At 9 or 10 weeks old, I can't remember for sure, we decided to take Charlie's paci away at night. We talked to his doctor about his sleeping issues, and she recommended letting him cry in 15-20 minute intervals. We could pick him up after 15 min, soothe him, lay him back down and start it over again. I have a hard time with this, but was so incredibly desperate for sleep and for something to change. Andrew convinced me that we should try it and that he offered to take a weekend and work with him. I went and stayed at my mom's house. ;)
It definitely helped. Ever since that weekend, Charlie has mostly slept better. We are still not allowing him to have his paci at night. However, now that it has been about 4 weeks with no paci (at night), he rarely fusses. He will now SLEEP in between feedings...like hours at a time, not just 20 or 30 min (or even less). It is truly life-changing. Ha! He just needed help learning how to sleep without his paci. I sure will be glad when he can hold it in his mouth on his own better.
He is usually sleeping 6-8 hours for the first stretch. He goes to bed between 6-7, so he usually will wake between 1-3a. So for most nights, he has one feeding. Sometimes that is all, but there are also many nights where he will still wake frequently, fuss a little bit, and go back to sleep. When he starts being fussy/crying, I go in his room and soothe him and he will usually go back to sleep pretty quickly. I try not to feed him more than twice because I know now that he is probably not that hungry. He just wants comfort. He proved to us last night that he can go 11 hours without a bottle!! Go Charlie! He might do several nights in a row with multiple wakings and then do a couple nights with longer stretches and not wake at all. It is still unpredictable, but so SO much better than it was a month ago. I cannot believe the progress we have made in just a month. And then to think, last night he officially slept through the night! I don't count it unless he sleeps until 5am. Before 5am, it is still nighttime in my opinion. ;) Hopefully soon he will make it to 6 or 7a! Who would have thought??!
I love comparing Audrey and Charlie month-by-month. They are looking less alike to me. It might be because Charlie is so much bigger than Audrey was at her age....and she had a LOT more hair. ;) Charlie has lost so much hair this past month. You can put your hand through his hair and it will fall out in your hands. I hope he doesn't lose it all, but he will be super cute either way!
Charlie's reflux is still going strong. ;) One improvement I have seen over this past month is that he hasn't spit up after the night feedings. I don't have a spare pair of pajamas laying out in his room anymore. During the day, however, he spits up frequently. He will spit up after every feeding, and usually after he wakes up from his naps...and usually some in between those times as well! Bless his little heart. We go through countless bibs and burp cloths and I do laundry all the time. He isn't getting much tummy time. I guess he will roll over eventually!
I can't wait to start baby food! I already started making some this week with some extra vegetables I had leftover. I put it in ice cube trays in the freezer. I plan to start at 4 months old as long as his doctor thinks it is ok. We are going to try rice cereal...bananas...avocados...something!! Maybe he won't spit up as much... or maybe more?? I don't know. I haven't researched it. I just want to see if it will help him.
Charlie has been in 3-6 months size clothes for several weeks now. Probably since he turned 2 months old, or maybe a little before then. His 3-6months pajamas are almost too small. The buttons are getting tight and also the feet. He is almost too big for size 2 diapers. Target brand size 2 still fit, but Pampers and Huggies are too small.
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We are not really on a schedule yet, but we are probably on one more than I realize. I just don't pay attention to the time of day it is when he eats and sleeps. I am not doing the eat, awake, sleep pattern as much as I used to. His naps are so unpredictable that it doesn't work as well as it did when he was younger. His average nap is about 30-45min. However this past week, he has had some random naps that lasted 2-2.5 hours. You just never know!
Also, I think the reason why Audrey was on a schedule by 2 months old was because she was waking up at the same time every day, well mostly. I mean, it wasn't perfect, but everything was so predictable with her. And as the months passed, the more rigid her schedule became and it all just worked like clockwork. But I don't pay attention to the clock like I should. I've tried writing things down, but it is so hard to remember. I think it's because I also have a three-year-old, ya think???
Oh, and the Miracle Blanket.... it's a blessing and curse. Here is my poo bear just as happy as can be ready for his nap. He loves that durn blanket. However, he is too big for it. My mom is going to make him a bigger one. I have tried getting him to sleep without it. It has not worked..at all. He SCREAMS. I just can't take away his blanket too. He already had to cry it out to get used to no paci at night. I just can't take his blanket away yet. I mean, it's not way too small, but he is too long for it. He doesn't care. ;)
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