However, as a mother, I worry. I think that's only natural, but I'm so worried that I'm doing something wrong, so I need your advice on how you guys did things.
Here are my questions:
1.) Sleeping - Wes is doing pretty well (knock on wood) sleeping! I know that books and people typically say that he needs to eat every three hours at night, so I should wake him, but he has been sleeping four-five hours through the night, and I haven't been waking him. He is peeing and pooping enough, so I know that he is hydrated, and I know he's getting enough, so I just don't wake him up. I know that he is gaining weight, as well. How did you get your little one to sleep through through night or was it ever a problem for you? I know he isn't ready to sleep through the night yet, because he needs to eat at least once through the night, but when he is how to you cut back his/her middle of the night feeding?
2.) Nursery - How did you get your little ones to sleep in their room? Did you start them off in their room right away? Or did they sleep in your room for the first little bit? If they slept in your room for a little while, how did you get her to switch and sleep in their own room? Wes is sleeping in our room right now, because the first few nights he was really fussy, and we couldn't get him to sleep, so it was really tough having to get up and down all night with him screaming. Secondly, it's just tough having to get up and go to the other room to nurse him at night, so it was easier having him in our room.
3.) Schedule - If you had your little one on a schedule, how do you work them up to that schedule and what was your schedule. Right now, he's obviously not on any type of schedule. We wake at the same time every morning, so he's eating at basically the same time every three hours everyday, but he's not going to bed at a specific time yet, and it's fairly late that he's going to bed, because it's when we go to bed. We do have him in a nightime routine of bathing him, putting him into PJ's, reading him a book, nursing him and then going to bed. But when did you start putting your baby down in their crib at a certain time each night and how did you start that routine. When did you get them on an eating and napping schedule and what was that like?
4.) Nursing - Wes seems to nurse for a really long time...people say 15-20 minutes, but it takes Wes at least a half hour. I know that he is getting milk, because I see it in his mouth, coming out of his cheeks as his nurses, etc., but it just takes him SO long. And he is also a fussy eater...I could never take him and nurse in public at this point, because he shakes his head back and forth, and he he screams like he can't find it sometimes, but he's right on it. I'm not sure what that's about, but it's like he's just getting SO excited, so it takes a lot of patience to feed him. We are up close to an hour nursing in the night, so that's tough, but I love the bonding that I have with him, and I'll do whatever it takes to successfully breastfeed. Any advice or suggestions on making this process easier for both of us?
Anyways, if anyone has any advice or suggestions that would be great. I'm just looking for any ideas that people have or ideas on how you did things, so I can hopefully do things a little easier than I'm doing now. Thanks in advance for any ideas you might have! And what post is complete without a picture of my little guy! :)
21 comments:
Unfortunately I have no advice because I am not a mommy yet! But I just wanted to comment on how adorable his picture his! :-)
Ditto to LauraAnns comment. He is adorable. ;) Take notes... I'll be asking you all these questions in a couple of years!! :)
He is precious!!
What a gorgeous baby!! I have no advice since I am not yet in a place to give it, but I had to comment on how cute he is!
No clue just wanted to say hi and wish you well with everything!
If he is sleeping I wouldn't wake him up; he will let you know when he is hungry believe me!! We don't push Brayden to eat if he is not hungry; we have a schedule for eating time but we let him tell us when he has had enough.
Brayden was in his room after only a few days in our room; I felt that he was better off & safer in his own crib & honestly he was fine in there the first night....I was the one that kept getting up to check on him even though we have a video monitor :) If you are planning to put him in the nursery eventually then I would say put him in his crib as soon are YOU are comfortable with it.
We let Brayden set the tone for his schedule for everything & then we just tweaked it as he got older & could actually adjust it here & there & now have a great schedule for food, bath, naps, bedtime & everything else. I kept a spreadsheet on our fridge from day 1 so I could kind of keep track of HIS schedule & then as he got older we just made sure that everything started happening around those times.
