Last night Nadia's first stretch was 6 hours. YAY!!! I went to bed shortly after getting home from handbells, so I got almost 4 hours straight myself which was appreciated. Then she woke up 3 hours later, but I let her cry (less than 5 minutes) and she then slept another hour. Then I nursed her and put her back to bed and she slept a little more than an hour so she didn't get up for the day until 7:05 am. One thing I've noticed lately is she doesn't nurse for very long at a time during the night. Lately she's been barely sucking at all so I'll think she's ready to go back to bed, but then she'll cry. So I'll let her nurse a little more but the vigorous sucking doesn't last long At All. So then I put her back in bed (usually she cries for a few minutes). Last night I noticed this was true even after she had gone 6 hours. This makes me think she's not really that hungry, right? If she was hungry she'd be more serious about nursing. So maybe I should let her cry even if she's gone 6 hours and see what happens. From how little she is actually nursing during the night, I think she could go 12 hours without nursing even though she's still waking up 3 times on average during that time span and acting like she MUST be fed (I've only been feeding her twice a night).
Sometimes I still struggle with the whole CIO thing, but then when I go in to get her (on a night when I've let her cry) and she's beaming at the sight of me, I know it's not hurting her any. When my brother was here for Thanksgiving and she was crying prior to a nap, he said something like "where's your compassion?" It's true at first glance it seems uncompassionate to let a baby cry without going to her, but I said actually what she needs is sleep so I am being compassionate by doing what is necessary so that she gets the sleep she needs. Still it's hard at times to listen to her cry at night. My first instinct IS to go rock her, nurse her, whatever, but as we're approaching 6 months (can you believe it?), I think it's reasonable to expect her to STTN (about 12 hours) although Weissbluth says some don't do than until closer to 9 months.
3 comments:
I love the pics today! And I totally agree about FB. That's actually one reason I didn't make it a priority to go to my reunion: I had added most of my friends from HS, but I don't really write on their walls and they don't write on mine much either, so what is there really to talk about with them? But I do love FB for keeping up with people I DO still know. :)
Sounds to me like Nadia is using you as a pacifier at night more than a food source. I would try not nursing at all during the night and see how that goes.
Face book is great. I work at a camp during the summer and I love keeping in touch with everyone throughout the year.
Nadia looks so happy in these pictures! She's getting so big. Isn't it fun to see those sweet little chubby cheeks!
Love it!
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