ONE So, we're fully transitioned to bottles in this joint. Thankfully the transition has been a smooth one. Almost eerily easy. As quickly as my milk came seven months ago, it was gone on Thursday. Just like that. I was worried I'd be engorged and wore breast pads for the past few days in case but I never needed them. It's just ... gone. Crazy how the female body works sometimes.
TWO Sleep has been an interesting transition, however. Shame of me for making the rookie mistake of associating nursing with sleeping because now when Tory finishes a bottle and pops back up like "what's next, Mom?" I'm basically screwed. She's not a rocker, never has been, so it's not as simple as snuggling her up in my arms and rocking her into dreamland. I'm pulling out all my tricks, including walking with her, shushing, bouncing, patting, etc. but nothing works magic. I've been sticking (even more firmly) to our routine in hopes she'll condition herself to know when it's nap time or bedtime but so far, no dice. Eventually our altered routine (sans nursing) won't seem so foreign to both of us. I hope ...
At what age do kids usually attach to a stuffed animal or a blankie? Admittedly, I still sleep with my childhood blanket and I'd love for Tory to have one, too. Except, I'm too nervous to put a loose blanket in her crib right now. I started putting a stuffed bunny in her crib but so far it hasn't offered any comfort. In the meantime, it takes 3x as long to put her down for naps and bedtime. And the neighbor boy got a new driveway basketball hoop. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. ALL THE LIVE-LONG DAY. Suck.
THREE Washing bottles is no fun, yo. I have a serious case of dish-pan hands from what seems like a never-ending supply of dirty bottles. I think I need to invest in some rubber gloves. While I may have been chained to a rocking chair with a latched-on baby the last few months, at least I had soft hands.
FOUR Geez, formula is expensive! It wasn't so bad when I bought a can every few weeks for use with rice cereal but now that I'm exclusively using it for bottle feedings and rice cereal, it goes quick. I signed up for coupons on the Similac website. Apparently baby coupons are somewhat of a cult club. You can collect points for diapers and wipes and redeem them for toys on their websites. My co-worker said moms sign up for all the different formula coupons and trade them with friends. I had no idea.
FIVE Since I'm no longer nursing, I called my doctor and filled a prescription for regular ol' birth control. No more stress about the less-than-perfect record of the mini pill (not that I was really stressed about it anyway). There will be no Irish twins in our family.
SIX I took Tory to see the Easter Bunny today. He was cute, albeit a little creepy. Much better walking right up on a Monday afternoon vs. standing in line for 2 1/2 hours like we did for Santa on a Saturday afternoon.
SEVEN I want to buy Tory one of these personalized Easter baskets. Aren't these the cutest things ever? We're celebrating Easter in Nebraska this year and I already have her Easter basket prepared down there (I made it up while I was visiting in March) but I still want to get one for Easter holidays to come. Maybe I can score one on clearance the day after?
EIGHT I'm not sure what to think about my new haircut. It really doesn't feel any different until I walk by a mirror and catch a glimpse of my reflection. Then, ahhhh! Bangs are a little shocking. Especially when you haven't had any since 7th grade. I watched part of the Country Music Awards on TV last night and noticed just how many people have bangs, though. I think I'm actually on trend for once in my entire life. Way to go, me! I FaceTimed with my parents yesterday and I'm not sure what to make of their reaction. I think my Mom likes it. She said my new haircut makes me look younger. She also said I look like Dora The Explorer. My Dad just said "why did you do that?" Typical man response.
#3 and 4 are the reasons I breastfeed, lol! That, and because it's pretty much the best diet supplement EVER! I know it's great for the baby and blah, blah, blah, but really, I guess I'm just selfish and lazy, because my favorite parts of nursing are that it's easy, free, and keeps me skinny.
ReplyDeleteAs for #2, my kids are the same way, neither of them ever got rocked to sleep (nor would they really nurse to sleep either though). But I just gave them their paci, or snugglie once they were older, and rocked them for a couple of minutes after we read some books. Sometimes they would relax and nuzzle in, sometimes they will get silly and try to play with me. In either case I just lie them down in their cribs awake and they just entertain themselves until they fall asleep. They don't cry, or if they do it's for less than a minute, but it's nice that they can settle themselves down. Give it a try, even if she doesn't seem tired, and I bet she will just play with her feet or whatever for a few minutes and then roll over and fall asleep.
