sleep changes

photo by the hubs 

Last night was the first in about two weeks that the boy slept throught the night.  It's been awful.  It's amazing to think how we function as new mother's.  I remember my midwife telling me that I had to ensure I got at least a total of six hours of sleep per day, even if it was broken up.

Now, almost 18 months later, a mere two weeks of broken sleep and I feel like a mess.  It started with a nasty bought of teething, which surprisingly resulted in two top molars cutting.  Once the teething started to ease up however, the boy started experiencing what I suspect are night terrors.

Multiple times this week the boy has woken up screaming and flailing within about two hours of falling asleep.  He did not seems to be soothed or calmed by our parental presence and when he did finally settle, as soon as I got close to putting him back in his crib he would resume screaming.  We ended up sleeping together in the spare bedroom a few times this past week just so I could get some rest and the boy was out like a light within moments of laying down.

After discussions with my Mom (I suffered from night terrors too) and reading through some Google search results, I feel like I have a better handle on what we might be facing.

What a conundrum, tired toddlers are more likely to experience terrors, but how do you get your child to sleep when he keeps having terrors?  We decided to focus on comfort.  Last night I had a nice bath with the boy, we washed and played then went about our nighttime routine.  Only last night I decided to put a light quilt into the boys bed so that I could tuck him in nice and tight.

This was not a random act, recently I've noticed that more and more the boy is putting his head on my shoulder and his hands at his sides when we have our pre-sleepy-time snuggles.  He is essentially assuming the swaddle position and that's absolutley about comfort for him.  Tucking him in seemed like a reasonable extension to swaddling, especially now that the boy's a toddler and the suffocation risks associated with blankets in the bed are long gone. 

I don't know if tucking the boy in had anything to do with sleeping through the night, with no wake-ups and no terrors, but I do know he calmed and settled in quickly when I tucked him in.  I did it again tonight and now we've passed the two hour mark without any incident.  I suspect I'll be tucking the boy in each night from this point on, I don't really see any downfalls and in all truth its starting to feel like fall around here so an extra blanket will surely be welcome.

Do you tuck your little one in?
How old was your little one when you started to tuck them in?

Teething & Advil

I’ve been noticeably, or perhaps not so noticeably absent, from my blog the past week and the truth is that I miss it. I miss sharing my experiences and expressing my emotions through words. I also miss reading about all the great adventures in motherhood that are happening all over the world. I’ve started using Google Reader (finally), so I have at least been able to peek in on my favourite blogs like Accustomed Chaos, Glamamom, Enjoying the Small Things and Ivy League Insecurities to name a few.

So where have I been?
I have two words…TEETHING BABY.

Last week was absolutely one of the worst weeks we’ve had in months. The boy doesn’t handle teething well and tends to have at least 3 week long cycles of crankiness & pain before a tooth cuts; he doesn’t like the Razbaby teether, ice cubes wrapped in wash cloths, teething rings or teething toys. We’ve tried homeopathic remedies such as Hyland’s Teething Tablets and Boiron Camilia Drops but they only seem to be effective for low-level pain. If I don’t get the homeopathic remedies into the boy when he is still relatively calm, they have literally no effect. I also recently realized that the Hylands are in a lactose (milk sugar) base, so they may irritate the boys eczema, but I believe eczema skin reactions are usually a result of the milk protein rather than the milk sugar.

So what does the boy like when he’s teething? TV and Advil.

YES, I give the boy drugs when his teeth hurt.

YES, I let the boy watch more TV than usual when he's teething.

YES, sometimes I feel guilty about drugging up my child.

YES, sometimes I give the boy Advil pre-emotively before bed if it has been a tough day and the past few nights have been bad.

Does that make me a bad Mother? Sometimes the thought sneaks into my head, but I do my best to banish it. I wouldn’t want to suffer through pain that would make me scream the way that he does and neither should he. Particularly when he fails to find relief from all of the other ‘teething treatments’ I’ve tried to date.

I was reading an article in my Today’s Parent Magazine the other day and I was ecstatic to read this article on Teething Symptoms and Solutions. Check out the third page of the article where it discusses ‘pain meds’ and indicates that not only is it ok to give your child acetaminophen or ibuprofen, it is much safer than using oral gels which contain benzocaine and can impact blood circulation with too much use.

This article made me feel better about the fact that the boy was drugged for almost 3 days solid last week. It didn’t make up for the sleep lost to multiple night-time wakings and the cuddles that ensued all last week, but it did help me remember that I know my child better than anyone and if I think he’s in pain, I’m going to do whatever I can to make him feel better. Even if that means giving him a dose of Advil. As an aside, we use ibuprofen rather than acetaminophen because it helps with inflammation AND pain.

What are your tricks for a teething baby? 
Do you use pain meds for your child's teething pain? Why or why not?

Boon Bath Goods: Designer Toys & Scrubbies

My son received Boon Bath Goods at his baby shower and at first glance I wasn't sure how enjoyable these particular toys would be; they looked neat, that's for sure but beyond that I really didn't know. Perusal of the Boon website didn't provide much more information, although it assured me that the foam would not absorb the water, thus reducing any potential growth of mold or mildew. From a health perspective that is of course an important note.

Around two months of age, the boy and I started sharing a bath before bedtime each night. At first he just laid in the tub, and after a few weeks we decided to crack open the Boon Bath Goods and try them out. Due to the assortment of shapes, we carefully chose a few shapes that would be easy for his small, uncoordinated hands to grasp and tossed them in the tub with us.

The boy loved them. At first he would just hold the Boon Bath Toys, then he started shaking them and chewing on them. He loved them so much, he always took one out of the bath and when we towelled, lotioned and dressed him, he would happily chew away on his Boon Bath Goods instead of fighting us during the process. He loved them so much that they became a toybag staple, at playdates I needed to make sure that there was two, or the kids would pull back on forth on the one.

An added bonus of Boon Bath Goods is that the soft foam shapes stick on the sides of the bathtub providing lots of visual stimuli for your little one when they are young and as they get older they can start grasping and pulling them off the side of the tub themselves.The boy  was so proud of himself when he figured this out!

As the boy has started to develop teeth, I was a little worried about the wear and tear on the Boon Bath Goods, but he now possess' four teeth and has not yet ripped, torn or otherwise mangled any of his toys. Now granted he doesn't play with them quite so much now that he is almost 11 months old, and that lack of absorbency in the foam means that teething on the Boon Bath Toys definitely requires a bib (or results in a very wet shirt).

All of that being said, my son showed little interest in the balls, despite their small size, and we never used the scrubbies, instead opting to use organic washcloths we received as gifts. I'm sure these two facets are great for some people, but in my house they just never seem to get used.

The Boon website lists this product for $14.99 and I have seen them locally for $19.99; my son has easily had 9 months of play with these toys and they are none the worse for the wear, all in all these are amazing toys for both in and out of the bathtub.

Taking into account Durability, Enjoyability & Price I have to give Boon Bath Goods a solid 4/5!