So, this week Kolby said he’d like to write our blog post for us, and I’m just going to type what he says:
I love my manta (blanket). And I love preschool. I like church because I love Jesus. I love my toys. My favorite toys are my cars, and my favorite car is my new car from Christmas. It is my favorite because I like it, because it makes noise. My other favorite toys are my trains. Making a train track is fun.
I’m going to write what our family did this week. On Monday we didn’t go to school because it was a holiday. On Tuesday it was Isaac’s doctor’s appointment, and Mommy’s doctor’s appointment. And Camden was sick that day. On tv we watched the parade for the new president. On Wednesday we went to the temple open house. The temple made me feel good, it was quiet and beautiful. My favorite part of the temple was the room with the baptismal font. Later we went to my piano lesson. I played three songs on the piano. And then on Thursday it was Eli’s birthday party. Before the party we decorated the house with balloons and ribbons. People came to Eli’s birthday party. Kaitlyn and Nikki, Chelsie and Emily, Paige, and my cousins, Jaden and Kyler, and aunt Mel and aunt Annette all came. When people came, we got out cars to play with. I played in a box too. After we played, we sang “Happy Birthday” to Eli and ate cake. It was a car cake. After everyone else left, Jaden stayed for a sleep-over. We played together and then we went to sleep. The next day we played and colored together. On Saturday I helped Mommy get some food out of the food storage. And I helped Daddy move the clothes because my brothers and I moved bedrooms. Today was Sunday. We hade stake conference at church, it was a special meeting where we listened to people talk. And that’s what we did this week.
Showing posts with label Blanket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blanket. Show all posts
25 January 2009
02 November 2008
Any Suggestions?
Hey, I was thinking I’d bring this up, in case any of you have had similar problems and had any good suggestions for me. Over the last week Kolby has started to wet his pants a few times, and I tried to not make a big deal about it the first few times, but when it continued I figured we had to do something to stop the behavior quickly. (I mean, he has been fully potty trained, day and night, for a long time now, so we definitely know that he can do it). I have heard of kids regressing when they are still in the potty training stages, but I didn’t expect it to happen this late. And I know that I had a problem with wetting my pants when I was even older than Kolby – which my mom hated (rightfully so) and I really wanted to quickly get him past this before he formed any kind of a habit or anything. Anyways, we told him that his special blanket would go on time out for more than 1 day if he did it again, and he did. So we put his blanket away for 2 days – he stayed dry for those 2 days and I gave him his blanket back, and then he did it again that afternoon. We took his blanket back away and said he couldn’t have any toys or books in bed when he went for naps or bedtime. He did it again, and we gave him the same punishments, adding to it that he couldn’t color or read his special magnet books during the day. He stayed dry since yesterday, and we had several talks about how everyone gets the same signals that they need to go to the bathroom and we just need to pay attention to those and go when we need to. I also talked to him about choosing the right and choosing the wrong, and good and bad consequences, and he seemed to understand those ideas, and the fact the wetting his pants was choosing the wrong. And this morning I told reminded him about when we got “big boy underwear” for him and how we told him then that he could only have them if he stayed dry, and I told him that I would have to take away his big boy underwear if he kept choosing to do this. (I am running out of ideas for things and privileges to take away from him, since his blanket is his most special possession and I don’t really want to take away preschool or piano lessons, which are his favorite activities). So, when we were changing clothes after church and his pants were wet, I got pretty mad. I spanked him, put a diaper on him, and put him in bed without lunch. It’s frustrating, because talking to him nicely and explaining why we do things and calmly taking away privileges hasn’t seemed to be having any effect. So, I have been thinking today that we should make sure at his 5-year checkup with the doctor tomorrow that he doesn’t have a bladder infection or anything, but assuming that that is not the case, does anyone have any suggestions for us? Staying dry at night doesn’t seem to be his problem, and he has stayed dry for months at a time in the past so we know he has the ability to do it. And reasoning, punishing, and getting mad have not yet helped. I know that this is one of the things that parents have no control over, but it really doesn’t feel like this is a power struggle – he doesn’t seem like he’s doing it just to be naughty. (I’m kind of hoping that the doctor will say it is a bladder infection – although that would make me feel pretty guilty for getting mad at him today, which I already do a little – but that would be something easily fixable. I’m concerned, though, that that won’t be it and we won’t have a quick fix for this problem. So, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
