My friend Jennifer and I came up with a great idea that I absolutely love. As you know, I am expecting my first child. This can be so overwhelming and I know that other first time moms probably feel the same. I have so many questions and would love to hear the opinions of moms who have already been through this a time or two before.Because of this, we are hosting a weekly series for a few weeks to try and get some answers to some of the most common questions.
We divided the series into two mini 4 week series grouped into questions Pre-Baby & Post Baby.
The first mini series will be:
Friday, April 5: Registering (Everything you need to know, Must Haves, Don't Bothers, etc...)Friday, April 12: Nursery Organization & IdeasFriday, April 19: Packing For The Hospital: For you & the babyFriday, April 26: Birth Stories (The good, bad, and ugly) / Birth Plans (yes? no?)
The second mini series will be:
Friday, May 3: Bringing Baby Home / Surviving The First Few WeeksFriday, May 10: Breast Feeding vs. FormulaFriday, May 17: Calming Your Baby & Sleep MethodsFriday, May 24: Losing The Baby Weight
So without further ado, let's get on with Week 7: Calming Your Baby & Sleep Methods! Since I do not have any children of my own yet, I will be featuring a blogger each week and their expert advice on the topic at hand (:
Co-Sleeping Vs. Not Co-Sleeping:
Co-Sleeping
Hello Wifessionals readers! My name is Emily and I blog over at The Newfangled Housewife. I’m so excited to be guest posting today for part of Kaitlyn’s series! I’m even more excited that I get to write about co-sleeping, something that I have grown to be very passionate about.When my son was born we didn’t really have a plan. The first night in the hospital he slept so soundly through the night (he was born at 8:52pm) I kept putting my hand on him to make sure he was still breathing. It gave me a false sense of his sleeping habits, obviously. The second night was spent trying to help Michael nurse. A breastfed baby, it took him a while to really get the hang of it. I was so tired. After not sleeping the night before, I was having such a hard time staying awake. Welcome to parenthood, right? One of the nurses finally suggested I tried to feed him lying down, that maybe it would help him sleep. I eased into my hospital bed with him next to me…and it was as though everything was right in the world.
When we took him home, we did initially try the crib. First we tried it for a nap (and he wouldn’t stay asleep) and then at nighttime (he definitely wouldn’t stay asleep). Clark (my hubby) is the one who suggested bringing him into bed with us again. We didn’t have a bassinette or anything at hand, so we pushed back the blankets and Michael lay in the crook of my arm. Once again, magic—he went soundly to sleep.
Now that Michael is older (20 months) it is a little harder. Clark only gets a fourth of our queen sized bed, and sometimes I wish that I could just roll over. Michael isn’t your typical co-sleeping baby. Many will enjoy their own space and want the bed, but also want mama (and dada) there if needed. Michael wants to be in the crook of my arm, like it was day one, all the time. There are times when he will crawl over and cuddle with Clark, or push us both to our edges of the bed and love his space, but those times are few and far between.
Pre Baby Advice:Do your research. You can plan to co-sleep and end up putting baby in her crib. That’s the beauty of it. It truly depends on the baby. But be prepared if co-sleeping is something you want to do. Invest in a bigger bed. This may not be something you are able to do, but if you are—go for it. A queen-sized bed hasn’t been big enough for the three of us, haha, but we make it work. If you want to make sure you get your own space, jump for a king-sized sleeping arrangement.Don’t be one of those people. You know what I mean. Parents who knock co-sleeping get on my ever-lasting-nerve. It is not about what is right and what is wrong to the world, but what is right for your family. If you don’t want to co-sleep, then don’t. But remember that was your decision, and it is a parenting decision.
Baby Advice:Don’t feel bad if you try co-sleeping and decide you can’t do it. It has to be in the best interest of all those involved (mom, dad, and baby).
Look into more attachment tools. If you have an attachment baby, as I do, another great thing to invest in is a sling. Don’t want to always be sleeping when baby is? It’s a great way to keep him/her happy and still allow you to get some things done.
Better safe than sorry. I hated sleeping without the covers, but it was best for Michael. Everything I read said “dress you and baby warmly” for co-sleeping, but Michael hated pajamas with feet. I actually found that body heat works the best, and Michael didn’t need to be in layers to stay warm at night. But do you research, and find what’s best for you. As always, not everyone is the same.Not Co-Sleeping
Hi friends! I'm Sarah and I blog over at Our Journey. I'm so excited to be guest posting for one of my blog crushes, Kaitlyn, on how we decided not to co-sleep with Drew and our calming techniques for him!Let me start by saying that I realize people are generally opinionated about this subject one way or another and I assure you, however, that I actually am not. I was willing to (safely) try whatever we could in order to help Drew sleep when he was an infant. In the end, it just wasn't for us.
I've never really had sleep issues until Drew was born. I was a sound sleeper who minimally stirred throughout the night and woke up feeling refreshed. And then Drew came and my sleep habits changed drastically. We had him in a bassinet the first 6 weeks of his life, and although he was a good sleeper, this momma was not anymore. Since day 1, the tiniest, quietest of noises would wake me up. My body would barely let me sleep through the slight noise of his breathing, let alone his movements and grunts! There was no way I could attempt co-sleeping, as I knew I would barely get any shut-eye.When he started sleeping through the night around week 6, we knew it was time to move him to his crib. I wanted him to develop good sleeping habits and I knew that my son would do best in his own room, in his own crib. For us, the reasons not to co-sleep had nothing to do with safety concerns or fears of him still being in our bed at 5 years old. It was actually much more selfish; we just wanted to sleep ourselves! Being a parent is hard enough and if you aren't getting any sleep, your job is only that much harder.
If you choose to have you baby in a bassinet or his crib, I wanted to offer a few suggestions to help the process that all start with 'S'!1) Sensor! As in a monitor with a sensor pad. With co-sleeping, your body is more in tune to the baby's breathing habits, whereas in a bassinet or crib, you don't have that closeness. We chose the Angelcare monitor with the sensor pad. If the baby doesn't move for 20 seconds, an alarm will go off. I can't tell you how much this eased our minds those first few months!
2) Swaddle! You'll hear this time and time again, so I won't go into too much detail, but just DO IT! And if your tiny infant is breaking out of the swaddle, you're probably not doing it tight enough as we learned. Don't be afraid to make it pretty snug. Remember, their bodies squeezed into a tiny space in your stomach so they are used to, and prefer, small spaces!
3) Side! I wish I had heard about this before Drew was born as opposed to a few weeks in. When he wouldn't go to sleep or was fussy, we would rock him and rock him to no avail. Our friends mentioned to hold him more on his side as opposed to his back when rocking him, like you would in a breastfeeding position. How did I not ever think to try this all those rough nights? My advice is to hold them on their side if they don't calm down. Drew would fall right asleep when swaddled and rocked like this and then we would place him on his back in the crib. My biggest piece of advice for all new mothers though?Trust yourself. With so many highly opinionated moms out there, it's easy to feel like you have to do something one way or another. Your gut instincts and intuition become outstanding when you give birth and that inner voice can be a powerful tool to help you navigate those first few months.
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