When I was pregnant I will admit that whenever I read about someone sharing a family bed I turned my nose up and said “how awful! How could you do that with the risk of SIDS!!!” I had read pamphlet after pamphlet about the dangers of co-sleeping. I never considered that I would do it.
As the baby gets older his sleeping pattern is getting worse. His daddy and I think it’s because he’s teething. Anyway, after his dad would go to work I would guiltily sneak the baby into bed with me in order to get some sleep. I threw the comforter and extra pillows off of the bed and put my hand on the baby’s belly as we slept in peace…finally!
I broke down crying one day and admitted to my husband that I had been doing this. He said he wasn’t so sure it was a good idea since he ‘d read about the dangers as well. Me being the researcher that I am set out to learn more about the actual risks.
You see, I’d really come to love and look forward to sharing a bed with the baby because it’s such a sweet and intimate time.
As many of you know, I am a Dr. Sears advocate. He recommends Co-Sleeping! I breathed a sigh of relief that I’m not a bad mother after all. In fact, if you look at the number of babies who die from SIDS in their cribs and the number from co-sleeping, the crib number is higher even when you weight the numbers
Here is a link to what Dr. Sears has to say about it: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071000.asp#T071006
Of course, I learned that there is a right and a wrong way. After doing my research I made further changes in order to make it safer. Now, the baby starts out in his crib (hates it!) or Amby Baby Hammock (adores it and thinks it’s fun to bounce himself…which is good and bad, lol). When he just won’t go to sleep I bring him into the bed.
This arrangement is working well for us, and I no longer turn my nose up at the thought of it. I do realize that some babie have passed away with this arrangement, and that is in the back of my mind. However, Dr. Sear’s studies and the statistics put my mind to rest. After all, this is the norm in countries where SIDS is unheard of!
My son has been breaking out in hives this past week. Sometimes there will be about 20 and other times there are none at all. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to be bothering him very much and he was his usually perky self.
I took him to the doctor today because the Benadryl hasn’t been taking them away completely. I wanted to get to the bottom of the problem in case it got worse or transferred to his lungs!
We weren’t able to figure out the exact cause as they won’t refer a baby that is so young to an allergist. We did come up with a possible cause that we are supposed to watch. The doctor thinks that it might be the brand new carpeting in our new home.
This makes sense because we have been putting him down on the floor to practice crawling and even to change his diaper. We never did that at the old house because the carpeting was so old. This was a new thing for us and it turns out it wasn’t the best choice.
So, we’re supposed to just keep giving him Benadryl and make sure he doesn’t touch the carpeting.
I told this to my husband when we got home and we agreed that we’d make every effort to keep the baby off of it. I’m writing an ebook for a client so I’ve been busy typing away and my husband had the baby. I just looked over at the baby in his Jumperoo (where daddy put him because it is his favorite thing), and his dad had put a towel under the baby’s feet!
This just struck me as the cutest thing in the entire world. I realized that I would have never thought to put that towel down, but his daddy did because he was just so worried that his soles would start to break out in hives.
It almost made me cry I thought it was so cute!!!!!
The baby is almost 6 months old now and there have been so many wonderful changes! He’s so alert and just into everything. He loves to look around and explore. He LOVES people. He’ll turn and smile at anyone who passes by.
He looks so much older than he is, so people often mistake him for an older baby. He can’t crawl yet and he can only *almost* sit up. There have been instances where my husband and I have to hold our breath because we’re worried that other people don’t quite understand that he’s still really little and needs a lot of support.
We’ve moved into a new home, which is really the best thing for the baby. Now he’ll have his own house to grow up in and explore. Of course, because he’s getting to the point where he’ll be ready to crawl around we’re going to have to really baby proof the house!!! This is nerve-wracking to me! I keep getting visions in my head of him grabbing and choking on something. I think it’s time for me to review the baby heimlich and CPR…
I am going to be posting a lot more because it really is so important for me to keep a record of my baby’s first year!!! 
Stay tuned!
The little guy is five months old now and the changes are amazing! I just can’t believe how much I love this little guy. Here is a (small) list of the wonderful things about my baby:
- He always has a smile for me. Even when he had a 102 degree fever he would take the time to turn and smile at me.
- He LOVES to bounce. His favorite thing in the world is his Jumperoo where he can bounce, bounce, bounce the day away.
- His night time noises. He often coos at night. Sometimes he snores. Both are cute!
- His little tiny toes/lips/ears/fingers/everything
- The fact that he recognizes me so easily. If I laugh across the room he turns to see where I am and to smile at me
- I love our days together. I’m so blessed to be staying at home with him and working online!!!
- His fascination with the world. He doesn’t miss a thing and is interested in everything he sees.
- The fact that he sleeps 8 hours!!!
