Hit Me & I'll Hit You Back!

So what do we think of kids pushing and hitting kids? Also what do we think of self defense? We live an era where bullying is at an all time high and we could sit here and over analyze and say those kids grow up in troubled homes or are abused at home but that's not always the case.  Some of the kids who are doing the bullying come from well balanced homes taught manners and respect never been abused or bullied and some how get their rocks off on doing it to others or think it's okay.  I feel like the right to defend yourself has slowly been stripped away over time.  We have states that have removed self defense as a legal defense and let's not even get started on stand your ground - YIKES!

If your kid is playing with Johnny on the playground and Johnny kicks your kid do you want your kid to run and come and tell you about it or do you want your kid to hit Johnny back?  Are you afraid of the idea of your child fighting?  Not me, if someone is picking on my kid I want her to defend herself and I'm aware at times that might mean she will lose but at least she defended herself but in that same breath I am aware that teenagers now-a-days are taking guns to school along with knives and anything else that's considered a weapon so I will also teach her to pick and choose her battles and to use common sense.  I feel like too many kids are bullying other kids or starting little playground fights with kids and they're not being punished for their actions (I witnessed this the other day) nor are they being forced to apologize for their actions.  I have a friend who is terrified to let her child be around her nieces or nephews because they're aggressive, bite and punch people including her little baby and her sister won't correct them nor is anyone else allowed to correct them.  So I'm suppose to just lock my kid up the rest of the evening to hide from your kid? No! How about we tell my kid to defend herself and if your kid doesn't like it well then I guess she shouldn't put her hands on anyone.

I think more people would fear putting their hands on someone if they knew that person was going to hit them back thus creating a generations less filled with bullies and kids who go to school and shoot schools up.  I'm a firm believer that a good clean fight is okay every now and then and sometimes even needed and if it's my kid doing the bullying don't worry the rules are the same.

Every person in these times has a right to defend themselves with their bare hands if that's all they have especially children,  Children are being abducted and harmed every day in some of the most family friendly places or by their peers.  If your child never defends his/herself your child could be the one who grows up to bomb the school.  The could reach a level of frustration from being picked on that they retaliate in the worst way possible.  I know this opinion might be unpopular and every parent book you've read has told you different but if you have an old timer in your family like a great grandfather or maybe just your grandfather ask him how they did things in his day.  You admire his moxie and toughness for a reason, where do you think it came from?

I'm Not Eating That

So last we spoke we were working on restoring her sleep pattern and this about sums it up; CIO (cry it out), wake & sleep (check previous post) and dream feeds.  I think this was a good experience because I grew so tired and frustrated I just let her be to cry it out and as a result when she wakes up in the middle of the night (if she does) she no longer cries she just babbles a bit and then goes back to sleep.  So I'd call this a win!

With that being said we now have a case of food refusal.  She's been eating solids since she was 6 months and all of a sudden this week she's decided she's not going to eat, not even the things she loves.  I've tried every thing and every combination and she might eat one meal a day and sometimes it takes trickery just to get her to eat it, again I'm frustrated and tired.  I'm not sure what to do with this, a part of me feels like I should wait it out another part of me feels like I should ask her doctor  and the last part of me isn't sure which way to go with any of it.  She's due for her 9 month check up next week so if this continues I will definitely ask but I wish this wasn't so complicated but don't we all wish babies weren't complicated?

We're going to try a mixture that she generally loves and will eat it for days which is a puree of turkey, sweet potato, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower I pray it goes well.   I plan to start doing more BLW (baby led weaning) in the weeks to come.  I will definitely document what works and what didn't work to share with you all and hopefully I meet success somewhere along the way.

Sleepless to Sleep-ish

So if you read my last post then you know I have an 8 month old who hates sleep all of a sudden.  For the past 4-5 months sleep as been her friend all night and several times during the day until recently.  I gave the "Wake to Sleep" method a shot and it did work.  However I figured since it worked so well for two nights in a row lets see if she can go back to sleeping through the night like before.  HUGE mistake as she woke up at 4a one night and last night at 2a, so tonight we will go back to the wake to sleep and hope for the best.  I suspect she's tired and frustrated as much as I am because she seems to be fighting me all the time now when it comes to sleep unless she's in the car.  Tonight we did the CIO method and she held up for about 30-40 minutes before she caved and went to sleep - whew!  I wish I knew what set this in motion and how to undo it but I don't.  With that said I'm on a mission to correct it soon as we're taking a vacation come July and I'd rather she not wake the entire family (meeting the inlaws there as well as my parents) while there.

