Tiny Slumbers
You can ferberize, co-sleep or practice attachment parenting. What ever you do for and with your new baby I bet you second guess and question it at least in the beginning, if not every step of the way. I came home from the hospital with a quiet, sleepy, beautiful baby boy. Now that baby is 4 weeks and one day old and the sleeping part is getting harder to accomplish and I wonder, “Am I getting this parenting thing right?”
I have lost my memory after five years and I have forgotten what it is like to have a newborn again. I came home with K and I thought “it is OK to hold him, you can’t spoil a newborn”. Now as the days grow longer and he sleeps a little less each day I wonder: when is it time to put him down?
He seems to want to be held all day and while I would love to hold him, studying his tiny face and features trying to memorize every second of his life so I can replay it in my mind when I am an old woman, I just don’t have that time. Nobody has all of that time. I have five eyar olds to make lunch for and play with, I have laundry and calls to return.
Do I soothe him by placing him in the swing to the vibrating seat to the play mat? Do I let him fall asleep in my arms after he nurses?
I want my baby to learn to soothe himself or pacify himself, but when does that lesson start? At birth? Two months? I surely don’t want to miss the boat and have it be too late.
I want him to be a great sleeper (what parent doesn’t want that?!), but is that a learned habit or are you just born with it?
So parents, tell me: just when do you put the baby down?
babioes, infants, sleeping, ferberizing, Ferber method, putting baby to sleep, spoiling a newborn, newborns, parenting, parenting children, fussy babies
April 16th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
My oldest wasn’t much for being held, especially when he slept. So for him, he was probably a month old when we were putting him down to sleep. My youngest though, she craves being held. I think I wore her for most of the first 5 months of her life. Now she’s pretty independent at 19 months but when she starts to get tired, she’ll climb right up into my lap for a little cuddle before bed.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:23 am
I have three children. The first two did not want to be held much unless I was nursing them or they were being rocked to sleep. My third LOVED being held and we LOVED holding him! We carried in a baby carrier while we did all of our chores - unloading the dishwasher, laundry, cooking, etc.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
[...] Can I Start _______? by Erinn As I said in my previous post, I forgot so much from when my twins were newborns. I find myself rushing to their baby books to [...]
April 18th, 2008 at 6:46 am
we have been blessed…thus far. Our four month old is pretty fond of sleep. Now we are waiting for that to end, but until then…it’s very nice.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I have to say I am blessed, at night he has been sleeping 6-7 hours. But during the day? He doesn’t want to be put down. He will wake up 15 seconds after you creep out of the room!
April 29th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
[...] I have written before about how my new baby does not like to sleep during the day. He likes to nurse 2433 times and to be held, but that is about it. The swing, bouncer and mobiles keep him entertained for a bit but then he wants to fuss again. I was ready to try something new. That something new was SoundSleep for babies. [...]
June 18th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Have you tried babywearing? It seems pretty convenient. I’ve done it a few times with my baby cousins, and I think it really relaxes them, making them more ready to sleep when you do put them down. There are a lot of websites, but this one seemed to have a really large variety: http://www.kangarookorner.com/
It’s worth a shot, and makes your arms free for doing other things with your twins.