“Oh, Son-Two, must you drool in my mouth?”
“I must, mamma, if you are kissing me when my mouth drools.”
“Awwww! Mamma – I don’t like being thrown up in the air – I’m only 2 months old!”
“Sorry, honey – I forgot you were just a wittle bady.”
“Son-Two, your younger cousin is sleeping through the night though she is not yet two weeks old. Let’s have a little talk about this.”
“Let’s not talk, mamma. Let’s go to bed. I’m tired.”
“How about I put you in the other room and swaddle you real good, and maybe we’ll both sleep better?”
“I don’t care, mamma, I just want to sleep.”
“I’m gonna miss you, Son-Two, but we both need to sleep more and chat less in the middle of the night.”
“Just put me in my cozy bed, mamma, please.”
The peer pressure must have worked. He heard that Emma (my new niece!) was sleeping 8 hours at a stretch. I yawned at the very idea of sleeping 8 hours at a stretch, and promptly moved his bassinete out of my bedroom and down the hall where I would not hear every little stirring and grunt from my little son. Taking a hint from Aunt Bethany, I also swaddled him tightly (I’d been getting lazy about that), and then kissed him 6 more times before abandoning him in the back bedroom. I didn’t hear a peep from him for 8 hours. It worked! He can’t wait to tell his cousin what a good night’s sleep he had.
I just started scheduling Seth this week. Waiting to find his rhythm rather than forcing him into a schedule when I didn’t even know him yet has been very relaxing and much less stressful than the other two baby’s first months. Maybe we could take this relaxed approach because Seth is such a sleepy baby to begin with? I don’t know. I just kinda let him sleep a lot ’cause he seemed to like that and I have such a long list of things to do while he naps. I was beginning to wonder, though, whether I would regret it because a good daytime schedule is what helps them sleep through the night. But then he did it himself. All by himself. In the other room without my help. I missed him, but I also slept really well. Mmmmm. Feels good.
If you are interested in helping your baby get on a healthy eating and sleeping schedule, you may glean some ideas from this book. I said glean. Don’t go overboard. Make the schedule work for you, rather than you slaving away to keep to the schedule. There, that’s all I’m gonna say. I’m done. Now.
Hey Trina, I followed your lead with the sleeping thing. Our daughter is still not sleeping through the night (she's 11 months old). We were slowly trying to wean her from her night time feedings, but as soon as we started doing less at each one, she started waking up more often to get more. The other night we put her in her room, went in only a few times to soothe her, then went to bed without the monitor sound on. I don't know if she woke up or not, I don't think she did, because I woke up at her usual times and she wasn't making a peep.
Hopefully she felt the pressure since Seth was doing it at 2 months, that she can do it at almost a year 🙂
Martha – I've said the same thing so many times to my kids as we spend 'quality time' in the middle of the night – “Good thing I like you!” LOL
I just have to say here that my first child rarely slept through the night before he was 2. I think it's something that all first time moms have to go through – my experiences with Jesse taught me how to approach #2 and #3 a bit differently. Now I do have the hope of a good night's rest as soon as the baby is old enough to sleep through the night – which, as the book points out, is usually around 2 months.
If any one wants to hear the low-down on how I get a good night's sleep despite having three children 4 and under…leave a comment….you might talk me into it.
We swaddled Oliver until 9 months. Up until one day when I went to get him from his bed and he was standing up still in his swaddle. lol! Maybe it was a wee bit too tight, but it sure helped in those early months. 🙂 He is a terrible sleeper now, but we're working on it. I think I've gotten 8 hours straight of sleep maybe once since he was born. Ugh! Good thing I like him.
Just bought the book! Hope it helps us!
We still swaddle at 10 months old! Ben sleeps TERRIBLE without it…I dread the day when he's too big … what then???? YIKES! Lets hope this book is good! thanks for recomending!
I'll agree. We've had one of those handy dandy swaddle blankets for our kids…with the velcro to hold it tight.. works wonders. I'm very much an on demand nurser though so I've never minded a middle of the night feeding.