Thus, so will the actual sleep training.
Yay - cos I don't have to go through my dear baby's cries yet.
Boo - cos I'm still a sleep-deprived mom whose mammary glands are overworked and abused, and whose back is breaking from carrying and pacifying the 8.4kg to sleep.
Why is the sleep trainer's consultation postponed? She had an urgent trip back to the US. We've got to wait for her to come back to SG first. At the rate things are going, sleep training will have to be postponed at least till after our trip to Phuket in March. The procrastination has a valid reason after all. (The previous reason was CNY).
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Pot Pot in the Potty
Started potty training a couple of weeks ago thanks to good advice from Mother-in-Law. She said it was about time. Got kinda tired carrying my 8.4kg to the washbasin to do the Sssss-xercise. (Sssss-xercise = Holding Tiffany above the washbasin and whistling "sssss" in an attempt to make her pee.)
Last week, while JD was on a week long leave (yay!) we went to Kiddy Palace to buy a potty. Its brand is 'Goodbaby' (what kind of a brand is that?!) and it fits Tiffy's well-endowed bum to the T! (Fit = She doesn't fall in!) We saw exactly the same thing at Mothercare but the Kiddy Palace one was way cheaper. Pirated potty.
M-care potty: $30+
VS
Kiddy Palace potty: $15.90 w 10% member's discount.
Anyway, I have news. On 23rd February 2010, Tiffy did her first poop (aka POTPOT) into the potty. It was a fluke really, as I saw yellow goop spluttering out of her bum while I was just about to put on a fresh new diaper. I quickly sat her on the potty and encourage her by saying, "Nggggggggghhhhh, nggggggggghhhhh, pot pot into the potty Tiffany! Come on you can do it, just pot pot into the potty." And when the deed was done, I clapped my hands, showed Tiffany {^.^} face, pointed to the mound of mushy poop and said, "Yay! You pot pot into the potty! Good job! Well done!"
Now I have better news. This morning at 7.55am while I was getting my teeth brushed, I told JD, "Why don't you try sitting Tiffy on the potty while you're waiting for me?" He did and voilà! She peed into the potty! And yes JD gave the whistle cue.
Now things get even better. At 12pm or so, Tiffy had an NTP 'Need To Poop' face so my MIL (she has a wealth of experience reading NTP faces) immediately recognized the face, stripped Tiffy of the diaper and place her little bum neatly on the Goodbaby potty. Lil Tiffany was as good as the Goodbaby potty. She happily pot pot into it for the second time. Double yay!
I scurried into the room to celebrate the moment with MIL and my little pot pot heroine!
Happy sigh. Little successes always make motherhood very satisfying (and keeps one sane).
Happy sigh again.
Last week, while JD was on a week long leave (yay!) we went to Kiddy Palace to buy a potty. Its brand is 'Goodbaby' (what kind of a brand is that?!) and it fits Tiffy's well-endowed bum to the T! (Fit = She doesn't fall in!) We saw exactly the same thing at Mothercare but the Kiddy Palace one was way cheaper. Pirated potty.
M-care potty: $30+
VS
Kiddy Palace potty: $15.90 w 10% member's discount.
Anyway, I have news. On 23rd February 2010, Tiffy did her first poop (aka POTPOT) into the potty. It was a fluke really, as I saw yellow goop spluttering out of her bum while I was just about to put on a fresh new diaper. I quickly sat her on the potty and encourage her by saying, "Nggggggggghhhhh, nggggggggghhhhh, pot pot into the potty Tiffany! Come on you can do it, just pot pot into the potty." And when the deed was done, I clapped my hands, showed Tiffany {^.^} face, pointed to the mound of mushy poop and said, "Yay! You pot pot into the potty! Good job! Well done!"
Now I have better news. This morning at 7.55am while I was getting my teeth brushed, I told JD, "Why don't you try sitting Tiffy on the potty while you're waiting for me?" He did and voilà! She peed into the potty! And yes JD gave the whistle cue.