13 April 2008
Double-Swaddling and Other Baby Sleeping Tips
The other day my friend who has a toddler and a baby Isaac’s age e-mailed me for suggestions on how to get her baby to sleep better. I have been thinking for a while now that I should share our “tricks” to getting our babies to sleep on the blog, especially our swaddling technique, which is rather uncommon. So, instead of re-writing what I wrote to her, I will just post part of the e-mail I sent her, and add a few photos. Hopefully this can be as helpful for you as it has been for us:
I am not the type of mom who cancels activities for kids' sleep schedules -- I do try to plan doctors' appointments so they don't fall right after lunchtime (when my kids take their daily nap), but I won't stay home from something because my kids will miss their nap or get to bed really late at night, and I know that doesn't work for lots of other people. Also, when the kids are babies (like with Isaac now) I don't have them on a certain sleep schedule during the day. When they are happy, I let them lay on the floor, sit in a swing, jump in a jumper, or hold them, and if they get fussy and they're not messy or hungry, I try to put them to sleep -- no matter what time it is. And they may not sleep at a regular time during the day, but as long as they sleep through the night (and sometimes during the day) I'm ok with that. The other thing I do with Isaac is try to feed him every 4 hours in the daytime, not at certain times of the day. So, if he wakes up at 7am and he takes a bottle, then I'll give him another one at 11am, then if he happens to be asleep at 3pm I'll wait until he wakes up to feed him (I NEVER wake up a sleeping baby [unless the baby is underweight or has some health issues and needs to be fed on a schedule in order to gain weight]). So, then if he were to eat at 3:30, and then at 7:30 he is acting happy and not hungry yet, I will wait until he acts hungry and give him a bottle then. That works better for me, because I'm not trying to make him eat or sleep when he doesn't want to, and if he takes a longer/shorter nap than usual it doesn't throw off the whole schedule.
So, here are some things that we do that I think really help with the sleeping -- you may have tried some of them already, but this has worked for us. We swaddle our babies. All of our boys have been swaddled, and it has helped them hold still so they can sleep longer. And then when Camden was a baby my friend showed us another way to swaddle that we'd never seen before, and I love it so much that I show all the parents/potential future parents that I can. We call it double swaddling. I will post pictures with this description of the swaddling, because it is kind of hard to understand if you can’t see it (thank you, Kolby, for taking many of these pictures for me – this is the first time I’ve let Kolby use our digital camera). So, basically I take two blankets -- usually lightweight cotton blankets, and it is easier if they are square. I've looked around a lot, and the best ones I've found are at Wal Mart (or at least they were there when Isaac was born), they come in packs of four and are rather cute designs/colors. They are 40x40 inches (rather than the more common 30x30 or 30x40 inch ones I find most places). The 40x40 is the perfect size for a little baby, and now that Isaac's getting a little bigger a 50x50 or even 60x60 inch blanket would be nice, but you might have to make them. And they need to be thin, or they will be way too bulky once you get them all wrapped up.
So, I lay out one blanket with a corner pointing up, and fold that top corner over, then I lay the second blanket on top of the first, folding the top corner over on that one too. Then I lay the baby down with his head off the blanket at the top where it has been folded down. I take the top blanket on the left and wrap it over his left arm, then lift him up by his legs and wrap it under his back, then do this on the right too. Then I use the bottom blanket to swaddle like normal -- wrap over the left side, up over the feet, and then over the right side. I swear this technique adds an extra few hours of sleep because they can't get out and whack themselves I the face as they flail their arms about -- Isaac has only gotten out of this swaddle a handful of times, and that's usually when we are lazy and don't wrap him very snuggly. I know people who think our kids would be too old for swaddling, but why stop something that works so well? I continue to swaddle as long as I can keep them in the blankets, and once they grow out of it I have never had a problem with the baby transitioning to sleeping without being swaddled. I swaddle him to sleep every night, and off and on through the day to nap. One thing I have noticed, though, is that since I've done this type of swaddling with my last two boys, they seem not to roll over, crawl, or walk quite as early as the other two did, but not really delayed -- like Camden walked at almost 12 months as compared to Kolby walking at 10 months and Eli at 9 months, but I don't know if that's just the different kids or if it has to do with being swaddled so they don't do as much tummy time or rolling over as early on. But either way, they haven't been delayed later than the norm.
