4 Month Wakeful

I want my baby back!

First, we dealt with a fever after his four month shots. He wasn't happy. All he wanted to do was be held and whimpered all day as his body battled a fever. Like mommy, his cheeks and ears got all red. Thankfully as soon as his fever broke the next night at 7 pm, he clearly felt better and slept a full, peaceful night.

Then last night, he woke up and wanted to play at 4 am. At first, I figured that he was hungry because his daily intake has been significantly lower than normal (after his shots). He wouldn't have anything to do with the bottle. He doesn't cry, but he made it known that he doesn't want to be alone. After an hour of trying to get him to relax and go to sleep with shush/pat, rocking, swaying, and humming, I simply put him down in his crib and laid down myself. He talked to himself quietly and I fell asleep at 5:30 am (good thing it isn't Monday, because I would be getting up and dressed to go to work at that point). Who knows when he eventually went to bed?!? He wasn't loud enough that it woke me up.

At 7 am, he was up and ready to eat, but wouldn't finish his bottle. He really, really wanted to go to sleep at 8:50 but pulled out the full on screaming, squirming, freaking out. Again, tried all the Baby Whisperer tricks. Gave up for awhile, tried again, got frustrated, tried again. Finally, after an hour of frustrating trying to get my over-tired baby to sleep, he crashed. Right now he has been asleep for one hour and nine minutes.

All the April Bumpies report that the 'four month wakeful' period hits with a vengeance so I know that this is 'normal,' but it still is really, really exhausting. I am hoping that we can continue to be consistent with our sleep routine while we go through this so that we can cover out of it (it does end right?!) without having learned any new, bad habits.

Three Months Old

 Developmental Milestones this Month: Andrew  still is pretty textbook for his development. He can do the following (all age-appropriate according to What to Expect the First Year): lift his head and chest 45 and 90 degrees while on his tummy using his arms for support, roll from his tummy to back, smile in response to others' smiles and smile spontaneously, squeal in delight, bring both his hands and feet together purposefully, follow an object as small as a raisin 180 degrees, reach as short distance and grasp onto toys, hold his head steady when held upright, bear some weight on his legs when held in the standing position, turn in the direction of mommy and daddy's voice, make LOTS of sounds in all different vowel-consonant combinations.

Physical Growth this Month: These are "at home" measurements because Andrew doesn't go back to the doctors until four months.  On Wednesday at WW, Andrew weighed in at 13.9 lbs (gain of 1.5 lbs in one month that I swear is all in his face).  I tried hard to measure his length and got three different measurements, averaging out at 25.5 inches.
Things Andrew likes: Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Melissa are his favorite people right now--although, anyone who is willing to play with him and make high pitched sounds, he'll smile at.  He still loves Mr. Octopus and his play mat, along with his crib mobile.  His hands have also become a constant toy (they are always in his mouth) and he loves playing with his tongue.  He has a lion that crinkles and he loves it in the car; from the front seat, I can hear him crinkle it for over 15 minutes as he tries to eat the lions ears.
Things Andrew doesn't like: his acid reflux/GERD makes Andrew hate spitting up, but other than that, he's a pretty laid back baby.  He gets "scared" at loud noises, but doesn't cry.  He doesn't like the process of going to sleep, nor when you take the bottle out of his mouth during a feeding.  Raspberries on his belly make him stick out his lower lip in a quiver.

I had to give you a 'melt down' picture or it wouldn't be a monthly update!

