When Melaina was an infant, we used the Babywise method of sleep training. Our neighbors at the time, Brooke and Clay told us all about it and we were like "we have to give this a try!!!" They had 4 children at the time (now 7!) so they knew a thing or two about this whole baby thang. I needed sanity, I mean sleep (I mean sanity) and this looked like the greatest method ever. I think it was really great...for Melaina. We thought we were such great parents since we trained our child to sleep through the night at 6 weeks plus take 3 naps a day. But here's the thing. I really truly believe now after having Clara and after talking to so many other moms with similar stories, that every baby really is different!! Now there's a revelation for you. How many times have I heard that, but now, I really get it.
Clara is a different child than her sister. From the moment she was born I was so amazed at the fact that she was an entirely new creature. I know how insane that sounds, but it's true. I'm sure all mothers feel the exact same way, right?? I knew she was going to be different than her sister and boy is she ever! It's funny looking back how we thought Melaina was high maintenance! Give me a minute to stop laughing and return to typing. Ah, funny stuff. Melaina was a breeze compared to this little dumpling. Clara is so darn sweet but anyone who has been around our house from the beginning knows that she was a crier. Seriously, I know all babies cry, but holy tear ducts, Batman, that kid can howl!! She cried and cried and spit up all the time, so she was diagnosed with reflux. So we started giving her medicine three times a day, but she kept crying. (She began sleeping in the swing which really helped with the reflux and did so until about 5 and a half months.) She cried for three weeks (as did I) until her doctor told me to try going off dairy. Voila! In about two weeks she was SO much better and her crying wasn't out of pain anymore - Halleluia! But, ladies and gentleman, she still cried ...a lot. Mostly just fussing while trying to fight sleep. Nursing was getting easier but I wanted to try using the bottle every now and then so Tom could feed her as well. NO BOTTLE. If an artificial nipple even so much as touched her little delicate lips she would go ape---, sorry, she would freak out. No matter what we did, she would not take a bottle. I would leave the house so she wouldn't sense me or hear my voice. Tom would feed her the bottle in the chair that I usually nursed her in, but no cigar. After turmoiling and complaining to anyone who would listen, and I mean anyone, I finally just realized it was not in the cards.
Many people told me to try tough love on the bottle front as well as the sleeping front. But when she was crying from what might be reoccurring reflux pain, I just couldn't let her cry it out. And I didn't have it in me to force the bottle on her and withhold the breast. I stay home with her for crying out loud (appropriate wording) so a bottle isn't absolutely necessary. It would have been a great convenience, but not vital. I feel really fortunate that I haven't had to be away from her long enough for her to go without a feeding and now that she is on baby food, Tom at least has a tool should she get hungry. I never thought I would be able to nurse this long, but when you don't have much of a choice, it's not so difficult. If you had told me when she was born that I would be nursing her for a year, I would have laughed, or maybe cried, and then I would have most certainly fainted. But here we are at 8 months and I don't think a year will be hard at all.
So, what was my original thought before all of this meandering took place, Oh yes! She's napping. Yay! Here's a pic of my little shug...
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