Sunday, January 24, 2010
Hairay Hairay
I am not a hair dresser but here is a great tip!! To get the softest hair ever, take your brush into the shower and after you put in your conditioner brush your hair in the shower before rinsing. You will love it!!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Getting Your Baby to Sleep
Being a new mother is one of those things that life can never prepare you for. There are no amount of books you can read that will make this transition one without struggles.
When I first brought my son home to say I was overwhelmed was the understatement of the year! My husband took 2 weeks off with me and we struggled through it together. A moment that sticks out for me is the night before he went back to work. I knew he had to sleep so I was going to man this baby business alone. I believe it was 2 am when he walked in to me rocking the baby crying like a crazy person.
The next day was not much better. This child seemed to enjoy my embrace sooo much that he would not even let me put him down to pee. I really can't express how relaxing it is to pee with a baby on a towel on the floor screaming his face off. By the time my husband returned home at 6 I had not even had anything to eat.
I was wondering if this was my life. Was anyone else having this issue? Why on earth to people have children? On a sanity call to my fathers wife I was explaining my issues. Since they had recently had a child I figured she may have some insight. She immediately patched me in with her sister who passed on her wisdom to her. All the children in this group were sleeping through the night earlier than 3 months. I am immediately prepared to do what she says. So this combined with tricks from others has come together in what I believe is the mother of all sleep routines. Literally the day I started this my son slept 5 hours straight, got up to feed and went right back down for another 3. This was at 3 weeks old. At 6 weeks he slept 9 hours straight.
Problem 1: Baby will not let me put them down.
Babies being used to being sandwiched up in your insides seem to find this new found space a little alarming. To remedy this I had to spend an entire day (better than months with a cling on) teaching him to lie alone. I would put him in his bassinet and let him cry. Every 5-10 minutes I would reach out to him and rub his back, speak to him in a soothing voice and let him know I was right here and it was ok. After day one he learned the drill and didn't insist we were attached at the hip. In the days following I would hold him only during feedings and the occasional play. Other than that he was laying beside me or with his toys. This may seem harsh to some but teaching your child that it is ok to be alone sometimes is critical. To you...and to them.
Problem 2: Baby will only sleep during the day.
"Never wake a sleeping baby" Nonsense I say. Here is how the body works. You need so much food and so much sleep in a day. As babies are just babies it is your job to decide what time of the day this is all going to play out. During the day I would feed my son ever hour and a half. This is from the start of one feed to the next. So for example if the feeding takes 30 minutes than an hour later you should offer more food. If your child is sleeping during that time wake them up!!! This baby needs so many calories a day.....you need to teach them that day time is eating time. For a young baby the final feed will occur somewhere between 10-12 at night. After that put your child to sleep (using a bedtime routine...we used bath, bottle, bed GENIUS!!) and let them sleep until they wake for a feed. When they do wake make any feedings at night a non event. Dim lights, no chit chat and avoid eye contact. Babies are very stimulated by eye contact and a stimulated baby is not what we are after at 3 am. After the feed is done put baby back to sleep.
Problem 3: Baby won't sleep in his bed
I do know there is a lot of talk as to where baby will sleep. I believe everyone has a right to their choice. For me the only option was him in his bed. I have seen far to many people with little people who will not sleep in their own beds upwards to age 5!! This was not going to be me. The first step is having a well established night time routine. Although babies do not need to bath daily for sanitary purposes it is a wonderful part of the routine, followed with a quite feeding. Make sure you have something you say to your child every time you put them down to sleep. We use "night night" at our house. Most important is the swaddle blanket. It needs to be one of those Velcro ones. Babies have crazy strength and will bust out of your home made one. The key to this blanket is that hands are in against their sides. I know at the hospital they are all like "babies like their hands out". This is a lie. If you do this right from the beginning you wont have any issues. If you start the blanket a little later you may come across some protesting but be strong and fight through to the other side!! This blanket also works as a great signal for it's time to sleep. To further prove this, I was able to put my son down for a nap on a friends floor just by wrapping him up in his blanket.
