Baby milestones are wild.
A couple that spring to mind...
6 months and below...keep them in your room and give them only milk.
Once 6 months hit, suddenly they are ready to eat and sleep on their own
In previous blogs I have written about the first few months being an absolute slog. Orla slept in her next to me which was on my side of the bed so mastering the task of sleeping perfectly still so I wouldn't make any noise became my goal in life.
Iv also written about the time and effort that goes into setting up a babies room. Decoration, cots, toys, clothes, nice pictures....only for them to not actually spend anytime in that room for the first 6 months of their lives.
Needless to say...once we ticked into the magic 6 month window I had booked Orla a one way trip to her own room and I couldn't wait to have my bedroom back.
Or so I thought
My wife and I had different views. I wanted Orla in her own room and she was not ready to let Orla go.
I pushed hard on this one. It's all about Orla getting bigger, being more independent and us getting some form of our adult marriage back.
I won the debate....for about an hour.
Orla didn't take well to her new surroundings. To be honest, she could of been trying to sleep on a bed in the Ritz made up of magic baby clouds and surrounded by dancing unicorns and she still would of hated it.
Let's try again tomorrow, or maybe after the weekend, or actually let's wait until next week.
This went on for a while but we eventually got Orla in her own cot. She didn't sleep or stop crying unless being rocked....but that was all now being done in her own room.
Through the wonders of technology and her monitor it did allow at least one of us to have some time in our own room whilst the other was on shift rocking or feeding.
I can not underestimate the difference it makes being able to have your own space again and sleep in your bed without fear of waking the baby up.
Truth be told, Orla still dictated everything. Her sleep was sketchy to say the least but I felt like I had won a little battle with her by not going back and bringing her into our room or bed.
We were very clear from outset ..Orla will not sleep in our bed.
For lots of reasons but we felt like it would be a cycle we couldn't break so we persevered in her room and low and behold....after about 6 weeks of trying she eventually started sleeping through the night in her own bed.
So how about weaning.
Firstly...maybe it's just me being childish but what a ridiculous thing to call it.
So now, somehow overnight, from 5 months and 30 days to 6 months exactly, she was ready to start trying real food.
Not sure what changed overnight for her there but hey, that's what the books and internet tell us.
This brought a new anxiety to worry about...choking!
We followed a book which went through each day and the foods we should introduce to her.
I am not exaggerating when I say there was some food in that book which I had never heard of.
Orla was now eating better than me.
I am not entirely convinced a baby needs to eat a diet of avocado and kale but we did as the book said.
Orla was a terrible sleeper...she was not (and is not) a terrible eater. I'd say it's what she enjoys doing the most in life.
Thankfully we have never had any choking incidents but certainly in those first few weeks of weaning any little noise she made keeps you on high alert. I think like most things she does for the first time...you worry about it for a short while and then it's just a little bit of ..ah don't worry she's grand.
I do wonder, when I was a baby, what did my parents do? No internet and I suspect not many books with the guidance that exists today.
The market which capitalises on the worries of parents must be worth an absolute fortune. I often say to my wife...we didn't have any of that and we are ok.
She reminds me that I have trust issues. I don't think that comes from a lack of quinoa when I was a baby.
Maybe there is too much information out there for parents and you could quite easily find stuff which stokes the flames of concern burning away inside if you wanted to. And there is probably an expensive book and clever model to follow which promises to be the solution to all your problems.
I ain't got time for judgemental books, news articles or other parents.
Trust your gut, it's your child and you do what you think is best.
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