As for snugglies or blankies or lovies, I get the Angel Dear blankies for them (several of the same one for each of them because when they get attached, they get ATTACHED!). They have each had one in their crib with them since they were a few months old, but didn't get attached until maybe 9 months or so. I did find that both my kids liked to cover their faces with blankets to fall asleep, which was very nerve wracking in the beginning, but now I'm okay with it. I just went in and moved it off their faces when they were younger. But they are just small squares of blanket so they can't get tangled or anything.
And, finally, that easter bunny picture is PERFECT! I've never seen such a great Easter photo before! I love her little dress and she is even SMILING! Very rare, I promise.
Oh, also, I got these personalized baskets from PersonalizedCreations.com for my girls last year and they are GREAT quality and a much better price! http://gifts.personalcreations.com/productdetail.aspx?cobrand=PCR&pid=30049487&ssid=4&REF=PCRFeedGoogle_30049487&mr:trackingCode=C436B79B-954A-E011-B08E-001517B1882A&mr:referralID=NA
ReplyDeleteI could have written your same post a few months ago!!
ReplyDelete---
Two - I can't remember when for sure ... but I am thinking closer to 13 months (when I finished nursing) Lauren started just putting herself to sleep at night. I know that doesn't help you now but you are not alone - it took us a while. She was did start a few months prior to that with daytime naps.
Just in the last few months she has developed an attachment to an object ... what did she choose ... a sleepsack that is too small for her. She carries it EVERYWHERE!
Three - I have to admit that I am kind of happy that Lauren never took a bottle. The little while that she did at daycare I dreaded washing them at night! It was a PAIN!
Six - Tory looked adorable on the Easter bunny's lap!!
Seven - Last year I bought a half priced basket at Michael's. Then I took it and had it monogramed. It cost me a lot less that the ones at Pottery Barn that I had been eyeing!
Eight - You don't look like Dora, ha ha! I think your hair looks great : )
I was always nervous about blankets in the crib as well, so we did the glowing seahorse with Allie. It took her a while to get used to it, but now at almost 3, it is still what she needs to go to bed! We found it at Toys R Us. We also have used the Sleep Sheep - but that typically only lasted for the newborn stage because it's not exactly very cuddly. We use it more like a white noise machine than an actual "lovey." Good luck! Sleep issues are the absolute worst!
ReplyDeleteHeather... I signed up on one of the baby websites and got tons of coupons (didn't do it for those but just to see how baby was doing when Jen had Lauren)..I had no one to give them to. You could ask you mom and Ash to sign up too and you'd have all the coupons you needed.
ReplyDeleteI know Production Creek in town does the embroidering for the baskets... I think Lauren's was only around $7 to have it done and they do a great job.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGirl...coupons for formula are so necessary! I feel like Nick & I are buying the bulk Similac at Sam's Club all.the.time. But I will tell you that Sam's is the best deal I've found, but make sure you have the $5 vouchers.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the hair! Bangs are so in and they look great on you....not that any hair style hasn't always looked great on you!
Welcome to the life of washing bottles...you will feel like that's the only thing you do. I never got the drop-ins but I hear they are pretty cool...maybe I just got used to washing and needed it as a source of normalcy. :)
Big hugs- you are doing great mama!
Ok...
ReplyDeleteRegarding the washing of bottles, here's what I learned pretty quickly: use the dishwasher. I would handwash and I had AWFUL dry hands. So, dishwasher it is. Makes my life MUCH easier. That, and the Dawn dish soap with Oil of Olay in it was a game changer. And, it smells good.
Formula: Here's what I did (because by law, the nutritional value has to be the same...) I switched to the Sam's Club brand formula. Pick a store that you stop at all the time (Target - that's a good excuse to hit up Target) and buy the store brand. If you look at the ingredients, etc., there's no difference. We were Similac'ers until I ran out of the free stuff and bought it once. That was crap. So, I spend $20 per week-to-ten-days on formula now.
Oh, and as for the blankie thing...the risk of SIDS/suffocation (which is only ever.07% anyway) hits the road at six months (because babies can turn away and move much more by then. So - we have TONS of blankets and toys in Elle's crib (this way when she wakes up at night, she can sometimes put herself back to sleep by screwing around with stuff). She has a little lovey thing - a bear - that I put right up next to her binkie at night in her mouth so that she doesn't immediately spit the binkie out. And now she has to have something soft to hold on to when she falls asleep...
Anywho - that's the goings on at Casa de Carpenter.
I'm laughing so hard about the basketball. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, washing bottles sucks. Ugh, just thinking about it brings a sour look on my face.