Colten is eating vegetables! On Sunday, August 9th we started him on green beans. After making some "what the heck is this" faces and after letting it run out of his mouth, Colten finally enjoyed himself. Now after six days of green beans, we just started peas. So far he seems to be enjoying the peas even more. He ate them so willingly; I was surprised but happily : > After this we are off to the yellow veggies like squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I read that too much yellow can cause a baby's skin to have an orange tint. Is this true? How do you avoid it? Should I alternate yellow with beans or peas? As usual, I welcome your tried and true advice : >
Yay! Colten turned 5 months old on Friday! I can't believe how quickly time is going and how much Colten has grown both physically and developmentally in just a short time. In fact, he is soooo close to crawling too. I'll keep you posted. Right now he can only support himself for a short distance. I hope I get to see him scooting around before I head back to school. Anyway, to celebrate his 5 month birthday, Colten shopped with Mommy and Grandma at the mall and Target. The photo below shows us before our day on the town.
And now for my million dollar question. . . (any and all advice is welcome and needed)! Why won't Colten sleep???? Don't get me wrong, he is sleeping somewhat, and he is in his crib; but he does not sleep for sustained periods of time, even at night. I know that you are supposed to do something different at night than during the day so babies know that they are not just going down for a nap (even though he barely naps too - but that's another issue), and I do this. Every night Colten gets his bath, I feed him (breast milk, veggies, breast milk), and then I put him to sleep. This goes better some nights than others, but for the most part it goes well, and he is asleep between 7:30-8:00 pm. For a while, he was sleeping until about midnight. Then I would feed him and put him back down until between 6-7 am. This was heaven, but it only lasted a few days. Now I have two problems -
#1. Colten wakes up by 10pm to eat, then again around 3, and again by 6 or 7. I have tried to simply put him back to bed, but he won't stop crying until he eats. Can he really be that hungry? How will this work once school starts? (especially because...see #2)
#2. After the middle of the night feedings, Colten will not go back to sleep. He is often up for about 2 hours after each feeding, meaning I am up too. I'm not always in his room, but I am still not sleeping as he plays and/or cries causing me to make multiple trips back to his room to reposition him, to give him his pacifier, to clean spit-up, to sooth him. . .
So if anyone has any advice for either problem or even just words of encouragement if you already went through it, I'd appreciate the help and/or support. I just don't know why he seems to have reverted when it appeared that we were making such good progress.
I'll end with a moment of reflection - Tom's buddy Joe stopped by the other day and while holding Colten asked us, "So is having a baby as hard as everyone says it is?" Simultaneously I replied "yes" while Tom said "no." WHAT!?! (It turned out that we interpreted the question differently, but it gave me something to think about).
In some ways it is not "hard." By that I mean that the love we have for Colten transcends all love, making everything, even the hardest of days, worth it. Colten is easy to love and has even strengthened the bond that Tom and I share in ways I never thought possible. And in some ways, parenting is not "hard." By this I mean that although I do not claim to really know what I am doing, a lot has come more naturally than I expected. One of my biggest worries when I was pregnant was that I just wouldn't know what to do and that I wouldn't have those motherly inclinations. But I do. . . at least sometimes : > As you can tell from issues with Colten's sleeping (or lack thereof), I don't always know what to do, but I do know that I am doing the best I can. Colten is happy and loved and growing everyday in ways I could never imagine.
But to answer Joe's question truthfully, yes, having a baby is hard - the best kind of hard but hard nevertheless. Those sleepless nights, those cries that seem to never end, the loss of "me time", the redefining of a relationship that once only included two people, the chores that never end and often go undone. . .But then Colten smiles at me, reaches for my hand, squeals in delight as I kiss his belly, peacefully rests (even if it is just for 20 minutes), accomplishes another first, or simply nurses at my breast and I melt. So while there is so much that is hard about being a parent, there is even more joy.
Wow, what a post!! First off, yay for eating baby food! Very cool! I have never heard of a baby's skin turning colors from what they eat. And for what its worth, Sawyer would not eat greens, He only liked the sweet stuff, like corn, sweet potatoes, squash, etc. And he isn't yellow or orange! OK about the sleeping. It really could be a growth spurt or it could be a phase. Either way, I would just keep doing what you are doing. Some people do/have done the CIO (cry it out) method. Now, as a first time parent with Sawyer, there was no way I would have done it. But I will definitely do it with Juli if need be! So I understand if it isn't for you. However, it seems that most parents tackle CIO between 5-6 months. And most I think use the Ferber Method. My best advice is to keep sticking to your routine and sooner or later it will stick. But from what I understand a lot of babies go in and out of sleeping well.
ReplyDeleteI liked your thoughts on whether or not having a baby is hard. For me, I would agree with you, it has its crazy moments but it is all worth it! But I would also add that it is hard in the sense of safety too. Before kids, I lived a very carefree life. Now, I am afraid to fly without them and even go far distances without them. I mean, what if something happens to me?! OMG! And then of course you worry more about your husband, because there is no way I could do this alone! And then, the biggest issue is their health. For example, the first time we went to the ER, when Sawyer was 14 months, for a fever of 103, the discharge papers read "Your child has a cold". OMG how embaressing!!!! But that's life with children who you love more than anything!!
