Benjamin is 6 weeks old today. I was just loading up the basket by my bed with more burp clothes and I noticed a little newborn hat in the bottom of the basket. A twinge of sadness went through my heart as I realized, wow, he is already beyond that stage. But that stage lasts for such a very short time! It is like nanoseconds (if that is a word :). Because it is SO hard and you are SO busy, it just flies by.
Little guy is already outgrowing his 0-3 month clothes, is smiling and is just getting so big! I gotta run upstairs right now and pat him because he is crying...
Okay, I'm back. Two times today I was able to lay Benjamin down awake but quite sleepy and he put himself to sleep without crying. I don't mind letting him cry a minute or two if I know it is an "I'm sleepy cry" but I am not a fan of letting him "cry himself to sleep". It is cool how a mom gets to know her baby and their different cries. I can tell if he has a burp (he cries a frustrated sounding cry and strains his back and points his toes), or if he is hungry (This is loud and angry with a really wide open mouth) or if he is tired (this has a lower tone to it and he will just kind of fuss on and off with his eyes half-closed). He doesn't really cry for anything else.
Here is how our day goes...
Morning starts around 6 or 7 am with him in bed with me. I nurse him on and off until about 8am then I get up. He gets his diaper changed and burps and then between 8 and 9 I give him a full 45 minute feeding to ease my nighttime engorgement. Then I lay him down in his little bed that we have downstairs (it is a bassinet on wheels so I can roll it wherever I am, in the kitchen or wherever). He may happily lay in there for 10 or 15 minutes and then get a little fussy at which time he usually has a burp, so I pick him up and burp him. I may then hold him for a while until I can tell he is tired. I might rock him to sleep or if I need to, I'll put him down awake and let him put himself to sleep as long as he'll do it without a lot of crying.
His basic schedule is eating at 9, 11:30, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00 and 9:30. This varies a bit every day. Sometimes he sleeps longer or wakes up earlier wanting to eat. While I'm feeding him on a schedule, it isn't a strict schedule at all. It is kind of just what he started doing and I'm going with it! So he basically eats for 30-45 minutes, then stays awake for 30-45 minutes and then naps for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
After his last feeding around 9:30 or 10:00, I usually nurse him for about an hour for the last feeding, and then put him down about 10:30 or 11:00. Then he would wake up around 1:30 or 2:00. It dawned on me to pray for him when I put him to bed, just like I pray for my other boys at bedtime! The last 3 nights that I've prayed over him when I put him down, he slept until 3:00 the first night and then 3:30 the last 2 nights!
Previously, I would get up and feed him the first time he woke at night, so I'd be up from say 2:00 until 3:00 am. For whatever reason, that night time feeding would take an hour including a diaper change. The last few nights instead of getting up with him, I just put him in bed with me, I don't even change his diaper if it doesn't feel really wet, and I fall right back asleep until he wakes me again around 5 in the morning, at which time again I just latch him back on and go back to sleep. Then he wakes up again around 6 and continues to wake up every 30 minutes or so, squirmy, because typically he has a burp. He gets a burp stuck because I don't sit up and burp him! I feel bad for him, and usually if he keeps squirming and fussing and won't be content to nurse, I'll finally sit up and burp the poor child! :)
I'm mostly recording all this just to have it to remember for next time! I just literally forgot everything from my other babies and I would love to have this to read for next baby!
Well, it is 8:30pm and he is nursing still and I'm typing with one hand so goodbye for now!
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