Soothe Her to Sleep

Breastfeeding moms always have one secret weapon to help soothe their babies to sleep:  their breasts.  But it can still be difficult getting a baby to drift off into dreamland, especially for naps or in the middle of the night when they've awaken.  My daughter's habit lately has been waking in the middle of the night and taking about an hour or so to fall back asleep (in bed with us even).  I'm usually too tired to remember my usually tricks.  I just whip out the boobs or a binky, switch her from one side to the other, pat her back, etc.  The best thing I can do to help her fall asleep when she's having a hard time is to sing to her. 

It rarely fails to calm her body and mind and give her that extra bit of comfort she needs.  I've found that "You Are My Sunshine" and "Hush, Little Baby" (mockingbird song) work the best, along with three songs that I have created.  The three that I have created ALWAYS help soothe her.  As soon as I start singing them, I can feel her body relax.  It's like she knows that those are her songs, created with love by me just for her.  One that I have deemed "Angel Baby" used to be the only one that would work like a charm, but now the other two seem to work better.  I think because they have a slower melody.

Creating songs is a fun way to soothe your baby.  I came up with mine while singing my daughter to sleep every night.  Babies don't care if you have a terrible singing voice as long as you use soothing tones and lots of love. Mine personally is terrible, but my daughter still loves it when I sing to her.

Try singing in a whisper voice.  It's quiet, so it doesn't stimulate as much as a louder voice could.  Also, I've found when trying to sing in a regular voice, but quietly, my voice would crack at certain words (tones).  I also found that just whispering comforting phrases in her ear can also be soothing, like "mama dada baby" or "mama dada love baby".  I like to think that it sets her up to drift into sleep thinking good thoughts and thus having good dreams  : )

If you don't sing to your little one, you should try it.  You might be surprised at the power it holds.  Just another way to show your little one how much you care.

Baby's First Christmas

Last night, my daughter husband and I went over to my in-laws for dinner and presents.  She ate a lot (for her) of little pieces of chicken and beef from the mexican platter that has become a Christmas Eve tradition.  It took her a little bit to warm up, but she had woken up from her nap to be thrown into clothes, shoved  in a carseat, and tossed into another environment (or at least that's how I'd imagine it felt).  The ripping of wrapping paper didn't bother her a bit and she babbled and played and walked around having a grand ol' time.

This morning, she woke up with mom and dad and opened her gift from us.  She actually opened it herself.  She ripped the paper off in pieces.  Then I thought she'd play with the wrapping paper, but instead she set it aside and starting pulling at the top of the box.  I helped her open the box and she pulled the top tissue paper out, then the stuffed animal (barely glancing at it), then the bottom tissue paper skipping right over the book (which she usually loves), picked the box up and discarded it, then returned to play  :) 

We then preceded to wake up the rest of the house for present time.  Before we all were done (there were 8 of us this Christmas) she needed to take a nap.  Afterward, baby girl and I finished with our presents (I had napped with her) and got ready for the day.  First stop was at my husband's aunt's house for Christmas dinner with his whole side of the family, then back home for another nap.  After her second nap, we finished my moms Christmas dinner (at home), then off to my dad's for our third Christmas dinner of the night ( technically only two because we skipped the food at the first dinner with the exception of some yummy turkey).  After my dad's it was home to bed! 

My daughter did so amazing throughout it all!  It has been a very busy weekend.  She has gone to bed over an hour later than usual for the last three nights (tonight included) and has been amidst a lot of commotion and people she isn't used to, but she wasn't fussy very much at all.  It was fantastic!  Oh poo, and it just now dawned on me that I forgot to make the clay handprint ornament today.  I wanted it to be done on Christmas day, but oh well.  This will be me trying to go with the flow and forgetting that her handprint was actually from the day after Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Time

Our christmas tree has slowly changed its appearance.  It now has only the top 2/3 decorated, with the exception of the occasional handmade baby-proof cloth ornament that my daughter has not yet pulled down.  Our tree this year is a fake tree with lights already attached in the branches.  This is great for two reasons 1) no string of lights for her to pull down, but the tree still at least is lit all over even though it isn't decorated all over.  2)  No loose pine needles to have to worry about my daughter snatching up and shoving in her mouth.  I do miss the smell of the traditional real christmas tree, but it is very much worth the lessened hassles.

