Tag Archives: sleeping

Claudia at 7 weeks

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week7It’s week seven and little baby Claudia you are doing well and becoming more and more alert and aware of your surroundings.  You still enjoy sleeping lots during the day, which I must admit I am quite thankful for! But you’re also a pretty good sleeper at night, although between the hours of 3.30-5.30 you tend to be a bit restless and while you’re no longer looking for milk at that time and you’re not waking up properly, you’re not sleeping soundly unless I bring you in to bed with mummy and then you sleep without a peep!  I’m trying not to do that too much though so am persevering settling you with your dummy and some head-stroking, which usually does the trick and gets you back to sleep albeit sometimes only for 30 mins or so before I have to do it again!

We’ve had quite a busy week this past week.  Cousin Jo and her boyfriend came for Sunday lunch to meet you little one and thought you were a sweetie, they brought you a very pretty dress/romper suit that will be perfect for you come summertime (if we ever get any sunshine!).

On Monday, we took a drive out to Nonna and Nonno’s house – mummy can finally now drive again, hooray! – and it was your first visit to theirs, you slept all the way there in the car and did rather a lot of sleeping while we were there too.  We also paid a visit to a cranial osteopath that day, who checked you over and said that your chin was a little further back than was ideal, that you had a really good shaped head but it was a little banana-shaped on top (?!) and a bit more bulbous on one side versus the other, and that your rib-cage wasn’t as square as it should be (apparently due to a growth spurt that your shoulders had  yet to catch up with!) and so she did some treatment for you to correct those things and we are going back next week, after which she thinks you’ll be all good to go and won’t require any further sessions.  I know not everyone believes in the merits of taking a little bubba to a cranial osteo, but all I know is that when I was in agonising pain during the end of my pregnancy, she sorted me out in two half-hour sessions and I was completely pain-free, so I’m now a believer!

On Tuesday we went to the baby clinic for the first time and you were weighed and your length measured.  You are now 4.92kg (approx. 10lbs 13oz) and sitting just above the 50th percentile and measure 55.5cms, again just above the 50th percentile.  You are happily guzzling your milk, so are feeding well, which is reflected in how well you are putting on weight nicely, and have successfully fallen into a good little (Gina!) routine, which makes feeding times predictable and easy for mummy and daddy!

On Wednesday we took a drive out to visit Granny and Grandad and spent the day with them, again you slept all the way in the car but then during the day – although granted, you did sleep a fair bit – you were much more alert and spent a lot of time gazing around at the new surroundings and kicking happily on your mat.  In fact at one point you looked like you were almost about to roll yourself over, you were certainly giving it a good try, which was quite scary!  I shall have to be careful about where I put you down, or else I might return to find you on the floor!

withgrandad

Today we enjoyed our usual Thursday morning lie-in/sleep catch-up as daddy took your big sister to nursery and we took ourselves back to bed after your first morning feed.  I just love being able to snooze with you snuggled up close to me and to see your funny little sleepy face and pouty lips as you dream of milk and snuffle in your slumber.  Adorable.  You were treated to more cuddles and coo-ing over by my friend and her gorgeous little one-year old daughter who came to visit and to meet you.

You have been really smiling lots more this week and it is the cutest thing ever!  If we smile lots at you, or tap your nose gently, or blow raspberries, it often provokes a smiley faced response from you, and it makes us all laugh to see your happy little grin.  I can’t wait to see more smiles and hear your first giggle: so much to look forward to little one :-)

Quick, baby’s sleeping…

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When Allegra (aka Richmond Baby – actually, now she’s 13.5 months and walking, do I need to rename her Richmond Toddler?!) goes to sleep, when her head is snuggled face down in her cot – well, face down/side on, so she can like breathe and what have you – with her bum in the air and the sound of her breath slowly but surely letting me know she is calm and snoozin’… I think (to myself, ‘cos nobody else is listening…):

Sleeping peacefully, what a good girl

“Wahooo – I can go to the toilet!” – *runs to toilet and enjoys 30 seconds of peace before the cat barges in*

“Right, I should get in the shower, if I jump in now I might even have time to wash AND dry my hair!” – *but then wanders out of bathroom and gets distracted (often while having left the shower on, to warm up like, you know – yes, I know, terrible waste of water)*

“Actually, I’ll just run downstairs and tidy up the lounge and put away all her toys in the playroom, so we can reclaim the living/dining room, even if just for an hour” – *shower still going in the background*

“Oh, and while I’m here, I’ll just unload and load the dishwasher and wash her bottles and beakers ready for later”- *shower still going in the background*

“Crikey, better feed the cat…and have I given him his heart medication today? hmmm…”

“Ooooh, the chance to have a hot cup of coffee!” *boils kettle for 5th time that morning, but this time actually gets out a cup*

“Hmmm, better turn off the shower, will get in straight after have had cup of coffee” – *goes into steam filled bathroom, turns off shower, feels bad at total waste of water*

