Sleep training

We have been "sleep training" Ruby over the past week. How does one train a baby to sleep, you ask...well, I will get to that. Ruby hit what is called the "four month sleep regression". It's terrible and no fun for all involved. Basically, she changed her sleep pattern from newborn sleep to more adult sleep cycles. Newborns can sleep anywhere because when they fall asleep, they are in a deep sleep. That changes when they hit four months old. Now, she has sleep cycles like the big people so she cycles from light, deep, and REM sleep. Problem is....when she would hit that light sleep phase, she would wake up! And we ALWAYS rock her to sleep (rookie mistake). So she would be awake in her crib wanting to go to sleep but not knowing how to do that on her own and yelling at me to come rock her fat self back to sleep. This happened every hour for about three days. (sleep cycles are about 45 minutes long...so that makes sense).

We knew something had to be done so we got the books, we read the books, we talked with friends, and we formulated a plan. We decided it would be best for everyone involved to sleep train her. There are a number of ways you can do this with varying degrees of crying. I had tried a no-cry or less-crying version and it just pissed her off. Like, really pissed her off. I would be in her room trying to console her and she would just scream at me to pick her up. I always broke down and took her to the rocking chair because she is my fatty lumpkins, and it made my heart hurt to see her cry.

Since she got so royally pissed off when I was in the room, we knew we had to do the hard version. It's called extinction and you basically just leave her in there to cry it out. It sucked. I had to leave the house. The book said an average amount of crying goes like this

Day 1: 45 minutes

Day 2: 45 minutes

Day 3: 20 minutes

Day 4: No crying

Two problems with this. 1. Ruby didn't read this book and 2. The book freaking lied. 

Our week looked something like this

Day 1: 1 hour and 15 minutes (I left the house)

Day 2: 1 hour and 15 minutes (I left again)

Day 3: 50 minutes (I was about 30 seconds away from running to her room when she fell asleep)

Day 4: 45 minutes (I seriously felt like giving up)

Day 5: 15 minutes!!!! (I wanted to cry!)

Day 6: 12 minutes (very weak and sporadic crying)

Day 7: NO CRYING!!!!

So it took a bit longer than I thought it would...but even on Day 1, she slept for a solid 8 hours. We figured it has to be better for her development to get a solid amount of sleep...at least that's how I justify this. The crying can't be good for her :( but it was only for a week and now she will reap the benefits of more sound sleep. Since the hell week, she still goes down without much fussing. Maybe a few minutes, but her heart really isn't in it when she does cry. And she still sleeps long stretches at night. 

Now naps are another story...you would think that all sleep is the same but it is not. She WILL NOT sleep in her crib for naps even though she sleeps just fine in her crib at night. We will work on this in the future...I'll keep you posted. 

These are a few of my favorite baby things :)

Hands down, the best purchase we made for Ruby was this changing pad. I overlooked it at first because of the price tag, but it has been a life saver. It's waterproof, doesn't require a cover, is antimicrobial, puncture resistant, and just all around magical. Since it doesn't require a cover, we don't have to worry about laundry or the added cost of extra covers! It's genius. I recommend this thing to everyone I know. We even did sponge baths on this thing. When she pees on it, we just wipe it off.


keekaroo-peanut-changer

Speaking of pee...my favorite cloth diaper combo has been these Flip diaper covers and these hemp/fleece inserts. They are the ones I reach for when it's time for a diaper change. The fleece keeps her booty feeling dry and the hemp soaks up a lot! We still have to change her diaper every hour and a half in the morning, but can get by with 2-3 hours in the evening. I am slowing selling the diapers I don't use and want to replace them with this combo. Love!!!



stay-dry-doublers


Flip Diaper Covers

One more booty item that I love is this booty spray :) It's fabulous. It has lavender and tea tree essential oils and smells so great! I use it in place of traditional wipes by spraying it on her or a washcloth.


