Cate had her 1-year check up Friday and she passed with flying colors. She is 30 1/4 inches long (80 percentile) and 22.5 lbs (67 percentile). She got an A+ from the doctor and I got something closer to an A-.
Doc wanted to know if Cate is sleeping through the night. No, she's not. Why not? Well, because Sam and I snuggle her and feed her when she wakes up. Yes, we know it's a bad habit. Yes, we know that she's not going to start sleeping through the night if she knows she can have a snuggle and a snack in the middle of the night. Yes, we know that children like boundaries.
Well, doc says, I will tell you a couple things to help talk you out of nighttime feedings. First, now that she is drinking whole milk instead of formula she is going to get real chubby real fast if you feed her 8 oz of whole milk every day in the middle of the night. Second, it is good for her brain to rest from eating for 12 hours. "Oh," I say, "So you are telling me that if I stop feeding her at night I'll help her be smart and skinny?" Well, yes, basically, says the doc.
Now, honestly, what better gift could a mother give her daughter?
And so, that's what I'm going to tell myself over and over when she wakes up until she gets the hang of it and starts sleeping all the way through. Truth is, I could use some sleep before Peter/Elisabeth arrives so hopefully doc's encouragement plus that thought will help me (us) resist the urge to snuggle her.
Post-post: Last night was our first night on the new program and guess who slept 12 hours and 15 minutes without making a peep? Cate Major.
You are so funny, Nancy! I hear ya, though...I got my first to sleep through the night pretty easily, but my second one not so much. After making him cry it out a few times (not knowing he had reflux, and was crying because he was in pain), I was never able to make myself do it again. So I just kept getting up and snuggling him until he decided to sleep through the night on his own...at 16 months. Yeah, that was way too long! But I also think that sometimes we can listen the "experts" too much, and you can just go with your gut when you want to. For example, I know you're not supposed to give your baby "sleep cues" that they NEED in order to go to sleep, but I always rock my babies to sleep. Always. Because I like it - and I now know that eventually they don't want you to! :) Good luck!
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