The other sleeping aid that I swear by is our swing. We were given a Fisher Price Aquarium Swing (it has a fish design on it, and fish hang from the mobile) when Kolby was born, and we use it so much that we are now on our second one with baby number 4. It is the kind of swing that goes from side to side or can be turned to swing from front to back (my kids have all preferred side to side, although sometimes it does calm them down to switch the direction of the swinging if they get fussy and change things up a bit, although Isaac has only ever swung side to side). I think the type of swing is key -- we have visited family several times and they have borrowed normal swings, and I don't like them at all (they do sleep better in those than just in a crib, but not nearly as well in a side-swinging swing). The old ones just swing front to back, they usually sit up pretty straight, so they can't lie back at all (which really doesn't work for newborns), and some old swings have to be wound up, which would not be nice to deal with. Our swing goes through batteries every couple of weeks or so, but our sleep is worth that to us. And they aren't too expensive -- I think this swing was around $99 new, but that was almost 5 years ago, and I got our second one at a garage sale for $30. I saw one that looked brand new the other day for around $60 at the Once Upon A Child store near our house, over by Kohls on 124th Street. Anyways, our kids sleep in the swing all night long, and nap in it during the day. I swaddle Isaac and then lay him in the swing (this works because the seat reclines enough so they are more laying than sitting). And I don't worry about buckling him in yet, because he never gets out of his swaddling, so he's not going anywhere. And again, I haven't had problems with our kids transitioning to sleeping in a crib later on, when they grow out of the swing/swaddling. My kids stay in the swing for months -- which also saves room because the swing takes up a lot less room than a crib. The only problem is when going for extended stays to family when they are still babies and used to sleeping in the swing, it is hard to get them to sleep as well without a swing, and can be difficult to find a side swinging swing to borrow while out of town.
Our kids also use pacifiers. Isaac mostly uses his now to fall asleep -- he doesn't keep it in his mouth well, and we hold it in while we put him to sleep, then it always falls out while he is sleeping. Sometimes, if he is in the swing, swaddled, trying to fall asleep, but I don't want to sit there holding his pacifier in, I take a flap of his swaddling blankets, a burp clothe, or another small blanket, and bunch it up behind the pacifier so it can stay in place until he falls asleep all the way. He uses a Soothie, just because that's what they gave him in the NICU. The other boys used ones from the grocery store, and Kolby never really took one at all.
I think those are about all of our sleeping "tricks." Oh, and I guess I should mention how we actually get Isaac to sleep. If he doesn't happen to fall asleep on his own, and we know he's tired and ready to go down, we check his diaper, swaddle him nice and tight, feed him a bottle, give him his pacifier, and then if he starts to wake up a bit before we lay him down this is how I get him to fall back to sleep (and it has worked pretty well with our other boys too). I stand up and hold him almost horizontal in my arms (and since he is swaddled I don't have legs and arms moving all around), and I hold him facing me (so his pacifier stays in his mouth), and then I make little tiny jiggling movements, kind of like jello. I know that's a weird way to describe it, but that's what it makes me think of. He usually can't last too long awake when I do that. If we really starts to wake up and starts fussing, I make loud shushing noises close to his ear (I guess that's more for a little baby, but I still do it).
