My almost 2 year old still loves to ride around on my hip. She has always been a high touch baby. She needs to be near me and loves to be carried. But she wants to see what's going on. She doesn't want to be strapped to my back. But trying to stand so I can balance all 22 pounds of her on my hip is sometimes tiresome, well always tiresome!
I found this Baby Nari Hiphugger and think it is a great invention! Awesom, a little shelf for her to sit on my hip and I can stand up straight! They are doing a giveaway this month. If you like them on facebook you will be entered!
http://babynari.com/
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Friday, April 15, 2011
Beco baby
I found this great blog and it has a giveaway for a Beco Baby carrier. I would love to win this giveaway because I love wearing my daughter. The Beco baby carrier sounds so awesome, to wear! We are planning on going hiking this summer and I could wear my daughter instead of pushing a cumbersome stroller or just carrying her in arms. I have a home made mei tai and although I love wearing her in it, it is rather uncomfortable because it puts all the weight on my shoulders.
Here's the link to the giveaway!
http://sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/2011/04/beco-baby-carrier-butterfly-2-baby.html#comment-form
Here's the link to the giveaway!
http://sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/2011/04/beco-baby-carrier-butterfly-2-baby.html#comment-form
Inspired by Finn ...Hazelwood
Here is my long awaited review of the necklace we ordered from Inspired by Finn. I ordered a hazelwood necklace for K in hopes that it would help with her eczema. Honestly I was really hoping it would but I couldn't see much difference. She wore it all day and at night I always take it off and double it around and put it on her ankle. I was a bit worried that it might scratch her neck because the little wood pieces weren't completely smooth. It didn't seem to ever scratch her though. Most of her eczema was around her neck and although it looked a little better after a week, it never got much better or went away. I had started putting coconut oil on her neck at night so I think that actually might have helped more than the hazelwood but I am not for sure. I have done a bit of research on eczema though and found out that often times it is caused by an underlying allergy. Dairy/soy are the most common allergens to babies. So since K is breastfed I decided to cut out dairy in my diet to see if it would help. She was also having ALOT of spit-up issues. After about 1-2 weeks of no dairy her face and neck has dramatically improved and she is hardly spitting up any more! I am excited because MAYBE this was the cause of the eczema all along! There have been a few days where she still had some bad spit up issues, but it's usually been after I've had a tiny bit of dairy hidden in one of the foods I've eaten. Then she'll go days with hardly any spit up. Her neck is really clearing up. I didn't realize her face looked so bad till I was going through some pictures that I had taken just before going 100% dairy free and saw her little face, with red spots and irration. Most of that has completely cleared up. I can tell she still has a few rash spots that flair up occasionally but they are MUCH MUCH better.
As for teething.. she now has 2 bottom teeth. I think she is working on the top ones now. This week has been rough. She cries alot and wants to nurse but then it hurts too much to do so. My mom got her a teething anklet which I hadn't been using consistently but decided to put back on her. After wearing it for the last day and half she has been MUCH better. Maybe I need to head on over to Inspired by Finn and order her another necklace. I had ordered one before but I am not sure if doesn't work as well because of the color or what. The anklet she has is butter colored. The necklace is honey. They say the lighter the color the better it works. So maybe I need to try a lighter color necklace!
As for teething.. she now has 2 bottom teeth. I think she is working on the top ones now. This week has been rough. She cries alot and wants to nurse but then it hurts too much to do so. My mom got her a teething anklet which I hadn't been using consistently but decided to put back on her. After wearing it for the last day and half she has been MUCH better. Maybe I need to head on over to Inspired by Finn and order her another necklace. I had ordered one before but I am not sure if doesn't work as well because of the color or what. The anklet she has is butter colored. The necklace is honey. They say the lighter the color the better it works. So maybe I need to try a lighter color necklace!
