September 21, 2004
first question
this is an honest question: why is it that, when chatting about life with a baby, so many folks are compelled to first ask "is he sleeping through the night yet?"
both michelle and I have noticed this trend, and I'm sure we've asked it to other folks along the way. perhaps we're just concerned for eachothers health? or maybe it's the first easy-to-identify milestone for most kids? but it seems that the hallmark of a "good baby" is whether or not he'll leave you alone for 6 consecutive hours. but we have celebrated the few times Caleb has slept over 4 hours.
yet at 6 weeks Caleb does not sleep through the night. and even though I may have a somewhat different opinion at 1 or 4am, that's ok. he's getting there. and speaking of sleep, grandma is on the way, and she'll be taking the feedings in the wee hours. she's quite excited. and then soon we'll be meeting with all the family at a cabin near blairsville. our first baby road trip!
you didnt think it was possible, but he's getting cuter every day. and it seems as if his gassiness is getting better. michelle's fibro is still flaring, but grandma's help should ease that some. since sleep is hard to come by these days, we've lost track of eachother, and (more importantly) we've been neglecting daily prayer and whatnot. so we've had a couple meltdowns, but this past weekend was good for getting reoriented a bit. we really need to settle into something of a routine, but we'll see how that goes.
this whole parenting thing is definitely exhausting at times (especially for mama), but it's easily the best thing I've ever done. it reminds me of my first reaction to marriage: a lot harder than I thought, but a lot better too.
Posted by bobw at September 21, 2004 01:57 PM
We never did any sleep routine thing. But by 5 months we were no longer getting up to nurse him back to sleep. We let him cry it out. That was my limit. Some others have shorter ropes, that's cool. I think with the next one I'll be ready for more sleep sooner. But they never truly "sleep through the night" there will always be occasional awakenings. especially when they are sick :(
And might I add, y'all have had a TON of help! It seems like every time I read you're having gma's and sister's etc. come help! you're blessed! I had a week and a half, that was it! That's what I get for moving away and having very occupied family. May the blessings continue!
yeah we thought we'd be into the set schedule thing, but that was blown out of the water by early feeding problems, and now we're comfortable with approximations (feedings around 1,4,7,10). we'll see when we attempt to drop the wee hour feeding(s). we're not very good at letting him cry.
yes we're very blessed with willing family. my mom especially simply cant stay away.
I think it does have to do with being one of the first milestones. It may also be that it's kind of a bonding point -- every parent remembers those first however many weeks where sleep was more precious than gold.
In a couple months, people will be asking about rice cereal and baby food, then crawling, then pulling up, then walking, and so on... a neverending series of milestones and questions.
Baby-raising is definitely "a neverending series of milestones and questions"! I find myself feeling somewhat competitive with some milestones... What? She hasn't rolled over yet? Next thing ya know, we're working on rolling during tummy time. Got to catch up with the other babies! ; )
The competitive spirit is so easy to get into... I'm incredibly proud of my daughter anyway, but there's something a little exciting about finding out she's more advanced than another baby her age, or even an older baby. I do NOT want to be that pushy competitive parent though, so I have to find a way to tame that instinct.
It's either "is she sleeping through the night?" or "do you have her on a schedule?" for us with our twelve week old. And, it's always Christians who ask...
Maybe the people asking about the schedule want you to "Grow Kids God's Way"...
ugh. I can respect some of the ideas from that camp, but the theology is really really bad.
6 weeks! He-llo! Very few are the babies who sleep through the night by six weeks. Babywise and getting Gid on a schedule saved me, but I'm so way uncomfortable with how a lot of Christians want you to feed and sleep babies the way they do or you're not doing it the "Right" way. The Bible's pretty clear on some things about raising children, but where it's not, we need to allow others the freedom God's given! I just don't think you can make a solid Biblical case that God wants you to put your baby on a tight schedule (or not). I benefitted a lot from Ezzo's experience and suggestions (Babywise) but he tried to jump from our God being an orderly God to that meaning God wants all Christian parents on a tight schedule. He was pretty judgemental of other methods and that made me very uncomfortable. Bottom line: Get advice from parents you respect and find the schedule that best serves your family. Okay, sorry. I'm done.
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