HOW WE GOT OUR BABIES SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT (PART ONE)
It has taken me forever to write this post but if you follow me on Instagram you know I'm a huge believer in schedules and sleep training for babies. Because I have a lot to say on this subject, I'm splitting it up into 3 posts...introduction, 0-3 month sleep and 3+ month sleep.
Disclaimer: I am not a certified sleep consultant. I understand sleep training can be a touchy subject. Sleep training is not for every family but it worked for us. You do you. That's the magic of motherhood, different methods but the same heart. Just love please!!! This post contains affiliate links.
It has taken me forever to write this post but if you follow me on Instagram you know I'm a huge believer in schedules and sleep training for babies. Because I have a lot to say on this subject, I'm splitting it up into 3 posts...introduction, 0-3 month sleep and 3+ month sleep.
Before I had kids, I thought, I'm going to be that mama who takes her babies everywhere...my babies will be able to sleep in anyone's arms, on church pews, on blankets outside, in car rides...my babies will not dictate my schedule....
And then I actually had a baby...HA!
It took me almost 30 years to realize, I am NOT a "go with the flow" type of person. I like organization, I like schedules, I like routine. I'm okay with change (probably mainly because of all that positivity that's deeply engrained in me, ha) but it takes me awhile to adjust to it...so when I became a mama, I desperately needed to figure out a routine...especially one that involves sleeping at night!!
When I was pregnant with Luca I read the Sleepsense Guide. I'm a BIG BIG fan of sleep so I knew trying to get my baby to sleep would be a priority for me. It's very helpful. The layout isn't the easiest to follow (it's very wordy) but it helped us a lot.
And then Luca was born and IT WAS BANANAS. He was jaundice so for the first few days I nursed him around the clock which meant he fed every 2 hours. A typical night would be: 11pm wake him up, change diaper, nurse 15 mins each side while also trying to keep him awake (jaundice babes are very sleepy so you need to keep them awake while feeding), burp, change diaper, swaddle, back to sleep, set alarm for 1am. After gaining 5oz in 3 days my doc said I could go to every 4 hours at night (HALLELUJAH!)
Like I said, IT WAS BANANAS. But it also gave me a lot of time to be on my phone and google things. The #1 thing I googled was "when can babies sleep through the night". Obviously I knew a baby had to be older and a healthy weight to sleep through the night but I wanted to know anything I could to help make that happen!
So I followed Sleepsense, and the blogs: Precious Little Sleep and A Mother Far From Home. At 7 weeks Luca went into his own room and at 8 weeks he started sleeping 10 hour stretches! He slept great and didn't go through any 4 month regression. I did have to re-nap train him after we went to Cali (because all his naps were on the go or nursed to sleep) but he started doing 7-7 straight around 6 months and today is still an amazing sleeper.
I did wonder that maybe Luca was just naturally a good sleeper but then I had London. I followed the exact same things and realized, nope, they just needed to be taught how to sleep and this my friends, is why I believe in sleep training...sleep training is essentially teaching your child how to go to sleep on their own.
It's not neglecting your child or letting you child cry for hours on end..it's also not not feeding them. Sometimes London sleeps 11-12 hours straight but sometimes she wakes around 5:30am for a feed. I could night wean her but I don't really mind that feed as it's only once in awhile.
Since writing this London has slept consistently 12 hours straight for the past few months! I can't remember the last time she has woken up in the night!
photo by Rachael Alexandra Co.
Sleep Training Supplies
If you're planning on sleep training here are a few things that I HIGHLY recommend:
- Video Monitor (Some ppl swear by audio but video is such a life saver...it's amazing to see your babe get the hang of falling asleep. I recommend getting one with night vision which will save your sanity when your baby starts rolling over in their crib!!)
- Velcro Swaddles (for 0-4 month stage)
- Continuous White Noise (I'll talk about the importance of this in the 3 months + sleep post!)
- Black Out Curtain
- Sleep Sack (for 4 months and up)
I'm sure I'm missing some supply but there you have it for now! I'll be back with part 2 + 3 very soon!!
