Two Months Old

Mason turned  two months old yesterday and the time is flying by.  This handsome little man is so happy these days and sleeping great – a huge change (for the better) from a couple weeks ago.  About a week and a half ago, I called the doctor and got a prescription for reflux medicine.  I had suspected he might have some reflux issues, and discussed them at his one month appointment with Dr. Elzie, but I was told to just keep an eye on his symptoms (not sleeping well, crying in pain, clinching his fists, and pulling his legs up to his tummy).  A couple weeks after that appointment when things hadn’t improved, I called the doctor’s office and thankfully they were willing to call in a prescription without needing to see him.  At the same time, I drastically cut back on dairy (yogurt, cheese and ice cream) and Mason has been a completely different baby.  Poor thing; he had a rough month or so but we seem to be on the right track now.

 

For the past four nights, he has been sleeping through the night!  I feel like it has finally paid off trying to get him on a schedule and implement the Babywise sleep training.  I hadn’t read the book with Kate until she was two months old and she had naturally fallen into a feed/sleep pattern without much guidance.  Poor Mason has been the complete opposite.  I struggled for weeks to try to get some consistency with feeding and sleeping and honestly, at such a young age, I think it’s nearly impossible.  The book can make everything sound so easy and reality is anything but sometimes.  “Mom decides when nap begins and ends, not baby” – Ha!  I might want him to go to sleep at a certain time, but I can’t force a baby to fall asleep. 

I was about to give up on the whole Babywise schedule, but once Mason started his medicine and I quit eating dairy, there was a drastic improvement.  Maybe it’s the medicine, maybe it’s the change in my eating habits, maybe it’s a combination of both, but either way it’s working! 

I tried to force Mason to sleep swaddled on his back, but I discovered he slept so much better on his tummy.  His first few weeks of life, I only put him on his tummy for naps, but now he sleeps that way for naps and at night.  The first few nights I kept waking up and checking on him, but then I got much more comfortable with it.  Besides, our generation was raised sleeping exclusively on our tummies and we all turned out just fine.  Whenever I need to wake Mason up (rare, but it happens), I always just flip him on his back to get to awake – he’ll grunt and squirm the minute I turn him over and slowly open one eye and look around.  He is one hard baby to wake up if he’s in a deep sleep in his bed.   

I can lay him down sleepy and he will drift off to sleep on his own without a peep and other times he might fuss for a couple minutes before going to sleep.  He likes to suck on his hand before going to sleep (if he can find it) and there have been a couple times he has found his thumb – oh no!  I’ve always said I didn’t want a “thumb sucker” because I can take a pacifier away much easier than I can stop thumb sucking. 

Here’s Mason’s typical schedule: At each feeding, he eats (usually takes about 30-45 minutes), has “awake time” (plays on floor gym, in bounce chair, swings, or bath), and then takes a nap.  We repeat this cycle every three hours or so.

7:00am – Wake Up followed by Eat, Play and Nap (an average of 2 hours)

10:00am – Eat, Play and Nap (an average of 1 hour)

1:00pm – Eat, Play and Nap (an average of 2 hours)

4:00pm – Eat, Play and Nap (an average of 1 hour)

7:00pm – Eat, Play and Nap (an average of 30 minutes)

9:30pm – Eat and then bedtime

10:00pm – 7:00am Sleep!

Of course this is just an example and each day looks a little bit different – sometimes Mason goes 3.5 hours in between feeding and other times it might only be 2 – 2.5 hours in between feedings (usually late afternoon or evenings) but so far this has worked great the past week or so.  I’m just so relieved he is sleeping better now.

Mason has also made progress as far as his “awake” time.  Used to, he just wanted to be held and would only stay on the floor or in his bounce chair for 5-10 minutes.  But now he will lay on the floor playing and cooing for 20 – 30 minutes (sometimes longer)!  When Kate is home, she will usually get down on the floor with him and play and Mason loves it.  I love watching the two of them interact and I know it’ll get more entertaining the older he gets. 

At this young age, I can already tell some of Mason’s likes and dislikes:

Likes: bath time, laying on his changing table, watching Kate, being held, sleeping on his tummy,  pacifier

Dislikes: being in the car seat, taking medicine, sleeping on his back/being swaddled, taking a bottle

It’s so interesting how little ones can have such a distinct personality at this young age.  Here are some pictures of my sweet boy - can't get enough of him!

 

 

 I want to squeeze him!