“It’s Never Too Late to Get a Good Night’s Sleep” A Review of Baby Care.

This Savvy Source article It’s Never Too Late to Get a Good Night’s Sleep seems aimed more at babies but I found it useful for giving me tools to use for my 2 year old.

Here are some bells that rang out for me while reading:

“Establish a routine.”
I keep hearing this one and have yet to overhaul our days so that it has a routine from start to end. We have the bedtime routine pretty established but could work on enforcing the actual bedtime. I let actual bedtime fluctuate because the rest of the day is in flux.

“Sleep begets sleep.”
Again, I keep hearing this one. I have yet to see the evidence. It seems like a routine goes hand-in-hand with this one.

“Sleep, eat then play.”
Wow, this is a simple no-brainer (calories = energy) that I have not been following. I will now!

Now, on the night time sleeping routine, I am not sure I agree with it all. For instance, I believe that a baby should not be left to cry alone in a crib or elsewhere. Crying is the main way babies have to communicate their needs. Yes, a child could manipulate you to come and take them out of their crib, but, they could also be trying to let you know they need to be burped, have a diaper changed, or other. Here is where the “learn the cry” section comes in.

As it is now, my struggles are getting Will to sleep on his own and getting him to nap and night time sleep at a decent time. What do I do now that he is a toddler? I read on the Berkeley Parent’s Network the other day that one thoughtful mother believes that one should wean around 18 months or around 3 years old and not at two. I have been wanting to night time wean for about 6 or so months now. I have had one full night sleep in 2 years. (He did sleep through the night one other time, at 6 months, but I could not!) Needless to say, I am not coping well with prolonged sleep disruption. I hate the person I am when I am tired. Hate it!

Had I established a routine with Will early on I would have had a better handle on all his sleeping habits (and eating habits too!)

What now?

UPDATE:
After I wrote the above post I left a comment/question in the comments area of the It’s Never Too Late to Get a Good Night’s Sleep article. I got a reply from a Montessori teacher for Preschool and Lower Ed who has a degree in Early child-hood and, 10 grandchildren. (See the 3rd comment from Diane. Mine is the 2nd comment.)
She has some insightful things to say about how to handle getting a child to go to sleep in their own bed. I found it loving and gently firm. She points out that giving children boundaries in a caring way equates to a child with a healthy scene of independence and self discipline. Imagine what mentally healthy adults these children will grow into. They will be able to accomplish great things for themselves and others.

Portland Visit: Baby Will and Auntie Julia Dance Their Hearts Out!

Julia opened her house for peeps to gather to say hi to me and Will on Thursday, May 14th, Will’s 10 month birthday. After everyone had left, except Jenny, Julia popped on her music set for the following night and started getting her groove on. Will started rocking out with her in his little head banging arm swinging way. Then, wham! The two of them joined forces and danced their hearts out. It was beautiful. Here is a pic. Video to follow… you wont want to miss that! Will squeals and laughs in delight!

We love you auntie Julia!

willnjuliadancing

Two fisted

Will is now grabbing toys hanging down from his jungle gym in each hand.

Just last week he was grabbing one with one hand then reaching over and grabbing with his other hand as well. Today I saw him going to town with both arms swinging and batting at the toys that hang down on either side of him. He was also pausing to grab them one in each hand. He is developing into a big little boy!

It’s funny to say things such as these because, after all, don’t all humans do theses things? Well, each new life seems like a brand new experience… especially for me, being a new mom.

I love my little man!

Now, its off to bed with me. Its late and Will has a good head start on the sleep.
nite!

Mom Flu

Oh dear. I have the flu. I had wondered when this would happen as it would eventually. Being a mom to a little one while being sick challenging. I took it pretty easy most of the day but I think that Will didn’t appreciate that. It seemed to lessen his coping skills with teething and other discomforts (like gas). But I pulled it together and was fun mom by late afternoon and all was well. I love that little boy! He is so wonderful!

Will slept a bit more today I think so I wonder if he will sleep well during the night. Well, I had better hit the hay to help prepare myself and to speed the healing.

Forgive Me Blog For I Have Sinned

Dear Blog,

Please forgive me my sins. I have not blogged in eight days…
I have doubted my writing ability and the quality of my posts that I thought I might write about.
I have doubted that anyone cares or even reads this blog.
I have not reached out to the blogging community to foster dialogue and to see what else is going on out there.
I have held my baby or rested with my baby for far more than I used to.

