Ok, please, help me figure this out. I think I have sleep deprived mommy brain.
I have a 9 month old. His sleep seems to have gotten worse and worse (more wakings). I ruled out teething - he's past a lot of major teething - and some other potential causes. Now I'm on to potential dairy intolerance (he eats 3 meals a day and is still bf in between those meals), so I've cut out all dairy in the past few days. For weeks before this, I've been working on his sleep via the No Cry Sleep Solution, and while I'm glad I'm doing that stuff, I'm not sure it's addressing the frequent night waking.
Well, here's something else I've noticed since I decided to eliminate the dairy. Though it's been a cloudy Oregon winter, we got some days of sunshine. We decided to get out and go to the aquarium, do some other stuff to get outside more in the sun. And at least last night, it seemed like my son's sleep got a bit better - one or two fewer night wakings / breastfeedings. But that was only one night - the previous nights were just as bad as they have been for months. I swear, there was a time when he only woke me 2 times at night (we sleep in the same bed) - before all the teething and crawling and whatnot.
My husband has suggested that maybe we aren't getting outside enough. Probably true. Sometimes it's rainy and cold, and this is my only child, there's so much that needs doing inside, yadda yadda. But yesterday I spent time cleaning up outside with my little one in the Ergo on my back.
And then today, it was cold and rainy. I didn't want to go outside, and we didn't.
Well, here's what I'm wondering. Whatever the outcome of my no dairy experiment, I'm sure we do need more fresh air. But I have silly potential obstacles in my head.
Our place is rural. This should be wonderful, right? We have several acres of land, most of which is a field with very short grass. Except our place has our chickens running around, leaving poop everywhere. They get over the 6 foot high chain link fence. Can't fix this one right this second, but we will this year. Little one isn't walking yet. I have a jogging stroller. Most of our place is really bumpy, and I hate pushing a stroller around our field. The place is flat, just boggy and bumpy during this wet wintery time. We have a wonderful porch - with no railings / enclosures. Baby heads right for the edge or the steps when we sit out there. I think there's only a little bit of time I can stand sitting on the porch and constantly bringing him back from the edge of the cliff. I can push the stroller around our house on the wrap-around porch, or on the gravel driveway, but both of those options bore us pretty quickly. Putting baby into the muddy grassy ground to crawl around? Err...maybe when it's warm, and not where the chicken poop is...
Overcoming obstacles: I either walk around our place with baby in the Ergo, which is fine for a while. But then it gets on my nerves - it gets a little boring, he's very heavy, it restricts my breathing. So I take him in the jogging stroller to the nearby small town and walk around, which is also OK for a little while. And there are other towns I could go to when I get bored with ours, I guess. But all that takes time - I'd rather just take advantage of our place!
I can drive even farther to a city with parks, but that also offends me (I mean, I'll do it on occasion, just not every day). I want to save money, not set myself up with a silly trip to a city just to get outside when I'm in the country!
I feel so stupid. What do I do? Am I missing some options here? I guess I just have to force myself to get outside, putter around, hoe some more dandelions out of the flower bed, talk on the phone in the rain outside, etc. even if it's 3 times a day for a few minutes at a time on the yucky days. Did I just answer my own question? I wish I could come up with another person to hang out with when I'm doing this...none of my neighbors have babies or seem up for it :P
I also guess I need to either endure the weight of my child in the Ergo, which restricts my breathing, or put him in the stroller. This is such an awkward age! Anytime now, he'll be walking!
What are your experiences with dairy intolerance, fresh air, and sleep?
I have my own other questions about the dairy thing. Someone suggested my baby was having certain problems (profuse barf for the first 6 months) because of the dairy coming through my breastmilk. I stopped all dairy for a week and a half, and I saw absolutely no improvement. There's a strange preoccupation in certain circles with food allergies and such. I'm just not sure where the night waking-food intolerance link is coming from - is there some body of research I'm not aware of? Part of me wants dairy to be "the problem," just so my little one will sleep better, and part of me hopes not, because he loves it so much (and we get fresh whole milk full of great nutrition from a nearby farm).
