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Diary Of A New Mum - Week 9

Going Stir-Crazy

What was I saying about being anti-social? I guess that was the old me – the me that could occupy myself happily for hours on end writing, reading, going for long walks or just listening to the radio. That was the me before I became a mum! The new me is going stir-crazy after being stuck in for a week – I really need some friends… 

Jessica-Ann, on the other hand, is thriving on her routine. We’ve cracked the first nap of the day, and now she goes down without a whimper. (Well, maybe just the odd whimper.) This is how I did it: I got her up at 7.00am every morning just like I said, fed her and then played with her until about half eight. It’s true that young babies shouldn’t really stay awake for longer than about 2 hours at a time – if you keep an eye on them you can really see the signs that they are getting tired.

After a bit of wind-down time, I took her up to her room, changed her, then settled her in her cot by 9.00am. Of course, she cried at first. It was strange for her and she didn’t know what to do. I found it hard as well, listening to her cry. The urge to go back in and pick her up was overwhelming. But I kept telling myself that she was fed, clean, and just tired, and that the best thing for her was to sleep now. And, that I wouldn’t be doing her any favors in the long-run if I didn’t help her learn how to send herself off to sleep. 

I watched the clock every day. On day one she cried for 8 minutes. On day two it was down to 6 minutes. And on it went, getting less and less every day, until today she didn’t cry at all!  

How do I know I’m doing the right thing? By how happy she is when she wakes up. It’s like she’s looking at me saying, ‘Thank you, Mummy. I really needed a nice, quiet sleep then and I feel so much better for it.’ 

The lunchtime nap is proving a little harder. The longest she’s slept is an hour and a quarter so far, and she’s not quite so happy to go down for this one. But after my success with her morning nap I think I’ll persevere. As for the evenings, we haven’t really tried yet. The best we can do at the moment is to get Jess to sleep in her pram in the lounge, usually by pushing her back and forward for about half an hour. Then we creep around the house all night in case we wake her.

Babies – how do they do it? They are so small and defenseless but they manage to get you running your life around them in no time at all! I wish I could remember being a baby. Imagine how amazing it must have been – doting parents and grandparents, everything done for you, the complete focus of your parents’ lives and nothing to do all day but sleep and eat. How lovely!

Worst moment of the week: Jessica-Ann had her first lot of injections today – it was horrible. She was very brave, bless her, and didn’t cry until after the second jab, when she screamed the place down. Very distressing – don’t take your baby for jabs on your own.

Diary of A New Mum - Week 10

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