Lastly, I am going to give you a website/forum of mommies from NEOhio. I met one of the administrators on another site, Dana, and she is awesome. I am also close with the only mommy from LA on there named Kerri. I will let them know I gave you the address, since it is a site for members only.
http://antidramamamas.freeforums.org/index.php
And if you don't want to join, I completely understand. Its a nice place to have handy for questions that come at 5am or if multiple comments/questions. Talk to you soon!!
Oh Cindy, I'm sorry that you're having trouble with Colten sleeping again. It can be so frustrating. Spencer will still have naptimes where he will cry for an hour of the hour and a half nap. I know, I'm one of those moms that lets my kid cry, but it works for us. The thing is, I know his cries. If it's just a cry to cry, I let him cry and he figures it out or he just cries because he wants to. It's something that you have to do what makes you comfortable. You know, Colten could also be starting to teeth. He may not actually be getting a tooth yet, but he may be having the symptoms...Avery had teething symptoms for 6 months before she got her first teeth! I will say that you know your baby and what he needs and just try to find comfort in that. Spencer eats 5 huge formula meals a day and sleeps about 9 straight hours through the night. He was waking up early in the morning and we discovered that he was peeing through his diaper-we started putting a bigger size on him at night and it solved the problem. I'm sure that's no help, but I think you're doing a good job:) As for the veggies-yay for Colten already doing so well on his greens-that's awesome!! I cannot believe he's already 5 months!!! Spencer will be 3 months this week and that seems impossible! I have heard of the skin thing happening with too much yellow veggies-and have seen it! Our nephew, Garrett, had his cheeks turn orange from too many carrots. We didn't have that with Avery. We would try to alternate every other day with a green and then an orange/yellow-and her fav was squash...so, yes I have seen the skin change, but I think if you don't give too many (as Garrett ate way too many carrotts), then he'll be fine:)
ReplyDeleteI love hearing your wisdom on being a parent-at this point, I think it's the freakin' hardest thing ever since Avery is so stubborn and Spencer requires so much 'work' right now-phew...but, when they do something new or give hugs or smiles, it's the greatest thing in the world. I'm glad you're loving it so much, especially given the challenges you've had this first time:)!! Love you lots. We need to talk soon-it's been pretty crazy around here and I may be talking to you from the looney bin, as I may be having a meltdown of my own (taking a cue from Avery!!) xo:)
Hi Cindy!
ReplyDeleteColten is getting SO BIG! I feel like he should still be a newborn....and he's almost crawling? That is so awesome:)
I have definitely heard (and seen) kids turning colors with food- mainly orange for carrots, and that's if ALL they are eating 24-7 is carrots. Also, I remember Megs was nice enough to point out to me when Elizabeth started eating veggies is that their poop will change colors too- so it wasn't a bloody diaper I was staring at- it was a nice, dark orange one from sweet potatoes and carrots. Phew;)
For the sleeping thing, I already told you our story with Elizabeth, and it sounds like he's a lot like her. Sorry about that;) If it's a hunger thing though, have you tried mixing rice cereal or any other type of grain in with the vegetables? We did that all the time. I'm not sure if it's a wives' tale that giving a baby cereal will make them sleep better, but it did seem to fill Elizabeth up. Plus, you kill two birds with one stone by mixing the food together- feedings go by faster;)
You and Tom are doing a wonderful job raising Colten, and I can't wait to see both of you in action as parents one of these days:) Keep up the great work and I hope sleep comes easier! Enjoy your time before school starts!
Love,
C:)
I can't believe Colten is eating vegetables and almost crawling! The months have seem to flown by! I'm so bummed that Colten is giving you sleep headaches again, particularly since school is right around the corner. Only advice I can give you is to take the advice of the other mom's who have posted on the blog because I am certainly of no help in that department :) :) :) BUT I am counting on you taking good notes for when I'm finally lucky enough to have a family. I think you and Tom are fabulous parents and the beautiful part of interpreting things differently is that instead of having one consistent opinion, you can see multiple angles.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to enjoy a day on the town!
Love,
Beth
Great advice so far:)
ReplyDeleteI would alternate food- orange and green- and if you really want- you could introduce a fruit in between the orange veggies- bananas are usually pretty well tolerated.
as for the sleeping- C gave a great idea to add rice cereal in with the veggies or maybe giving him a later dinner. That way you know he is definitely NOT hungry.I know I have said before- but us going in at increased interval of times every night did help. I have read that sometimes kids have trouble sleeping when they are about to do a BIG milestone- and for my boys that is true- sitting up, crawling, walking etc. Sounds like Colten is hitting one of those milestones with the crawling. I would just keep going in there every 5 then 10 then 15 minutes and so on.... he is probably waking himself up with rolling- I don't think he is hungry- and once you start feeding him and picking him up- that is what he would want.
I know- tough love- is my advice- so if it is not for you- I understand:)
Also- Tylenol is a God send...
and so is Motrin when he is 6 months.
Steph is right- he could beginning teething as well, and teething is something we are STILL experiencing with Drew. They also have herbal remedies too that I have heard work.
Hang in there!!:)
Sounds like you have a lot of good advice! Sorry I can't help yet, but take some notes for me. :) I know you and Tom are wonderful parents! I think Colten's face looks so much like Tom in these pictures!
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