Friday 14 January 2011

The Routine - Day 3

Am finding that writing my experiences down quite a good thing for me, even if in the end, nobody bothers to read this.
Today has been hit and miss, and it feels like more miss than hit. He woke at about 5.15, having gone down well at 7pm and taken his 11pm feed. He took half his early feed and slept for about half an hour before taking the rest. Did manage to encourage him to play on his mat for a little while - that's another thing Gina Ford neglects to mention. What on earth do you do with a nearly six week old baby for an hour or so to keep him entertained and awake? He's grabbing things I put in his hands sometimes and if I tickle his cheek I sometimes get a cute smile, but that's all we really have right now. He yawns a lot and wants to doze off on the mat.
The morning nap was ok, took his time going down and only woke a little early. I took extra care for the main nap at 12pm, I spent all of the previous half an hour keeping him calm and gently cuddling him. I have read that one of the reasons babies don't settle well is that they get overtired and overstimulated. He fell asleep in my arms and I put him in his moses basket at about ten to twelve and he seemed to be out like a light.
He woke at about quarter past, but seemed initially to settle back on his own. My mum had popped over for a visit and we had a chat in the living room. I did listen out, but couldn't hear anything. He woke again at one and wouldn't settle. I gave him half his next feed as the book suggests and tried to re-calm him but to no avail. Gentle cuddles didn't work, giving him my little finger to suck worked for all of a few minutes and then seemed to make it worse. I spent nearly an hour trying to re-calm him back to sleep and then gave up. I popped him in his sling and went out for a short walk as the sun was out. Not on the routine at all, but I was desperate and a little cabin-fevered.
Within minutes he was asleep. I remained out for half an hour and he slept the whole time. Gave him the rest of his feed when we got home. Managed to play with him for a little while and Andy got some big smiles when he came home for his lunch.
When it came to the 4pm nap, we had some yawns, but the widest open eyes I have ever seen. Half an hour of cuddling later, I had a reasonably calm baby, but not a sleepy one. Have tried popping him down anyway, but by the sounds of it, nap time has been a total failure.
At least today I have decided to call time on the direct breast feeding. Expressing and topping up with formula means I know he's getting enough and he seems happier.
He's not settling at all. Got to go.

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