Ahhh... sleep. What a beautiful concept. Much easier conceived of than done, apparently. In the past few weeks since my last post, we've started focusing on the prospect of sleep training for Natalie. I've read "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" and I'm now reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", which will be followed by "On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep". I've already read the pertinent chapter on sleep in Dr. Sears' "Fussy Baby Book" and in Linda Holden Palmer's "The Baby Bond" (both coming from the attachment parenting end of the spectrum).
I've said from the beginning that I'm totally opposed to cry-it-out parenting. I'm still pretty opposed to it, but I'm willing to read about it just in case. Still, it's most likely a last resort for me, one I hope not to have to resort to. I'll only do it if I can convince myself that it's in Natalie's best interest.
The past few weeks have been stressful, and last week I really hunkered down and tried to get Natalie on a nap schedule, which meant I didn't leave the house all week. I hit rock bottom and pretty much lost it. I now sport a bruise on my forehead from where I banged my head against the wall in frustration. I broke down crying several times a day last week.
Over the weekend I reached out to my Yoga Mammas email group with a catalog of my frustrations, and the overwhelming response was so compassionate, empathetic and caring, it nearly brought tears to my eyes again. So many moms have gone through my same frustrations and dark moments, and they have made it to the other side. This weekend I also took Natalie out to my folks' place in Dripping Springs, housebound routines be damned, just for a sanity break. It was well worth it and going to church Sunday morning was inspirational.
As I type, my dear husband is going through Natalie's bedtime routine with her. Tonight we are trying out adding a bath at the beginning of the routine. She enjoyed the bath, but is fussy at the moment. Fussy, not crying, so that's a marked improvement over the nights we used to have. She's watching the jungle crib soother we dubbed "Baby TV", probably on her belly while her rubs her back and/or butt rhythmically until she succumbs to sleep. Once she's fast asleep, he'll flip her to her back.
If she does as she's been doing more or less for the past week, she'll wake up in 1-1/2 to 2 hours for one more feeding, then sleep until 10 or 11:30, then wake up again at midnight or 2, then once more if she woke up at midnight, then she'll sleep until 6 or 7AM. 6:30PM - 6 or 7AM is her the length of her new night. Night wakings are, for the most part, around 30-40 minutes each if she feeds, or 5 minutes or less if she doesn't. This is soooo much better than the minimum hour-long nightwaking she used to do. We get the occasional bout of gas that we have to soothe her through, and those wakings can take longer (45 minutes-1 hour including a feeding), but fortunately those are becoming fewer and further between.
My diet is now no-dairy, no-corn, but I'm not really excluding anything else. I excluded so many foods for a couple of weeks, but I couldn't sustain it. (This was part of my mental and emotional meltdown last week.) She seems to be doing okay on what I'm eating lately.
I'm going to check out a PPD support group this week, and I'm making a point of leaving the house with Natalie at least once a day, while trying to respect naptimes to the extent that I can. I'm getting up at 6AM and letting Rob handle Natalie while I meditate, pray and/or do Yoga.
It's rainy and nasty out this evening, even still it might be nice to get out for a jog in the park. It's not too cold.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment