Sunday, April 18, 2010

Unhappiest Baby on the Block

For the most part, Brock is a great baby but he definitely has his moments.  Those moments usually occur between the hours of 1 am and 6 am.   

Our friends loaned us a video called The Happiest Baby on the Block.  We decided to try the five "S" techniques suggested in the DVD.  Let's just say that Brock will NOT be the happiest baby on our block.

Here are the five techniques:

1. Swaddle. Brock HATES being swaddled. He fusses and fusses until he breaks free from his confined blanket. He literally kicks off his blanket and sleeps fully stretched out. Yep. H-A-T-E-S the swaddle.



2. Shhh. You are supposed to hold a long shhhh sound near the baby's ear to calm them. He just looks at us like we're crazy. And while it doesn't calm him, it also doesn't really do anything for him. He remains status quo.


3. Side sway. Placing him looking out and swaying back and forth, Brock, in theory, should calm down. Nope. Instead, he thinks we are playing and this gives him energy. Or, if he's not in the mood to play, this will set him off into a crying spell. He loves to be cuddled on the chest, not swayed from the hip.


4. Shake. Okay, do not shake your baby until his brain explodes but a gentle shake is supposed to be soothing. For Brock, however, the same effect as step #3 occurs.


5. Sooth. Basically throw a pacifier in the baby's mouth to calm them. To be fair, I am avoiding this step for a bit longer until we have the whole breast feeding thing locked down (this is another discussion for another time but I'm having a terrible time breast feeding and have been pumping/bottle feeding most of the time so he doesn't starve and I can heal from his vicious boob attacks). When Brock was in the NICU, they gave him a pacifier before he even breast fed. I am convinced this is one of the reasons breast feeding has been so challenging for me. Can we say nipple confusion?



Anywhoo...our kid wasn't meant to be the best student in the class apparently.  But he is definitely the cutest!


Swaddle Schmaddle.  Let me be free!



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