this day will go...

When should I start panicking?

Lazy Saturday

We did nothing much. I am reluctant to leave the house for lunch, as I do not want to disrupt Cameron's lunchtime nap. Fingers crossed, this whole week he has slept for at least 1hr45min to 2hrs during lunchtime. I want to keep it this way.

We introduced apples to Cameron today, after a full week of eating rice cereal. He hates it. Really really hates it. Before I know it, this little fella just pursed his lips tight and refused to let the spoon in! I mixed it with milk and rice cereal a while later, but he still refused it.



After this disaster meal, he refused his milk. Not only for this feed, but for the next feed too! Instead of his full 6 or 7oz, he takes only 4oz.

I have to say, besides looks, Cameron resembles NOTHING like Cayden.

Cayden had his haircut today. Ironically, he had his haircut the day AFTER the school took official pictures for yearbook. Oh well...





Lastly, a cute pic of Cameron all bundled up before taking his walk.

Starting solids

Cameron started solids the day he turned 6 months. Rice cereal mixed with milk. 1/2 tbs. Verdict? This little fella does not like food very much. Not like Cayden. With Cayden, I couldn't give it to him fast enough, but with Cameron, I can give him tiny spoonful, go take a walk, go to toilet and he will still be swallowing that mouthful.

Watch this video:



I thought he needs more time to get used to it, but it has been a week now, he is still the same. I have increased the amount though...

Tomorrow we start with apples. Lets see how that goes.

Sleep training update

Ok, Cameron is sleeping "more or less" ok now. He goes to sleep on his own, with no fuss or little fuss. He takes a 35-45min nap in the morning, 1hr45min nap in the afternoon and 30-45min nap in the late afternoon. Bedtime is still around 6.30pm - 6.45pm. We still wake him up for a late feed at 11.15pm, but these few days, he has only taken 2-3oz so I am thinking of dropping this feed. But we need to increase his food / milk intake during the day so that he will be full enough to last him through the night. I am sure he is waking up early due to hunger.

Yesterday was a bad day for feeding. He took only 4oz of milk during bedtime (his usual is 7oz). No matter what I do, he refused to drink. So I let him be. 30min later, I was hoping to make him drink when he is sleepy, but failed! He still did not want. He slept til 11.15pm when we woke him up for late night feed. He took only 3oz (his usual is 5oz). Then surprise, surprise! He woke up at 4.30am! Cried and refused to sleep for more than 10min! I am sure it was hunger, but I refused to succumb to the vicious cyle of nightfeeding, so I gave him water. He took about 2oz and went back to sleep til 7am.

I thought he will wolf down his morning milk, but NO... he took only 6oz out of his usual 7oz (after much, much coaxing). I really don't know what to do. I know babies won't starve themselves, but still... I don't want it to affect his night sleeping.

He is really stubborn! If he doesn't want the milk, he will either slap the bottle away, or if I succeed in pushing in the teat into his mouth, he will let the milk dribble out. Very annoying.

I guess I will have to ride out this one...

First snowfall of the year

19 Sept 2009





It got heavier the next day...

Cameron - Rolling over

Cameron has started to roll over at 5 months. I think he did it earlier than Cayden. Now changing him is a problem. He loves to roll over. Feeding him is a problem too. Everything else is more interesting.

Between Cayden and Cameron, Cameron is definitely the more active one. Like Lester said "He will be the first one to break a bone next time."

Sleep Training Starts - Day 5

Ok, today went slightly better. Key word being slightly.

Morning nap - ok. Slept for 40min.

Afternoon nap - again he woke up after 50 min of sleeping. Cried for 20min before falling asleep again. But he wailed off and on til nap time is over.

Evening nap - he went to sleep with a brief protest. Not loud crying but whimpering for about 10min. Slept for 30min.

Bedtime went well. Fingers crossed for the rest of the night.

Sleep Training Starts - Day 4

Not too good today.

Morning nap went well. Slept for 30min and he refused to go back to sleep after lying in crib for 15min.

