At last: a new post
Hi folks.
Sorry I've been away. Regular readers will know that I had to take the blog down for a bit and it's taken me a while to work through deciding which posts to re-publish and edit. (The blog is now limited strictly to stuff about the pregnancy and isn't allowed to digress into family stuff and other areas.)
So as it's been a while since my last "new" post, what's been happening? Mrs T has finished at work and is able to relax and enjoy being pregnant. She's finally started to let herself read about pregnancy and try to learn something of what she'd let herself in for. (Birth seems a pretty daunting prospect!) We've signed up to "Parentcraft" classes with our local midwives (what used to be called antenatal classes) and also for a private "Preparing for Birth" class run by an independent midwife in London. A 30-week scan showed everything as it should be.
We had Three in a bed recommended to us by very good friends whose son has shared their bed since day one. (He's now about 16 months and is beginning to use a cot-bed.) I was intrigued and have nearly finished reading it through; it's a well-researched and passionate argument for co-sleeping, and suggests that babies who share the family bed do better in just about every area. They sleep better, feed better, grow more confident, become less clingy and more. And the parents sleep better, too, allegedly. Sounds pretty miraculous, and our friends did admit they've found it had work but "wouldn't want to do it any other way". Reading through, I've become increasingly enthusiastic about the idea, although many clearly have big reservations. I'll maybe try to post a fuller review some time. Mrs T certainly isn't sure about the idea; she's going to read the book when I've finished it.
In the meantime she's been reading The Baby Whisperer solves all your problems, which seems a much more mainstream parenting guide - although I say this before I've read it myself. (Mrs T did notice that it doesn't reject t he idea of co-sleeping outright, which many books seem to do.)
And we've continued with the excellent The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, reading it week by week the pregnancy has developed. We've read on to the end now to get a clue as to what's ahead!
5 comments:
So happy that you, Mrs. T, and Flicker are doing well and all is progressing! I can't believe it's almost here! From this side of the ocean, the time seems to have flown by! Ha ha. Hope you are having fun - I'm so excited for you guys!
just lovely that you're getting up to your eyeballs in baby stuff! we compromised on the bed issue by keeping him in our room, first in a bassinet next to the bed, currently in his crib/cot on the other side of our room. someday, when my mother moves into her own place (long story), we'll put him in his own room, downstairs. until then, a few fee away is working really well for all of us.
That's great that you are getting time to do baby research.
If you have a chance, pick up the DVD for "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. It's a great method for calming a fussy infant. My younger son rarely cried. We kept him swaddled in a Miracle Blanket and we followed the other methods suggested and our boy truly was content. I wish I had known about it for my older son.
I am sending you and Mrs. T. all my best wishes.
Dh and i try not to cosleep (neither of us is particularly comfortable with it) but when you are breastfeeding sometimes it is just very hard not to. Chloe was in her own bed 100% of the time by 9-10 months, but it took that long. Her bed is *still* in our room though -- not by our choice, but because of our ongoing renovation. She is looking forward to her own room at this point...
We never sleep-trained and it was not a problem with Alexander at all, but with Chloe it became a huge problem and she still doesn't sleep through every night (at 2 1/2!!!) So with the twins, i plan to sleep-train and have heard many good recommendations for Weissbluth's book. It is kind of against my instincts -- which run more toward an 'attachment parenting'-type outlook -- but especially with two at once, i think more structure will be necessary simply for sanity's sake.
I have also heard alot of good things about 'Happiest baby on the block' though i have not seen it myself.
Let us know more about your book recommendations!
Co-sleeping just happened for us. My first daughter woke just about every hour on the hour for most of her first year. Naturally I fell asleep feeding her and so the co-sleeping became our way.
Personally, I find it a necessity rather than a choice. It is the best way to get a decent run of sleep but I sleep better without the kids in the bed and so do they.
And generally speaking (although I'm sure not true of you!!) the dads tend to sleep as per usual while mum only ever sleeps lightly and is easily disturbed in order to protect the bub from being rolled on by said soundly snoozing dad!
As my FIL said, it's the most natural thing in the world and I don't know what the fuss is about!
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