As I prepare for baby #3's arrival, I'm starting to gear-up mentally. Because my brain is more like a sieve than a bowl, I'm finding most of the baby stuff I once knew I have forgotten. Or maybe it's just that the currently unnecessary baby information is stored away someplace and will return when I need it. In any case, I've learned NOT to trust this old brain of mine.Instead, I've compiled a reading list and am plowing my way through to get my mind back in baby-mode. Here's what I'm working on:
- Babywise: I'm not a hard-and-fast Babywise advocate but I DO relish the structure and scheduling principles therein. I messed up Clive's sleep badly because I abandoned Babywise tenets and my aim is to intentionally regulate baby #3's sleeping and feeding patterns. I also truly appreciate the premise of Babywise -- namely that our children are NOT the center of the universe. And that my relationship with Matt is priority numero uno.
- The Happiest Baby on the Block: I've received rave reviews of this book so decided to see what all the fuss was about. Inadvertently, I requested this book as a dvd from my library. And boy am I glad I made that mistake! I watched the dvd last night and was completely floored, enlightened, and awed by Dr. Karp's consistently successful calming techniques. They showed him with several crying, fussy, screaming babies and every single time he used his 5 calming techniques and the baby INSTANTANEOUSLY stopped crying. Seriously, the man and his techniques are magic. His techniques weren't rocket-science; most were common sense. The one that totally threw me was the "shushing" technique. He literally put his mouth to the baby's ear and did a LOUD shushing sound. According to Dr. Karp, the baby's first 3 months are super hard on him because of the shocking change in environment. If you can mimic the womb environment, you can trigger the baby's calming reflex and fussiness stops. Great stuff. Will certainly put those techniques in my arsenal!
- Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: I read this book on a friend's recommendation after struggling many weeks with Clive's sleeplessness and fussiness. It's an excellent read especially due to the medical studies and research it's premises are based on. The huge concept I remember from this book is the overstimulation factor. With Clive we never realized that our incessant rocking, holding and cuddling were actually doing more harm than good when he was tired. After reading the book, we saw clearly in Clive that he was entering the never-ending cycle of fatigue, over-tiredness and over-stimulation. What he needed was to hang out alone! When we finally picked up on his sleepy cues (as detailed in the book) and put him down during that sleepy window, he slept like a champ. And when we finally took him out of our room and put him in his own room to sleep, he immediately began sleeping through the night. Can't wait to read this treasured book again!
That's my list thus far. I've heard The Baby Whisperer is another good one. Any other recommendations for me? What resources have been helpful to you during the newborn baby months?
I'm also determined to try nursing baby #3 (didn't go well with Chloe & Clive). Any nursing resource recommendations are welcome!
8 comments:
I love #2 & #3 LOTS! (not to say #1 is not on my shelf - it is!) We watched #2 in the hospital with Aaron - and recommend to all new parents (when asked!) a refresher course is always good, right? I just got out #3 to figure out some issues with our kids - it's the book of answers to sleep problems in our family, anyway! This is a great list!
I liked the Baby whisperer, and that is what we used with Brooke. It's so awesome to be able to put her in her crib at night and have her put herself to sleep! Granted, we occasionally have our nights, but we're so thankful to have our evenings to ourselves. :)
Of that series I recommend reading the first one--The Baby Whisperer, but I also really recommend her other book--The Baby Whisperer solves all your problems.
Hope that round 3 goes smoothly for you!
Although I appreciate Babywise, too, I think I'm more of a Baby Whisperer fan. I think it's a really interesting concept to treat your baby with respect... not flinging his legs over his head for a diaper change or talking loudly when he's near. Also, I find it really fascinating to learn about the different cries babies make to express their different needs.
I read Karp's book before I had Sydney and refreshed it before Geneva (gotta love the library!). They both would sleep for hours in the swing with some white noise. I thought the book was helpful, especially for the first 6 months or so. For nursing, my first recommendation would be www.kellymom.com, it has tons of helpful info and links. I also got some breastfeeding books out of the library as well. I'm pretty sure La Leche League has one, as does Dr. Sears. Hope that helps!
I took a free breastfeeding class at the hospital before I had Owen. I also met with the lactation consultant in the hospital and read up on the breastfeeding chapters of my book, "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way." Through the class and reading I just kept repeating in my head what I had learned and just kept at the nursing thing. When I became cracked, I didn't give up. I was determined to nurse. I went to a nursing store and got some all natural cream to heal myself and pumped for a couple of days to give myself a break. If you can make it through the first six weeks of breastfeeding, then you can do it all the way! It's just those fist couple of weeks that are hard, so don't let those weeks discourage you from continuing. Good luck!
"12 hours sleep by 12 weeks old" is a good one, too. Kind of like babywise, but a lot shorter!
Dr. Karp is a genius!
As far as BF goes - I would recommend spending as much time with the Lac. Cons. while you are in the hospital. Mine spent an hour with me (and I have nursed all three - in less than 3 years! and still needed a refresher, surprisingly!)
Make sure you feel comfortable doing it before she leaves and CALL HER when you're home if you're struggling! If you can stick it out through the soreness of the first few weeks - it will be worth it! I'll be praying for you!
The only reading I've done so far is on the labor and delivery. :-) Guess that's only the beginning. I have a friend out here who I'm sure has some of these books. Time to ask her! Only 2 months until my due date!
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