Let them be little

I missed the whole "Let them be little" post by John but saw Annie's blog and then went to investigate if the BIL's blog was John's. Both good posts.

We did not start doing a sleep schedule with Emma until she was six months old. Nor did we let her "cry it out" until this time. At six months old, we let her start to cry it out for 15 minutes and then go back to her after that time if she was still upset.

The first six months are a complete blur. Here was our arrangement:

For the first ten weeks, Emma was so colicky and cried all the time and during those first few months it's totally normal for them to wake up every two to three hours. We had her in our room in the pack 'n play bassinet thing and it was okay but Adam woke up often and was desperately needing sleep for work. Emma and I moved out to the living room where I slept on the couch and had her in her swing pod beside me. The swing pod helped with her reflux. It kept her at an incline instead of flat. We nursed off and on through the night. Those first ten weeks were REALLY HARD. I had gotten her back to solely bf'ing by six weeks which was my goal. I remember crying every night when the sun went down because I dreaded knowing I was not going to get much sleep at all. And then there were those rare mornings where I would lay Emma on my chest at 4 AM and we both wouldn't wake up till 7:30 or 8 AM. Those were good days. Those first six months, we did not have a sleep schedule. We let Emma dictate her naps. I think the second time around I may try to have more of a schedule? I don't know. Babies do what they want. And they're not supposed to sleep through the night. I think it's ridiculous to think that a baby should. You're actually suppressing their body's cues that it gives them to wake up, "I need milk" so I wake up. Etc. I guess I'm with Dr. Sears on that one. I can't think of the book right now that tries to get your baby sleeping through the night right away but can't think of it. I don't think it's healthy. However, some may say that me giving Emma a schedule at six months isn't healthy. Ah well.

At six months, I read The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight. It was not anti-bf'ing which I liked. I didn't do everything the book told me to do. It just breaks down age ranges and gives you a schedule of what is appropriate. I took the most away from those schedules. Good lord, they helped. By eight months, she was sleeping through the night and in her own crib. (After then ten week drama, we had Emma back in our room, nursing better and back in her bassinet thing.) We had her in our room until Christmas, I think. She hit the 15 pound weight max of the bassinet::halo:: We actually went a little past 15 pounds and so it now has a dip in the center. So I'm getting a different bassinett this next time around. It's called a "co-sleeping" bassinet but I'm not practicing the philosophy. I just think it's highly effective for nursing your baby as soon as they wake up in the night needing food.

That's all for now, I guess. Emma is a great sleeper and may whine for five minutes when being put down (another thing people may take issue with) but then she falls asleep on her own. A note for Erin: She sleeps well at home. When it comes to laying her down at other people's homes, then I think she freaks out from being in a "new" place and mom's not around.

I always think of more to write AFTER I hit publish post.

I would sometimes be so tired in that 10 week to 6 months period where we had Emma in our room that I wouldn't even want to walk the one step to the bassinet after feeding her. So I would lay her in between Adam and I. I never really slept during those periods though. Because (using Annie's saying) I always had one "mama bear" eye open making sure no one rolled over on Emma. Adam would start to and even if I was in that "almost asleep" stage, I immediately woke up and would hit him. lol. It was the only quiet thing to do so as not to wake Emma. I think I harbored a lot of resentment those first six months because I would be so afraid of Emma waking up at night. I just wanted to sleep. And Adam would go into the bathroom and start cutting his finger nails or something which is a totally loud noise and I would just cringe with every little "click" thinking "she's gonna wake up, she's gonna wake up." So I would get upset with Adam. He would get upset when I hit him in the middle of the night reminding him to not crush Emma. lol. It reminds me of that lyric: "It's not always rainbows and butterflies but compromise that moves us along." We figured out what worked for us through those months and were both able to celebrate Emma being in her crib when the time was right.