Sleeping for Once
Little time and I'm tired, so only a small entry.
Limelet got to meet his first dog recently, a big long-haired Alsatian. I worried that he might be scared by her, but on the contrary, he was wildly excited and wanted to grab her and bite her nice soft ears. Poor patient doggy. He's also seen a few birds as well as a kitty cat walking in the grass near our place.
Once again, he had about three days in which everything was easy and there was little grounging, and most importantly bedtime was quick. That was just after those last two teeth came in.
During those times, he's amazingly carefree and happy; he "talks" to strangers and sings little baby songs for no reason; he eats and plays with no complaints; he laughs a lot more. But then the teeth return, and make him tired, sore, and cranky.
TheLimey points out that Limelet must really be suffering for his mood to be so affected. I hate to think that he's suffering, yet what else could it be called? Sometimes I've given him Motrin when he can't sleep, but I don't want to overdrug him. It's hard to know what's too often or too seldom.
In the daytime I give him teething biscuits (although it's really too soon for those, developmentally), and frozen apple or pear broth cubes in little mesh holders. He also has a favorite pen he likes to chew on, as well as other random objects around the house. Sometimes those things help a little; sometimes they seem to make it worse.
More teeth must be coming in now, because those three "easy" days are gone. He's back to being chewy and groungy and easily frustrated during the day, and battling himself for three or four hours to get to sleep at night (though curiously, never for his naps. Hmmmm....)
One recent night after three hours of trying to sleepify him, we plopped him into the umbrella stroller and wheeled him round and round the kitchen. He was out in five minutes. Too bad it hasn't worked since. Luckily he does still go to sleep in the jogger outside (if it's naptime).
Anyway, he was uncharacteristically awake a lot last night (usually stays asleep once he gets there), so I only got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep and am now pretty shot after tonight's additional bedtime battle.
Nursing has been getting harder for me with all these teeth, and all this teething. He forgets to not bite, and anyway wants to bite everything right now to find some relief. Sometimes he bites out of being sleepy or actually asleep. Even when he's not actually biting, those top teeth are pretty scrapey and pinchy (the bottom ones are covered by his tongue when nursing.) It sure makes it a lot harder for me to relax.
Nevertheless, aside from the usual psychological and health benefits yadda yadda yadda, I still appreciate the extra sleep it (usually) affords. Speaking of which...this really got longer than I meant it to. Guess I ramble when I'm tired.
Limelet got to meet his first dog recently, a big long-haired Alsatian. I worried that he might be scared by her, but on the contrary, he was wildly excited and wanted to grab her and bite her nice soft ears. Poor patient doggy. He's also seen a few birds as well as a kitty cat walking in the grass near our place.
Once again, he had about three days in which everything was easy and there was little grounging, and most importantly bedtime was quick. That was just after those last two teeth came in.
During those times, he's amazingly carefree and happy; he "talks" to strangers and sings little baby songs for no reason; he eats and plays with no complaints; he laughs a lot more. But then the teeth return, and make him tired, sore, and cranky.
TheLimey points out that Limelet must really be suffering for his mood to be so affected. I hate to think that he's suffering, yet what else could it be called? Sometimes I've given him Motrin when he can't sleep, but I don't want to overdrug him. It's hard to know what's too often or too seldom.
In the daytime I give him teething biscuits (although it's really too soon for those, developmentally), and frozen apple or pear broth cubes in little mesh holders. He also has a favorite pen he likes to chew on, as well as other random objects around the house. Sometimes those things help a little; sometimes they seem to make it worse.
More teeth must be coming in now, because those three "easy" days are gone. He's back to being chewy and groungy and easily frustrated during the day, and battling himself for three or four hours to get to sleep at night (though curiously, never for his naps. Hmmmm....)
One recent night after three hours of trying to sleepify him, we plopped him into the umbrella stroller and wheeled him round and round the kitchen. He was out in five minutes. Too bad it hasn't worked since. Luckily he does still go to sleep in the jogger outside (if it's naptime).
Anyway, he was uncharacteristically awake a lot last night (usually stays asleep once he gets there), so I only got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep and am now pretty shot after tonight's additional bedtime battle.
Nursing has been getting harder for me with all these teeth, and all this teething. He forgets to not bite, and anyway wants to bite everything right now to find some relief. Sometimes he bites out of being sleepy or actually asleep. Even when he's not actually biting, those top teeth are pretty scrapey and pinchy (the bottom ones are covered by his tongue when nursing.) It sure makes it a lot harder for me to relax.
Nevertheless, aside from the usual psychological and health benefits yadda yadda yadda, I still appreciate the extra sleep it (usually) affords. Speaking of which...this really got longer than I meant it to. Guess I ramble when I'm tired.
posted by liz at 7:30 PM
1 Comments:
Aww, I love the picture!
I wish you lots of luck in the getting-baby-to-sleep department. I've found that my kids sleep best when their sleep times are regular and they don't skip naps or stay up past bedtime. When they're too tired, it takes them much much longer to get them to fall asleep.
Thanks for letting me put forth some unsolicited advice! :-)
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