Kissaluvs-Diaper-Lotion-Potion

Our Puj tub is pretty great too. It fits in our sink so we dont have to bend over or sit on the floor like traditional bathtubs (our counters are too small for an infant bathtub). Ruby loves this thing. I usually keep the water running from the spout and she loves trying to grab the water. I make sure to double and triple check the temperature of the running water every minute or so since the water might get too hot. I like this method though because she's not sitting in dirty water as the water drains out through the holes in the tub constantly and new water replaces it. Not the best in terms of water conservation, but she's only ever in the tub for a few minutes at a time. This isn't a splash and play tub...just a get the baby clean tub. Once she can sit up, I will put her in the real bath tub for play time.



puj tub

Before Ruby got all fat and Michelin man like, I thought we didn't need a stroller. We would just get a baby carrier and carry her around. It would be such great exercise!!! yeah, I had a change of heart when Ruby hit 9lbs and walking around the block with her royal chubness started killing my back. Enter the City mini GT. I love this stroller. It's super light and easy to fold up. Ruby loves it too!!! If she's being a turd, I can strap her in it and walk around the living room and she gets all happy! When we first started looking at strollers, I was convinced that I needed a jogging stroller when, in fact, I do not jog. I am glad I didn't spend the extra money!!


-city-mini-reg-gt

Ruby has an assortment of swing-things that cost hundreds of dollars (thanks generous friends!!!) but you know what she likes??? This 40 dollar vibrating seat. That's it...that's all it does. It vibrates. Ruby will spend hours in this thing. She will nap in this thing. Does she like her nifty rocker and mamaroo thingies? no....she likes to sit and have her booty jiggled. This thing has been a life saver for me when I need to put her down to get something done....or you know, pee. Sometimes I can get an hour of peace with this thing, sometimes it's a few minutes.


bouncer


We could not survive without burp cloths in this house. We love burp cloths. We are usually covered in burp cloths. Our furniture is covered in burp cloths. We have a few different types. I like using fluffy prefolds for protecting myself from Ruby's vomit. They also work great on the furniture. However, they are a little to thick to use with feedings so we have some thin muslin burp cloths that can tuck under her many chins to catch and drool or spit up. I would estimate that we have a solid rotation of about 30 burp cloths going at any given time!!


Finally, probably the single most useful item that we bought.....BIBS. And lots of them. Ruby is what we like to call a "happy spitter". That means she spits up all the darn time, but that it doesn't bother her or hinder her weight gain. What is does mean is that we do A LOT of laundry. Enter the bib. It's 1 million times easier to change a bib than it is to change her whole outfit. So we have about 20 of these things, and really we could stand to have about 10 more! We go through them all in about 2 days. I like these because they are muslin which catches the liquid before it can roll down the length of the bib and on to her clothes (most times). Only problem with that is that we have to change them frequently because once they get wet there is nothing stopping the bib from making her outfit wet underneath. Still, I love these bibs!! I think I might actually buy another pack!



bibs

giggles

As promised, here is a video of my cute baby not understanding object permanence.

Ruby had her four month shots yesterday. She was not a fan. Poor girl had three shots and cried her little eyes out. (momma may have cried a little too) Thankfully, she stopped crying almost immediately after I picked her up. Josh was also at this appointment and was able to make her smile by jumping around and saying "Dance, Dance, Dance!". Ruby thinks daddy is weird. (so does momma)

As for the rest of her appointment, she did very well. She is 13lbs 8oz which means she has nearly doubled her birth weight. She also bumped her fat self up from the 25th percentile in weight to the 50th. She was 25inches long, which keeps her in the 75th percentile for height/length. 

We were given the go ahead for introducing solids, but I have decided to hold off for a month. Our pediatrician didn't seemed overly concerned about when we start solids, but I got the impression that she thought we should wait until closer to 6 months which had been my plan all along. I have a food plan laid out for her for when we do start and I plan to make her food myself. (of course, I've had a lot of plans for her and every time I make a plan, God laughs at me).

My plan for solids is as follows

1. Avocado

2. Sweet Potatoes

3. Bananas

4. Butternut Squash

5 Carrots

6. Pears

7 Green Beans

and after that....well, who knows. I am sure I will think of something! Eggs will probably be in there, as well as apples, peaches (peach season is coming!!!!), and anything else in season.

She's meeting developmental milestones. She turns and looks at people when they are talking, her eyes follow people around the room, she "talks" at us (which is really more of a screeching noise), laughs, etc, The one thing she needs more of is tummy time. She HATES tummy time, but I will be working with her on that. She likes to watch people and has a serious case of "fear of missing out".

We were trying to do a sleep schedule with her, but that went out the window after we got her shots. Poor thing was so upset last night. I started rocking her to sleep at 9pm and by 1am I was finally able to put her in her crib. Then she woke up at 330 and we weren't able to get her back to sleep like normal. I took her temperature and she had a very low fever. That, coupled with the fact that she wouldn't sleep led me to give her her first dose of tylenol. In my sleep deprived state, I did the math wrong and only gave her half a dose, but it seemed to have worked because she went back to sleep and woke up at 8am all smiles. She's currently been asleep for 2.5 hours for a nap which is a big nap for her, but I figure she's catching up on all the sleep she missed last night! Wish I could do the same.