Sleeping: Andrew is a champion sleeper thanks to the Baby Whisperer (I love this woman).  During this third month of life, he slept through the night (that means 6 hours or more), 27 of the 31 days!  The nights have gotten longer and longer, averaging about 9.  Last night, he gave us 12 long sleeping hours.  During the day he takes three naps ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours.  Usually the morning nap is shortest.  He's also proved that he can pretty much sleep anywhere.  When we went to Bakersfield to visit Great Grandma Bennett he slept well in his pack in play, he's also sleep on the floor at many places, in several beds, in the RV, in the car, and on mommy in his sling.
Eating: Andrew transitioned himself to a four hour schedule during week eleven and because of this the amount that he eats has gone up dramatically.  He now eats 6 oz (or more) in one bottle five times a day.  We needed to switch this past week to the medium flow nipples in the Playtex bottles because it was taking him almost 45 minutes to eat one bottle (with medium, he's back down to 20 minutes or so).  He was eating about 27-30 oz at the end of his second month, and now he's eating between 30-32 oz so in reality he doesn't consume all that much more.  We started him on Zantac for his GERD on June 14 and upped his dosages just this week (it's weight related).  The medication helped the pain from the reflux go away, so we no longer have a cranky baby who wants to eat, but hurts when he eats.  The spit up amount has not decreased, but at least it isn't bothering him anymore.  Mommy and Andrew both change clothes at least twice a day and average about four burp cloths a day.  Also, Andrew no longer wakes up from his naps starving.

Playing: Andrew now stays up almost two hours after every bottle, so we have started playing together.  We spend the first 15-20 minutes after a bottle sitting upright on mommy's lap or in his rocker chair (to help with reflux/spitting up) playing with our hands and feet, singing 'this little piggy' and 'if you're happy and you know it.'  We then move on to a circuit of different activities; 1)to the play mat to practice being on our tummy, rolling over, talk to the baby in the mirror, shake Mr. Octopus, kick the elephant and whale, and scoot around, 2) in the crib to practice more tummy time and rolling over (on a super padded surface this time), talk to the mobile, or sing the nursery rhymes with the CD, 3)in the Bumbo to practice assisted sitting, or 4)in the Baby Bjorn or sling to walk around the neighborhood with Reese.  All the time Mommy is talking to Andrew (or reading Facebook out loud to him) and he has started talking back and making up his own conversation. Andrew is learning and watching all the time and strangers always comment on how alert he is when we are out and about.
Diapers: We switched to size 2 in the middle of the month because we ran out of size 1 and I didn't want to purchase another huge box from Amazon Mom (by the way, if you haven't looked into this mommas, you want to).  There were a bit big for the first two weeks and we had a few leaks, but now they are fitting fine.  In total we used 557 size 1 diapers and we have already used 92 size 2 (don't you love that I keep track for you?!?).

Clothing: Andrew is (still) wearing 0-3 month clothes. He's outgrown the sleepers, but hasn't been wearing them anyway because it is so hot at night.  His tallness is all in his legs, so the 0-3 month clothes are perfect right now.  I'm sure in the next few weeks we'll switch to 3-6 months (I've already gotten them from Tawni and Rachel and started organizing so they will be ready when we need them).  Most of the pants/shorts that we have in 0-3 (still) fall off his belly so we roll them up to fit.

Photos were hard this month because Andrew wants to MOVE and his hands are constantly in his mouth!

Important Events of Month Three: Fathers' Day, 4th of July, met Aunt Pauline and Uncle Ralph, visited Great Grandma Bennett and first road trip, and mommy's favorite, learned to SLEEP well!!

Sleeper!

We've been following the EASY method (Baby Whisperer) for a little less than three weeks now.  Remember, I told you all about the sleeping thing here. I've got to say that I am SO impressed with this lady that I feel like I could be her promoter (and I have tried to share with the bumpies).  Andrew has always been a happy baby, but I think he's even happier now.  He sleeps well during the day and at night. 

The "eventually" that I mentioned in the previous post is here--after the five minute wind down where I hold, pat, and shh I put him down and leave the room without needing to continue patting/shhhing.  More times than not, he's still awake and looking around, but he puts himself to sleep.  Naps range from 45-90 minutes and night sleep averages about eight hours per night (the longest was 9 hours and 22 minutes).

As long as we "do" the routine, he also pretty much sleeps anywhere.  He's slept on the floor at Melissa's, on the RV bed camping, at the go-cart race track, in Ontario Mills, and many different restaurant.

