... Who feed their babies in the middle of the night - sometimes multiple times - well, I salute you. Your ability to operate on a lack of sleep is a God-given gift and talent that us dads and husbands are very thankful for.
Speaking on sleep, that's where I'm headed.
-D
P.S. Yes, that time stamp is correct.
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
On Schedules, Sleep, and Star Wars
Well, hello again, dear readers. I trust that you had a relaxing, enjoyable, cooking-out Labor Day. We did, although our little one was more interested in seeing family than sleeping, which led to a less-than-happy baby at times. Oh well, our little spirited girl just has to know what is going on, and that's ok.
Babies are smarter than anyone gives them credit for - of this I am convinced. Meaning to talk like Yoda, I am not; continue typing I will. Anyways, my little daughter is smart. Three weeks ago we started walking in the evenings, interrupting her normal nap time. Once we decided to change that so Mom could walk in the mornings and I could exercise in the evenings, our little nimbus cloud still wanted to be up rather than go to sleep, which she had done prior to walking. This made for some long afternoons and evenings recently. Monday evening, G and I sat down and ironed out a schedule for all of us - giving plenty of time for Mom and Dad as well as spreading out Ny's naps better. Per the Baby Whisperer, it usually takes at 3-5 days for schedule changes to take effect. Tuesday was definitely a struggle, since Ny was up for a while that afternoon and evening. Yesterday was much better. I even got her down for an almost 2-hour nap in the evening! And they all rejoiced! (yay)
While the adventures of trying to get naps in, especially during the afternoon/evening, can be tiresome, what isn't tiresome is the fact that 4 of the last 5 nights, including the last 3 in a row, Ny has slept all night! By all night, I mean we feed her around 9:30 one last time (to tank her up), put her down before 10, and don't hear from her until after 6. That, my friends, is a blessing!
Have a great Thursday!
-D
Babies are smarter than anyone gives them credit for - of this I am convinced. Meaning to talk like Yoda, I am not; continue typing I will. Anyways, my little daughter is smart. Three weeks ago we started walking in the evenings, interrupting her normal nap time. Once we decided to change that so Mom could walk in the mornings and I could exercise in the evenings, our little nimbus cloud still wanted to be up rather than go to sleep, which she had done prior to walking. This made for some long afternoons and evenings recently. Monday evening, G and I sat down and ironed out a schedule for all of us - giving plenty of time for Mom and Dad as well as spreading out Ny's naps better. Per the Baby Whisperer, it usually takes at 3-5 days for schedule changes to take effect. Tuesday was definitely a struggle, since Ny was up for a while that afternoon and evening. Yesterday was much better. I even got her down for an almost 2-hour nap in the evening! And they all rejoiced! (yay)
While the adventures of trying to get naps in, especially during the afternoon/evening, can be tiresome, what isn't tiresome is the fact that 4 of the last 5 nights, including the last 3 in a row, Ny has slept all night! By all night, I mean we feed her around 9:30 one last time (to tank her up), put her down before 10, and don't hear from her until after 6. That, my friends, is a blessing!
Have a great Thursday!
-D
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Late-Night Feeding
Happy Monday, at least for parents across the metro area, as school has started back after a rather short 2-week summer break. The summer breaks now are shorter than when I was in school. Then again, we never got a fall break or some other holidays that schools now get. But I digress...
As you no doubt read in the previous post, Little Girl has settled into a nice routine of going down around 10 and getting up between 3 and 4. Although we do complain about this 3am waking, there is really no reason to complain. After all, she could get up at 1am and 4am and 7am. She's nice, however, and lets us sleep 5 or 6 straight hours.
That middle-of-the-night feed is interesting. For one, both Mom/Dad and Baby are half-asleep. Well, actually, scratch that. Baby is usually awake. Mom/Dad are the ones half-asleep. She's fussing, while we groggily find our way to her room. I've yet to run into a wall or fall asleep sitting up in bed (though I came close Saturday). And changing a diaper? I'm just glad I haven'tput the diaper on her head been peed or pooped on and then not even noticed. I've told Ginny the next day that I remember getting up and feeding Little Girl but not having a clue how I changed her diaper.
The other thing that is interesting and different is that, to keep the baby quiet and half-way sleepy, we don't talk to Little Girl. Which is hard, because I like talking to her. For the sake of our sleep, however, I only let the sounds of the fan, sound machine, and her sucking noises fill the room.
And THEN we rock, put her back to bed, and hope that she doesn't decide to try and break out of the miracle blanket. At worst, we are up only an hour and a half. At best, she feeds for 15 minutes, decides her tummy is full, and goes back to sleep. Of course the ideal situation is for her to sleep through the night, but we'll have to wait a little while longer for that. Besides, we will happily take the whole getting up once thing, because a lot of new parents aren't as fortunate.
Maybe later today we can actually post her 2-week and 3-week pictures, since, you know, she turns 4 weeks old tomorrow and 1 month on Friday. A month? Little Girl, don't grow up too fast.
