The big move: Follow up

As you know, we just moved Keziah to her crib.  We loved having her with us in our room but she needed the space.  I would have loved to keep her with us, but she woke up often (every 2-4 hours) stretching her legs, passing gas (ha!), and just wanting to move around.  I told you about how our first night went, so just thought I'd follow up!

Night 2: I laid her down, again with no tears to be seen.  Great!!  Makes mama feel better about the whole transition.  When I laid her down, she woke up, rolled around for about 45 minutes and went to sleep.  No fussing, no tears (did I say that already?).  She slept for 8 hours straight.  I had to wake her to feed her so that I could get ready for work smoothly (usually I wake her to feed her and put her back to sleep so that I can get ready for work without having to entertain her and then I wake her 30 minutes before we leave so that I can feed her again and get her ready).  Perfect night.

Night 3: Again, I laid her down, no fussing at all.  She rolled around for a bit and went to sleep.  However, she woke up at 12 and then again at 4:30.  When I went in to get her, her poor feet and legs were so cold!  I put her to sleep in a onsie because I am more worried about her overheating.  We had the vent fan running instead of the central air since it was so nice out.  When I fed her (I'm sure I could have cut this feeding, but I didn't/don't have a problem nursing for comfort), I threw some pants on her and shut her vent.  When she woke up at 4:30, I fed her again and because she was cold, I should have brought her in our room ... changing her whole outfit at this point would have made her upset and I was worried of her falling off her changing table since she was so worked up.  Bad, rookie mom moment ...

Night 4/Last night:  I tried rocking her to sleep (well, to put her on the drowsy side) but she kept jerking her body and acting frustrated, so I thought maybe she wanted to just be left alone.  I laid her down, she rolled around (seeing a common theme here?) and she went to sleep.  This time, she slept for 8 hours straight.  Again, I woke up her to feed her since I had work today.  I am curious to see how long she will sleep without waking, but this morning wasn't the best time to try that because my luck, she would have woken up while I was in the shower and I would have had to run to her with dripping hair, cold body, mascara running down my face ... Just better that I woke her! haha!

I think that moving her was a great, big, scary move for me, but she really wanted it!! :)

Keziah and Big Jake

When Keziah was only a few weeks old, I knew I wanted to do something to capture her growth progression.  I searched Pinterest and the cutest/easiest one that I found was photographing the baby in the same chair each month.  I added a little extra and threw in Big Jake, too.  Big Jake is Daddy's old childhood teddy.  Daddy won't let me dress BJ as a girl or change his name.  Oy vey.  I guess a boy will have to do.

Here's what I've got 1-6 months. :)

Okay, maybe I cried while reviewing this post.  I'm too emotional for my own good.  Keziah is going to have a hard time running off and getting married.

The big move

Since day one, I've nursed Keziah to sleep and allowed her to comfort nurse at bed time.  I let her "use" me until she fell asleep and then I rocked her and snuggled her for about 30 minutes after that.  Then I laid her down in her rock and play sleeper, as close to my side of the bed as possible.  That worked for us and I have no regrets doing it that way.  

Last night, we made the big move.  I knew all day that it would be "the night" and just had a sick, unease feeling in my stomach about it.  Her room isn't even finished, after all.  The walls seem bare, the room feels lonely.  I begged my husband for us to go buy her a sound machine with a night light of some sort on it.  I did a little research on which had the best reviews and we found it at Babies R Us.  We moved the rocking chair and ottoman out of our room and into hers.  I put all of her books on her shelf in the closet (just to fill the room!).  When her bed time was drawing near, I felt like throwing up.  I had my husband dress her for bed while I walked in circles around her room, praying for her, for me, (all of course while I was crying) and afte, he found me in her room, sitting in the rocking chair (sobbing).  I was not ready for the move.  At all.  But after seeking advice from other moms, it came to me that the RNP sleeper was not a suitable place for her to be.  She needed to stretch her legs, practice her new skills (rolling over, playing with her feet, etc.) and I was disabling her from doing that.  She was ready, she just didn't know it yet ... I'd never given her the chance to experience something different.  

