Home Alone!
our wonderful friends the bolton's
first day at church as a family
sleepy boy
go purdue!
troy and abbie boltonwell today is my first day alone with the little guy - last night wasn't a good night - he slept from about 10:30pm until 2:30am and then he would feed a bit - fall asleep - i would try to put him down and then he would start crying again - that occured until 6:30am when i feed him again and then sat in the rocking chair and we were both able to sleep from about 7am until 9am...so i fed him at 9am and he has been awake all morning and i just fed him at noon and he crys when i lay him down but sleeps in my arms....any moms out there have any advice- i don't want to spoil him and hold him too much but i don't know if 2 weeks old is too soon to be worrying about that? any advice is appreciated - my mom flew out this am and i think the last 2 weeks he has had his share of ALWAYS being held - i keep hearing i need to enjoy this stage because it will pass quickly....go ahead and keep telling me that - going on about 4 hours of sleep it will make me feel better :)
good thing he is so stinkin cute - and that i can type with one hand
posted by Troy & Sherry @ 8:06 AM
17 Comments:
Enjoy it! Just my personal opinion, but I don't think he'll be spoiled by too much cuddling at this age. It will fly by.
Hi Sherry, not sure if you know who I am or not but I graduated from N-land and I think our years there may have overlapped. Congratulations on your adorable little boy!! Boys are so much fun and every stage just gets more fun.
Have you tried swaddling? That did wonders for our little guy at that age. It IS great to enjoy the stage but sometimes you just.need.sleep.
Also, check out a video by Dr. Harvey Karp - "The Happiest Baby on the Block" this was a major sanity saver for us. It also shows you step by step how swaddling and other soothing techniques work. Amazing video.
Sending prayers for sleep to come soon for you!
Swaddling--that was my suggestion, and sherry every time i read your posts I wish I could talk to you in person--we are a lot alike:) Anyway, much I could say on the subject, but Swaddling worked for our little guy and he still sleeps that way at almost 11 weeks. Sara and Silas hated it--Ezekiel loves it and we wrap him tight!! I understand the fears of spoiling--I tend to worry about that as well, but do enjoy this little guy and keep working at getting him to be asleep on his own, even if it is in his bouncy seat OR car seat if he likes it--he might like the confinement and security--which is why I recommend swaddling. If you go on my blog and scroll through my pictures you will see quite a few sleeping pictures where Ezekiel is all wrapped up:) Wish we could chat verbally. . .being a new mom is SO hard at times and being sleep deprived doesn't help at all!! I can almost promise that at about the 8 week mark you will feel like a "new" woman--that always was the turning point for me! Hang in there my friend!
Hey Sherry! I second or third or whatever that you shouldn't worry too much about spoiling him at this point. HOWEVER sleep is a major priority right now - for your health and so that you can be a relatively sane mommy to your beautiful little boy. I'd tell you how cute he is, but I think you're pretty convinced of that by now :o) My only advice is - looking at your ordeal from last night - if he wakes up to eat, keep him awake any way possible to make sure he gets a full feeding - don't let him "snack" - nothing is completely guaranteed, but this is beneficial for many reasons. It seems like FOREVER, now, but he will sleep through the night eventually! Best advice (which I was never good at following) is sleep when he sleeps! Wishing you a good night's rest tonight!
Yes, go for the swaddling. Abigail loved it, she was the only one who needed it. But crying isn't bad either since you do have to get other things done. This is a trial and error stage in life AND it is different with each child. See you in 1 1/2 weeks.
None of my kids tolerated swaddling AT ALL! I was so hoping that would work for mine...nope! Mine all wanted loving. It is a security thing even more than feeding right now (hence why they fall asleep even during feedings). Their nervous system isn't fully developed until I believe 3 months. So, they get so much stimuli during the day which they are trying to adjust to, and you are the only thing they know for sure! I actually had to sleep with the snugli on for several weeks with all my kids. I was so tired and I was afraid I would drop the baby. So that was a safer alternative. Don't worry about him never being able to sleep without you if you don't put him down at this stage of the game. Everything including your kids' stages come in baby steps. After a couple of months he should be plenty secure enough to sleep on his own in his own bed....or he could be like Emily :) She refused to sleep on her back...completely refused unless it was in someone's arms. So, she was my belly sleeper....GASP, I know! You do what you have to do.
