A friend had wisely recommended Suzy Giordano's Twelve Hours' Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old, a handy and oh-so-rational guide to getting your wee ones to sleep all the way through the night and then some. Old Suze claims to have a 100% success rate as a "baby coach", so I figured I'd give it a whirl. So far we've managed to get her on a regular feeding schedule wherein she takes in as much milk as possible every four hours. It's a challenge to stretch the space between her feedings, but this was Day 3, and it's getting much easier. The idea is to get them to eat more filling meals, get into a rhythm, and adapt to the family's schedule, rather than the family adapting to hers. Good sense. The past two nights have been pretty pleasant, too; she's gotten up once each night in the wee hours to feed and have her diaper changed, but no nonsense otherwise.
Our excitement this week came not only from a great pediatrician visit, but from our revelation of flannel wipes and the wipe solution we get to make. We just got wise and started using reuseable cloth wipes; if we're using cloth diapers, why in the world use wipes that we have to throw away? These things are brilliant, but even better is the solution we get to concoct. The first recipe that Rob used required far too much soap (he used Dr. Bronner's rose-scented - wonderful to smell, but left so much soapy residue that she developed an awful rash that's just about cleared). The next time around we got more creative, using a base of chamomile tea. Actually, I will happily share our recipe. We call it Buggy's House Blend (patent pending)...
Buggy's House Blend
3 cups of freshly brewed chamomile tea
1/8 cup olive oil
4 drops tea tree oil
8 drops lavender oil
1 tablespoon baby shampoo (we use Burt's Bees)
Shake well and pour over stacked wipes and keep in covered container, or use in a spray bottle for the dry method.
This stuff smells good enough to drink, though we haven't, and probably won't.
Buggy's now feigning sleep while lounging on her play mat. She appears to be sleeping but every now and then her crescent moon-shaped eyes will peek open and look around. It was another busy day for her filled with bouncing to the Wee Sing songs that Rob put on his computer (he found a set of three books and cds on eBay: Wee Sing Silly Songs, Wee Sing Folk, and Wee Sing Sing-Alongs. Good stuff). She's feigning no more...Buggy is out like a trout.
i'll have to try out that sleep guide. i'm so set on getting the next one into a better sleep routine earlier. the kids have been sleeping late as of late- going down between 8:30 and 9 and waking up between 8 and 8:30.
ReplyDeletekeep us posted on how the training goes.