Afternoon nap went bad. Slept for 30min and woke up. Gave him remaining of his milk and burped him. Put him back on crib and he wailed for 45min before falling asleep again for 1 hour. Stuck to the same routine of checking on him every 10min. I was sure he needed more sleep because he only had 30min sleep. He refused milk, burped, not sick, so I stuck to my guns and continued... IT was hard. I was told that babies regress so I was prepared for it.

Evening nap went bad too. He cried for 20+min before falling asleep for 30min.

Night time - He was just grizzling... now quiet. Fingers crossed that he is already asleep.

Update: he woke up after 1 hour but fell asleep after 10min of crying. I woke him up at 11:45pm for late night feed and he fed well. He cried at 5:20am but managed to fall asleep again after 10min.

He slept from 6:45pm til 6:45am

Sleep Training Starts - Day 3

Morning nap - He slept with a brief protest.

Afternoon nap - Slept with no problems. He woke up 1 hour later, gave him remainder of milk and put him back to sleep. He cried for less than 10 min and went back to sleep. Slept for another hour.

Evening nap - Slept with no problems.

Night time - Went to sleep easily. He woke up at 10:45pm and I let him cry for 10min before going to feed him. Drank only 3oz before falling asleep.

Woke up at 3:30am and 5:10am. Cried for less than 10 min and fall asleep. Woke up at 7am.

Sleep Training Starts - Day 2

For all naps, Cameron went to sleep well, without brief protest, maybe 3 mins. After which he goes to sleep for more than 1 hour for morning & afternoon nap. For evening nap he slept for about 45min.

Bedtime went smoothly, although he refused his milk. Only drank 3oz out of his usual 6oz.

Night time - Woke up at 4:20am and 5:50am. Both times cried for less than 10min before falling asleep.

Slept til 7am.

Sleep Training Starts - Day 1

Morning nap - Cameron went down the usual way... Milk, burp, then PU/PD for about 20 mins. He finally fell asleep. Slept 45mins.

Afternoon nap - Buyanna tried to put him to sleep. He fell asleep but woke up 10 min later. I checked on him and saw he pooed in his diaper. Changed his diaper and pat him for a short while. Left him still wide awake. He whimpered for 5min and then wailed! I checked on him every 10minutes. He finally fell asleep after 2 x 10min checks and nearing the 15min check. 40min in total. Slept for 30min.

Evening nap - I fed him, burped him and carried him. He was drowsy and I put him on the bed. He went down to sleep without a protest.

Bedtime - Started bedtime routine at 5:30pm. He refused to finish his milk feed. Left 2oz. Left him in bed drowsy but awake. No protest. He woke up 50min later, but he fell asleep after about 5min of crying.

Nighttime - I woke him up at 11:45pm for his late night feed. He fed well, drank close to 150ml, but after a small cough, he threw up about half the feed. Despite that, he still slept well, with no protest.

4:40am - He woke up and cried for about 5min. I went in and found that he has kicked himself into a corner of the crib. I re-positioned him to between his wedge and kissed him and told him to go back to sleep. He cried for another 10min. I went in again and he cried for close to 10 min before falling asleep.

5:50am - He woke up again. This time he cried for 10min before keeping quiet for a brief time. He cried again but went again. This went on for 20min. Then he fall asleep til 7am when I had to wake him up.

Sleep Training

Officially, I start my sleep training today. Since I realise that Cameron has a different personality from Cayden, I cannot use the same methods. I tried that controlled crying method on Cameron last week, but it was useless. He cried up to one hour, no signs of letting go or calming down. I am employing the methods of Tracy Hoggs (the Baby Whisperer). I used the shush/pay method and it worked to calm Cameron down. Then I am starting to use the P.U/P.D method and so far, so good.

Last night was such a horrible night. The little man was over stimulated because we went to I-ru's house for lunch and plenty of people carried him and lots of kids screaming. His routine was also thrown off, he refused to drink his milk so he had a really unrested night. So did we. He woke up 6 times from 7pm to 6am! He was also hungry coz he didn't drink enough during the day, but I refused to let him drink. I don't want him to become a snacker! He needs to take his full feeds in the day and not in the night! I had to carry him to sleep from 3am to 5.40am and he woke up at 6am! I decided, enough was enough!

