Convience vs Necessity Training Mommy

Today was 6 mo check up for Princess and 18 mo checkup for Monkey!  It actually went really well!!!  Monkey weighs 26.9 lbs and is 33 ¼ inches tall and is in the 50^th percentile for everthing!  Princess is 20.6 lbs!!!! OMG! And surprisingly is only in the 75^th percentile!  I was shocked at 4 months she was in the 98^th percentile! So that’s good, but still, OMG 20 lbs! I knew she was heavy bc lugging her around in her car seat is a serious work out!!! 

Monkey 18 Months Old

Princess 6 Months Old!

He thinks she is his pillow!

During our appt the Dr. asked what kind of questions I had for her.  For Monkey, How do I get rid of this binky? And for Princess, How do I get her not to wake up 5 times a night???

For Monkey her suggestion now that he is old enough to understand is to have him throw it in the trash and for that to be that and not to give in and not to keep one for emergencies etc but to get rid of it all together and that it would probably be rough for a few days but eventually it would get better…

We tried to take it away a few months ago and after 5 days of heck I gave it back.  I simply couldn’t the fussing and crying among everything else I had to deal with at that time. I tried cutting the end, he didn’t care he still sucked away!

So today I asked him to throw it away after he threw away a diaper and he was like heck no! He shook his head no and went to hide! Haha! I wasn’t gonna force it, I just figured I would keep asking and eventually he would throw it away, someday.  Well the hubs called and Monkey was sooo exited! He grabbed the phone and took it to his sister and started telling her all about dada being on the phone! Soo cute!  Daddy said will you throw away your binky and he did!!!  We clapped and said YAY!!! And MUCH to my surprise 5 hours later he hasn’t even looked for it!  He is very binky dependent so I am seriously surprised!  I decided I wouldn’t fuel the fire by putting him in his bed alone with no binky right off the bat, so right now hes laying beside me watching Tangled, our favorite movie! Usually he cries and looks all over for it until he finds it but he hasn’t even cared! WOW, maybe this is gonna work!

Ok on to Princess, Dr. said a few things.  First, she asked if I was feeding her each time she woke up? Well, not always an entire 6 oz but, yea at least 2 if not 4 to 6. She said she is at the age where she shouldn’t have to eat through the night.  And said if she wakes up go in an check on her, change diaper etc but don’t feed her. 

Though my princess hates the binky she is very bottle dependent and that’s pretty much how she falls asleep EVERY TIME!

Then she asked how much she eats during the day.  Typically 6 to 8 oz every 3 hours.  Which, if shes awake for 12 hours that’s only 4 bottles so that’s ok but if shes getting another 12-18 oz a night that’s really too much. 

When I think about both of these problems they are really created to soothe me just as much as it is to soothe them.  For example, the binky, its so much easier for me to pop a binky in his mouth and not have to hear the fussing, whining etc.  At a point we had him down to only having it in bed but then when daddys deployment began, I was simply overwhelmed with everything going on and didn’t wanna deal with fussing on top of that. So, it became easier to just let him have it whenever he wanted it.  Bad Mommy!!!  I do agree that its easier now that hes old enough to understand and hes actually the one throwing it away Im not just taking it and hes left looking for it wondering where it went.

I am very hopeful that he will continue to not care and remember that it went to the trash.  Now he is fast asleep and seriously hasn’t even looked for it! WOW

For Princess, It boils down to the same thing.  Its much easier for me when she wakes up half a dozen times to change her, pop in a bottle (she wont take a bink) and she will fall back to sleep after eating and within 10 mins tops shes back asleep and me within 15.  I never even looked at it as how much formula does she need a day, or maybe shes not hungry.  Ive always read, been told etc, that babies wont eat if their not hungry but I don’t think that’s the case with my princess.  Right now she is 6 months old and weighs 20 lbs! She isn’t overweight at this point but if I keep feeding her a ton extra than she needs she probably eventually will be. 

People have been talking to me about attachment parenting, which I agree with.  I am not going to just let her cry it out.  I never have and im not going to start now but I hope I can soothe her and retrain her with out running to the convenience of just feeding her each time.  Now obviously if she sleeps 8 or more hours and wakes up early morning I would feed her and let her go back to sleep but when she is waking up every 2 hours thats prob not the best answer. 

I think so many times its much easier for us to grab the quick solution and not think it through.  I really didn’t think it through of how many oz per day she eats etc.  Now if she was being breastfed it would be totally different.  But shes not and I do know each baby is different but at the same time I as mommy have to look at the big picture and not always run to the easy solution. Like popping in a binky so I don’t have to listen to fussing or making a bottle every time she wakes up crying. 

This is the beginning of our journey and even having an 18 mo old and a 6 mo old number 3 is 6 months old I will still be learning even more things.

We will see how it goes.. This is night one of training mommy!