Also, if you haven't read The Happiest Baby on the Block, I would recommend it. Lots of the things I do are covered in that book. (Although the author gives some pretty ridiculous reasons for why he thinks his suggestions work, the suggestions do work). He suggests the 5 'S's: swing, swaddle, shush, shake (jiggle), and suck. And the more of these suggestions you use all together, the better they work. I was already doing many of these things before I read the book when I was pregnant with Camden, but it gave me a few extra suggestions I hadn't been trying.
So, does anyone have in good suggestions for potty training? (Especially for helping kids that have been potty trained successfully and then regress later on?)
I am not the type of mom who cancels activities for kids' sleep schedules -- I do try to plan doctors' appointments so they don't fall right after lunchtime (when my kids take their daily nap), but I won't stay home from something because my kids will miss their nap or get to bed really late at night, and I know that doesn't work for lots of other people. Also, when the kids are babies (like with Isaac now) I don't have them on a certain sleep schedule during the day. When they are happy, I let them lay on the floor, sit in a swing, jump in a jumper, or hold them, and if they get fussy and they're not messy or hungry, I try to put them to sleep -- no matter what time it is. And they may not sleep at a regular time during the day, but as long as they sleep through the night (and sometimes during the day) I'm ok with that. The other thing I do with Isaac is try to feed him every 4 hours in the daytime, not at certain times of the day. So, if he wakes up at 7am and he takes a bottle, then I'll give him another one at 11am, then if he happens to be asleep at 3pm I'll wait until he wakes up to feed him (I NEVER wake up a sleeping baby [unless the baby is underweight or has some health issues and needs to be fed on a schedule in order to gain weight]). So, then if he were to eat at 3:30, and then at 7:30 he is acting happy and not hungry yet, I will wait until he acts hungry and give him a bottle then. That works better for me, because I'm not trying to make him eat or sleep when he doesn't want to, and if he takes a longer/shorter nap than usual it doesn't throw off the whole schedule.
So, here are some things that we do that I think really help with the sleeping -- you may have tried some of them already, but this has worked for us. We swaddle our babies. All of our boys have been swaddled, and it has helped them hold still so they can sleep longer. And then when Camden was a baby my friend showed us another way to swaddle that we'd never seen before, and I love it so much that I show all the parents/potential future parents that I can. We call it double swaddling. I will post pictures with this description of the swaddling, because it is kind of hard to understand if you can’t see it (thank you, Kolby, for taking many of these pictures for me – this is the first time I’ve let Kolby use our digital camera). So, basically I take two blankets -- usually lightweight cotton blankets, and it is easier if they are square. I've looked around a lot, and the best ones I've found are at Wal Mart (or at least they were there when Isaac was born), they come in packs of four and are rather cute designs/colors. They are 40x40 inches (rather than the more common 30x30 or 30x40 inch ones I find most places). The 40x40 is the perfect size for a little baby, and now that Isaac's getting a little bigger a 50x50 or even 60x60 inch blanket would be nice, but you might have to make them. And they need to be thin, or they will be way too bulky once you get them all wrapped up.
So, I lay out one blanket with a corner pointing up, and fold that top corner over, then I lay the second blanket on top of the first, folding the top corner over on that one too. Then I lay the baby down with his head off the blanket at the top where it has been folded down. I take the top blanket on the left and wrap it over his left arm, then lift him up by his legs and wrap it under his back, then do this on the right too. Then I use the bottom blanket to swaddle like normal -- wrap over the left side, up over the feet, and then over the right side. I swear this technique adds an extra few hours of sleep because they can't get out and whack themselves I the face as they flail their arms about -- Isaac has only gotten out of this swaddle a handful of times, and that's usually when we are lazy and don't wrap him very snuggly. I know people who think our kids would be too old for swaddling, but why stop something that works so well? I continue to swaddle as long as I can keep them in the blankets, and once they grow out of it I have never had a problem with the baby transitioning to sleeping without being swaddled. I swaddle him to sleep every night, and off and on through the day to nap. One thing I have noticed, though, is that since I've done this type of swaddling with my last two boys, they seem not to roll over, crawl, or walk quite as early as the other two did, but not really delayed -- like Camden walked at almost 12 months as compared to Kolby walking at 10 months and Eli at 9 months, but I don't know if that's just the different kids or if it has to do with being swaddled so they don't do as much tummy time or rolling over as early on. But either way, they haven't been delayed later than the norm.
