Tuesday, 26 August 2008
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Wise Words on Baffling Baby Behavior
by Mama Hippo
I just wanted to write a short post about something that I found as I was catching up on Google Reader. It's from Ask Moxie, in response to a question about a 1 year old who was waking up at night all over again. Here's the bit:
"Here's my musing: I thought it was so bizarre to get to one year, and then feel like my child was in such flux. It made 365 days seem completely arbitrary. You think, when your baby's an infant, that a year actually means something. To me it just seems like a big period of flux in all sorts of areas." (link)
Thank you, Moxie. Thank you. I think you are the only one that talks about infants in a way that seems to actually apply to my own. I have been baffled at how a baby of 4, 5, 6 months, in so many other ways so much more advanced than a newborn, could still be waking and eating as often as he did back then, and how his "routine" (hah!) and daily needs seem to change on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. It almost makes me mad now when I think of all the books I've read that all claim that babies are "supposed to" stop waking at night to feed by 3-6 months, how babies are "supposed to", well, anything, and maybe I just have a baby that's far from the average range of how things are supposed to happen, but everything I read about infant sleep/eating habits? So does not seem to apply to my child.
And thus it was so refreshing to read those words above, it was like the sky opened up and light streamed down. I think I need to print them out and paste them where I can see them often, as a reminder that life will be a steady stream of unsteadiness and change for the next 6 months (and beyond, I imagine) and to stop waiting for this or that to happen because who knows if it will or not. So what if D is still eating every 2 hours during the day? So what if he takes 5+ catnaps instead of 2-3 longer ones? It seems to work for him, and at the moment it's still working for me as well, and until one of those things changes I will try to do what he needs of me and take each day (and night) as it comes.So much for this being a short, quick post.
Are you ever baffled by your child's "atypical" behavior (compared to what others might tell you or what you might read in books)?
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Comments (4)
i only have 1 daughter, but i'm sure that moms with more kids can tell you that every single is different. that's why i never give advice unless asked because i don't know that person's kid, and just because something worked with mine and something happened at a certain time for us, that it has or will for another.
After my first one went against everything i read he should be doing ,I gave up and now its much more fun with the second one!
My daughter also took 4-5 naps a day until she was 7 months old. And it wasn't just the books that made me think there was something wrong. Many family members would also exclaim in disbelief when they found out my daughter didn't just take 2 naps a day.
And, yes, I am often baffled by "atypical" behavior. I try to ignore other advise, but sometimes it's hard!
Nope. My child is my child unless you mean being baffled by the way he laughs at pictures of Amy Winehouse or how he pretends to cough for no reason or my favorite the choking convulsion thing he does before you get medicine anywhere near his mouth. I have never read a single book about napping when or what he should be eating or anything else. I played everything by ear and took cues from my son.