Time…
Well the cleaning is done, two loads of washing are out and the baby is fed and now napping and I am enjoying an ice coffee. He slept until 8am so has only gone down for a nap in the last 10 minutes (11am) and will hopefully sleep for at least 90 minutes. That said, his morning nap yesterday was for 2hrs10 minutes so I guess he must have been tired.
We hit a bit of sleep regression recently- it used to be that Noah would go to sleep about 7:30pm (after bath and feed) and wake up only once overnight and sleep until about 7:30am. Lately though he has been up a couple of times a night and feeding twice usually. Some night she wakes up a lot but I still only feed him twice usually. Kind of weird that it has coincided with the introduction of solids though because aren`t they supposed to sleep better after solids? I guess his naps are a lot better than before though. Last night he woke up once at 10pm but I just moved him back into the middle of his cot and he went back to sleep (he rolled over and got his legs stuck in the cot bars which woke him up) and then he woke up at 1:30am for a feed and again at 5:30am and then back down til 8am. I guess it is not bad though.
It is so light now at 5:30am though- when he woke up I got up to get him out of bed thinking it was like 7am or 8am but it was only 5:30 so I fed him and put him back to bed.
There has been discussion recently about me having a night out by myself with Cat sometime in the near future. Noah will still not take a bottle (just screams and screams and screams til he falls asleep starving) but I haven`t tried for about a week. He will take water from a sippy cup though but it used to be that if I put milk in there he wouldn`t drink it. I should probably try that again though. I am thinking I might wait until September though when it is her birthday and James` birthday (and when Noah will be on a lot more solids and hopefully taking a bottle). They usually celebrate together and have a big bash so it would be a fun night out but Shun would miss out if he was watching Noah…
The thing is even if Noah took a bottle I am not sure I could leave him with Shun to do the dinner, bath, feed, bed routine…He helps out when he is around on the weekends but he can`t do it all by himself the way I do it during the week. I think I would come home and it would look like a bomb had hit the house actually. I should maybe give him more credit, but I don`t know. During the day he can watch Noah for a couple of hours no problem- can play with him, change him and get him to nap no problem but it is the night routine that I think he needs help with. Perhaps I should let him do it all himself one night to see (I think I would actually have to leave the apartment though)…
Everything for the end of year trip back to Australia is booked now. Well all flights anyway. Noah and I leave November 10th and come back January 3rd so we will be home for almost 2 months. Shun will join us for 10 days from December 23rd til the 3rd but most of that time we will be spending up the North Coast in a unit. Christmas will be in Brisbane though. I have tickets booked for Melbourne for Gen & Alice`s wedding (which is Nov 12th) and my mum has already requested the 11th and 12th off from work so she is going to join me in Melbourne and watch Noah for me while I go to the wedding. We spend three nights in Melbourne then back up to Brisbane. I haven`t booked a hotel for Melbourne yet though- any suggestions? I looked online but I think I will wait a month or two for when the cheaper deals come out on wotif.com and quickbeds.com.
Noah is enjoying his solid foods- well playing with them at least.
He also doesn`t mind munching on his own feet…
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It could just be a growth spurt and the fact that he is more mobile during the day that at night even though he used to sleep during the night he is getting more hungry because he is using more energy during the day.
That or teething.
At least thats my theory as Misora hasn`t slept more than 5 hours since she started her first tooth. I really miss those from 12-8am sleeps, now she will go down by 10/1030 but is usually up by three and feeds several times before we are all up by 8/830.
Sleepp… arrgh don’t we just stress about it so much! and rightly so because it’s important for both parents and kids to get a good night’s sleep. My little sproglette is now 21 months old, so almost 2, and in the past week she’s woken up at around midnight and been awake for HOURS. I need to revisit my techniques and stick with them, the most important one I think being that I don’t get her out of the cot.
I learned when she was about 6 months, that no matter what you do, while you’re still willing to feed them through the night, they will still wake up. As they get older, they cotton onto this and will wake up more often. Once she was established on three square meals per day, in addition to 2 – 3 breastfeeds per day, I drew the line and refused to feed her at night. If she woke up, I patted her back to sleep (didn’t get her out of the cot). It took a week and LOTS of screaming and tears from both of us, but in the end she started sleeping through the night. A win all round. That was when she was about 10 months, but I really should have started it when she was about eight months.
