Julia Thompson schreef:
> On Sat, 23 Jun 2001, Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > It took me a while but finally I'm back on the list. Already found out
> > that parenting is a full day (and night) job. Being as sick as I was
> > before delivery I didn't have much energy left to spend on other
> > things besides junior's most direct needs once he was born. Now a week
> > out of hospital I'm slowly getting back to full strength. The word
> > here being slowly. Getting up at 3 AM in the night doesn't really help
> > speed up my recovery, but I'm starting to get used to it. :o). But I
> > must say that Tom really is an angel (psst don't tell him I said
> > that). He sleeps between meals and is satisfied with a few hours of
> > undivided attention each day. During the night he demands only one
> > meal and sometimes he even waits for a more civilised hour like 5 AM
> > to demand it. Things he really doesn't like: being changed into
> > another diaper or taking a bath. But hey I can't have it all, now can
> > I.
>
> He's wanting to eat only once during the night?
Yep, but it was somewhat of a struggle 'till we got there.
> You are extremely fortunate.
Nope, in hospital they held to a rather rigid scedule where he only got one
feed a night. The nurses are somewhat more resistent to insistant crying. They
took care of him during the night so that I could get a decent nights sleep.
Now I profit from that although I hated him being taken somewhere else during
the night at first.
> My night last night went something like:
>
> Feeding at 8PM
> Bath at 9PM (and Sam doesn't like that very much either)
Found the reason why. Tom likes the water level to be so that his buttocks can
still touch the bottom of the tub. So that problem is solved. He likes bathing
just fine now. I just hope his dad will stop wanting to teach him how to
splash water with his hands. <sigh> Children. :o)
> Downtime with Daddy for awhile
> Asleep when Mommy comes in at 11 to go to bed
> Mommy asleep at 11:30
> Feeding at 12:45
> Mommy asleep at 1:40
> Feeding at 2:40 and will NOT go to sleep afterwards, and Mommy is kept
> awake
> Diapering disaster around 3:50
How can diapering be a disaster? I just change Tom's diapers before feeding.
Usually I put him to bed after feeding. Only after the morning afternoon and
early evening feedings we have a cuddle hour or two or three or ..... But if
he demands attention during the night besides feeding or a fresh diaper he is
out of luck and he knows it. Only took me three nights to get that through to
him here at home. So by now he knows the routine.
> Feeding at 4:20
> Mommy asleep around 5
> Feeding at 8:30AM
>
> Now, if I hadn't decided to be altruistic and let Dan have a little extra
> uninterrupted sleep, the diapering disaster would not have been *my*
> problem, but no, I had to go and be nice.
LOL. Yep, I've done that too on occasion. And felt like a zombie in the
morning.
> No good deed goes unpunished. :) As it was, he got to deal with a fussy
> baby after the diaper change & dressing into a clean gown while I dealt with
> the mess in the bathroom.
>
> And everyone else here (husband, parents-in-law, brother-in-law) was doing
> yardwork this morning for awhile, so I got sole care of Sam, who fell
> asleep after the 8:30 feeding long enough to let me shower, but not long
> enough to get any breakfast before he started crying for various things,
> one after another (fresh diaper, cuddling, another feeding).
In hospital they ordered me to finish my breakfast first, regardless of what
Tom wants. Hard to do at first but I did obey this commandment. (The nurse in
question was not of a type to argue with) They told me that his diaper and
other needs can wait a little while without harming him in any way. Turns out
they were right about that. Tom adjusted just fine to that. So now he sleeps
while I have my breakfast in peace and quiet.
> But he's so darn cute and feels so nice to hold, he's worth it. :)
And I really can believe that. I've been extensively warned about how babies
already know how to get their parents into action. At the start I found it
really very hard to let him cry (even though I know he is perfectly alright)
for a little while untill he falls asleep again just fine. But it's been worth
it, we now have a fairly livable scedule where he gets his feeding when he
needs it (about every three to four hours) and lots of attention (preferably
during the day) and I get enough sleep (preferably during the night). :o)
Sonja
I guess Tom's education has already begun. Poor kid. ;o)
Btw. At the moment he is sleeping in a baby sling I have put on. So he is
close to me and I have my hands free to type or cuddle. Looks like he likes it
...... Aaaaaaaah he is soooooooo cute.
