Micah in Wonderland

The good news is, things have improved on the sleep front with Micah. We discovered that Micah has just been hungry at bedtime, so we've been giving him some extra milk before bed, and bedtime has become a joy again. We're not sure if my milk supply is low or if Micah is growing and just needs a little more right now, but things seem to be under control for now.

I have to say, Micah amazes me when he sleeps. He can be an incredibly restless sleeper some nights - kicking all over the place, making noises, plunging his hands into that gorgeous head of hair (who wouldn't want to do that?) and trying to shove his fists into his mouth. Other nights, he barely moves or makes a sound. When he was younger, we had him sleeping on an incline secure sleeper - it is made of foam, it kept his head elevated to minimize the acid reflux, and it had pillows for his arms to keep him from sliding down. The only problem was, he kept sliding down, so all night long, we'd have to go in and slide him back up. He would either wake up from sliding down, or he would be irritated when we lifted him back up, prompting a round of kicks and punches that would, of course, cause him to slide back down again. As he grew larger and we stopped swaddling him, we decided to remove the incline sleeper and buy a crib wedge - basically, a triangular-shaped wedge that lays on top of his mattress to keep his head a bit elevated to reduce problems with acid reflux.

This new sleeping situation has been a major improvement! We do not need to run in and out of his room all night lifting him up and waiting for him to slide down. For the first few weeks, it was ideal. As Micah has grown stronger, however, he is moving around the crib a bit more. The past few nights, he seems to like to turn 90 degrees and lay across his crib. I'm fairly certain the crib wedge does not help reflux when the baby refuses to lay on it. The past several mornings, he wakes up crying when he has turned 180 degrees . . . yes, that is right, he uses the crib wedge to put his feet up. I'm fairly certain dangling the head downwards is NOT good for reflux. In general, we have been leaving Micah to move about the crib as he pleases, as long as he seems comfortable and sleeps. He has been sleeping so soundly that we have not needed to go in to reinsert the paci at all the past few nights.

Tonight, we went upstairs, put him in his pajamas, gave him his medicine, and I nursed him while DH read him a goodnight story. I thought Micah was finished eating - I seemed to be out of milk, and he seemed contented with his paci. He was smiling at me, so I decided to read him another story while we rocked together. Suddenly, he started to get fussy and restless again, so I tried nursing him some more. Just in case, I had another 2 ounces of milk in a bottle on hand. He was quite insistent on what he wanted - he would have none of the right side, and was all about the left side. I got him into position, and away he nursed. I did not think he would get enough, but after a few minutes, his eyes began to close and he sort of relaxed. I made the decision to nurse him to sleep rather than try moving him or separating him before he decided to pull off. Maybe he just needed some bonding with mommy tonight. It took another 5-10 minutes, but Micah passed out and flopped off. I popped in his paci, and moved him into the crib.

After DH and I did some cooking in preparation for our upcoming Passover seder on Thursday night, I checked Micah on the monitor because he was so quiet. Once again, he had turned 90 degrees and was sleeping across the crib. I give up! He is very cute . . . I guess eventually he'll outgrow this position. I may need to give up on the crib wedge, too, although I think it at least keeps him from spitting up for the first few hours he is in the crib after eating.

Micah does such a great job sleeping and napping - I'm so lucky that he is such a good baby. I have been terrible, however, about making him nap in his crib. I have a feeling I am going to regret that one of these days. He really does not like to nap in his crib - most days, he isn't even too thrilled with the pack n play. He does most of his naps either in the swing, his car seat, or the stroller. Does anyone have tips about napping locations?

We also bought a new stroller tonight. We had been using just the Graco stroller frame - you just snap the car seat in and go. It is easy to use, and really has been perfect for us. DH picked up a metrolite stroller as a backup stroller at a consignment shop about a month ago. The pattern is ugly and it is a bit bulky, but it has been good to have an extra stroller in my car or at the house sometimes. Since we will not be able to use the stroller frame once Micah outgrows his car seat (we still have a few more months on that front), we've been hunting for our "permanent" stroller. We decided to buy the BabyJogger CityMini stroller. We think it will be great for walking around here (we live in an urban area), it is easy to fold and store, and it is so easy to maneuver. I'm already excited about it, and we have not even used it yet! We may still need to get just a regular old umbrella stroller at some point, but we'll worry about that when the time comes.