-D
As you no doubt read in the previous post, Little Girl has settled into a nice routine of going down around 10 and getting up between 3 and 4. Although we do complain about this 3am waking, there is really no reason to complain. After all, she could get up at 1am and 4am and 7am. She's nice, however, and lets us sleep 5 or 6 straight hours.
That middle-of-the-night feed is interesting. For one, both Mom/Dad and Baby are half-asleep. Well, actually, scratch that. Baby is usually awake. Mom/Dad are the ones half-asleep. She's fussing, while we groggily find our way to her room. I've yet to run into a wall or fall asleep sitting up in bed (though I came close Saturday). And changing a diaper? I'm just glad I haven't
The other thing that is interesting and different is that, to keep the baby quiet and half-way sleepy, we don't talk to Little Girl. Which is hard, because I like talking to her. For the sake of our sleep, however, I only let the sounds of the fan, sound machine, and her sucking noises fill the room.
And THEN we rock, put her back to bed, and hope that she doesn't decide to try and break out of the miracle blanket. At worst, we are up only an hour and a half. At best, she feeds for 15 minutes, decides her tummy is full, and goes back to sleep. Of course the ideal situation is for her to sleep through the night, but we'll have to wait a little while longer for that. Besides, we will happily take the whole getting up once thing, because a lot of new parents aren't as fortunate.
Maybe later today we can actually post her 2-week and 3-week pictures, since, you know, she turns 4 weeks old tomorrow and 1 month on Friday. A month? Little Girl, don't grow up too fast.
-D
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Settling Into a Routine?
Here in the third level of Hell Memphis, we have just begun what will be a week-long wave of extrememly dangerous heat and, what's worse, humidity. When the low this morning only gets down to 84, well, I think it's safe to say my utility bill's BMI will qualify as obese. The highs the next three days will be a wonderful 103 with heat index values running, oh, around 115-120. But there is a bright side, Ginny is NOT pregnant anymore. For that, we rejoice. (Yay.)
Anyway, this post is not going to be aboutAl Gore global warming melting sea ice or saving the polar bears, but will instead give an update on our sweet girl. She had her 2-week checkup this past Friday. (I know, I know, we are behind with the weekly pictures.) She has gained her birth weight back plus one ounce, which is great, and even grew 2 inches. At this rate, by the time she's 4, she will be taller than me. (Not hard to do.) Her head grew 1 cm, probably because I've been reciting all of the state capitals as a bedtime story, and her head is filling with knowledge. (That is a joke, as far as you know.)
Little Girl finally seems to have accepted the fact that when she yawns and the miracle blanket goes on, it is time for sleep. That, and we're really trying to read her cues better so we don't have screaming baby. Friday night she slept from 10-3, woke up to eat, and then slept 4-7:30. Mom and Dad appreciated that. Saturday night, she actually slept from 10-6. Let me tell you, 8 consecutive hours of sleep never felt soooooooo good! The past two nights, she has gone down around 10, slept until 3, ate, and wake up around 7:30. No. Complaints. From. The. Parents. We are also ok when she stays up for a few hours without going down, because we're beginning to notice that she may not be tired when we put her in her crib.
One book that Ginny highly recommends and will be getting for mothers-to-be going forward is Secrets of the Baby Whisperer (Amazon link), which gives a thorough look at what your little bundle of joy will do. This book has helped look more closely for Nyla's cues and what we need to do to make her comfy and content. Must-have book.
Little Girl is 3 weeks old today. We'll take pictures today, of course, and probably get them posted on here by the time she graduates high school. Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Leave us a comment on what topics you'd like to see.
-D
Anyway, this post is not going to be about
Little Girl finally seems to have accepted the fact that when she yawns and the miracle blanket goes on, it is time for sleep. That, and we're really trying to read her cues better so we don't have screaming baby. Friday night she slept from 10-3, woke up to eat, and then slept 4-7:30. Mom and Dad appreciated that. Saturday night, she actually slept from 10-6. Let me tell you, 8 consecutive hours of sleep never felt soooooooo good! The past two nights, she has gone down around 10, slept until 3, ate, and wake up around 7:30. No. Complaints. From. The. Parents. We are also ok when she stays up for a few hours without going down, because we're beginning to notice that she may not be tired when we put her in her crib.
One book that Ginny highly recommends and will be getting for mothers-to-be going forward is Secrets of the Baby Whisperer (Amazon link), which gives a thorough look at what your little bundle of joy will do. This book has helped look more closely for Nyla's cues and what we need to do to make her comfy and content. Must-have book.
Little Girl is 3 weeks old today. We'll take pictures today, of course, and probably get them posted on here by the time she graduates high school. Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Leave us a comment on what topics you'd like to see.
-D
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Ssshhhh! Baby is Sleeping (Maybe)
Disclaimer: I realize babies are NOT robots. They operate on their own mixed-up, trying-to-figure-out-the-world schedules.
Second disclaimer: She is eating well and growing by all accounts.