Since Monday when the doctor prescribed Zantac, we've having a lot easier time eating too.  He HATES the Zantac (who in the world decided to make children's zantac in peppermint flavor?!?), but he doesn't arch his back and refuse to finish eating anymore.  Because of this, this week he has also eliminated his "dream feed" at 11 pm (basically he refused to eat and we were brave enough to just let him sleep).

Baby Whisperer

I like routines.  Actually, I can honestly say, I thrive on them.  I firmly believe most people do (even those who say they don't like predictability).  At school, everything that happens in my classroom is a routine that I explicitly teach, we practice, and we follow all year long.  Routines make me happy and they allow my students to feel relaxed and understand what to expect when they walk in the room.  I firmly believe that 90% of my classroom management is based on routines taught and they eliminate a ton of discipline problems that could occur.

I think it is perfectly natural that my child should be on a routine.  He'll know what to expect, feel relaxed and confident on what's coming, and, I'm assuming, a happier baby overall. Also, as he grows, I'd hope that a routine would help in other ways too.  As I was reading around on the Internet about the different "sleep training" methods, it was a pretty obvious choice for me to "pick" the Baby Whisperer (Tracy Hogg) because Andrew already naturally followed this routine so the E and A were pretty stinkin' easy (no pun intended) to follow.

In The Baby Whisperer words, "A structured routine is not the same thing as a schedule.  A schedule is about time slots whereas EASY is about keeping up the same daily pattern--eating, activity, sleeping--and repeating the pattern every day.  We're not trying to control children, we're guiding them.  The way humans learn--or other species, for that matter--is doing something over and over, which is what a structured routine reinforces."

Andrew is a pretty easy baby; however, I thought that he didn't like sleeping unless he's being held.  Between Dave and I, we spent many nights sleeping in the recliner with the baby on our chest.  Going to sleep was also becoming more and more of a challenge.  He would get really fussy, need to be swaddled, held tightly while holding the pacifier in his mouth, rocked, and patted on his bottom to fall asleep--this process was frustrating and would take anywhere from 10-45 minutes for each nap and in the middle of the night.  Then, as you went to put him down, more often than not, his eyes would pop open and he'd be wide awake again.  We (or maybe just me?) had two goals: 1)sleep longer hours during the night and 2) go down for naps/nighttime without a huge ordeal or needing to be held.

Anyway, Baby Whisperer (as I mentioned in his two month post) has been a wonderful experience so far.  As she suggested, I've been keeping a log of when we do each part of the EASY routine and how much he eats/sleeps during the day.  She makes it pretty clear that sleeping and eating well during the day directly impacts how he sleeps at night.  We've gotten so much better at sleeping this week and I'm sure a huge part of it is that we have a clear and repetitive routine for nap time and nighttime taken straight from her book.

Nap Routine:
After playing for awhile, Andrew starts yawning.  After 3-4 yawns we start this routine.
1. Change diaper
2. Swaddle
3. Hold upright in dim room (no bouncing, rocking, jiggling, etc) for 5 minutes.  If he starts crying (which is almost always does), firmly pat his back in a tick-tock patter and say "shhhh" into his ear (sounding like a faucet turning on).  Mommy likes this time too because it is "cuddling time."
4. After 5 minutes, into the crib he goes on his side and continue patting his back and "shhhh"ing if he's still awake.  Continue this until he relaxes and goes into deep sleep. 

Nighttime Routine:
"Tank up" feed 2 hours apart in the evening, after second feeding we start this routine
1. Bath time
2. Gentle massage and sleeper on
3. Read book
4-5. Follow steps 3-4 from above
6. Around 11 pm, dreamfeed (in hopes he'll sleep until 5)
*Also, if Andrew wakes up before 4 am, I know he isn't hungry, so we follow the routine steps 3 and 4 to put him right back to sleep.

Eventually we should be able to do the first few steps and lay him down drowsy without needing to continue patting/shhhhing. The time he has to be patted/shhhhed in his crib has already dropped dramatically from 20 minutes to anywhere from none to 5 minutes.