The other sleeping aid that I swear by is our swing. We were given a Fisher Price Aquarium Swing (it has a fish design on it, and fish hang from the mobile) when Kolby was born, and we use it so much that we are now on our second one with baby number 4. It is the kind of swing that goes from side to side or can be turned to swing from front to back (my kids have all preferred side to side, although sometimes it does calm them down to switch the direction of the swinging if they get fussy and change things up a bit, although Isaac has only ever swung side to side). I think the type of swing is key -- we have visited family several times and they have borrowed normal swings, and I don't like them at all (they do sleep better in those than just in a crib, but not nearly as well in a side-swinging swing). The old ones just swing front to back, they usually sit up pretty straight, so they can't lie back at all (which really doesn't work for newborns), and some old swings have to be wound up, which would not be nice to deal with. Our swing goes through batteries every couple of weeks or so, but our sleep is worth that to us. And they aren't too expensive -- I think this swing was around $99 new, but that was almost 5 years ago, and I got our second one at a garage sale for $30. I saw one that looked brand new the other day for around $60 at the Once Upon A Child store near our house, over by Kohls on 124th Street. Anyways, our kids sleep in the swing all night long, and nap in it during the day. I swaddle Isaac and then lay him in the swing (this works because the seat reclines enough so they are more laying than sitting). And I don't worry about buckling him in yet, because he never gets out of his swaddling, so he's not going anywhere. And again, I haven't had problems with our kids transitioning to sleeping in a crib later on, when they grow out of the swing/swaddling. My kids stay in the swing for months -- which also saves room because the swing takes up a lot less room than a crib. The only problem is when going for extended stays to family when they are still babies and used to sleeping in the swing, it is hard to get them to sleep as well without a swing, and can be difficult to find a side swinging swing to borrow while out of town.
Our kids also use pacifiers. Isaac mostly uses his now to fall asleep -- he doesn't keep it in his mouth well, and we hold it in while we put him to sleep, then it always falls out while he is sleeping. Sometimes, if he is in the swing, swaddled, trying to fall asleep, but I don't want to sit there holding his pacifier in, I take a flap of his swaddling blankets, a burp clothe, or another small blanket, and bunch it up behind the pacifier so it can stay in place until he falls asleep all the way. He uses a Soothie, just because that's what they gave him in the NICU. The other boys used ones from the grocery store, and Kolby never really took one at all.
I think those are about all of our sleeping "tricks." Oh, and I guess I should mention how we actually get Isaac to sleep. If he doesn't happen to fall asleep on his own, and we know he's tired and ready to go down, we check his diaper, swaddle him nice and tight, feed him a bottle, give him his pacifier, and then if he starts to wake up a bit before we lay him down this is how I get him to fall back to sleep (and it has worked pretty well with our other boys too). I stand up and hold him almost horizontal in my arms (and since he is swaddled I don't have legs and arms moving all around), and I hold him facing me (so his pacifier stays in his mouth), and then I make little tiny jiggling movements, kind of like jello. I know that's a weird way to describe it, but that's what it makes me think of. He usually can't last too long awake when I do that. If we really starts to wake up and starts fussing, I make loud shushing noises close to his ear (I guess that's more for a little baby, but I still do it).
Also, if you haven't read The Happiest Baby on the Block, I would recommend it. Lots of the things I do are covered in that book. (Although the author gives some pretty ridiculous reasons for why he thinks his suggestions work, the suggestions do work). He suggests the 5 'S's: swing, swaddle, shush, shake (jiggle), and suck. And the more of these suggestions you use all together, the better they work. I was already doing many of these things before I read the book when I was pregnant with Camden, but it gave me a few extra suggestions I hadn't been trying.
So, does anyone have in good suggestions for potty training? (Especially for helping kids that have been potty trained successfully and then regress later on?)
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