You have to remember that when the kids are being introduced to solids, they are barely getting any ‘fulfilment’ from it, it’s just introducing them to tastes and textures. But once they are eating the three meals per day, then I think you should consider refusing the night feeds, and that might transition noah into sleeping through the night..?
Just my thoughts (I get all my advice from the Baby Whisperer – Tracy Hogg, I think her name is. I don’t agree with all of it – like a routine for a newborn – but I take her advice here and there and it’s very sensible, I think).
Have you tried Shun or someone else giving Noah a bottle when you’re not there? Sometimes babies won’t take it from their mum because they know there’s an easier way. Maybe on the weekend you could express some milk and then go hide out at a coffee shop with a novel for a couple of hours… If he got hungry and you weren’t there the bottle might look like a more appealing option (this is what happened with Ali).
If you go out for a night I can 99% guarantee that the house will look like a bombshell when you get home, but I’m sure Noah would be fine and that’s the main thing… and you would get to have a night out baby free. I don’t know why it is, but I can look after a baby/child and do washing/tidying/basic housework at the same time but if Mark does it he can ONLY do the child minding bit… maybe it’s just practice. He’s going to take 3 months paternity leave when baby #2 arrives, so time will tell…
AH what a gorgeous boy!
I agree with the above comment.. even now when I go out and leave my DH home with our kids for the evening he can feed, bath and put them to bed no probs… yes the house is a mess, the kids may or may not be sleeping in dress-up clothes and the dinner dishes are not even staked in the dishwasher…. but I’ve learnt not to care about that and just enjoy my night out and pick up the pieces later!
And maybe try a straw cup for milk – something totally different to a bottle or sippy that is associated with water? If he’s not ready for it, he’ll let you know.
On the sleeping thing… you know just when you think things have settled and you are coping on x amount of sleep, things change. It is the nature of children! LOL
The night out- go for it!
I recommend choosing somewhere close for the first night out- not for Noah’s sake but for Shun, K tended to get all panicky that something would go wrong.
And yeah, you have to prepare yourself that nothing- absolutely nothing!- will be done the way you do it but it will get done (somehow) and it’s good for both your men to realise they can cope without you. Even if you come home and have to strip the poor sleeping baby who is dressed in a polarfleece sleeper in the middle of summer….
Hotel in Melbourne? Are you looking for atmosphere, luxury, budget, something else? There are some great places to stay. PT is not fabulous so probably best to stay near where the wedding will be.
Melanie- maybe- I blame everything on teeth although as you know we still have no teeth. HAHA! I don`t think he is actually that hungry when he wakes up during the night- I think by 7 months I will refuse to feed him all but one time overnight and then by 8 months not at all. If he wakes up thirsty I will give him water and do some sleep training. He is 6 months this week and I think I actually have it pretty easy since he naps alone (ie puts himself to sleep) and is no problem to get him back to sleep at night so I am hoping sleep training will not be too hellish. I think if I do it though we will be getting up earlier to start the day- like maybe 6:30am or 7am but if that means he sleeps from 8pm til then I would be pretty damn happy!
Little MIss Moi- It is stressful although luckily I am not too stressed about it because overall he is a decent sleeper I guess. Even if he does wake up. HAHA! I like your advice about the 3 square meals and sleep training. I will definitely be doing that in the next couple of months. At the moment I don`t feel he is eating enough during the day to cut out night feeds altogether but once he is eating solids better and having lots of milk during the day I would be more comfortable with it.
I might even introduce a 11pm dream feed and see how that goes and then hope he lasts til 7am or so…
I might be in touch for advice!!
Oh and I haven`t read that book but I followed a similar E.A.S.Y plan for Noah when he was younger (and napping every 3 hours) and it worked great so I do believe what she wrote is good. A friend has the book so I might try and borrow it to read the other chapters.
Suzy- Glad to know I am not alone and that if I leave Noah with Shun and the house is a mess when I come home that most other daddies are the same!!!
We have tried everything with the bottle- Shun doing it, me not been at home, Shun`s mum doing it etc etc. Nothing works. He took one til he was about 2 or 3 months and then just refused. I know he will take one eventually and I think that the recent solid food starting will help this. I just need to express some milk so Shun can try again.