XO,
Laura
LUCA THE LION // 6 MONTHS OLD
OH my goodness. We made it to half a year. We have a little boy who is SIX months old and sits up by himself!!! He's no longer a little bitty baby...he's turning into a little boy!! But he's still my little lion.
LUCA AT SIX MONTHS
OH my goodness. We made it to half a year. We have a little boy who is SIX months old and sits up by himself!!! He's no longer a little bitty baby...he's turning into a little boy!! But he's still my little lion.
WEIGHT: 17.7 lbs
He's getting up there! Last month I used our home scale which overestimates a bit, so he probably gained just under a lb this month. I thought he would be waaaay heavier because he started solids but nope, still in the 17lb range! He's still on the 50th percentile for weight and height so he's trucking along well!
HEIGHT: 26.5 inches
He grew a half inch this month. When I nurse him, he feels SO long! Can't imagine what he'll be at 9 months!
WEARS: I've finally started to put him in 6-12 month clothing. I haven't packed up all the 3-6 month clothing yet, but I must because it's waaay too small! I'm on the hunt for plain white onesies but I can't find them anywhere. I bought him this bear suit and it's the cutest. Ahh, the Gap has some seriously cute things right now...like this sweater (which is on sale too!) and these Mickey pants!
SLEEPS: This month Luca's sleeping has been amazing! Most nights he goes down between 6:30-7 and sleeps straight until 7 the next morning. I know, it may change when he cuts a tooth or gets sick but I'm just going to declare that it will stay this way ;) And ps. I still wake up in the middle of the night to check on him/go pee!
We finally got a video baby monitor where we can see him at night and it is the best! We used to use my ipad and then connect it to one of our phone's. It worked great but you couldn't see the video at night and I had to keep my phone in our room (we're really trying to not use our phones at night and not have them in the bedroom!) A couple weeks ago Luca started rolling over in his sleep and I got soo freaked out and convinced James we needed a video monitor. It's been so great though! I would find myself checking on him in the middle of the night and sometimes opening his door would wake him up (oops!) Now all I need to do is turn the monitor screen on and I can stare at his sweet sleeping face. #best
Naps are going really well! I'm learning more and more that he's not an on the go type of napper. He's actually a bit of a diva when it comes to sleep...white noise, sleep sack, warm room, space to spread out...lols.
EATS: And this month we started solids!!! Luca has been more than ready for awhile now so we started at 5.5 months and you guys, he is such a champ eater. He chews and hasn't gagged once! And HE FREAKING LOVES FOOD. For reals. He gets sooo mad when we can't feed him fast enough, it's hilarious. We started him on roasted yam puree and he loved it. He's tried pureed broccoli as well as a bunch of love child organic pouches. He did not like scrambled eggs so instead of giving eggs straight up, I mixed some with bananas, cooked it on a frying pan and voila, he loved it.
HIGHS: Awe, so many highs. Him meeting Santa and SMILING! His first food. Instantly stopping crying when mama holds him (oh my heart.)
LOWS: Breakfast the other day...mama didn't have her coffee and couldn't feed him fast enough resulting in screaming baby and one cranky mama.
PARENTING: Parenting has been good. James and I just finished season 1 of Parenthood and it feels like we're learning something every episode, HA. James had some time off earlier this month and it was so nice to just hang out at home as a family. He's so good with Luca and can put him down for a nap better than I can!! I was able to get out of the house a few times on my own during the day and it was glorious!
POSTPARTUM: Let's just say, Christmas baking is not the best diet...we'll talk postpartum exercise and diet next month ha! Oh, but I did start going to physio to work on my core, and since I started their exercises, my back has been so much better!
WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: CHRISTMAS!!!!
Can't believe the next update will be in 2017!!!!
XO,
Laura
THREE WAYS TO BEAT THOSE POSTPARTUM BODY BLUES
You know there are a lot of things about having a baby that people don't really tell you. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before but before I had Luca, I pictured postpartum life as a delightful break from working, unlimited baby snuggles and free time to do whatever I please...HAHA.
