Some People

So Hunter and I were in Trader Joe's a few days ago picking up a few items for dinner. He was in his Baby Bjorn, happy as a clam, checking out all the colorful produce. And while I was getting some cabbage (for fish tacos, yum!) this girl fairly close to me turns to her very pregnant friend, and loud enough for me to hear, says "You didn't register for a Baby Bjorn did you? Those things are terrible for you and the baby. And don't even get me started on forward facing carriers." I immediately turned towards her, mouth totally agape, and stared. She stared right back, and totally scowled at me, and she and her friend walked off.

That was it. I didn't say a thing, but it totally hurt my feelings. Seriously? WTF? I really want to use the real F word but I'm using some restraint. And, of course, I kept seeing her in the store and was thinking of all these witty retorts, but it was just too late. And she got her point across, because I immediately went home to research all the terrible things I was doing to Hunter by forcing him to face forward in this deadly carrier.

The first site I looked at was Baby Center and the thread directed me to this link for a company called Sleepy Wrap, similar to Moby Wrap. And my first thought was "of course they won't endorse the Baby Bjorn because they want to sell their own product." But they're basically against any type of hanging carrier because it isn't supportive enough for the spine and can actually cause spinal stress called spondylolisthesis if worn for a "long period" of time. But in the spondylolithesis article the writer recommends using a sling. And the US government issued a statement that baby slings can and do suffocate infants. The article also states that 60% of Eskimo's have spondylolithesis, most likely due to the papoose, but I'm imagining they're wearing it for much longer than the 30 minutes Hunter is in his each day.

As for forward facing carriers, infants can get overstimulated and can't look away. But if they're facing you, they can look side to side and then curl into you and fall asleep. That is awesome that some kids do that, Hunter does not. If he's sleepy, I put him in the stroller, but he craves social interaction. Every once in awhile I face him in, but he gets screamy and kicky until I turn him around and I feel like it's forced motor-boating.

So I'm writing this post, mainly, because I'm super annoyed at that B in TJ's. But you know what? Everyone is going to have their opinion about what's best for children whether it pertains to sleeping, eating, or transport, etc. And not every kid is the same. I have the Moby Wrap and Hunter hates it, I'm so lucky someone bought me the Bjorn or I'd be up a creek. I also know people whose kids really like rice cereal and other that really like avocado, and kids that only sleep on their stomachs, and one of my favorite bloggers that loves her slings and makes them (here's an easy tutorial if you want to make your own.) Oh, and ALL these kids are still alive. Imagine that.

So I did the research, and the truth is, I don't think Hunter is at any risk and I will continue to use the Bjorn as I have been, for maybe 30 minutes a day. I adore my carrier and I love being close to my baby. That lady can suck it. And I swear if I see her again at MY Trader Joe's...

xoxo,

Lauren

Roll Over Beethoven

Or don't. That's cool too. Hunter just isn't into rolling over. He rolled over for the first time a month ago and I thought that was it; he was gonna roll over all the time. Yeah, totally not the case. He didn't roll over again until a week later, then five days later again. Last week I took him to the park and he rolled over 3 times, but hasn't since. I talked to my friend and she said her daughter (who is now 3 and can totally roll over because she showed me) skipped that milestone all together. But Hunter looks like he'll roll over and then just stays in this position on his side:

I hear walking can be this way for some kids as well. There will be a step and then nothing for a few days. But then some kids just get it and are off running. Hunter is starting to sit on his own now. He can stay sitting for about 10 seconds, but as soon as he turns his head, he falls over. So we still have a little ways to go.

He's also really starting to enjoy his walker and bouncer. It's so awesome to watch him try to move his legs back and forth. He actually bounces a bit now. I love watching him.

xoxo,

Lauren

Screech

No, I'm not referring to the dude from 'Saved By The Bell' (although, for name-dropping sake, Kelly Kapowski was in my prenatal yoga classes.) Screech is Hunter's new nickname. Or Shrieky, McScreamy, etc.-you get my drift. The kid has learned to scream and it is ear piercing and migraine inducing at the very least. Now that he's learned how to do it that's all he wants to do.

