Saturday, February 23, 2008

Sleep... finally!

Sorry 'bout the prolonged absence... we went through about a week where Kali wouldn't sleep at night. Literally. It took me three or four days to figure out that I should be napping along with her like I did when she was just born. Last night she finally slept the way she used to - a few hours at a time, and right back to sleep after nursing - and today I feel human again.

(for the record, I did take her to my parents' house one night this past week, so that Mr. December and I could each get some good sleep. My mom took care of Kali from 10 p.m. (when I went to bed) until 5 a.m. (when I woke up with serious engorgement). It was lovely and we're planning to do it again just for a break.)

Can't remember if I've already written about this, but we're on serious budgeting measures right now. I've decided now that Kali can focus on things and remain awake for quite a while, we should get her a mobile or a playgym or something... so I'm scouring Craigslist. Cross your fingers that the $20 tiny love symphony in motion mobile is still available. Or the $30 island play mat.

Those of you who have babies, how many of these things do/did you have? A mobile? Swing with dangling toys? Crib toys that attach to the side and play music? How much does one baby need?

10 comments:

Dagny said...

Glad you got some rest Mama!!

xoxoxoxoxxo

Michele said...

yay for sleep!!!

lets see, we had the bouncer seat that had a dangle toy thingie that he eventually enjoyed. we had a floor gym that he really liked. We had a swing but fortunately I bought it used, because Kevin was not as into the swing as some babies are. and it's "mobile" was hard to see as it was not colorful at all. Kevin liked the floor gym best I think, once he could focus on stuff, and especially when he could start swinging his arms at the stuff.

Julie said...

Livvie liked her play mat and her bouncy chair the best. Everything else was ignored.

She couldn't have cared less about her mobile until she was about 6 mos old.

Aurelia said...

Mobiles in the crib were useless as the only time he was ever there was for sleeping.

We did have a playmat that we could put on the ground or in front of a chair or attached to the chair bits.

I would definitely try to get one of those all-in-one things with the bouncy chair that vibrates and has toys etc. You can detach the toys and hang them off of stuff and just lay her on a blanket or prop her on the snoogle and that would be a good substitute I think. Especially because my kids only had leaky diapers when they laid down on the special playmat.

Making the whole thing kind of useless while laundry occurred.

astral said...

We had two swings,a bouncy chair, an indoor stroller, a play mat and numerous toys and Raffi cds. Elisabeth did not sleep well when she was little. I put her in all her gadgets, wheeled her around the house, took her for long car rides. When your baby is not sleeping through the night and takes 20 minute naps you'll try anything. As for the mobile for the crib, she really wasn't interested in it. I agree with the napping when your baby naps. When she was a couple months old she started to nap and sleep through the night. When Kali gets older you can get her an exersauser. Elisabeth loved hers.

Rachel said...

My son is a screamer. We borrowed the fisher price aquarium bouncy seat from a friend. At first he didn't care to be in it for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time, but yesterday he stayed in it while I folded laundry AND put it away.

I strongly recommend borrowing anything you can, going to garage sales in upscale neighborhoods, and 2nd hand stores. One of the 2nd hand stores in my area has about 30 of those playmats with the toys hanging over them. They are selling for $7-$15 and most are in really good shape.

moplans said...

hey If you did't get the island play mat I've got one you can have gratis.
I don't know where rachel is but have you checked out once upon a child on bayview?

Nancy said...

If Kali is a visual baby who loves to watch things, I highly recommend the Symphony in Motion mobile you mentioned. A friend gave us one and BabyA loves, loves, loves it -- when she was tiny she could watch it happily til she nodded off. She still loves it at 7months, tho I admit she can grab the animals and shake them. I just make sure the mobile is extra-securely-fastened.

The twins shared one swing, the "cool" mobile (the 2nd crib had another one that was cute but didn't do much), one low-tech playmat and one exersaucer. They each have low-tech bouncyseats.

Heather said...

Hi decemberbaby. I used to read some of your posts on another site a few years ago when I was trying to get pregnant. Just now I was cleaning out old bookmarks and stuff, and was reminded of you--your posts were always so human, filled with ups and downs and humor and tears--I just tried googling your username and immediately found your blog (I swear I'm not stalking you, I was just wondering about you). And I am so happy to read that you have had a daughter! How wonderful! Congratulations! I had a baby boy at the end of May. He loved his bouncer seat, was so-so about the swing (actually it always put him into a trance-like state, which freaked me out, so we didn't use it much), and went crazy for the exersaucer--which we do not own but he used at a friends' house. Good luck, and congratulations again.

Elizabeth said...

December,

I have a Walt Disney musical mobile still in the package, we already had one when this was given to us. It is yours FREE if you want it. Email me at phillipshil@aol.com and let me know.

Elizabeth