“Right, back downstairs to have coffee and I’ll check my emails, then will definitely get in the shower – need to do it before Allegra wakes up or she’ll be bashing me with the shower screen again, not fun” – *goes back downstairs, opens laptop, tries to set deadline by which time will have finished coffee and gotten into shower (then ignores the fact that the time passes and am still sitting there, extending the deadline)*

*Eventually goes back upstairs* - ”Have I got enough time to put those clothes away that have been on the spare bed for approximately 6 months? – nah, she might wake up when I’m mid sorting, will leave for another day”

“Crikey, better empty the cat litter – Pigalle will have been wallowing in his own filth all morning if I don’t get to it” – *goes back downstairs*

*Suddenly realises there’s a Hansel & Gretel style trail but of snotty tissues throughout the house* – “Throw away snotty tissue left on bed.  Throw away snotty tissue left on floor.  Throw away snotty tissue left by changing area.  Throw away snotty tissue left on dining room table.  Throw away snotty tissue left by TV….”

“Must hunt for dummies.  Must wash dummies.  Maybe even try to plunge them into boiling water instead of just finding them around the place and dusting them off and using them. Ahem.  Sometimes, needs must…”

“Really should get in the shower, she could wake up any minute”

“Maybe just have another hot cup of coffee.  Mmmmmm”

“Oh bugger, is that her stirring?!” *listens intently, prays for another half an hour*

“Phew, no, still asleep.  Really should get in the shower.  Will just go on Twitter for a bit – just while finishing coffee” – *spends far too much time on Twitter, then decide to pop by Facebook to look at photos of people on holiday that I barely know*

“Actually, before I get in the shower – will just sort and put some laundry on..”

“Right, really should get in the shower, BUT, haven’t blogged for ages and my Tots 100 score continues to plummet – I’ll be outside the top 1000 by next month at this rate… will just try and get something written quickly now” – *puts off shower again and starts tapping away furiously on laptop*

“Oh bugger, what’s that?!” – *stares at baby monitor intently* – “bum, she’s awake” – *goes upstairs, still in PJs, unwashed, and rues the decision not to have gotten into the shower an hour and a half ago….*

Are you a procrastinator or do you listen to the little voice in your head that says “do it now and you can do all the other stuff afterwards”?!

Happy Easter everyone xxx

Review: Vicks Paediatric CoolMist Mini Ultrasonic Humidifier

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The last few months in the Richmond household have been dominated by snot, I’m afraid to say.  Mostly snot from Richmond Baby, although periodically there has also been snot from Richmond Daddy and I – mostly as a result of a variety of cough and cold bugs we’ve no doubt picked up from our darling daughter.  It’s not been pretty.  Nor has it been much fun – I don’t know about you, but if I go anywhere near my little one armed with a tissue, heading for her nose, it sends her into a complete meltdown and the snot ends up smeared over her face as I try in vain to wipe it away while she thrashes her head from side to side.

Anyway, enough about snot, but it is relevant, as I come on to tell you about the rather fabulous Vicks Paediatric CoolMist mini ultrasonic humidifier, which is as effective as its name is long!

Prior to having one of these nifty little machines, and while “snot-gate” was reigning supreme, I had been trying everything from Karvol vapour rub on baby’s chest at night (effective, I have to say), plug-in vapour do-dah’s, and then finally – on the advice of my oracle (aka my mum), soaking wet towels on a hot radiator.  The latter in order to try and create some moisture in the air while baby slept, but of course that didn’t really last the whole night through as the towel would dry and we’d be back to square one.

Enter stage left the CoolMist…. it maintains a moisture level between 40-60%, for better breathing and soothing, and promises to help reduce the survival of flu viruses and to ease dry nose, throat, eyes, and skin discomforts in order to help keep you baby well.  As soon as I got my hands on it, I popped it into baby’s room to see what it could do.

The CoolMist in situ!

It works by pumping out a soft and steady stream of mist and also, for when snot and being generally bunged up is the issue, you can insert optional VapoPads, which then release soothing menthol vapours in the mist, which I tried over the course of the first week and it smelt wonderful in baby’s room.

Pretty much from the first night of using the CoolMist, I could hear (through the baby monitor, which I still can’t quite turn off yet… am I the only one?!) that Richmond Baby was breathing more easily (through the snot…) – there was less of a snuffly, snoring sound, and she certainly slept more soundly than she had done for a while since having the dreaded cold.  I did have worries about the humidifier releasing germs into the air – having scared myself by reading online that the cold water versions of these machines can by an excellent breeding ground for bugs and bacteria, ugh – BUT, the Vicks CoolMist humidifier comes complete with a built-in anti-bacterial cartridge, which delivers a germ-killing function, phew.

I’m not sure that it necessarily helped speed up baby’s recovery time, at the moment she seems to lurch from one cold and cough to the next, but I think that’s just how it is right now and coupled with the fact she goes to nursery, it probably is inevitable.  But, I do think it made sleeping at night far more bearable because she could breathe more easily – see below for proof!

Sleeping peacefully with multiple teddies!

If you fancy trying to win one, there are ten up for grabs over on the Emma’s Diary site – good luck!

I was sent the Vicks Paediatric CoolMist mini ultrasonic humidifier to trial and review, but my opinions are my own.