Sleeping Issues Reminisce

Hayaa's been sleeping for an hour masha'Allah. Her naps have extended to at least an hour for the past few days, and yesterday she slept 3 hours straight. I couldn't believe it, masha'Allah tabarakAllah.

I'm not sure how and why this sudden change has appeared, but it's quite new to me. Usually as soon as she's asleep, i'm waiting for her to wake up again. I remember those days of 15 minute naps. I would feel incredibly blessed if she slept for half an hour. SubhanAllah, we've come a long way.

Many of my girlies have recently had babies or will soon have them, and whenever I hear from them or see them, I think of my first few months with Hayaa. We had some interesting days. I do realize that much of it was because of the whole milk issue, I mean, I was drinking milk like crazy and unknown to me was that she was having a lot of trouble digesting it... but i guess some babies in general sleep little, cry a lot and nurse even more.

In my first few months, I hardly stepped out of doors, usually would be in my room. I'd sleep with Hayaa, stay in my PJs every chance I got (I didn't get that many chances, I do live with my in laws), complained when i wasn't wearing PJ's :p and felt like my whole world revolved around just feeding Hayaa and putting her to sleep, only for her to wake up 10 minutes later.

A lot has changed since then, alhamdulillah. I'm starting to feel like my old self again.. yes, about 7-8 months later.

I remember visiting a family friend of ours and her baby 2-3 months after Hayaa was born. Husband and I were so shocked when the couple were telling us how they hardly notice their baby, she sleeps like 12 hours during the day, and the common stuff at night. I remember thinking how unfair the whole thing is, authobillah. I shouldnt have, but sometimes these thoughts do occur in your mind. I think I even told husband that it's all his fault that Hayaa cries all the time, because he forbid me to give her a pacifier (some nurse told us that it's very bad at that time). I was totally wrong to do that. I feel ashamed to admit it, but Husband had to put up with a lot of my hissy fits in those days.

With the whole pacifier thing, qadarAllah, but he has admitted that it would have made our life a little more easier if we had used one and not listen to every nurse who gave us advice about how we handle our baby.

well, with every difficulty there is much more ease. alhumdulillah. I think it was after Hayaa was about 3 months that she started crying less, and now she even sleeps well and plays by herself. Things do improve. It helps to speak to other mothers. It helped me so much when i spoke to some of the other more experienced mothers..also, the prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam said:

'Wondrous are the affairs of a believer. For him, there is good in all his affairs and this is only for the believer. When something pleasing happens to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him; and when something displeasing happens to him, he is patient, and that is good for him"

(Muslim)

Alhamdulillah Allah swt has guided me to realize that every child is different and every situation comes with it's own strengths and weaknesses and alhamdulillah, Allah swt has eased my affairs.

Habits

I recently started tracking Hayaa's feedings, sleeping and playing times and conditioning them so it would be a little easier for someone else to do it if i'm not around. I'm not sure if I should join school in September or do something that will keep me closer to Hayaa. Traveling to downtown a few days a week will be a huge thing for her to be away from me for that long.. she's not used to it.

So, alhamdulillah it's been working so far. The problem was that Hayaa doesn't sleep any other way except for me to nurse her and well, that would obviously mean that it's quite a challenge for anyone to put her to sleep except for me. Now, i've been putting her to sleep just by patting her on her back and singing a little lullaby or putting quran on in the background.

Alhamduillah it has worked, and I felt so relieved that she's finally going to sleep without nursing, but she is quite dramatic when she's tired, she cries for at least 5 minutes and most often more, and then finally falls asleep. I've gotten used to the routine, but her daddy has a hard time sometimes and i know her grandparents will too.

I kind of gave up on scheduling and conditioning after my repeated failures when she was a few months old.. but perhaps i was doing it at a time of a growth spurt, or she was sick or maybe it was just too early for her. Whatever it was, it went pretty bad and I didn't want to do it any more so I gave it up all together. I was just nursing her whenever i felt she was hungry, but i realized that it wasn't the way to go... she was totally running the show and I felt out of control.

I think a good time to start good habits is when the baby reaches 6 months.. but mothers shouldn't give up, sometimes it takes some time, some patience and insha'Allah things will go your way and it makes like so much easier.

Eating Essentials

A good high chair:

I use the Fisher price 4-in-one high chair, which honestly, didn't really meet up to it's price. I'd just go with a comfortable high chair instead. Maybe the other basic fisher price high chair or the space saver high chair from walmart.

Many bibs OR one kangaroo bib.

I love my kangaroo bib. I was getting sick and tired the many cloth bibs that were getting very dirty every time i'd feed hayaa. Hayaa did have to get used to it the first two times she ate, but it made my clean up much easier.

Food!

If you're giving the jar foods, I like the hienz organic little baby jars. Even though they are smaller, Hayaa actually likes eating them better. They have more variety as well. Her favorite is the apple, banana and oatmeal.