Obviously, I was naive in my thinking and I learned that being a mom is the hardest job ever pretty quickly but I didn't expect as many, let's just put it as "surprises", that came with the postpartum body.
Let's talk about a few of those "surprises"...Now this may not be the case for everyone but before I was pregnant I was literally cold ALL THE TIME. Enter postpartum life where I would literally soak through sheets at night...it's tamed down now but still I haven't felt cold in a long time.
Another thing I didn't expect was to be in MAD PAIN. Birth was a flipping marathon...and pushing for almost 3 hours did a number on me and my body...I won't get into any details but let's just say, I took longer than I thought I needed to recover and heal...and dear Lord, remind me to invest in a donut pillow before I give birth again.
One more thing that I didn't really think about was postpartum body. I gained 45lbs with Luca, and like most of the naive world, I thought the pounds would just shed off with breastfeeding. A lot has but not all of it and what I'm left with is a body that's veeerrrrry different than before. A few years back God really healed me of some body issues (I wrote about that here!) But with this postpartum body, I found myself getting close to going down that old path of shaming and self-loathing....but thankfully by the grace of God (and encouragement from my sweet hubby) I'm beating those postpartum body blues.
Here are three ways I'm beating those postpartum body blues:
1. STOP COMPARING
I've written before on comparison but it is one I constantly have to say OH HECK NO to. Comparison is something that so many women deal with and it seriously rears its ugly head in every new season...especially in this whole mom thing. (PS. If you're local to Victoria, my church's womens group is doing a study on comparison on Wednesday mornings!)
I definitely found myself looking at other women who had babies (in real life and celebrities, ha) and being jealous/sad that the weight seemed to fall off of them. Why wasn't it flying off of me!!?? I needed to give my head a good shake and remember that we were all created differently (with different metabolisms and finances that afford personal trainers and chefs ha) and comparing myself to others would get me nowhere. Instead of comparing my body to others I needed to embrace the change taking place within myself.
2. EMBRACE THE CHANGE
Becoming a mom changes you. I did not expect this much change but I am definitely not the woman I used to be. Motherhood is not my sole identity (post coming soon on this!) but a part of me and it has changed me for life. So often the media celebrates women who bounce quickly back to their pre-baby body. But the thing about motherhood is, you're not meant to bounce back (found this article so beautiful on this!) You're different in mind, body and spirit and that is a beautiful thing.
I'm learning to embrace the change of motherhood. I feel stronger than ever before and when I look in the mirror at my jiggly stomach, instead of thinking ugggh, I see it as a reminder that I GREW A HUMAN BEING AND THEN BIRTHED THAT HUMAN BEING...THAT IS PRETTY FREAKING AMAZING. And now I get to snuggle that human being endlessly until he is 30.
So if you find yourself looking in the mirror wishing you would look like you used to look...please remind yourself that your body created life. And that is a very, very beautiful and selfless thing.
3. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF + BE KIND TO YOURSELF
Self-care for a momma is SO IMPORTANT. At the beginning I struggled with a lot of anxiety. My whole world was wrapped up in the little lion and I was pouring myself into him (literally as well lols). I didn't take any time for myself and I didn't take care of my body whatsoever. I ate like crap and was feeling like that too. My self-care had gone down the toilet.
But the moment I started eating healthier and exercising, I felt a world of difference. And I didn't go crazy like I would have in the past. I just started being accountable to what I was putting in my body (I use my fitness pal to track calories with my goal being around 2300) and started to exercise gently.
I'm also refusing to use shame as a motivator. Like I said in this post, my goal is to be healthy and not shame myself because shame is THE WORST motivator.
I'm also learning to give myself GRACE and to be kind to myself. Again, I'm referencing the post I just linked to but seriously...speaking God's word over yourself can truly transform your mindset. And this is for all the non-moms too...please be kind to yourselves. You are beautiful, you are valuable, you are loved.
These three things have helped me kick the postpartum body blues but I know everyone is different and different things work for different people (like hello mom of 3 kids, how do you do what you do!).
XO,
laura