Specifically about sleeping/feeding, which as DD is only 7 weeks old is pretty much all she does anyway!
Basically I am getting in a bit of a state and doubting everything I am doing. I am quite (ok, very) suggestible.
Obviously DD is too little for any kind of real routine (at least that is my instinct) and instinctively I know that even when she is older I am not keen on controlled crying etc (btw that is absolutely no judgment on people who do CC, it just wouldn't suit me). But I am in a panic at times feeling that all the advice I am getting is contradictory and not knowing what to listen to and what to ignore... Hmm, maybe I am a masochist to ask on MN then!!
But I would v much like to start instigating a few good sleep habits early on. we are lucky I think in that DD is not an utterly atrocious sleeper (at the mo) and seems a fairly chilled little character, however she does often get painfully overtired as she sleeps v little indeed in daytime... I hate watching her work herself up when I know it is over tiredness... Glazed eyes, rubbing face etc.
However I ave literally NO idea what to do for the best re daytime naps. Marc Weissbluth book has got me stressed out about the importance of napping (I said I was suggestible!!) and I have a good friend ramming Gina Ford down my throat (not literally...) then on the other hand I have my mum being deeply suspicious of daytime naps as she seems to regard it as some badge of honour that her children never napped, thereby in her eyes proving their high intelligence and general specialness...
Anyway right now I am honestly doubting everything I do, for example my initial instinct was that I wanted DD to NOT go up to her cot for a daytime nap but instead nap downstairs in her carrycot (I thought this might help her distinguish between day naps and night sleep) but thanks to all I have been reading I now worry that I am doing the wrong thing nd that if DD catnaps in her carrycot rather than going up for a proper deep sleep in her cot, she will be a anti social horror for the rest of her life etc...
Also we were getting some good results (calmer baby, more regularity to the day) by starting a three-hourly feeding regime last week after totally feeding on demand til then, but now I read in Marc W that I should NEVER wake a sleeping baby...
I am joking obviously but honestly it is making m head spin, I don't know what to do for the best.
I basically just want DD to get enough sleep if possible. I hate to see her overtired and she isn't keen on the daytime sleep I think she really needs. I would also love to be able, one day in a few months, to have some degree of self soothing in her cot rather than always having her fall asleep on me or DH... my Sister's children do the latter and it is something I personally would rather avoid if possible.
I had hoped to be able to cherry pick from a few experts (it is why i read a few books) plus use my own instinct but all the experts are so bossy and their methods seem so all encompassing (ie if you don't do every single thing they say you may as well not bother) and I am losing all confidence in any instinct anyway.
Any advice? And can anyone clear up the matter of pram versus cot for daytime nap, for the love of god??!
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AIBU?
To ask a lovely bunch of total strangers on MN to please boost my confidence about bringing up baby??
84 replies
emeraldgirl1 · 26/04/2013 22:58
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