Now, it's all caught up to me. I feel like the dead walking. Maybe it was just adrenaline at the beginning. It's hit me like a truck now, though!! I have zero energy to go work out or anything! I'm happy to just sit around the entire day. Adding to the mix- Kate no longer sleeps through the night (this could be the reason for my zombie-like behavior). And she would like to eat at 1, 2, 3, or 4 am. And she eats a LOT then! Fortunately, Kate goes to sleep immediately after eating at one of these ungodly hours. Although it's been proven that babies don't wake up because of hunger, I still was convinced that it was time to start some rice cereal (pediatrician said to start around 5 months). What a disaster! See pictures below of first attempt... My list of things to attempt is turning out as follows:
Rice cereal with water (dumb idea to begin with, but didn't have milk ready)
Rice cereal with milk (from a spoon)
Rice cereal with milk (from a bottle- she's not a big fan of bottles PERIOD.)
Nursing right before bed (feeble attempt, though studies show that feeding before bed does not prolong sleep)
Add something w/ more flavor to the rice cereal (she's not old enough for anything else yet)
First bite and permanent reaction...
She doesn't actually wake up in the night- she just cries and cries with her eyes closed until she gets totally carried away. She can't be soothed by anything, and when we pick her up, she opens her eyes and we are greeted with enormous smiles.
So, any new ideas for me? What did you do to help your kids sleep through the night??
The food and eating thing gets better. It is a huge learning curve trying to get something from the front of their mouth to the back. It took my 2 a good week to get it down pat. We also started a week shy of the 6 month mark, so after a week of cereal we were on to actual food so I think that helped.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the sleeping through the night, the week before we started food it was back to waking up in the middle of the night. That is why the ped. told us to start the food a week early. After 2 days of eating they were back to sleeping through.
We started feeding them at lunch time for 1 week, then added breakfast for 2 weeks and then added dinner. So our kids eat 3 times a day, even though we don't count it as "eating". It works like a charm.
The food thing has also gotten the kids on a schedule for the first time which works wonderful. It has also added our favorite part of the day: family dinner! We love having them sitting at the table with us.
So don't worry, the food thing will come. Maybe try oatmeal, most babies like it better then rice. And make sure it is nice and warm, that tends to make a difference too. Good luck!!
no suggestions, but i'm totally laughing at kate's combover! LOVE IT!!
ReplyDeletehey just a thought but she could be teething? those middle bottom two are working their way in.... not sure but maybe she is being bothered by that- has she been drooling lots more lately? or chewing on toys more? good luck- not fun to be awakened in the night!!
ReplyDeletethis probably won't help you much, but neither of my kids liked rice cereal at first. they like it when they were older babies and i could mix fruit with it. carrots and sweet potatoes were what we started with and they were much more willing to eat it. (and don't tell the pediatrician, but i started feeding lucas some rice cereal before bed when he was 3 1/2 months old. i honestly couldn't keep up with his appetite. it helped a little bit, but didn't make a huge difference.)
ReplyDeleteyou think she's going through a growth spurt? whenever mine did they would always stop sleeping through the night. it was so frustrating. but it always passed! i say if she's really hungry and eating a lot, then she probably needs it. if she's just eating little snacks, i'd leave her alone. i had to let both of mine "cry it out" b/c they were so needy. it didn't take long and then they slept through the night fine. but if she's hungry, she must be growing!