Two happy but tired parents wondering how their little Hannah managed to stay awake until 4 am (along with her parents, of course), yet decided to sleep the next day when we tried to take this photo. Sigh. Despite being a rather colicky baby (hence she wakes up frequently and cries until she has passed wind!), we love her to bits. She is a gorgeous gift from God. So far, Cindy and I are managing to keep each other sane but we would appreciate your prayers that God would sustain us through these initial days and nights.A request to all parents reading this: Please post any comments on what to do with a baby that breastfeeds for about five minutes, then falls asleep but starts crying the minute we try to put her down to sleep. This is all so new... and scary... and fun.
14 comments:
get yourself a sling (a tight one)and dont bother putting her down. hold her tight all you can kepps her calm quitte and happy and you can get on or even sleep with her like this if you need to. Do what your instinct says is best and dont listen to too many people (including me). tummy massage or baths can help if realy bad but i found holding best.
what is 3.3 kilos in lbs and oz?
WOW!!! Congratulations Chris and Cindy!!!
God Bless!!! She looks lovely!!
My dear C & C, in the course of deleting your double post, you unwittingly deleted my comments (or was it so long-winded that you decided to axe it?)
Anyway, here it is again.
I've tried 3 types of method for my 3 girls...and I find the one which is as hands-off as possible brings more sanity and peace to the household. So I beg to differ with the above suggestion to sling the baby to you at all times.
It is ok if you're a full-time mom or if the baby is still small/light but it gets to be a such a burden as time goes on. If you have spoken to Meng Chai and Sandra and seen their method with Stephen, you'd see how wonderful it all works out by keeping to a schedule and train the baby from NOW, especially for meal-times and sleep. After a nice burp, put her down on her tummy. Leave her alone, even if she cries her little lungs out. Over time (as fast as a few days) she'll know what is expected of her. For bad colic, rub and warm a few drops of the black wind tonic in your palms and place them for a few seconds on baby's tummy. Don't rub directly on her skin as her skin is too delicate. Then place her tummy down to sleep. Don't worry about the baby feeling lost or unloved during such times, because there are plenty of opportunity to bond...meal-times, play-times.
Your little angel knows how to twist you round her little finger from day 1. If possible, she would want you to be with her at all times, but this wouldn't teach her to be independent or be comfortable with herself. And, most importantly, you wouldn't have any time for yourself or your husband.
Here's wishing you nerves of steel and a quick recovery!
Hhmmm....so many ideas, although my 1st had colic (breastfed for 2 weeks only!), the other two boys did wonderfully, I guess for me, I bonded with boys by giving it, not that its bad, but very tiring on me, daddy comes back from work and helps out but found out that breastfed babies are constantly with mum and wants only her and no one else....lol, made him jealous not to be able to share more time even when he could.
Overall, when the milk arrives, everything should fall in place and should be smooth sailing from now on, there is no particular method to follow, each child is different, therefor, follow your parental instinct and do what you think suits you best.
God bless and I'm in love already...lol.
Ops...error in spelling, I gave in totally to boys when it came to breastfeeding, that was what I meant and not "it" but "in"...
I think she's still hungry. Lie and your side and continue to breastfeed her, she will still suck whilst she's asleep + I think she misses the warmth of your body (which is pretty much constant when she was in the womb). Or you could just ask my wife...
And your idea of fun is certainly different to mine!
the more you are close to her holding feeding etc the faster your milk will come in, the sooner she will be satisfied. All she needs to know at the mo is that you are ther for her and she is secure.....and dont listen to too much advice too seriously, you will find your own way that works for yor family, it is only day 3/4.
Wow, quite a lot of response to this one. Thanks a lot for taking the time to share your wisdom & experience.
By the way, Cindy's Mum fed us with papaya soup the other day, 'cos it is supposed to increase milk supply. Since he enjoyed the soup so much, Chris wonders if he can now step in to cover night-duty!
This is mummy speaking for the first time!!
It's early days yet, but Chris seems to have the upper hand calming Hannah at the moment. He's got that bit of the Father-Daughter relationship going already! So, despite lacking a certain part of the anatomy, he's pretty useful with our "night duties".
By the way, we are trying out Gina Ford's routines (the book was last year's Christmas gift!), so we are familiar with what TP was trying to say. But it does take a lot of courage to let such a cute thing cry till her voice goes husky. We've compromised many times, but hope we eventually get it 'right'.
Dear Chris and Cindy
Conglratulations on the birth of Hannah - we are so pleased for you especially after everything that you have been through in the past few months. God is faithful! We have a 16 month old boy - Harvey and life has changed beyond measure since he was born. He is wonderful, life is wonderful but it has been really tough coming to terms with exhaustion and taking another person into account all the time! I really agree with what ruby and coralie said - listen to your instincts. Your baby is telling you what she needs. The late nights will end eventually but for the time being she needs you there!!! Please ignore everything Gina Ford says until the baby is around two/three months old!!! Then her routines become useful. For the time being your baby is coming to terms with being in the world. She has never been here, met you, she doesn't know how to breast feed properly. All that will come with time. At the moment - feed her when she tells you. Crying is her only means of communicating with you and when you respond to her crying you are letting her know that you are there and that you hear her. You will build her confidence and trust in you. I don't agree with Gina in letting newborns cry....... (later yes but not now!) You are wonderful parents already and God has entrusted you with a beautiful new life. He will show you how best to respond and give you the strength when you have no more energy left. He is with you.
i see i have joined the Q of advisors. Well, i meant to check your blog earlier but somehow accidentally deleted my avg and as a result go distracted with the downloading stuff... lame excuse, really.
Anyways, the initial days are horrendously tough. What I did with both the feisty junior Yeungs are to gently nudge them awake every time they fall asleep after few mins of feed so that they won't keep waking up due to hunger.
but sometimes i can try and try and the baby refuses to get up. then I just sigh, pray and fall asleep with the baby still feeding while lying on my side.
apparently works with dr karen as well! :) Happy trying - you'll find what works for you in no time.
And as much as I would like to snigger and say - now you know what i went thru, I've gotta go get some shut eye after an entire day of trying to detach my pet leech named Jocelyn Yeung from my calves...
sheesh - really do not relish the flight tomorrow...
Thanks everyone for your helpful comments and suggestions. Falling asleep after 5 minutes doesn't seem to be problem anymore. Now we just wish she would sleep more at night!
Anyway, it's time to post some more pictures, and we'll start another "forum" later...
Hi Cindy and Chris
Congratulations!!!! She looks gorgeous and it sounds like all went really well in the end. Our advice for what its worth is get a feeding cushion and place her in it go get to sleep. Joel seemed to welcome the snugness of being cocooned in it in the early days (first month or so)and went to sleep more easily. The sooner you put them down to get to sleep on their own the better for establishing a routine in the long-term. Hard as first time parents but it pays off to allow them to cry initially. Joel went 12 hours through the night from 8 weeks onwards. Daytime sleep pattern was another matter! Hope the sleep is increasing for you both. Once you get past the first month we seem to remember things drastically improved. Keep up the hard work. God bless.
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