Now things get even better. At 12pm or so, Tiffy had an NTP 'Need To Poop' face so my MIL (she has a wealth of experience reading NTP faces) immediately recognized the face, stripped Tiffy of the diaper and place her little bum neatly on the Goodbaby potty. Lil Tiffany was as good as the Goodbaby potty. She happily pot pot into it for the second time. Double yay!
I scurried into the room to celebrate the moment with MIL and my little pot pot heroine!
Happy sigh. Little successes always make motherhood very satisfying (and keeps one sane).
Happy sigh again.
The Elusive Sleep
Sleep, oh sleep!
How elusive can you be!
No matter how I shut my eyes
You escape my grasp and slip me by
No matter how I'm rocked and danced
You briefly come by for just that once
Like the shadow that appears when the sun is in the sky
You disappear quickly when the clouds come by
Sleep, oh sleep!
How I need you so much!
I work so hard to shut my eyes
But nothing happens, why oh why?
My schedule apparently is theoretically perfect
But sleep, dear sleep, you are a defect
I'm just so cranky when I don't have you
My ears start to bleed and my mom's heart too
Sleep, sleep, I just don't get you.
How elusive can you be!
No matter how I shut my eyes
You escape my grasp and slip me by
No matter how I'm rocked and danced
You briefly come by for just that once
Like the shadow that appears when the sun is in the sky
You disappear quickly when the clouds come by
Sleep, oh sleep!
How I need you so much!
I work so hard to shut my eyes
But nothing happens, why oh why?
My schedule apparently is theoretically perfect
But sleep, dear sleep, you are a defect
I'm just so cranky when I don't have you
My ears start to bleed and my mom's heart too
Sleep, sleep, I just don't get you.
Friday, February 12, 2010
So How Does Tiffany Sleep Now?
Here's what I do:
NAPS
Nurse Tiffany. When she's getting quite drowsy, I carry her for a while and put her down on the mattress on the floor. She will wake between 15 - 30 mins. I immediately pick her and put her in my hotsling and dance away. After about 15 mins of rocking in the sling, I attempt to put her down again. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. If it doesn't work, round 2 of Dance Dance Revolution with my handy hotsling. This goes on till she manages to sleep onthe mattress. If dancing-in-the-sling fails, I'll nurse her again. If even nursing her fails, I'll pull my hair out and relook the schedule of the day. The rest of the day's schedule depends on what time she wakes.
BEDTIME
Simple. Just nurse her. Carrying doesn't work. I mean the dancing-in-the-sling thing doesn't work. I've tried many times. Only one thing works: nursing. I just plop myself right next to her on the mattress on the floor and put her to the breast. Breastmilk is like liquid Valium. Helps Tiffy sleep almost immediately. So I'll shuttle between her room and the dining table during dinnertime to put her back to sleep while having dinner. However, at 4am, it's a different story altogether. Our friend wakes up and is like an energizer bunny. She'll entertain herself on the mattress, exploring the undulating terrain of pillows and bolsters while Mommy, in a state of melatonin-induced stupor, will shove her to the breast in the hopes of getting her back to sleep. It never works. Then Mommy will grope in the blacked out darkness (Sunout curtains from Spotlight) for her handy sling and do the dance thing again. For maybe a couple of hours. Sometimes I'm so tired I feel like collapsing on the mattress with her in my sling. She generally falls asleep at about 6am and wakes at 7am for the day.
Honestly, I'm at my wit's end. I'm so tired of making Tiffany sleep but sleep training is so hard to do. Nevertheless, for Tiffany's good (learning self-soothing skills) and my sanity, JD and I have decided to start sleep training after the Chinese New Year. We found a sleep trainer in Singapore. If she's good, I'll put her URL here. If her action plan fails, we'll do Ferberizing. Wish me luck.
NAPS
Nurse Tiffany. When she's getting quite drowsy, I carry her for a while and put her down on the mattress on the floor. She will wake between 15 - 30 mins. I immediately pick her and put her in my hotsling and dance away. After about 15 mins of rocking in the sling, I attempt to put her down again. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. If it doesn't work, round 2 of Dance Dance Revolution with my handy hotsling. This goes on till she manages to sleep onthe mattress. If dancing-in-the-sling fails, I'll nurse her again. If even nursing her fails, I'll pull my hair out and relook the schedule of the day. The rest of the day's schedule depends on what time she wakes.
