okay, so I'm figuring out this whole AP thing as I go and trying to find out what works best for my nine week old baby and family (which also includes me and my husband). I had no set agenda before she was born, except that we would be breastfeeding and cloth diapering no question and she'd be sleeping in our room until we (well, *I*) felt comfortable moving her into her own room.
I just typed the longest freaking post about this but I'm starting over and I'll try to be concise. DD sleeps swaddled in a semi-reclined position in her rocking bassinet every night, which is right next to my side of the bed. After a bath, massage, book, and nursing and rocking her, we typically put her to bed between 8 and 9, sometimes earlier. Sometimes she's asleep, sometimes she isn't, but she always goes to sleep with a pacifier in her mouth. Up until the past two nights, she would wake up between 2 and 3 times a night and I would take her into bed and feed her.
A few days ago I read Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution, not because we are at our wits end, but because I wondered if there was anything I could do to encourage good sleep habits and a cosleeping situation that would enable us all to sleep. What I kind of discovered through her book is that I am getting dd up when she isn't really even awake...she's just somewhere in the middle of a sleep cycle and is making noises that make me think she's hungry and needs to eat. So the past couple nights I have let her make her noises for a few minutes (it's never crying) and let her be, maybe popping the pacifier back in (ok, shoot me
) and seeing if that does the trick.
The result has been between 7 and 10 hours of sleep for her (and my husband but not me b/c I'm scared and doubting myself)! Last night she slept from 9-5:30 and it was me that got her up to feed her because I was so nervous. She went right back down and we slept til 8:30. This is mind-boggling to me. And even though she didn't eat all night, her feedings today are more much longer and more frequent than they have been in the past month, when she'd only nurse for 5 minutes or so every couple hours.
so I guess I have a couple questions:
1) should I be worried about bringing her into our bed if she's happy where she is right now and she's within the weight limitations for the bassinet? She will most likely NEVER be in a crib unless it's sidecarred.
2) is it ok that she goes so long without nursing? her ped (and everyone else for that matter) seems to think it's "great" that she's been sleeping so long, but I wonder. She is a big girl (almost 15 pounds at nine weeks--she was 8 lbs 12 oz at birth) and is exclusively breast fed and he said she is self-regulating her feedings and not to overthink it. I just want to do whatever is right for her. and it seems like the nighttime feedings are an integral part of co-sleeping------help!!!
I just typed the longest freaking post about this but I'm starting over and I'll try to be concise. DD sleeps swaddled in a semi-reclined position in her rocking bassinet every night, which is right next to my side of the bed. After a bath, massage, book, and nursing and rocking her, we typically put her to bed between 8 and 9, sometimes earlier. Sometimes she's asleep, sometimes she isn't, but she always goes to sleep with a pacifier in her mouth. Up until the past two nights, she would wake up between 2 and 3 times a night and I would take her into bed and feed her.
A few days ago I read Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution, not because we are at our wits end, but because I wondered if there was anything I could do to encourage good sleep habits and a cosleeping situation that would enable us all to sleep. What I kind of discovered through her book is that I am getting dd up when she isn't really even awake...she's just somewhere in the middle of a sleep cycle and is making noises that make me think she's hungry and needs to eat. So the past couple nights I have let her make her noises for a few minutes (it's never crying) and let her be, maybe popping the pacifier back in (ok, shoot me
) and seeing if that does the trick.The result has been between 7 and 10 hours of sleep for her (and my husband but not me b/c I'm scared and doubting myself)! Last night she slept from 9-5:30 and it was me that got her up to feed her because I was so nervous. She went right back down and we slept til 8:30. This is mind-boggling to me. And even though she didn't eat all night, her feedings today are more much longer and more frequent than they have been in the past month, when she'd only nurse for 5 minutes or so every couple hours.
so I guess I have a couple questions:
1) should I be worried about bringing her into our bed if she's happy where she is right now and she's within the weight limitations for the bassinet? She will most likely NEVER be in a crib unless it's sidecarred.
2) is it ok that she goes so long without nursing? her ped (and everyone else for that matter) seems to think it's "great" that she's been sleeping so long, but I wonder. She is a big girl (almost 15 pounds at nine weeks--she was 8 lbs 12 oz at birth) and is exclusively breast fed and he said she is self-regulating her feedings and not to overthink it. I just want to do whatever is right for her. and it seems like the nighttime feedings are an integral part of co-sleeping------help!!!
