There are a ton of baby books out there that try to teach you the "right way" to raise a newborn- when to feed them, if you should or shouldn't coddle or rock them, and how to get them to sleep through the night. I have yet to read any of them all the way through at this point, however I feel it's necessary to get us on some type of schedule or routine, rather than let Anderson keep me on this roller coaster of a routine that we've been on for some time now. Starting tomorrow we're going to follow The Baby Whisperer. I have spoken to many moms about this and they promise me that if I give it a few (rough) days, then it will work and we'll all be happier.
The idea behind this book is that babies, like adults, need and thrive on routine. They like to know what is coming next in their lives. I have only read about 5 pages so far but it makes sense to me. Even as adults, we all know when we're going to eat breakfast, shower or go to work; and when our hot water heater is out, or there is a big accident on the freeway and we're late for work it screws up our day. It is the same for babies. So, this book is all about setting up routines. It's not watching the clock and it allows for some change, but it's pretty consistent for the most part.
Again, I haven't read it all yet, but I plan to quickly! At this point, Anderson is still wanting to eat every 2 hours or sooner. And while I have figured out what his tired cry sounds like, any other cry to me says "I'm hungry!" when it could mean he's bored or irritated or overstimulated. Well, that's ok during the day, but it's getting harder and harder at night. I'm just not getting enough sleep and it's making me (and Jason) crazy. This books teaches you to feed every 3 hours and what to do in between those hours. They call it EASY- Eat, Activity, Sleep, You. So, he will eat, then play (meaning bath or some kind of stimulation) then sleep while I do something for me (like vacuum:) Right now, he kind of eats and then sleeps and then eats and then is awake for a bit and I try to fit me in there somewhere. We're really inconsistent and if he cries I typically just feed him. I know it's not right, but when you're running on 4-5 hours of sporadic sleep you do what you gotta do!
The next few days are probably going to be rough- a lot of crying (probably from both the baby and I) but from what I've been told from friends, I'm doing myself and Anderson a BIG favor in the near future.
Wish us luck!!!
2 comments:
How much did you gain with the pregnancy?
Good luck with the baby whisperer approach!
I have been reading The Baby Whisperer too, and out of all the books I've read it makes the most sense. And I really like how funny the author is with her English accent LOL.
Anyway, I've been trying the "E.A.S.Y." thing too, and though it doesn't work 100% of the time, it does work some of the time. I got Preston to go from eating every hour to hour and a half (he was a snacker) to every 2.5 hours now. And after I feed him I try to do an activity with him, like either sit him on my lap and talk to him, or walk around the house, or bathtime, or have him it in his bouncy seat.
The only problem I have is getting him back to sleep without nursing him for a bit first! Its like he won't fall asleep unless it is at the nipple. Now tell me how to fix THAT problem! ha!
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