For example, today we got home from church and I fed Saku and he was just tired even though he had just woken up from a nap, so we put him down for a nap only 20 minutes after he ate. He did sleep for 5.5 hours in a row last night, which is great for us. Of course, then he decided to not go to sleep for 2.5 hours. He wasn't even crying; he just wanted to be cuddled. You might wonder, why would she just stay up and cuddle him in the middle of the night. Well he would scream if we would put him down. Some people might tell me to just put him down and let him cry. However, I don't believe in letting him cry it out. Maybe when he is little older, but I want to make sure that he knows I'm there for him and if he cries, I will take care of him. HOWEVER, I don't think that moms who do let their babies cry themselves to sleep are doing anything wrong. So no judging; just a personal preference. Plus Saku is having some reflux and I think it's hurting him every now and then and since I can't help with the pain, I want to at least comfort him as much as possible.
Anyways, what is your way of getting your baby to a good, manageable daily routine and have them sleep at night? Also, I have to say that we have not figured out a way to swaddle him in a way that we keep him swaddled for a night. We tried all different size blankets, the miracle blanket (Thanks Lili) and swaddle blankets from Target and he just wiggles his way out of them or at least gets them loose enough that they aren't effective. I think I will order the Woombie tomorrow (http://www.thewoombie.com/) because I can't think of any other way to keep him swaddled, which equals keeping him asleep. One of my friends vouches for the Woombie so we will check it out.
My baby got some good chunk in his trunk:) He is 11 lbs and 4 ozs at 5 weeks and 2 days.
My baby got some good chunk in his trunk:) He is 11 lbs and 4 ozs at 5 weeks and 2 days.
This is how Saku felt when we told him that Aunt Anna had to go back to Finland. He asked "who is going to hold me when mom wants to sleep an extra hour","who is going to sing and hold my hand in the backseat when we drive to places" and "who is going to hold me and bounce on the exercise ball to calm me down". We loved having Anna here. It was amazing to see how much she loved Saku. He is such a lucky child to have a wonderful extended family.
P.S Yes, my blog is one of those "mommy" blogs now.But that is my life right now, plus I want to make sure I remember all these little things about his life that I might otherwise forget.
10 comments:
We definitely do NOT have the sleep thing mastered even at almost a year old, but the Baby Whisperer book did help us out a lot. As far as the times for the routine, we kind of fudged and made it fit what he needed at the time. If he's hungry, he's hungry. I did try to stick to it as much as we could at first and it really helped...in fact, I just borrowed the book from a friend again because we've gotten out of routine with vacations and stuff and I want to see what it says for his age now. It is helpful to stick to the EASY routine because they you have a better idea of why your baby is upset, and I think it also helped him feel secure knowing what was coming next. After trying a lot of other methods and a lot of putting it off, we did let Jackson cry it out and it really worked...but he was older, and I know everyone has their own preferences and that is totally fine. The whole thing is one big learning process!
I have the book and need to read it AGAIN! It is so hard - and while she has some great ideas, they don't work for all babies. Try what you can and just do your best -not every baby is going to sleep through the night at a certain age. Even napping during the day can be tough for some - just take it one day at a time, try the EASY routine and just realize, as they get older, more of a routine does evolve. Sounds like Saku and Cade have a lot in common (except size). Hang in there.
I was going to say that Natalie read that book and was using the plan, but I see that she has already told you that.
I don't believe in letting such a young baby cry it out either, but rushing to pick him up is not always necessary because at some point they will figure out that crying means getting picked up. Until Luke was 5 or 6 months we just kind of stuck to his routine and made sure that every time he was hungry he got fed and just doing that makes a HUGE difference. I do think that at night there should be a routine like every night at about the same time you feed him, change him, bathe him or lotion him, read him a story, sing him a song and rock him to help him wind down. Having a nightly routine really helped Luke realize that it was bedtime and not naptime. Don't stress too much! He is still so little and he is growing so fast that he needs a lot of attention right now and the time goes so quickly. Enjoy it! He is so adorable:)
Eevi- please please post the picture from the woombie page. It is so funny.
It's like a straight jacket... for babies.
I just read everyone else's comments and am realizing that I am definitely not the helpful friend.
Everyone is just giving you advice and yatta yatta and I am still laughing about that woombie.
There is NOTHING wrong with having a mommy blog.
I think that having just you and Troy around will help. I didn't think about this when we were talking, but the kids always seem to sleep worse when company are here.
Eevi I think you're doing a wonderfull job. It's just hard at the beginning and like we talked about no book is more right than the other. It all depends on the baby. I personally think that people underestimate the amount of sleep babies sometime need (again not all babies). Sometimes I've felt that if my babies are over tired they have a hard time sleeping. So if he seems tired even though he just woke up from a nap I say let him go back to sleep. Maybe he just wanted to wake up for just a moment to make sure his pretty mommy was still there. =)
You being soooo concerned about him only shows what a great mom he has.
James used to wiggle out of the blankets that we would swaddle him in too. So one day, I decided it was because he didn't like to be so constricted and I let one arm stay out. After that, he would just flap that one around and he didn't feel the need to have to undo the blanket that swaddled the remaining three limbs close to his body. :)
Just give it time! I know it's sooo hard. I was totally there just a few months ago! I could never let Lois cry it out - I think that's the hardest with a first child especially. Anyway, it will even out. By four months old, he should be sleeping better! Hang in there! And just to warn you: I bought the woombie. And Lois' arm found it's way OUT the first time I used it! She's a dang Houdini! :-)
I'm in the same boat- let me know what works for you guys. I can't believe how fast he's grown! Olivia's just barely getting to eleven pounds at two months, and she was fed intravenously and continuously for the first three weeks of her life! You must do a really good job of feeding him- Lucky boy! Also, everything I've read says you can't spoil them at this age, so I never let Olivia cry it out either. It just hurts too much!
Reflux is definitely something we're dealing with, too. What helps for us (besides her prevacid)is letting her sleep in her bouncy chair so she's on an incline. We also tilted her cradle mattress by putting some towels under one end, so her chest is always higher up than her stomach. Also cutting out chocolate and soda. meh. I want my diet coke back.
Zach wouldn't stay in his swaddler blankets either, so we eventually just swaddled his arms and let his legs hang out. Looks funny but does the trick. About the sleeping thing...I was recommended the book Baby Wise by many, many people. It's truly a miracle book. Zach was sleeping through the night (8 hours) by six weeks and now sleeps about 11 hours each night. It sounds like the ideas to the book are similar, but I would highly recommend this book. One thing the book stresses is that it's okay for babies to cry a little. Babies need to cry and most babies have to cry a little to put them to sleep. Babies need to learn to put themselves to sleep so when they wake up in the night, they can put themselves back to sleep. This book discusses how long you should let them cry before going in and cuddling them. I would recommend this book 1,000 percent!
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