Tuesday, January 6, 2009

One month



Kerrigan is one month old (as of yesterday)!!!! We can hardly believe it. Here are some of her latest accomplishments:
-she can lift her head off our shoulder or chest (while this is an amazing show of her strength, it brings a new challenge to burping her with her head flopping all over the place)
-Jared's favorite game: he has her partially reclined on his legs, she grabs onto his fingers and lifts herself up a few inches...for such a tiny gal she is seriously so stinkin strong
-she has "blown out" of 3 diapers
-Her cheeks get chubbier everyday
-Newborn clothes and diapers are starting to fit (or at least not drown her like they did)
-Best of all, she is starting to interact with us...on Sunday she "talked" to Jared (already a daddy's girl), she is starting to smile and the other day I swear she laughed...not at anything in particular, but it is a start
If I had typed this yesterday like I should have, the list would have included is sleeping in 4-4/12 hr increments at night... however, that has changed. This is where some advice is DESPERATELY needed!
I have been trying the Baby wise method and am struggling a little bit. The feeding part has been GREAT, she is on a 21/2-3 hr schedule, but the sleeping part is NOT there. If I lay her in bed when she is awake for a nap, she SCREAMS until I pick her up ( I have tried letting her cry for 15 minutes, but that didn't work). I have also tried putting her down after she goes to sleep with similar results. If I am not holding her, she cries (she is crying right now). It is getting really frustrating. If you have tried this method, how long did you let your baby cry. And how long did it take for them to get used to calming down on their own and go to sleep?
Please comment ASAP, the lack of naptime is affecting nightime sleep, which equals very unhappy baby and very frustrated mommy!

14 comments:

Kristen said...

It feels like it's been forever since I had a little one that I can't quite remember, but the only way we could get Parker to sleep the first 2-3 weeks is have him sleep with us- not good I know, but we were desperate to get some sleep. During nap time we had a bouncy seat that I could cuddle blakents around him so he was tightly snuggled. The seat also had the vibraty motion thing on it and it was on almost all the time he was in it.

The Miller's said...

Girl cant help you with the sleeping part. Grant is 7months old and still does not sleep through the night. Just the past week he has started taking naps he used to not even take a nap during the day. Have you tried a swing that helped alittle. All I can say is SLEEP when she SLEEPS thats what I had to do and still do. It will get better but it is hard to do stuff with no sleep I know I totally understand.

Dulcie said...

Getting Camrie to sleep was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Its tough to hear your child crying and even tougher to have the will power to not go and pick them up. Once she was 3 months old I felt a little better about letting her cry and I would make her cry until she fell asleep. That meant sometimes she would cry for an hour, like I said its tough stuff. But it worked after a few days, she learned that I wouldn't go get her so she would just fall asleep. Pick your game plan and stick to it, 3 days and she'll get the hang of things. Good luck with the sleep thing, I know its tough stuff! Let me know how it goes.

Erin said...

I just purchased a book called the No-Cry Sleep solution. I haven't read it yet, but it was recommended by friends and got great reviews on amazon! Maybe that will help...

Jennifer Woodbury said...

I have heard that they really don't have the ability to soothe themselves until 4 months or so, so I don't know if letting her cry it out at this stage will work. I always swaddled my babies super tight before putting them down to sleep and that helped a ton (the Miracle Blanket was a LIFESAVER!). Do you have a swing? Claire napped in that a lot in the early months. As far as nighttime sleep, I always let my babies sleep in bed with me after they woke up for their middle of the night feeding. It just worked well for us, my babies seemd to sleep better and I always had the baby in their own bed exclusively by 3 months old or so.

I hope you figure out what works for you soon so that you can get some rest!

The Bedke Fam said...

i was just thinking yesterday that kerrigan was already a month old. boy does time fly! the pics are so cute. she is such a doll.

sorry linds, no sleeping help from me. we're still working on the babymaking part :) love ya!

Erin said...

Lindsey, things will not always be this way. Sometimes better, and sometimes worse. We are definitely going through a hard time right now with Ellie. And I can relate about being tired and frustrated!! But when she was 2 1/2 - 3 months I started letting her cry herself to sleep during naps. I wish I would've started sooner. In the beginning I'd let her cry for 10 minutes, go pat her on the back, then 10 more, pat her on the back and so on. She would sometimes cry up to 45 minutes. But if she ever started screaming bloody murder I'd take her out and put her to sleep some other way. But I'm all about letting them cry it out, as long as they aren't crying hysterically. Good luck! And know that you are not alone!

Barbara said...

Wow! One month already! Time flies. She is getting so big and strong though and that is what matters! She is beautiful! I love her headbands! Yeah it is pretty amazing that such a cute, little angel can poop so much! But yeah it happens! Sofia does that quite a bit...it's fun though...they keep you on your toes.:)

Steph said...

Try not to have such high expectations for your little one. It takes a few months for her to adjust to the real world. It does get better...but like everything it takes time. Be patient. A sleep schedule works best around 3-4 months. Here are a couple books I found exteremly helpful: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and The Happiest Baby on the Block. Keep in mind that NO baby is a textbook baby. Some things may work well and others things may not. The trick is to find what works best for your baby.

sarah said...

Your little girl is just adorable! The no sleep thing is a bummer. Have you tried swaddling? Hunter slept swaddled until he was 6 months old (with the help of the swaddle blankets). As for me I am not into crying it out. A book I really liked was the no cry sleep solution. It covers a lot of bad habits to break or not start. Just remember she is so little and at this point it is still just figuring out the individual baby and what works for your family. Good luck :)

The House's said...

When Lorelai was new she took most of her naps in her swing and only slept in her crib at night, that seemed to work really well for the first little bit, also I would swaddle her really tight all the time when she was new. I also started the baby wise method at first and one of the things my pediatrician told me is to remember that the baby didn't write the book and all babies are different. Good luck.

Berrett's said...

Hey Lindsey...if it makes you feel better...Kate kept me up from 1:30am-4:30am last night!! She was all kinds fussy and i couldn't get her back down...it was rough. Yah I don't remember letting Jack cry it out till like 4 months. I still think it is hilarious that we had babies the same day. Well think of me when you are not getting sleep...i'm in the same boat! :) haha. Oh and she is so stinking cute!!

tina

rachel said...

wow i cant believe how little she is. so cute!

Lizzie said...

It was fun to hang out this weekend! Let's do it again soon. Cute blog!