The Sleep Question
So one of the first things people ask you after they find out you have a newborn is if you're geting any sleep. Sleep is a very big deal.
I bought a copy of the book Baby Wise when I was still pregnant. The schedule idea seemed like a good one. The letting a 4 week old cry it out seemed a bit harsh. I read a bit about Dr. Sears and attachment method, and I thought to myself ... there is no way I'm going to be an attachment parent.
Ha. What we ignorant think before we are enlightened.
I'm doing the very best that I can. That's the method I'm using. The Stacy - Grady method. And it includes doing some of the things that half the experts tell you not to do. But I'm like any other mother - I worry that I'm warping my child or doing the wrong things.
Our newest guilty pleasure? Grady wakes up at 5:30 or 6:00 every day. Hungry or not, wet or not, he just wakes up. He stirs for about 5-10 minutes, just kind of yammering to himself, and then he'll let out a few wails. When he starts crying, I pick him up and I've been laying down in bed with him. He will sleep (or lay quietly - I'm not convinced he sleeps) for another 45 minutes to an hour. This extra period of sleep really, really makes my day go a lot better.
But I feel like I'm doing something wrong.
Another thing - everything everywhere says start routines. Make a bedtime routine. Baby will sleep better with a bedtime routine. Grady isn't the same from one day to the next. One day he'll stare intently and lisen to me read. The next he'll kick and thrash and won't sit still. One day the bath will make him pass out. The next he'll be wide awake afterwards. One night rocking will do the trick. The next he wants to be held tight and very, very still.
So...routine? That's funny.
About the one thing I am able to do every night is start about the same time; 7PM, change him, feed him, swaddle him, and hope it's not a meltdown kind of night.
My thoughts on the experts? Either nothing they say applies this young ... or it just doesn't apply to Grady. So, please dont judge me because I pick him up when he cries, or if I (or Lewis) hold him till he falls asleep. It may not work forever - in fact I'd say it's a certainty it won't work forever - but it's working for us now.
I bought a copy of the book Baby Wise when I was still pregnant. The schedule idea seemed like a good one. The letting a 4 week old cry it out seemed a bit harsh. I read a bit about Dr. Sears and attachment method, and I thought to myself ... there is no way I'm going to be an attachment parent.
Ha. What we ignorant think before we are enlightened.
I'm doing the very best that I can. That's the method I'm using. The Stacy - Grady method. And it includes doing some of the things that half the experts tell you not to do. But I'm like any other mother - I worry that I'm warping my child or doing the wrong things.
Our newest guilty pleasure? Grady wakes up at 5:30 or 6:00 every day. Hungry or not, wet or not, he just wakes up. He stirs for about 5-10 minutes, just kind of yammering to himself, and then he'll let out a few wails. When he starts crying, I pick him up and I've been laying down in bed with him. He will sleep (or lay quietly - I'm not convinced he sleeps) for another 45 minutes to an hour. This extra period of sleep really, really makes my day go a lot better.
But I feel like I'm doing something wrong.
Another thing - everything everywhere says start routines. Make a bedtime routine. Baby will sleep better with a bedtime routine. Grady isn't the same from one day to the next. One day he'll stare intently and lisen to me read. The next he'll kick and thrash and won't sit still. One day the bath will make him pass out. The next he'll be wide awake afterwards. One night rocking will do the trick. The next he wants to be held tight and very, very still.
So...routine? That's funny.
About the one thing I am able to do every night is start about the same time; 7PM, change him, feed him, swaddle him, and hope it's not a meltdown kind of night.
My thoughts on the experts? Either nothing they say applies this young ... or it just doesn't apply to Grady. So, please dont judge me because I pick him up when he cries, or if I (or Lewis) hold him till he falls asleep. It may not work forever - in fact I'd say it's a certainty it won't work forever - but it's working for us now.
Comments
I think i stressed most about this as a new mother. I did not want mitch to grow up like his difficult cousin. But in hindsight, he was never going ot grow up like her. Pat and I eat dinner together and go to bed at the same time. We don't have S&N's schedule. So it all worked out. And we didn't have a tiny fraction of a routine at 6 weeks. it was about learning each other's schedules and it's still changing. IT's always changing and phases. But now we have a bedtime routine and he goes down easy. With plenty of hiccups. Somewhere in 3-4 months they can start sleeping longer and don't need the milk. But it all works out. I am rambling. You're doing a great job! keep him growing!