Well, it's been 2 weeks since we brought Bret home and it's been a learning experience. The first night was really tough - he didn't sleep much, seemed to be hungry all the time (my milk hadn't come in yet) and somewhat fussy. After that night, Jason and I were wondering what we had gotten ourselves into!! Since then, it has reached a good place. Bret seems to have somewhat of his own schedule. He feeds every 2.5 - 3 hours, stays up about an hour to 1.5 hours in between feedings and sleeps for about 3 hours at a time. I'm still trying to get into the groove of night feedings though. He eats around 10pm and will fall asleep around 11pm. By that time, Jason is already in bed and I sometimes end up spending most of the night downstairs. I will be the first to admit I hold Bret a lot. I know, I know (I could use some advice).....He tends to sleep longer and uninterrupted if I hold him as opposed to putting him down after he falls asleep. I don't want him to get used to someone holding him all the time but I also want him to sleep well. What should I do?
This may be TMI, but breastfeeding is going really well. Jason and I have introduced a bottle to him (he's fed from a bottle twice now). I need to look for a slower flow nipple b/c the @dvent #1 nipple still seems to be too fast for him. He gets a mouthful of milk and either drools it out from the corners of his mouth or just stops eating altogether. Are there any "newborn" nipples / bottles? I know he's eating well because he gained almost a pound within 8 days of being discharged from the hospital!!
I cut his nails for the first time yesterday. I was SO NERVOUS. They're not quite groomed how I'd like them to be, but they're better than they were before.
His belly button thingy fell off so I think I'm going to try his first bath tomorrow. This should be interesting. I have a feeling he is going to scream bloody murder.
I got an update from the furniture place. His chest and changing station/dresser are in but not the crib. Let's hope it comes in soon b/c I want to start getting into a routine with him to make the days/nights a little easier. Speaking of which, how soon did you (other moms) introduce a routine?
Other than that, it's been pretty mundane (thank God). He has a DR appointment in a couple of weeks. I'll post pics every month.
I pretend like I know what I'm doing!! LOL
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9 comments:
Yay for an update! You sound like you're doing great, congrats!
My take on the holding thing the holding thing: there are things you can try, like swaddling, Boppys, sleeping positions, swings, etc to help them sleep better without being held, but I think each baby determines how much they like to be held. Noah LOVED to be held, and I had a hard time finding ways to get him to sleep long spurts without being held. Sleeping on his stomach on the couch worked the best, even though those are two tabu things. He liked to be held so much, that the first few weeks of day care, I sent my Snuggli with him so my day care lady could hold him and still watch the other kids.
15 months later, he still likes to be held A LOT!
Ava was a totally different baby. She grew out of her 'hold me' stage and never looked back. TOTALLY independent.
My rationale with Noah is that he's not going to do it forever, it's not like he's going to enter high school and still like to be held, so I gave up on forcing the issue. I'll let him grow out of it when he's ready.
But I know it's hard when they're brand new. I remember calling my family members crying wishing I had someone to just come hold him so I could shower, do the dishes, shave my legs...anything!
I'm excited about your update too! Great to hear how you're doing.
My opinion on the holding thing is similar to aj's. Alex loved to be held too. And he grew out of it. He started moving (scooching, crawling, etc.) and then he was ready to be held a ton less. My savior was the baby bjorn front carrier. Alex loved it because he could be close to me. And I loved it because I regained the use of my arms. You could also look into a sling. I know a lot of people like those too for babies that like to be held a lot.
The nipple thing; the slowest they came when Alex was a baby was level 1, which is newborn. Alex was a ferocious eater though, so I actually had to poke more holds in nipples to make it go FASTER.
One thing that might help the nail clipping thing is just using an emery board. Worked like a charm on Alex and I didn't have to worry about cutting him.
Hope to talk to you soon!
I have been cheking your blog all the time waiting for an update. It is great to hear things are going well.
It is so hard not to hold a newborn all the time (they are so cuddly). What worked for the twins was swaddling, swinging, and/or the bouncy on vibrate. (I would buckle them in) Also, if Bret is being fussy at night, it could relate to gas, temperature, reflux, etc. Try different things and you will find what works best for Bret. I always swaddled the girls, but when they kept waking up, I had to try other things. They also had reflux.
Now, they sleep wonderfully. They go down at 6:30/7ish and sleep until morning. If they wake up, I typically let them cry unless I know something is wrong.
As for a routine, I am not the best person to ask. Since my girls were in the hospital for a few weeks, the hospital puts them on a routine as soon as possible. They ate every 3 hours and were changed right before each feeding (and more if they stooled or were uncomfortable). When I brought them home, I kept them on the same routine. As they got older, I modified their routine, but they are still on one. They take 2 naps a day at approximately the same times and eat at the same times. Daycare needs them on a routine and it workds for us.
I know some people agree with feeding on demand versus a routine, but I think I will still stick with a routine when I have my third.
Please keep us updated as you can!!!!
I have no advice, but your posts are getting me awfully excited to have this baby!
How exciting! Can't wait until you post more pics!
For claiming you don't know what you're doing I think you're doing a great job. Looking forward to seeing some pictures...
I will write more later but read the book "The Baby Whisperer." I swear, it saved my life.
Congrats again...sounds like you are suuuuper busy.
The book, from my memory, had a 4 step routine that repeated every 2-3 hours depending on your baby. It was teh EASY routine. EAT, AWAKE, SLEEP, YOU. So in the first part of your 3 hour cycle, Bret would eat for 1/2 hour, be awake for an 1 hour, and sleep for an hour and a half. This is your "you" time but that's stupid, They should call it you sleep too time. :) Then as he gets older, the time between feedings lengthens as he settles into more awake time and then more of a 3-4 x per day nap routine. It still always follows the EASY routine, just longer intervals.
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