Six Weeks
Six weeks (plus a few days), and baby is making major progress! Our little guy, or "BABYFITZ!" as Heidi now calls him with enthusiastic affection, decided to cut us a break and start sleeping more.
He's also much less fussy during the day. I figured out about two weeks ago that drinking coffee was not having a good effect on him. It's a good thing he worked out the sleep issue. That week between eliminating coffee and sleep success was ugly.
Last weekend I started enforcing a bedtime routine of keeping him awake during dinner, doing a bath around 7:30, then nursing in his room and putting him down. He's usually pissed during dinner but loves the bath portion of the evening. Together it's enough time awake to make him ready for bed by 8:30. For the past few nights he has slept 8:30-3:30 and 4:30-7ish. Waking up only once in the night feels downright decadent.
Putting him to bed then also forced him into his own room (because that's where the monitor camera is set up). I don't love it. The best thing about newborns is the snuggles and I didn't get to snuggle this one nearly enough because his older siblings need to be kept alive too. I thought, at least I get to sleep with him at night! But no, he gags and spits everywhere if he's flat on the bed, so he has to sleep in the rock'n'play. I thought, at least I can keep him right next to me a little longer than all the other kids! But no, being in his own room seems to help us all sleep better. Six weeks seems to be a sweet spot for nudging them in the direction of good sleep habits. So he's off to his own room right around at the same age as the others.
Same for naptimes. He had been dozing in the living room by the fire all day, oblivious to our activities around him, but now he's too alert to sleep well in the hubbub. I already miss having him snooze right there with us. Sigh.
He's also more awake when he's awake. I brought out a few of the baby toys and he stares into all their exaggerated eyes and tries to swat at them. He also enjoys going on art tours and watching Heidi. He saves big smiles especially for her.
We took him out on a frozen lakes for a kite festival. Because that is a totally normal thing to do with your newborn. #minnesota
I took him down to Northfield to meet Bob and Joan this week too. It feels like yesterday we just did this with Henry at the same age!
I so clearly remember driving Henry to Minnesota at six weeks old, then home again at 8 weeks, and feeling like we left with a newborn and came back with a baby. We're right on that cusp with Frederick now. I wasn't quite ready to be done with newborns yet, but at least we're enjoying more sleep and ever more delicious baby cheeks. Bittersweet.
He's also much less fussy during the day. I figured out about two weeks ago that drinking coffee was not having a good effect on him. It's a good thing he worked out the sleep issue. That week between eliminating coffee and sleep success was ugly.
Last weekend I started enforcing a bedtime routine of keeping him awake during dinner, doing a bath around 7:30, then nursing in his room and putting him down. He's usually pissed during dinner but loves the bath portion of the evening. Together it's enough time awake to make him ready for bed by 8:30. For the past few nights he has slept 8:30-3:30 and 4:30-7ish. Waking up only once in the night feels downright decadent.
Putting him to bed then also forced him into his own room (because that's where the monitor camera is set up). I don't love it. The best thing about newborns is the snuggles and I didn't get to snuggle this one nearly enough because his older siblings need to be kept alive too. I thought, at least I get to sleep with him at night! But no, he gags and spits everywhere if he's flat on the bed, so he has to sleep in the rock'n'play. I thought, at least I can keep him right next to me a little longer than all the other kids! But no, being in his own room seems to help us all sleep better. Six weeks seems to be a sweet spot for nudging them in the direction of good sleep habits. So he's off to his own room right around at the same age as the others.
Same for naptimes. He had been dozing in the living room by the fire all day, oblivious to our activities around him, but now he's too alert to sleep well in the hubbub. I already miss having him snooze right there with us. Sigh.
He's also more awake when he's awake. I brought out a few of the baby toys and he stares into all their exaggerated eyes and tries to swat at them. He also enjoys going on art tours and watching Heidi. He saves big smiles especially for her.
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| How can you NOT smile at this kid? |
He probably looks fretful because he's never sure when the next hurricane of blonde hair is going to hit.
We took him out on a frozen lakes for a kite festival. Because that is a totally normal thing to do with your newborn. #minnesota
I took him down to Northfield to meet Bob and Joan this week too. It feels like yesterday we just did this with Henry at the same age!
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