NUMBER 1: Samuel has always fussed about having his clothes changed. However, now he cries. I try to get it over with as quick as possible, but he still struggles each and every time. I've tried singing, making a game out of it and just ignoring the drama, in the hope he will just stop. He's better if I can have him sit up, but sometimes, like with "footy pajamas" it's just easier to lay him down.
NUMBER 2: Just recently Samuel has started fussing and now crying when I lay him down to change his diaper. If you've found a way to do this standing up, please let me know. He's better if I sing while I do it, but still fusses. He's fine once I get the new diaper attached.
NUMBER 3: The good thing is that Samuel can now pull himself up, but the bad thing is that Samuel can now pull himself up! We have a routine of bath, bottle and read books, then bed. He's been going to bed around 6:30 and up until now he's always gone down very smoothly. Now when I put him to bed, he immediately grabs the rails and stands and screams when I leave the room. I'm going to keep him up a little longer say 7:00 or 7:30 and see if that helps.
NUMBER 4: Remember how thrilled I was because Samuel was sleeping 12 hours at night, well another recent development is that he now wakes twice during the night crying. It's pretty routine that it happens around 1:30 and again at 4:30. Usually all it takes is for me to put his pacifier back in and he settles right down, but that still entails Richard or I waking up! Ugghh!
SO, BLOGGY BUDDIES...WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT MY CONUNDRUMS!
12 comments:
Does the type of clothes or the way they feel make him cry any less? Or more? Could it be some sensory issues? My youngest son would scream when it came to some types of clothes.
Would love to hear the responses, as my son who is 2 weeks younger than Samuel, is going through the SAME things! Maybe it's just an age phase?
These are frustating things! The no sleep is the worst. You know, he's your first so of course you are going to worry about it, but really...don't worry about it:) By the time you have decided "what to do" he will have grown out of it.
I'm kind of teasing you here! Really...there is no answer except whatever works!! good luck.
How can I get in touch with you privately?
These things are so frustrating...especially the no sleep. I know he's your first so you are going to worry about it, but really...dont worry about it! By the time you decide "what to do" he'll be out of this phase and into something else.
I am kind of teasing you here, but really the only solution is whatever works. Just hang in there and keep enjoying him. You really seem like you are doing a great job.
Sorry I thought I lost my first comment and posted twice!
yup, yup, yup. R, too. She hates changing her clothes and diapers too.
We typically double team her when we are getting dressed so it takes less time. If there is one of us we try to change in front of a mirror where she is full of smiles all the time!
As far as the sleeping thing, we always rock R before bed so she knows what is about to come. She also has a stuffed animal and a crib soother in there that has really helped distract her when we leave... then she typically just falls asleep!
1&2 - we've had much less fussing doing the changing away from the table. also - we've designated two toys as changing table toys - so they only see them there.
3 - mike has recently experimented with sitting eff down, and letting him plop over on his side when he's ready to sleep. that seems helpful, as he doesn't seem to like being put down on his back these days.
4 - let me know when you figure this one out. eff is our night-time-waker. sometimes he just chatters and can get himself back to sleep. other times, we plug him up. it might be an issue of just letting him CIO - just not an option at our house with three.
i'm curious to see everyone's responses!
1 and 2 we still deal with...it helps if both of us are there - one to distract, and the other to get the changing done as quickly as possible. Use a toy to distract otherwise. YOu can do a diaper standing up, it just needs some adjusting once it's attached. Good luck!
No real experience with 1 & 2...the girls were pretty cooperative. In fact, not much experience with 3, as I recall. They went to sleep quickly. 4, however, we've had. Take turns sticking the pacifier in, and call it lucky. We had bouts of midnight fussing that were just crazy at about 18 months to 2 1/2 years! (Mae, of course)
I'd like to say welcome to my world. He'll learn to find his pacifier soon in the meantime give him 2 or 3 if you can. It helps him find it easier. We also put up the breathable bumper to help it not fall or fly out of the crib as often. If that's all it takes to get him back to sleep consider yourself blessed. Although you might just consider losing the paci altogether if you want to get rid of that problem.
I give her a book when changing her. Makes it harder on me to do the job but she enjoys it and talks with me. However like Richele mentioned, she's not as fussy if we aren't on the changing table so I'm thinking it has something to do with that. But I haven't found a better location aside from the floor.
And Isabel doesn't like having things go over her head. Her birthmom is a bit clostrophobic and i have no idea if that's genetic or not but I've often wondered if that is part of it, she doesn't like being held real tight either. Of course it's also a simple fact of occasionally her hair gets pulled and she doesn't like that.
I am on #3 and he will be 1 yr. old on the 24th.
He does all of these things, and just recently.
The changing of clothes and diapers is normal and typical for the growing, more independent toddler. We just wrestle through it, handing him toys to distract him. From what I remember, it does get better!
They just don't have time for that!! You'll realize that circle of life when potty training time comes!! Most just don't have time for that either!! Too busy exploring, i.e. learning!!
Same with waking once or twice in the night. It's normal for this age and stage. As they go in and out of deep and lighter sleep, and the anxiety of realizing they are alone increases around this age, they will often wake and cry. J will be standing in the crib, crying so hard, with the paci in his mouth. If I go in and comfort him and sometimes turn on an extra night light, he'll settle right back down. Psychology tells us that they are in a developmental stage where they need that assurance that you are still there. They are also having to learn how to go back to sleep as those lighter sleeping, waking moments occur.
Sometimes it is that he's lost the paci.
Like you say, whatever the reason, it disturbs your sleep and you have to get up. Well, I don't guess you'd have to but, I've never been one to leave my babies crying for very long!
I don't mean this rude or mean but, the being awakened is just a part of the parenting at this age and stage, that is the way I look at it. Part of my job, as comforter and protector. We've gone in in the middle of the night, and he's gotten twisted and his foot is stuck between the rails. I'd never want to just leave him crying like that so, I get up and go check. For most, it will pass as they get a little older.
It's a new phase, he's growing up! This too shall pass!
Parents have to live that motto!!
Blessings.......you're doing a great job!!
I think it's an age stage. Our son is a few months older than Samuel. When he transitioned to our home at almost 13 months old it was an ordeal to get him dressed or change his diaper. There would be full-on screaming and crying. For his clothes, we just tried to make it as game-like as possible---a lot of peekaboo and where is your hand. Because I wasn't bringing him to daycare at that point and didn't need to be out of the house at a certain time, I would get one piece of clothing on and let him play for a minute or so, then get another piece on. He seems to have outgrown the dressing struggle at this point.
We had decided not to get a changing table due to the small size of L's room. We use a covered changing pad and a basket with diapers kept under L's crib. I'm glad we didn't buy the table because there's no way I could have kept him on there with the way he screamed and squirmed when we changed his diaper. Singing helped. We also had a special toy (a See-and-Say) that we kept with the diapers and only used when changing. That helped A LOT. Again, it was behavior that he ended up outgrowing after a couple of months.
We experienced night waking at around the same age, but I assumed it had to do with L transitioning to our home during that time. Maybe it was more age-related than I realized at the time. I know we had to tweak L's bedtime a bit. We got rid of his nightlight because we realized when he did partly wake up, the light would wake him up fully when he otherwise might have gone back to sleep. We also realized that he hated footie pajamas and slept so much better when we dressed him in different pajamas. One thing I have heard is that they start dreaming around this age and may start to wake up after having slept through the night for a while before this. If possible, maybe you could sprinkle several pacifiers around his crib so he can find one himself when he wakes up. Good luck. I know it's hard to feel rested when you're waking up several times during the night, even if it's brief.
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