photos taken by my dad :)Chloe turned 5 months the day that we left Kansas to come back home to Anchorage. We still hadn't had her 4-month checkup yet, since we were in Oklahoma during that time, so we headed to the doctor a few days later. She weighed...15 lbs, 9 oz and was 25.5 inches tall. Both were 60th percentile...so we have ourselves an average little girl! :) Doesn't she look like such a chub though?
She did pretty well on our trip and is adjusting well to life back in Alaska. If someone can PLEASE tell me how to get her to start sleeping through the night, I would be forever grateful. This girl just will not give up her night feedings. We have company for a few weeks now, but I think once they leave we are going to try to make her start giving up the night feedings (as in, making her "cry it out"). She'll be 6 months by then, so I think she should be "able" to sleep through the night by then. We'll see, I tend to be a softie with this sort of thing. But 5 + months of interrupted sleep plus dealing with a toddler and baby during the day is wearing this momma out!
What's new with Chloe...
- She started eating Mum-mums, and LOVES them. They are pretty much the only food she is interested in eating. They must feel good on her gums or something, b/c she just loves chewing on them.
- We just moved her up to 6-12 month clothes, and surprisingly they aren't that big! She still wears some 3-6 month pants, but all the 3-6 month shirts are way to small.
- She wears a size 3 diaper...I'm hoping she stays in that size for a while now!
- She loves taking walks in the stroller or in the baby bjorn.
- She rolls from both her front to back and back to front, pretty consistently now, and when I set her on her playmat she usually moves from one side to the other.
15 comments:
Hi, Can you send me your email addy?
I have my blog comments set on moderate :o)
Paula
Okay, I know that Ruth doesn't need this reassurance but I just couldn't stay silent after reading the two articles left by "concerned passerby". Everyone who knows Ruth can testify that she is a fabulous MOTHER. I could write a book, but I will try to limit this to a few points. The first article hardly dignifies a response, it was so ridiculous. The idea that letting your kid cry will turn him into Hitler, is a little extreme. Also the only research they had to prove that crying it out is harmful was the orphanages in Romania. Obviously the Romanian system of caring for their orphans is a tragedy as these dear little ones receive very little attention if any at all. But it is absurd to compare parents who let their kids cry it out to the abandonment of an orphan. Parents who let their kids cry for 30 minutes to an hour each nap time and bed time for about a week at the most in order to train their children to sleep are not turning their backs on their children and causing brain damage or disorders. We are parents who deeply love our children, so much so that we seek to provide a healthy sleep pattern for our little ones. We in fact respond to every other cry and are very attached to our children, providing excellent care and love to them. We are simply teaching them that Mommy will respond to them at every other time, but bed time is for sleeping, not eating or playing(once they reach a certain age). The children learn that there is safety and security in this routine.
The second article seemed to share the idea that a mother who lets the child cry parents in such a way as to ignore the child completely at all times of the day. When in fact, a mother who lets the child cry will soon learn the different cries of her child. Therefor she is more in tune with her child than a parent who simply feeds every time the child cries. She will know his cry for food and respond with food. She will know his cry when he has a dirty diaper and change it. She will know if he cries in the middle of the night because he hit his head on the crib and will run to him and comfort him. After she has taught him to sleep, if he cries in the night something is usually wrong. This child learns to go to sleep happily and quickly and wake happily. He also knows his mother will respond to his cries. We do not let the children cry constantly. As previously stated, the crying it out phase lasts for a very short period of time but benefits the child and parent for years to come.
Hi Ruth. I think you're doing a great job with your kids. I usually take my advice from mothers who have had success at getting their kids to sleep. One mother who has 8 great sleepers recommended that I let Olivia cry. It wasn't easy, but it actually went faster than I thought and then she learned pretty quickly. I think you're on the right track.
By the way, did you know I read the other day that they did years worth of research (and spent tons of money) on a study that proved that people who lose their spouse are more sad than those who haven't? A lot of research is a waste of time and money. Listen to the ladies who are actually in the trenches. :)
Esther
Goodness, did I miss something? Did you delete some comments?
Well, I don't blame you one bit for wanting her to sleep through the night - I'm sure she will get it! Your plan sounds like a good one. We've all been there...one thing you might try is getting her up for one last feeding before you go to bed and "tanking her up." We have always done this until they consistently sleep through. Then you just gradually drop that last feeding...seems to make it a little easier.