Monday, March 07, 2011
teething, eczema, and Wonder Week 26
K is 5 1/2 months old, or exactly 24 weeks 3 days old! Do you know what this means? Wonder Week 26 is upon us. If you know anything about the wonder weeks, they are developmental growth spurts or "leaps". It's when they developmentally something changes in their world and they are about to learn new things. This one is called "The World of Relationships". According to the book I have "The Wonder Weeks" by Hetty van de Rijt Ph.D and Frans Plooij Ph.D all wonder weeks have a few things in common, when your baby growth through a leap, they can tend to be more fussy, clingy, cry more, sleep less, or sleep more, their feeding may be off (increased or decreased), less or more vocal, more shy etc. People often times are thrown off by their baby's sudden mood changes. It can be VERY frustrating. But when you know what is going on, it REALLY helps because then you know your baby is just going through a rough patch and it WILL get better. You know it's not you. You know they aren't sick either. This wonder week is where they learn more about distances between one thing and another. I think this is why the separation anxiety is a BIG deal during this wonder week. Suddenly K know when I've left the room and cries loudly. She knows when someone takes her from mommy and moves away where she can't see me. She wants to be near me. All the time. She wants me holding her, or keeping her busy. She gets bored easily too. Some days are better than others.
On top of that, there is the teething. K has had off and on teething symptoms now for a few months. I bought a Baltic Amber necklace from Inspired by Finn hoping it would help her teething symptoms. I think she was going through wonder week 19 at the time and suddenly it got better, right before I received the necklace. I think her teething symptoms went away too so I couldn't tell for sure if the necklace was helping or not because their was enough other changes that I wasn't sure. BUT she is having teething symptoms again and it DOES seem better this time around than last bout of teething symptoms. She isn't refusing to nurse like before. THAT was super frustrating. She is still drooling a ton and chewing on things, but generally ok, other than not wanting me to put her down or leave her for any amount of time.
The other issue we are having is eczema. She had one teeny tiny spot of it on her chest at her 4 month mark. I asked her pedi about it and he said it was numullar eczema which I'd already figured out but he verified it. He said there wasn't anything to do for it, no reason to be concerned. Um, yeah... it's gotten worse. The teeny tiny spot that was the size of a pencil eraser grew to the size of a quarter or a bit larger. It got more red too. Then she developed a spot on her arm, then one on her bottom. I started using coconut oil on it and FINALLY it started getting better. It is not all gone though. In fact she has MORE spots. She has one on her neck and I am pretty sure she has it across her nose, teeny tiny rashy bumps. Maybe that's why she constantly rubs her nose and then gets aggravated. Then yesterday she developed this awful looking spot on her upper leg/thigh in her diaper area. It is somewhat better but still there and awful looking.
I really am trying to figure out what is going on, whether it is diet related, or environmental. I have some eczema on my hands too, it is very mild and I have had it before in the winter but not like hers. She is 100% breastfed but I have read that eczema could be related to a dairy sensitivity and I may need to cut out dairy.
I also read about Hazelwood necklaces helping. I think I might try one of those to see if it helps in the mean time.
On top of that, there is the teething. K has had off and on teething symptoms now for a few months. I bought a Baltic Amber necklace from Inspired by Finn hoping it would help her teething symptoms. I think she was going through wonder week 19 at the time and suddenly it got better, right before I received the necklace. I think her teething symptoms went away too so I couldn't tell for sure if the necklace was helping or not because their was enough other changes that I wasn't sure. BUT she is having teething symptoms again and it DOES seem better this time around than last bout of teething symptoms. She isn't refusing to nurse like before. THAT was super frustrating. She is still drooling a ton and chewing on things, but generally ok, other than not wanting me to put her down or leave her for any amount of time.
The other issue we are having is eczema. She had one teeny tiny spot of it on her chest at her 4 month mark. I asked her pedi about it and he said it was numullar eczema which I'd already figured out but he verified it. He said there wasn't anything to do for it, no reason to be concerned. Um, yeah... it's gotten worse. The teeny tiny spot that was the size of a pencil eraser grew to the size of a quarter or a bit larger. It got more red too. Then she developed a spot on her arm, then one on her bottom. I started using coconut oil on it and FINALLY it started getting better. It is not all gone though. In fact she has MORE spots. She has one on her neck and I am pretty sure she has it across her nose, teeny tiny rashy bumps. Maybe that's why she constantly rubs her nose and then gets aggravated. Then yesterday she developed this awful looking spot on her upper leg/thigh in her diaper area. It is somewhat better but still there and awful looking.
