Q: What can make a mom of an infant feel better on a day that included:
- Non-stop drooling and teething pain from her tiny son
- Crying and fussing on and off all day from said baby, because of the discomfort he's in
- Atrip outside to try to get both mother and baby in a better frame of mine that ended up with the mother's wiping out on the rainy sidewalk and skinning her knee*?
A: Knowing that the baby will sleep at night.
Yes, friends, I have a dirty little secret. El Pequeño sleeps really, really, really well. From the day he was born he's been a good nighttime sleeper. For the first few weeks he woke up 2-3 times a night to nurse. Now usually he wakes up once
At 8 weeks.
Oh, and did I mention that he's slept 8+ hours three or four nights.
I'm as shocked as you are, really. El Chico was "a good sleeper" because when he woke up he'd eat and then go right back to sleep. Since he was in bed with us, he'd cry to wake me up, chug it all down, then go right back to sleep for a few hours. El Pequeño's really baffling me, though, because he doesn't even cry when he wakes up to nurse. He just makes a little "uh, uh!" sound to wake me up. If I don't wake up right away to shove the boob in his mouth he kind of whacks me with his little arm. I've heard him cry in the middle of the night maybe half a dozen times since he's been out. And he only wakes up once. (If I didn't have a nutjob cat, a husband who talks in his sleep, and an unpredictable 3-year-old I'd be very well-rested.)
Since both kids have been in bed with us as infants, that can't be the reason El Pequeño sleeps so much better than his older brother did (although it is the reason I don't even have to sit up to nurse in the middle of the night). The only things that can account for his Rip Van Winkletude are a) his innate personality, and b) the flax seed oil I took during pregnancy. There's nothing that can be done about a kid's personality, so let's focus on the flax seed oil. I'd read somewhere (I'm too addled to Google for it to add a link) that mothers who supplemented with Omega 3s in the third trimester had babies who slept better from the get-go, so I took 2 1,000 mg flax seed oil capsules every day of my pregnancy. Is this what made El Pequeño such a champion snoozer? Who knows. But it can't hurt to try it yourselves.
If you're on the fence, think about the difference between 3 hours of sleep in a row and 5 hours of sleep in a row. It's a big difference. Go get the flax seed oil**.
* Fortunately El Pequeño was in the Ellaroo and didn't get hurt when I fell. My knee looks like crap, though.** It also prevents constipation and makes your hair shiny. If you keep taking it after you have the baby it prevents PPD and plugged milk ducts, and keeps your cholesterol low.
