Comments on: Counting my blessings through bleary eyes

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:36:45 +0000

It is possible that your movement is waking him up. Plus, his little movements are waking you up. Keep him in his crib, in his room and I bet you all sleep better.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:07:50 +0000

In reply to Dirkey. What I have is actually a Baby K'Tan, so it offers a little more support for both of us than a basic sling. We're going to get an Ergo soon, but for now the K'Tan works fine. The biggest problem is that its awkward to use my hands with a baby in front of me. I don't think I'd be comfortable wearing such a young baby on my back, so I don't think a new carrier would solve the problem. :/ Maybe when he's a little older!

By: Dirkey

Dirkey — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:27:59 +0000

So I have nothing to offer for the sleeping as I can’t even get my baby to take a nap in his crib, lol.
However, a sling for extended periods of time OUCH! Our Beco has saved our lives, we use the sling for quick trips to the store but the Beco for anything over 15-20 min. If that isn’t in the budget there are TONS of Mei Tai instructions on the internet to make one of them (some of them are called Asian Baby Carriers). Both of them are super comfy and distribute the weight better. He is getting to the age where you can wear him on your back which really helps for chores. If my Bug won’t nap I throw him on my back and dance through my chores. He will usually fall asleep after a few minutes.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:13:36 +0000

In reply to Erin.

That’s basically what we’re doing now — I get what I can do done when I can do it, and Tony either takes over Judah duty or chores when he gets home. Thankfully, his schedule isn’t very demanding, so he’s home more than the typically full-time worker.

I hope your little one feels better soon!

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:11:54 +0000

In reply to Erin. Lol! I can't believe there's another Judah Michael out there! And only four months older than mine! Too funny! Good luck to you! I hope things go well for both of us!

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:11:02 +0000

In reply to Shannon. I would love to start cutting him back to eating every 4 hours, but he's already small for his age (20th percentile). I'd be afraid to limit his feedings as it might interfere with his already slowish growth! I'm glad things are going better for you guys!

By: Verna

Verna — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:15:48 +0000

In reply to Verna.

It sounds like you have a really good bedtime routine. I would try keeping him in his bed after his first waking. He needs to get used to associating his bed with sleep. I think that would help a lot with naps as well. Try just changing him, feeding, and then putting him back in bed using whatever soothing you need to get him back to sleep.

With naps try a shorter version of your bedtime routine, stories, feeding, rocking, bed. If he starts getting really angry pick him up again until he calms down, but then lay him back in bed. If he hasn’t taken a long enough nap, either try soothing and putting him back in bed, or wait half an hour and see if he’ll go back to sleep. The key to naps is not letting them get too tired.

I know this might not work for your baby, this is just what we did and it made a HUGE difference.

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:10:22 +0000

You mentioned Ask Moxie in your last post I think, so remember- the four month sleep regression doesn’t last forever and especially while you guys are dealing with health issues and you’re hungry all the time (a terrible state for a nursing mama!) remember to be as gentle on yourself as you can. Can you focus on the household stuff that can be done while you’re holding him (vacuuming is a good one) and then maybe squeeze in laundry and/or dishes after he’s down for his first stretch of sleep or when Tony first gets home and gives your arms a break? I still nap with my 10 month old on some days (she’s getting molars right now, so sleep is a little less stable than it was) and while she doesn’t have to be held constantly now that she can sit and crawl, she still is rather attached, so I’ve had to be pretty creative. My Beco carrier lets me put her on my back and I have definitely done a lot of laundry and dishes that way (and bathroom cleaning etc…). When he’s awake will he let you sit him in the kitchen in a bouncer or stroller so you can do the dishes while he watches? Good luck!

Our grocery store has ‘grind your own’ almond & peanut butter so you can get almond butter with nothing but almonds- so good on rice cakes (can you have honey? that would make it even better!). Maybe your store does too? If not I bet you could do it yourself in a blender or food mill/grinder. Corn tortillas with beans, rice and salsa would be yummy and filling too!

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:08:49 +0000

Hello! I found your blog while googling my youngest sons name (Judah Michael) am I the only one who googles their kids names? I hope that isn’t weird. Anyway, my Judah was born August 4th and we’re just testing the waters of getting him to sleep in his crib. He’s a night time cluster feeder so we co-sleep. His brothers didn’t STTN until 13 months so we’re hoping to get him inhis own bed before then. Not sure it’s going to happen.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:58:12 +0000

We went through almost the same exact thing with our little guy. He would want to nurse all night and would wake up whenever I would put him in his crib. Also, he would take these short little naps during the day that left him more grumpy. After taking to his Dr. I found out that I was nursing him way too often. He should of been nursing every 4 hours. Once I got him used to that he started sleeping longer at night. And when he wakes up at night and it’s not time to nurse then I just comfort him. But we are starting to let him try and fall back asleep on his own (I usually only last about 5 minutes before I get him). Hope your little one starts sleeping better soon!