Feeding and Sleeping Issues

Fortunately, everything in terms of bonding is going VERY well!! :) But feeding and sleeping are another matter entirely...

Today at lunch, Kien was immediate a total wiggle worm as soon as our food arrived from room service! (We've been having a lot of room service lately. It's fast and inexpensive! And easy with 2 boys! And pretty good!) We bought some baby biscuits over the weekend at the Citimart. You're supposed to mix them with water and make a cereal out of them, but they can also be eaten like a cookie. Kien, of course, won't eat them with a spoon from a bowl... but he loves the cookie!! So when he would not hold still so I could eat, we pulled out the double stroller and strapped him in. He didn't protest!! HOOORAY!!!! :) I put a bib on him and gave him a cookie -- and I was soooo happy to be able to eat my lunch!!!!! :) :) Only issue was that he does not like wearing his bib. sigh. Kevin never had a problem with bibs, and we even used them until age 3! (In fact, when he has messy things like pasta, he'll still request a bib!!!) I'm hoping he just doesn't like this vinyl one and will do better with some other types we have at home.

As for sleeping... For the first 3 nights, Kien slept all through the night. Then the past 3 nights, he has cried (brief cries) at different points during the night. The pattern has varied. On the first of the 3 nights, it only happened for the first couple hours. And since we had just given him oatmeal in his formula, we thought he had gas. Then the next night, it happened more throughout the night. Quite a few times, he made a brief cry, then went back to sleep. But sometimes, I would get up, rub his back (he's in our room), and he'd fall asleep again. (He was never awake enough to stand up or anything like that - and he always went back to sleep very quickly.) But this happened many times. (We're not ready for any "cry it out" methods this early in the bonding process. But I also make it a point to not take him out of the crib.) So that night (our 5th night with him), we figured that he may be feeling insecure in the night. Then last night (night #6), it happened again...and this time, Steve was the one who was being woken up by his crying. But the crying wasn't as brief. So Steve tried giving him the bottle of water, since he's used to falling asleep with a bottle. He eventually finished it, so Steve thought that maybe he was hungry. Afterall, we were told he takes a bottle in the night -- and then we were surprised that he never actually wakes up for this the first 3 nights (and the other nights, it didn't seem like he was waking up to eat). BUT... perhaps he does NOT really wake up for a bottle and it was simply given to him in his sleep during the night!! yikes. So Steve tried it... and Kien did drink it, but then he was awake for 2 hours!!! Ugh. Ok, that is not the right solution. ;) So at that point, I did wake up, and Steve discovered Kien needed a diaper change...so he did come out of the crib. And I gave a suggestion... The pediatrician's office definitely recommended bringing Benadryl for the flight home. BUT...it makes some children hyper, so it's best to test it out ahead of time. Well, this seemed like a fabulous time to test out the Benadryl!!! ;) And YIPPPEEEE -- Benadryl DOES make him sleepy!! ;) ha. So he slept until 9am. Ahhhh. :)

And he's supposed to take 2 naps per day, but we have only managed this ONCE thus far!!! Each other day, he has had one nap. And today, he NEVER had a nap in his crib!! He only fell asleep in my arms when we were about to leave our room for our visa appointment. So I carried him lying across my arms down to the lobby and into the taxi. He slept the whole way to the Embassy and woke up when we got there. So he got a 30 minute nap (which really does NOT replace 2 naps for the day! oh well...).

And he's still only interested in bottle feeding -- and in finger foods!! I can't wait to have a chat with our pediatrician... We're supposed to be able to get an ASAP appointment as soon as we return. We get home on Thursday, so Friday is probably too soon for any of us. So hopefully next Monday...

Tonight, Steve tried a new trick. First, we tried rice cereal with a spoon again. No way. Then Steve sweetened it up with some baby food.... but he added in a new variable... He used a metal spoon from the kitchen drawer!! We've been using brightly colored plastic disposable baby spoons from home. And Kien ate several bites!!!!! Has he been objecting to the plastic brightly-colored spoon?????!!! He still didn't finish it off, so it wasn't perfect. But he did eat quite a few bites!!! We'll have to keep experimenting to see what the solution is.... Hmmmm.... :)

Then he had mashed potatoes and gravy mixed with some fruit (yuck! this was Daddy's doing) in a bottle -- and as long as he can drink it, it's all ok!! ;)

Then after he went to sleep, he woke up crying maybe half an hour later again. I gave him his water bottle (it was lying in his crib), and he stopped. Steve had been out of the room. So next time Kien woke up crying just 10 minute or so later, Steve was back and said to not go in this time. He said he didn't want a repeat of last night. I'm all in favor of the "crying it out" method in the long run.... but it's hard to know when to let that begin, when we're still working on bonding and trust. But I went with Steve's wishes... and sure enough, he ended up stopping! Then it happened at least one more time, and we let him cry for a little bit. And he stopped!! So hopefully tonight can go a little more smoothly.... I hope....