The Guessing Game

Since I’ve been home full-time with Lila, it seems my days have become filled with playing a constant guessing game. I still haven’t quite figured this girl out and find myself wondering what it is she needs from me.

Every day seems to be different no matter how hard I try to get us into some semblance of a routine. And her needs change hour to hour.

Take napping for example. Sometimes she wants to sleep on her own in her crib. Sometimes she wants me to hold her. Sometimes she needs to be rocked. Sometimes she likes a swaddle. Sometimes she wants to stretch her arms and legs out. Gah!

Good thing she’s so cute when she is asleep.

I’m trying to follow advice I’ve gotten from other moms to settle into an eat, play, sleep routine so Lila doesn’t rely on nursing to fall asleep. She’s been eating about every 2.5 – 3 hours during the day and every 3.5 – 4 hours at night. This is supposed to help regulate her sleeping at night, but that is yet to be seen. I think she’s still a little too young.

Our “routine” went extra haywire the past few days though. Suddenly she started eating constantly and hardly sleeping. This morning for example, she only went 1 hour and 15 minutes between feedings and napped for just 20 minutes before waking up rooting again.

I was starting to lose my mind a little when I thought – maybe she’s having her three week growth spurt? Right when I was convinced that was what was happening, Lila decided to nap for a solid two hours. Sigh.

It’s stressful to feel like I may be reading her signals the wrong way and not giving her what she needs. Of course I want to do what’s best for her while also setting us up for more sleep as soon as possible. I suppose it’s a little ridiculous for me to expect a 3.5 week old baby to have any sort of regularity.

We’ll figure this out soon enough I’m sure. Until we do I guess I’ll just trust my gut and follow Lila’s lead, while reminding myself that if 16 year olds can do it, I can do it. Thanks MTV! :)