My sons are closing in on the eight-month mark. They are smiling, laughing, chatty little creatures who can crawl and roll and bring me more joy than I thought possible. They can also drive me nuts.
Case in point, they started waking up an hour earlier than usual.
Now, I want to get one thing clear. I understand some women have babies (or a baby) who don't sleep through the night for a long time. My sister complained her youngest didn't sleep through the night (I don't mean a five-hour stretch, I mean through the night) until she was a year old. Although I feel bad for parents who are still being woken up in the night, I have my own fish to fry. I have a hard time remembering things could be worse when I am tired and grouchy at 5 a.m. I don't see anything wrong with this. Over the past seven, almost eight, months I changed dramatically but that's one area I won't change.
My sons were sleeping from about 6:30-7 p.m. (sometimes 7:30) until 6 a.m. (we even had a 6:30 a.m. once!) I'd rather wake up naturally when my body decides I've rested long enough but I'll take the 6 a.m. because ... well ... I have to take it because it's my life. Over the past few days the boys started waking at 5 a.m. Nothing in their lives changed within the past few days.
Insert baby guessing game.
Instead of months ago when I was dealing with a colicy baby, the question moves from, "Why is my baby crying?" to "Why is my baby waking up earlier?" Growth spurt? Need more food? One baby is waking the other up? Karma for being a sarcastic smart ass? Why? Why? Why?
Thank God for sixth grade when I learned the scientific method. Before I freak out and give up let's take a moment and think. It's easy to react without thinking but I've learned when it comes to babies, it's smart to take a moment and think things through.
My children eat every three hours. When they wake up they're offered 8 ounces of formula and sometimes don't drink it all. Every three hours they are offered food, with a vegetable, fruit and oatmeal offered three times a day. How do I know this? I am a stay-at-home mom and am the one doing the offering. They go down for a nap in their cribs after being awake for two hours. Every night at 6 p.m. they are given a bath and their last food of the day before it's bedtime for Bonzo(s). Schedule, schedule, schedule!
So, I don't want to make a rookie mistake and change something dramatic right now. The only thing I can figure is they are hungry, hence the waking up earlier to feed. Instead of three spoonfuls of each food three times a day I am upping it to four. If that's too much then they won't eat as much formula. Now, my sister who I sometimes thinks believes she is Mother Nature in human form, advised me you don't really need to feed them baby food until they are a year old, breast is best. She don't have twins so me no care. My babies are off the charts for size and weight so they need more than formula and the food helps my spitter-upper not spit up so much.
We will see how it goes today and tomorrow morning with the extra food. All you can do is think things through and hope for the best!
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