Wait, that last one sounds like a good one.
I read that the more skin on skin contact you have with your baby the better weight gain they have and the more milk production you have. There are other benefits as well but they escape me at the moment. You can find out more at sites like Dr Sears I think it is a wonderful reason to spend more time with baby and to feel good about it. I have felt like I need to get things done when baby is sleeping but now I have upped the amount of time I hold my sleeping baby in my arms. It feels great.

When I hold baby I can do “one handed typing” but it is slow and frustrating. When I put baby down I tend to do things like make something to eat or laundry. Priorities.

Anyway, a lot has gone on since I last wrote. I foresee some of those topic as being my upcoming blog posts.

As for now, baby is stirring like he means to wake up. I hope you will forgive me as I take my leave.

Will’s First Smile!

For a few days now Will has been almost smiling. People told me that I will “know” when it is a full on smile and not just about gas.

Well, today he smiled for sure! Such a big grin and so much like his daddy! :D

I was giddy, so happy to be there with him, watching him in his delight.

We were at my OB/GYN for my “2 month visit” when it happened. He was so alert and was checking out all the things on the walls, all of the shadows and lights. So much stimulus. We were at the doctor’s office for about three hours. First there was the wait, then I talked with my doctor, then she sent in a case worker to help me work through some of the things I am going through, then the doctor came back to examine me. When the doctor stepped out to let me don my paper examination skirt I had to put will in the stroller. (I had been holding him the entire visit and nursing him up until that point.) So there we were looking at each other (well mostly I watched him look around at stuff) when all of the sudden BOOM! Will is a smiling little boy cooing away. I scrambled for the camera and fired of shots of my cute little boy with his wide toothless grin.

He had such a good day! And so did I. We both felt very loved and supported.

The Wee One

When Will and I are out and about in the world we often get the question that starts with “aww”, then follows with “how old is he?” Today he is just over 8 weeks old. When I told that to the lady in line at Whole Foods she replied “you don’t see ones that young out much”. I have gotten comments similar to this now and then. When Will was about 6 weeks old one sagely woman at the Berkeley Cafe Gratitude told me that I should be with Will in the sanctuary of my home. I said back something like “really?” even though I agreed with her. I felt like I just wanted to be home and resting and recuperating and nurturing Will. Ideally I would have liked to have been nurtured too by my family and friends and she said as much. She said that traditionally women did not leave the home for 40 days after delivery. When I asked how these women did not get “cabin fever” she told me that the mother and babe were cared for by the family and that they were with her which allowed her not to feel the strain of being isolated.

Oh my. I loved what she said. I realized that my longing for a tribe (community) to be with me and love and care for me was not unfounded. Yes, I am a modern woman but I am also a human and I believe that humans have a natural instinct to live as this woman suggested caring for each other, protecting and celebrating their young, and each other.

I feel sad and like I am missing something by not having this rich tribe. My family and friends are scattered about the globe (mostly located in Portland). Also, it seems that in these modern times or, at least in this first world country that our ties with our family are not as strong as they would have been at a time in the past or in another culture.

I am thankful that my mom did come and stay for a week to be there for us. I am also thankful that Billy’s mom came to help and be with us too. Then, about a week and a half ago, my friend Rebecca called me up and asked if she could come by with some homemade soup! Of course! She and her boyfriend came by with not only soup but groceries from Whole Foods! Lots of organic, fresh goodies. She had been traveling to places such a Egypt so was unable to come sooner.

I want to reclaim some of those seemly less and less common values. Friends and family are a treasure to be tended to and like a garden, grow.

I love you my dear family and friends.

Baby Sling

I started wearing Will in a baby sling today. I had actually tried it before with little success and confidence but since I have started reading up on the benefits of it I decided to give it another try.

The sling we are using is the HotSling. My boss’ wife handed it down to us. It is reversible. Billy uses the all black side, I use the floral side. There are several ways you can “hold” your baby in the sling. But newborns have limited options. Once Will can hold up his own head (more than now and then) we can take advantage of the other options. This sling seems to barely fit Will, I can’t image holding a toddler in there (which you are supposed to be able to do). Wow.

Will liked the sling once I got more comfortable with it. We even nursed in it. That didn’t go so well. He is too squished up to be able to get good swallows and breathing in… at least that is my take.

I have more to learn about “babywearing” as it is called. I will keep you posed.