Mean Mommy
Ok, Erica turns 6 months on Friday. YEAH!!!
She basicly (spelling?) sleeps thru the night. But occasionally she doesnt. Its very rare though. But when she DOES wake up, my dear old Hubby makes me take care of her. IE-- feed and change her.
Now, I KNOW that she can make it thru the night w/o eating-- she does it most of the times. And besides, at 6 months, she definitely shouldnt need to be waking up. "They" (who are 'they' anyway? a bunch of doctors and authors?) say to just basicly (spelling again?) ignore them. Let them cry it out and then they'll get the hint.
Though, in those situations in the books, it applies to babies who wake up EVERY night. So, they'll learn cuz its every night in a row. Will Erica get the hint if its only, say, once every other week?
So, I'm a bit curious as to what to do. Especially b/c Andrew doesnt want me to let her cry for 20 minutes-- not even 5 for that matter-- not even for 2. I'm thinking of telling HIM to get up for her if it bothers him that much. HA, that wont go over well.
I'm thinking of taking the one strategy mentioned in one of my books. They say that if the baby cries and cries and wont settle, give a bottle-- but only A LITTLE BIT. Work your way down to 4 oz, 3 oz, 2 oz, 1 oz, and then eventually nothing.
But I'm not sure anything will work, b/c its not every night in a row.
We'll see.
[Included is a picture of her just waking up. How can you say NO to a face like that?]
6 comments:
Well, you already know how I feel about Andrew in this situation, since you've asked for my opinion before. So, I won't beat you over the head with my views. :)
Reagan wakes up maybe 1-2 times a week in the middle of the night lately. I let him cry better part of an hour, and if he is still upset, I go in and rock him for about 10 minutes and put him back. Then he is fine. I am thinking it is just "night tremors" or whatever. They get scared at night sometimes and need to be reassured. That could be what Erica's problem is, so feeding and changing her wouldn't be necessary. Just let her cry for a bit, and then rock her for a bit and put her back. Also, in case it is teething pain that disrupted her slumber, be sure to "drug her up" with Tylenol just before bedtime.
Take heart... many, many babies/young children wake in the night at least once a week or so. I was just talking to my friend, Missy about this. Her son Tyler is 17 months old, and he does too 1-2 times a week. They start to be really aware around 6 months, so they wake up scared of the dark, being alone, being away from Mommy, etc. It's normal, so hang in there. Like I said, my only concern is that you're teaching her bad habb
its by feeding/changing her in the night. Erica needs to learn that nighttime is for SLEEPING, not visiting, eating, etc. She is being trained to be an adult someday. Adults don't eat in the middle of the night. ha ha
Have you found the "Baby Wise" book I dropped off for you to borrow helpful at all?
P.S. Welcome to 6-month-hood! This starts a REALLY great time with babies!! She'll be sitting up soon, if not already, and before you know it, she'll be standing while holding onto something and then cruising. Reagan was sitting up at 6 months, and then by 6 1/2 months or 7 he started to cruise. It's FUN! They're becoming "REAL" people!!!!
Maybe you will find the information on this page helpful!
http://www.babycenter.com/bigstory?scid=momsbaby:20050905:2362:15493:6243
well... when i pick her up to rock her, she just cries more. in fact, if she knows i'm in the room at all, it gets worse. so as soon as i pick her up, the battle is lost.
oh, and by the way, she can sit up already. (not for long periods of time though.) and she's starting to crawl. i'm GLAD (a blog entry on that to come soon) b/c she'll be able to go get what she wants instead of cry till i get it.
If she cries more when you pick her up that tells me that she may be actually just crying in her sleep, which is something very common. I know that a baby can even cry REALLY REALLY hard, but still be sleeping. Best thing really is to just let them go.
That's so good that she is sitting up and starting to crawl! Reagan was the same way at 5-6 months as Erica --- could sit up, but not for long periods of time. He started to crawl around soon after, which Erica probably will too. Around 7 months he was starting to pull up and stand by himself while holding onto something (his 'saucer, piece of furniture, etc.). Boy, it doesn't take them long to be able to start cruising then. Once Reagan figured out that to get from Point A to Point B he just had to keep holding on and move his feet, he was off. He really gets around now! Bit of Advice: If you haven't already, babyproof your house now, because in the blink of an eye they're flying around the house. So watch out!! :)
Good Luck with everything!
THANKS! we think she's pretty stinkin' cute too
I'm with Michaela on that.
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