This is baby C's daily schedule when normal

6:30-7a Wakeup
8a - Breakfast
10a - nap (40min - 1hr)
12p - lunch
1p nap (up to 4:30 but length varies)
Bottle after waking
5p - Bath if it's a bath night
6:30p - Dinner
7:30p retire to her room to read
8p sleep

And yes she's getting bottles between meals.

We're getting ready to add teeth brushing into the routine and I'm hoping that won't be a pain in the @$$.  But that schedule has worked for months for her and all of a sudden it's not working.  So what do you have? A zombie mom and dad and a very happy but tired at the same time baby.  Yesterday she crashed at about 6p and we thought she was down for the night, it's not the first time that would've happened well an hour and a half later she woke up like nothing had even happened.  You can only imagine how sad I was.

 <<<<What a tired momma looks like

<<<<The 6p crash that didn't last


I'm going to give the wake to sleep method a few more days if that doesn't work I'm going to start waking her earlier and putting her down earlier.  I'll keep you posted.

A Sleepless Week

This blog is so affectionately named "25 to Life" cause well let's be real, you raise a kid they go to college and that's roughly 25 years right there and then they need you for the rest of their life.  I intend to share my story and journey as the mother of baby C as we go forward in life together and I hope you guys will go on that journey with me.

My girl is 8 months old and she's wonderful, she's everything I prayed for and dreamed of but lets cut to it she is WORK!  I'm currently a SAHM and I'm blessed to be able to do so so let me take a min to shout out all the SAHMs, SAHDs and all the employed moms & dads out there because neither is easy.  Baby C is the hardest challenge God has ever handed me and He's given me some challenges.  In the beginning it's all sweet and wonderful and while you feel like you're not sleeping much (some of you aren't) they're sleeping and if you're one of the lucky ones you'll get to sleep when they sleep.  I wasn't a lucky one lol.

So this week in the Chronicles of Baby C we have the baby who slept almost perfectly for the past 4 months and has decided this week she's no longer going to.  I know I shouldn't complain when there are moms and dads out there with babies who wake every other hour, I know some parents like you and I know some babies like that and I'm wishing you the best but I want my perfect sleeper back!  Not only is she waking but she's waking to play not out of hunger.  I slightly suspect it's her teeth but they don't appear to bother any other time of the day so I can't fully say that's it.  When they first started coming in I definitely could say that was it cause she spiked a small fever and was overall fussy making it an easy fix.  This is not that, this is a baby who hates for mom to sleep ever.

So we put her to bed at 8p this is after she's had dinner, played and bath if it's a bath night then she usually sleeps until 7:30ish in the morning.  This week she has woken up at 12a like clock work and she's up for the next 2 hours.  In the beginning of the week I fought with her getting her back to sleep and she ended up in our bed but because hubby needs to rest up for work and can't sleep comfy with her in the bed on night two I took her into the guest room.  I put on the Roku put on Sesame St and prayed that would calm her down....NOPE! She was only more chatty.  By the time Wednesday came I was fed up so I put her in her swing turned it on turned on the Baby First channel and I fell asleep on the sofa while she was strapped in and eventually she went to sleep but she wasn't fussy, night time programming was much better.  Last night I gave her the Tylenol just in case and she did calm down and go back down sooner which makes me think the tooth might be the culprit but I'm not sure.

It's 9:49 she just went down her sleep schedule is off cause she slept a lot in the car today so I have no clue how this will impact her night.  I'm hoping by going to bed later will discourage her to not wake up in the middle of the night but can I say something awful?  I really don't care!  Hubby worked all day yes but he offered to take over tonight and he's getting up with that little monster if she does.  

I did read something on resetting their schedule when they become habitual wakers (I know that's not a word and I think that's the term).  So if things go south tonight tomorrow night we will begin doing that.  Pretty much the objective is to kind of disturb them without fully waking them about an hour before they would normally get up.  Then you hope that they realize they're still tired and feel like they've already woken.  It might sound lame but when you need sleep you'll try anything and while I sound harsh on hubby I do want him to get some rest.

Wish us luck!