Sleeping like a Baby?!

My Mum laughs at this currently generation of Mums who are such avid readers of baby books. I'd often hear her say, 'You can't learn how to raise a baby from books. You just learn as you go!". I used to shrug off such comments and not think much about it because back then, I ignored anything to do with babies. Until that is, I decided to have one o.O Suddenly, I began to immerse myself in books about pregnancy and how to get through what seemed like the scariest part - the labour. Meanwhile, I got lots of well-meaning comments from my work-mates along the lines of, "Enjoy your sleep while you still can" - *chuckle chuckle*. Again, I shrugged those comments off too because I had bigger things to worry about, such as OMG Labour!

Ethan is now 9 weeks and while I've begun to adjust to night wakings, I'm still struck by doubts about his sleep. While Ethan is an excellent night sleeper, he's not great with naps. He's a bit like an energiser bunny. He needs to use up every. last. bar of energy playing, learning & exploring before he finally crashes. I don't mind his enthusiasm except for the fact that Ethan often forgets that he's a baby. And like all babies, not enough sleep = grumpiness. So the more Ethan fights sleep, the more unhappy he gets and the more unhappy I get. What to do, what to do...

So I did what my Mum said NOT to do (Yes, yes, typical daughter behaviour). I began to read some books about helping babies sleep. However in my sleep-deprived state, a bit of common sense went out the window. The first baby book I picked up was "The Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg. What I didn't realise was that she was a huge fan of "Controlled Crying" (where you leave your baby to cry in the cot with intermittent check-ups) and although I had reservations, I was so tired that I thought it would actually work for us. It wasn't until Ethan was crying for about 5 mins that I woke to my senses and gathered him in my arms. What on earth was I doing?! No amount of sleep was worth leaving my young baby to cry, just because I wanted more convenience in my lifestyle.

Since that eye-opener, I'm a bit more cautious about what "advice" I take on. I've read a few more books on baby sleep (after sussing them out to make sure the authors weren't fans of controlled crying) but it's still difficult because they often contradict each other. I honestly think all these books should come with a huge warning that says: Beware Sleep Deprived Parents - Please take my advice with a Grain of Salt as it might not suit your family! Okay, okay, I admit that's blatantly obvious and it's my fault for being all too trusting. Just goes to show that the human brain really needs sleep!

So what am I doing about Ethan's sleep debacle? Well I realise that I can't really complain. For starters, once Ethan's woken up and had his night feed, he goes straight back to bed without a fuss. I'm pretty much guaranteed 8 hours of sleep, broken up into two blocks and on the nice days, this even stretches out to 10 hours of sleep. It takes me no more than an hour to get Ethan back to bed at night, which isn't that bad.

Ethan isn't impressed by my attempts at getting him to "nap".

And what about Ethan's lack of day naps? Well I've since discovered that Ethan sleeps like a log if I crash next to him. While part of my mind grumbles about all the house work I should be doing, the rest of me is mostly relieved to recharge my batteries. And the best thing about it? I get to watch Ethan sleeping. There is nothing like seeing the myriad of expressions dance on his face (seriously, when Babies fall asleep, they practice ALL their expressions. It's like watching a one-man movie. Now I'm all smiles, then sad-face, confused, angry, frowning, happy-again, dream-sucking-on-an-imaginary-boobie, etc, etc etc). It really is quite entertaining. As for the other 2-3 naps, I resign myself to rocking Ethan to sleep and letting him snooze in my arms for about 10mins, before putting him into his cot. Usually he'll wake up after 10mins. Babies are built with super-sensors that alert them to a change in their environment - mostly their Mums trying to sneak away to do non-baby-things. If I'm lucky, he'll sleep for 20mins. Here's me hoping that in time, he'll sleep longer.

Ah, the best bed in the world! Mum's Lap.

That's my plan at the moment. It's not perfect and yes, it involves a lot of baby falling asleep in my arms and lack of personal time, especially when I'm home alone. But in the back of my mind, I know that Ethan will be crawling and walking soon. Then before I know it, he'll be 13 and the last place he'll want to be is in my arms 'cause that's uncool. So yes, I'm happy to rock my baby to sleep. He might not be "self-soothing" (who makes up these weird-arse baby terms anyhow?!) but at least I get to soak up every little detail of this amazing human being as he grows from day to day.

Wish us luck!

Yours truly,
Demi, Craig & Ethan.

Ethan @ 9 Weeks

Hi Everyone!

It's official - time speeds up exponentially when you become a parent. Either that or the broken sleep screws with your mind! Ethan is 9 weeks tomorrow. It seems like a lifetime ago that he was cooking in my tummy. Now he's a regular explorer of the world. And how does an infant do this, you ask? Well that's easy. When he gets bored, he cries and Mummy dutifully picks him up. Then to get Mummy to move to a different part of the house, he just cries again and off she goes, doing her best to settle his fussing!

Turns out Ethan is a great fan of the assortment of paintings, artwork & Tibetan thangkas (paintings of Buddhas) strewn about our house. He can happily gaze away, absorbing the intricate details while I try not to break a sweat, holding him up as he does so! Life on baby-time is hectic. There are always surprises - for example, the Poo-Explosions that somehow manage to leak out from both leg-holes & the back of the nappy. Fun times... For once, I escaped the avalanch of poo. It just resulted in a lot of laundry & a rather contented baby.

Ethan Out & About with Mum

My favourite times are undoubtedly the weekends, not just because Craig is home to help me with Ethan, but mostly because we can hang out as a family. I enjoy watching Craig and Ethan hang together. There are plenty of laughs as Ethan pulls a funny face or cracks his trademark smile.  I know that as Ethan gets older, things are only going to get more fun and no doubt, there will be new challenges to face as well! But yes, it is all worth it.