‘Cuz it happened to me last night…I promise that I had the best post ever going on in my head around 2am…I was even making myself laugh with my wit and charm (that’s not me being conceited, I was really funny!). Then again, it could have had something more to do with the late hour and little sleep that I’d gotten. Maybe it wasn’t that funny at all, and that’s why I can’t remember it all.
Oh well, I just wondered if it happens to others too…that’s all.
But what I do remember? I stumbled across the best idea ever. Ever. Here it is, let me share it with you so that you can all agree that I am onto something here.
Jax wakes up to eat at night. Shut it, I don’t want to hear stories about how your angel slept through the night after two months…that’s not the kind of support this parent needs right now. I love your children, and am SO happy for YOU, but let’s not go down that road right now, ok? K, thanks! So anyway, when he wakes up to eat, I’ve learned (the hard way) that I need to change his diaper at that time too. It just makes things easier, and I’d much rather change him before he leaks than after. Our routine has always been that he eats (because he’s screaming and who doesn’t want that to stop ASAP?) and then I change him and then he goes back to sleep.
Most nights, this routine works for us. Lately, he’s gotten all talky-talky during this diaper changing time and he babbles at me non-stop for a few minutes…it’s the cutest thing and I get the biggest kick out of it. The last few nights though, he’s been up a lot. Like every 30 minutes. Not fun. We think that it’s his top two teeth coming through and the doctor assures me that he’s totally healthy in every other regard (yes, we’ve checked his ears) and to “just relax, they should cut through sometime in the next few weeks.”
Umm, excuse me? Did you just say “weeks”?
Yeah. I didn’t misunderstand. Kinda wish I had, though. You see, I’m not sleeping much, and I was sorta hoping they would come on through in the next few days…but that’s just me.
Anyway. Since he’s been up so much, there’s been a lot of co-sleeping going on. Cut me some slack, I’m tired. And it just happens that around his feeding time, he’s in our bed, so instead of getting up and sitting in the rocker while I feed him, I’ve been feeding him in the bed. (It’s cold outside, maybe you didn’t hear…) I guess maybe it’s the angle that he’s laying on the bed or something, but when he feeds in the bed, he’s more than capable/willing to hold his own bottle, which he doesn't try to do when we're in the glider. Which means that my role falls from feeder to supervisor of feeding…which translates to me shutting my eyes “just a little bit” and “resting” while he eats. Nice, right?
But the diaper still needs to be changed. The last two nights, I’ve let him finish eating then I change him like normal and put him back in his bed to sleep. But last night? Last night I came up with an idea, or plan of action, that can only be called brilliant. Why I didn’t think of this sooner, I have no idea…I’ll blame the lack of good sleep. It’s a handy excuse.
Are you ready for it? Last night, I changed his diaper while he fed himself. No crying, no fussing, no fighting me while I tried to get the 127 snaps closed again…why do they insist on so many little snaps??? They’re fine during the day, but at night? Oh man. (I also just bought 3 sleepers that ZIP all the way up…yeah, I’m catching on! Better late than never, right?) So he’s up there being a big boy, holding his own bottle with both hands, not requiring me to do anything…and I’m down below getting him undressed, changed into a new diaper and redressed with the least fussing/movement/kicking I’ve seen since he was running his high fever almost two weeks ago. Nice.
This is one of those things that you have to look forward to when they’re feeding themselves. One of those things that should be in all the baby books that you read…well, maybe it is in one of those books. I don’t really know since I quit reading those books halfway through my first kid. I sort of figured that I had the hang on things this time around and didn’t feel the need to try to read them again. Maybe if I had, I would have seen this idea somewhere and been doing it for the last month that he’s been able to hold his own bottle. Once again, better late than never!
I felt like such a genius that I thought up a whole post (or two) right then and there on the spot…which I promptly forgot about when I got an additional 2.5 hours of straight sleep - helped along with half of a Tylenol PM. That’s another one of those secrets that no one tells you about – drugs. Use them. Not abuse them, but use them to help you. Tylenol PM is what is getting me through the days right now. I take half of a pill after I feed him at 3am, and the next 2-3 hours of sleep that I get is deep and really restful, allowing me to go to work and be productive. Somewhat. I’m still tired, but not as tired as I would be if I wasn’t getting that one good stretch of sleep!
I should start a list of things that no one tells you regarding motherhood, huh? Both of these would be on my list: change the diaper while he/she is feeding on his/her own when he/she reaches that age and dose yourself with half of a Tylenol PM to get a good stretch of sleep on the really bad nights. Because you will probably have them at some point…and those would NOT be better late than never. Have them sooner and get it over with – that’s my motto!
1 comment:
Yes, it happens, and I hate it!!! It never comes out as good when you try to recreate it.
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