The Scheduled Baby- 10 months

 

We get told a lot that Caroline is a very happy baby. Its true that she rarely cries and she smiles and laughs a lot. She is very "go with the flow" and is a great sleeper and eater.  I think that there is truth to some babies being more mild tempered than others, but I know for us, Caroline is much easier to care for and more fun to be around when she is on a schedule.

Since we got home from the hospital, we really tried to go 3 hours in between feedings and 4 hours at night. We would try everything to calm her down if she was upset before feeding her if it wasn't time for her to eat. We didn't always go three hours, but we only fed her when we had tried everything else (swaddling, bouncing, swinging, paci etc.)  At about 4 weeks, she was on a pretty consistent schedule. I started waking her up at the same time every day (6 am) and feeding her, no matter what time she had eaten last. For example.... even if she had woken up at 4 am and nursed, I woke her up again at 6 to eat again.  Waking her up at the same day helped her (and me) to transition into more of a set schedule. Eventually, when she woke up in the middle of the night, I would try just giving her the paci or rocking her for a bit. Of course I fed her if I thought she was hungry, but eventually she started sleeping through the night.

Now that she is 10 months old, we are a little more lax on the schedule, yet stick to it pretty closely for the most part. It has changed within the last month and I wanted to document it here for future reference.

7:30- 8:00 am- wake up and eat (7.5 ounces and breakfast... usually smooshed (that's a real word ya know) or sliced banana
9:00 am- nap
11:00 am bottle (7.5 ounces) and lunch- (usually cut up fruit or veggie and puffs)
1:30- bottle (7.5 oz)
2:00- afternoon nap (usually until 4)
4:00-4:30- bottle (whenever she wakes up)
7:00- dinner (usually cut up veggie, fruit, or tidbits of what we are eating)
7:30- bath, read, get ready for bed
8:00- bottle (7.5 oz)

*she eats almost no pureed food anymore and is doing really well with picking up cut up fruits and veggies. I will not make any more pureed food except for a few things to use for travel.
*she doesn't sleep past 8. Trust me, there have been LOTS of times that I have wanted to let her sleep, but I know that it will mess up our whole day. I did let her sleep until 9 last Thursday, and she was fussy until nap time, and then didn't take a great afternoon nap! I have learned that sleep induces sleep (for my child) and lack thereof means for a no- good napper. Most of the time she wakes up on her own around 7:00. She plays in her crib for a while, then we go get her about 7:30.
*It is true that C is at home most of the time for her naps in her crib. I think that helps. She has a sound machine and her room is dark.  She does nap at a friend's house in the afternoon 2 days a week, and she did not nap well at first. Once the room was darkened and a sleep machine was used, she's back to a 2 hour+ afternoon nap.
*She takes a paci and has a bunny lovie that she sleeps with. We don't leave home without them. :)
*Sundays are a rough day for us. She has to wake up for her morning nap early to make it to church on time. She's in the nursery for 2 hours and is exhausted by the time we leave. She goes down for her afternoon nap earlier (about noon or 12:30) and sleeps until 3 or so.

The schedule may not be for everyone, but its been a lifesaver for us. I also realize that if there is a "next" child, it may not work for them. But, I definitely want to have a record of what we were up to schedule- wise at 10 months. Ill also probably love to think back on this post next month when she'll decide to stop being cute and sweet and not sleep. :)

The Six Weeks I Almost Forgot

A sweet friend recently had a baby. She is one week old and is perfect.  I've seen other newborns since Caroline was born, but not as often as this little baby and I'm not quite as close to the families as I am to the the Huddlestons.  As I was chatting with Nicole the other day, I couldn't believe what I had nearly forgotten about what I lovingly refer to as the "just keep the baby alive" stage, or the first 4-6 weeks of life.  I blogged a lot about C's birth and her cuteness, but wanted to jot down a few things about those first weeks that I'm afraid I wont remember the next go around (if there is one.)

1. The first two days home, I was the best, most energetic mom that had ever lived.  I did not need rest or an ice pack or pain pills. I needed to go to Target and Sonic and Hobby Lobby and show everyone my new baby.  Day 3 home from the hospital... I felt like I had been hit by a train. I was tired.  I was sore. I was thinking that being a new mom wasn't that fun since my baby seemed to cry for absolutely no reason.  I overdid it those first couple of days and we had to begin turning away visitors so that I could recover.

