Ok, I'm not frustrated, rather confused. As many of you know Wade has been a very easy, good-natured baby. I'm sure I'll get my due come the toddler years but we're not there yet. Or so I thought.
The last few days things have been a little rough. He is not eating well- pulling away after just a few minutes of nursing with gas in his tummy (translation="colic like" crying). He's not getting much sustenance so becomes hungry not long after the attempted feeding. We are working on a solution for this but success is slow. I know what you're thinking and you're exactly right- sure, this is just fine and managable during the day but how is this effecting nighttime sleeping? Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Yes, my friends, it's the nighttime that's got me on the verge of frustrated. Remember how well I've been telling you Wade was sleeping. I'll remind you-he was consistently sleeping 9-10 hrs. He's still going down in the evening great. In fact, I'll brag a little - we are getting into a little routine (eat, read Goodnight Moon, pray, put in crib, sing Jesus Loves Me, kiss on forehead). Our routine is awesome cause it doesn't require us soothing him to sleep like we did the first couple months. Anyway, he's falling asleep on his own. But then waking up at least twice during the night. I'll let him cry a bit then stealth my way into his room to check the pacifier, replace if necessary and give him some more time to cry it out. Well, the crying isn't stopping. So I go in and pat him and rub his forehead for a minute or so then give him some more time. Usually we're up to about 20-25 min. by this point. Still crying, so I end up nursing him. Thankfully the nighttime feedings are going better in that he doesn't pull away with gas, etc. BUT when I put him back in his crib he fusses for about 15 more minutes. (When he used to nurse 2-3 times a night he would always go immediately back to sleep) Then his nighttime fast is broken (meaning just like us adults his metabolism speeds up) and he's ready to eat in another 3 hrs.
In all the books I've read the instructions for the first 2 months are that pretty much anything goes as far as soothing- nurse, rock, hold, drive in car around the block- do whatever it takes, you're not forming habits yet. Then the books say that by 4 months of age babies can self soothe. Hello, what about those 2 months in the middle- what do we do then? I think that's why I'm confused on the verge of frustrated. Had this been happening 6 weeks ago it would be no big deal. But I really, really don't want these middle of the night feedings to become a habit.
Ok, so what d'ya say? I know you moms out there absolutely love to give advice and share how it was with your babies. So, now's your chance. I'm actually soliciting your advice. Not guaranteering I'll take it but let's hear it.
Oh, and if you don't have advice (or even if you do) what I'd appreciate even more is prayers. Pray that Wade and I get this eating/sleeping thing straightened out. And pray that his little mind and body will totally forget the beginning of this habit. Especially since we traveling to Spartanburg this weekend then to Florida for 10 days next week then to Houston shortly after that.
3 comments:
Hey Robin...I understand the frustration. I have a friend who is a Pediatrician and he says that if your child doesn't show signs of colic in the first two weeks of life, then they won't develop it. We had the same thoughts with ours and attributed it to colic, but it was not, just a phase. Also it sounds like it might be time to start Wade on some cereal. When Whitney started not sleeping through the night, we gave her some cereal before bed. That seemed to help. We started out making it just a little thicker than milk so she could drink it from a bottle and then eventually thickened it and ate from a spoon. I don't know if this will help, but thought I'd offer what we have tried.
I don't think I'm the best person in the world to give advice on this, but most likely Wade is going through a growth spurt. Jack did the same thing, but it wasn't until he was about 8 or 9 months that waking up at night just became a habit...then it was problematic. The only unfortunate part about nursing is that they get hungrier more often and that you have to be the one to feed him. I would try the cereal thing if you want, but try not to freak out too much about developing habits yet. You could try to nurse him right when he wakes up hoping he would go back to sleep easier (because he wouldn't cry so much that he wakes himself up so much). Then in a week or so try the self-soothing thing again after he's gotten through the little growth spurt. I don't know if this will be really helpful, but it seemed to work for me (I got more sleep that way). Oh, and the mylicon drops work for gas if you double what it says you can give them for their age (our dr. told us we couldn't really overdose on them or anything like that).
I don't have any advice from my whole 4 weeks of motherhood I have over you, so say a prayer for yall instead. I'm looking forward to meeting Wade when you come to town.
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