That said, we have been having daily adventures with getting our little nimbus cloud (Nyla means "cloud" for those who haven't read here much) to go to sleep. It's obvious she is tired, but for whatever reason she just does not want to go to sleep. She has a full belly, a clean diaper, and good snuggle/rocking time with Mom or Dad. But when you put her down, after 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 minutes, she decides to let us know she's still awake. We'll go in, calm her down, and leave the room... only to be back in there, again, 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 minutes later.
We're pretty sure we've isolated the problem. Unfortunately, the solution has not easily presented itself. Her arms are the problems. Yep, those sweet, chubby little arms are causing us trouble. Since she's only 2 weeks old, she has not quite mastered the art of control over her muscles. Also, she likes having her arms up by her face, often sleeping with both arms "flexing" beside her head. You see where I'm going with this? Having your arms up by your face is ok. But when you're two weeks old, well, sometimes those arms become boxing gloves as you twitch and flail around. In other words, she will hit herself, wake herself up, think "Hey, who hit me?" and proceed to cry. The obvious solution?Advanced newborn mind control Swaddling. I mean, who doesn't like to get all snuggly under the covers and wrapped up nice and cozy? My daughter, apparently. Ginny and I will go through our "night-night" routine with her. She's quiet; she's comfortable; she's swaddled. We put her down in the bed. Then, over the baby monitor, we hear a various array of grunts, sighs, and eventually cries. She is trying to wiggle out of the swaddling, despite the fact that when we first swaddle her, she immediately relaxes.
As you can see, this can cause some problems, especially when it is not an every-time thing. Just yesterday, she went down with no trouble in the morning, around noon, and in the afternoon. But at 6? Well, at 11 she finally went to sleep for the night. Now understand, she's not screaming the whole time. She does remain fairly calm, until she decides to become Houdini and attempt to free herself from her box filling up with water (that's all I can imagine she thinks her blanket is to want out THAT badly). It's frustrating for Mom and Dad, because she'll be quiet for up to 30 minutes before deciding she is in Alcatraz and needs out.
It's sort of a darned-if-you-do, darned-if-you-don't problem. If we don't swaddle her, she can wake herself with flailing arms. If we do swaddle her, and she doesn't go to sleep right away, she wants out. But when she gets to sleep, she is out. She won't move.
For all the parents or child experts, what is your advice? I know babies don't establish a good sleep pattern for the first few weeks, but Little Girl is obviously tired. Short of rocking her for an hour until she's in deep sleep (which we would prefer not to do and let her fall asleep on her own), what advice do you have about this swaddling/arms free problem?
-D
Friday edit: She had her 2-week checkup today. Good weight gain. Good report. Pediatrician said her sleep (or sometimes lack thereof) is normal, because, after all, she doesn't really know any better at this point.
Second disclaimer: She is eating well and growing by all accounts.
That said, we have been having daily adventures with getting our little nimbus cloud (Nyla means "cloud" for those who haven't read here much) to go to sleep. It's obvious she is tired, but for whatever reason she just does not want to go to sleep. She has a full belly, a clean diaper, and good snuggle/rocking time with Mom or Dad. But when you put her down, after 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 minutes, she decides to let us know she's still awake. We'll go in, calm her down, and leave the room... only to be back in there, again, 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 minutes later.
We're pretty sure we've isolated the problem. Unfortunately, the solution has not easily presented itself. Her arms are the problems. Yep, those sweet, chubby little arms are causing us trouble. Since she's only 2 weeks old, she has not quite mastered the art of control over her muscles. Also, she likes having her arms up by her face, often sleeping with both arms "flexing" beside her head. You see where I'm going with this? Having your arms up by your face is ok. But when you're two weeks old, well, sometimes those arms become boxing gloves as you twitch and flail around. In other words, she will hit herself, wake herself up, think "Hey, who hit me?" and proceed to cry. The obvious solution?
As you can see, this can cause some problems, especially when it is not an every-time thing. Just yesterday, she went down with no trouble in the morning, around noon, and in the afternoon. But at 6? Well, at 11 she finally went to sleep for the night. Now understand, she's not screaming the whole time. She does remain fairly calm, until she decides to become Houdini and attempt to free herself from her box filling up with water (that's all I can imagine she thinks her blanket is to want out THAT badly). It's frustrating for Mom and Dad, because she'll be quiet for up to 30 minutes before deciding she is in Alcatraz and needs out.
It's sort of a darned-if-you-do, darned-if-you-don't problem. If we don't swaddle her, she can wake herself with flailing arms. If we do swaddle her, and she doesn't go to sleep right away, she wants out. But when she gets to sleep, she is out. She won't move.
For all the parents or child experts, what is your advice? I know babies don't establish a good sleep pattern for the first few weeks, but Little Girl is obviously tired. Short of rocking her for an hour until she's in deep sleep (which we would prefer not to do and let her fall asleep on her own), what advice do you have about this swaddling/arms free problem?
-D
Friday edit: She had her 2-week checkup today. Good weight gain. Good report. Pediatrician said her sleep (or sometimes lack thereof) is normal, because, after all, she doesn't really know any better at this point.
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