I wasn't able to nurse so I have no advise on that one.
Wes is so cute & here is what worked for us but all babies & parents are different so just take what you like & throw the rest away :) I too am an A type person so I had issues (& sometimes still do) with letting go of the fact that things are not done on my time but it gets easier as time goes by. Hang in there & just know that some days you will feel like you have the hang of it & then somedays you will feel like a failure but everyday Wes loves you & that is all that matters!!
He's a beautiful little boy! Such a sweet picture!
I'm not a momma yet but he's precious!!
Well as you know, I have no idea about any of this yet. =) Soon enough! As for him feeding for that long... I was reading last night and it said for a new baby 30 min- 1 hour was about typical. A friend of mine recommended a book called Baby Wise about the scheduling and sleeping. I havent read it but she raves about it.
I am so glad you did this post! I will probly be the same way in a few months when my little angel arrives! By then I will be asking you how you got through it!!! Wish I could help!! Weston looks so precious!! He is such a beautiful baby!!!
Hey lady! Great job on the little cutie pie.
Nursing just takes time, both of you will get a hang of it and you will be out at coffee shops with a hooter hider and a satisfied baby before you know it! Nolie did the freak out head shaking scream too and it was when she was over tired (babies need 16-20hours of sleep a day!!).
We don't have a schedule yet, just a routine. I feed on demand, so when she is having a growth spurt it is every hour and half or so and when shes not then it can be four hours.
She started sleeping in her crib at four weeks. I just started putting her in their for play time (looove the mobile) and then for naps and eventually for sleep. The thing that helped the most for us was to do the whole routine in the nursery (book, diaper, pj's, nursing, etc.). I think it helped to make the room less scary.
You are doing great! And don't be shocked if sleep changes alot, our Nolie slept four-five hours the first month and then only two hours for about a week, now she is getting back to the four hour stretches but growth spurts will change things around ALOT!
nursing is trial and error, but we HAD to stop at 6 weeks, so i don't have tons of memories of nursing now that he's 8 months old.
when he was 3 months old we had him cry it out. before that, we made sure he was really full at bedtime and he started sleeping 4 hours and it gradually increased. now it's up to 12 hours after crying it out.
he slept in his crib, in his own room from day one. it just seemed easier to start it that way for us. that way he didn't know any different. the video monitor helps that whole process.
he's absolutely gorgeous!!
That picture is amazing! Just beautiful.
First, I think every mom does it differently and no one has a right or wrong way of doing things. Here are a few things that helped me.
1. I say DON'T wake him up. He will tell yo when he needs to eat and the more sleep you get the better you feel in the morning. A week in after jayden was born he slept for 6 hours. He was totally fine and it was great to get some rest.
2. We put Jayden in his own bed after three days because my husband would wake up every time Jayden moved. My mom then told me that when she had us she just put us in our rooms that day. We are going to do that with the next child, but what made it easy for jayden is that we put him in a "Moses" basket that was in his crib so he was very well secure and felt swattled and tight.
3. I was not a mom that was into schedule. I believed that my baby would tell me when they needs something. I just made sure he was up more in the day time so he wouldn't get his days and nights confused.
I hope some of that helps! :)
Unfortunately some babies are just slow eaters. I BF Cade for 4 months, he was a good eater, but every single feeding was 40 mins. long. He is now 4 and still a slow eater.
I had all of the same questions as a new mom that you are having and a friend gave me the book babywise. It was perfect for us. I didn't necessarily agree with everything in the book, but it REALLY helped us establish wake time, sleep time, and feeding time. It all just made sense to me and helped me feel like I knew what I was doing. It tells you how often and how much he should be sleeping at every single phase. I'm re-reading it again right now to refresh my memory for when Henry gets here. He should start sleeping through the night around 8 weeks.
