Night #2

Our second night started out so well.  Pooks had her bath, we got her ready for bed, and I read her 10 books again.  She was so tired by the time I finished the last book.  Once again I told her that the "booba's were going night night".  She was upset, for maybe 5 seconds.  The she put her head on the pillow and passed out in under 5 minutes!!  I felt so great.

Then she woke up in the middle of the night and would not go back to sleep.  She fussed, then cried, and then tantrumed.   It probably took us an hour to get her to go back to sleep.  DH was good though and told me to stay in the room even though he had to get up for work.  He wanted to hold her while she tantrumed but I told him to let her go.  He left while she let it out by the bedroom door.  It only took maybe 5-10 minutes before she decided to go back in bed.  She tried to fall asleep but just couldn't.  It took so long, she was so restless.  I noticed this morning that her bottom molar is through so perhaps it was making it's way up last night?

I wish DH would go sleep in the basement.  I get so stressed knowing he is stressed about being tired for work.  We actually have a spare room but the noise would carry right into it, so it is pointless for him to sleep there.

I hope tonight goes better.  She still has one more molar left in this set.

Giving up... sort of

The other night I tried to put Pooks down without nursing and it was a disaster.  I ended up nursing her but she was still really upset.  I ended up crying because I just felt so discouraged.  After thinking about it I have decided to take a much slower approach and just encourage less nursing.  She is mostly sleeping in the twin bed now so that is good, in the sense that we all seem to sleep a bit better.  Also when she nurses she always pops off at the end before she has fallen asleep.  I have started nursing her while I am on the queen and she is in the twin.  She has access to my boobs but it isn't the most comfortable.  This seems to work because she seems to give up and roll over sooner.  I am hoping that eventually she will start to not bother with nursing so much, and will be fine with just nursing while we read.

Her last 2 molars that are coming in now and really causing her a lot of pain.  Things are rough and I just need to remind myself that soon it will pass just like is has in the past. 

Bedtime Nursing Update

Things are going well on the bedtime nursing front.  Pookie for the most part is going to bed without nursing.  A couple nights ago she had a melt down and nothing I did could calm her down, so I nursed her.  I was sure I had ruined the progress that we made but the next night she went down no problem.  Tonight she was fine too.  She does make me hold her sippy cup for her.  I am hoping she will take over that job eventually if she still needs it.  

I have been more aware of how often she is waking now that she is sleeping in the twin and Daddy and I are together in the queen.  She has to get up onto our mattress which is about an inch higher so that is making me more aware.  The good thing about the height difference is she often just rolls off our mattress back into hers, although sometimes she insists on staying with us, and this morning she snuggled up with Daddy... so cute.

Anyways she is waking 3 times a night, which isn't much compared to some but it is still 3 times!  I am thinking a lot about baby #2 these days and I am thinking about all the things we can do to make life easier whenever he/she arrives.  I am hoping once her next 2 molars come in she will cut the frequency of the waking.  She is sleeping more peacefully now she only has 2, versus 6 teeth coming in. 

Co-Sleeping

One of the decisions I am happiest about is co-sleeping.  We started out with our crib sidecarred to our bed.  That was great for the first 2 months when she was so tiny.  As she got bigger we used the crib less and less, until finally we went to sell our condo and took down the crib and just put her in the bed.  Pookies Dad was mostly sleeping on the couch because Pookie was such a noisy nurser.  When we moved my parents gave us a single bed and we just put that next to our queen.  Since then Pooks and I sleep in the "big bed" and Daddy in the little one.  It has been working great.  I honestly can't imagine having it any other way and I certainly can't imagine breastfeeding at night with her in another room.  This way I barely have to wake up to nurse her.  Eventually I would like her to sleep in the little bed next to us in preparation for a sibling one day.  Right now it is not possible because she is sleeping so poorly due to teething.

It might not be the most beautiful room but it works really well for us.  

Water Play

Pookie's very favourite thing to do next to reading books is "cleaning dishes", which is really just pouring water back and forth from one container to the next.  She now will push the chair in from the other room and get the blue towel we put on the floor when she wants to do.  To be honest I am always a bit disapointed when she wants to do it because it means I just have to stand there supervising (so she doesn't fall).... but it is worth it since she loves it so much.  

She has a rash around her mouth right now.  I noticed she is licking her face so that might have something to do with it.  Her Dad is really worried about it, but it seems to get better whenever I am diligent about putting on some all natural balm.   She is getting 4 teeth in at the moment, and just got a molar.  I wonder if that has something to do with it.