I know you are doing a super job! You have to find out what is right for your family. There are ideals and then there is reality. Kinda like college classroom vs teaching in a classroom :)
Sherry, we read and used the Babywise book. It was a lifesaver! We didn't do everything it recommended, but it did help our girls start sleeping through the night at about 7 weeks. Do enjoy this stage. Although it feels like he will be small forever, he won't!!! This stage will be a memory all too soon. Comfort yourself as Suzanne (Mangum) Fenton and I comfort ourselves whenever one of our children is going through a difficult stage: "When he/she is 16 years old, he/she will/will not be doing this anymore!!!" For example, "When Jacob is 16 years old, he will not need me to hold him to fall asleep anymore!" :-) Happy Mothering!
Hey there fellow new mommy. Got to love all the new adjustments...especially not sleeping at night. Our little Brooke likes to eat about every two hours or so. Sometimes we are lucky and she'll sleep for 4 hours at night. We too have tossed around the question of whether she is being spoiled by all the holding. But in the end...whatever gets her to sleep is our priority. :) So many questions that we have to work through as new parents. I guess we just have to keep hanging in there like everyone says until that magic moment when they sleep through the night and we finally get to close our eyes for more than 2-4 hours at a time. love ya girl.
You can't spoil a newborn!!! I hold Luke all the time and he gets rocked to sleep every time no matter what the "experts" say. Find something that works for you and Jacob and do it no matter what anyone criticizes. :) My suggestion- try Mylicon (gas drops). You can give them up to 12x per day and really helped with the crying and fussiness.
Sorry one more thought- have you tried letting him sleep in a Boppy pillow? We put a blanket over top and snuggled him in it and it was like he was being cradled in someone's arms. http://family.webshots.com/photo/2431494130033206828KtmjjP
He still sleeps in it when I can't get him to stay asleep in his crib on his back.
Sherry, I don't want to comment publicly on this one . . . do you have an email address you'd mind me writing to? Mine is dew44bear at yahoo dot com!!
so I am not a parent and have no parental advice but I just want to say Jacob keeps getting cuter! He's gonna be a stud when he grows up! I miss you all so much and I can't wait to see you all again! Praying for you all! Love you guys!
people just LOVE to give advice huh? i'm praying for you sherry. i don't think i have any advice to give because i truely believe that Malachi sleeping through the night at 13 days was not my "expert mommying" but a gift of grace poored on me from the Lord. Amos did not sleep through the night for a long time and now probably 3 times a week he wakes up once and he is 7 months.) - when chi was born i had to be in "Survival mode" because Jason was SWAMPED with finishing seminary and we had 5 other kids. i never did have my "good cry" / "melt down" until after Jason's graduation. - i would say that i do feel like i missed out on holding malachi a lot as a newborn like i did with amos. he is recovering just fine though, he smiles a TON and is generally really happy. he loves interaction with everyone, but when he is ready to go to bed, he can't be comforted til i lay him down. - i did swaddle him, but he was so HUGE and strong he would wiggle his strong self out of it and then fuss... babies can't control their arms and their flailing arms wake them up, so i would just have to reswaddle him . a lady in my church made me HUGE receiving blankets that work GREAT for sumo babies. the ones in stores are gnerally too small. (i still swaddle amos when he is having a hard night, and sometimeis i put him in his car seat and stick him in his crib. - bla bla bla - so much for "no advice" eh?) - i will pray that whether you find something that "works" or not, that the Lord will give you rest and joy and love in parenting your beautiful boy... whether you are tired or not. love you! (it would be so so so fun to live nearby.)
I can certainly empathize with you since I'm still in this stage somewhat. Dawson gets up once a night, but his nights are getting longer which is a blessing.
There certainly is a certain amount of survival mode at the beginning. We've all said, "I'll never do...such and such", but when you're tired, you do it! I've always been opposed to babies sleeping in their car seats, but Dawson has thrown up/spit up/choked/sputtered so much that that is exactly where he's been sleeping! My other two boys sleep through the night and rarely wake us up even when sick, so I know we'll get there this time too. And so will you! Hang in there and get as much rest as you can. Only accomplish the necessities and give yourself time to enjoy your son and refuel yourself (and to shower and eat!).
I'm sure you are doing a great job and you and he will work out all the kinks together.
let the baby sleep in your arms. in your bed, whatever. :-) they also need to eat, eat, eat!
don't worry about spoiling yet.
my little ones slept with us for quite a while and now they're sleeping pros and loved and happy and not spoiled, well not too much. ;-P
It looks like you've got lots of advice. If you want more, you can e-mail me and I can tell you what we did with ours....lets just say we tried one way with Luke, regretted it and did something totally different with Stephen and it has been alot better:-)
Liesl is a mama after my own heart. :o)
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