Calling all mommies! I am needing some advice, if you have any. In the last week or two Miss Emma has decided that naps are for the birds. I can get her to sleep just fine and I will either put her in her swing (which she was sleeping in for an hour or two at a time) or her bassinet. I have tried getting her to nap in her crib and she does not want anything to do with it. The problem is that lately she's popping right back awake in a matter of minutes. My only guess is that she's realizing I'm no longer holding her because I'm rocking her to sleep. Once she doesn't feel me anymore she's waking up. Why is it that babies have to change up their routines? As soon as you think you have the schedule down pat, they go and change it. I have heard that the best thing to do is let them fall asleep on their own in their crib, but I can only handle the crying for so long. As a mommy, my heart goes out to her just laying in there crying because she wants me. The longest I've let her lay in her crib and cry herself to sleep is 25 minutes. Is that too short? I just don't want her thinking that her crib is a "bad place". I am finding it difficult to find time to get anything done around the house. I'm even struggling to make it to the gym while childcare is open (from 8 to 12) because her routine is totally out of whack. She's sleeping great at night. However, her sleep at night has changed some too. From around 2 and 1/2 months of age up until the last few weeks, she was sleeping from 9 or 10 to 8 or 9 in the morning (talk about wonderful!). Now, she is sleeping from 9 or 10 to 6 sometimes 7 or 7:30. I really miss that extra hour or two of sleep. Most of you I know are saying "OH HUSH! You are one of the lucky ones!" And you know what? You are probably right, because I really do get great sleep at night but I am just thinking there has to be some reason why she's waking up earlier now...
Aside from sleeping, I am so extremely tired of baby puke, it's not even funny. We've been dealing with Acid Reflux since we brought her home from the hospital in January. Her pediatrician says that she will grow out of it and that starting her on solid foods should really help. Pshhhhh! Yeah right. Now, instead of puking up just plain white, curdled milk she is puking up yellow, white, curdled and stinky milk. It's been such a challenge to deal with. I even stopped breastfeeding her at three months old because we were sure that putting her on a special formula would fix the problem. We were wrong. If I would have known that we were going to be dealing with puke either way, I would have continued breastfeeding her. She has been eating cereal for almost three weeks now twice a day and as of last week we incorporated her first vegetables. So far squash and carrots are a big hit but they are not helping with keeping her food down. You would think with special formula, Prevacid (for reflux), cereal and vegetables that she would be keeping her food down better. I guess I just have to be patient and wait it out. The pediatrician told us that once she starts standing and crawling that she should grow out of it since she will be in an upright position most of the time. Boy, I can't wait for her to stand! Although, at this rate she is going to be 10 by the time she does. I'm still waiting patiently for her to roll from back to belly. She gets so frustrated (as do I). She gets her whole body twisted around but cannot figure out how to get her big head to go with the rest of her body. I'm hoping she does it soon!
Any advice is much appreciated! Being a new mom can be so stressful sometimes. You just want to have all the answers and when you don't it's frustrating. Know what I mean?
