life with a new baby
Posts tagged naps
Sleep, You Have Been Missed
Feb 19th
Ever since Nathan was a little bitty guy, he’s fought nap time. When I would lay him down for a nap, he would either play in his crib or have a total meltdown, neither of which resulted in any sleep. And on the rare occasions when he would fall asleep, he’d only nap for 20-45 minutes.
Once a day.
Only getting one nap for such a short period of time wasn’t doing Nathan (or me) any good. Nathan would be so tired and grumpy the entire day. Which made me tired and grumpy. And it’s not fun taking care of a tired and grumpy infant when you’re tired and grumpy yourself.
So I started cosleeping with him during nap time, and it has worked like a charm.
Now, he always falls asleep. He sleeps 2-3 hours in such a deep, comfortable sleep that he doesn’t even move or roll over. Plus, I get to nap as well. Even though sometimes I don’t feel like sleeping so I just lay there and listen to him breathe. The only complaint I have about taking a nap with him is that I lose a big chunk of time in the middle of the day to get stuff done. So yeah, laundry’s a bit behind.
And I have an eternally stiff neck and a crick in my shoulder from laying in one single position the whole time we nap. Every day. See, Nathan will only sleep if we are facing each other. So if I roll over and face the other direction, he wakes up and whimpers until I roll back over and face him again. Then, it’s back to sleep. Which is really freaking cute and all, but sometimes it kinda sucks when you’re DYING to roll over but you can’t.
But who cares, right?
Because there are finally people getting some sleep in this house!
That’s a pretty big deal.
I’m happy. Nathan’s happy. In fact, Nathan is so happy during naps now that he even he snuggles into the crook of my arm and wiggles his toes lazily with contentment, which is a stark contrast to how Nathan used to react to naps… with meltdowns and huge, heartbreaking tears.
Now, I totally understand why so many moms cosleep with their infants.
Yes, It Happened Yet Again…
Jan 8th
Nathan had his first bath the other day!
Ok, before you start wondering if we’ve ever bathed our kid, Paul always just took him in the shower with him and just bathed him in there.
It was fast. It was simple. It was less messy. And Nathan really enjoyed it.
So the whole reason we had to give him an actual bath was because Nathan (believe it or not!) actually SLEPT during his nap. He didn’t keep himself awake by talking to himself or thumping his legs. He actually fell asleep right away.
He slept solidly for two hours.
So, do you remember how I told you guys that Nathan was such a stubborn little guy that he was holding in his poop, and making himself painfully constipated because of it? Well, the doctor prescribed some medicine to help with that. I had given it to Nathan hours earlier, but he hadn’t pooped yet.
He pooped during his nap instead.
And boy, did he ever poop.
Remember the MEGA POOP? The poopage that got all into the feet of his sleeper and the grossness of it made me gag? And remember how I said that no poop could possibly, POSSIBLY, be worse than the MEGA POOP?
Oh, was I ever wrong.
This poop, guys… this poop was WORSE. It didn’t seep into the legs of his sleepers.
It did something even grosser.
IT SHOT OUT THE BACK OF HIS DIAPER.
It soaked through his onesie.
It soaked through his crib sheet.
Rank, stinky, vile, no-longer-constipated Nathan Poop was all over the place.
And when I took off his onesie, there was poop CAKED ONTO HIS SKIN. I had to peel it off his back.
I. HAD. TO. PEEL. IT. OFF.
And the smell, oh Lord the smell.
His onesie was ruined. I have never been one to just throw clothes away. I usually go through great lengths to get stains out, and I have this special routine of soaking, coating with stain-removers, and washing that gets the stain out every single time.
But this time, this time I wasn’t going to EVEN go through that.
So after I PEELED the poop off of Nathan’s back, I wiped him down with a wet wipe.
But wet wipes ain’t got crap on… well… crap.
After about 10 wet wipes, his back was still stained with this gross, brown poop color. Nathan needed a shower immediately, and Paul wasn’t able to get in the shower. So we decided that Nathan was big enough to take his first bath.
We filled up the sink with water and added some suds to make a gentle bubble bath.
He loved it!
At first, he was a little bothered by it all. But Paul gently cleaned him with the sprayer, and Nathan was cool after that. In fact, he really loved watching the water cascading down his head. He watched intently as it made tiny splashes in his little pool of water, looking up at us every so often as if to say So this is what I’ve been missing?
Nathan and his monster poops. I still have years left of this, don’t I??
Normalcy Returns
Jan 4th
Because Paul was able to take a little over two weeks off work for Christmas vacation, today was his first day back at work.
Nathan and I missed him while he was gone.
When Nathan first got up this morning, he didn’t realize that his daddy would be gone all day. He was in such a wonderful mood… we spend time playing Peek-a-Boo and Pat-a-Cake, I helped him with his walking skills, and I even held him in my lap and snuggled with him while I watched a short television show.