As Ruby is our greatest, most excellent adventure yet, I figured I would use this blog to hep keep friends and family updated on her busy, ever changing life. She's currently four months old and learning and growing daily. I will try and make a big boring post about her updates today and then (hopefully) update frequently with lots of pictures in the coming weeks!

• Tongue/lip tie- Ruby has been making great strides in relearning how to suck. She's still got a few hurdles left to overcome. We have taken her back to the pediatric dentist twice and he has given her the all clear. Her revision looks great and has healed well. This was a huge relief because we thought we might have to do it again. Ruby's chiropractor also thinks she is doing great and we have extended our sessions to only once a month (down from twice a week). She still "clicks" at the bottle which is a sign that her jaw muscles are still not as strong as they need to be. I try and give her her pacifier all the time to work on sucking...and I know I will have a huge battle ahead of me when we need to take that darn pacifier away from her in the future! When she cries, her tongue also lifts asymmetrically. This was the reason that we thought her tongue had reattached and would require another revision. Turns out, this is related to her jaw muscles not being strong enough on the left side. She can lift the left side as high as the right, but it takes her a few seconds of screaming to lift it as high. Also, when she sleeps, I have noticed that she still wants to keep her tongue on the floor of her mouth. Try something: Close your mouth and breath normally through your mouth. Now, notice where your tongue rests. It's on the roof of your mouth where it should be! Every now and again, I catch her tongue in the proper position so I know she can do it! hopefully, this continues to improve as well.

• Sleep: This question always comes up! "Is she sleeping through the night?" Well, my answer to that is....sorta. We have started sleep training with her. She's a big fat-fatty right now who eats plenty during the day. She actually might be eating too much! So when she wakes up at 2am wanting to eat again, it's out of habit and not necessity. We have started going into her room and giving her her pacifier and she goes back to sleep. Sometimes we go in 5-10 times a night...sometimes it's just three times a night. She's never screaming, just fussing, and half the time her eyes are closed. Last night she slept from 1030pm-0600am and I think I only went in her room three times. YAY!!! I can't stand to do the "cry it out" method. I figure if she's actually crying, or doesn't stop after giving her her pacifier, then she actually needs something. Josh thinks she manipulating us...I keep trying to tell him that she doesn't have the higher reasoning skills needed for manipulation....yet.

• Food: baby girl loves her food. She currently eats about 30oz a day which is A LOT. 1/3 of that is breastmilk and the rest is our super magical formula from Germany that is made out of rainbows and unicorn farts. It's great stuff and it makes her tummy very happy! She still spits up everywhere...but I think that's just Ruby being Ruby. We do lots of laundry around here.

(fatty McFatpants, mayor of chubbyville)

• Booty: Since the horrible 6 week long diaper rash has cleared up, her booty has been rash free. In an effort to be somewhat hippy-crunchy-granola, we clean her booty with water and a mixture of jojoba infused with chamomile, and lavender and tea tree essential oils. Then we use coconut oil as a diaper cream. Her booty smells good, y'all!!!  Also, we are using cloth diapers at home which is a pain and also awesome at the same time. 

• Likes: Ruby loves car rides and stroller rides. They are her favorite. Seriously. If she's being fussy at home, I will strap her into the stroller and just walk around the living room. It works instantly. She also likes being outside. Take a fussy Roo to the backyard and she will shut up! It's magic. She also likes playing peek-a-boo (I'll try and post that video later). She loves getting her diaper changed (well, if you got all that magical, smelly good stuff rubbed on your butt, you would too!)

• Dislikes: Being hungry. For real. I stop her half way through her bottle to burp her and it's like I'm killing her. She screams and screams until I put the bottle in. Girl likes her food. That's about it...she's a pretty happy baby....unless she's hungry or tired. Just like momma!

• developmental milestones: She's checking all the boxes :) She can roll from her tummy to her back, has great head control, and loves to stand up (assisted). Also, anything and everything goes into her mouth now. Her hands, my hands, blankets, toys....everything! She will probably be starting solids soon. She's such a big girl now. She also laughs now, which is about the most adorable thing in the world. 

I think I've hit the highlights of what's going on with her. Next week is her four month check up so I will have some stats to share then.