Although sticking to this meant spending a lot of time at home at first I have a great sleeper on my hands. I truly believe that had I not done this he would not have been such a breeze at bedtime.
Here are some books I read that I found helpful:
Baby Wise
Healthy sleep patterns Happy Family
When I first brought my son home to say I was overwhelmed was the understatement of the year! My husband took 2 weeks off with me and we struggled through it together. A moment that sticks out for me is the night before he went back to work. I knew he had to sleep so I was going to man this baby business alone. I believe it was 2 am when he walked in to me rocking the baby crying like a crazy person.
The next day was not much better. This child seemed to enjoy my embrace sooo much that he would not even let me put him down to pee. I really can't express how relaxing it is to pee with a baby on a towel on the floor screaming his face off. By the time my husband returned home at 6 I had not even had anything to eat.
I was wondering if this was my life. Was anyone else having this issue? Why on earth to people have children? On a sanity call to my fathers wife I was explaining my issues. Since they had recently had a child I figured she may have some insight. She immediately patched me in with her sister who passed on her wisdom to her. All the children in this group were sleeping through the night earlier than 3 months. I am immediately prepared to do what she says. So this combined with tricks from others has come together in what I believe is the mother of all sleep routines. Literally the day I started this my son slept 5 hours straight, got up to feed and went right back down for another 3. This was at 3 weeks old. At 6 weeks he slept 9 hours straight.
Problem 1: Baby will not let me put them down.
Babies being used to being sandwiched up in your insides seem to find this new found space a little alarming. To remedy this I had to spend an entire day (better than months with a cling on) teaching him to lie alone. I would put him in his bassinet and let him cry. Every 5-10 minutes I would reach out to him and rub his back, speak to him in a soothing voice and let him know I was right here and it was ok. After day one he learned the drill and didn't insist we were attached at the hip. In the days following I would hold him only during feedings and the occasional play. Other than that he was laying beside me or with his toys. This may seem harsh to some but teaching your child that it is ok to be alone sometimes is critical. To you...and to them.
Problem 2: Baby will only sleep during the day.
"Never wake a sleeping baby" Nonsense I say. Here is how the body works. You need so much food and so much sleep in a day. As babies are just babies it is your job to decide what time of the day this is all going to play out. During the day I would feed my son ever hour and a half. This is from the start of one feed to the next. So for example if the feeding takes 30 minutes than an hour later you should offer more food. If your child is sleeping during that time wake them up!!! This baby needs so many calories a day.....you need to teach them that day time is eating time. For a young baby the final feed will occur somewhere between 10-12 at night. After that put your child to sleep (using a bedtime routine...we used bath, bottle, bed GENIUS!!) and let them sleep until they wake for a feed. When they do wake make any feedings at night a non event. Dim lights, no chit chat and avoid eye contact. Babies are very stimulated by eye contact and a stimulated baby is not what we are after at 3 am. After the feed is done put baby back to sleep.
Problem 3: Baby won't sleep in his bed
I do know there is a lot of talk as to where baby will sleep. I believe everyone has a right to their choice. For me the only option was him in his bed. I have seen far to many people with little people who will not sleep in their own beds upwards to age 5!! This was not going to be me. The first step is having a well established night time routine. Although babies do not need to bath daily for sanitary purposes it is a wonderful part of the routine, followed with a quite feeding. Make sure you have something you say to your child every time you put them down to sleep. We use "night night" at our house. Most important is the swaddle blanket. It needs to be one of those Velcro ones. Babies have crazy strength and will bust out of your home made one. The key to this blanket is that hands are in against their sides. I know at the hospital they are all like "babies like their hands out". This is a lie. If you do this right from the beginning you wont have any issues. If you start the blanket a little later you may come across some protesting but be strong and fight through to the other side!! This blanket also works as a great signal for it's time to sleep. To further prove this, I was able to put my son down for a nap on a friends floor just by wrapping him up in his blanket.
Although sticking to this meant spending a lot of time at home at first I have a great sleeper on my hands. I truly believe that had I not done this he would not have been such a breeze at bedtime.
Here are some books I read that I found helpful:
Baby Wise
Healthy sleep patterns Happy Family
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