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| Swaddled, in Swing, with Sucking (Wubbanub pacifier) close by. Fan (Shushing) not shown. Look how her face is filling out already! Baby acne not shown. |
We've been studying up on the Five S's from the Happiest Baby on the Block.
Nothing was really helping last night.
I started to think darkly about the term "colic."
And was very, very grateful to not be alone with her. Not that I was scared of what I would do, but just because it was so great to have someone else pick up the slack now and then.
She didn't cry constantly... she'd be quiet for a few minutes, either on the breast or in the swing with her Wubbanub pacifier (best pacifier ever! ridiculous name and it seems overpriced, but she LOVES it and it stays in much better than any other), but then the wails would start again.
This all started in the late afternoon. When my mom came home, she immediately assumed that the problem was simply that I didn't know what I was doing, hadn't tried the right tricks yet.
How many tricks can there be with a newborn, I ask you???
About 45 minutes later, my mom conceded that the problem was perhaps with the child, and not the ignorant mother.
She cried on and off throughout the evening. I'm grateful my mom lives alone, as I don't think I would be comfortable sitting at the dinner table with my breast flopped out on the My Brest Friend (another INVALUABLE invention... hands free breastfeeding is awesome! the Boppy doesn't cut it in this respect at all... she falls down into the pit between the pillow and my stomach) if there were other folks there like, say, my dad.
Wow, just writing about breastfeeding is causing a milk let-down. I'm so mammalian these days.
Finally I decided to take her to bed, wondering if maybe nursing while horizontal would help. It was still early, only about 8:30, so I figured if it was a failure, I could always get up and hand her off to my mother again.
I carefully swaddled her in her Kidopotamus wrap, which she wriggles out of somewhat but is still easier and better for us than the frustrating method suggested in Happiest Baby on the Block (the second step perplexes me every time) and got situated in bed -- pillows on both sides, chux pad under me.
Lo and behold... she passed out while nursing in bed (lying on top of me). I ever so carefully positioned her in the swing (the THIRD awesome invention for which I am deeply grateful), turned on the fan next to her to its highest (loudest) setting, aimed away from her, and fell gratefully into bed.
Girl slept nearly FIVE HOURS!!!!
Glory be.
After that it was every three hours. Until I got up around 9 am. She fed then and quickly went back to sleep... she's still sleeping, now, two and a half hours later.
Thank you!!!
Sounds like Fiona as a newborn - she'd fuss and cry for hours every night, between about 2 and 5 weeks old. It stopped by 6 weeks, which it often does. Not colic I don't think, just normal newborn overtired/gassy/etc. The 5 s's were invaluable for Fiona, too. Carys does not do the evening cry thing, thank god. She's fussy, but nursing and riding in the baby bjorn (hates the moby), sometimes simultaneously, do the trick for her. For Fiona, putting her in the moby and vacuuming was sometimes the only thing that would get her to go to sleep. Have you tried vacuuming?! It's just amazing how different my 2 girls are - Carys also can't stand to be swaddled and Fiona was swaddled until 6 or 7 months old! Do whatever works mama, and rest assured it's likely to improve in a couple weeks!
ReplyDeleteYou must get the Happiest Baby on the Block cd. The nurses at the hospital were hysterical at how quickly Finn would calm down when I put the hairdryer track on. Works almost every time. :)
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so glad to hear things have settled down a little. Sounds like you had a much better day! Keep hanging in there, and rest assured you are most certainly NOT an ignorant mother!
ReplyDeleteWhat's the fifth "S"? I might've missed one, but I somehow only saw four. :)