Sleep, Glorious Sleep

Juliet passed out on our bed after some tummy time.

 
Over the past couple of weeks, Juliet has begun sleeping through the night.  Before I was a parent, I would have considered "through the night" to be something like 10:00 pm till 8:00 am.  Now, I understand that for an eleven-week old, six or seven consecutive hours of sleep counts as "through the night."

Juliet now consistently goes down at 10:30 pm and sleeps through until at least 4:45 am.  Three times now, she's slept past 6:00 am.  On more than one occasion, I have woken in a panic thinking, "OhmyGod!  She's not made a peep since 10:30!  Is she still breathing?!?!"  Thankfully, she's been happily snoozing in her crib when I've gone to check on her.

This morning, she slept till 6:26.  When I woke up and looked at my watch, I couldn't help but smile and say a prayer of thanksgiving.  It's as if our sweet little angel knew we needed to sleep in.  (Oh, how sad that sleeping past 6:00 am is considered "sleeping in" for us!)  Yesterday was Ray's birthday, and we spent the better part of the day with our CrossFit Black Box family.  The gym was having a fundraiser and multiple workouts.  We took Juliet with us when we went to the gym at 9:00 am.  She stayed there with us until I took her home a little after noon.  Then, we took her with us to the CFBB Christmas party, and we passed her around to several gym members.  (I am so thankful that she's such a happy baby and lets other people hold her without crying.  It makes me feel like we're raising a sociable child, and it makes me feel less anxious about others holding her if she's happy while they're doing it.)  I guess because her day was so busy (she was awake a lot), she was worn out and slept well.  I know Ray and I were worn out, so the extra uninterrupted sleep was something we both needed.

Ray credits On Becoming Babywise for this sleep.  In fact, the subtitle of that book is something like "Giving your infant the gift of sleep."  While I'm sure Juliet likes to sleep, it really is more of a gift for the parents at this point.  (Perhaps later it's a gift for her?  The ability to sleep through the night must surely be good for her growth and development.)  The book helps you build a schedule around your child's natural eat-wake-sleep cycle.  By encouraging and fostering that pattern, most Babywise kids sleep through the night by three months of age.

It's so funny to hear others talk about when their children sleep through the night.  On one end of the spectrum are people like my parents who say, "You and Patrick were sleeping through the night at two weeks old!"  Um, somehow, I doubt that.  But if we were, maybe that's why we're both of smaller stature... We were STARVED!  (Kidding, Mom!)  Hospital staff beat into mine and Ray's heads that we were to wake Juliet every 2.5 - 3 hours to feed her for the first several weeks, and everything else we read (including Babywise) said the same thing.  At the other end of the spectrum are people who say, "Wow! I haven't slept through the night in six years since our first was born!"  Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou, Juliet, for letting Dad and Mama sleep!

I do think that the schedule and routine we established with Juliet are the main reasons we're getting such good sleep now.  But I also think that we're also very lucky.  Our Juliet is a pretty easy baby from what I've been able to discern.  As I'm typing this, she's napping on the couch next to me, and I have to wonder... Is Juliet an easy baby because that's her personality?  Or is she an easy baby because of what we've done based on our parenting philosophy?  Regardless of the answer, it's awesome to have a baby who doesn't need to be rocked or sung to sleep and who sleeps through the night already.  Reasons number 2387429374 that we love her and think she's the best thing ever.  Ever.

Baby Gear

Now that we've had Juliet here with us for a little more than two months, we've had plenty of opportunity to use most of the items we were given or we bought in preparation for her arrival.  While I was pregnant, I asked my new-mom friends for advice on what to get and what to skip.  They were super helpful, and many went into detail about why they felt certain items were must-haves and others were a waste of time and money.  Of course, there was conflicting advice because I'd asked such a wide variety of people, but knowing the reasoning behind each bit of advice helped us make choices we felt would be right for us.  I thought it'd be worth sharing what we thought regarding baby gear since so many of this blog's readers were kind enough to give us needed items... And since some of our friends are expecting their first baby.  :)

