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Surviving Sleep Deprivation

You have a baby. Your baby does not sleep. This might be because he’s teething, or he has colic or reflux. Or perhaps he is just simply a baby, and one who does not sleep. Babies naturally wake at night because they are hungry and because it’s adaptive to connect with mama a lot during the night time hours as well as the day time. Whatever the reason, how can you survive the days and the weeks of sleep deprivation that follow the birth of your child? Here are some strategies to survive sleep deprivation, from someone whose child neglected … Continue reading →

Challenging Children

I have a friend who told me a story about a baby in the foster system. This baby was in several foster homes. The foster homes were not able to adequately care for this child because her needs were greater than the homes’ abilities. No, this was not a special needs child. This baby did not need to be in a medical needs home. She just happened to be the kind of child that was more of a handful than the foster families wanted to deal with. What was her challenge? She cried non-stop. I don’t know if it was … Continue reading →

I Don’t Have Teeth Yet, But They Still Hurt.

After watching the way my daughter has been acting in the last month, I realize how miserable teething must be for babies. She’s always been a mellow, easy-going baby. In fact, the only times she has ever really cried are when she is hungry or when she is tired. Even then, her cries were pretty quiet, and short-lived. In addition to being easy-going, she slept through the night early on. I felt pretty lucky. I still feel lucky, because I love her dearly, but for the last month, she has been a much different baby. More often than not, she … Continue reading →

Loving the Kid You Have

Dear preschooler, It’s just about a new year. It’s the time of year when people start to think about resolutions and reflect on the time that has gone by. At this time of year, I particularly remember the Christmas that you were one and a half, when you were getting six teeth at the same time. It was a drool-filled Christmas that involved very little sleep. I think that Santa and I crossed paths around 3 am that Christmas Eve, him heading up the chimney, me heading to the kitchen to get a drink of water, bouncing you into a … Continue reading →

Parenting Multiples: The Strain of Always Having to Share

My twins are almost three and now that I’m out of the fog of sleep deprivation and constant feedings, diaper changes, and other baby care duties–I have to say that having twins is a blast. Someone asked me recently if there was anything remarkable about the way they developed verses how singletons develop and what was the hardest part of parenting multiples. No doubt, had you asked me one year ago I would’ve answered that sleep deprivation was the hardest part of parenting multiples. By 5 or 6 months, all of my children woke once in the middle of the … Continue reading →