Lucy turned three months old yesterday, and I must tell everyone: you were right. It definitely gets better when they hit that three-month marker.
About two weeks ago, Lucy started settling into a regular routine of eating, playing, and sleeping, which definitely makes my life a lot easier. She also can be distracted for short periods of time when she is crying (which is convenient during outings), and she is playing with objects. (One favorite is her burp rag.) This past week, we went to “one-sided” nursings in an attempt to reduce the spit-up production, and it seems to be helping a bit. Plus, there is the side benefit of having feedings take only 30 minutes as opposed to an hour. And did I mention how much fun Lucy is lately? All the smiles and giggles and squeals can brighten anyone’s day.
p{color:gray}. Photo: As of mid-July, Lucy loves to stand on your lap (with a little balancing help) and study your face.
I remember feeling pretty leery of Lucy in those first few weeks. I didn’t know how to read her cries, leaving the house felt like an insurmountable challenge, and I really struggled to believe that life would change. And truthfully, nothing seemed to change very much in those early weeks. But after four weeks we felt a bit more confident, and around eleven weeks Lucy started to be a lot more fun to hang out with.
I’d still love for Lucy to learn to fall asleep on her own (something to tackle next month), and we are nowhere near spit-up-free, but I’m seeing how having a baby can be more about fun and less about crying (“today’s Daily Lucy”:/news/2006/displeasure-personified/ notwithstanding).
I am so thankful for many of you who encouraged us in those early days and said, “It gets a lot better.” It was really difficult to believe you then, but I’m so glad you were right! You can tell me “I told you so” anytime you want. :)
Ann I am glad that you are getting to the enjoy part. It goes so fast so really enjoy her. We are already to the end of the 6 month part and every schedule we have set up has gone to hell in a hand basket. No longer will she go to sleep on her own or much less in her own bed! I am frustrated but know it is the fault of the move. ARG. The poor thing is screaming like there is no tomorrow and I have to just leave the room because I don’t want the bad habits to develop. So there are interuptions that will come and I hope they past too!
Lucy is really starting to look good and juicy, that makes me happy… :-) Juicy babies are way cuter than the skiny ones, but those too are cute!
Hey we would love to hear how the diapers are going.
later,
katrina
The Fuzzi Bunz are great. We just “stripped” them for the first time (a special washing process) as they were starting to be a tiny bit stinky, and they are as good as new now. We have figured out that it works best to use two hemp inserts in the pockets — Lucy is apparently a “heavy-wetter.” Her butt is a little lumpy with two inserts, but no leaks!
Yeay. I am glad they are working. We have paper D’s for night because Maddy leaked no mater what at night…but paper is working really well for just nights.
:-)
So glad things are better for you! For us, they didn’t get really good until about 4 months. That’s coincidentally also when he learned how to fall asleep on his own :) We used a lovey and it worked great for us.
OH MY GOODNESS I POSITIVELY CANNOT WAIT FOR HER TO FALL ASLEEP ON HER OWN! Things are definitely better, but I was just talking with Jon about how much I’m looking forward to her learning to put herself to sleep. Lucy basically cries only when she is hungry (which we can predict and solve) and when she is tired (which we can predict, but not always solve). So, yes, three months is better, but I’m really eager to try the Tracy-Hogg-style pick up/put down thing at four months!
at around 12 weeks is when we gave Benjamin his blankie – he still loves it and it is definitely helpful for him putting himself to sleep (especially if we are traveling and he’s not in his own bed). It didn’t help him put himself to sleep for a while, but now it’s great. We have the rule that he can only have it at sleep time so he doesn’t drag it around all day (although he has been known to go into his room and pull it out of the crib…)
Lucy loves her new burp rags so much (I bought 30 white washcloths at Target for $7.50), I’m thinking about helping her adopt them as her loveys — this way, if she loses one, we’ll have another 29 for her to choose from. But maybe that isn’t how loveys work… :)
Hey Ann,
here is something I would love to hear your thoughts on and all of your readers: nursing…how long? how to stop. No I don’t want to stop until after the 12 months, but I usally start reading about things in advance. I have friends that nursed until 3 and some stopped at 6 months. I just am wondering what you thing and your readers have experienced. Of course the timing of the second child will effect the decision as well….
First, Ann, don’t fret if it takes Lucy a while to find her lovey… um… Gabriel is 20 months and still hasn’t attached to anything like that but shows no signs at all of seperation fears. Loveys are good and they often help and heaven knows they are popular… but don’t be discouraged if the very good burp cloth idea doesn’t work out… you’ll all get there sooner or later with or without a Lovey. : )
Second, Gabriel pretty much weaned himself at 10 months… though I was willing to go to 12. I started offering him some formula in a cup (full on cup, no sippy for us) during the summer months because it was just so hot and I wanted to be sure he was getting lots of hydration and slowly over about a month and a half he just started to lose interest until one day he looked at my boob like it was a total stranger. It was very easy for us (Thank God for all blessings, eh?)… the next one will be much harder I am certain, since sunshine *all* the time is a desert! ; )
I think having 29 burp rags as loveys is an awesome idea!
Evan really connected to the pacifier as a lovey for a while. We only used it at nap and bedtime, and he just loved to see it when we put him in the crib. When we weaned him from the paci at 11 months, he had a hard time. However, since then, he is definitely generous with his bedtime affections. He likes to go to sleep holding something, but it can be anything. Sometimes it’s a ball, sometimes it’s a car, sometimes it’s a stuffed toy, book, or blanket – it depends on what he was playing with before bedtime.
As far as nursing goes, I’m still nursing at 18 months. When we started, I gave myself permission to go for a certain length of time, then reevaluate (it hurt so much at the beginning, I wasn’t sure I’d stick it out). First it was 6 weeks. Then 3 months . Then 6 months. And so on. Now I’m figuring he’ll self wean at some point soon. He only nurses 1-2x/day and skips nursing sometimes. My general policy has become “don’t offer, don’t refuse.” If he doesn’t ask for it, then we don’t do it. Honestly, I think it will be harder on me when he stops than on him. I love our nursing times together because he’s so sweet and cuddly. Most of the rest of the time he’s go, go, go. It’s nice to have a little down time together.
Deborah, Thanks for that! I have had the same start as you..2 weeks, 6weeks and so on…but know she has gone from being able to take a bottle if I am away to only wanting to nurse and full out scream if someone even tries to give the bottle…so sometimes I have horrifying thoughts of a 5 year old coming up to me saying “mom, nurse, mom”. But your words are comforting. Thanks.
About the 29 loveys — Benjamin has 4 identical blankets – that way there’s always at least one clean.
About the nursing – I had planned to nurse for a year, but weaned Benjamin at 9 months because I was 2 months pregnant and ran out of milk (plus I was so queasy all the time and my breasts were so sensitive that it was not enjoyable at all). Anyway – he never wanted a bottle, but I guess when the milk supply ran out he changed his mind about it because we didn’t have a problem switching him to formula (we made the entire transition in about a week’s time). Once he turned one, I started cutting out one bottle of formula every few days and replacing it with one cup (we use the straw cups) of whole milk. After about 2 weeks, he had made the switch from formula to milk which has been great.
What the lactation consultants I worked with when we were still pregnant with Benjamin recommended in terms of weaning is to eliminate one feeding per week and replace it with either milk or formula (depending on the baby’s age). This prevents engorgement in the mother. I was able to wean much more quickly because I had no milk left.