Wednesday 8 May 2013

Summer days

Once you've hit 16/17 weeks, ideally you're in the best routine - the best routine because baby goes down by himself, sleeps 2 long sleeps a day and goes through 12 hours.  This gives you heaps of time to remind yourself you're a human being.

However, one very important point is not to be disheartened if you have a shocker here or there.  One friend said a great comment to me - if it's more than 3 days it's a routine.  So if you have a shocker - it's not forever - just start again tomorrow at 7am.  So yesterday my second didn't have any of her day naps and just cried and wasn't herself.  It's painfully exhausting, frustrating and sends a routine-led person into a bit of a tiz - SHE ISN'T PLAYING BALL WITH MY PLAN!!  Do what you can to relax, take baby out for a walk or drive to get some fresh air.  Phone a friend to remember there are adults out there who you can have a proper conversation with and just grit and bare the shocker ... Go to sleep and the next day WILL bring a better day again (I can promise this from experience!).

Dealing with the heat is a toughy - it always amazes me when I see little ones out in vests, babygrows, trousers, jumpers etc etc - and the parents in a vest and skirt!  If you're warm, they'll be warm.  So put them in the same amount of layers you'd be happy wearing.  If you'd be hot - they'll be hot.  This is a prime time for bad nappy rash, so make sure you'll change nappies more regularly than you would.  And start to pull back on clothes you put on at night time.  So if you put them in a babygrow and vest and gro bag, then maybe go for a short sleeve vest and babygrow first.  Or just babygrow and gro bag.  We tend to put baby in a long sleeve vest and gro bag.  But remember you can get summer gro bags, so move onto the 1 tog gro bags when neccessary too.  We also put a fan in the room, aimed at the floor near the cot to just circulate the air around baby when it's really hot. 

And something else to keep reminding yourself of in moments of baby being a bit irritating is that they go through phases.  Oh, and this goes on for years, so this is a great mantra to learn 'it's only a phase, it's only a phase, it's only a phase' - come on, start saying it to yourself now so it gets ingrained.  For example, at 16 weeks baby starts shrieking - it's loud and seems to get louder.  Why are they doing this?  and why in public of all places??  It's only a phase - they've learnt a new sound and boy are they practising it!  Or, when baby is on the play mat, he cries when you leave his sight.  It's only a phase - they are wondering where you are but they'll work out you're coming back soon enough (try talking to them from whereever you're going to so they can still hear your voice - that works for us and this crying stops after a couple of days).  It's only a phase, it's only a phase, it's only a phase ... if you stick to your routine confidently, it's only a phase and baby'll move onto something else new and exciting (for them) ...

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