I really am trying to figure out what is going on, whether it is diet related, or environmental. I have some eczema on my hands too, it is very mild and I have had it before in the winter but not like hers. She is 100% breastfed but I have read that eczema could be related to a dairy sensitivity and I may need to cut out dairy.
I also read about Hazelwood necklaces helping. I think I might try one of those to see if it helps in the mean time.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
wake up to a new world
K is almost 20 weeks old. She is a 4 1/2 months old. We have been going through Wonder Week 19 the last few weeks. I didn't realize it at first till I started reading in the book I got for Christmas about the Wonder Weeks. For the last couple of weeks, probably weeks 17-19 she has been alot more clingy, with mood swings, happy one minute, laughing, then crying the next.
She has definitely gained new skills. She is more aware of her world and the people in it. She smiles, laughs, coos, babbles and makes many faces. She has found her hands, then her feet. She doesn't want to sit "still" in our laps and arches to get down (don't know where she thinks she'll go!). Her naps have gotten better though. She still sleeps in the swing, but her morning nap is almost always 1 1/2 hrs or 2-3 hrs! After helping her get through that 45 minute hurdle in the morning, by holding her arms still when she would go jolting through light sleep, for several weeks she was able to do it all by herself. I spent many mornings waiting for that 38-45 minute time window, sitting by her swing, then holding her arms through the jolts. She was swaddled still, but the light pressure of my hands on her arms/tummy helped her through somehow. The rest of her naps are variable. Sometimes she'll take a 45 minute nap mid day, then a long one in the afternoon, other times she'll take several 45 minute naps throughout the day. Either way , if she can have one GOOD morning nap she does tremendously better.
She does ok at night though. I rock her to sleep, nursing her. Then rock till she is in deep sleep, past 45 minutes, then lay her down and she is fine for 3-4 hours. She usually wakes up between 1 and 3 am. I then nurse her back to sleep and bring her into bed with me where she'll sleep till 7 or 8 am.
She has definitely gained new skills. She is more aware of her world and the people in it. She smiles, laughs, coos, babbles and makes many faces. She has found her hands, then her feet. She doesn't want to sit "still" in our laps and arches to get down (don't know where she thinks she'll go!). Her naps have gotten better though. She still sleeps in the swing, but her morning nap is almost always 1 1/2 hrs or 2-3 hrs! After helping her get through that 45 minute hurdle in the morning, by holding her arms still when she would go jolting through light sleep, for several weeks she was able to do it all by herself. I spent many mornings waiting for that 38-45 minute time window, sitting by her swing, then holding her arms through the jolts. She was swaddled still, but the light pressure of my hands on her arms/tummy helped her through somehow. The rest of her naps are variable. Sometimes she'll take a 45 minute nap mid day, then a long one in the afternoon, other times she'll take several 45 minute naps throughout the day. Either way , if she can have one GOOD morning nap she does tremendously better.
She does ok at night though. I rock her to sleep, nursing her. Then rock till she is in deep sleep, past 45 minutes, then lay her down and she is fine for 3-4 hours. She usually wakes up between 1 and 3 am. I then nurse her back to sleep and bring her into bed with me where she'll sleep till 7 or 8 am.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
sleep regression at 3 months
Naps were going great, she was taking 1 1/2 - 2 hr naps, sometimes fully in her swing, sometimes half the nap in her bed and half in her swing. Suddenly at 11 weeks she started waking at 45 minutes, EVERY nap! It has been frustrating to say the least but after lots of forum reading and research I guess this is pretty common around 12 weeks or so. Sometimes it last several weeks but as far as everyone who has already been through it, says, it WILL get better. I sure hope so.
She wakes up at 45 minutes crying, sometimes 30 minutes, then won't go back to sleep. Sometimes I can tell she is tired but she won't sleep any more. She'll fuss and cry and just be ready to get up and come out and sit with me. She'll eat but isn't necessarily always hungry. After 2 times of this, I can tell she is getting REALLY tired, and sometimes she'll take one good nap of the day. Sometimes it's the morning, sometimes the afternoon.
