sleep regression

18 Week Development & Lexie Development

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Mister has completed his 18th week of life.  We have to make his 4 month dr apt … I sorta haven’t done that yet.  =/

 

He is on a nursing strike … not fun!  He really isn’t eating well at all, from the spoon or bottle.  I am attributing this to his teeth, since they are so close to breaking through, but this is also a normal thing for the 4 month growth spurt, and wonder week 19 development.  The last few days have not been good sleeping days, and I am assuming this is because he isn’t eating well due to his teeth, and just overall probably doesn’t feel good.  He is more snuggly and clingy right now, too.

 


He has started back rolling around a lot; he spins in complete circles in his crib and on the floor.  Of course, he thinks this is great!  On the floor, he will roll side to side, and has even made it from his back to his tummy once or twice.
His cradle cap is still pretty bad, but since his hair is getting thicker, you can’t tell too much, unless you’re close to him.  He still hasn’t found his feet … just doesn’t care about them that much yet.  haha  Lady begs to play with him, tells us to hurry up and finish eating so he can play with her!  He is, of course, still “my M” to her, and she does not like other kids coming near him.  =)  She is only a little protective.  haha
Lady is doing all sorts of amazing things.  She can name and point out: California, Nevada, TX, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma on the map; she knows where Idaho is, but she can’t ever remember the name of it.  Her back-bend is incredible, and of course she still loves gymnastics.  We have started doing some handstands and cartwheels at home; that’s fun!  She speaks in clear, complete sentences unless she is being silly around a big group of people.  She tends to act a little nervous around a lot of people; most people wouldn’t say that about her, but her behavior at home compared to being around a large group is different.  She is shy around certain people, usually men.  Second to gymnastics, she LOVES to sing.  She has so many “favorite” songs, and asks me to sing with her all the time.  She is constantly humming while playing independently.
Here are a few pics I don’t think I have posted before:

 

playing with her doll house

 

reading to her Moose  (obviously she picked out her socks)

 

 

 

 

Our 8″ snow on Christmas

 

Week 14 Baby Summary

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Sleep

This week Mister has done amazing! He is feeling so much better, and is sleeping better too! It’s just really crazy how different he is. Before, I would have told you things were hard, but still okay. Now that he is getting well and the reflux is usually gone, I would say before was terrible, and now is wonderful! He is so peaceful now; he wasn’t a bad baby before, he was just miserable a lot of the time (more than I realized, I think). Now, he rarely cries. He cries if he is tired and ready for a nap, he cries for 1-4 minutes before he falls asleep on his own, and he cries if he’s poopy and I don’t know it yet. That’s it. The rest of the time, if he is fed, dry, and rested, he is happy, laughing, and playing!


Max slept 12 hours through the night last night. I woke up at 6:30am, only to realize the baby monitor died on me in the middle of the night. I knew I needed to buy a new one! When I jumped up to run down stairs to him, I got about half way there and realized he wasn’t crying! So I snuck in, and he was still asleep! He slept until 7:00am! It was great. I hope this trend continues, but it will probably be hit or miss for a while. I think he needs his last nap of the day from 5-6pm. That usually catches him up just enough to make it until bedtime, and I am thinking that’s key to him sleeping until 7am.

*update* he did it again last night! 12 hours! He stirred at 5:40, but I left him, and he went back to sleep within 10-15 minutes, and slept until I woke him up at 7:00am! Woo hoo. Oh, and daddy fixed the monitor, so that’s great!



Eating
Eating is about the same. There have been a few days he hasn’t nursed that great, but it’s usually because he is so distracted, looking around. It hasn’t been because of reflux (or doesn’t seem to be). He takes 5-7 ounces when he doesn’t nurse well, and 3-5 when he does. We still don’t know about the teeth. Nothing has changed, his gums look the same, so I am thinking it’s not teething.

Development
Max is rolling around a lot, and scooting while lying on his back(that’s been going on a while). He started swinging his arm. It’s so funny! He looks like he is power walking somewhere, only laying down. He started sucking his thumb this week- yes, I know. It’s probably because I took the pacifier when we were sleep training. I have two different thoughts on this: if he were like Lexie and didn’t constantly want the pacifier when he woke up during naps, I’d be fine with it. But he can’t put the paci back in on his own which = disrupted sleep, and chances are he would have found the thumb anyway if I didn’t replace the paci. My other thought is, you can take a pacifier away later, you cannot remove a thumb. It’s bad for their teeth, it’s NOT sanitary, and can actually deform their little thumb and mouth. Of course, that is if they suck it through most of their toddler/childhood. Most babies outgrow it, and hopefully he will be one of those! If not, we will cross that bridge when we get there.

