I took Levi to the doctor yesterday for his second non-well baby visit.
He's teething.
You would think that with my third child I could have figured that out. We were glad it is only his teeth and nothing more serious.
He's really throwing me through the loop. I can't figure him out. He's never been a great sleeper but he does go 8 hours sometimes. Unfortunately it is from 7ish to 3am. I was feeding him at 10 but didn't one night to see what would happen and he just kept sleeping.
I've tried not feeding him at 3. That doesn't go over so well. For him, Drew, me or the other two boys.
I even got a new book called Good Night, Sleep Tight The Sleep Lady's Gentle Guide to Helping Your Child Go to Sleep, Stay Asleep and Wake Up Happy. The jist is to let them cry while periodically going in to soothe them by patting or shushing. If you'd like, you can sit by the crib while they scream. Um, right. Gentle? Hmm. It is more like torture for my child. "Hey! You're here! You came to save me! Why aren't you picking me up? What is this patting? SHHH yourself! Pick me up!"
All 3 of my kids have woken in the night until they were about a year. This time I told myself we would just roll with it and let it happen. The problem is, I'm tired.
And. (Fair warning-Talk of nursing below!)
I think I have an infection. And it seems worse on the days that I don't get enough sleep. Which I would say we are at about 75% of the nights, he is up more than a desirable amount.
And, it hurts.
I have a call into the doctor. It is just taking a bit for us to connect to see if I need an appointment.
It has hurt for quite a while. Between the biting and the hurting, I've been ready to wean him. But then, it won't hurt and he won't bite and he's so sweet. And, it's free! A friend told me that it costs about $125 per month to formula feed. So, I made a deal with Drew. Every month that I make it past 6 months (since that is how long the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends) I get $75 in a lump sum after his first birthday. Pretty good deal, huh?
I thought that the more babies you have, the easier it gets. Or the babies are supposed to be easier babies. For some reason, that hasn't happened in our family. I joke that no one told Levi that he's the third child and supposed to sit happily in the corner and watch all the commotion. He wants in on every little detail.
And I still want at least one more.
I was trying to get Sage to pray with me for twin sisters but he says he'll only pray for boys. I guess I won't ask him to pray about it!
have you read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child?" It's a great read, and super helpful. Written by a doctor who claims it's perfectly normal, and acceptable, for kids to need a feeding in the middle of the night until 9 months old. It made me feel better reading that...even though Audrey didn't make it until 10 months old. And I've totally had the infection too...for 9 weeks with Audrey. It HURTS. Hope you can get it treated soon. And I'm totally going to try and talk Tim into the lump sum deal. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, so tough to be dealing with the sleep issues! Violet is definitely not sleeping through the night, if that makes you feel any better. I do think that it is totally normal for babies not to sleep through the night in this first year. And I'm so sorry about the nursing pain! I would definitely get some help for that. I bet a lactation consultant would give you the most help, rather than your OB/GYN.
ReplyDeleteSo I did want to mention what you said about the AAP recommendation, just because I am so ardent about this issue and I am passionate about the correct info & research being out there for everybody to know. The AAP recommends that all babies be breastfed for at least one year and as long after that as is mutually desired by the baby and mother. They've been recommending the at-least-12-months since 1997 and they strengthened their wording in 2005. I still think that your financial motivation is a super idea though! You are saving a ton of money each month that you continue breastfeeding; have you seen the new BFing awareness campaign?
That's funny Sage will only pray for boys, Gabe wants a girl so bad he won't even consider for a minute that it could be a boy. I hope Levi starts sleeping better soon, hang in there.
ReplyDeleteYou are such a great mom. Your boys are really blessed. I will pray for girl twins! For you, that is.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristy - Our hubbies are friends from their Mount Carmel days, and in one of his annual chats with my Andrew, your Andrew told us about your blog, so I read up every now and again! Anyways, we've had to formula feed both our boys due to supply issues on my end, and I can tell you that it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to use formula. Both Target and Walmart carry generic formula and it is literally 50% cheaper than name brands. I believe Walmart even has a generic organic kind. At Target, an almost 2 pound can of the genenric of Emfamil/Similac is just 11.99. At almost 10 months, our youngest goes through that in about 2 weeks. So should it come to that, you've got options! I enjoy your posts and it encourages me in not only motherhood, but my walk with the Lord. :-)
ReplyDeleteKristy - oh sleep issues - tana isn't sleeping as well as the other two did. I guess I can't complain. She is kind of sleeping through if you consider that we put her to bed at 8, feed her at 11 then she sleeps til 7.
ReplyDeleteI do have supply issues too but we started giving her one formula bottle at bedtime and that helped her significantly get through the night. We just redid our budget and you can assume that they will go through about a big canister of formula every 5 days (assuming he is eating about 32-40 oz a day). Generic is about 90-100/month and closer to $150 for name brand.
I had a yeast infection that Tana gave me (thrush). Check his mouth for white stuff. All I had to take was one pill and that significantly helped.
My little girl has been the perfect 3rd child. Praying for patience for you and for a little girlie to put bows in her hair!