Well, I have kinda figured since Jax's birth day that he was going to be our "oddball" after he spent his first night in the NICU. He is definitely a fussier baby than Zac or Cassidy were, but not so much so that he ever fit the definition of "colic", but there definitely was a slight resemblance to colic.
Jaxon never liked a pacifier, Zac & Cassidy both loved the pacifier for about 4 months, then they were done with it. Jaxon is a thumb sucker (finger and whole hand, also).
The biggest difference between Jax and his older siblings is the one I have the most trouble with. Zac and Cassidy would fall asleep while eating or in the bouncy seat or the blessed swing. They then became little rag dolls that could easily be transferred to the crib for naptime/bedtime.
Jaxon does not fall asleep with the bottle (which experts say is a good thing, pffffft), endures the bouncy seat and never took to the swing. But to fall asleep, Jax wants to be rocked . . . and rocked . . . and rocked. And then you have to gingerly take him back to his room, transfer him to his crib, all the while holding your breath and praying that the dogs don't bark or Cassidy doesn't follow you down the hall, yelling loudly (a favorite past time). I can't tell you how many times one of us has taken him back to bed and come back to the living room 5 second later holding a wide-eyed, giggling little boy that woke up on the way into the crib, mumbling under our breath.
I have always enjoyed having my babies fall asleep in my arms and holding and nuzzling their head, cheeks, and neck. But this little booger is driving me nuts. Not only is he difficult to get to sleep, he cat naps.
So today, I rocked him for a decent amount of time, he still wasn't asleep. I knew he was ready for a nap so I put him to bed awake (GASP! I never attempted this with the older two til they were close to a year). He fussed for a bit, then was quiet. Then he started crying. As he seemed to be getting louder I thought, oh well, I tried. Upon entering his room, he was crying, but his eyes were closed. So I went to the crib and patted his bum for about a minute. He calmed down, never lifted his head, just layed peacefully, his eyes heavy. I backed away from the crib, watching closely, I could tell he was going to doze off. Just then, my little shadow came barrelling into the room yelling MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY. I quickly darted to block her entry and closed the door. Jax never even budged. I didn't hear another peep for about 40 mins, he didn't settle, I got him, he ate a bottle, fell right back to sleep and has slept for a couple hours.
The one plus to having another needy child when you have an infant is that I can't always go running when he starts to fuss and I've realized that if I give him some time, many times he falls back to sleep. I don't know when I'll try and put him down awake again, but I certainly won't be waiting til he's a year old like I did with Cassidy.
3 comments:
Haha, so I'm just extra lucky that neither of my children took a paci, or would fall asleep in a swing or chair, and Caleb at least let me rock him asleep his first 6 months, Alynna won't even do that these days and she's 6 weeks! Maybe my third would be a charm, but right now I think 2 under 2 is enough birth control for us ;) Interested to hear how Jax sleeping patterns go because he sounds a lot like Alynna. Congrats on the accomplished nap today! Way to go buddy!
Ah. See you didn't do your research well enough. You should have asked me what Jaxon's sleeping habits were before you decided on a name :)
Aside from a few little differences (my Jaxon has never taken to falling alseep in my arms, only his cot) this could have been a post about his early months. And to a degree, it's still about him. I have to stop Mexxi from walking in behind me if I go to check on him once he's asleep because he's SUCH a light sleeper.
Good Luck with that, LOL.
Boo
(Merry Christmas)
This post sounds SO much like my kids! Have they been comparing notes?! lol :) Austin is impossible to get to sleep. Abigayle was great - I could put her down awake (right from the beginning), and she would doze off peacefully. Austin has decided that he's not happy unless he's in someone's arms; the second he feels you let go he's wide awake and crying. He also usually only sleeps in his carseat or swing - he hates laying flat on his back. And of course, once he falls asleep for a nap, Abigayle is in his face trying to tickly him and making a godawful screeching noise...Oh well, it wont last forever!
Post a Comment