*update* today max has been sucking his thumb even when he is awake. Sometimes he just chews on his hand, but he tried to get his thumb in there a lot. Tries being the operative word, because I remove it!

He smiles a lot, laughs a lot, and has started to squeal some, but not a lot. I think at this point Lexie was starting to really squeal and scream; of course that would make sense with all the talking she does. Maybe Max will be more quiet; really, he doesn’t stand a chance because his sister will probably never let him get a word in!


Lou Bug
Lexie got her leotard in- she loves it! It is blue velvet, with sparkles and sequin butterflies on the top. Yes it is very … “showy.” But other than plain black ones, you can’t find one that is less loud. Her other one came in today; it is red with sparkles. She hasn’t seen it yet, but I am sure she will love it!

Daddy has been in SD, hunting. Will be home today- woo hoo! We cannot wait.

*update* JTom is home and everyone is SO excited! For the last few days Lexie has been asking for him non stop, and saying she misses him. She has cried several times, wanting Daddy. =( It was hard, but after 6 days, she woke up to him being here after her nap and was SO happy to see him. She was very surprised when it was daddy that got her from nap, and not mama. =)

Angel Gabby is here! She came last night and will be staying through December. She is here to remind us what Christmas is about. I will write another post on her later. (she is our version of the Elf on the shelf).

6 Week Summary Baby 2

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So, Misteris officially 7 weeks old today, and is over 11 pounds.  Here is a re-cap of his 6th week of life.

Happy boy

 

We are still doing the Zantac, while waiting on the Colicalm to get here. I think it will be here Monday… fingers crossed!  Anyway, he’s still on Zantac, and sleeping great at night!  Sometimes 10-11 hours.  He is on a 3 hour schedule, with cluster feeding in the late afternoon.

Eating
Max is nursing about 20 minutes at each feeding, then takes 2-4 ounces in a bottle.  Sometimes it’s breastmilk, sometimes formula.  I tried some rice to see if it helps keeping the reflux down, so far I don’t think it is really doing anything?  I know it has thickened his poopy diapers and he isn’t pooping as often.  So today I’m not doing any rice, and we will see how it goes.  I was afraid it would mess up his system, and it looks like it may  =/  Not sure though.  But he seems to be doing fine without it, so I may just stop it all together.  I will see how this afternoon goes.

Sleeping
Night time is great right now.  His last feed is at 7, he is usually asleep by 8:00, and sleeps until sometime between 4:30am-6:00am most mornings.  I am really hoping this doesn’t change and he goes back to MOTN (middle of the night) wakings, but we will just see.  I swaddle him for every sleep-time, which he seems to enjoy.  Once I swaddle him, and sing a little of Jesus Loves Me, he relaxes and gets ready for sleep.

Day time sleep is a bit different …  Like many babies, Mister wakes about 20 minutes into his naps.  This is either because A) he is over tired when I put him down, or B) he is going from light to deep sleep, and is waking up during the transition.  Since i have tried an earlier put

Sleeping Mister

down time, and he still wakes, I have moved on to option B, he doesn’t know how to transition during sleep phases yet.  So, I am letting him cry for a bit.  However, he gets more worked up if I try to let him fuss, so I usually give him 3-5 minutes, then go intervene somehow.  Sometimes this is sshing him back to sleep, patting, or moving him to the swing.  Babywise says to try something else until he is a bit older and then try to let him fuss for a bit, again.

Hopefully by moving him to the swing, it will help him make a smoother transition over time, and he will evcentually sleep right through the light to deep sleep phase.

I am currently putting him down while drowsy, but not completely asleep.  Sometimes he goes right to sleep, sometimes it takes a bit more to get him asleep.  But overall he is doing good sleep-wise.  =)

Lady
And we have 2 year molars!  Yay!  Yesterday I tried an earlier nap time and it worked!  I put her down at 12, she was asleep by 12:15 and slept for an hour and a half.  Today I did the same thing and she is in there playing … I guess it’s hit or miss, but no matter what I am sticking with
the earlier nap time.  it seems to be the only time she falls asleep on her own.  Between the potty training, the natural sleep regression at 2, and the teething, it’s really a lost cause.  But I am deteremined to keep trying.  Because at some point she will be potty trained completely, past the sleep regression, and done with the molars, and we will need a consistent routine.  I also need my sanity which means 2 hours of L in her crib for nap, rest, whatever you want to call it.  But man, yesterday after her nap she was the sweetest, happiest girl; she was her normal Ladyself!

