The Benefits of Co-Sleeping

I said I would do it, so here 'tis.

Unfortunately I don't have anyone who can come over during the day to help out since we live thousands of kilometres away from family. Well, I have a brother who lives in the city but he is afraid to hold my baby and gags at the mention of poop. So no help there. And since it takes a village to raise a child and I am certainly not a one person village, I needed to find something that could work to save my sanity.

We struggled (and continue to struggle) with sleep with Keegan. I've never seen a newborn fight it so much! He will be warm with a full tummy and a clean bum and show signs of being tired - but he won't sleep. As I type this I am wearing him in his Boba (love this carrier by the way) while bouncing on a ball and I have white noise playing on the computer speakers. This gets him to sleep but as soon as one of these elements is removed he will wake up and be even crankier than before I put him to sleep in the first place. It's a vicious cycle that we are trying to find a way out of. But for now, I'll do whatever it takes to get him to rest even if it keeps me up all night.

When it comes to his nighttime routine I wish we had one. I take him to bed with me at either 9-ish or midnight-ish. Dood is sleeping in the other room right now since little K shares my bed with me. Yes, I refer to it as my and mine since Dood has all but moved out of the room for now. One of us needs to sleep at night and since I am the one with boobs and he is the one who brings home the bacon, little K is with me.

When I was using his bassinet I would wake up when he needed to be fed and take him to his room where the rocking chair and nursing pillow welcomed me. Half way through the feed when he was starting to fall asleep I would change him to piss him off and wake him up, then nurse him back to sleep so I was sure he had a full tummy and clean bum. Then I would put him back in his bassinet where he would sleep for 10 hours. Yeah right! More like ten minutes. Then I would spend the next 2 to 3 hours trying to calm him from his melt down and put him back to sleep. By then he would be hungry again so he would have slept for about another 10 minutes. It was horrible. I was averaging about one hour of sleep per 24 hours and this sleep was for a few minutes here and there. Some times I would wake up to find myself with boob in K's mouth and my head resting on his leg. That damn hormone that is released while breastfeeding that puts you to sleep is the worst in the first few weeks.

I finally had a meltdown and called my midwife who came over to discuss coping and options. The skinny of it was that I should share my bed with little K and learn to breastfeed laying down. Dude, I'll do anything. The first night we did this he woke up twice to feed. He was so much happier and so was this mama. We have not had another night like that since but it is something I strive for now. I am getting more sleep than I was thankfully, but not as much as I would like. Most of the time he is just fussy... for every reason. He doesn't have the greatest self-coping skills and relies of me to help him. This usually entails breastfeeding. I know that some of the experienced mothers are shaking their heads at me and saying I will pay for it down the road but I don't care for a couple reasons. Number 1: I live in the now and right now I am going to do what works and worry about tomorrow when the time comes. Number 2: The one or two people who read my blog probably don't care :)

Anyway, the bottom line is, if you find yourself in the same predicament that I did where you and your newborn are not sleeping and you find yourself on the couch crying at 5 am with a screaming baby and feeling like a horrible mother - you're not alone. You're not a horrible mother, your baby isn't broken, and you have options. Try sharing your bed just make sure you do so safely. K sleeps in the middle of my bed no matter which breast he is feeding from and the pillows are off the bed except the one I am using and it's far enough away I don't need to worry about his finding his way under it. Also, I use a warm bed sheet so the comforter is not over him. He is swaddled tighter than a frog's arse and I am not under the influence of any drugs. Oh, and I put down a receiving blanket that I change daily in case of any spills or spit up.

Still not convinced. Check out this article on Dr. Sears' website: Scientific Benefits of Co-Sleeping

Oh yeah, and white noise helps a lot. I use this video and it helps put me to sleep too. Twelve hours of white noise

The other thing I downloaded that is very helpful for the car when he is freaking out and I am driving is the baby shusher app. Greatest invention ever!

Sleeping like a baby

ZiggleBaby Product Review

I've been a mom for three weeks and a day and I have changed many a diaper. Keegan had his bum wrapped in cloth diapers for about two weeks. I bought a pack of disposables for the first week or so until the meconium was cleared and I felt like I might actually somewhat have the hang of being a mommy. Well, I did say somewhat.

Before Keegan was born I purchased a bunch of one size cloth diapers from kijiji, The Calgary Cloth Diaper Depot, and ZiggleBaby. Most of my friends really like Bum Genius so my stash is mainly comprised of this brand. I also have a small arsenal of ZiggleBaby and that is the purpose of this review.

ZiggleBaby (or Zigs as I like to call them) is a relatively new brand that I didn't know about before I bought them. They sell one-size cloth diapers through their website listed here. They also sell that lovely laundry ball I wrote about earlier. I compare them to the Bum Genius (BG) I have in my drawer as well.

Zigs are the true one-size diaper. Keegan has leaked out of his BG diapers and I have had to change his entire outfit. They are absorbent enough but when he is laying on his side the pee can come out the legs because they don't really fit the best. That is why I love my ZiggleBaby diapers more. That gusset in the legs have saved many a sleeper and onesie in the past three weeks. I also really like the idea that it doesn't need to be stuffed like my BG diapers need to be. You just lay the pad on top and secure it with the magic buttons. Most of the time I can just put down another pad and not have to wash the outer shell because the mess is contained so well.

Now to the fit. I love that these really are one size and yet not nearly as bulky as my BG diapers. His ghetto booty is not nearly as ghetto in these diapers. And the best part is that they will grow with him. These are definitely the first diaper I reach for and they are also my motivator for getting my diaper laundry done as often as it needs to be done because I want more clean Zigs in my drawer.

I love the color selection and I would love to see more colors and patterns as the business grows. But really, he is wearing clothes over them so it doesn't really matter what colors they are. The colors are more for me anyway. :)

Please check out their youtube channel for more information and reviews: YouTube

Sorry that this is the quick and dirty review but I wanted to post something because I love these diapers so much. I am literally bouncing on my ball with Keegan in his carrier and strapped to my chest. This little dove needs to sleep but won't unless he is touching me. I'll write about co-sleeping and baby wearing another time.