Who's crying at 3 am?

Well, I was for one. My little peanut butter decided to go to sleep this morning at 4:30 am which is the beginning of Papa's shift (since he has to go to work). We were starting the bedtime routine at 10:00 pm last night. I did it all, swaddle, unswaddle, rock, pacifier (ick) put him in my sling, in the recliner with him on my chest, on the Boppy, bouncy chair... um, all of it. He would knock off to sleep in each of these and as soon as I would move him to a more safe location - his bed - his eyes would pop WIDE open and then the wailing would begin. He is perfectly happy sleeping in my warm arms, but as soon as I would lie down - again the wailing.. oh the wailing! At one really low point, about 3:30 am (I looked at the clock) we were both crying! My boy has his nights and days mixed up.. we ended up sleeping from 5:00 am to 10:30 this morning. Not my idea of fun, but at least there was SOME sleeping involved in the end. I understand this is normal and it will change, but I wish he would tell me when he is ready to move out the bakers hours. One constant that worked is to breastfeed him and let him knock off to sleep on his own. I tried this at 4:00 am while lying in bed (very tricky but can be done.. I'm still practicing) and it worked! I will try this tonight and see if it works for us. I'll report back to let you know what happens.

Cloth Diapering Madness!

So even before Butterbean was born I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers on him. I wasn't sure exactly how to or what to use, but in my research online I found a fringe following of "cd" moms who were CRAZY about cloth diapering their children. This research also led me to baby wearing and attachment parenting which has contributed to some of my parenting philosophies to try. But I digress.. this post is about cloth diapering. CD'ing (as it is referred to) has changed tremendously since the days of flatfold diapers and pins. There are a lot of websites to find a lot of choices and it's quite overwhelming. Due to my desire to be economical about it, (did you know that 36 preemie disposable diapers cost $9.00 which is about 3 days worth?) When I was pregnant, I ordered some infant prefolds and some wraps to have as a part of my changing table arsenal. Well, my little guy was ehm.. really little when we brought him home and my first attempts at diapering his little bottom made him look like a stick with a pillow tied to it and he could barely kick his legs for the bulk! I shelved the prefold diapers for a couple more weeks until last week. Tried it again, still major case of "diaper butt" they were soo bulky, so I bought a cheap 12 pack of birdseye flat folds and voila! Much smaller diaper butt! I really love cloth because I know that every clean one I put on is soft and absorbent and chemical free. His little disposables have this constant chemical odor and the odd absorbing gel that is inside kind of creeps me out, (not to mention the amount of trash they create.) I have noticed his skin has been irritated and blistering in some areas so I am using cloth while at home and 'sposies while out and about. Papa is still uneasy about wiggly baby and tying on the cloth diaper so I give him a break and let him use whatever creates the least amount of diaper changing drama for him. My favorite links for cloth diapering are www.greenmountaindiapers.com and www.cottonbabies.com. YouTube has been a great resource for videos made by moms who talk about cd'ing and their methods, organization, washing, folding and application. I learned how to fold the flats in an origami fold from the GMD website, a 5 year old taught me how to fold it! So really, anyone can CD their babies, if not too grossed out by it. Washing so far has been dead easy since it's breastmilk poop. I do a cold rinse with OxyClean and a hot wash with Charlies Soap. I prefold all the diapers and stack them so all I have to do when diapering time comes along is put it on and my little guy is good to go! Posted photos are butterbean in his indian prefold diaper with a Snappi closure (no pins necessary) and a Real Nappies diaper cover from Amazon.com.

Inclement Weather Policy

The news is reporting a snow and ice storm to come in the next day or two and last a day and a half. I'm nervous about this event, usually snow excites me, but the talk of ice sends shivers (literally!) down my spine. I have lived through 2 ice storms and a hurricane related power outage that each lasted 1 week. With my infant son now with us, I'm thinking in survivalist mode already. I will make a trip to the grocery store for basic necessities and will start charging all batteries just in case. Fingers crossed that it does not get as bad as they predict.
My other options however is to fly to Miami tomorrow with my boy and husband and stay there till it all melts.

I personally like that option best.

A full night's sleep

Something I have discovered recently are the varying definitions of a full nights sleep. The general consensus is that doctors will recommend that a full nights sleep consists of 8 hours. A pediatrician on the other hand, will ask you if you are getting a full nights sleep when new baby comes home... their definition is 4-5 hours. To a new parent this stretch would render them able to do just about anything from running a presidential campaign to solving world hunger, if only they could get that much. This thought was running through my mind the other night - er morning at about 4:00 am while I am holding my lovely son and praying to every god out there that he would just lie in his crib and sleep peacefully without the assistance of my arms. This did not happen until 5:00 am and only lasted until about 7:00 am. Ahh such the life of a newbie mom, thank goodness I am on maternity leave now. What will happen when I go back to work? I don't even want to think about it.. really it depresses me.