Sleep Wars...Episode III: Revenge of the Vacation

Well, Dr. Weissbluth said that anything that happens to throw your schedule off will throw your sleep off, and he was right!

Daniel's family had a reunion about 2 hours away in Arkansas yesterday, which was wonderful. We got to see about 50 family members, and celebrate his uncle's 90th birthday, and that same uncle and his aunt's 50th wedding anniversary.

But for Naomi's sleep schedule, this meant problems. She took her 3 naps as usual, but each of them only lasted 1/2 an hour. I could go into more detail, but it was mostly because of schedule changes, car travel, and new environment that they only lasted that length.

So we put her in the car around 8:40 to head back home, and she was out within 5 minutes. We did stop to get gas, and that brought us home to Tulsa by 11p.m.

We changed her, put her in PJs, I nursed her and she went down in her crib with nary a fuss.

5:00a.m., she woke up. I let her cry 5 minutes (while I went to the bathroom), then went upstairs to feed her.

Dr. Weissbluth says that breastfed babies can continue to wake up once or twice a night to feed until 9 months old, around 11p.m. and around 5a.m. I'm ok with this, I just want to nix the 2a.m. waking (which she slept right through, thankfully!) and the early morning waking. I also want her to go down easily, with no crying/arching her back, etc.

She went right back to sleep around 5:20a.m. with NO problems! I began to think we were out of the woods. But, 6a.m. rolls around, and awake she came! I knew she wasn't hungry, but thought she might need a burp, so after 5 minutes of crying, I went upstairs and burped her. I put her down and she wailed some more, so I thought I'd have to wait 10 minutes, but she was asleep after 8 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, she was crying again. After five minutes of it, I told Daniel it was his turn, and that she might need a fresh diaper. He changed her, then put her down to wail for 10 more minutes. At this point, it was close to 7a.m. (her new chosen wake-up time) and I told him to just bring her to bed with us. She slept peacefully in our bed (and so did we) until 9:15a.m. when she woke to nurse.

All in all, I think we're making progress. It's excruciatingly frustrating and exhausting sometimes, but hey, as a mommy you do what you have to to achieve the balance between your sanity and your baby's happiness. (Thanks, Jennifer, for this reminder!)

Sleep Wars...Episode II: Attack of the Monitor

I read (and skimmed) about half of Dr. Weissbluth's book yesterday (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child) and became convinced that Naomi has been overtired. Typically, Naomi would get a short morning nap, one or two afternoon naps, (one lasting at least an hour and 1/2) and would go to bed around 9:30 or 10. She'd then wake up at 11, 1, 3, 5, and 6:45, all before her final wake-up time of 8. Yuck.

Most likely, she started waking up due to a growth spurt, then became accustomed to waking up multiple times a night. So I decided to try Dr. Weissbluth's Graduated Extinction method, which basically is when the baby wakes up, you let her cry 5 minutes, go comfort her, let her cry 10 minutes, go comfort her, let her cry 15 minutes, etc. That way the baby knows that when she cries, you will be there for her, but you are giving her the opportunity to learn how to settle herself down.

We also decided that she will only have her pacifier for naps and bedtime (sleeping). We may change this rule for long car rides, but we'll see. Yesterday turned out very different than usual!

In the morning, she woke up at 8 (after moving to my bed at 6:45 a.m.), nursed, ate some baby rice cereal (homemade from organic brown rice) then after some cleanup and about 2 minutes of cuddling, I put her down for her morning nap at 9:30. She went right to sleep with no complaints or fussing at all! Her morning nap lasted an hour and 1/2. She woke up perfectly content, without crying.

I tried to put her down for her afternoon nap at 12, but she wouldn't go. Daddy finally got her to sleep around 1:40, but she only slept 1/2 an hour, waking up hungry at 2:15.

She started her LONG afternoon nap at 4 p.m., waking at 5 to nurse and going immediately back to sleep until 7:30. She slept 3.5 hours!! She had to have been overtired. I'm thinking about trying to consolidate her afternoon naps into one long earlier nap.

I decided to try to put her down for the night at 9 p.m., 1/2 an hour earlier than usual (idea from the book) to see if she'd go to sleep so easily after waking so late. She did! I was so impressed. She went down without a fuss or fight.

I told myself that since she'd been so overtired, she probably would sleep through the night now, like she used to do. About 10:30, I told Daniel I was tired and going to bed to do some reading before I went to sleep. At 11:30, Naomi woke up. Grr. Time to start the "Graduated Extinction Method". As she fussed, Daniel, who had the baby monitor, said, "What do I do?" I told him to wait a couple minutes, then give her her pacifier. He did, then said, "Your turn". I let her fuss and talk to herself for 10 minutes (which seemed like an eternity), then went in to console her. I picked her up and cuddled her about 8 minutes, then put her back down. She started screaming. I walked downstairs and listened to her cries on the baby monitor for the next 10 minutes. I thought she might have been hungry, so before the 15 minutes was up, I went into her room and nursed her. She fell asleep while nursing, but when I set her down in her crib, she started screaming again. I came downstairs, and was crying myself as I waited out the next 15 minutes. Daniel heard me crying, came in the room and turned off the baby monitor. I distracted myself from watching the clock by reading more in Dr. Weissbluth's book. After 15 minutes, I turned on the monitor to the sound of...silence. I double-checked, turning up the monitor so loud I could hear every breath of Naomi's. Yup, she had finally fallen asleep.