Before she would always take a longer nap in the swing, now she wakes at 45 minutes even in the swing. It is hit or miss when it comes to switching her from the bed to the swing, sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. I think all this comes because of the 12 week wonder week developmental leap. I say this because of what I've read but also because she suddenly seems so much more aware of her surroundings and my DH and I. When I go in to get her, she kicks her legs and grins really big. She tries to laugh sometimes when we smile at her. She looks around, and coos, chews her hands, blows spit bubbles constantly and is doing so much better holding her head up.
She has also started refusing the bottle again, which I read is not unusual at this age, especially when a baby has had a rough time adapting to the bottle in the first place. We tried every shape of nipple and she finally took the rubber playtex drop ins nipple and would take this successfully from me, my DH and MIL, but now suddenly this has all stopped. I tried everything with no luck. She is too smart, she knows it's not real, she wants the REAL thing!
So this is the challenging 12 week phase. hopefully things will get easier soon.
She wakes up at 45 minutes crying, sometimes 30 minutes, then won't go back to sleep. Sometimes I can tell she is tired but she won't sleep any more. She'll fuss and cry and just be ready to get up and come out and sit with me. She'll eat but isn't necessarily always hungry. After 2 times of this, I can tell she is getting REALLY tired, and sometimes she'll take one good nap of the day. Sometimes it's the morning, sometimes the afternoon.
Before she would always take a longer nap in the swing, now she wakes at 45 minutes even in the swing. It is hit or miss when it comes to switching her from the bed to the swing, sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. I think all this comes because of the 12 week wonder week developmental leap. I say this because of what I've read but also because she suddenly seems so much more aware of her surroundings and my DH and I. When I go in to get her, she kicks her legs and grins really big. She tries to laugh sometimes when we smile at her. She looks around, and coos, chews her hands, blows spit bubbles constantly and is doing so much better holding her head up.
She has also started refusing the bottle again, which I read is not unusual at this age, especially when a baby has had a rough time adapting to the bottle in the first place. We tried every shape of nipple and she finally took the rubber playtex drop ins nipple and would take this successfully from me, my DH and MIL, but now suddenly this has all stopped. I tried everything with no luck. She is too smart, she knows it's not real, she wants the REAL thing!
So this is the challenging 12 week phase. hopefully things will get easier soon.
Monday, November 29, 2010
small successes....
So over the past week, I have resorted to swing sleeping for my baby, but eventually that has led to BETTER naps ! Amazing! My little girl was having trouble going to sleep for naps and STAYING asleep. She would go to sleep and then wake up at 45 minutes into her nap so I started putting her in the swing to finish out her nap. I moved the swing into her room so it would be dark and put on some soft nature music that will repeat throughout her nap. She also was having trouble going to sleep in her bed. I'd rock, soothe, nurse and put her down, then 10 minutes later she'd wake up and cry and I'd have to go back in and rock her or hold her again. It's like she just wanted held. She didn't really need to nurse , she just liked being in my arms. So over the Thanksgiving holiday my tactic became, rock her, nurse her, get her sleepy,swaddle her, stick her in the swing right away, turn it on, turn on the soft music, go out and let her sleep. This WORKED! She slept her whole nap several times. There were a few times that were frustrating that she still woke up in the swing and cried and then I'd get her out and try feeding her.
On Thanksgiving day she got over tired and by the time we left (we only stayed 3 1/2 hours) she had only slept 1/2 hour in my arms, and was cranky and tired and it was time for the next cycle. But instead of keeping her up, (she had nursed off and on at grandma's house so I wasn't worried about her being hungry). I rocked her, swaddled her and put her in the swing and let her sleep for a LONG time. I added up how much sleep she'd missed and how much she still needed at this nap and I let her sleep 3 hours! she slept soundly and then woke up happy and cheerful! :) :)
Gradually over the weekend, Maybe Saturday, or Sunday, I started trying to lay her in the bed to sleep instead of the swing, if she woke up and fussed and cried I would again stick her straight away in the swing and let her finish her nap instead of trying to get her to go back to sleep in her bed which just usually frustrates her more and wakes her up more. Sunday...success!! I don't know if it will last or not, but so far so good...
Sunday, for her first nap, I went and took a shower and told my husband to put her in the swing if she woke up. He said she did and so he put her in the swing where she finished her nap. The 2nd time around, she slept 2 hours in her bed withOUT waking up at all!
