Week 17: We’re on the Roll! 9-29-07

The experts remark, ”By now, most babies are physically capable of making it through the night without a feeding. Some have already begun to sleep for a long stretch of time (six to eight hours) at night. Others won't manage this feat until closer to the 6-month mark or later. You can encourage this goal by building a predictable, positive bedtime routine, which entails putting your baby to bed at the same time every night. One of the hardest challenges parents face is whether or not to let a baby cry — particularly if the crying goes on for long — at bedtime. Pediatricians disagree whether it's best to let a baby "cry it out." Some, like physician Richard Ferber, the expert behind the sleep method called "Ferberizing," contend that this is a good way to train your child to sleep. Ferber's method involves allowing your baby to cry for longer and longer periods each night: You check on her but don't pick her up or cuddle her, and eventually she learns that bedtime is for sleep. The thinking is that the child doesn't understand what's best for her and will cry to get what she wants. If you respond to the nighttime cries with physical attention, you just perpetuate them. (Ferberizing presumes a baby is healthy and old enough to sleep through the night.) Other experts say babies ought to be comforted to sleep. Develop a pleasant bedtime routine and keep your baby up a little later each evening to wear him out in order to sleep more at night. Others, like pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, take a middle position, saying that parents shouldn't jump up and rush to a baby's bedroom every time he whimpers or cries in the night; sometimes the baby will drift back to sleep quickly on his own after a few cries. Of course, what works for one child may not necessarily be the right approach for another. Whatever approach you settle on, make sure it's one you feel comfortable with. If your baby still wakes in the middle of the night for a feeding, keep those feedings low-key by leaving as many lights off as possible and by speaking in hushed tones. You should be able to drop the night feeding soon if you haven't already.”

We are starting to feed the babies food…sort of. They drink Ed’s homemade chicken broth and strained oatmeal liquid. My mom’s been giving them cereal in their formula. We had also given them cereal, but had stopped because it was thick and they struggled pooping it out. Now that they are older, we feel that formula alone is not filling them up. They are drinking more than 6oz now.

Both babies enjoy going to school. We are learning songs together. Our favorite song is about bubbles. And when the instructor sings the song, she blows bubbles to all the babies in the class. Eli focuses on one of the bubbles and follows it with his eyes until pops and then focuses on another. Max anticipates the bubble getting ready to touch him and begins to smile and wave around his arms and legs. As soon as the bubble touches him, he bursts into a ball of laughter and I soon follow. I have met new moms in the class all of whom are very nice and went through the same situations as I am. It’s great to hear their stories and advice.

These babies real love being out and about in the street; especially when I’m towing them in their “Cart wheels” wagon. We take strolls to the park and meet up with our Mom’s Club. By the time we get to the park, the ride usually sooths them to sleep. We talk about activities that are planned for the month and about what new things happened over the weekend. We usually meet almost every day during the week and even sometimes on the weekends. But the cool part is that you don’t have to attend every function. Sometimes the group has 4 people and sometimes it has 20. It varies from day to day. They mentioned about groups for Moms with Multiples and also a Baby Infant Club. So I might also be joining those groups to. I might be categorized as a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM), but now that they are bigger, we are rarely at home. We are out meeting other moms and having lots of FUN!!!