He started out with a little screech only a few days ago. And he would smile and shriek and it was so damn cute. Now he's learned that it really gets our attention, so he cries and shrieks and I'm sure the neighbors think we're torturing him or that we've adopted baby pterodactyls. And instead of getting a little fussy before naps he now gets all shrieky and I'm about ready to pull my hair out.

We're still not doing the best with sleep and I'm wondering if I should start sleep training. We're doing 2 feedings a night which is fine, but he's having a hard time with naps now too. Which was never a problem before, he was a GREAT napper. And I KNOW it's due in part to the pre-teething (still no visible white caps) but we've tried a lot of the remedies and they haven't helped much. I finally broke down and gave him some acetaminophen today. He needed to sleep and boy did it help.

And I need to get his naps back on track too, because I know good sleep begets good sleep. And it is so hard with Adam working at home. Rock music is not conducive to napping. Hunter slept so soundly as a newborn, but he is a much softer sleeper at the ripe age of 4 months.

But back to the sleep training. I feel like he's definitely ready to be at 1 feeding a night. He was there for over a month and the teething seemed to change it. It could have been a growth spurt but those usually only last 2-3 days, a week tops. I hate the idea of letting him cry it out. Some of the methods require letting the kid cry for 5 minutes. My uterus twists after 20 seconds. I also tried dream feeding before this change to help him sleep through the night but didn't seem to help much. I may try it again to see if we can get back to one feeding.

I think it's definitely too early to wean feedings all together. It's clear he still needs some extra calories at night. But maybe the extra feed just needs to be replaced with something else that's soothing. I wish he would take a pacifier, but screech is still a lazy sucker!

xoxo,

(Yawn)

Lauren

One Year Ago Today

Uniform Project

This is one of my favorite websites. Great idea, great cause, enjoy it daily and give them some money.

UNIFORM PROJECT

Eliza

This is so incredibly beautiful. Makes me cry just thinking about it. I had to watch it twice.

No Sleep til...

Seriously I don't know. Sleep these days has been ROUGH. And I've done tons of research so I know it's normal for babies to sleep great and then totally change their schedules. But it certainly doesn't make things easy. And he's pre-teething (UGGHH), more on that later.

We had a pretty good thing going for close to 6 weeks. There were a few rough nights in there with a wake up or 2 but Hunter was pretty much sleeping 7-8 hours every night and an occasional 10 hours. But about 10 days ago all that changed. It started with 2 wake ups, then 3, then he was up every hour or 2, meaning 4-5 wake ups each night. It has made me pretty cranky, although it has been better the last few days with only 1 or 2 wake ups a night. I'm not holding my breath though.

It's just so weird because even as a newborn he wasn't up that much. Luckily he does go right back to sleep after a bottle or some soothing so I don't have to worry too much about crying and sleep training, YET. He goes to sleep on his own every night which is a bonus. So I'm praying it's the teething or a growth spurt because I really need some sleep.

Adam will get up and help every once in awhile, but it's hard because I'm a bit of a control freak and I'm afraid he won't stick to my night ritual. And that makes him fearful of helping. When I was breastfeeding all the time I had to be up and thought at least one parent should get rest so the transition to me needing help has been rough as well. I'm sure we'll figure it out though. Or maybe Hunter will start sleeping better. We shall see.

We also have some milestones approaching. Hunter will be 4 months on Saturday, he's getting so big. He's also started to "pre-teeth." I know this discomfort is definitely contributing to his overall crankiness and restlessness. And the good news is that he could be uncomfortable for 1-2 months before the tooth even cuts. Are you kidding me?

And up until today he hasn't really been able to soothe himself except for eating his hand and drooling everywhere. He just didn't have the coordination to get a teether to his mouth and keep it there. He will grab something and try to gnaw but usually loses control pretty quick and just hits himself in the face. Last week we got him a teething pacifier. But the darn thing was so big he could barely get it into his mouth. Couple that with the fact that he's not a good sucker and it just didn't work. Good in theory, but not for us.

So I was really thankful that he got the teether in his mouth today, and long enough for a photo. Sweet!