Baby routine?
I’m listening to Keane’s new album as I tip-tap…..I love it! 
Apologies for any typos / incoherent ramblings…I had about 2 hours sleep last night!!!
Here’s what’s been happening:
1. William has a blocked tear duct!! Very common in babies apparently..his eye got all gunky and so full of sleep, he could barely open it. We took him to the doctors yesterday, and embarassingly he started bawling in the packed, so-quiet-you-could-hear-a-pin-drop waiting room….I ended up taking him downstairs and feeding him in the ladies loo!! Anyway he has some eye drops (GREAT fun getting those in, I can tell you!) and it seems to be clearing up.
2. We also had to take him to the hospital yesterday for a blood test just to check his jaundice is nearly gone (which I’m pretty sure it has)-they had to take blood from a tiny vein in his hand; it nearly broke my heart to see him crying in pain. 
As soon as the needle came out though, he was fine!
3. Expressing/feeding going well; William’s having some sort of growth spurt at the mo and eating LOADS so I’m still giving formula at night….I have a big milk supply, but I can’t quite keep up with his demands!!!!
4. Still feel hormonal and emotional and anxious-some days more than others. Today, I’m not so bad, but yesterday I felt strange all day. I felt like everyone was better at handling / soothing my baby than me. WTF?! Weird, irrational thoughts. I don’t have PND but I worry, probably more than I should, that my little boy’s not happy and that I’m doing stuff wrong. I’m constantly questioning myself. I should change my name to PARANOIDcookie………………….
As my mum said to me last night, I’m trying to be Supermum. I want everything to be perfect. But things CAN’T be perfect-I’m new to this game and he’s only 3 weeks old for chrissakes!! I know this logically, but when I’m tired and emotional (which is most of the time at the moment), I forget.
5. William’s going through a major grizzly stage. 
After 3 weeks of falling asleep on me, Mike or visitors, he doesn’t know how to fall asleep by himself. If I put him in his moses basket awake, he grizzles and grizzles. In the past I picked him up the minute he started to grizzle-even though he was perfectly fine! But last night I decided enough was enough. I let him grizzle all night and only picked him up at 3am when he started crying for real-he was hungry. I could never just let him cry himself to sleep.
The end result of last night is that I (and him!) had v.little sleep, but I’m hoping to teach him that he has to fall asleep by himself. It’s really difficult though-he’s so little and gorgeous and the minute he starts complaining, I just want to pick him up and cuddle him. But I HAVE to do this-otherwise I’m not going to get any sleep until he’s about 3 years old!!! 
Tonight we’re going to do a proper bedtime routine for the first time-7pm bath in low level lighting, story (!!!!), clean nappy, into sleeping bag, feed, burp, and then……erm, sleep?! Wishful thinking, but hopefully over time he’ll learn to associate the routine with sleep.
Gosh, being a mummy is hard work. I keep on getting an urge to shirk all responsibility and go and get really pissed. 
Not that I would, obviously…..anyway, I love my little boy so much, despite all the day-to-day craziness. I know it will get easier.
lots of love happycookie aka Clare and William xxxxxxxxx 
I bet its hard. I agree that you should try to get him to sleep without being held now, otherwise it will be a LONG time before you get sleep…lol. I say that now, im sure ill change my tune when its my baby. Poor little guy, i hope the eye drops help him. You dont have to be a perfect mom and in my opinion you are doing great! Anxiety after having a baby is natural. Good luck!
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Glad his eye’s cleared up, that must have been horrible for him! The pics in your last entry are adorable :o) I think you’re a great mum! We put Angelo in a bedtime routine at 2 1/2 weeks…it worked really well for 4 weeks, then he started taking ages to settle but he seems to be back on track now. I really enjoy it because it’s pretty much the only part of the day that’s 100% structured!
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I’m glad his eye is clearing up! My daughter had a blocked tear duct too, but those drops sure helped. Good luck with the routine, hope you get more sleep!
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You’re doing great! Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks or says. You and hubby and William are a fab little family of three, you’re getting used to each other and things are def falling into place. We had the same prob with SAm falling asleep on us for the first while…took forever for him to learn to put himself to sleep so def start now! Feed, burp, cuddles, then when he’s drowsytry putting him down. Hope it works, you can tell me what to do when I have number 2! 🙂
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you’ll do great and your baby’s gorgeous 🙂
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That is our exact bedtime routine and after the last feed she falls asleep in my arms in the rocking chair, I put her in her little co-sleeper and she is out like a rock from about 7pm until 4 or 5 am…so I’m sticking with it! But the nights we don’t get the bath it is so much harder to get her to go down….ergh!
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it gets better the odler they get, once thye are like 3 months old its MUCh better! ur doing great!
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I’m doing the same, as Jake can’t fall asleep on his own. It’s hard work and I’m so tempted at times to just pick him up and rock him to sleep so we can both go to bed quicker, but I know I have to stick it out or I’ll have a real problem on my hands! I won’t let him cry himself to sleep either, but I leave him for 10 minutes or so then go back and reassure him.. hard work!
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As for being anxious don’t worry – I’m the same & I know it’s not PPD. It’s just being a mommy apparently! You think the blood test is hard? Wait for the BCG! Jake took it like a man with a few wails and then off to sleep. I fretted all afternoon and nearly cried myself! As for the drinking.. well a glass of wine or two can’t hurt right? ;o) the upside of formula! xxx
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