Our current situation is this:
Jayna sleeps for about 3 hour stretches during the day. We get up whenever she decides (within reason) around 8 or 9am. We get dressed and diaper changed and eat. Then there's nap until 10:30 or 11am, diaper change and eat. Then nap until 1:30 or 2pm and diaper change and eat. She is very consistent throughout the daytime hours with her waking and eating and such; although she usually has about 2 hours of awake time during the day where she just wants to be awake. No fussing, just awake. It's the evening/night when we run into issues.
Beginning at around 6 or 7pm, she decides that it's time to eat every hour...and sometimes more. Sometimes it's every half hour to 45 minutes. She eats, stays awake, fusses and then wants to eat again. And she does this until she has literally made herself sick...as in gassy. And the way she eats...it's like she's never seen a boob before!! She eats like she's been on a desert island for weeks and it's her first meal upon returning to civilization. She does this until around midnight...sometimes later. The eating I can deal with. No, I don't care for it, but I can deal with it. It's the fussiness that I have trouble with. I check her diaper, give her Mylicon and try to put her down. And she REFUSES to be put down. She wants to be held this whole time. AAAHHHH!!!! HELP!! What does this child want from me!?!
I'm exhausted. Five or 6 hours of NON-STOP eating is exhausting. I never thought that I'd be holding my cute and precious little baby and just want to put her down and walk away. Do I do that?? No. I don't. I know it isn't her fault and she isn't trying to kill me. I know this. She's working on instinct. That's all she has at this point. But I'm having trouble keeping that in the forefront of my mind.
It's been suggested that I keep her awake more during the day. Yeah, funny. This kid doesn't wake up for ANYTHING unless she's damn good and ready. She really is my kid. I've tried feeding her at night in a quiet room with the lights out and some white noise or low music. I've tried keeping her in the living room with Chris and I with the TV on. I've tried putting her down and letting her fall asleep on her own (which is the biggest joke of all). I've been told that she should be on a "demand" feeding schedule...that I shouldn't deny her food ever until she's a few months old...and plus that just doesn't work. I suppose you could say that I'm stuck. Don't know what to do now. Any suggestions other than what I've tried??
2 comments:
I don't know... Layla did that too, but we could put her down - she fussed and cried but I'd put her in her bouncy seat and bounce away! That thing has and is a life saver around here!
Layla did that whole being fussy / gassy thing until we got the colic medicine. The fussiness is really hard to deal with.
I think all babies go through to at least some degree. It really is ok (as far as I'm concerned)to hold off on feeding to make some attempt at a schedule. I know it's hard, though when they are crying and you know feeding might quiet them. Our bouncy seat was a lifesaver too. Ava liked to be bounced so hard you would have thought she would have shaken baby syndrome. White noise worked with Grady. He liked the hair dryer. I put him in his swing and turned on the dryer until he fell asleep. Sometimes I never turned it off out of fear he'd wake. You can also try the vacuum cleaner or the fan above your stove. Grady also liked it when I held him and patted his butt pretty hard. It kind of jarred him every time I did it, but it was the only way he would calm down.
Hang in there. It does get better. And it is never wrong to put her down and walk away if you need to. It will hurt you more than her.
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