The next nap, my parents had come to visit so I couldn't really go in her room and rock her for her nap, so I put her straight away in the swing when she was fussy and tired and she went right to sleep and slept 2 hours again. When her swing stopped she didn't even wake up. The last nap, she slept in her bed again and did not wake up.
The best thing about it all, is that when I finish rocking her and nursing her, lay her in the bed and wrap her up, she fusses just a tiny bit, with her eyes closed , mind you! Tosses her head back and forth, kicks her legs a little and goes on to sleep!! WOW!
I'm not sure what helped this change, but things have changed and I hope they stay this way!
Today she's gone down for both naps just fine without much fussing and went to sleep. This last go round, she even had her eyes open while I was swaddling her, and I wondered if she'd really go to sleep or not, but I thought, I'll go out and just see and go back in if she fusses. She is SOUND asleep! WHOO HOO!!
Sooo.... things can and will get better! Sometimes it just takes time. Sometimes you just have to take a break and do things the easy way for a while, let your little one catch up on some sleep and start over trying to do things gradually.
Nighttime is another matter. She woke up 3 times last night. I think she has this little alarm clock in her head that goes off at 2:30 or 3am that says "wake up now!" Because she habitually does but then when I try to nurse her it will only last maybe 5 minutes and she's back to sleep. But then around 5 or 6 she is really hungry and does wake up for real. Only last night she woke up at 4:40 then again at 7 am. But I'm hoping that just as things gradually get better in the day, so will the night.
Most nights are better than this. Several nights she only woke up once around 2 or 3 and then again at 6 and that was all. I can handle that much better than 3 x plus the early morning waking.
Happy with the small successes.
On Thanksgiving day she got over tired and by the time we left (we only stayed 3 1/2 hours) she had only slept 1/2 hour in my arms, and was cranky and tired and it was time for the next cycle. But instead of keeping her up, (she had nursed off and on at grandma's house so I wasn't worried about her being hungry). I rocked her, swaddled her and put her in the swing and let her sleep for a LONG time. I added up how much sleep she'd missed and how much she still needed at this nap and I let her sleep 3 hours! she slept soundly and then woke up happy and cheerful! :) :)
Gradually over the weekend, Maybe Saturday, or Sunday, I started trying to lay her in the bed to sleep instead of the swing, if she woke up and fussed and cried I would again stick her straight away in the swing and let her finish her nap instead of trying to get her to go back to sleep in her bed which just usually frustrates her more and wakes her up more. Sunday...success!! I don't know if it will last or not, but so far so good...
Sunday, for her first nap, I went and took a shower and told my husband to put her in the swing if she woke up. He said she did and so he put her in the swing where she finished her nap. The 2nd time around, she slept 2 hours in her bed withOUT waking up at all!
The next nap, my parents had come to visit so I couldn't really go in her room and rock her for her nap, so I put her straight away in the swing when she was fussy and tired and she went right to sleep and slept 2 hours again. When her swing stopped she didn't even wake up. The last nap, she slept in her bed again and did not wake up.
The best thing about it all, is that when I finish rocking her and nursing her, lay her in the bed and wrap her up, she fusses just a tiny bit, with her eyes closed , mind you! Tosses her head back and forth, kicks her legs a little and goes on to sleep!! WOW!
I'm not sure what helped this change, but things have changed and I hope they stay this way!
Today she's gone down for both naps just fine without much fussing and went to sleep. This last go round, she even had her eyes open while I was swaddling her, and I wondered if she'd really go to sleep or not, but I thought, I'll go out and just see and go back in if she fusses. She is SOUND asleep! WHOO HOO!!
Sooo.... things can and will get better! Sometimes it just takes time. Sometimes you just have to take a break and do things the easy way for a while, let your little one catch up on some sleep and start over trying to do things gradually.
Nighttime is another matter. She woke up 3 times last night. I think she has this little alarm clock in her head that goes off at 2:30 or 3am that says "wake up now!" Because she habitually does but then when I try to nurse her it will only last maybe 5 minutes and she's back to sleep. But then around 5 or 6 she is really hungry and does wake up for real. Only last night she woke up at 4:40 then again at 7 am. But I'm hoping that just as things gradually get better in the day, so will the night.
