My Babywised Babies sleep great!

(I didn't have much time to proof read and so please excuse the run on sentences, fragments and HORRIBLE punctuation!)

We follow the babywise book.  It's not a new method, but really sleep hasn't changed over the years.  The basic premise is eat, play, sleep; instead of eat to go to sleep, play and then eat again.  Basically, you are teaching your child to go to sleep on their own instead of needing to be rocked, held, or milk to go to sleep.  I have done this with Owen and now again with Jesse and I swear by this method because my babies sleep great!  Owen is almost 3 and still takes an afternoon nap that ranges from 2-3.5 hours!  Jesse is 12 weeks and has sleep through the night 7 times!! His bedtime is 6pm, I nurse again (dreamfeed) before I go to bed around 10-11pm) and he has slept till 6am and 7:30am!!!  Mommy loves her sleep so I am THRILLED!

We started at about 3 weeks old with both boys.  Before that we just nursed and held our babies as we all know those first few weeks are just survival.  Then at 3 weeks we moved our babies from the bassinet in our room to the crib in their own room.  When the baby is only a newborn sometimes the "play" was only a diaper change or a burp to wake them.  Here is what our newborn routine looked like during the day:

Baby is allowed to sleep as long as they would in the night and early mornings, when baby waked we would change his diaper and then nurse one side, burp, nurse the other side and burp.  Sometimes it would take up to 10 minutes to get that 2nd burp, but it is key to know there isn't any belly gas that would be uncomfortable for sleep.  Then we would enjoy a little awake time (keeping the lights bright and not muting sounds of Owen playing or tv etc.). When we saw the first sign of sleepiness it was off to the crib he went.  Some signs of sleepiness are rubbing eyes, droopy eyes, a yawn, redness around the eyes, and fussiness.  Jesse is great at rubbing his hands into his eyes while nuzzling his head into my shoulder when he is ready to sleep.  It is really important to put them to sleep when they are sleepy and before they are over tired.  I usually say the same thing when I put him into the crib:  "night night sweet boy.  Mommy loves you! Its time to go night night" and pat his belly.  I laid my babies on their back in a swaddle they can't get their arms out of.  We used some velcro ones early on and receiving blankets, but once they can get a hand out we would put them in the Woombie brand swaddle.  Yes, they are pricey, but worth every penny!  You can get them on the half off baby websites sometimes.

During the day, I closely watch the clock and if he is sleeping and it hits the 3 hour mark from the beginning of the last feeding I wake him up and we start the cycle over again.  Now, at nighttime I do NOT do this; I let them sleep as long as they can.  With Owen the nurses said I should wake him for the first month every 3 hours.  I think that he got trained to be on this schedule and it took longer for him to fully sleep through the night whereas I knew better with Jesse and we were able to establish his nighttime at night earlier on!

I just looked back and Owen's 4 month schedule was this and it is pretty close to Jesse's schedule now too except he is still about about 2.5 hours during the day and getting up earlier:
8am-Eat, play time (this is a special time of day, he is so sweet!!) then a 1 1/2 hour nap
11am-Eat, play time (usually some tummy time or in his swing) then a 1 hour nap
2pm-Eat, play time (run errands) then a 1 hour nap
5-6pm Eat, play a little then a 1 1/2 nap
8-9pm Eat, play about 30 minutes and ready for bed!
10:30 dream feed and back to bed

Ok, here is the hardest part.  Crying it out.  I think the earlier you do this the easier it is for the baby and parents.  There are different ways to do CIO (crying it out).  We found that at 3 weeks CIO only lasted 30 minutes top.  Our boys would scream crying for the first 10 minutes then it there would be a pause then some more intense crying before tapering off or just conking out asleep.  It is HARD.  I would hold Chris's hand and we would encourage each other to be strong because we knew it was better for them in the long run.  Thankfully, it usually takes only a couple of days/nights to get to shorter crying periods.  Now, Jesse is only 5 minutes tops.  There are exceptions.  Sometimes I know Jesse is over tired from holiday or visits from family and those times I will swaddle him, give him his paci and hold and pat him to sleep and usually I can easily transfer him to his bed.  There are different ways to go about crying it out and you should decide as a family what works for you.  We said 30 minutes top crying before comforting and calming him down and trying again.  You have to check for poopy diapers, burps and sometimes a growth spurt will throw it all off.

