A Few Things

We went to B's parents' home a few weeks ago and I was very nervous about flying with a sixteen-month-old. Turns out it was not too bad. I brought brand new books, new snack food, a few new toys - including a small wind up toy - and random things like stickers and tape. I also bought two Sesame Street DVDs in case of emergency. We only ended up watching about five mintutes of one DVD. Ace was really very good. Considering that we flew during his first real illness - a virus with an ear infection that was diagnosed two days before we left, and that he had a fever of about 103 and was taking Motrin and antibiotics - he did really well. At some point during the flight I noticed that Ace was breaking out in a rash, so after talking to the doctor we added Benadryl to his mix of medications.
Ace survived and got over his illness. He is still taking antibiotics, but I think we are down to our last dose tonight.
I flew back alone with Ace and he was great. He got over tired and wouldn't fall asleep, but then he bumped his head and leaned into me to cry about it and within seconds he was sound asleep. We had an open seat next to us, so I laid him down with his head on my lap. That worked well for a glorious hour or so, until the toddler behind us kicked the seat and knocked down the arm rest, which hit Ace in the head. I was livid. I glared at that two-year-old like a crazy lady. Then I felt bad about it, but my baby was hurt, just a little.
Man, it is hard to travel alone with a toddler! I had the stroller and just two bags, but it required a lot of figuring. I managed to eat and not lose it, but Ace was none too happy about being stuck in his stroller and off of his schedule.
The fact that we can not get a direct flight into B's parents' city is not a good thing, either.
Speaking of not good things, our trip included being yelled at and we may not be going back to B's parents' again. We are going on a family vacation with them in a few weeks, so we will see how that goes. Some things that are wrong but still ok when you don't have kids suddenly become totally wrong and not okay when you have your child there with you.
Another disturbing thing that happened while out of town involved Ace and his love of water. He LOVES it. He had no fear, just wants to get in the water. We really need to get him swimming lessons or water survival lessons. Here is why: we went to the baby pool at B's sister's country club and Ace was in heaven. The pool is a big round pool that is never deeper than 1.5 feet, so he can stand and play and was trilled. Then he tried to walk across the pool. The first time he was successful. The second time he did it he was chasing a ball and when he leaned forward for the ball he lost his balance and fell face first into the water. And then he stayed like that for a while. I thought for sure he would struggle and kick or something, but no, he just laid there and I jumped in and got him. He wasn't even upset about it really. I couldn't stop thinking that what he looked like floating there was probably what poor parents see when they don't realize until too late that their child has fallen in to the water. I had trouble sleeping later that night. I kept flashing on the image of Ace floating there.
Now we are back home and summer is racing by. I have been weaning Ace from the pacifier and that has led to some tearful days. Today being one of them. Instead of napping he cried for one hour. So I went and got him out and now he is asleep. I guess our afternoon plans can wait for another day.

Separation Anxiety?

So I have been working on getting Ace to sleep through the night again and it has been going pretty well. Except that he has developed a habit of waking up around 5 am. Usually he will go back to sleep with the replacement of his pacifier. Other times, he will scream and not stop. This morning he screamed for a half an hour before we decided to do something. B opted first for Motrin, but I really did not think the baby was in pain. I went in and patted Ace's head and he would quiet down and go to sleep, but if he lifted his head and I was leaving, screamed started again. B finally went in to the nursery and patted Ace for a long time and then just laid down on the floor by the crib. B said that Ace picked his head up a few times and looked at him, laughed, and went back to laying down. When B got up and left, Ace complained but went back to sleep. Ace made up for his hour of wakefulness by sleeping an hour later this morning. I was up for almost an hour and a half while all of this was going on and today I am very tired. I know you are just supposed to let them cry it out, but we can't. My stomach was in complete knots the whole time Ace was not settling down.
With weaning and my going back to work coming up, we've got to get this down.

Back Again and How We Got Our Baby to Sleep Through the Night

I fell off the updating wagon for a while there. Ace is now eight months and a lot has happened in his development since July. But it also seems as though not too much has happened and things are still kind of status quo, which is kind of nice.
Let's see what Ace can do now: roll over both ways, sit up unassisted, chew with his one bottom tooth, eat solid foods - both purees and chunks of things, stands pretty well with support, army crawls a bit, can grab things easily and is working on his pincer grasp. I think that's about it.
Oh, wait, the biggest thing: Ace sleeps through the night. At least he did until a week ago when we took a trip to NJ and messed up his sleeping routine a bit. At about five months I realized that he cried whenever he got tired, no matter if he was in his carseat, crib, or in my arms. I did some internet research and read on AskMoxie that some kids just need to let off some steam before falling asleep and will cry. You don't know if you have that kind of kid unless you let him cry a bit. So one day, I did. I let Ace cry for five minutes and after those five minutes he was so close to sleep that all I had to do was put the pacifier in again and he rolled over, grabbed his baby and fell asleep. I was besides myself with glee.
That is the super simplified version of what really happened. I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, The No Cry Sleep Solution, Sleepeasy Solution, The Sleep Lady, and Happiest Baby on the Block. I didn't follow any of them to the letter.
We have had a bedtime routine since three months: bath with dad, pyjamas, last nursing or bottle, books, bed. But he was still not letting us put him down awake. He would scream the moment we put him in the crib. We eased Ace towards falling asleep on his own and staying asleep through the night by following suggestions from The No Cry Sleep Solution. This involved a lot of participation from B. I think it is key to take Mom and the boobs out of the sleep and night time equation. B spent a few nights with the baby in the nursery to get an idea if the baby was really hungry or just waking up and wanting someone with him. The baby would go back to sleep with B comforting him, so we felt confident that it was not hunger and we could wean him off his night feedings and work toward a full night's sleep.
Then we used the night time weaning method from the SleepEasy book and used a modified Ferber/SleepEasy cry it out method. We got to the point where I could put Ace down in his crib, drowsy but awake, without him immediately starting to cry. Then we would leave the room. He would usually start crying and we'd give him five minutes. Then we would go back in and make sure he had his pacifier and his lovey and give him a pat and then leave. B would never let me stretch the time for Ace to cry longer than five minutes. Luckily Ace responded well to this and has been, mostly, sleeping through the night ever since. Occasionally something will happen that will interrupt his sleep schedule and he'll wake up screaming and won't go back down without being fed and maybe even rocked a bit, but it usually only lasts a few days and then he's back to sleeping from 7:30 pm until 7 am. It used to be closer to 7:30 am, but that stopped with daylight savings just recently. Up until just the last week I'd been doing a Dream Feed at 10:30, but I felt that Ace was ready to let that go and I didn't wean him from it, just dropped it and he did not have any reaction to that at all. Just kept sleeping.
Ace sleeping through the night changed my life - or changed it back to being more like it had been before baby. I find that I am a much happier, better mom and wife and person, really, if I am well rested.