Most nights are better than this. Several nights she only woke up once around 2 or 3 and then again at 6 and that was all. I can handle that much better than 3 x plus the early morning waking.
Happy with the small successes.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
baby sleep
Well, it's obviously been a while since I wrote. I think I am going to start back up again. Only I decided I really want to blog about my journey as a mommy. Right now, what is on my mind is getting my baby to establish good sleep habits.
Just to preface this new time in my life, let me say... I am now a mom. My daughter is 9 1/2 weeks old right now. She is the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen, but then again I am biased. She had a full head of dark hair when she was born and still does. I can still remember my life before her but can not imagine not having her in my life in the future.
Before I had my daughter I read this book called "Babywise". Some people may have heard of it. Others might not have. I naively believed that if I followed this book my baby would start sleeping through the night in record time and I would be well rested and my baby do everything it was supposed to just like the book said. HAHAHAHAHA.... well, now I realize that life is not like that. You can't just read a book and expect your baby to operate like clockwork. My baby is not a machine. She is an individual with her own needs and wants and personality and quirks, etc. My baby has not read Babywise. She doesn't know that she is supposed to sleep when it is naptime. She doesn't realize that she should eat when she wakes up and not again till after the next nap...BUT she does know when she's hungry, she knows when she's tired, she knows when she's happy. Like my pediatrician told me, babies know what they need. You need to listen to your baby. When I was in the hospital and then shortly there after, I could not fathom how any resemblance of a schedule was going to work with my daughter as she slept ALL the time and if I did not wake to feed her she wouldn't wake up. She hardly had any wake time and she woke up multiple times during the night to eat. ... Well, at about 3 weeks old things started changing. I noticed that she spent a little more time awake and aware after she was fed. I decided maybe a schedule of sorts "might" work. I would just ease into it. If she was hungry sooner I'd feed her. But I'd let her guide me into the schedule. Wake up, feed her, let her have a little wake time, when she was sleepy put her to bed, then repeat the schedule. If she slept too long I'd wake her up so that she wouldn't go more than 3 hrs between feedings. This seemed to work and we started falling into a "routine" of sorts. I could never keep consistent times. Partly because we never got up in the morning at the same time. Over time, things got better. We started getting up about 7 or 7:30 and this really helped the day become more consistent but I still never had "set" times that I fed her, it was more of a repeating 3 hour routine, feed, waketime, sleep, repeat.
Then at some point I started nursing her before I put her down for sleep. I can't remember how this started exactly. It seems like maybe she wouldn't settle one day and seemed hungry so I fed her right before I put her down and she settled down. This became a once in a while thing, then gradually became our norm. I don't think she fully relies on it even now, but she does seem to calm right down and get drowsy quicker if I let her nurse a little. Sometimes she is actually drinking alot, but usually I can tell she's just sucking to soothe herself. I should add, she won't take a pacifier. She only took one in the hospital for the few days we were there, then never again. I don't know why. I really never pushed it on her because they said not to because of nipple confusion. Maybe that's why she won't take it. But I know she definitely uses me as her pacifier at times.
My sister encouraged me to stop nursing her to sleep. I told her it was only a once in a while thing and that I really didn't see the need to stop that she didn't rely on it to go to sleep. I still believe she doesn't rely on it, but she certainly does go to sleep quicker. I read several articles that said it is just fine, babies eventually grow out of this. Especially if you can put them down and they go to sleep just fine. Which she does.
My daughter is now 9 1/2 weeks old. She was doing really well for naps. I had used a method of gradually getting her to sleep , we'd do a rocking/nursing routine, then lay her down swaddled and then if she cried or fussed I'd go back every few minutes to calm her and shush her and gradually she hardly needed this at all, then not at all. She'd go right to sleep. Suddenly it seems she's regressed. She had her first shots last week. I don't know if this has any effect or not. She slept on my lap all evening after her shots. She was miserable, crying, moaning and whining in her sleep. She wouldn't eat, she'd wake up and cry and kick her legs and cry all the harder, then pass out and go to sleep again. So the next day she was back to normal, but I did take it easy on her and we were off schedule. Several times over the weekend we had gone out and she didn't get the sleep she needed. She would fall asleep and then wake up with the noise of people and places. So I don't know if this is all part of the downward spiral or not.
