It's hard to believe that next week I'll have a two-year-old. I'm actually stoked about the terrific twos. "One" has been a difficult age for The Girl, but recently she has shown signs of calming down a bit (other than hating the first hour of nursery and causing disruptions in sacrament meeting...sigh!) But she really is the cutest little toddler I have ever met. And I've met quite a few adorable toddlers.
*She can recite the first article of faith. (with a small bit of prompting for the articles and conjuctions).
My little nursling is also doing well. She's showing signs of progressing toward rolling over, but she doesn't seem too interested in being mobile just yet. Phew! She's also getting a lot more stable. I think she'll be sitting in the next couple weeks. The Girl was sitting at 5 months, so it wouldn't be surprising. What is surprising is how much more mellow I am with Sweet C than I was with The Girl.
*She can recite the first article of faith. (with a small bit of prompting for the articles and conjuctions).
My little nursling is also doing well. She's showing signs of progressing toward rolling over, but she doesn't seem too interested in being mobile just yet. Phew! She's also getting a lot more stable. I think she'll be sitting in the next couple weeks. The Girl was sitting at 5 months, so it wouldn't be surprising. What is surprising is how much more mellow I am with Sweet C than I was with The Girl.
I do have a question for all you expert mothers out there. And don't be offended if I don't take your advice, I'm kind of a middle of the road parent as far as strategies go. I won't let my child cry it out for hours, but I'm ok with a little crying. ANYWAY, as I have probably mentioned, Little Sister is not the greatest sleeper. Her naps are ok, but at night...sheesh, this gal wakes up every 30-60 minutes the first few hours she is asleep, and then usually every 2-3 hours after that. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. (By the way, we're officially not friends any more if your small infants sleep 6+ hours straight...just kidding) But PLEASE, tell me how to do it. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in over a year, and even then my nights were often interrupted by The Girl. I don't know how much longer I can go on so little sleep. I keep praying that she'll just sleep 4 hours straight. And then she doesn't, but I'm trying to have faith that at least Heavenly Father will help me have the energy and strength to get by on so little sleep. Of course, he does enable me to handle it, but I'm so tired. You should see the circles. I should have started a new paragraph at some point here, but my brain is functioning at too low a level to even decide where.
My point is, if you have any sleep tips, please help. I know about CIO, the Ferber method (progressively letting them cry more), Healthy Sleep habits, No-cry sleep solutions, Co-sleeping (which I've vowed never to do again after last night when I woke up to C sleeping on me at an angle that looked like her neck was broken...SCARY!) I guess I'm really just looking for some sympathy and encouragement. And I don't really hate you if your small infant started sleeping 12 hours straight at 6 weeks. I'm just jealous, and too tired to think of a better coping mechanism.
Oh, and I should mention that C nurses around the clock every 2-4 hours. Yep. Like a newborn. She still has a bit of reflux too. And no, I am not starting solids until 6 months. Period. I started solids earlier with The Girl and all it did was make her constipated.
*I know I shouldn't brag about my kids, but when you gotta you gotta!
8 comments:
I know very little. That's my disclaimer. I had another friend who had a son that wouldn't sleep through the night (and he was 14 months!) He would scream at night, not just crying. It turned out he needed tubes. It was an instant change. I'm not sure how C cries, or if she's prone to ear infections, but that's another experience I witnessed from another family that made worlds of difference for their sleep deprivation.
Well, it's good to remember that a baby who wakes easily is a baby who won't fall victim to SIDS easily. I think waking often is a defense mechanism in babies.
You are not alone! I am in the same boat right now. Of course my little baby is still a newborn, but no sleep equals no sleep no matter the situation and it's rough. I'm so sorry that you have been going at this for a year, you sure are a trooper! All I can say is to keep praying and ask for blessings. You have been given strength and you will continue to be strengthened by the Lord. You are a wonderful mother...end of story! Also, don't underestimate the power of a mother. You have been given one of the hightest and most sacred callings and with that comes great blessings. Just know you are loved and that you are not alone!
First off, I love kellymom, I am glad you linked that. Second off, I want to say that we got Shaely to sleep longer stretches at night through 3 different ways... The first was to manage the reflux. No matter how much you do to get them to sleep if they are in pain you are not going to get anywhere and they will just want to keep nursing. So I would mention that to your doctor, it really helped Shae. The other was to make sure she was getting enough calories during the day, which C probably is if she is nursing that much during the day, but just watch that. And the third is a little behavior management, meaning you limit the reinforcement during the night and increase it during the day. So playtime was active, smiley, and the rooms were bright. While I nursed it was very reinforcing—so I would rub her head/hair, sing, make smiling faces at her and provide lots of eye contact. And then if she ever woke up at night it would be very low stimulation—so low or no light, I would not sing or talk to her, and would keep my gaze somewhere else, in fact she couldn’t usually see my face—I would just make it very business like. Also, we started having Seth take a few shifts during the night just to try and soothe her back to sleep. Soon she was going to sleep with him just rocking/bouncing her or changing her diaper a few times during the night. Those few times turned into her waking up only 2-3 times a night with one feeding. Then 2 times with just Seth getting her back to sleep, and then once with Seth changing her diaper and getting her back to sleep. I think it was around 4 months that she slept a good amount of time (8:30 to 4:30, I think). We really worked hard to give her lots of love and attention during the day (praise her) and less reinforcement at night. Just like with my other behavior training it was helping her to know what I liked and what I didn’t like. I think it was important for us both to have that time together in the night with nursing, but after we made sure to address that, sleeping through the night seemed more like a habit than a need—I just made sure she was getting enough food during the day for sure. I have some other things that would take longer to explain, just message me ;) Hope that helps!
Sorry I have no advice to give. But I can give sympathy! I am deeply sorry! It is hard to be the mom with two because you can't sleep when they sleep because their is another child who is relying on you! But I love you and I think you are an amazing Mom! You know your girl best so you'll be inspired what the best course of action is.
You don't know me, but I found your blog link off Rosalee's blog... Anyway, it would take me too long to explain the details of it here, but you should read the book, "On Becoming Babywise." Someone recommended it to me when my son was like 7 months old and still waking up every 2 hours at night, and within a few weeks he was sleeping through the night. I just had my second baby, and after reviewing that book again recently, she now is sleeping 6-7 hours at night. I just borrowed the book from the Library, but there is often quite a wait... Good luck!
I'm glad I was able to get the new address of your blog and get an update on what you've been up to. Your girls are so cute. I am so sorry that you're so tired, though. That is so hard. I only have 1 child who is a pretty good sleeper these days, and I'm still exhausted...so I can't imagine! But, she wasn't always a good sleeper, and we had to do the whole cry-it-out thing...a few different times. It was terrible and traumatic for me, but we tried so many other things that just didn't work... I hope you find what works best for you, and as you mentioned, the biggest help will come from the Lord. Take care!
Shoot. That's hard. I have been blessed with a good baby sleeper. Now Max is a different story. He is up a lot in the night. Just because he can't sleep. I'm sure he gets that from me. Poor kid. Poor Mom. I hope it starts getting better for you soon!!
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