Lyla is five weeks old…or is she?

// December 30th, 2008 // family

Actually Lyla is five weeks and three days old if you want to be specific.

And now that I say that, TECHNICALLY…she’s not even a month old yet.

Let me ’splain. No…there is no time. Let me sum up. (where is that quote from?)

The kiddie doctor told Jina during Lyla’s last appointment that we needed to start putting her to bed in her crib and even let her cry it out. We were kind of surprised because when she’s up every 2-3 hours, what’s the point?

So I grabbed the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book that we bought thanks to a tip from one of my astute readers, I believe it was Tracy Kelly. In reading the book, you actually have to use the DUE DATE of your baby to measure when things are supposed to be happening.

For example…at six weeks old is when the most fussiness/colic-y kind of stuff is supposed to happen. So that would seem to be next Saturday for us, but in reality, it wont be for a few more weeks yet.

What does that mean? Well, according to the book, this whole “let her cry” thing maybe a bit premature. Of course, the doctor said otherwise.

There are two problems for us really. One, we’re still in survival-mode, so if she sleeps, we’re happy. If that means she’s with Jina curled up in bed, or me on the couch…at this point, it’s working for us.

The other issue is that she’s sort of becoming fussy in the early evenings. I wouldn’t call it colic, because it’s not as bad as the stories I read, but she does have some issues with falling asleep during that time. It seems to be a gas-related issue…but no matter what, it takes some soothing and stuff to get her to fall asleep. Maybe an hour or so. But only once an evening it appears.

But really, from what I’ve read…even five weeks seems to be way early for the “Cry it Out” method…and technically, she’s barely four weeks old.

Of course, I looked up some “Cry it Out” stuff online last night, and sooooo many moms are against it. Probably depends a lot on how hard it is to get your baby to sleep as they get older.

We’re planning on just being patient and seeing what happens. We may put her into the crib in a day or two here and see how she deals with it.

Learning how to do nose kisses with daddy I think Jina and I are honestly doing fine. Lyla is amazing, she’s cute, cuddly and funny to watch. When she’s awake and taking in this new world of hers, it’s amazing to watch. I sometimes carry her around to look out the window, or to stand outside and check out the sights…and she just peers around, her head wobbling back and forth, like she is totally checking out everything she can see.

And so far, it’s not that hard, except for the lack of sleep. Changing diapers is nothing like I thought it would be. It’s a cinch. Sure, doing it 10-15 times a day gets old, but whatever. Getting her to calm down isn’t that big a deal and taking her for trips in the car has been fun.

There are difficult moments, like when she goes through her nightly fussy session, but mostly it’s good. And even the fussiness we know will end in 30 minutes or an hour…it’s just hard to hear your baby cry during it.

If anything…I’ve been dealing with some things, but I’ll probably write about that another day.

8 Responses to “Lyla is five weeks old…or is she?”

  1. Michelle S. says:
    December 30, 2008 at 11:41 am

    OK, so here's my unsolicited (and very long) two cents. With Cael, we let him cry one minute for every month of age. That would not be very long for little Lyla. The time period was arbitrary, but it helped me to be able to wait it out when I knew there was a specific point it would end. And as time progressed, I got better at waiting it out, even as the wait time got longer.

    Then again, a lot of times, I didn't put him down until he was asleep. It wasn't until he was a little older that we really started introducing the "self-soothing" thing to him, putting him down while he was awake. And even then, he was clearly on his way out when we put him down. He's been a very good sleeper for us.

    …more…

  2. Michelle S. says:
    December 30, 2008 at 11:42 am

    …more…

    We did put him in his crib for almost all sleeping (though I admit I fell asleep holding him/nursing on occasion). I've just heard too many horror stories about not getting them OUT of your bed once they're used to sleeping there. Still, I think there are real joys to sharing those moments, so you just have to weigh it out and decide what's right for you (this is true for ALL baby advice you have and will receive).

    At night, I changed him and THEN nursed him, all with the lights very dim or just by the light from the hallway — sort of a visual cue that it was night time. Changing him first worked well because he was fully recovered from the diaper change by the time I put him down. Either way, though, with pracitce you get better at changing diapers in a non-traumatic way. Now I can do it without even waking Cael up!

    …more…

  3. Michelle S. says:
    December 30, 2008 at 11:42 am

    …more…

    Regarding colic, when nothing else works, I recommend gripe water. The original was Baby's Bliss brand, but you can get generics at CVS or Walgreens or even at some grocery stores now. It's made of three things that settle the stomach naturally: ginger, fennel, and sodium bicarbonate, and moms all over the world have used it for ages — you can google it. My logic was that it wouldn't hurt, it might help, and it makes Mom & Dad feel better to do SOMEthing!

    Anyway, take it or leave it! Lyla is lucky to have two parents who love her like you and Jina do. You'll figure out what works for you and her, and she'll grow into some new stage soon anyway! Enjoy it!

    </lengthy comment>

  4. Mike Olbinski says:
    December 31, 2008 at 2:47 am

    We are already doing the diaper change first, then feed her thing…seems to work well.

    Thanks for all this advice, it's very helpful!

  5. Mike Olbinski says:
    December 31, 2008 at 7:31 am

    Thanks for all those comments! We use the Baby Bliss stuff now, but for some reason, I'd rather not use it that much just so we can get a good idea of how fussy she actually IS.

  6. D.L. White says:
    January 1, 2009 at 1:53 am

    Your Princess Bride reference made me smile. :) Thanks for the update on life at the Olbinski house. It sounds like Lyla is in good hands! Keep up the good work. :)

  7. Marlayna says:
    January 1, 2009 at 5:10 am

    I remember letting the kids cry it out. I would sit outside their bedroom door on the floor, leaned up against the wall and cry right along with them. It is pure hell. I say let her cry for a minute or two or 5 and them come to her and every month extend it a few minutes or whatever, only you know what you can handle. If she doesn't htink you are going to come running at her every wimper she may learn to entertain herself with her mobile, toys, bumper pad, etc.

  8. Cristi says:
    January 2, 2009 at 4:34 am

    Soak it all in and enjoy every moment — even the unenjoyable times! It goes by in a flash — really! Oh my, they grow up way too fast.

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