Now I lay her down in light sleep and she acts like she'll sleep, then wakes anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes later, crying and kicking. If I pick her up, she nestles in my arm and calms right down. She doesn't want nursed, or rocked, she just wants held. So ... Is my baby now addicted to sleeping my arms? Is she just at a weird phase because of her age? A few people said maybe it is her age, being more aware of her surroundings. I think maybe both. She is very very aware, she smiles, coos and looks around alot. When I rock her to sleep, sometimes even when she is tired, she'll just lay there and smile and grin and coo at me then get really sleepy, her eyes drifting closed. I think she also just likes being held and doesn't want put down.
So today I tried soothing her, putting her down with some soft music and she went to sleep for about 10 minutes then woke up crying again. I went in and picked her up and did it again, and she slept another few minutes this time a little longer. This last time, I moved the swing into her room and when she woke up I cradled her and then put her in the swing and turned it on. I left her upper body wrapped but strapped her in. I know she'll sleep like this because when she wakes out of a nap early and isn't hungry but just won't go back to sleep, I have put her in her swing for the rest of her nap and it works great. I just didn't want to rely on it for naps. But after yesterday, I would rather have her sleep than get over tired. Yesterday , for almost an hour she fought sleep. She'd get drowsy, sleep a little, I'd put her down, she'd wake up, we did this for almost an hour, by then she was fussy. So I put her in the swing for another half hour and she slept.
I just don't know what to do sometimes. I feel like I am doing something wrong. I will NOT do cry it out. I feel it is un-kind, and in humane. My baby cries to communicate, why would I ignore her and let her fall asleep alone feeling like her mommy doesn't care to come to her when she calls out. I won't do this to her.
I am reading the No Cry Sleep Solution and going to try this method. I am going to work on my sleep logs and write out a sleep solution/routine. We'll see how it goes. I will blog about it here. She says to stick to your plan for 10 days then evaluate it. So that is what I'll do.
Before actually making my sleep solution, my goals are this...
1. Help my daughter to go to sleep and stay asleep at naps so that she can be well rested and when she has brief awakenings she'll be able to go right back to sleep on her own, easily.
2. Help my daughter go to sleep at nap times without much help other than a nap time routine
3. Help my daughter sleep through the night.
Just to preface this new time in my life, let me say... I am now a mom. My daughter is 9 1/2 weeks old right now. She is the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen, but then again I am biased. She had a full head of dark hair when she was born and still does. I can still remember my life before her but can not imagine not having her in my life in the future.
Before I had my daughter I read this book called "Babywise". Some people may have heard of it. Others might not have. I naively believed that if I followed this book my baby would start sleeping through the night in record time and I would be well rested and my baby do everything it was supposed to just like the book said. HAHAHAHAHA.... well, now I realize that life is not like that. You can't just read a book and expect your baby to operate like clockwork. My baby is not a machine. She is an individual with her own needs and wants and personality and quirks, etc. My baby has not read Babywise. She doesn't know that she is supposed to sleep when it is naptime. She doesn't realize that she should eat when she wakes up and not again till after the next nap...BUT she does know when she's hungry, she knows when she's tired, she knows when she's happy. Like my pediatrician told me, babies know what they need. You need to listen to your baby. When I was in the hospital and then shortly there after, I could not fathom how any resemblance of a schedule was going to work with my daughter as she slept ALL the time and if I did not wake to feed her she wouldn't wake up. She hardly had any wake time and she woke up multiple times during the night to eat. ... Well, at about 3 weeks old things started changing. I noticed that she spent a little more time awake and aware after she was fed. I decided maybe a schedule of sorts "might" work. I would just ease into it. If she was hungry sooner I'd feed her. But I'd let her guide me into the schedule. Wake up, feed her, let her have a little wake time, when she was sleepy put her to bed, then repeat the schedule. If she slept too long I'd wake her up so that she wouldn't go more than 3 hrs between feedings. This seemed to work and we started falling into a "routine" of sorts. I could never keep consistent times. Partly because we never got up in the morning at the same time. Over time, things got better. We started getting up about 7 or 7:30 and this really helped the day become more consistent but I still never had "set" times that I fed her, it was more of a repeating 3 hour routine, feed, waketime, sleep, repeat.
