I'm afraid to admit that I have instilled some bad habits in my little pumpkin...
First: I wanted to co-sleep with Hannah for the first couple weeks...mostly to make it easy on me. I was still recovering and getting in and out of bed was not easy...so I loved just having her in bed with me and being able to feed her and change her right there at any hour of the day or night. Over time, I couldn't imagine not having my little lady sleeping next to me. I'll admit...I was also being a little lazy; I learned how to side nurse, and it was SO easy to just latch her on and fall back asleep with her. But mostly, I LOVE snuggling with her.
However...our Queen size bed does not make easy snuggling for the three of us (its not a space issue, as much as me being worried that Noah-a heavy sleeper-will roll on her or accidentally hit her in the night), so Hannah and I have been using my sisters room. We've decided it's time for us to try and get back to normal and get on a more normal routine...thus sleep training has started.
I've started with putting Hannah down for naps in her crib...so far I've had no success. She has grown so accustomed to having me right there that she will wake up crying within 5 minutes of being laid down. She's a big snuggler and we think that she loves the contact and comfort of having me there....and she notices almost immediately when I am not.
I'm not an advocate for the "cry it out" method...but everyone says the first couple nights of sleep training are the worst, and you just have to get through them. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't really given it my all because a big part of me wants to keep my little snuggler next to me forever!
Second: I LOVE nursing. So much, that I have only allowed Hannah to have a bottle three times in her life...and those three times were in her first two weeks and when she was 6 weeks old for Lisa's wedding.
Wedding errands have become more frequent the past week and we thought it might be a good time to start trying to give her a bottle every now and then. I mean...as much as I love nursing, I don't exactly want to disappear in a back room for 45 minutes every few hours of my wedding!
Hannah HATES the bottle. Like screams at the top of her lungs the second she realizes the difference. We've tried several times over the past week and a half...and it's not looking good. I've tried several different bottles, nipples, techniques, you name it...she's not liking it.
Over all the times we have tried, I was only successful ONE time...and it was short lived because she likes to cuddle after she eats, in a way that she can only do when she nurses...so she was on unhappy girl, when that couldn't happen after her bottle.
I wouldn't be stressed about this...after all, I do love nursing. However, its really restraining. I have my bachelorette party this weekend in Chelan...our only option is to bring Hannah with us...which means Noah is coming. Bachelorette partying at its finest. ;) I have hair trials, makeup trials, tanning appointments, etc, etc, etc that really make it difficult to accomplish when I have a little monkey that I need to feed every few hours.
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My point is...I'm clearly a first time Momma. I made some decisions that have made for some difficult days lately. Poor Hannah...she can't figure out what's going on that everything is changing! If I could do it all again...I would incorporate sleep training and bottle feeding (once a day) early on so that the baby isn't thrown for such a loop when the time comes for them to really learn!
First: I wanted to co-sleep with Hannah for the first couple weeks...mostly to make it easy on me. I was still recovering and getting in and out of bed was not easy...so I loved just having her in bed with me and being able to feed her and change her right there at any hour of the day or night. Over time, I couldn't imagine not having my little lady sleeping next to me. I'll admit...I was also being a little lazy; I learned how to side nurse, and it was SO easy to just latch her on and fall back asleep with her. But mostly, I LOVE snuggling with her.
However...our Queen size bed does not make easy snuggling for the three of us (its not a space issue, as much as me being worried that Noah-a heavy sleeper-will roll on her or accidentally hit her in the night), so Hannah and I have been using my sisters room. We've decided it's time for us to try and get back to normal and get on a more normal routine...thus sleep training has started.
I've started with putting Hannah down for naps in her crib...so far I've had no success. She has grown so accustomed to having me right there that she will wake up crying within 5 minutes of being laid down. She's a big snuggler and we think that she loves the contact and comfort of having me there....and she notices almost immediately when I am not.
I'm not an advocate for the "cry it out" method...but everyone says the first couple nights of sleep training are the worst, and you just have to get through them. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't really given it my all because a big part of me wants to keep my little snuggler next to me forever!
My little cuddle bug...she falls asleep to any contact...if we are driving, I have to sit in the back and hold my hand to her cheek.
Second: I LOVE nursing. So much, that I have only allowed Hannah to have a bottle three times in her life...and those three times were in her first two weeks and when she was 6 weeks old for Lisa's wedding.
Wedding errands have become more frequent the past week and we thought it might be a good time to start trying to give her a bottle every now and then. I mean...as much as I love nursing, I don't exactly want to disappear in a back room for 45 minutes every few hours of my wedding!
Hannah HATES the bottle. Like screams at the top of her lungs the second she realizes the difference. We've tried several times over the past week and a half...and it's not looking good. I've tried several different bottles, nipples, techniques, you name it...she's not liking it.
Over all the times we have tried, I was only successful ONE time...and it was short lived because she likes to cuddle after she eats, in a way that she can only do when she nurses...so she was on unhappy girl, when that couldn't happen after her bottle.
I wouldn't be stressed about this...after all, I do love nursing. However, its really restraining. I have my bachelorette party this weekend in Chelan...our only option is to bring Hannah with us...which means Noah is coming. Bachelorette partying at its finest. ;) I have hair trials, makeup trials, tanning appointments, etc, etc, etc that really make it difficult to accomplish when I have a little monkey that I need to feed every few hours.
.JPG)
You want me to drink from what?!
My point is...I'm clearly a first time Momma. I made some decisions that have made for some difficult days lately. Poor Hannah...she can't figure out what's going on that everything is changing! If I could do it all again...I would incorporate sleep training and bottle feeding (once a day) early on so that the baby isn't thrown for such a loop when the time comes for them to really learn!
Ahhh she's getting so big!!!! So adorbs!
ReplyDeleteUgh don't you hate that. Mommy hood is definitely a trial and error the first time (at least I hope it's just the first time!). I feel like there are still some things now that I think "gosh I wish I would have done that differently from the beginning"...I guess it's just all part of the game!
ReplyDeletehahha the last picture is perfect
ReplyDelete