Let's see the outcome in a few days. Fingers crossed.

Sleeping through the night?

As of 3 nights ago, Cameron has been sort of sleeping through the night. He goes down at around 7pm. I give me a last feed at 11pm and he will sleep through til 5.30 or 6.30am. When he wakes up at 5.30am, we give him a small feed of 2oz and he can sleep til about 7.30am. But I realise that it screws up the routine. I learnt it the hard way. So I wake him up at 7am to start the day.

But when he wakes up, he is usually not interested in his feed, so I suspect he doesn't really need the 5.30am feed. I will try to pacify him with water instead, and see how we go.

Struggle

Here I am, close to 2 weeks after returning to Mongolia, I am still struggling with 2 kids. I have no idea how the other mothers can do it and still keep their sanity. The craziest hours for me is 1pm and 5.30pm. That's when I am trying to feed Cayden his lunch / dinner, while trying to carrying Cameron (coz he is whining) or keep Cameron asleep for his nap. Its been such a trying time. Not the best time of my life.

If only, if only I can find more help. If only I can find a reliable helper to help with the cleaning and handling of 1 kid while I handle the other.

Or maybe, if only Cameron follows his routine faithfully, then maybe I can make this work.

This time around, with Cameron, I have to admit that I have not been very consistent, which is not the best thing to do when I want to fix Cameron on a routine. I have to "make-do" coz now I have another child to take care of and to think of. My temper is also very short. I get frustrated easier and by smaller things.

I really want to do better. I really want to handle things better. But so far, I can't.

I am really hoping things for change for the better real soon.

Back In Mongolia

We are now officially back in Mongolia. Have been back since 16 August 2009. It has been tough since we have been back. NO HOT WATER TIL 26 AUGUST! So I have been boiling pots and pots of water since we are back. Have not had a proper hot shower for a week now. Crap.

I have not found a full time babysitter to help me. So far, I have found a babysitter to help me from 9am to 1pm every weekday. She helps me with Cameron, so that I can start preparations for Cayden's lunch and our dinner.

My schedule goes like this:

6+am - Cayden and Cameron wakes up. Lester gives Cayden breakfast & Cameron his milk.
7.40am - I wake up and prepare for Cameron's bath
8am - Bath Cameron and feed Cameron remainder of milk
9am - Put Cameron down for morning nap.
9am to 10am - I take my coffee and do laundry, light housework.
10am - Cameron wakes up. Babysitter takes over.
10am to 11am - Prepare food
11am - Give Cameron his milk
11.30am - Start to cook lunch
12pm - Put Cameron down for afternoon nap
12.30pm - Give Cayden lunch.
1.30pm - Cayden takes his nap.
2pm - Cameron wakes up (on a good day)
2 to 2.30pm - Playtime with Cameron
2.30pm - Feed Cameron
3.30pm - Cayden wakes up. Give him a snack or hot drink
4pm - Put Cameron down for short nap
4pm - Cook dinner.
4.30pm - Cameron wakes up.
5pm - Give Cayden his dinner.
6pm - Bathe Cameron and put him to sleep while Cayden watches TV
7pm - Bathe Cayden
7.30pm - Dinner & give Cayden his bedtime milk.
8.30pm - Put Cayden to sleep
9pm - Bath
11pm - Night feed for Cameron
3/4am - Night feed for Cameron

This is absolutely exhausting. Not the best time of my life now.

Fingers crossed that I can find a good full time help to help with housework AND kids.

Cameron

This is Cameron. 3.4kg

Cayden's Latest...

Went to the peds and had Cayden weighed. He has lost weight.

Weight: 17.8kg

Hmmm... not too good. Time to start cooking for him again.

Jan 2009 - Cayden's Update

We brought Cayden to his pediatrician for his annual flu jab, and also for a general health check.

His latest stats is
Weight: 18kg
Height: 103cm

Peds noted that he can draw quite well. Our camera is spoiled at the moment, but will upload pics of his drawings after we get it fixed.