I got an email this morning saying I've been given an 8.3 ("Great") rating on blogged.com! This is the same rate as Testosterhome!
Yesterday afternoon Anja and I went over to the Watsons for Anja's first playdate (excluding playing with cousins.) The little Watson grandkids were over and they were so fun to see... I'm not sure I've EVER met Annie, the youngest, and she's 4!! Anja really liked being there. She gets pretty tickled by other kids. I think she thinks they're all weird... but she's the one who's always doing Dragon Face at everyone.
I should be dedicating this and all times while Anja is asleep to reading Dr. Sears' "Baby Sleep Book" which I again got from the library, because we are having a REALLY rough time these days with sleeping. This is mostly because two new components have been thrown in: biting, and no longer sleeping in the car. The past two nights, after multiple failed attempts at putting her down in her bed, I've driven her around town while she's cried and cried and tired herself out so much that when she gets home she's nurse and fall asleep. It's rotten! I hate hearing her cry (it's not even crying so much as just very sad whining) and I liked it when we could drive her around the block and she'd konk out immediately. But the biting is the worse problem. The biting is making me consider weaning at only 9 months when I would've been more than happy to breastfeed her past her first birthday. This is how our mealtimes go now: (this is probably T.M.I. for most)
Anja is cranky and obviously tired and hungry. I lay her down on the bed and offer her her favorite source of food.
*CHOMP*
Chewing continues while I tense up my whole body, waiting for my milk to come down, which is the only way to make her stop chewing on me and start sucking and eating.
Since there's no possible way I can actually relax while having my nipple chewed off, the milk never comes down.
We get up, go downstairs with minimal whining (mostly from me) and try again a little later.
So this happens multiple times a night!! It's crazy!!! Of course it doesn't help these days that the birthday party the other night threw her off her schedule and now, while she was going to sleep between 7:30 and 8:30, she doesn't want to go down until 10 or 11:00. Last night we tried driving her around but she was soooooooo wide awake and happy that we didn't know what to do. And that was at 9:00! So we took her to the grocery store and walked around with her in the cart. She had a great time, but it didn't tire her out much. It was much later when she finally went to sleep.
So anyway, I need to devote some serious time to that book. Meanwhile, I just ate a bowl of Campbell's cream of chicken soup and it was AWESOME.
This is really all my news.
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4 comments:
Oh, Annie, I sympathize with you! Ouch! I remember when Colette started biting. I found this helpful, especially Number 4:
http://nursingbaby.com/nursing/biting.htm
Maybe she isn't really hungry, but using nursing to fall asleep because that's the only way she knows how.
We found with Colette that a very consistent bedtime routine (different than her naptime routine) was key. Some babies like massage or baths, although those always over-stimulated Colette. She liked reading lots and lots of books--and still does! Now that she's older we've found that she doesn't slow down one bit at night. So, when the clock hits bedtime, in her crib she goes! And she's out like a light. It's amazing how they change! I would have been in HEAVEN if she had done that a year ago.
When I talked to my kids yesterday about their day, the girls both said that their favorite part of the day was playing with Anja! They had a great time. Thanks for sharing your little girl!
Annie,
Do you have a breast pump? If so, you could pump until the milk lets down and then let your daughter nurse. I know it sounds like a lot of trouble, but maybe if you can break her of the habit, you can quit using the pump after a little while. My son went through a biting phase at about 9 or 10 months--I think he actually started to think that biting made the milk come!
This is really silly, but I found that trying to visualize certain images really helped my milk let down if I was stressed. I'd visualize how my baby's face looked when he was about to latch on, and I'd also visualize (this is so silly) a dam breaking and water rushing down a valley. Really kind of goofy, but it helped me. Also I used my deep Lamaze breathing to help me relax.
Good luck! I hope there's less biting in your future!
The pump idea is a good one -- you can have mine if you need it.
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