A Day In The Life III
Month 3. 24 hours.
Again, 4 hours minimum for basic hygiene and food prep/consumption (2) and picking up after self and baby (2).
Eating (and burping, etc.)...gone down to 5 hours, I'd say, due to increased efficiency and a dropped feeding in the evenings (hooray!) Some days he ate every hour or two, some every four hours - it varied a lot.
15 hours left...
I guess at this point it depends on your baby's temperament. I was very invested in this idea that the Squid was an "easy baby" - the first three weeks, he really wasn't fussy, and his sleep patterns have been pretty good all along. But with the colic and other food issues, the non-fussiness really ceased to be the case after the first three weeks. And I just...didn't realize it, until I went to the "new parents" group at the hospital a few weeks ago. And those babies (all within a few weeks of his age) were not crying, or fussing, or needing to be soothed constantly. There was a little grizzling here and there, but it wasn't constant. They were awake and alert and not unhappy. This was a revelation to me.
Since then, people who spend a lot of time with the Squid have told me that no, it's not usual for a baby to be so unhappy. His gassy tummy has really impacted the care he requires and the way he behaves; he just feels bad a lot of the time, so he fusses and yowls and hollers. We're probably the opposite of the "average" baby on this point - the Mayo Clinic book says the average 2-4 month old fusses/cries about two hours a day - we get about 2 hours a day of alert and calm/happy time. So the rest of the non-sleeping non-eating time is bouncing, soothing, walks, more bouncing, dancing, distraction, burping, anything to make the baby happy. Anything.
I wrote that last week, and am glad to report that since then - exactly at the three-month mark, as everyone had predicted - the tummy issues seem to be on the wane. *knocks on wood* He still refuses to be put down for longer than a few minutes while awake, but our interactions are less of the constant soothing variety and more "conversations," play, book-reading, singing, and smiles. He even had uneventful plane flights last week.
In any case, this category has expanded...basically, to fit the time available. He sleeps about seven hours each night, and naps only 2-4 hours during the day, so that's...five to seven hours a day of general squidwrangling. It's all getting to be much more fun, though, with the increased alertness and happiness and all the new little skills he's picking up.
I'm getting a full night's sleep (interrupted or no) most nights now, when I am not having the insomnia issues and I am at home so Himself can help out. And during the day, now that I'm back at work, the Squid will be at daycare. Life is slowly settling into a manageable state vis a vis sleep and babycare, though teething and various other coming changes and upsets make that a precarious equilibrium, one that will likely disappear and re-appear for the next several years.
I won't be tracking time like this on the blog from here on out, but I'm glad I did it for the first three months, since I'm sure I'll forget what life was actually like - it's already all hazy from sleep deprivation, and I'm sure it will get hazier as time passes. This blog is all the "baby book" I'm ever going to manage, so if you find some of the parenting stuff boring, I'm sorry - but I'm writing it down for myself as much as anyone.
Again, 4 hours minimum for basic hygiene and food prep/consumption (2) and picking up after self and baby (2).
Eating (and burping, etc.)...gone down to 5 hours, I'd say, due to increased efficiency and a dropped feeding in the evenings (hooray!) Some days he ate every hour or two, some every four hours - it varied a lot.
15 hours left...
I guess at this point it depends on your baby's temperament. I was very invested in this idea that the Squid was an "easy baby" - the first three weeks, he really wasn't fussy, and his sleep patterns have been pretty good all along. But with the colic and other food issues, the non-fussiness really ceased to be the case after the first three weeks. And I just...didn't realize it, until I went to the "new parents" group at the hospital a few weeks ago. And those babies (all within a few weeks of his age) were not crying, or fussing, or needing to be soothed constantly. There was a little grizzling here and there, but it wasn't constant. They were awake and alert and not unhappy. This was a revelation to me.
Since then, people who spend a lot of time with the Squid have told me that no, it's not usual for a baby to be so unhappy. His gassy tummy has really impacted the care he requires and the way he behaves; he just feels bad a lot of the time, so he fusses and yowls and hollers. We're probably the opposite of the "average" baby on this point - the Mayo Clinic book says the average 2-4 month old fusses/cries about two hours a day - we get about 2 hours a day of alert and calm/happy time. So the rest of the non-sleeping non-eating time is bouncing, soothing, walks, more bouncing, dancing, distraction, burping, anything to make the baby happy. Anything.
I wrote that last week, and am glad to report that since then - exactly at the three-month mark, as everyone had predicted - the tummy issues seem to be on the wane. *knocks on wood* He still refuses to be put down for longer than a few minutes while awake, but our interactions are less of the constant soothing variety and more "conversations," play, book-reading, singing, and smiles. He even had uneventful plane flights last week.
In any case, this category has expanded...basically, to fit the time available. He sleeps about seven hours each night, and naps only 2-4 hours during the day, so that's...five to seven hours a day of general squidwrangling. It's all getting to be much more fun, though, with the increased alertness and happiness and all the new little skills he's picking up.
I'm getting a full night's sleep (interrupted or no) most nights now, when I am not having the insomnia issues and I am at home so Himself can help out. And during the day, now that I'm back at work, the Squid will be at daycare. Life is slowly settling into a manageable state vis a vis sleep and babycare, though teething and various other coming changes and upsets make that a precarious equilibrium, one that will likely disappear and re-appear for the next several years.
I won't be tracking time like this on the blog from here on out, but I'm glad I did it for the first three months, since I'm sure I'll forget what life was actually like - it's already all hazy from sleep deprivation, and I'm sure it will get hazier as time passes. This blog is all the "baby book" I'm ever going to manage, so if you find some of the parenting stuff boring, I'm sorry - but I'm writing it down for myself as much as anyone.
posted by The Stute Fish at 13:05
2 Comments:
I know we talked about this a little, but with my colic-queen, she stopped having stomach issues around 3 months. She also started showing colic signs around 3 weeks, which got increasingly worse to about 6 weeks, then leveled off at horrible until they dropped off - somewhat magically - at 4 months. Which means it is very likely that you are almost at the end of colic. (Yay!)
It is funny how seeing other babies can make you feel better about your own situation. My baby IS colic-y is way better for the self-esteem than I am just a whiny wimp. (the latter had been my theory about myself until I realized Ada was a huge crank.)
Your story is heartening to me. And yes, it has certianly helped inure me to his cries!
And yes, I feel much better about myself now that I've accepted the pediatrician's word and admitted that he's a bit colicky. I've heard of much worse, but at least I don't feel like I was hitting the end of my rope with an easy baby!
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