My husband kissed me and Keziah good night, gently told me "babe, she'll be fine" and closed her door.  I set her sound machine on and began our usual night time routine.  She ate, fell asleep, I burped her, and while I rocked and snuggled her, I was looking up sleep training methods on my phone.  It took but 2 minutes of reading before I confirmed that "crying it out" was not for us.  If I felt as horrible about leaving her alone, I could only imagine how she must have felt.  I did however, come across a "no tears" method. Sounded like something that I might be interested in, so I clicked it and began reading.  While I don't know if I followed it verbatim (because I only skimmed), here's what our night looked like:

After our usual night routine, I laid her in her crib and that was that.  I walked out of her room, left the door cracked and went into our room.  End of story.  Ha, yeah right.  That'd be glorious ... 

An hour later, our dog Charlie made his nosy way into her room and began whining at the side of her crib, waking her up.  She began screaming and crying, so I ran in, scooped her up, and calmed her down.  As soon as she was calm, I laid her down again and rubbed her tummy.  She cried (and not a wahwah way, but a WAAAHWAAAH way), I picked her up again, calmed her, laid her down and rubbed her tummy.  Repeat that about 4 more times.  Then, a miracle happened. When I laid her down the last time, while I rubbed her tummy, she settled in.  She grabbed her blanket, put her hands behind her head, and closed her eyes.  I crept out quietly and watched her for a few minutes on the monitor.  She slept for 4 hours.  4 hours!  I heard her stirring on the monitor at about 3:45, so I went in, fed her, and laid her back down.  No arguing, no fussing.  She went right to sleep.  This time, slept for 5 hours! 

Here's my take on it all.  I don't have a problem with nursing her until she falls asleep.  I don't have a problem  with her using me as a pacifier ... that's what I'm here to do.  Comfort her!  With me picking her up immediately when she cries, I was showing her that Mama's here; I'll comfort her and wanted to show her that, but also wanted to make a point in showing that when she lays down, it's time for sleep.  She knows how to soothe herself to sleep, I've watched her time and time before, so that's not the issue.  She didn't need help getting to sleep, she wanted to know that I was there.  Last night, I saw her wake up for about 3 minutes, move around and fall back asleep on her own.  She knows how to do it.  She did it.  We did it. Now, I'm only curious to see how tonight is going to go.  Gulp.

family photos and Keziah turning 6 months!

These photos almost didn't happen because sunlight wasn't our friend.  Neither was time.  And when you're married to my Husband, time is never on our side.  But, I'm glad we hurried, beat the sun going down and popped these out!  I think they turned out mighty good for us doing them ourselves . . . and my Husband isn't too horrible, if I do say so myself!  

When I was playing with Keziah this morning, I found that her second tooth cut through; I didn't even know there was another on it's way!  That might explain why she looks so happy in all of these photos.  Poor muffin.  Well, here's to my baby girl turning 6 months!!  Time, slow down, please!  I can't stand it!

Winner, winner, steak dinner

Here is Keziah's first, full "self serve" dinner.  I made steak, fresh green beans, and crash hot potatoes.  I set aside two chunks of steak, about 4 green beans, and 2 potatoes, all without salt, but they had other seasonings (garlic, pepper, rosemary, parsley). She enjoyed this meal more than any other so far!  

 I love this picture!  She kept trying to shovel more and more in without figuring out how to handle what she already had.  

