Adjustment

Before we had Adler, we heard so many people say that two children is like having five. My response was always, "Great! We have ONE that already feels like five. How is the second one going to REALLY feel?" If I can say truthfully, the adjustment at home hasn't been too bad. We were expecting the worst at the very beginning, and the worst, well, the worst never really happened.

Maternity leave with Adler couldn't have been better. We have an amazing nanny who we (and Harper) love, and she's been with us since Harper was three months old. She continued to take care of Harper while I was on maternity leave, and I was able to really stay home and bond with our newborn. From the very beginning, even in the hospital, Adler slept through the night. He was so big (reminder: 10 1/2 pounds at birth!!!) that the nurses didn't bother me with middle-of-the-night feedings. I mean, when your newborn (at birth) is the already the size of an average 3 month old, there is really no push to have him gain weight. HA! When we got home from the hospital, there were definitely middle of the night feedings, but it didn't last more than a couple of weeks. He was seriously sleeping 6-8 hours straight from the get-go.

My husband and I practice somewhat of an attachment parenting style. Aside from riding in the car, using the bathroom or making ourselves food, our children were both held constantly as newborns. We literally held them from the time they would wake up in the morning until it was time for us to go to sleep at night. It may not work for most couples, and I know people think we are crazy, but it worked (and continues to work for us). We believe that this style of parenting allows the baby to feel so secure during the day that they sleep through the night.

As my return to work loomed overhead, I knew there was a chance that Adler would not adjust well. He was a much much different newborn than Harper ever was and I just knew he would have a hard time not being cuddled all day long. Our nanny can not (and will not) hold him all day, and I don't expect her to. For some reason, when I went back to work after Harper, she still continued to sleep through the night, but I knew Adler was going to be a different story. I was right. Adler started waking up in the middle of the night the week before I went back to work (as we started to introduce a bottle). It was like he knew.

So here we are at the 4 month mark, and our infant is waking up in the middle of the night - consistently every night. He's not hungry. How can he be when he's 3 1/2 months old and weighs about 16 1/2 pounds!? He's not even waking up crying. He's just waking up with sounds of uneasiness and restlessness. He's waking up because he's lacking that security he was receiving every day for over three months. And we're honestly not sure what to do! We didn't have this issue with Harper.

So while I always SWORE I'd never bring MY baby to bed with us, I lied. When he wakes up at 3am, he comes to bed with us. And I honestly do not care. I was such a stickler about nighttime sleeping with Harper. We did not allow her to sleep in our bed with us and as she got older, I regretted not allowing her to! Adler is just so warm and cuddly and sweet. Look, he won't be sleeping in our bed when he's in high school. So I'm enjoying it now and I'll deal with the next adjustment when the time comes.