Popsicles for Breakfast?
Anyway, back to breakfast. This latest is my most meal-friendly yet- I used 4 nectarines, a cup or so of plain, full fat greek yogurt, and only about 1 tablespoon of sugar, threw it in the food processor and then the freezer for 10 beautiful morning happy pops.
Just the thing for our last few hot summer mornings.
All things sleep-y
Cosleeping is a fancy name for sleeping close to your baby, whether it be in a family bed (everyone in the same bed), or in a kind of sidecar crib, or some other arrangement. It is often part of what is called "attachment parenting", which is a fancy name for believing that you and your child know what's best for your family and ignoring other people's (often archaic and sometimes barbaric) parenting "wisdom". I find it to be using a lot of compassion and common sense. Some examples?
-Breastfeeding. The food that my body makes specifically for my baby is going to be better than something made in a factory in China. Also, just like you or me, my baby knows when he's hungry, I don't. So if he wants to eat, he gets to.
-Nobody likes to be alone. If you were brand new to this world, would you want to be alone in some contraption all the time? Probably not. My babe is near me all the time, whether I'm wearing him, sleeping next to him, or he's playing by my feet. I don't like to sleep alone in the dark, I could hardly expect him to.
Back to sleeping. Before we had 5, we knew we wanted to cosleep, but I was what you might call a "deep and thrashy" sleeper. So we set up a 3-walled crib right up against the bed. That way I could reach him when he was hungry in the night, but I couldn't crush him.
Well, he lasted all of five minutes in the crib- he was NOT having it. He slept between us and we discovered the amazing light-sleeper mommy hormones. He has slept in my arms every night since and it has been wonderful.
He can nurse all night if he wants and I don't even have to wake up. We don't have to worry about him not breathing, or being cold, or lonely, or scared. It's also about the sweetest thing in the whole world to wake up to that face. It could be coincidence, but he's been sleeping for around 11 hours a night since he was 2 months old and I get at least 7 hours most nights, sometimes more.
Naps have been a little different. For more than 6 months, he would only sleep in my lap. I didn't get so much done... Now that he's older, he sleeps more soundly. At first that meant we could lay down on the bed, I could nurse him to sleep, and then slink out of the bed. Now, I can actually pick him up and move him (like into a crib) and he stays asleep.
This whole crib issue only came up because 5 wakes up completely silently at least half of the time, leaving him free to explore the bed (and try to crawl off of it) without interference from pesky Mom. I've been checking on him every five minutes for months now and we've had some pretty close calls. This morning, I came in to find him at the head of the bed, having just thrown the alarm clock off the night stand and getting ready to throw the lamp off as well. That sealed it for me- this babe needs to be contained for his own safety.
If you're interested in learning more about attachment parenting, I would recommend The Attachment Parenting Book, but there are lots of good books out there now.