Love ya! Hang in there!
Should have mentioned why I asked my original question!
We want to have you all up for dinner sometime soon.
Mom said she saw you all a couple of weeks ago.
Paula
PS
Looks like things may have been "lively" on here.
Happens to us sometimes as well.
Trolls......I'm set on moderate now, as we get some of the nastiest things on occasion, due to an article we wrote on vegetarianism.
Thank you anonymous and Esther! I was seriously a little thrown off after I read those articles, so I appreciate your comments.
I had a former anonymous commenter leave me a few articles to read stating they were concerned for Chloe. I immediately deleted them hoping no one else would read them, b/c I was so embarrassed, but apparently some of ya'll did. ;) If any of you do want to read the articles I can email them to you, but I didn't want to keep them public on this page.
FYI...There is no way I will ever let Chloe feel neglected. I put her to sleep every naptime and bedtime when she is awake, so she falls asleep on her own without any crying involved. She already knows how to soothe herself to sleep. The only reason we have talked about letting her "cry it out" is b/c her first feeding of the night is super short and then she just falls fast asleep again...showing to me, that she doesn't really need to eat, she just wants to use me to fall back asleep again. Anyways, enough justification! :)
Paula...I emailed you our email address!
hi ruth. one thing we did with our girls when we were weaning off the night feeding was to feed them baby cereal right before their bedtime feeding. it really seemed to help them last almost through the night (until 4-6 am) & then eventually through the night. praying things will go smoothly for you & she'll adjust quickly! love, anna
The picture of Chloe and Clare is so cute. I love the shirts so sweet, did you make them or ordered them?
i was wondering who the other baby was with chloe, duh!
seems like i missed the excitement on here too! people can be so dumb and looking to make trouble. or really bored.
we all know you are a great mom and i am sure many of us (myself included) have let our babies cry themselves to sleep. your anon supporter up there was great.
forgot! autumn will be 2 and she is still in size 4 diapers, so 3 and 4 are sizes they are in for awhile!
Hi Ruth! I agree with the cereal idea. I gave Joel cereal before bed and it really helped. If she is taking a bottle now you can even put the cereal in a bottle watered down. It worked great with Joel. I agree to with all the other moms! Crying it out isn't going to hurt her one bit, especially becuase you know she can do it. If someone wants to leave nasty comments for you then they should probably come after me to because Joel was 6 weeks old when we let him cry it out. He had a 5 hour stretch during the day that he would go without waking to eat and I decided he could do it at night instead of the day. It took two weeks of working with him, one night he'd cry the next night he'd sleep through. He kept up this pattern for two weeks and then had it down pat and started sleeping even longer. You're a great mama and you are giving your children great gifts by working with them and teaching them at such a young age. They will love you and adore you for it! Hang in there and remember you have a huge cheerleading section on your side! Love, Rory
Jessie...I ordered them off etsy for the girls!
Oh my! I have to wonder why people bother leaving comments sometimes... So much for edifying with our words... My second daughter was a battle to get to sleep, but we were all better off after a little crying. Who is to say that you are tending to her needs better if you go to her every second during the night but are so exhausted during the day that you can barely function (and how about Austin's and Nate's needs, not to mention yours?!)?
If it makes you feel better, Abi was in size 3 diapers by 4 months...and now her 2-3T undies fall off. The other day (let's just say we were retuning from family camp and our van was a disaster...) I plopped her in a size 3 diaper, and it was big! Maybe those 3s will last until she is potty trained.
By the way, we enjoyed seeing your parents and brother at family camp!
I love the shirts too! That last pic is really cute!
It was so nice to see the whole family home and the cousins all together that Sunday morning here in Lawrence.
Here's what always worked for us when they wanted that middle of the night feeding....let them cry, it only takes about a week sometimes a bit more, then suddenly you wake up one morning and realize you slept through the night and baby is sleeping through the night from then on /and what Rachael said works also. It's pretty the tool of most parents.
One other method that I know many have used and works is waking them earlier from their day time naps...get them shortened up. I know it means for a cranky baby for a while...but this gets them more tired out for sleeping through the night.
Take care....trust you'll be restful nights soon.
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