Lesson learned: I had just given birth.  While pain free during labor and delivery, my body ached until about day 10.  I finally started the prescription pain meds, but I'm not convinced they did all that much to help. In fact they had side effects that were almost worse.  Ibuprofen, ice packs, hot showers, and rest helped me get on the road to healing.

2. I was so thankful that the first week was just Adam and I.  Our parents came up for Caroline's birth, but left for home before we even left the hospital.  We had some really sweet times together just the 3 of us that I will be thankful for. When Adam went back to work the next week my mom came up.  The timing was perfect because we had a bit more knowledge about what we were doing and my emotions had leveled out a bit.

Lesson Learned: Adam and I became so close during that first week. He was beyond awesome at taking care of Caroline and I really think my love for him grew by 100 times.  I never want to forget how we would laugh and cry in the same minute. 

3.  I am so thankful for the 10 weeks I was off of work. I originally requested 6 weeks, but my boss really encouraged me to take 12.  Because of how my maternity leave rolled over to the new year, I took 10.  I can't imagine going back any earlier.  I had a lot of mixed feelings about going back, but we ultimately decided it was best for our family.  At 6 weeks I felt like we were just getting the hang of things, and C was still waking up a lot at night- I can't fathom how I would have worked a full day and traveled for my job. 

Lesson Learned: Depending on what your line of work is, I recommend taking 10-12 weeks of maternity leave.  If you have the option of going back half days, then do so! If you are not in a flexible career now where you feel like you can take off without getting heat from an employer or them being flexible when you go back, then consider looking for another job. I am SO thankful for the employer I had and my new one and their willingness to be flexible during this season of life.

4. The first 6 weeks are hard. They weren't miserable by any means, and I think I enjoyed them more than most, but they are tough.  Its frustrating when baby is crying and you do everything you can think of and they don't stop. Its hard when you just want 30 minutes to lay on the couch and watch HGTV alone or eat a meal uninterrupted but you can't put your baby down because she will cry... oh and by "not put her down" I mean "keep walking around with her or she will cry." PS... WHY ON EARTH DO THEY CARE WHEN YOU SIT DOWN?? How can sitting and bouncing be that different from walking around the house in circles?! I will never forget one night/morning when C woke up every hour it seemed. I can remember walking her around the house at a very fast pace because that is the only thing that would calm her down. I was SO tired. I tried everything in a sitting/laying position to rock/bounce her but all she wanted to do was walk... at 3 am. At the time it was hard. Now looking back, its one of my sweetest memories.

Lesson Learned: It gets easier. Every week got a little easier and I felt like week 6-8 were real turning points. I have other friends that say it was closer to 12 weeks and others sooner or later. But- it gets easier, and most will say more fun. I was a big fan of the newborn cuddles and because I was off work for 10 weeks I really did rest most of the day when she did so I wasn't terribly exhausted. Hang in there and pray a lot.

5. Shooshing, sound machines, and swaddling. I didn't read the whole thing, but I did read excerpts from Happiest Baby on the Block. They talk a lot about swaddling and making loud "shooshing" noises in your babe's ear when they are upset. Its supposed to simulate the womb environment. Adam was great at this and it always seemed to calm her down. We also used a sleep machine at night which really helped. Overall, we were big fans of Babywise which I highly recommend. We started a loose schedule when we got home from the hospital and really started trying to stick to it regularly at 4 weeks old.

Lesson Learned: Babies need schedules just like we do. Do what works for you, but consider waking baby at the same time every day (I suggest 7 am) and feed him/her.  Run the rest of your day from there feeding in 3 hour increments... eat, play, sleep, repeat. Even if baby wakes at 5 am at eats, wake her again at 7 and feed her, even if only a little bit. This will work them into a schedule.  I also want to mention some great advice that another mom gave that helped a lot and that has helped other moms... make sure baby gets a full feeding each time. Those late night feedings are tough because you're SO exhausted and when baby stops nursing to fall asleep, its easy to put them right back to bed.  Instead, make sure they eat for a good 20-30 minutes and wake them up if they fall asleep before. A full feeding will ensure that baby doesn't wake up an hour later hungry.