It Gets Better...

I want to remind myself that things do get better and that there is light and hope at the end of a dark tunnel (specifically speaking of a newborn)...

It is 7:16am and I just put DearDaughter2 back to sleep. Her last feeding was at 10pm last night and she was asleep by 10:30pm. She woke up around 6:45am this morning for a brief feeding and I put her back to sleep for another hour or 1 1/2 hours.

Of the 2 girls, I was concerned that DearDaughter2 would be the harder one to sleep through the night. As a brand new baby, she struggled much with her digestive system and was waking every 45 minutes crying in pain. I thought I would never get any sleep. This lack of sleep lasted for about 4 to 5 weeks and then suddenly one evening DearDaughter slept 7 hours! She had gradually been giving us more sleep. It started with 3 consecutive hours and then 4. Then after that momentous 7 hour night, she consistently gave us 5 hours. In addition, I have found that DearDaughter2 can put herself to sleep (sometimes) and I have surprisingly found her asleep on the floor or on her bouncy seat. So, I just wanted to remind myself that it gets better.

My 2 girls are very different already, but the one thing that I have tried to do is be consistent in the Parent Direct Feeding method. This method is basically a sleeping/eating routine where the baby has an eating time which is followed by an awake time which is followed by a sleeping time. I truly believe by following this routine, this helped both girls get into a sleeping pattern that helped them sleep through the night and even in taking their naps. DearDaughter2 actually gets tired between 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours after her feed time and sometimes when I don't respond to her cries in a timely manner she puts herself to sleep because she is that tired.

It was definitely a challenge establishing such a routine while the construction work was going on, but I tried my best and it looks like the Lord is blessing my best attempts. I think the key to this blessing was perseverance and consistency...