He acted like he was on top of the world while he was in my lap. He would watch the tv for a few seconds, then he would turn and look at me, grinning from ear to ear while bouncing gleefully up and down, waving his arms exuberantly while drool dripped down his chin.
Everything was a peachy as a postcard’s sunny day until I put him down for a nap.
Well, putting him down for a nap itself wasn’t so bad. He was excited to lay under the mobile and I could hear him cooing happily as I quietly exited the room. The problem occurred when he WOKE UP from his nap.
He totally woke up on the wrong side of the crib.
He was angry, sleepy, pouty, and didn’t hesitate to let me know. He cried and cried for the remainder of the day, escalating to the point of me seriously contemplating yanking out my own hair in frustration. He didn’t want to be held. He didn’t want to be sang to. He didn’t even want to play with his Winnie the Pooh.
I think he missed his daddy.
Once Paul came home, Nathan was still ill-tempered until we put him to bed. Like magic, his tears dried, his angry wails ceased, and a huge smile lit his face.
I have a son who doesn’t like to nap, but who loves going to bed at night. He is not like any other baby I’ve ever known. Well, the fighting-the-naps isn’t a rarity, but the excitement about going to bed at night certainly is.
And the normalcy of Nathan Rising returns…
Nathan’s First Christmas Part II
Dec 27th
Yesterday, I talked some about Nathan’s First Christmas and the fun Nathan had playing with the television’s remote control. But today is all about Nathan opening his first presents. Well, actually, he was only able to open one present. He was in the middle of opening his second present when he had a total meltdown and we had to put him down for a nap.
So anyway, the present-opening ritual went great at first. Nathan and I smiled for the camera because, of course, you have to have pictures of you with your child(ren) on Christmas.
Then I took a rare picture of Nathan and my husband. Paul generally doesn’t like to have his picture taken, much to my dismay because, well, I’m a little Camera Happy at times.
Then, I introduced one of Nathan’s presents to him. He wasn’t sure what to think, but he was totally diggin’ the colorful wrapping paper.
I tore a hole in the paper and put his hand in it, encouraging him to unwrap it himself.
He was curious about this new tradition… the tradition of Ripping Things. But he wasn’t really sure if it was truly okay to just rip something. So I helped him.
Just a little.
When we finally extracted the present from it’s cocoon of festive paper, Nathan took a close look at the box and, yes, HE THREW UP HIS HANDS IN EXUBERANCE. It was a Nathan-sized laptop! I don’t know if he was excited about the new toy or the box. He loves playing with boxes.
He couldn’t believe his good luck. How did he manage to score something so cool without having to do anything for it?
He spent the next few minutes exploring the box, running his little hands along the edges and not quite sure where to go from there. So we took the toy out of the box and handed it to Nathan to play with.
He didn’t just play with it, though. He kept picking it up, turning it over in his hands and thoroughly exploring every aspect of it. He gently touched the screws holding the toy together. He studied the different designs engraved in the plastic. He opened and closed the lid, a quizzical look glued on his face when a childish voice said “bye bye” from the speakers.
But now it was time to open a present labeled “To Paul and Nathan” from Paul’s dad. Paul laid down on the floor with Nathan and showed him who the present was from.
Nathan intently watched his daddy rip off little pieces of the present.
But then, Nathan had a meltdown.
Spontaneously.
He was like an engine that had been running smoothly suddenly starting to smoke and sputter. He randomly threw a tantrum, signifying the present-opening was to be halted so he could nap.
And he napped very well, indeed. I’m sure he dreamed of Nathan-sized laptops, disembodied sing-song childish voices wishing him farewell, and shredded festive wrapping paper wafting in the air.
It was a glorious Christmas, my friends.
Asleep Standing Up
Dec 20th
The other day, I put Nathan in his exersaucer to play. I could hear him banging away at the toys on the tray and talking to the different pieces. After a few minutes, however, all noises coming from his bedroom ceased. I peeked in to see what he had gotten into when I saw that he had fallen asleep while standing up in his exersaucer!
He took a quick, 10 minute catnap. When he woke up, he was refreshed and giddy with Good Mood. Good Mood is a great thing for a baby to have, believe me.
He seriously loves that exersaucer. I think he would totally live inside it if he could. And I’m happy with that because he’s learning all kinds of things… shapes, sounds, textures, etc.
And a happy baby means a happy house.
Recent Comments
Yes! A personal maid would be perfect! Oh, that would free up SO much of my time!!
I'll take a double-layer chocolate one!!
He is SO not happy about it. I feel so bad for him... if only he would groom himself then ...
Don't you just love it? sometimes, I used to think my kids should have come equipped with their own maids ...