Helping my 6 1/2 month old with independence

My husband finally gave in and let me get a gym membership at a really expensive place. There were many reasons we decided to get the membership, but the most important reason was getting Micah used to other people. This gym has childcare, and it is the only one in town that will watch babies Micah's age.

He's very shy, and always wants to be with me. He also doesn't trust "new" people to hold him. This could be good, but it also has been bad because we want our friends & family to be able to play with him!

It has definitely been difficult for me to leave him when he is frightened, but I know it is for the best! Other kids have siblings, or they go to daycare, and they aren't so stressed when their parents hand them off. 

It has been a week, and yesterday we made HUGE progress. He didn't cry the entire time!! He played and was very content. The people that have been watching him were so happy for both of us, and it was nice! 

We have a wedding this weekend, and my hope is that Micah allows our family to hold him! So we will see.

Oh, and he's finally sleeping through the night, and so am I!!! 😄👍🏻

Perseverance & consistency! That's the key.

Sleeping through the night @ 6 months? Yea, right!

I have a six month old who has yet to sleep through the night, but I can see there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

We went to our six month wellness checkup, and our doctor told us that I don't need to feed him at night because he is a healthy baby. At this point it is more of a habit than anything else. Also, she suggested we just let him cry. She thinks it is better to do that now, then to have a toddler who cannot sleep, which is true. Another thing she said was to go longer between feedings, and to feed him solids three times a day. Finally, she suggested trying new foods every week!

Okay, now back to sleep…for naps, I have been putting him down awake, and letting him soothe himself. It has been going pretty well, I would say. He doesn't cry for very long in the afternoon (five-10 minutes tops). Don't get me wrong though, it isn't easy for me to let my little baby cry.
We have made his bedtime later, and that seems to have helped A LOT. He went from waking up 6-8 times, to waking up 2-3 times. This, in my opinion is great! However, a six-month-old should be sleeping longer stretches, and he isn't.

We used to go to him every time he cried to soothe him, now he can get his pacifier on his own, and put it into his mouth so when he wakes up we just let him figure it out. Last night wasn't the best because he had a really hard time going to sleep. It took him 30 minutes, and then Conrad figured out that he was really hot and he took him out of his swaddle, and switched him to a sleep sack. Then he still cried a little, switching all four pacifiers in and out of his mouth. Finally, he went to sleep, then woke up again at 12:30, and soothed himself back to sleep. Then again at 1:20, and Conrad went to him because I was afraid he would want to nurse. Conrad put the pacifiers within his reach, and he fussed for a little while before going back to sleep. He woke up again at two something, and soothed himself to sleep. At 4, he woke up and I nursed him so that I could get some more sleep. Finally, he woke up for the day at 6:30 a.m.
I think what messed him up was he took a longer afternoon nap than usual…and his last nap of the day lasted until 5:30, which I think is too late. Another thing that could have effected it was I tried to push his bedtime to 8:30 instead of 8. I don't know which of those hindered his night the most, but I will try to adjust his schedule today.
The other nights this week have been better than that, because I was keeping his schedule consistent. I know that I am going to have to just let him be, and eventually he will figure it out. I don't want him to be one, and still struggle with nighttime sleep. Also, I don't want to have to nurse him at night when he is one! I would like to start weaning him before he reaches one-year-old.
Anyway, he is much better than he was a month ago! We have friends whose babies still struggle at nighttime and they are a little older than he is, so it makes me feel a little better! I am sure things will come up all the time that make him sleep better or worse, and I am going to just have to ADAPT.
I just figure if I am not feeling right about something, I shouldn't do it. I think mothers have an instinct. However, I don't want him to be a spoiled brat who cannot be alone either! I want him to be more independent.

I will let you know how this goes. I hope your baby is getting some good nighttime sleep. Do you have any suggestions? If so, I'm all ears!

Leaving Micah at 6 months

I was asked by my BFF, Jen, to be her Matron of Honor while I was pregnant with Micah. Little did I know how hard it would be to leave my little one behind for a bachelorette/bridal shower weekend, and boy was it one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. When people say that you won't understand until you have kids, I think it is true. My heart has never been more full than it is now, and leaving him behind, although it was with my husband and his parents, was still very difficult. 

I started packing for Micah a week before my trip. He was heading up to his grandparents' house in the mountains. His dad would get off work, and would be there by the end of the day. 

The longest I had ever left Micah was a few hours here or there, and that was long enough, so I knew it would be torturous for me. 

Knowing that I was going, months in advance I was able to store a healthy stash of breast milk, which helped (a little) to put my mind at ease. Then I had questions like: Will he accept the bottle every time? Will I be able to pump successfully when away? Will Micah be miserable without me, and be a handful? Will he still nurse when I return?

I rented a car for the trip, and when my husband drove me to pick it up, I finally cried. It wasn't the pretty teary-eyed crying either. I straight-up bawled my eyes out.

But you know what? He survived. He was just fine. He sucked down those bottles full of my carefully stored milk! For some reason he even slept better than when I am around. I am still trying to figure out why. These are my thoughts: maybe it was cooler there, and he likes the cold (my husband wouldn't pay for it to be that cold ;) ), maybe he drank more milk than I provide him at each session, maybe he doesn't need to be wrapped up in a swaddle anymore (his arms are out), maybe he senses I am around and I baby him more than Conrad, or maybe there is no answer and he is just young? I wish I knew, and hopefully I will be back to tell you all about it. 
In the meantime, I have been trying to analyze his schedule to come up with some kind of solution. 

Anyway, it was a lot harder on me than it was on him. I pumped every three hours, apart from the nighttime where I pumped once at 3:30 a.m. (YIKES!!) I probably didn't have to do it so much, but I was so afraid of losing my supply that I thought it was absolutely necessary. 

Steph and I drove up there (Colorado) and we ended up having a great time!! I just don't know if I would advise anyone to leave their breastfed baby at six months. It is a lot of work, and a lot of stress for the mama, and that is with an easy baby…I don't know if I would leave a somewhat difficult baby! Especially if I knew he/she wasn't good at taking the bottle. 

I'm glad that I have an easy baby so that I was able to spend such an important weekend with Jen. 

My next post will be on nighttime sleep struggles.

Love you, Jen, you know you were worth it! ;)