I have a 9 month old. His sleep seems to have gotten worse and worse (more wakings). I ruled out teething - he's past a lot of major teething - and some other potential causes. Now I'm on to potential dairy intolerance (he eats 3 meals a day and is still bf in between those meals), so I've cut out all dairy in the past few days. For weeks before this, I've been working on his sleep via the No Cry Sleep Solution, and while I'm glad I'm doing that stuff, I'm not sure it's addressing the frequent night waking.
Well, here's something else I've noticed since I decided to eliminate the dairy. Though it's been a cloudy Oregon winter, we got some days of sunshine. We decided to get out and go to the aquarium, do some other stuff to get outside more in the sun. And at least last night, it seemed like my son's sleep got a bit better - one or two fewer night wakings / breastfeedings. But that was only one night - the previous nights were just as bad as they have been for months. I swear, there was a time when he only woke me 2 times at night (we sleep in the same bed) - before all the teething and crawling and whatnot.
My husband has suggested that maybe we aren't getting outside enough. Probably true. Sometimes it's rainy and cold, and this is my only child, there's so much that needs doing inside, yadda yadda. But yesterday I spent time cleaning up outside with my little one in the Ergo on my back.
And then today, it was cold and rainy. I didn't want to go outside, and we didn't.
Well, here's what I'm wondering. Whatever the outcome of my no dairy experiment, I'm sure we do need more fresh air. But I have silly potential obstacles in my head.
Our place is rural. This should be wonderful, right? We have several acres of land, most of which is a field with very short grass. Except our place has our chickens running around, leaving poop everywhere. They get over the 6 foot high chain link fence. Can't fix this one right this second, but we will this year. Little one isn't walking yet. I have a jogging stroller. Most of our place is really bumpy, and I hate pushing a stroller around our field. The place is flat, just boggy and bumpy during this wet wintery time. We have a wonderful porch - with no railings / enclosures. Baby heads right for the edge or the steps when we sit out there. I think there's only a little bit of time I can stand sitting on the porch and constantly bringing him back from the edge of the cliff. I can push the stroller around our house on the wrap-around porch, or on the gravel driveway, but both of those options bore us pretty quickly. Putting baby into the muddy grassy ground to crawl around? Err...maybe when it's warm, and not where the chicken poop is...
Overcoming obstacles: I either walk around our place with baby in the Ergo, which is fine for a while. But then it gets on my nerves - it gets a little boring, he's very heavy, it restricts my breathing. So I take him in the jogging stroller to the nearby small town and walk around, which is also OK for a little while. And there are other towns I could go to when I get bored with ours, I guess. But all that takes time - I'd rather just take advantage of our place!
I can drive even farther to a city with parks, but that also offends me (I mean, I'll do it on occasion, just not every day). I want to save money, not set myself up with a silly trip to a city just to get outside when I'm in the country!
I feel so stupid. What do I do? Am I missing some options here? I guess I just have to force myself to get outside, putter around, hoe some more dandelions out of the flower bed, talk on the phone in the rain outside, etc. even if it's 3 times a day for a few minutes at a time on the yucky days. Did I just answer my own question? I wish I could come up with another person to hang out with when I'm doing this...none of my neighbors have babies or seem up for it :P
I also guess I need to either endure the weight of my child in the Ergo, which restricts my breathing, or put him in the stroller. This is such an awkward age! Anytime now, he'll be walking!
What are your experiences with dairy intolerance, fresh air, and sleep?
I have my own other questions about the dairy thing. Someone suggested my baby was having certain problems (profuse barf for the first 6 months) because of the dairy coming through my breastmilk. I stopped all dairy for a week and a half, and I saw absolutely no improvement. There's a strange preoccupation in certain circles with food allergies and such. I'm just not sure where the night waking-food intolerance link is coming from - is there some body of research I'm not aware of? Part of me wants dairy to be "the problem," just so my little one will sleep better, and part of me hopes not, because he loves it so much (and we get fresh whole milk full of great nutrition from a nearby farm).
