Growth Spurt

Well, that better be what's going on any way! Since putting Ben on formula last Thursday we had eased into a fairly comfortable routine for a few days where he was eating every 2.5 to 3.5 hours with consistent three hours stretches at night in the cradle. Then all of a sudden he started waking up early from naps and wanting to eat every 2 hours. This is exhausting enough during the day, but he continued that pattern last night, waking up just one hour after I went to bed! Growth spurts generally last 2 to 3 days, but can last longer. If he's still eating every two hours in 5 days, we'll have to consider a different reason. I'm concerned he's just waking up early from his naps because he doesn't like being in his crib and just wants to be held.

With as little sleep as I've been getting and now getting less, I decided to move Ben to his crib in his room upstairs last night. Even when babies are sleeping they make these sleep noises and they were keeping me awake. Moving him helped, but I was worried that I wouldn't hear him on the monitor since I had the volume lower. I wanted to miss the random chatter and just pickup the real crying. I'm sure I'll get used to it in a few days. We plan to make the move permanent since it also helps having the rocking chair upstairs for the night time feedings.

Weeks 5 to 6 are really hard. Newborns seem to hit peak fussiness and also go through a growth spurt. They don't do much besides eat and sleep and cry and poop. They don't smile yet and aren't making any cooing sounds or cute squeals. They also get overstimulated easily. That being said, I only try to "play" with Ben and do tummy time once per day. He tolerates it A LOT better than Sam did. Sam cried as soon as I laid him down. Ben will lay on his back for about five or ten minutes and will do tummy time for about two to three minutes. Most of Ben's other wake time throughout the day is spent eating, rocking, and singing. Due to the overstimulation factor he also has some wake time where I just put him in his bouncer or swing so he can just look around on his own. I try to get a walk in every day too. Last weekend was jam-packed with soccer, shopping, and two birthday parties and Ben did great. He just took cat naps in his car seat and the Baby Bjorn. (Yes, we got the Bjorn out this weekend since he is big enough to go in it now!)

I couldn't get Ben to look at the camera when he was doing tummy time, but you can get a sense for how he's doing holding his head up.