Then at some point I started nursing her before I put her down for sleep. I can't remember how this started exactly. It seems like maybe she wouldn't settle one day and seemed hungry so I fed her right before I put her down and she settled down. This became a once in a while thing, then gradually became our norm. I don't think she fully relies on it even now, but she does seem to calm right down and get drowsy quicker if I let her nurse a little. Sometimes she is actually drinking alot, but usually I can tell she's just sucking to soothe herself. I should add, she won't take a pacifier. She only took one in the hospital for the few days we were there, then never again. I don't know why. I really never pushed it on her because they said not to because of nipple confusion. Maybe that's why she won't take it. But I know she definitely uses me as her pacifier at times.
My sister encouraged me to stop nursing her to sleep. I told her it was only a once in a while thing and that I really didn't see the need to stop that she didn't rely on it to go to sleep. I still believe she doesn't rely on it, but she certainly does go to sleep quicker. I read several articles that said it is just fine, babies eventually grow out of this. Especially if you can put them down and they go to sleep just fine. Which she does.
My daughter is now 9 1/2 weeks old. She was doing really well for naps. I had used a method of gradually getting her to sleep , we'd do a rocking/nursing routine, then lay her down swaddled and then if she cried or fussed I'd go back every few minutes to calm her and shush her and gradually she hardly needed this at all, then not at all. She'd go right to sleep. Suddenly it seems she's regressed. She had her first shots last week. I don't know if this has any effect or not. She slept on my lap all evening after her shots. She was miserable, crying, moaning and whining in her sleep. She wouldn't eat, she'd wake up and cry and kick her legs and cry all the harder, then pass out and go to sleep again. So the next day she was back to normal, but I did take it easy on her and we were off schedule. Several times over the weekend we had gone out and she didn't get the sleep she needed. She would fall asleep and then wake up with the noise of people and places. So I don't know if this is all part of the downward spiral or not.
Now I lay her down in light sleep and she acts like she'll sleep, then wakes anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes later, crying and kicking. If I pick her up, she nestles in my arm and calms right down. She doesn't want nursed, or rocked, she just wants held. So ... Is my baby now addicted to sleeping my arms? Is she just at a weird phase because of her age? A few people said maybe it is her age, being more aware of her surroundings. I think maybe both. She is very very aware, she smiles, coos and looks around alot. When I rock her to sleep, sometimes even when she is tired, she'll just lay there and smile and grin and coo at me then get really sleepy, her eyes drifting closed. I think she also just likes being held and doesn't want put down.
So today I tried soothing her, putting her down with some soft music and she went to sleep for about 10 minutes then woke up crying again. I went in and picked her up and did it again, and she slept another few minutes this time a little longer. This last time, I moved the swing into her room and when she woke up I cradled her and then put her in the swing and turned it on. I left her upper body wrapped but strapped her in. I know she'll sleep like this because when she wakes out of a nap early and isn't hungry but just won't go back to sleep, I have put her in her swing for the rest of her nap and it works great. I just didn't want to rely on it for naps. But after yesterday, I would rather have her sleep than get over tired. Yesterday , for almost an hour she fought sleep. She'd get drowsy, sleep a little, I'd put her down, she'd wake up, we did this for almost an hour, by then she was fussy. So I put her in the swing for another half hour and she slept.
I just don't know what to do sometimes. I feel like I am doing something wrong. I will NOT do cry it out. I feel it is un-kind, and in humane. My baby cries to communicate, why would I ignore her and let her fall asleep alone feeling like her mommy doesn't care to come to her when she calls out. I won't do this to her.
I am reading the No Cry Sleep Solution and going to try this method. I am going to work on my sleep logs and write out a sleep solution/routine. We'll see how it goes. I will blog about it here. She says to stick to your plan for 10 days then evaluate it. So that is what I'll do.
Before actually making my sleep solution, my goals are this...
1. Help my daughter to go to sleep and stay asleep at naps so that she can be well rested and when she has brief awakenings she'll be able to go right back to sleep on her own, easily.
2. Help my daughter go to sleep at nap times without much help other than a nap time routine
3. Help my daughter sleep through the night.
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