It's about 5:30 a.m. on Christmas Day. Just finished Logan's 4 a.m. feeding, washed the bottle and the pumping accessories, finally got Logan to sleep (with a few cries once in a while). Hopefully, he can take a nap now and be awake in a few hours for the opening of Christmas presents. I am usually on the early morning/overnight shift. My new sleeping schedule is from 9 p.m. to whenever Hank wakes me up (between midnight and 3 a.m.) after his night shift, and then I'll take over. Luckily during the day (actually, most of the day), grandparents are helping out.
Feeding is still so difficult. None of the nipples that we got seem to work very well with him. He was eating a lot better the first day he got back from the hospital, then slowly eating less and less. We tried two nipples for babies with cleft palates as well. One seemed to work well for a day, and then not so good the next. Another was supposed to work better because it's an orthodontic one and was recommended to us by nurses, but it appeared worse than the other one. I hate to tube-feed him every single time as this signifies the tube has to stay in him much longer than we want it to be. To add to that, he's been fussing and crying during feedings. I am not sure why but I suspect the combination of the following: 1) annoying cannula bugging his nose, 2) annoying tube bugging his throat, 3) he has a lot of gas (he farts a lot), or 4) he's just fussy.
We also find that Logan likes to be held, a little too much. Grandpa spoils him by holding him every single time he makes a little peep. I am not sure if he's used to all of us holding him while he's at the hospital, that's why now that he smells us, he wants to be held. I try to rock him in his rocker to calm him down, but if he continues to cry, I will break down as well and pick him up. It's really difficult to hear your baby cries and not do anything. I think this is true for all parents, even though you're a believer of the Crying It Out approach. On a positive note, when he was born, his cries were voiceless. You could see him turn blood red like a lobster, yet the cry was so soft or non-existent. Now that he's older and stronger, he becomes more normal, as in a cry is really a cry. I remember thinking and telling the nurses that it's better to have a colicky baby, than one that's lethargic and doesn't cry. To all those mothers with colicky babies, I give props to you for dealing with it, but it's also better than to have a baby who doesn't cry and has to go through tests to find out why.
1 comment:
Just hold Logan whenever he cries. I used to believe that if you hold babies too much, they will get "spoilt" and need more holding. (At least, that's what people keep telling me, so I was forced to live up to their expectations.)
But no, it's not true. For baby#2, I hold him all the time when he's awake (or put him in the baby carrier), during meals, washing dishes, hanging laundry. He turned out to be a much calmer baby than big brother, sleep very well, doesn't cry much (at all!), loves watching from the bouncer, etc etc. He actually slept through the night since 6 weeks (because he had all his "holding needs" fulfilled during the day, I think...)
Trust your instinct, Virge. Who cares if they are "spoilt"?
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