Life with a newborn/infant: I'd forgotten how tiring it is, how exhausted one gets, how much ongoing attention little ones need. All this time I've been racking my brain trying to figure out why we moms and parents can't get much change accomplished. As the mom of (formerly), just one child, and a school-age child at that, I'd forgotten. We're just too damn busy with the day-to-day. What will we do about this?
I'm about to do an online chat for mothering magazine: http://mommychats.com/chat.htm, if anyone makes it there.
And send advice for helping my five week old sleep through the night...
6 comments:
Hi there! I'm a mom of a 3-yr-old and 15 week old, and I too was surprised to remember how demanding the wee ones are. The good news is that they seem to turn corners around 6 weeks and 10 weeks that make life easier.
I really appreciate your book (reading it now) and blog. I just went back to work yesterday and still can't believe there aren't better work/family solutions - and we're lucky to have a good childcare/preschool.
Thanks for your work - and congrats on the new baby!
Miriam -- I'm probably not the first to suggest this, but read "The Happiest Baby on the Block." Swaddling saved us all with number two.
My sympathy. I don't think there is any advice for helping a five-week-old sleep through the night - most just aren't made to do that. With a ten-year-old and a nineteen-month-old, I feel like I know what you mean. I was crazy-busy before, but now I just don't get anything done besides my job and parenting, and less at either of those than I would like. It will pass...
I am really enjoying your book. I posted a mini-review of it on my blog and am recommending it to all my feminist-mama-friends. I appreciate you making the time to write something so important - it isn't easy.
I read about the Happiest Baby book on your other blog. I'm not much for how-to parenting sorts of books, but I liked that one a lot. I didn't like the one he wrote about toddlers afterwards, though. Wishing you some rest...
Miriam,
The first six weeks are the worst. You're almost over the hump. And as a wise mom once told me, if you can get through the first three months, you can make it through anything in life!
Miriam, I read your post on Hylands about wearing your daughter in a sling. Just wanted to make sure you knew about other kinds of carriers (I am guessing you do, but I'm going to post anyway for anyone else reading this), namely Asian-style baby carriers (ABCs or Mei-Tais) and wraps. I just switched from a sling to a mei-tai and a wrap and I have got the religion. The coolest things about them are that they distribute the baby's weight over both shoulders, waist, and back (instead of just one shoulder like the swing) and in most of them you can wear the baby on your back, which makes cooking, household stuff, looong walks, and bending over very doable. Thebabywearer.com has lots of information and is also a strangely fascinating (to me at least) subculture all its own. Attachedtobaby.com has great photo galleries showing parents wearing the many dfferent kinds of carriers. This might really help with your baby's need for closeness and your need to get other things done.
Sleep through the night?! I can't get my 15 month old to do it yet! Perhaps experience helps? Does it give us the (helpful?) perspective that we're not really in control? I only have the one so far, and have struggled with guilt over letting her cry it out. That and sitting on the computer too much! On that note, I'll go. I wish you luck.
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