A lady came up to me in a restaurant recently, and asked me how my baby was. I told her he was a good baby, and that he was spoiling me. She replied saying, "My babies always made a liar out of me. I would tell someone they were angels, and the next minute they would be screaming. Or I would say that they were nursing well, and the next minute they would refuse to eat". Well, wouldn't you know - James made a liar out of me!
The last week has been tough. James has been fussy, and unhappy. He seems to be slightly congested, so maybe he has a cold. In any case, he wants to nurse constantly, so I'm worried that he's not getting enough. He was sleeping well at night, and last night he was up every 2 hours, wanting to eat. Maybe it's a growth spurt - who knows?! All I know is that I'm tired, and my poor little guy isn't very happy. I just want my little content bundle of joy back. Any words of wisdom?
9 comments :
I'd say growth spurt. I remember going through that with both kids -- they were great night sleepers, but there'd be a week every couple of months where they'd be up. It was frustrating and I'd panic and worry that they were no longer going to sleep through the night, but after a bit, they were back to it. Take heart! Probably next week will be better (notice I said, "probably"). :)
I'd also guess that he's in a growth spurt. He's probably doing all that nursing on purpose either to build up your milk supply or fight off his cold. Both my girls went through stretches of that and I think it's normal but not fun.
Good advice, I would say the same. I always found Rhys did the same thing, just when I told someone that he is a great baby, we'd go through one of those times of frustration. It'll get back to normal soon. A friend once told me that kids are like puzzles, just when you get one piece figured out there is a new one to put in. I found it an interesting comment and so true!
My guess is that if he's fussy and has a little cold he may be nursing as a pacifier. My oldest daughter did this when she was a baby. She wouldn't really suck the same way she would when eating, but she'd nurse and fall asleep while nursing... and if I moved her, she'd often wake up and be angry about it. People warned me against allowing her to do this, but it didn't cause us any trouble... and if I'm not here for nurturing... what am I here for?
Yea Im thinking growth spurt. Caleb hit one around 10 wks. People dont recommend what I did with Caleb... but when Caleb was 10 weeks he was waking every 2-3 hrs to eat. This was odd for him because like youve read on my blog he slept 6-8 hr stretches at a week old! He was a champ sleeper... so what I figured was his food wasnt lasting him enough at night.. so I mixed in a half teaspoon of baby single grain rice cereal into his last bottle... ::zippo!:: he was back to normal. Seriously it fixed him that easily... and he never once had any problems with the cereal in that one bottle. Never. No allergies... nothing. But I hear that isnt recommended by many people for some reason.. :-) My hubby was on rice cereal at 3 days old. Not even kidding. I'm tempted to put Taite on it at night because it does work. If it didnt hurt my 1st I dont see why it hurt my 2nd. I'm holding off though.. probably wont do it until he is atleast 10 weeks like Caleb was.
It passes fairly quickly though regardless. If he is conjested though... try elevating his crib mattress to help him breath... and buy a COOL mist humidifier.. it works wonders!!
Evan was fussy for a few days last week and had a mild fever...it never got above 99.8. He had no other systems just the fever and cranky. This went on for 3 days and left as quickly as it started. I also have had days with him that it seems like he is always hungry and other days where he sleeps allll day long. There is so much growing going on in their little bodies. Whenever we have a difficult day I just blame it on growing pains.
Also, I had an interesting experience at the grocery store last week... Evan is usually very content so I will often take him with me to the store. Well one day last week I was at the checkout counter and Evan started crying and crying and wouldn't stop. Every single person with hearing distance of him was staring at me and giving me the nastiest looks. One older lady even said "Don't we have a real token mother here...she just lets her baby cry" Argh! I was so frustrated. I just want to get out of there as quick as I could because I knew as soon the car started moving he would fall asleep. I'm sure I am guilt of it to but I couldn't believe all the staring and quaking.
Oh and feel free to check out our blog... my husbands has made be a contributer to it so I often post pictures of Evan and how things are going.
Daniel came home from the hospital with no complaints. He wasn't fussy or winey, he was happy and easy going. I was so excited to have a "good" baby. People kept saying, aw.....you must be tired, having a new baby is hard work.... and I was like, what? Daniel is perfect! He's not hard work, he's happy all the time! And wouldn't you know it....just under the two month mark, he turned into this fussy baby overnight, and it seemed to last forever! Although it only lasted a few days, one week tops. I was like noooooooooo!!! I had a perfect baby! Where did he go??? Anyways, the encouraging thing, is that he came back, and was back to his old normal content happy and easy going self. It could've been a growth spurt, or just the little guy excersizing his rights to be heard, but either way, it passed, and I'm sure very soon this little phase will pass for James as well.
Try to get any extra sleep where you can, there's nothing worse than being over-tired in a stressful situation.
And I agree with what Ranya said about the puzzle. My daughter is six and she still keeps me on my toes.
I'd say growth spurt...it looks like most have said that! He's at the right age to be goin' through it, so don't be worried. Soon enough he'll be back to normal, you'll get your sleep, and all will be well. I just noticed drea's comment about putting in cereal into the bottle. My mom also did that with me when I was new because she had to go back to work when I was only a few months old. It didn't hurt me, and I know some people wouldn't suggest it, but hey sleep is important right? hehe
Sounds frustrating! I hope it's just a phase and that he'll be back to his happy little self shortly!!
I remember Micah going through so many different little phases - at one point when I thought breastfeeding was well-established he suddenly stopped latching on properly and I felt like I had to re-train him. It was weird. Babies can be so unpredictable :)
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