Good-bye January 2010!

This was not how I had intended to start off 2010. With the exception of about a week, I have been sick this entire month! I welcome February with open arms! I am currently in the midst of fighting yet, another cold. I have never had so much difficulty with my immune system as I have had recently. I can only assume that my immune system is beaten down because for the last 3 years straight, I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding, and not sleeping through the night. I am happy to say that Nora has been sleeping better. She wakes up once or twice a night, but she just talks or fusses a little bit and goes back to sleep. My middle of the night feedings seem to have come to an end so I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I know, I know, she is almost 9 months old and the fact that I was getting up to feed her until recently is ridiculous. So many infant sleep theories exist out there and I have studied several, but, hey, I have been weak. She is, after all, my last baby.
Looking back, when Hailey was a baby, I usually nursed her to sleep and once she got older, I would tickle her back or pat her bottom until I thought she was asleep and then try and sneak out of the room, at about which time she would poke her little head up and summon me back. What can I say, I was young and didn't know any better back then. Sleep schedules were not the fad in those days.

 

Hailey Alexis, September 17, 1993

Luca didn't want to be nursed to sleep. If he wasn't hungry, he wasn't going to nurse for comfort. I used the Baby Whisperer's method of encouraging sleep with him and it worked pretty well for the most part. He is a great sleeper now. I was always able to put him down in his crib awake and he would put himself to sleep. He never got rocked, patted or otherwise. He has a bedtime routine that consists of reading, prayers and saying "nite nite" a couple of times. He reads and plays in his bed for about 30 minutes before he actually falls asleep.

Luca Roman,  December 12, 2007

Then Nora came along. She has my heart in a way that I can't even explain. I think it is because I know I will not be having any more babies and I just adore the baby stage! She gets rocked every night! While she is being rocked, she grabs at my nose and my ear and holds on for dear life! I can't say I don't know any better because I do. She is a very content baby so she usually lets me know when she is ready to be put into her bed. She fusses and pulls away from me. I usually lay her down awake and she puts herself to sleep, unless, of course, daddy is putting her to bed. In that case, she gets rocked until she is completely out.

 

Nora Eisley-Rose,  May 11, 2009