First teeth are no fun. My baby Lorci has just cut his first two teeth and it's set us back 8 months, back to the newborn days of waking three times a night and feeding night and day.
Back to the early days of walking around in a coma, having worrying near misses with other cars as I drive my 4 year old to pre-school.
I can't get Lorci to sleep anymore. Or I should say, I can't get him to sleep anymore without Calpol. Yet I only want to give it as a last resort. He seems to need so much of it recently. His teeth must really hurt if that's the only way he's soothed to sleep. He's already wearing an amber teething necklace; although I'm yet to be convinced that they do any good, despite all 3 of my babies having worn them. I don't like giving painkillers so freely like this but that's another blog I've yet to write; The Calpol Generation.
Even now he's tired for his morning nap, I've been feeding him to sleep but every time I lay him down in his cot he wakes. I try lying next to him, that doesn't work, it only excites him, he starts clawing my face, screaming in my ear, climbing over me. He just wants to be stuck to me, feeding from me like a newborn; only i don't have milk at those intervals anymore. I'm empty, in more ways than just milk.
He's still screaming now - I've been up and down to him for the last hour. I go up again, give him a small dose of Calpol and rub Teetha in his gums, breastfeed him again, back down in the cot, but he's standing up again, eating his fist, eyes puffy with tiredness, banging his head against the cot because he's unsteady with exhaustion. I pick him up again. Crikey he's heavy, my back twinges from his latest growth spurt. "Why won't you give in to sleep Lorci?". I spend another 40 minutes cuddling, rocking, feeding, my poor baby.
Finally, he's gives in. Deep breath Amy…. and relax. He will wake in exactly 45 minutes because he's never been able to sleep longer than that during the day. Sometimes that's all he has, despite my exhaustive hours spent in gentle encouragement. This time it was two hours of back-breaking coaxing to sleep for only 45minutes reward. This is quite a normal pattern, even when he's not teething. I've always joked Lorci's moto is: "Why sleep when you can scream for hours instead?"
He sleeps in our spare room in the attic. He's a very sensitive chap to noise and light so it's the only place he won't be disturbed by the other two's noise. I don't get the chance to do any exercise these days but I suppose I keep fit by racing up and down two flights of stairs so many times a day. It doesn't stop my lower back from killing me thanks to his latest growth spurt and his cries to be held more to soothe his teeth pain.
Last night, we danced through the night in a symphony of wakeful sleep and feeding, our bodies knowing instinctively how to move together in the pitch dark. He knew exactly where I was at all times and wouldn't let me out of his range. He found his food source when he needed the comfort to help himself back to peaceful sleep. I woke up wrecked, having had very little restful deep sleep. A dear friend took my girl for the morning and my hubby minded the baby while i stole back to bed for a much-needed extra hour.
And so it carries on….
[I started this post Monday morning. It's Wednesday now and I've started to restock my sleep bank and his teeth don't seem to be hurting as much, HOURAY]
Back to the early days of walking around in a coma, having worrying near misses with other cars as I drive my 4 year old to pre-school.
I can't get Lorci to sleep anymore. Or I should say, I can't get him to sleep anymore without Calpol. Yet I only want to give it as a last resort. He seems to need so much of it recently. His teeth must really hurt if that's the only way he's soothed to sleep. He's already wearing an amber teething necklace; although I'm yet to be convinced that they do any good, despite all 3 of my babies having worn them. I don't like giving painkillers so freely like this but that's another blog I've yet to write; The Calpol Generation.
Even now he's tired for his morning nap, I've been feeding him to sleep but every time I lay him down in his cot he wakes. I try lying next to him, that doesn't work, it only excites him, he starts clawing my face, screaming in my ear, climbing over me. He just wants to be stuck to me, feeding from me like a newborn; only i don't have milk at those intervals anymore. I'm empty, in more ways than just milk.
He's still screaming now - I've been up and down to him for the last hour. I go up again, give him a small dose of Calpol and rub Teetha in his gums, breastfeed him again, back down in the cot, but he's standing up again, eating his fist, eyes puffy with tiredness, banging his head against the cot because he's unsteady with exhaustion. I pick him up again. Crikey he's heavy, my back twinges from his latest growth spurt. "Why won't you give in to sleep Lorci?". I spend another 40 minutes cuddling, rocking, feeding, my poor baby.
Finally, he's gives in. Deep breath Amy…. and relax. He will wake in exactly 45 minutes because he's never been able to sleep longer than that during the day. Sometimes that's all he has, despite my exhaustive hours spent in gentle encouragement. This time it was two hours of back-breaking coaxing to sleep for only 45minutes reward. This is quite a normal pattern, even when he's not teething. I've always joked Lorci's moto is: "Why sleep when you can scream for hours instead?"
He sleeps in our spare room in the attic. He's a very sensitive chap to noise and light so it's the only place he won't be disturbed by the other two's noise. I don't get the chance to do any exercise these days but I suppose I keep fit by racing up and down two flights of stairs so many times a day. It doesn't stop my lower back from killing me thanks to his latest growth spurt and his cries to be held more to soothe his teeth pain.
Last night, we danced through the night in a symphony of wakeful sleep and feeding, our bodies knowing instinctively how to move together in the pitch dark. He knew exactly where I was at all times and wouldn't let me out of his range. He found his food source when he needed the comfort to help himself back to peaceful sleep. I woke up wrecked, having had very little restful deep sleep. A dear friend took my girl for the morning and my hubby minded the baby while i stole back to bed for a much-needed extra hour.
And so it carries on….
[I started this post Monday morning. It's Wednesday now and I've started to restock my sleep bank and his teeth don't seem to be hurting as much, HOURAY]