Paternity leave! How awesome is that!!! Gotta love Australia labor laws…NICE!!
Katepickle- Haha, asleep in dress up clothes. That is kind of funny! I definitely need to leave Noah and see how Shun goes…the couple times I have to go and teach the house is a bit messy- and while nappies have been rolled up they may or may not be in the bin and Noah is usually in a sopping bib (he goes through 5 a day) – As I type this Shun has taken Noah for a walk to the book shop in a carrier. Those kinds of trips he can definitely handle…it is the home ones he struggles with. LOL
Heather- Yeah- I have gone out (after i did the bath, feed and bed routine) for a late dinner with a friend in Funabashi before leaving Shun at home with Noah. The two times I did this though Noah stayed asleep until after I got home so shun didn`t have to do anything.
I bet the first time I go remotely far away (like into Tokyo) will be the time there is issues. I guess if I go out for Cat/James` birthday then it will be in Tokyo but maybe this side of Tokyo so at least I could get home in 40 minutes or so…
We are thinking of asking Shun`s parents to watch Noah for a couple hours sometime in July so we can go see a movie and have some lunch or dinner just the two of us. Not sure yet though. He would definitely have to be able to take a bottle first….
Accom in Melbourne- looking inner city, no more than $150 a night. So convenient/budget!! Public Transport in Melbourne is better than Brisbane so I can deal with that- the wedding reception is in South Yarra so not too expensive to catch a taxi back into inner city. Or even catch a train or tram if they are still running. . James will be back in Melbourne for the wedding too (it is a friend of ours from exchange) so however he is getting to the first part of the wedding I will just go to his parents place and go with him. He lives about 20 minutes out of the city centre but from memory it is easy to get there on one train.
Lulu, I have an air wrap that I had on P’s cot until she moved out of it. Here’s a link. http://airwrap.com.au/
I can chakubarai it to you if you want it. Might help Noah sleep better.
Cheers
Cassie
Just do it!! There are probably little things you can get hub ‘used to’ about the night routine a bit more. You have a few months up your sleeve
Just resign yourself to the fact that the house will be a pitt when you get home. The absolute worse that can happen is that Noah will have solids and water for dinner, wont take the bottle and be a hungry boy when you get home – possibly also quite sleepy and ditto daddy.
Oh it could be growth spurt or teeth but it should all get back into the groove again. I try to stick to my little one’s nap routines but lately with the school holidays and the other kids at home he’s getting a bit more attention and playtime and it’s playing havoc on his nap time. Mornings are ok but it’s the afternoons that are getting later. Can’t wait for the routine to go back to norm after the school holidays.
I would love it if my hubby could look after the kids for a whole day. He just manages for 1-2 hours before I get a call to come back home. He can handle the older kids but absolutely no patience for the bubs. …… my dream hubby would be able to handle any home situation and keep the house and kids clean
LOL
I am taking so many notes from your blog.
Thank you to you and also to all the people leaving helpful comments.
12 weeks to go…
Little Miss Moi wrote what I would’ve written to you. What she wrote is exactly what I did at 6 months with both of my girls. I have a friend whose sons used to wake up at 5:30 am every morning as they are very light sleepers and that lasted until the older son was 3 and a half. She used a white noise machine (or a fan during summer) which kept them asleep slightly longer.
My kids didn’t take a bottle either. My first was absolutely stubborn and did not take anything and would only nurse, but I left her with my hubby for 4 hours when she was about 4 months. She looked like a raison (just kidding) by the time I got home, but she tired herself to sleep.
I hope you’ll go out and see how your hubby will do with Noah. It usually makes good funny stories to let husbands take care of their babies at night, but parenting is all about experiences. You just have to see how it will go. Good luck! -Kaho
I love those photos… nothing like playing with your food!
You know, I say throw Shun in at the deep end. I did it with my husband and guess what? He did GREAT! I came home from a girls’ evening to find Max sleeping beautifully, the house clean and Piotr watching a match on TV. They can handle it, but the truth is that we (women) don’t give them the chance; THAT is how we end up carrying way more of the child-caring load than our husbands: we simply don’t share the weight!