Mom's Corner - June edition

It's been 5 months since I've been a mom. Some may be reading this rolling their eyes because I'm an amateur to them. I agree, but I believe that I have learned a lot in this short time as well. I was talking to a friend a couple weeks ago and she was telling me that being a new mom has taught her a lot about herself. You realize your capabilities; how much you can handle and juggle. It has been a great experience. Trying at times, but great! I am learning how to juggle working from home with taking care of a young infant. I have learned how to type with one hand while propping a nursing baby with the other. I have learned more about a poopy diaper than I ever wanted to know (including how far up the back it can travel when the main source of food is breastmilk. The doctor did say it was a natural laxative, but my goodness!!! BTW - if you look back at the 'Trip to the D' post, you may notice that the pictures with the two girls are at the same place, but Jared has two different outfits on. Hmmm, I wonder why!!! Mom's-to-be: TAKE EXTRA CLOTHES) And many more things I did not know before I was a mom.

Anyway, the month of June was dedicated to getting Jared to sleep through the night. I can gladly say that we are about 95% there. There have been a couple days in the past week or so that he woke up for one reason or another. How did I do it, you may ask. Well, I created a plan that I thought was best for Jared, and me. At his 4 month check-up, Jared's pediatrician told me that babies should be going to sleep by themselves by 6 months. Well at that point, and still to this day, I rocked Jared to sleep. He told me I had a little time to get there, so when I'm ready to put him in his crib with his eyes open and not to pick him up till morning. He said it should take 3 days until he is used to it (by "used to it" he means not screaming at the top of his lungs). "What about feeding him," I asked. His reply was for me not to worry about Jared wasting away by not eating at night. So, I took his plan and modified it. Instead of 3 days, I extended it to 4 weeks (which has now become 5 because I have not let go of the rocking yet). I did not want to just take everything away all at once. Here's what I did:

Step 1: minimize night time feeding - Jared was just getting up once, but was nursing on both sides most of the time, so I reduced it to just one side for about a week. He was not happy with it at first, but adjusted very quickly. I figured this would get him ready for not eating at all, which is why his body was programmed to wake up anyway.
Step 2: eliminate night time feeding - Jared surprisingly adjusted to this quickly as well. After 2 days of him leaning over to his "meal ticket" when I picked him up, he got used to not eating and would fall right back to sleep. One night he didn't wake up until 7:00 the next morning. I felt good about my plan, and continued to the next step.
Step 3: stop picking Jared up when he wakes up at night - this step was a little more difficult. Although he did not wake up every night, when he did, he expected to be picked up. I would go in to comfort him by rubbing his tummy or head, but sometimes that just made him even more upset. There was one particular night that I just had to pick him up because he cried himself to the point of choking. I picked him up to make sure nothing was wrong, and of course he stopped. Jamal was awakened at this point and took him. Jared then looked back at me out the corner of his eye and gave me a look that penetrated my soul. I made sure when he woke up the next morning I was the first one in his room with a smile on my face to see if he was still mad at me. He gave me a smile in return!
Step 4: no more rocking - as I said before, I have not yet stopped this. That last cry turned me off. I'm ok with continuing to rock him, but I know that stopping is best for the long run. He is definitely going to cry if I put him in the crib before he is sleep, so I just have to recharge myself and be prepared for looks out the corner of the eye. I will keep you posted.