Mary at 4 months

Miss Mary Clare is growing every day and is lots of fun.  She smiles, coos and laughs a lot and loves to entertain herself by blowing raspberries during car trips.  Although she is not any bigger than little Alex was at this age, she has very chubby legs with lots of rolls.  Alex calls her tree trunks :) She finally rolled over last week, but hasn’t done it since, and is usually content to be on her tummy for awhile.  Our biggest challenge right now is trying to control her terrible eczema.  We have been struggling since she was 2 months old, and I have yet to find something that soothes her skin well.  The topical steroid creams clear it up right away, but I am nervous about using them long term as there can be side effects with extensive use, especially in young babies.   Right now I give her daily baths w/ bleach or oatmeal powder and then put lotions on right away to help seal it the moisture, and the re-apply the lotions several times a day.  She has started scratching too, so I know it is bugging her. Poor thing.  And possibly associated with this is the frequent nighttime wakings we have been experiencing.  The swaddle wrap we were using lost its magic, and lately she won’t sleep for long periods unless she is in the swing.  She falls asleep while nursing, but wakes up 20 minutes later.  So either her eczema is bothering her, she is hungry (in which case I may have to start supplementing with formula or start solids) or she is just reverse cycling and wants to nurse all night because she doesn't get to much during the day.  I know some women that work encourage this, so they don't have to pump as much during the day, but I NEED my sleep.   I guess we can be grateful for the blissful nights we had when she was younger and would sleep 6-7 hours.