Items We Love

• Medela Pump In Style Advanced Breast Pump. I cannot say enough about this piece of equipment. It allows you to pump from both sides at once, making the process of pumping much faster.  I love that it came with a mini ice chest for storage and that it's just a plain black backpack.  It doesn't scream, "I'm a breast pump!!" so it's not awkward feeling toting it around in public.
• Boppy pillow.  This made feeding Juliet so much easier.  Ray has even used it while giving her a bottle.  It's firmer than regular pillows, too, which I really liked in terms of giving my arms some support.
• Wipe Warmer.  Ray will tell you that this is the best $20 we ever spent.  Juliet screamed bloody murder for the first two weeks of her life each time you changed her diaper because she hated the cold wet wipes on her tiny baby hiney.  Our friends Austin and Katrina recommended this to us, and I wish that we had gotten it before Juliet's birth.  It's made diaper-changing a cheerful, happy time for her.
• Gerber Sleep Sacks.  Okay, so these aren't traditional sleep sacks that can be used as an alternative to swaddling, but they're similar.  These sacks make middle-of-the-night diaper changes so much easier and faster than fumbling with onesie snaps and pants.  Every one of these we got as hand-me-downs, and they're all we use at night now.
• Hospital swaddling blankets.  I wish there was a link to these, but they're not available in stores.  We accidentally managed to take two of them home with us, and they are the best swaddling blankets.  They're made of a sturdy cotton and are 48 inches square.  No other swaddling blanket available in stores will keep our little escape artist swaddled.
• Munchkin Shampoo Rinser.  This thing is the bomb!  Its soft mouth lets us mash it against Juliet's forehead to keep the water out of her eyes, and it's the perfect size to hold a big bottle of Johnson's Baby Shampoo, which helps keep the bathroom a little neater.  I also think it looks a little nicer than a plastic cup from the kitchen.
• Lady Bug Night Light.  It puts off the perfect amount of light, gives Juliet something to stare at other than the ceiling fan, and has real constellations for us to help her find when she's older.
• Clothes.  Juliet received so many clothes as hand-me-downs and as shower gifts that we have not had to purchase anything for her other than some pants as the weather has gotten colder.  We didn't register for any clothes, and I'm glad that we didn't.  I cannot imagine how large her wardrobe would have been if we had.  Plus, I love putting her in outfits and thinking about the person who gave us that outfit.  I've tried to take pictures and send them to the person who gave us the clothes, but that doesn't always work out like I plan.
• Books.  We began reading to Juliet even before she was born.  We still read to her now, and it is the most amazing thing to watch her stare at the colorful pages.
• Monkey Bouncer.  We don't have this exact bouncer, but ours is similar.  I put Juliet in it all the time now.  It's a perfect place for her to hang out while I take care of things around the house so that I don't have to put her in her crib.  And she loves the monkey and mirror that are hanging in front of her for entertainment.

Items to Leave Off Your Registry

• Baby blankets.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that Juliet has eleven blankets.  And, honestly, that was just at last count.  She's gotten several more since I last counted.  Almost every one was handmade by someone who loves us/her.  They are all very special, but I'm so glad we didn't register for any blankets because we would have had to build an addition just for the blankets.
• Clothes.  People love buying baby clothes, and they will buy them for you whether you register for them or not. My advice is not to bother registering for any and save the registry for items you think you really need.

Big Ticket Items
Items like a crib, a dresser, a changing table, a stroller, a car seat, and other bigger (and more expensive) items can be difficult.  There are so many choices that it can be overwhelming, and there really is no right answer.  The way we made our choices on these items was to look at our available space (in the nursery) and to listen to the advice of people who lead similar lifestyles (regarding strollers).

One last thought... Our friends Austin and Katrina gave us a copy of On Becoming Babywise, and our copy is dog-eared and battered already from frequent reading.  It's a fairly controversial book in that people either swear by it or hate it.  (To be quite honest, though, our friends who hate it all admit that they haven't read it.)  This parenting philosophy is what works for our family, and the book was filled with a lot of really helpful information about growth spurts and sleep patterns and what to expect those first few weeks.  I recommend reading it regardless of what kind of parent you think you want to be.  I also recommend reading about the Attachment Parenting philosophy.  The two philosophies are fairly different (although they are not polar opposites as some people would suggest), but both are worth considering.  I have found that AP is not something I agree with or that would work for us, but there is a lot of advocating of trusting your instincts within that philosophy, and I appreciate that.

Juliet relaxing in her bouncer at two weeks old.