Since my last blog was such a downer, I thought I'd blog today about the happy side of Cooper and the good things that are happening. Yesterday morning and again this morning, I woke up to a happy, cooing baby. His happy time is 6:30 - 8:30 a.m. This is when I get those beloved smiles, coos, and giggles, and he's very playful. THOSE are the moments that make the night before all worth it.
I wanted to take a picture of him smiling to put up on here, but this morning he woke up with pink eye, not a cute picture (but he was still happy!). So we'll put up a picture when he gets better.
After going through all the crying the other night I was doing some contemplation about my son's needs. Yesterday morning I got up and turned on a previously recorded episode of "Supernanny" while I ate my bowl of cereal. The family had a 2-1/2 yr old that was still sleeping in the parents' bed. Supernanny said this was a huge no-no and that he needs to sleep in his own bed to learn how to self-soothe, a very important life skill that should have been learned when he was much younger.
At that moment I thought to myself that I'd rather try to teach Cooper how to soothe himself to sleep now rather than later. I think it may be easier now, but I could be wrong. Nonetheless, I decided to give it a shot. So starting with his first morning nap yesterday we started letting him cry it out, and...
We ended up having a very successful day! Hooray for another good day! Gotta love that. I only let him cry up to 10 minutes at a time. His standard is seeming to be a good 10 minute cry, a 3-5 minute soothing from his mom/dad to reassure him we have not abandoned him and do in fact still love him, another 5-10 minute cry, a quick soothe from mom/dad, put him back down, he wimpers for a minute or two, and then he's asleep. Not bad for our first day. This was consistent throughout the day until the 5 o'clock grizzlies.
But I did get him to sleep by 10:00 last night, and he slept until 2:30 this morning, and then again until 6:30. Not bad, not bad at all. Incremental improvements are great.
Another thing we did was purchase a DVD called "Dunstan's Baby Language", which was recommended by my sister. It teaches you the 5 "words" or cries that a baby 0-3 months uses to communicate. Nathan and I watched it last night while Coop was crying it out. This morning I used what I learned, and it seems to be right. Hopefully this is a turning point for our little guy. Also, in the DVD, she talks about the cry they use to tell you they need to burp, and said that babies with reflux or who are naturally windy a lot will give you this cry throughout the day, even when not being fed. It is important to burp them when they give you this cry so the air doesn't move into their intestines and cause worse pain. She mentioned that if you try to notice these cries throughout the day and burp them every time, you'll see the "5 o'clock grizzlies" diminish. Hey, I'll try that FOR SURE!
We are certainly learning a lot, and do enjoy our little guy so much. Thanks for all the responses to my previous post--the words of encouragement, sympathy, and advice.
One Last Party
3 years ago
Ya know, time is an amazing thing. I really don't remember much of this. Maybe that's because it didn't happen to me, but more likely it's because time passes and you move to another phase and slowly forget the stress and sleeplessness of those early months. Then, you have another baby, and the cycle continues.... Am I ready for that???!!!
ReplyDeletelol, I just read Mel's comment. Ready for that again? nah, you are never ready for it... but it comes with the sweet little package you bring home. Oh well, they eventually grow up. I remarked to your dad the other day when he read me your sad blog...."at least she knows where he is, whom he is with, who is kissing him, and who he is hanging with and what they are doing." I know he told you some of that already. Life is fun and full with children. And it only gets better and better, really! I promise! Now lets talk about what you did to your mom, lol. Chrystal refused a bottle so how fun was it to leave her? Well, she seemed to be patient most of the time til mom returned. She would only sleep with a flashlight on in her bed. But she was not a fussy baby. She crawled at 4 months! yes you read that right. She was a little pee wee Jones for a long time only weighing in at barely 16 pounds at a year. Small and quick. That's her. Now, I can honestly tell you I have no memory of fussy nights, fevers, chicken pox, etc. although you had all of those. Maybe its because as we loose sleep we also kill brain cells and memory goes. haha I don't know..I don't remember. Smile, at least his favorite gal right now is his mommie. And what better reward than that toothless grin at 3 a.m. Enjoy! Soon he will be like your brothers, MEN! and does the eating stop? Nope, they still come home and eat, and eat, and eat. Not complaining, just warning you. Oh! I realize your dad told you this, but just for Cooper's sake. You will still be up in the night waiting for him to calm down after a nightmare, or waiting for him to come home after a night with the guys or a date. Wait up and talk to him about his fun evening. That my dear is the sweet secret of being a MOMMIE! Can't wait to see you in December! Smile, it will make other mommies jealous! haha love MOM/Grammie
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