I'm interested to see how she does Christmas morning with the opening of presents.  Not that long ago she was terrified at the sound of the wrapping paper ripping when I was opening birthday presents.  She shows interest in the wrapped gifts under the tree and she has since begun walking, making her braver, but will she still be frightened at the ripping sound?  We shall see!

Sleep....At Last

My daughter finally slept through the ENTIRE night.  About 7pm to 7am, a full twelve hours maybe plus some change.  She has pretty much slept through the night the last four nights.

Friday the 9th was the first night. Then Saturday night she slept until 5:50am and came into bed with us for the last hour.  Sunday night she slept through the entire night again.  Monday night she slept until 5:40am, came into bed with us, and tried to go back to sleep but never did.  She woke up at about 11pm but just cried a tiny bit and put herself back to sleep.  I'm hoping she keeps this pattern for awhile because it feels so good to finally get sleep in more than one or two hour time chunks.  I'm still tired, obviously, but much more rested than before.

It is a great feeling being able to be so proud of her for taking a new step, and a big one at that.  I think she sleeps better on her own as well because she has had more energy in the morning.  She definitely naps better with me than on her own in her crib, but at night she sleeps better in her crib.  A well-rested mom and baby is a very good thing :)

Create a Sanctuary

Everyone knows the basics for a nursery room-- crib, changing table, dresser, rocking chair, and all the essentials to supply those big items.  But what about special touches?  A nursery should be a happy place for baby and mom.  Create a sanctuary, oasis, special place, or whatever you'd like to call it for you and your little one.

Make the crib inviting.  First and foremost, invest in a good mattress (ie: organic.  I'm not going to get into all the benefits of organic mattresses because that would need to be a whole other blog post, but trust me, go ORGANIC.  We purchased a Naturepedic mattress for our daughter and I highly recommend it, but see what will work with your budget).  Put a couple "friends", like favorite stuffed animals, in the crib and a spare binky. I've found pacifiers can easily fall out of the crib, even with a bumper, so having a spare helps if baby wants to soothe herself back to sleep in the middle of the night.  For awhile, I also had a soft folded blanket (baby size) in there too so that she had something comforting to roll over and put her arm on since she's so used to having me next to her.  Make sure the sheets are soft and that you cant feel the coolness of the surely waterproof crib mattress through them.

Room temperature--too warm will make the room stuffy, but too cold and the baby will wake up sooner and have a harder time going back to sleep because she'll be uncomfortable.  I've found using a small cool-touch (VERY important, don't want baby to be able to burn herself) radiator style stand up heater in the nursery room works wonderfully.

No clocks allowed.  Not having a clock in my daughter's nursery is wonderful.  I can simply enjoy the time spent in there with her, without feeling like I'm on a schedule.  When I relax her for bedtime at night, I love not having a clock staring at me reminding me that I need to make dinner or my favorite TV show will be starting soon or it's taking longer than usual to get her to bed.  It will take as long as it takes and I'll enjoy having that alone time with my baby.  No clock is probably the most important part to making the nursery an oasis for the mom.  It helps keep the nursery a stress-free place.  If you went to Hawaii on vacay, would you bring a clock out on the beach with you?  No.  You'd want to just enjoy the time spent there.  Same should apply for a nursery.

Decorate the room much differently than the rest of the house.  You would think that that would be obvious because it's a baby's room and most people would want baby decor, but I thought it should be reiterated.  If the nursery fits in well with the rest of the house, then it won't be much of an escape to be in there.  I found just painting the walls and having a cute bumper and skirt for the crib did the trick.

Stock the room with a few favorite toys.  My daughter loves crawling into her bedroom from the rest of the house to play with the toys we've put in there.  Don't do any ones that make noise and music because you'll be sorry when you bump into one while trying to get your baby to sleep.

Keep a good supply of books next to the rocker.  My daughter loves being read to and it's a great way to relax her before a nap or bedtime.  Plus, babies should be read to often.  I keep only the books with cardboard pages in there because my daughter likes to turn the pages and touch the books.  I don't want her getting any papercuts from the regular books.

Enjoy!

My daughter's nursery (taken while we were in the process of putting stuff away)