One other thing you have to know about and it is the 45 minute intruder.  This is how long a young babies sleep cycle is.  After 45 minutes it starts over and sometimes or even most times the baby will wake up crying.  I usually look at the clock and use my judgement to see if it is close to the 2 hour mark I will get him up and start the cycle over, if it isn't close to it then I wait it out.  Usually, after 5 minutes he is back asleep or quiet in his crib.

I really can't stress enough that you should just read the babywise book.  She describes in detail the reasons behind it all.  It is all about the parent making the decisions with the information you have and not about the baby's crying dictating their schedule.

Last thought because WOW this is getting LONG!  If you are nursing you really need to make sure the baby is nursing enough and getting the hind milk.  If you can feel yourself let down then you know baby is getting the nice creamy think calorie milk.  If you only nurse for a few minutes on each side then baby only gets the foremilk which is more watery and wont sustain baby till the next feeding.  Babies who only get the foremilk have to eat more frequently and thus turns into a cycle of snacking instead of eating full meals.  The other reason to move baby out of your room if you are nursing is that baby can smell you...wouldn't you want to wake up earlier if you could smell your wonderful food cooking all night?!  Jesse slept an extra hour longer at 3 weeks when we moved him to his own room at night.  4 hour cycles are amazing during the night with a newborn!

Please, ask any questions!

The 7 nicknames for Jesse

Seven dwarves 

Doc

Grumpy

Happy

Sleepy

Bashful

Sneezy

Dopey

Jesse's seven nicknames

Grunty

Chubs

Squeaky

Snorts

Smily

Piggy

Baby

Santa 2013

We visited our favorite Santa last week!  This Santa is one of Owens friends grandpas!  His wife feeds him info into an ear piece and he carries on the sweetest conversations with the kids.  Owen still wants a fire truck! I hope he loves what Santa is bringing him!!

Here we are showing Santa MeMe's face! 

Jesse: 2 months

So Jesse is 7 weeks tomorrow as I start this post so hopefully I can document all the amazing moments and things he is doing.  

Last night he slept from 7:30pm till 3 am that is 7.5 hours!! It was great then up at 7:30am to nurse before taking Owen to school.  Please make this a new pattern!! 

He is getting better at burping and letting me know when he needs to so that he feels better.  Most nights we are getting a good 4 hour stretch of sleep which has made mommy feel so much better!  He cluster feeds in the evenings before bed and nursing is averaging 15 minutes on both sides.  

He needs the paci during the day, the gumdrop one; but at night when he is swaddled in his woombie/MeMe he goes to sleep pretty quick.  I have found that the big "cry it out" then leads to the big sleep of the night. So I am working on moving it from 7pm to 9pm.  Which also hopefully would mean getting up at 7:30 am most days instead of 6:30am which then means mommy is up for the day. Owen and daddy don't get up till 7:30-7:45 so this would be nice having everyone up at the same hour!

His cheeks are getting fuller and he has a double chin!! Everyone is saying that Jesse looks less like daddy and more like Owen.  Even daddy the other night mistook a picture of Jesse for Owen!! Had to do a double take! 

Switching to cloth diapers several weeks ago was the best move.  Jesse has slept better and even has had less diaper rashes.  In fact he hasn't had any till I put a disposable diaper on him while the cloth ones were drying!  I was so unhappy to see that bright red rash where the poop had been touching his bottom.  Plus longer sleeping stretches because he isnt leaking and cold covered in pee is always a big PLUS!!

Yesterday Jesse had his 2 month old doctor visit.  Dr. B said he is perfect which we knew.  Jesse weighed in at 12lbs 14oz; almost 13 pounds!! My chunker!! He is 75th percentile for weight, 65% for heights and 35th for head!  He got 3 shots and on oral vaccination. This morning he had a temp of 100.5 and we gave him some Tylenol, then he had a big poop and big brother helped give him a bottle while mommy got her hair colored and cut.  

I have to admit it is nice to be at the salon alone, but I do feel guilty leaving my boys. I also miss that I am not at home when all four of us could be together having family time.  

Jesse is sleeping better and better slowly he is moving to waking at 4-5am most nights, even tho last night he woke at 3am and then again at 5:30! Ouch that was rough on mommy.  

Ok onto the pictures!

