6 month Sleep Regression

So my daughter seems to think participation in all sleep regressions is a requirement. We are currently experiencing what seems to be the 6 month sleep regression. We sleep trained at the 4 month regression and it worked within a week or so. Those same strategies are no longer effective.

She has continued to need to eat at least once-twice a night since then but had been eating and going
back to sleep without any fuss. The overnight feeding is done in the dark with no talking and have tried both no diaper and diaper changes (prior to this spell we had no diaper change overnight). We use white noise, a sleep sack, and she sleeps in a crib in her own room.

She will now only stay asleep after the overnight feeding if held and today has begun revolting against her naps. Co-sleeping is not an option for us though I did try sleeping on the floor of her room last night. She would still only go to sleep if I was holding her on the floor.  Punk!

Send survival tips and wine!

On the Road Again

We made another trek to PA this weekend.  A college roommate is turning 40 at the end of the month and her sisters were throwing her a party.  It was an all day event scouring local vineyards and capped
off with dinner.  It was a blast visiting the with old friends and meeting some new people who are special to her.

My brother traveled with us again since JT had to stay behind due to work.  The good traveler streak continued.  Though this time we traveled up at night.  Well we left at around 5, drove for a bit, ate, changed her into her pajamas and she fell asleep around her normal bedtime.  She did a great job in the car; however, once we got to my parents it was a different story.  The whole production of getting of the car and going into the house along with being plopped into a pack n' play in a strange room did not make for a smooth transition.  After about an hour of trying to get her to sleep around 2 am, she and I ended up sleeping the rest of the night in the recliner downstairs.  Not the most comfortable thing but it at least allowed us to get some sleep.

We actually ended up in the recliner the next night as well.  Google tells me there is a 6 month sleep regression.  I am REALLY hoping it is the traveling that has her jacked up and NOT another regression. 

The birthday bash was a day long event, so it was the longest I had been away from Isabella.  I may have gotten a bit teary upon leaving but only checked in with my family once.  They were visiting a brewery and were hanging out on its patio so all was well;).  My mom put her to sleep without much trouble and the little stinker slept without trouble until 4am.  My mom was quite proud of herself!

The trip back was uneventful though we have learned that the car has to stay in motion when Isabella is asleep or she may wake up.  We hit a backup on the highway so took an alternate route to keep her asleep.  It was funny watching my brother try to keep the car in constant motion with red lights. 

Our Tiny Extrovert

In addition to being our vegetable lover, it also appears Isabella is going to be the family extrovert.  JT solidly lives in camp introvert.  I hover in the middle and with age am swinging more toward team introvert.  But not Isabella.  No sir she LOVES people.  She loves when we go out to the store or restaurant and watch people.  She loves playing with mommy and daddy.  She especially loves when she comes down from a nap and there are kids in the living room.  She gets the biggest grin on her face.  She especially likes it when I put her in a jumper or something facing A.  They will "talk" to each other.  It is absolutely adorable!  One time though she laid a pterodactyl scream on him...he cried but recovered quickly:).

Baby Food

We introduced oatmeal way back in mid-August.  She liked it but had a hard time keeping it in her mouth!  With everything else going on frankly I did not have the time to mess with the mess so it's only been within the last week or so we've given it another shot.  While still messy, she has a much better idea as to how to keep a large portion of the food in her mouth so we began the foray into vegetables.  Avocado seemed like a bland enough stating point.  Fortunately a friend had given me an extra emulsifier she had because when I took out our food processor I realized it had bit it.  The emulsifier was awesome!  In less than 30 minutes I had made avocados, sweet potatoes and green beans.  I also used one of those steamable bags of frozen green beans so it made things
way easier.  She likes everything so far.  Maybe she will be our little vegetable lover:).

Formula Change

Now that we are "on the other side" of the whole colic/reflux nightmare we are rethinking the use of the soy formula.  It was not a bad idea when we weren't sure what was going in but research shows a correlation between more soy in the diet and increased estrogen.  Since we didn't have a clear cut dairy allergy we thought we should try to reintroduce dairy before an allergy develops through lack of exposure.  We got the green light from the doctor who didn't really provide much guidance as to how to make the change so I turned to the internet for assistance.  What bubbled to the surface was transitioning to a sensitive formula and doing a mixture of the soy plus the new formula gradually shifting the ration until it was completely new formula.  I jumped the fun a bit at first doing 1/4 new on day one and then moving to 1/2 new on day 2.  That did not go well.  So slowed things down and will make the ratio switch once a week.  This has worked much better and has gone well so far.

5 Months

Working at Full Steam

I have not actively sought a replacement for H's child care slot (honestly I don't know if I WANT another full time kiddo), but my part timers have now started.  There is B who is 3.  His dad is a teacher and mom is a nurse who works part time overnight at the local children's hospital.  He also attends preschool, so he is only here 1-3 days a week for either 90 minutes (if he has school) or about 4 hours (if he doesn't).  He's a sweet kiddo and likes hanging out with the babies.

There is also a pair of siblings K & K who are 3 months and 3 years.  They only come on Fridays and K3 will only come a few times a month if at all since dad is a firefighter and can rest while keeping an eye on her at home when he is off.  Another pair of sweeties.

Classes are in full swing too.  So far I am juggling everything pretty well.  It helps that Isabella is only waking up once or twice just long enough to eat so I am getting a decent amount of rest.  We shall see how this continues as the semester becomes more intense.  I think I envisioned more simultaneous naps than we are actually getting.  I swear there are days when Isabella and AJ must have a secret meeting and work out a schedule to ensure at least one of them is awake during the whole day-silly babies!