I turned down the monitor just past where I could hear every breath and went to sleep. At this point, it was 1a.m. I dreamed that Daniel was slowly crushing bugs under his heel and I was crying at the inhumanity. I woke at 6 a.m. and stared at the baby monitor. Nothing. Not a peep. Sweet, I thought. It must be working. 7a.m., I woke up to the faintest sounds of a baby screaming. Not crying, screaming. Drat, when I'd turned the monitor down to not hear her breathing, I'd turned it down too far. I may have accidentally exposed my child to the "Extinction" method, otherwise known as "Cry It Out". I am NOT a fan of Cry It Out! I hope and pray this causes no serious harm to my child. But after nursing and eating breakfast, she went down at 8:40 for her morning nap with no serious crying. A whimper or two which was easily pacified by me rubbing her back.

We'll see how well she does tomorrow. In the meantime, the galaxy of dreams awaits...

Sleep Wars...Episode I: The Sleeping Menace

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to get enough sleep. Here lately, though, Naomi has had trouble! In the last week or so, she has woken up 5 times a night on average. I wanted to give her some leeway, because I know babies go through a growth spurt around 6 months of age (she's 6-1/2 months old). But it's been a week, and it's not seeming to get any better. Last night, she only woke up 4 times. I nursed her 2 of those times, so I know that she's hungry some, but just fussy the other times. And it's so frustrating when I'm trying to put her down for the night, and she's sleepy in my arms, but as soon as I lay her down she writhes and cries, no matter whether I give her a pacifier or not.

I was telling my mom the other day that if I just knew what the trouble was, I would fix it. She could be having a growth spurt, or teething, or waking up when her pacifier falls out of her mouth, or waking up because she just now has gotten really comfortable flipping over front/back, back/front (and if she's sleeping while doing this it could be waking her up) or it could be ANY combination of these! Or even something else entirely.

I typically wind up bringing her in bed with me to finish the morning's sleep, after Daniel has left for work, since I'm so exhausted from the wakeful night that all I want to do is sleep in. I don't disagree with co-sleeping, but I haven't really enjoyed it since Naomi turned into a wriggling octopus at about 3 months of age. I sleep MUCH better when she's not in the bed with me. Unless I'm ridiculously exhausted, like I have been lately.

Some parents will say, just let them "cry it out". I don't believe in cry it out for our family, (not that it doesn't have its place for some families) but here's my personal reason: When I was about a year and 1/2 old, my mom put me down for the night in my crib. I'm sure I'd been 90% asleep before that. But I woke up, stood at the end of my crib, crying for just one more hug, and I watched her walk away. It broke my heart, and I felt abandoned. And I remember it to this day. It's one of my earliest memories. Now, don't get me wrong, my mom is a wonderful person, falling only below my husband and daughter in my Most Important People In My Life. But even wonderful people can create tragic memories. I don't believe that babies are too young to remember things. If it's traumatic enough, it can and will affect them and they will remember it. I am bound and determined that Naomi's first memory will be a happy one, so therefore, I don't believe in "cry it out".

Naomi (age 2 mo) demonstrates "sleeping like a baby"

So. Now that she's gone from being a wonderful sleeper to a spastic one, it's time to take some action. First up on my agenda is to pull out the sleep books I have and read through them. I'll be starting with Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. I can only hope it will provide some kind of pure gold magic so that soon Naomi will be *ahem*, sleeping like a baby!

T-Shirt Baby Carrier

Today I created a YouTube account, recorded and uploaded my first ever YouTube video!

Not only am I proud of myself for doing all that, I'm also purty darn proud of the baby carrier I made in the video. :-)

I recorded this especially for my non-sewing friend Michelle, who's having a baby in July, but I thought many more moms might be able to benefit from it, so I'm now sharing it with you!

Enjoy!

Felt Flowers

I saw some cute felt flowers for sale at Joann's and thought, "I could make those!" So I bought some felt, and using scissors, needle and thread, and some beads I had on-hand, I made these:

Felt Garden

The two on the right haven't been sewn or glued yet. Of the 9 finished ones, I have pansies (bottom row), edelweiss (top left and center left), a daisy (center), a rosette (center right), a dogwood blossom (top right) and a random large white flower that was my first attempt. The edelweiss is probably my favorite.

Close-up of Edelweiss

I actually turned the smaller edelweiss into a non-slip hair bow for Naomi, by hot-gluing on the "teeth" part from a zip-top baggie. It works really well--stays in MUCH better than her velcro ones and her "real" clip ones, since she just has baby hair now.

Close-up of the zip-top baggie "barrette"

I'll try to post a pic of her wearing it in her hair so you can see how it looks. Ciao for now!

I HATE SPIT-UP (but I love my daughter!)