BEDTIME
Simple. Just nurse her. Carrying doesn't work. I mean the dancing-in-the-sling thing doesn't work. I've tried many times. Only one thing works: nursing. I just plop myself right next to her on the mattress on the floor and put her to the breast. Breastmilk is like liquid Valium. Helps Tiffy sleep almost immediately. So I'll shuttle between her room and the dining table during dinnertime to put her back to sleep while having dinner. However, at 4am, it's a different story altogether. Our friend wakes up and is like an energizer bunny. She'll entertain herself on the mattress, exploring the undulating terrain of pillows and bolsters while Mommy, in a state of melatonin-induced stupor, will shove her to the breast in the hopes of getting her back to sleep. It never works. Then Mommy will grope in the blacked out darkness (Sunout curtains from Spotlight) for her handy sling and do the dance thing again. For maybe a couple of hours. Sometimes I'm so tired I feel like collapsing on the mattress with her in my sling. She generally falls asleep at about 6am and wakes at 7am for the day.
Honestly, I'm at my wit's end. I'm so tired of making Tiffany sleep but sleep training is so hard to do. Nevertheless, for Tiffany's good (learning self-soothing skills) and my sanity, JD and I have decided to start sleep training after the Chinese New Year. We found a sleep trainer in Singapore. If she's good, I'll put her URL here. If her action plan fails, we'll do Ferberizing. Wish me luck.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Facebook Application on my iPhone failed me so I Decided to Blog
I started this blog when the Facebook application on my iPhone failed me for the tenth time. I've been writing musings as a new SAHM on Facebook as 'Status Updates'. I usually do these when my dear daughter (6 months old as of 21st Jan 2010) is napping. I actually am stuck in her bedroom with her as she wakes in 15-30 minutes after falling asleep. My job is to be armed with my hotsling over the shoulder and pick her up as soon as she stirs (if I'm a tad too late, she'll be too awake to fall back asleep).
Yes, yes, I know this isn't the way to go. I've read enough Ferber, Weissbluth, Babycentre and Kidshealth.org websites to know that I should sleep-train her. Like NOW. But... (There's always a 'but', isn't there?)
Dr Weissbluth's EXTINCTION method of sleep training was carried out a month ago and failed miserably. Basically what went wrong was this:
After the prescribed 1 hour of crying, poor baby Tiffany was covered in puke and poop when JD and I went in to rescue her. It was a heartwrenching sight. I can still hear her pathetic sobs and whimpers. I, being a mother WITH A CONSCIENCE, immediately picked her up and hugged her as tears flowed freely. I was so so sad to have put her through it! For a good five minutes I just held onto poor little sobbing Tiffany, puke and poop and all, and didn't want to let her go. JD was also heartbroken so he hugged the two of us and we all cried together. It was so hard. But for the greater good, we decided to try again. After 1 hour of relentless crying, we went in to rescue our poor baby. She was again lying in excrement. THIS IS CHILD ABUSE! We decided to stop sleep training once and for all.
Yes, yes, I know this isn't the way to go. I've read enough Ferber, Weissbluth, Babycentre and Kidshealth.org websites to know that I should sleep-train her. Like NOW. But... (There's always a 'but', isn't there?)
Dr Weissbluth's EXTINCTION method of sleep training was carried out a month ago and failed miserably. Basically what went wrong was this:
After the prescribed 1 hour of crying, poor baby Tiffany was covered in puke and poop when JD and I went in to rescue her. It was a heartwrenching sight. I can still hear her pathetic sobs and whimpers. I, being a mother WITH A CONSCIENCE, immediately picked her up and hugged her as tears flowed freely. I was so so sad to have put her through it! For a good five minutes I just held onto poor little sobbing Tiffany, puke and poop and all, and didn't want to let her go. JD was also heartbroken so he hugged the two of us and we all cried together. It was so hard. But for the greater good, we decided to try again. After 1 hour of relentless crying, we went in to rescue our poor baby. She was again lying in excrement. THIS IS CHILD ABUSE! We decided to stop sleep training once and for all.
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