I think that is the most comments I have ever gotten! I love it! I also love hearing everyone's opinions, I really do. It helps me sort out what I think is best for us. I am happy to report that Abigail went to sleep very easily tonight. We had supper with a dear friend of mine from Kansas/Louisville (long story) and so we didn't get back until "late" . . . 8:00 pm. She had a bath, nursed, and then was laid in her crib with a paci and stuffed bear and went to sleep on her own! Magic! Anyway, we'll see how things go tonight.
As far as her doctor's appointment goes . . .
She is still a very healthy girl. She has only gained 1 pound since the last visit but the doc said that is normal. Babies start slowing down their weight gain after a while. She has grown 2 1/2 inches, however, so we think she may be tall like her pa! She also has a big head, although not abnormally large. She is still above the 90th percentile for all categories and is like 99th for head and length. Big girl, I guess. Everything else checked out great. He gave me some more tips in dealing with the minor ezcema that flairs up from time to time. I talked to him about her sleeping habits and what to do and here is his answer. . . .
"Sounds pretty good to me for a six-month-old baby." To be honest, I'm not surprised that was his answer. He is pretty laid back and go-with-the-flow. And she is, honestly, a very good baby. Perhaps I'm just a sensitive new momma!
Hopefully no men regularly read this since I'm going to talk about pumping and milk supply (my husband, of course, has to hear about this all the time). My supply has gone WAY down these past few weeks. I have gotten a little lax about making sure I'm pumping what she's eating and now I'm paying for it! I have heard that sometimes the mom's supply drops at 6 months. I don't know why. The babysitter has had to dig into the freezer stash for a few weeks now. This week I am working, working, working, at getting it built back up. I pumped 4 times (yes, 4 times!!) in one morning this week. It really works best to do it on the weekends because then she is nursing from me and then I pump extra. Also, this is one of the reasons that I have hesitated to cut out her midnight snack. My supply will drop even further if she drops a feeding. I really don't think I can make myself get up in the middle of the night to pump, as an alternative. I actually need to oversupply for a while, since I'm down to a very meager stash of frozen milk! So, bring on the engorgement (in moderation, of course).
OK, I'm going to sleep now!
5 comments:
I know I've talked about my kids' sleeping issues, but I don't remember what I said last. I have to go with Carol's advice (from my experience with 2 babies)...cry it out. If Andrew is willing to be there and let you go if it'll be too hard, that's great. Maybe that would be a good time to go to his folks' and make baby food! :)
I don't remember how old Anna was...seems like she never really fought sleep too bad until she was older (as in almost 2 yrs. old). It's been different w/ Jacob b/c the kids have to share a room. Dad finally pointed out that they were just going to have to get used to each other if anyone was going to get any sleep. So we made them cry it out and the first night was not fun, but after that, it was so much easier. And now, very rarely does Jacob wake up during the night (watch him make a liar out of me tonight!). Anna's a different story, but none of that pertains to your situation :)
It's funny how I'm so much more laid back about Jacob (and I was pretty laid back about Anna)...the second one is just different. I suppose b/c you've already been through it once and kinda have the hang of things.
And I agree 110% with Susan (I think it was her)--don't underestimate the importance of everyone getting a good night's sleep. It's not good for a baby not to be getting enough sleep, just as it's not healthy for us not to get enough. Is it possible that she's not getting enough sleep during the day? I know that seems contrary to common sense, but when babies don't get enough sleep, it has the opposite effect on them! She could just not need much more than that during the day too. Jacob only takes one 2 hr. nap a day and has been doing that for over a month (he's almost 1).
I just thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth in :) And Andrew, I about woke up the house when I read your comment. What a smart aleck! (some things never change eh?) :)
Sorry it's so long!!!
Yes, you can always count on Andrew to lighten up the mood, huh?! I'm considering letting her cry simply because she is such a bear to put to sleep and I want her to not fight it so much. The last three nights have been terrific so we'll see if that continues.
She did wake about 10 pm last night and cried, maybe 2 minutes (I didn't respond) and she just fell back asleep! :)
I have always thought she needed more naps but she has the opportunity and just won't take them (especially on the weekend with us). I think her 3 hours during the day and 10 or 11 a night is just about right. The doc thought so too.
The problem with her sleeping might be in your milk supply. Breastfeeding did not work for me and Jackson but while I was struggle with it the doctor told me I needed to eat even better than I did while I was pregnant and to stay away from caffeine. Are you real careful about what you eat?
One solutions might be to supplement with a couple of ozs of formula at the end of her night feeding (I used Similiac Sensitive and that worked great for Jackson). It is so great that she is eating a lot of food but that first year I think breastmilk/formula is the most important source of nutrient for her.
Also, most all of my friends breastfeed and some of their little ones developed milk allergies and so while they were breastfeeding they had to stay away from milk. If she continues to have sleeping problems you might want to get her tested for being allergic to certain foods. I am certainly not an expert on this issue but I was just thinking this morning that it could be a source of her sleeping difficulties. What do you think? Mom always knows best!
Wow, I feel slightly embarrassed that my last comment had absolutely nothing to do with baby sleep patterns. However, I would have nothing useful to offer other than the memory of patting Brennan's back for an hour sometimes to get him to fall asleep. After that, I just let my parents deal with him and have no memory of how good or bad of a sleeper he was. I can tell you that having a set bedtime is something you should always keep up! I had one when I was a baby all the way through grade school. (After that, bedtime depended on homework and papers.) My parents were very lax with Brennan and he is known to stay up very late (and I can tell you, it's not to do his homework!).
Well anyway, I have way more vacation next year to dedicate to a family vacation, so I am with you there! I just think it would be so fun to do that again.
I was surprised one of the times I let Jacob cry it out in the middle of the night...he didn't cry long at all and was back asleep! Ya just never know.
I also found that Jacob slept better once he started skipping his morning nap. There are days he's really tired, but I try to keep him awake until after lunch. Then he sleeps good for his nap and at night.
Hope the night-time trend continues and you won't have to let her cry it out!! :)
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