Before
After #1PAUSE: It's been about 3 minutes and I hear the screaming. I'll be back.
Okay, I'm back... after about 5 minutes, here she is... doesn't she look sound asleep? Fingers are crossed again.
After #2A ha! this Detective Mama thought. I have a clue. After taking a nap together (many sources will say this is bad, so don't tell... it's hard to nap when you're scoping out your sleeping baby) I consulted some more sources and thought I'd solved it - she has gas, which is making it hard for her to sleep flat on her back! This would explain the legs pulling up and also how she is comfy sleeping on her tummy or in the upright position. And after this sleuth work, I noticed many more toots while she layed on her tummy.
Unfortunately, none of these sources really gave good tips on helping a gassy baby get to sleep on their back. Lots of tips for while they're awake, but few for while they're asleep. So for today I'm taking the 'whatever it takes' approach. I let her sleep on her tummy (shhh.. don't tell the tummy sleep police, she was supervised) this morning. And, as you can see in the 3rd picture, I've attempted to put her on a bit of an angle with the pillow under her back. Tonight we will put some books under her mattress to provide a safer version of the angle. And, so far so good... still no screams and I think I've been typing for over 5 minutes!
Ahhh... the adventures of mamahood! Who knew all those years of watching Murder She Wrote, Law & Order, and CSI would come in handy!
FINAL UPDATE: Here come the screams again.... AHHHHH!!!! One more try and then I'm giving in for this round.
1 comment:
Sarah, I'm really enjoying reading about your journey with your new little Ely! (My grandma's name was Eleanor, and we considered that for a girl, but then of course have 2 boys...)
You sound just like me with my first baby! (See these three posts.)
I know you didn't ask me, but my little piece of advice for new moms after going through it twice is to not worry too much! Especially the first 6 weeks. Just get through the first 6 weeks, recover, and get to know your baby without worrying so much about a schedule. I was trying to follow the Babywise method of eat/wake/sleep, but Nathan was rarely cooperative with the eating times and sleeping (he'd always fall asleep in my arms immediately after each feeding), and I just ended up feeling guilty like I was a bad mom doing something wrong. I recently heard that Babywise taken to the extreme can actually cause other problems (such as attachment disorder...). I belive you're using more common sense to meet your baby's needs, but I am more careful now about how regimented I try to be with my new little one. Truth be told, I too allow my 2 month old to sleep on his tummy in the daytime b/c he actually falls asleep without crying (especially afternoon nap). I also slept with him in our bed a few more times than with my first, and it gave me a few much-needed hours of sleep here and there. Now that he's almost 11 weeks, he's sleeping like a pro and I didn't start the methods to help him fall asleep by himself consistently until at least 6-8 weeks. Just don't beat yourself up if you have to let her sleep with you, let her sleep in the swing a few times here and there... there will be time to teach her when she can self-soothe better (which happens later, like 12 weeks). A couple good books on helping them sleep with less crying are "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth, "The Baby Whisperer," and "The No-Cry Sleep Method" (I've yet to read the third one), just in case you hadn't already heard of them. A lot of the first one talks about how much a newborn can be expected to do in terms of falling asleep on his/her own, and it relieved me to realize I wasn't going to ruin my baby's napping patterns for life if I didn't start the sleep-training thing until later. Hang in there, you sound like a fantastic new mommy! Blessings to your new beautiful family!
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