We have been trying to get Maya on some sort of eating sleeping schedule, but it has been quite the struggle. There are so many opinions out there and so many stories and it is a really touchy subject for most moms, but it's something that we haven't been able to figure out ourselves yet. For Calvin, I never let him cry it out until he was around a year old. I fed him on demand and got him as soon as he started crying and he was pretty much attached to my boob most of the time. It was also, because I only had him and no other kids to look after or spend time with. Of course I started just demand feeding Maya for the first couple weeks just to get my milk in. Then we tried letting her cry it out to get her on a schedule and give me a little time with Calvin (he was not happy having to share his mama). Well, I couldn't stand letting her cry to sleep every time. It was making me extremely emotional and I really don't think that you can decipher a babies cries when they are that small. So, if there was a problem I probably wouldn't have known. When we were making her cry to sleep, she was starting to sleep really well and was also sleeping well at night. But as soon as we stopped she was back to being awake all the time and also wanting to snack/nurse constantly. For example, yesterday, she was awake ALL day (except for a 10 minute cat nap in my sling while I ate lunch) and finally went to sleep at 7:30 pm and then woke up a lot throughout the night. I know she has the ability to sleep longer and eat not so often, but trying to get that to happen is tough for this little girl. Calvin slept a lot more when he was little, but it's not the case for this one. So, today we are trying to figure things out for our little family. It has been a challenge and it's so hard to make a decision for ourselves (not based on peoples opinions around us or trying to please everyone, which definitely will not happen). It is heart breaking to let her cry to sleep, but at the same time I can't nurse her to sleep every time and she can't snack on me every hour to hour and a half and she definitely cannot be awake all day long. I know that is not good for her. Babies need their sleep and for some reason she has problems falling asleep. So, we will just have to take it slowly and try some different methods so see what works best for us. Wow! I needed to get that out in the open.
Well, here are a bunch of pictures from our last week and weekend.
This is Calvin eating at the the park for a fun picnic dinner and short walk around Woodward Park (where Johnny and I got engaged ;).
Here is Calvin showing off his tool belt daddy got for him at a garage sale which he decided it was supposed to be hung around his neck. It was hilarious.
Here are a couple of Calvin playing with his blocks. We are working on stacking and finding the right sizes to stack with (from biggest to smallest). He is actually doing pretty well with some guidance...and he LOVES knocking it all down.
Here are a bunch of Maya and her cute facial expressions and the last one is Ama (Johnny's mom) holding Maya while visiting at our house for a bit ;)
Calvin and I got to spend some quality time one afternoon while Maya was napping and we wrestled and cuddled and enjoyed each other for a little while.
This last picture is our awesome double stroller we got off of craigslist for only $40. I needed something that I could put them both in so that I could get the exercise I have so been craving and needing for my own sanity. Yeah!
4 comments:
hi anna! its good to read and catch up with you all - yes, we are in tulsa now and i would love to get together...we're getting settled, so lets chat soon! my email is wileyrussia@gmail.com.
Hang in there! You'll get it figured out soon. And everyone will be eating and sleeping at times that work better for all of you.
Hey Anna, I don't know if you know me, but I was at JBU the same time as you and was in choir with Johnny. Anyway, my son Aidan is 17 months on Friday and I am watching a 2 month old (just started last week), and I definitely think I can partially understand some of the stress you are feeling...except for the fact that I am not up at night (which is a HUGE deal). I just wanted to say that figuring out the sleeping issues when they are little is so much easier in the long run. I did a form of CIO with Aidan as a newborn and although it was hard to hear him cry, it was amazing how well he learned how to sleep at an early age. He was sleeping at least 9 hours straight at night by 2 months and then 12 hours by 4 months. He is definitely not what I would consider an easy baby, he was colicy and screamed a lot, had issues nursing and was not content to do anything (swing, sit in bouncy chair etc...), but by figuring out his sleep issues, it really saved us a lot of stress in the long run. I think the best thing to do is try to figure out an optimal waketime for your baby and then just try to encourage a nap when you notice it getting around that time. If you can catch them before they are overtired they sleep so much better. Obviously you are aware of many methods because of your experience with Calvin, but I just wanted to encourage you to hang in there. It will be so good for Maya if you can train her to soothe herself to sleep because Calvin will have more time with you! Good luck!
My blog is http://sksimmons.com/krenee if you are interested.
It helped us to change the order or the routine. Instead of feeding Mim to sleep I fed her when she woke up. Then, after some play time she was ready to sleep, but not eat. I really didn't let her cry almost ever, but she did learn to fall asleep in her crib without eating and I knew that if she cried it wasn't because she was hungry since she ate recently. I think it also helped her to eat more at one time since she was eating when she was well rested instead of when she was tired.
It worked for us but ymmv and you pretty much have to trust your mommy instinct on this one. You have a beautiful family and this will all work itself out soon. ((()))
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