As far as sleeping in your room verses his room, that's just up to you. Cade slept in a bassinet in our room at night for a few weeks and I let him nap in his crib during the day so that he would be used to it. Around 3 or 4 weeks we put him in his crib one night to try it and he did great so we left him there.
I hope this helped some. You can email me if you want to ask me anything else.
I have no mommy advice sorry :( But those are really good questions! Your son is soo precious! I love seeing the pictures :)
1. mm was still waking up in the middle of the night 'til about 6 weeks old. i remember when she slept til 5am the first time because i was thinking to myself, 'wow! i'm glad she's sleeping more because i go back to work in 2 weeks!'. up until 6 months or so she would sleep from 7:30pm-5am and get a bottle and go back til 7:30am. since 6 months she's slept til 6:30am or later.
2. mm hated her bassinet b/c she was so long so on that first night we put her in bed with us (i know, i know...) and she slept with us 'til 10 weeks. by then (and probably more around 8 wks now that i think about it) she was ready for her crib in her room. but those first weeks it was nice to be right there next to her.
3. i'm HUGE on schedules! it takes for them to be about 2-3 months old though, i think. it's also a must that ANYONE who keeps the baby follows the schedule. and of course, the schedule changes...as they get older/go through growth spurts the amount they sleep/play changes. when mm was 3-8 months here was her schedule:
7:30pm - 7am: sleep
7am - 9am: eat breakfast/play
9am - 11am: nap
11am - 1pm: change into clothes for the day/eat/play/eat
1pm - 3: sleep
3 - 5: eat/play
5-6: short nap
6 -7:30pm: eat/play/bath/eat
now we're down to 2 naps a day, but back then she 16+ hours/day. :-)
4. sorry, can't help there!
good luck and mr. wes is PRECIOUS!!
I am a mom of two, 2 year old and 4 year old. I would be happy to answer any questions my email is leadawareness at yahoo dot com. Every one has opinions some yuo will like and some you don;t. I so wish there were cut and dry answers it would be so much easier. I am a bit of a control freak and the whole baby thing changed me dramatically. I have pretty strong opinions on parenting - basically do whatever it takes to make a happy home. Co-sleeping worked for our family, so did breastfeeding. I think it is amazing your baby is sleeping so long, I would not wake him up unless the doctors says he needs more (doesn't weigh enough). If you are breastfeeding it can take an hour each feeding. Good luck it is the most rewarding job in the whole wide world!
what a precious photo!! i love it!!
although i have no advice i will be looking for some eventually....i'll have to come back and read all this great information and you will have to dish your advice out to me as well ;)
i worked in an infant room at a daycare for 3 years but being a mom, i know, is totally different.
i love the baby posts hun.
look forward to reading more and more!!
Hi! I have been reading your blog off and on for awhile...then I lost it, but finally found it again just in time for your sweet little boy to arrive. Congrats he is adorable!
My best advice I could give you is this: find 2 maybe 3 mommies you really trust (ie your mom, sister, friend, cousin...whoever in your life) and ask them these questions. One thing I have learned in mommyhood is that there is no "one size fits all" baby. Each one is different and while all of our advice is great and worked for us, it can almost be overwhelming as a new mommy b/c we each say very contrasting things. It really is about trial and error and learning to TRUST your own mommy instincts...they are in there, but it is all so new we fear we are constantly doing the 'wrong' thing. This is such a 'duh' statement but babies change our worlds for better and for worse. Life as you knew is forever changed. I am type A too (or use to be until I had my daughter) now I just roll w/ the punches...it has cut down on a lot of stress for me. Now I am a SAHM, so I can get away w/that perhaps easier than a working momma. Take each day one day at a time at this point everything will eventually come together and in a no time you will be an old hat at this and new mommies will be asking YOU all these questions! :) Hang in there you will be a great mommy.
I'm so sorry, I'm behind! He is gorgeous, and I love all the pictures! I will e-mail you back soon! =)
Oh my, what a beautiful picture of Weston. What an angel.
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