Scarlett......Happy to be awake!I admit it, I am one of those moms that reads everything there is to know about raising a baby. Magazines, books, websites--I read it all. Part of it is because I have a lot of time when I am nursing--there's not much else to do at 3 a.m. The other part is that somewhere inside me I harbor the hope that there are "tricks" or methods to getting through things like sleep deprivation. You know it--when your eyelids are lead weights and thoughts swim round in your head like half-dead fish circling the drain.
Some moms tell you their child is 45 and still needs to nurse twice a night. These mothers depress you as you pray your child won't be like that. Other mothers tell you their children were sleeping through the night after a couple of weeks. These babies are such good sleepers that they actually gently caress their mothers to sleep each night. These reports are equally depressing as you wonder what you are doing wrong.
The hot topic these days is teaching your baby to self-soothe. This almost always involves putting your baby to sleep awake and allowing them to cry for some period of time. This weekend we tried some of these techniques. We failed. The best evidence being the fact that Scarlett is in my lap asleep right now. Its not our fault, really. She fell asleep nursing. So what am I supposed to do, wake her up to put her to bed? Also, I am weak. I am unable to listen to 10 minutes of her crying.
I think the articles should just be honest--your baby is going to deprive you of sleep for a long time. Don't get your hopes up. Appreciate the times when you sleep for 4 hours in a row and muddle through the times when 2 straight hours are all you are going to get.
I know a lot of adults who still can't self-soothe, so how is my little baby?!?
I know a lot of adults who still can't self-soothe, so how is my little baby?!?
4 comments:
Babies are just flinky...there's nothing to be done about it and Scarlett is beautiful wether awake or asleep! Can I rock her to sleep too?
Kara, she is so gorgeous! I can't even believe how big she looks. You know - I still she looks the most like me than anyone. Maybe it's just that we're both so photogenic. : ) I love you!
Once again, that would be Kirk, not Kir. I keep pressing enter. I don't know why
Forget the books. The babies hardly ever read them and consequently rarely do what the books say they should.
We got the birth announcement - thank you - and Richard and I both thought that Scarlett looks a lot like Kirsten. I see that Kirsten has validated this.
And I always thought Elijah looked just like you.
Anyway they are all gorgeous kids so you must have some good genes amongst you.
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