First-Cam has discovered his frank and beans. He starting grabbing them this week in the bath and during diaper changes.....is that normal? At first of course I was worried that he was having pain or something, but now I am thinking it is just something for him to grab?? Of course it doesn't help that Jocelyn screams "MOM HE'S GRABBING HIS WIENER!!! Like it is the most exciting thing she has ever seen...
Second. I am in desperate need of sleep training advice for Cam. He only sleeps in 3/4 hour spurts at night and is up at 5:45 every day. He just won't sleep long. Does anyone have any book suggestions? CIO really isn't an option because his room is across the hall from Jocelyn's and you can hear him screaming.
Re: Need sleep help and also moms of boys come in:
Grabbing his stuff is normal. DS#1 does the same. One of my nephews when he was around 5-6 would grab his crotch every time he got excited (LOL) so I think it's just a boy thing...a bit odd if you're not used to it, but according to all my SILs that have boys, all of theirs did it too.
No idea on the sleep thing if you're not doing CIO...that's what we did with DS#1 and will do with #2 when we get there. GL! Hope you find something that works well for you all.
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Ok, this is funny
Yeah, they notice them when they are naked. No biggie, its normal.
Good luck with sleeping. I've got nothing for that one.
Sigh...I didn't expect it to start this early. He does get all happy when he finds it. Good thing is he so cute..it makes this stuff tolerable.
I did remember something I did from The Baby Whisperer, it was starting to help before we got off track. I emailed details because it was long.
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I have read both Baby Whisperer and Babywise and I use probably a combo of both. L's naps were all over the place until she reached a little after 4 months. It was driving me nuts b/c I really like predictability, but I know that's normal with a baby that age but it didn't make it any easier.
She's 5 months now and *pretty* predictable in her napping and *normally* sleeps 10-12 hours a night and gets 1 morning and 1 afternoon nap and usually eats 7 times.
Wow. 7 times?? I have the baby from hell, I hate to say that but life has been really difficult and unpredictable. He refuses to eat 50% of the time (and yes we have seen a doctor numerous times for this, changed formulas, medicine, etc). So he pretty much snacks during the day, he may have 5 or so bottles if that.
He takes on average 4 naps a day and he has to nap around every 2 hours or all hell breaks loose. Jocelyn was like that too, she was on 4 naps a day until almost 1 year old. We have a little bit of a schedule. He wakes up at 5:45am, takes a short morning nap, eats a little, takes a mid morning nap. Eats, takes a long afternoon nap, and then a later afternoon nap. He goes to bed around 8ish (depending on when his last nap was). He sleeps from around 8-2am, has a bottle and then goes back to sleep until 5:45am. I have no problems putting him to sleep, it's just the waking up in the night and at 5:45am wake up I'd like to stop. We have a sound machine and room darkening curtains. Jocelyn didn't STTN until 7 months, so we'll see.
Yes, 7 times per day. That's what she's been doing since around 3 months, I think? I don't really like for her to snack. I know some would vehemently disagree with me on this, but I try to stick with full feedings. Both my girls love/loved their bottles (I currently EP) so getting them to eat hasn't been problem (there are always exceptions though).
I would love for him to eat 7x a day and have a full feeding. Each feeding is a struggle. Jocelyn was not like that at all. She ate 8oz 4-5 times a day on schedule. Ugg. So stressful.
Honestly, I think you might need to try and put him on a more rigid schedule. Seems as if he may be overly tired or not tired enough (sometimes its hard to tell which!) when you put him down at night. Maybe try getting him to nap in his bed more might help. I realize you have to do things with J too but Cam is the infant and needs a bit more attention right now. I feel like if you could just get him on a better schedule things might be easier for you. Though I do think he is doing great for 5 months + if he is sleeping from 8 till 2am and only getting up once. I don't think 5:45 is that horrible to tell you the truth. D3 gets up at 6:30 every day and always has. It's early, but it's life. If you truly can't handle 5:45 then you might want to try CIO. I know you said that wasn't an option because of J, but maybe trying making it a special event for J and letting her sleep somewhere else for a couple nights. Then you can let Cam CIO and J can feel special too.
I hate to hear you say you have the baby from hell, that makes me sad! He's so sweet.
Thanks for the advice-I just ordered the no cry sleep solution, so we'll see. It is hard to stick to a routine when I have preschool pick up and drop off 4x a week plus other various appointments. I am sure eventually it will work out.
LLG-it makes me sad to say I have the baby from hell too, but if you can imagine almost 6months of crying EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. it gets to you . Sigh... We have his 6 month check coming up so maybe I'll get some more help.
D didn't start sleeping through the night until 6 months after I weaned and we CIO. I also read the book Babywise and thought it was great. And when I say "STTN" I mean 7-8 hours. His bedtime was 9pm and he'd wake up around 4-6am for a feeding and fall back asleep until 9sih. Now he sleeps completely through the night 11hrs from 9p-8a. If you're waking up to feed him, you need to cut out the feeding and eventually he'll realize it's not worth waking up and sleep through it. Definitely start trying to have him on more of a schedule during the day. I feel like this helped us the most. D was on the boob all of the time, wouldn't nap in his crib and I felt like a prisoner. I finally bit the bullet and put him down at specific times in the crib CIO'd during the day as well and I finally got some relief. You have to listen to his cues, but also be looking at the clock too. Honestly, nap time still rules our life, but I've learned to adjust my life around his schedule. Play dates, shopping trips, etc. do NOT happen at nap time. If D doesn't nap well/skips a nap, he ends up having night terrors because he's so over tired. We're still doing two naps at 15 months. I know you have to juggle with J but I think focusing on Cam's sleeping problems should take priority right now like PP said. When Cam's napping well, you'll have more time to spend with her 1:1 and it will be a positive and beneficial thing for everyone.
P.S. D also loves touching himself during diaper changes. It's totally normal.
Good luck!