- The unconditional love is priceless, I will always love him and he will always love me.
Ohhh, there are too many to list. I am having the best experience as a first time mom!!!!
I was anxiously waiting for the day when my baby would find his feet. I would try to get him to play with them all the time with no success. It seemed like he saw them of course…but just didn’t care enough to do anything about it.
Well, it seems he’s finally decided that toes are fun to play with after all! If we have him in a sitting position he’ll often reach down and play with his toes. It is amazing how long they hold his attention! I wish that I had the attention span of a baby!
He tries to pull them up to his mouth even when he’s laying down. He can’t quite get them there though. I guess it’s a matter of developing some upper arm strength in order to be able to grasp them long enough.
All of these milestones lead me to believe that the old adage of “they grow up so fast” is true. I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do next, but I find myself missing each stage as he moves to a new one.
I haven’t updated for a while, but it’s my New Year’s resolution to do so!
The little guy has had so many changes lately and it’s really unbelievable. I’ve noticed that he’s been trying really hard to laugh lately. Every once in a while he would try really hard to imitate a laugh. It usually didn’t sound like a laugh, but we could tell that’s what he was trying to do
We’ll he’s finally learned how! Just about 4 months old and laughing his beautiful belly laugh. My husband started blowing raspberries on his belly and he let out the most precious laugh ever. And, as an added bonus, he repeated the performance.
We got out the video camera and started filming away. Of course he only did one more laugh and then just stared at the camera, haha.
There are so many milestones around this age that it’s so hard to count! I love being a mom so much and find that it gets easier as you’re going along (well…we’ll see what happens in the toddler years;)
We really lucked out because everything just seems kind of easy now. If you’re just starting out with your baby or are about to have your first, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I think it takes a while for hormones to even out and for you to feel normal again, but I finally do.
I can’t think of anything more special than listening to my baby’s first belly laughs!
It is amazing to me to see the changes in my three month old every single day. He loves to try and hold items. If I’ve laid him down for a minute and pick him back up again, he’ll usually have whatever was next to him in his hand (usually a bib or burp cloth for his spit up 
. He tries to sit up so hard. He tried for an hour today while I typed articles for my freelancing service. He was laying on the bed next to me and just trying and trying to sit up. I helped him out a little bit… He still doesn’t like tummy time, but he will do it on a soft surface like our queen size bed. Of COURSE he’s always EXTREMELY supervised during this. We all know the dangers of leaving a baby on a high surface, especially a bed. Anyway, he’ll push himself up fully, and kick his legs a bit. Eventually he gets frustrated and gives up. I think that if there were more traction on the bed he might be able to do it! He is constantly moving and we’ve started to call him wiggle worm. We’ve decide he’s going to be hard to keep up with when he does get to crawling or walking. Speaking of that…he still loves to stand so much that we think he might skip crawling all together! I love him more each and every day.
I think I’ve been blessed with the best, easiest to manage baby in the entire universe! The little man now fall asleep at about 10:00 pm, and doesn’t wake until 5 or 6 am!!! That is just fantastic to me. Of course, with my recent freelance business I’ve been staying up until the wee hours of the night. I go to sleep quite a bit later. Still, the difference is astounding.
I really can’t believe that he’s reached this point already. Honestly, everyone is going to hate me for saying this, I thought raising a baby would be MUCH more difficult. So far it’s been the most precious, rewarding experience of my life.
There is nothing better than the way he smells, the way his breath smells, his little sounds…ugh, I could go on for ages and ages.
So, we’re at three months and getting a full night’s sleep. I feel like we’re accomplishing something!!! Well, us and his Amby Hammock.
I love this little guy more than life
~
Jenn
Now that the little guy is almost three months old, we decided to take him for a stroller walk around town and through the shops. There is the cutest little baby store there, and it took all of my strength not to go nuts!
He needed some socks, but I COULD NOT resist the toys. I think this will be my downfall as a mother. I like the toys just as much as he will/does. I can see it now…”Mommy can I have that new toy?” Hmm…”Ok!”
I ended up getting him Octivity Time by Lamaze
It was marked for three months old, but I didn’t really think the little man would like playing with it just yet. I was wrong!!! He grabs at it and laughs and laughs. There are 10 functions on the toy for the baby to grab and feel, it’s really neat.
Oh boy, I think I’m in for a long addiction. I’m already planning what I want to get him for Christmas!
How do you keep from spoiling your children?
Just a quick little yaaaa hooo post. For the first time ever, my little man stayed asleep until 6 am. I felt soooo refreshed. In fact, I think I woke up and freaked out because it was so “late.” He might have stayed asleep longer if I hadn’t scooped him up right away
Of course, the next night he was up at 4:30 or 5:00, but as they say…
baby steps!