Owen conversations: vol 2

As I got out of the shower and was getting ready, I hear:

"That's my mommy"

Chris:" yeah, buddy that's your mommy"

Owen looked out several of the windows and then said:

"Daddy help me find Mr. Moon"

They then went outside and sadly the moon was behind the clouds, but they saw lots of starts...too many to count!

Tonight, after Owen was put to bed, but not asleep.  I sneezed and then I hear:

"Bless you mommy!"  MELT my heart,

Jesse: 4 weeks

Jesse is doing great in his crib.  Mommy is getting a little more sleep with him in there!  He is still getting up about 3 times a night, but last night was twice if you call it an early morning at 6:30am.  Ouch, but really it wasn't horrible.  I got two three hour stretches of sleep, instead of three two hour stretches.  We have been getting more and more 3-4 hour stretches.  Last night would have been even more amazing as he slept great, but mommy got a stomach bug and Owen leaked out of his diaper and we had to get new pjs and sheets.

Jesse is nursing and finally it isn't hurting mommy as much. I think this is just typical for me.  

Just had his one month dr visit.  He is 10 pounds and 15 oz!  Almost 11 pounds, jumping from 30% to 70%!  Dr B said my milk must be very nutritious and keep it up.  The cluster feedings before bed are doing the trick and Jesse is sleeping great getting me up 1-2 times a night. The 3 times a night is what makes me exhausted the next day.  

Jesse is out of newborn clothes and some of the 0-3 month are getting tight too!  His nursery still isn't finished, but we will get to it eventually!!

Jesse: 3 weeks old

I wish I had more time to document every moment with Jesse, but 2 kids is way more work.  This is just plain honesty!

Jesse is thriving! He is a great baby and reminds me a lot of Owen and yet he is his own little person too! The first couple of weeks were just survival between feedings and sleep. Jesse really wants a paci. We didn't do one with Owen and really enjoyed seeing his little face, but he could cry it out and not bother anyone but the parents who were heart broken for him.  This time Jesse's cries wake up Owen if he isnt asleep in the evenings.  

Jesse: birth to 2 week weigh ins!

10-1: 8 pounds

10-2: 7 pounds 14 oz (midnight in hospital)

10-3: 7 lbs 5 oz (follow up at Peds office)

10-7: 7 lbs 10 oz

10-9: 7 lbs 13 oz 

10-14: 8 lbs 3 oz 

Next apt is one month!!

Jesse is giving us a couple 4 hour stretches, but they seem to hit during the day.  I just finished skimming the baby wise book again and will be waking him up during the day to eat.  I, also, moved him to his crib a couple nights ago.  These has seemed to help him stretch to a full 3 hours between starts of feedings instead of 2.5 hours...that extra 30 minutes makes a HUGE difference in the middle of the night!! 

Nursing is different and yet similar with Owen.  We used the nipple shield for several weeks and I stopped using it when his sucking was starting to hurt again.  Owen and Jesse have these tiny mouths and don't want to do a deep latch.  The shield allowed me to force it into their mouths so they got used to it deeper in there.  Then when we drop the shield they allow me to help them do a correct latch.  Well, Jesse has this really hard suckle at the beginning. It HURTS for about 3-5 seconds till my milk lets down and he can relax more.  The other thing that has been harder is finding time to pump.  With 2 kids needing me I can't seem to find a good time and in the evenings Jesse cluster feeds before bed and I don't want to deplete my milk supply or create an over supply.  

Big brother has been soooooo great with little brother.  Our first grocery shopping experience with both boys went pretty good!  Owen at one point held Jesse's hand to calm him down.  MELT MY HEART!!

It worked and Jesse was happy the rest of the shopping trip.  Owen was a little disappointed that he didn't get to ride in the car cart as there would have been no room for groceries and the baby car seat.  I might have to use the ergo next time so he can drive the cart as it makes him so happy! 

We broke out the double stroller and it was great at the outlets!! Both boys were great too!! Especially, since Owen was skipping a nap!  He sat in the front and ate his lunch the whole time, plus it helped that Aunt Sara was with us!! 

This is the ready 2 grow graco stroller that my family gave us!! I love it so far! Very easy to push and turn for a large heavy stroller. Plus the box has created hours of fun for a certain little boy!

We did some naked tummy time: yup of course there was a big poop and pee!!  

Jesse has no butt and skinny long legs!!  Still adorable to me!! Daddy gave mommy the best compliment the other night!  Said Jesses cheeks were filling out!  Means Mommy's milk is doing its job!