 To get her used to a sippy cup, I put a little bit of filtered water in there for her to sip on.  Daddy helped her a little, but she was starting to get a hang of it!

why baby led weaning works for us

When I was pregnant, I was offered the flu vaccine since it was going around like crazy.  When the nurse gave me the questionnaire asking if I had been sick within the last 2 weeks, I answered yes, so I was unable to get the vaccine.  Long story short, I began researching to decide if I was going to go back and get it when I was "allowed."  This snowballed into a big, huge, scary eye-opening experience and made me begin questioning vaccines for my unborn baby.  After lots of research and discussing with my Husband, I did make my own, personal decision regarding vaccines (we follow a variation of Dr. Sears' selective delayed vaccination schedule).  Anyway, this post wasn't intended for discussing vaccines ... 

My baby is going to be 6 months old on Sunday, which means one thing ... food!

When Keziah was about 4-4.5 months old, I started researching on how and when to introduce foods.  That was a whole new realm, something scary that I had no clue how to go about!  I was asking a group on breastfeeding moms on Facebook about introducing foods and they mentioned Baby Led Weaning.  I had never heard of it so they referred me to the BLW group on Facebook to help answer any of my questions.  I read through the description of the method with open eyes, showed the information to Josh, we discussed it, I borrowed the BLW book from the library, read it, and that's what we decided was best for our family.  When Keziah had her 5-month appointment, the doctor began giving us tips on introducing foods to her (watch for readiness signs, give veggies first, no fruits right away, etc.) and that's when I mentioned BLW.  Now, we go to a holistic doctor; one that encourages breastfeeding, vaccines/delayed vaccines, etc., but he never heard of BLW and boy did I get probed with a million questions!  When I left, I called Josh crying because I was so upset with him.  I felt like he talked down to me because a) I'm a younger mom; b) "it's a choking hazard, no?"  

If you've never heard of Baby Led Weaning (also referred to as Baby Led Solids), it's as simple as skipping purees and allowing your baby to eat what you eat ... following their lead, their readiness.  Of course there are several precautionary details to pay attention to before starting (making sure they can sit unassisted, their tongue thrust reflex is gone, they actually show interest in eating).  Yup, if you're eating steak, potatoes, and green beans for dinner (like we are tonight!), so is baby!  You want to keep salt limited because their kidneys aren't developed enough to do the job for them.  Everything else is pretty much self-explanatory! The most-asked question we get when we discuss with friends and family is, "can't they choke?"  The answer is yes.  Keziah has also choked while nursing!  I've had to sit that girl up so fast and while I'm freaking out, she starts smiling (ha!).  Babies actually have a higher chance of choking on purees since they are slurping the food up and the gag relfex isn't kicking in to help.  With whole solids, when something moves too far in the back of her mouth, she will gag and her tongue will push her food forward, to a place that she's more comfortable with.  Gagging is a good thing ... mama needs to resist freaking out! haha 

The BLW method is great because you are giving your baby the chance to learn and explore!  They learn different textures of foods (slimy, soft, hard, bumpy, etc.) as well as weight, table manners (watching mom and dad converse, taking turns), and what she likes and doesn't like on her own timing.  You are also allowing her to control her own hunger signs.  If you're giving baby spoonfuls of food and "just this last bite (while making train or plane noises)," you're at a risk of overriding their body's "I'm full," or "I don't like this" signals while also making your baby uncomfortable with the eating experience. 

I've heard it said several times that "food before one is just for fun" so I have no worries that she is getting all of the nutrients her body needs.  With the sucking of different foods, she is actually getting nutrients from that food (fruits, veggies, meats!) ... and if you have doubts, check the diaper LOL I have found some pieces of carrots, so I know she's getting something.  Babies also show a desire for different things their body needs; for example, if she's going through a growth spurt, she'll opt for the carbs.  If she needs iron, she'll suck the piece of meat, etc.  

Anyway, in my opinion, BLW makes most sense for my family.  I'll definitely keep you posted on pictures and scary moments (because let's face it, it's bound to happen either way!).  

All of this to say, challenge the norm.  Just because society, our doctors, friends, family tell us what's best, research and learn what you think is best.  This isn't to say that people who do things the traditional way are wrong, I'm only saying that we should do our own research. :)