I'm going to try making my own food soon, this site has pretty cool recipes:

A spoon

I use the nuby spoons because I purchased them thinking the thermal colour changing is cool, but it doesn't really help much. It's better to buy sometime more flatter. Even a basic spoon will do, but get extra spoons for traveling, and some extra for home, in case one is dirty or gets lost.

Cereal/ finger food

We got Hayaa three types of finger food, the biscuit was good when she was younger, but now she doesn't like the taste of it. We got the baby graduates strawberry and apple and cheese puffs.. but she actually just prefers me to give her cheerios then anything else.
When she wants to take a break from the food, i pop a cheerio in her mouth, until she feels ready to eat again.

Water

Some water in her bottle really helps me while feeding. Sometimes she closes her mouth and doesn't want to eat, so I give her the water and she realizes that she's actually thirsty. After she drinks some water, she's ready to eat the food again.

A plastic toy

A toy will distract your toddler while eating, but make sure it's plastic so you can wash it later. If it's a soft toy, you'll have trouble when washing it.

A bowl

Needed especially if you make your own food. You should be taking out the jar food into a bowl anyway, but if laziness gets the better of you, sometimes you may just feed the baby from the jar. It really doesn't do anything if the jars are small and baby eats most of the food at that feeding time, but if the jars are larger, you should take some out and put the rest in the fridge. It's not good to keep heating the food and not using it right away.

7 month crazies

Hayya is a week short of 8 months now and masha'Allah she's quite a fast bloomer. She sits and crawls comfortably and even holds the sofa and picks herself up to stand. She's also quite active, which is good most times but there are days when she really tires me out.

On the down side, 7-8 months mean teething and separation anxiety and this month, the combination of the two has Hayaa acting up a lot. And the days when i'd be fasting, due to ramadan, i can't do anything except be with her all day :( She's a bit better now, but for a few weeks ago, every time i put her down, she'd start to cry. Today she really tested my patience and started to screech and scream at the top of her lungs. I couldn't take it any more, I called husband and broke down. Then I realized that perhaps nursing is not enough, maybe because she's either growing or because it's gotten less due to fasting, she needs more. I fed her food, changed her diaper then tried putting her to sleep, and alhamdulillah, she's now fast asleep.

When Hayaa was a baby, feeding her wasn't a big deal. There are no messes, it's quick, handy and i can give it whereever i am.. and she would fall asleep fast as soon as i did. Now, I have to give her food and it's messy, sometimes i have to make it, sometimes she's fussy to eat it, it takes a long time and then i have to spend another half hour or so putting her to sleep. but the silver lining now is that at times, when i can't take it any more, i can just hand her to husband or someone else and they can feed her and put her to sleep.. I don't necessarily have to do everything.

So there, every age has it's good times and bad.

Vacationing with Baby 101

We've just returned from our first vacation outside of the city with baby, and that too a road trip of 7 hours + =) it was fun!

Do's

keep a baby carrier and a stroller with you
both came in handy at different times. When I wanted to carry my baby, the carrier was good and when she was sick of it, the stroller was helpful. And sometimes, both would not do, so we had to carry her in our arms. Husband and I took turns.

keep many extra baby outfits on hand
it's always good to keep an extra outfit in the bag before you leave, but also have babies sweater and blanket in case it gets cold and a sun hat is very important in the summer in case it gets hot.

make a list of things to do and pack a day before leaving
My list was so helpful, all i had to do is drop stuff in our bag and keep crossing things out. I sat and wrote the list a week before while hayaa was napping.

book a king size hotel room in a nice hotel
they accidently gave us a double bed the first night, and it wasn't so great, but moving into the king sized room was sooo much better the next night.. and they were nice enough to give it on the same floor, alhamdulillah.

Be content with how things work out
Things don't always go your way, but it's ok. Be thankful and be content with what does happen. Alhamdulillah you've got a chance to go and spend a few days with hubby and baby away from distractions and work.

Stay in one of the days, put baby to sleep, takeout and have a movie night with hubby :) <3>

If you're going on a road trip:

Have a GPS

It's quite handy when going to a new place, especially when you're on your way there and you have a washroom or diaper emergency. You'll need to locate the nearest tims or subway (gas stations have horrible washrooms!), and will need to get back on the highway afterwards. This will definitely help.

have a few lectures to listen to in the car ride
lectures are always good :) and the journey is as important as the destination.

Don'ts

Keep unwashed dishes in the sink before leaving! peewww you'll come home to a stinky house.

Get lazy and rely on room service instead of taking advantage of the great breakfast buffet downstairs. breakfast buffets that are awesome are awesome.

Overload your schedule with attractions to see
It is a vacation so you're supposed to relax and have fun

Sweat the small stuff
Baby's going to inconvenience you in some ways, but don't let it ruin your family vacation. make up your mind that you wouldn't let the small things get you down and enjoy whole heartedly the blessings you have in front of you :)