We have fully adopted the method for the middle of the night waking that involves doing nothing. Since she is very calm and quiet when she wakes up, I just let her lie there awake - comfortable, full and safe - while I try to fall back asleep (with varying degrees of success). This is, I believe what I'm "supposed" to do. You are supposed to communicate to the baby, "This is SLEEP time. We don't turn on lights, get up, talk, play, etc." I'm not sure how well that works when your child wakes up screaming or just being extremely active. But, we are blessed so far with a baby that, while occasionally still awake at some unreasonable times, generally relaxes in the bed until she falls back to sleep.
Actually, this is all easier because of one little fabulous device: the pacifier! She only started taking a pacifier last week in the midst of a bout of major fussiness. Normally, at home, moving through our regular routines, she does not scream or holler or even fuss much until it's time to take a nap. Then she whimpers a bit and, if you get her into bed quickly enough, that's it. Otherwise, she'll sometimes yell as you get her ready for sleeping. However, generally, she is calm and contented. That particular afternoon, though, she had a constant low level moan and crying thing going on. She kept trying to shove things in her mouth with even more than her usual zeal. This didn't seem to actually satisfy her, so she would then get very angry and gritchy. So I gave her the pacifier. BING! It worked! She was very happy to have it!
All this vigorous stuffing of her mouth made Kiyomi wonder if she was teething. I was incredulous mostly because I was trying to will her to teeth at 6 months...thus sparing my nipples some months of pain. But, alas, she is in fact getting her first two teeth - the two bottom front teeth. While I am sad for my nipples, I am excited to see her little teeth. She will look silly and adorable with just two tiny chompers.
Anyway, I'm excited about the pacifier. I know some folks are very anti-pacifier, which I find a bit reactionary. It's a great tool - any tool can be overused, I suppose. However, this weird categorical reaction to any helpful device is irritating. I went to a La Leche League (LLL) meeting last week. One woman brought up nipple shields because she has to use one right now. I also had to use one for two months and, while it is frustrating in some ways, it is a life saver in many. I could tell the LLL coordinators were not so thrilled by those of us piping up about using them and telling this woman not to worry - that she will be able to get rid of it when she needs to. I now know 4 people who've used them and very easily weaned the baby off of them. But, there is this paranoia that you will destroy your child's ability to latch if you use them. This is extremely unhelpful as it serves to make you more anxious, ashamed, and worried about breastfeeding - which is challenging enough at the start.
The LLL coordinators also pooh-poohed my question about not getting Ila to take a bottle. They were saying that you don't want to give your kid a bottle for the first three months because the child will not be interested in taking the breast when I asked. Okay, guess what folks, I have not yet met a child that does this. However, I am one of about 10 people I know whose child will not take a bottle because he or she prefers the breast. Yet, when I said this, the coordinators were like, "Well, it's such a short period of time that you are exclusively breastfeeding..." So, she obviously meant, just suck it up and never leave your child for more than 3-4 hours! Awesome advice, ladies, especially for working moms. Bottles are very useful, why is there this fear in a group of women obviously dedicated to breastfeeding? I mean, I get the fact that formula companies can be evil and insidious...but I'm well into breastfeeding; I love it, in fact. I'm not about to be swayed into weaning Ila before we're ready. However, I'd also love for Ila to take a freakin' bottle of my breast milk!
If I could send one message back in time to myself at the start of this, I would say use the tools that are handy and make sense for you AT THE TIME without guilt or anxiety. You can stop using them, change plans, re-evaluate as necessary as you go along. So much wasted worry about pacifiers, bottles, nipple shields.
So, we pacifier it up and love it. I can't believe how happy she is to have it. It's funny, too, because she just wouldn't take it before. I think this is a sign of maturity. She is able to identify it and remember that she likes it. Pretty cool.
She's just growing like a weed: teething, loving her pacifier...and also, more literally, growing like a weed. She's in the 97th percentile for height and weight. She's huge and on a steep growing curve. This is, really, of no consequence beyond the fact that she is healthy and thriving...but I have been thinking lately, as I look at other babies our play groups, that she IS giant. It makes me feel very aware that she is no longer a tiny baby...which, in turn, sort of makes me feel nostalgic for her tiny self. I mean, mostly I just want to try and remember when she was only 8 pounds. I'm not sure I want to go back to that level of sleeplessness and exhaustion, but I do feel very curious about what she was like then because I can't really remember. Isn't that odd? It was such a short time ago. So, I've decided today, to close out with a picture of her when she was brand new. I can't believe how little she was!
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