I HATE SPIT-UP
(but I love my daughter!)

by Shelley Clem

I played games with you

I held you in the air

It was a mistake:

Spit-up’s in my hair

Then I try to look

For just any dry spot

To wipe up the wet

With this cloth—but there’s not

So I put you down

In your fun Jumperoo;

When I turned around,

You spit-up there, too

(And you can’t conceive

How hard it must be

To scrub out it’s every

Darn nook and cranny)

I searched for a rag

They’re all in the wash

I guess I’ll use one

Of your diapers, by gosh

I’m at my wit’s end,

Will this ever stop?

What’s that crusted mess

On my foot? Spit-up glop.

Your Daddy comes home

For his break from work

He holds you and watches

Spit-up go berserk

We want to go out,

I’m dressed really cute

And then you spit up

All over my boot

I tell you I’m done

With this mess; I am through!

But give me one smile,

Oh my girl, I love you!

No matter the spit-up

If it rains and pours,

When cleaning your mess

Has me down on all fours,

When Daddy's work shirts

Are all dirtied by you

And none of my clothing

Is left without goo

When I change five times

Just to head out the door

When I have to give up

On mopping the floor

When you have nothing

That's not in the wash,

Burpcloths, bibs, or socks

or that outfit so posh

All it takes to know

You’re worth doing this for

Is hugs, kisses, smiles

Just for me. Nothing more.

Cloth Diaper Review: Bella Bottoms and Wonder Wrap

I decided that since I am such an avid cloth diaper user, I want to post reviews of the cloth diapers we try, whether we begged, borrowed, or bought them. I will rate them on A. Comfort, B. Convenience, C. Quality, D. Size/Bulkiness, and E. Ability to retain...well, you know...just Ability to Retain. Oh yeah, and F. Price.

First up, Bella Bottoms! This is a fitted diaper (i.e. no pins, but still needs a waterproof cover).

I borrowed 3 of these from my sister-in-law (along with a whole bunch of other kinds) and was first of all struck by how pretty they are. There were 2 tie-dyed ones and a cute printed one, and they just look appealing somehow. Here's Naomi holding the purple tie-dyed one (sorry my wiggle-worm is blurry!):

N holding a Bella Bottoms

You can see it has a row of snaps to snap down the front and make the rise shorter, and also to snap the side tabs across the front to hold the diaper on.

N wearing Bella Bottoms

You can see that the tabs have the option to cross over each other, which to me, is rare in a snapping diaper. I really like that, because it cinches the waist a bit smaller on my tyke, who, despite her thighs being chunky-monkey, still has a slim-ish waist.

I rate the Bella Bottoms thus:

A. Comfort: ***** This diaper is the only fitted I've tried so far that hasn't left red marks on her. I also left one on her without a cover around the house to let her little bottom have some "breathing" time. I could feel when it was time for a change because the outside was damp, but she didn't leave a puddle behind, so that was a plus!

B. Convenience: ***** For a fitted, you can't get any easier. Snap on, snap off, dump in pail.

C. Quality: ***** I found this to be a very high-quality item, not cheap-looking or feeling at all.

D. Size/Bulkiness: *** This diaper, though the size fit well, was still a bit bulky, especially when we put a cover over it! I believe it's also supposed to be a one-size diaper, but there is NO way it would fit a baby smaller than about 13 lbs! N weighs about 15 3/4 lbs, and the waist at the second to smallest setting fits her now.

E. Ability to Retain: **** It seems to do well with wet, but with it wicking through the Wonder Wrap cover, I'm not so sure it would hold poop too well.

F. Price: **** This diaper runs about $12, so not ridiculous, but not cheap either, esp for a fitted which still requires a cover.

Now, this diaper by itself isn't waterproof, so we tried a new cover with it (also a loan from Sarah). It is a Wonder Wrap, and snaps or un-snaps to 4 different sizes. I found it quite large (possibly due to the Bella Bottoms underneath), and not entirely waterproof.

N wearing a Wonder Wrap over Bella Bottoms

So, the Wonder Wrap cover is supposedly versatile, fitting 9-35 lbs with 4 different size adjustments (as opposed to Flip's 3). But with Naomi wearing it on the size M (out of S, M, L and XL), the cover was just too bulky. It barely fit under her pants, and then her pants were very tight. This could be because there was a fitted diaper under it instead of a prefold, but I really doubt it would have made a difference.

I rate the Wonder Wrap as follows:

A. Comfort: **** It seemed ok, but not ideal.

B. Convenience: *** I wrestled with it a bit to get it on her as the size was so huge.

C. Quality: **** I felt like it was a decent quality, especially as I am trying this one used.

D. Size/Bulkiness: ** WAY too bulky to be useful in the smaller sizes.

E. Ability to Retain: ** The wetness wicked through to where the outside of the wrap felt a bit damp, but her clothes weren't wet.

F. Price: **** This cover costs about $15 new. For a one-size cover, the price is reasonable.

In Summary, I rate them as follows: 

Bella Bottoms: 4 stars

Wonder Wrap: 3 stars