As a new mum you receive many different suggestions and advice from many different sources and it is difficult to work out which one is best for your child….actually difficult is too soft a word…how about strenuous, tiring, challenging and frustrating.
So I thought that if there are any new mum’s reading my blog that I would share JJ’s take on some of the advice….
Swaddling or wrapping
I was told in the hospital the wrap JJ’s arm in tight and swaddle him before putting him down to sleep. This worked all of three times until I realised that JJ loves having his hands out as he is constantly touching his face. So then I was shown how to wrap him with his arms out….again this was short lived as my little man loves to kick about and move around…hence why he was so active inside me.
So if you are told to swaddle or wrap your baby and you find that they are not so settled it could be because they like to move around…mine does and the first time I didn’t wrap him at all we had a 4 hour sleep at night….yes we went 4 hours.
Bathing
It is often said to be able to relax your child give them and nice warm soothing bath…..but this will not work if your child is hungry and this is the reason why they are unsettled.
Bath time continues to be an exercise that we have no real routine…we can’t seem to work out the ‘best’ time for a bath. JJ loves being in the water but the screaming before and after beats the whole purpose of the bath which is to relax him. JJ is currently being bathed every second day and the time of day differs…but I’m sure that it will all fall into place now and then.
Settling your baby with your hand on his chest.
My little son loves to be held and the best way I know how to settle him when he has cracked the shits…over a wet/dirty nappy or spewage or general shittiness, is to simply pick him up cradle him on my chest and pat his bum until he relaxes…no amount or tummy rubbing or holding his chest helps. He likes to be cuddled and this is just fine with me.
Dark room during the day
This was a suggestion from the Health Care Nurse, it makes no difference for our little boy. During the day the curtains could be flapping in the wind, shut or open…JJ really does not care. We do have the radio going from morning until about 5-6pm…the radio really does nothing either he would sleep with it off or on during the day, but we wanted to help him distinguish between day and night.
Times between feeds
This is something we all still struggle with, I don’t know why the ‘professionals’ tell you not to let your baby go longer than 4 hours between feeds during the day…but they do…and I hate waking him up…just for this rule.
When learning to breast feed you are told that the whole feeding thing is ‘demand and supply’…they demand and you supply. So why is it ok for a baby to go 3 hours between feeds yet if they wake up looking for another feed after 2 hours it is not ok….I just don’t get it and I hate making him wait for another feed if he is hungry…the screaming at times breaks my heart.
Most recently we have decided to stuff the ‘professionals and experts’ and go with the ‘demand and supply’ routine and with this decision we have a child that mostly feeds every 3 hours, sometimes 2.5 hours and sometimes 4 hours between feeds. JJ is now on 100ml’s of new formula and has 8 bottles a day.
1 comment:
It sounds like you are doing a great job, Mari, tailoring the advice to suit you and your baby.
Oscar (6 months now) hated being swaddled, and screamed himself into hysterics if I tried it! But my Twins were swaddled tight until they were 3 months.. must have been that snug fit in the womb!
Bathtime will work itself out. We didnt bath Oscar alot in his first months.. he hated it anyway. Now he baths with the children, 5:30 every night, and he loves it! But he does scream when I dress him, and I then feed him and he falls asleep straight away.
I also pat his bum.. he loves it, and it seems to help wind, too! Just relaxes him to sleep.
I 'demand feed' Oscar.. basically, he feeds when he wants, and always has. For the first 4 months he fed every hour, that was hard. Then I introduced solids and now he breastfeeds every 2 hours, with 4 meals a day.
I think its good that you let JJ decide when he is hungry, and not the proffessionals! After all, its his tummy, and he is too young to lie about it. :)
He sounds like such a relaxed baby! I cant believe he sleeps for over 4 hours already! Our little man still has trouble staying asleep for more than 3 hours in a row! As I said.. Hungry!
I hope you are having fun. :) He is so beautiful.
Felicity.
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