I think Henry is conspiring against me.
I'm sure most mothers think this is true of their babies, but I have evidence.
Henry sleeps all day. Deep, heavy sleep broken only by his baby grunts and gurgles. It's nearly impossible to wake him to nurse for most feedings. I am usually able to wake him enough to take a sleepy bottle of breastmilk or formula, but that's it. I'm assuming that this is due to his prematurity and that his alertness will improve as he grows closer to term.
Despite days of bottle feeding and pumping, the last two evenings Henry has decided to be AWAKE! with the ALERTNESS! and in a desperate, crying need to NURSE! and to nurse MORE! Really, just like a real baby.
This is the only time during the day that his behavior resembles that of a regular newborn and I am wondering this: WHY, Henry, WHY would you pick the most aggravating part of a newborn's day to start behaving like a full-term baby?
I'm pretty sure I have enough milk--the other night I fed him as much as he wanted and I still sat down and pumped a record amount afterward. I am left to believe that Henry is sleeping so much during the day so that he will have plenty of energy to keep me occupied from dinner through the kids' bedtime.
If anyone had any theories or helpful hints, I'd be glad to hear them!
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4 comments:
Since I was never able to figure out how to get our newborns to sleep when I wanted them to (and I'm not sure it's possible), I would sleep when I could. When husband came home, I would sleep at dinner time, through bath and bedtime, then get up when baby was ready.
Since you are an experienced mother, you can take comfort in the fact that this phase will pass, and some day you will get the glorious sleep that you need.
My only suggestion is a good, solid bedtime routine. Babies seem to catch on to the rhythms of the family pretty quickly...if you have any!...and fall right into step. So, make sure you are consistent in those routines, make sure baby gets carried around enough to participate in said routines, and BE PATIENT. He's new, you know. :-)
I don't have any great tips, maybe try bathing him in the late morning or early afternoon to wake him for a good meal.
I just wanted to comment that I had been thinking of you. I had not been to your blog since you were in the hospital and when I was thinking of you yesterday I made a mental note to stop by. I'm glad Henry is a healthy boy and you are adjusting to life at home with him.
I would recommend letting go of any guilt when you bottle feed him. Really, it serves no purpose especially if you are giving him breastmilk. I had two breast fed and two bottle fed, and they are a mixed bunch. My breast fed kids have allergies that the other two don't have, and the bottle(formula) fed kids are just as smart and healthy as the breastfed. Just do what you can. And God bless.
Heh, I can only offer sympathy as I've got the same trouble over here. Except it's not just in the evenings, it's 3:30am, 4:30am, 5:30 am. Wide awake, arrrgh!!!
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