Not the sleep deprived, demanding, whiny “terrible twos” toddler she becomes on days without a nap!

Mama’s country bumpkin’

Life in general is good.  Last weekend we took the kids to the sate fair.  L LOVED all the animals; they even had a live animal show with a Bamboo, dog, and parrot.  She of course really enjoyed that.  Mister did good on our little family outing (of course he was chilling in the double wide the whole time so he was a happy boy).  Husband’s back may be going out on him again; he’s going to see the doctor hopefully this week if he can get in.  I am getting lots of night sleep, and rest during the day most days.

 

Chalk!

 

Yummy apple

 

Playing dress up with daddy

 

Ready for the fair!  … but is it ready for me?!

 

 

Lexie and her buddy Shelby

 

 

Swinging

 

Happy girl

 

 

Headed to Mommy’s dr apt

 

More apple!
This picture says it ALL!

 

18 Month Sleep Regression

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Here we are. 18 months old. Fun. Cute. TONS of developmental milestones. Molars coming in … and due to those milestones and molars, the dreaded sleep regression! She has all the typical signs- fighting nap, waking early, waking several times at night crying (which may be something similar to night terrors, but she goes back to sleep within 5 minutes, so we leave her alone). But it’s wearing us all down and out. I recognized the signs from when she had a 4 month sleep regression and now I just know that getting her to go to sleep is going to be hard work.


She’s getting overly tired before nap, since she’s been waking at 6:00am instead of 7:00am. So today we are trying an earlier nap time. We will see how it goes. This also means an earlier bedtime, probably in bed by 6:20-6:30, instead of 6:50pm. Hopefully this will get her back with enough sleep in her system that she starts waking at 7:00 again, instead of 6:00 every morning.


I don’t think I need to explain the importance of sleep for children. At 18 months old toddlers need between 13-14 total hours of sleep per day. If you factor an hour an 45 minute nap, that leaves about 12.25hours of night sleep for Lexie. She has been getting about 11 hours sleep at night for the last few weeks. Over a few days this leads to over tiredness which = cranky. cranky. cranky. and gradually less sleep every day. So before it gets so haywire I’m pulling my hair out, we are intervening!


But here is my hope: that daylight savings time will get us back on track. By switching it up a bit, staying up later that one night and having dark longer in the morning, I’m hoping it will help kick this 18month sleep regression’s butt. But I don’t know .. We will see. If not, I have been reading about how weighted blankets can help your babies sleep better, so that is another option to try. Anything to get over the sleep regression! Everything I’ve read says it can last from a few weeks, or until their 22 months old! Aaaah! I will be too pregnant and too worn out by then for a sleep-deprived toddler! I know that there are many parents out there who dislike their baby or toddler being in the darkness when they sleep, and believe it or not, many don’t believe this is a good thing. Well, it is, and there are many online sources to confirm this. darkness is a friend, not an enemy, says BestForParents! Darkness is good – it tells your child when it is time to go to sleep, just as the dawn tells them it is time to wake up – it’s all about routine, which I will go on to explain next.



What I do know is that people criticize for “scheduling” an routining. However I also know that we are creatures of habit and consistency. Babies and toddlers DEPEND on consistency. When we deprive them of that, their little bodies and minds go haywire. So when parents complain about a sleepless child who is up all hours and doesn’t nap, and runs wild all day, I wonder if they have ever tried a routine/schedule. Because truly, even in a baby/tot that is not a good sleeper it HELPS. It may no have them sleeping 12 hours through the night, but it will certainly establish a sense of confidence and security which will in turn make a happier baby/toddler/older child. Think back to school and even your job/career- there is a daily routine… a certain order in which everything is done. And when you come to the end of a certain task you realize it’s time for your break, lunch, to move on to the next task, go HOME etc. It is the same for a child, and just as important, if not more so.


Another large factor is nutrition. When our kids are eating Oreos (really, daycare?! I’m so glad I send Lexie her own foods), goldfish, PB&J, and juice (AKA SUGAR!) as their main source of nutrition, how can you expect them to feel and rest well? And if they seem to feel and rest well, imagine how much better they would feel if they had a healthier diet? You never know until you try, and I promise there is a difference!


I know all babies and children are different. I do hope that this next baby sleeps and eats as well as Lexie has. But even if it doesn’t, I will schedule him/her and have daily routines. It may not have the baby sleeping through the night (I do realize that some babies just don’t/won’t) or napping well, as Lexie was/does, but it certainly won’t hurt anything!

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