Books that help

Hi friends!
I hope you have been enjoying your weekends! Paige's Godmother came over on Saturday to visit and helped out tremendously! She even watched Little P so Chris and I could go out to dinner together (I had the Avacado and Scallion sushi)...it was nice to get out and be together. Thanks Sue! Sue even survived one of Paige's screaming fits with me...Sue was a real champ in soothing her after a HUGE screaming meltdown. We are approaching the 6 week peak of fussiness and I'm scared! But, I know it will be so much better once we get to the other side of it. We can do it! Anyhoo, in light of Paige's fussiness and issues, friends recommended a few books that, together, have been HUGELY helpful for me. Thanks to the techniques in these books I am now able to soothe Paige so much better and have an understanding of how things work. They have saved the day for me several times now.
1. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, by Marc Weissbluth
This one advises the "2-hour wakefulness" rule and advises that after the baby is fed, etc. that she shouldn't be kept up for longer than 2 hours (this is the rule up to 3/4 months old.) It seems to prove true as Paige starts to tire at about 1.5 hours of wakefulness. So, I'm sure to put her down to nap at the very first signs of her tiring when she yawns or stretches. It saves me from her screaming from over-stimulation and keeps her calm through the day and night (for the most part!!!)

2. The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer, by Harvey Karp
This one describes IN DETAIL the 5 "s-es" such as swaddling and shushing and how to really do them effectively for soothing the baby. I knew about the 5 "s-es" but I think I was doing some of them wrong. Once I read this book (well, the parts that I needed to read) I learned a lot of little tricks that I wasn't doing right. I also learned that these techniques have to be done in just the right way and in the right order so that they work properly. So helpful!! I can soothe Paige now in a few minutes with these as opposed to the hours it used to take me.

3. Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby by Tracy Hogg and Melinda Blau
This one is full of info and I haven't been able to read all of it yet. But, it suggests having a daily routine (an order of which things are done and not by the clock). It suggests that the baby should eat, have an activity after that, and then sleep. Which I was sort of doing anyway. This way, the baby and yourself always know what to expect next. I do this in tandem with the "2-hour wakefulness" rule and things run pretty smoothly. There's lots of other info in the book, but this is the main nugget that I've taken so far. There's also a handy chart that breaks down the baby's body language and what it might mean. Most are obvious, but some are not so it helped me out once or twice already.

Anyway, these books, in tandem, have been a big help for us so I thought I would share them here for any new Mom's out there also looking for info on soothing a fussy baby. Most of what I do is instinct, but when I need that little extra bit of advice or reassurance, these books have been helpful. I've just needed a little extra help during these first 6 weeks and hope it will get us through the first 3 months of "new baby" times. I'm feeling much more confident these days, thanks to some of the tips I've discovered. You never know, maybe you can find a tip or two that will help YOU out too! Be well friends, and please send me a happy thought during this coming week...the supposed "peak" of fussiness! (Although, she was born a week early, so perhaps the peak will be next week? Oh well, who knows, she may be a complete ANGEL and never have a problem!?!! That's the beauty of it all...each day is a new chocolate.) And onward we walk!

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