OK. Today is, hopefully, a non-controversial post.
As a mother of 5, grandmother of 20, and great-grandmother of 1, I would like to think I know a lot about babies. I live with my son, who works nights, and his fiancee, who works days, and I am between jobs so my current job is that of a live-in grandma. Not the worst job in the world by any means. It is, however, a lesson in humility. I've seen babies who were fine on breast milk and/or formula until they were several weeks old and babies who needed more than just milk almost from birth. I've dealt with colicky babies and calm babies, good eaters and poor eaters, little ones who had to be burped after every half-ounce and infants who screamed bloody murder if they weren't completely full before the bottle was pulled from their mouths, babies who were never sick a day in their lives and babies who got sick every time they turned around.
As a mother of 5, grandmother of 20, and great-grandmother of 1, I would like to think I know a lot about babies. I live with my son, who works nights, and his fiancee, who works days, and I am between jobs so my current job is that of a live-in grandma. Not the worst job in the world by any means. It is, however, a lesson in humility. I've seen babies who were fine on breast milk and/or formula until they were several weeks old and babies who needed more than just milk almost from birth. I've dealt with colicky babies and calm babies, good eaters and poor eaters, little ones who had to be burped after every half-ounce and infants who screamed bloody murder if they weren't completely full before the bottle was pulled from their mouths, babies who were never sick a day in their lives and babies who got sick every time they turned around.
I relearned last night that the only thing anyone really know about babies that each one is different. I was taught this lesson by my youngest grandson, who is 23 days old at this writing. During the day he is a very good baby, only crying when he is hungry or needs changed, but at night he gets fussy. I wasn't aware of exactly how fussy he was at night because his mommy usually takes him to her room at night. Last night was my son's night off and he had “bitty butt”, as I call him, in the living room. He would settle in for a few minutes than start fussing and work himself up pretty badly. The only time he seemed to calm was when one of us was holding him tight, and he would only sleep until we put him down. We finally found the solution. As soon as we swaddled him he went right to sleep and slept like a baby....well.... like most parents hope their babies will.
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