formula, pacifers, TV, parent guilt — things I learned this week

These seem to be the cardinal sins of being a parent — when you introduce any of the above. So far, I’m batting 2 out of 3, and if it helped him sleep, I would park the baby in front of the TV without guilt. Sorry. I did have a moment when I fed the baby formula. One friend who wanted to visit during a feeding was like “What about those nursing covers? Can I get you one?” And I’m like dude, maybe, if feeding were some peaceful, Mother Nature activity. For me and Sasquatch, it’s like a battle of wills where we wrestle till the other acquiesces (usually me). One late night, I had had enough and broke out formula and it totally felt like the equivalent of an alcoholic breaking out the vodka.

Another lesson — baby folds of flesh can be very deep. Like I just discovered a bit of severe diaper rash last night at 1 a.m. that may have been there for a while, but that’s because I had no idea that baby rolls were that DEEP. (Sorry, no other word comes to mind). That did make me feel guilty.

Finally — my other lesson learned this week? Hand sanitizer really hurts when you have a paper cut. Thank you.

9 Replies to “formula, pacifers, TV, parent guilt — things I learned this week”

  1. dude, from all that i’ve heard…if it makes them happy and quiet, it’s good. there’s nothing wrong with formula. i had a friend who could not make BF work. at all. utter disaster. her baby is the happiest thing i’ve seen of FB.

    i just give you kudos for having the strength to clean baby poo like 10 times a day. that by itself is amazing to me!

  2. oh cs, just you wait. you’re going to be awesome. but, i did just wrap up a three-diaper-in-less-60-seconds move. it helps that they are SO cute and squishy.

  3. I had a friend who found yellow waxy buildup under her baby’s chin. So check there, too!

  4. i’m with saschy. it took me waaaaaaaay too long to get there. too much “i’m polluting my perfect baby” mentality. g was bf and fb, eats sugar on occasion and watches tv. so far no signs of complete psychosis. and once my lactation consultant she’d never seen “nipple confusion” in the 25 years of her practice, we busted out that pacifier tout de suite. keep it up mama, you’re doing great!

  5. sachsy– yes, meaning, mid-diaper change, he pees all over himself, or literally right after being done with a diaper change, he’ll poop. i haven’t pooped on myself.

    i don’t know what i’m doing. there really are people on earth who are trained and play/talk with babies very specifically for their development. like our ped says we need to start sleep training now, which blows my mind.

    gab, thanks for the chin check list. i think i have to bathe him today after all this mystery buildup in deep crevices talk.

  6. i’m reading it during snippets here and there and there are different schools of thought. for the first three months, you’re supposed to do what you can to get sleep, even commit cardinal sins. you can bring the kid into your ed with you. but if your kid is open to it, try to put them down while they’re still somewhat awake. apparently, when you allow them to fall asleep by rocking, being held, being nursed, it’s a missed opportunity for them to learn to self-soothe and to fall asleep on their own. plus it freaks them out when they wake up in the crib and they’re like ‘how the hell did i get here?” very “hangover.” but it seems like seriously, you learn all these rules and then you ditch them when they don’t work. improvising, all jazz like, which is tough for a rule follower like myself

  7. wow. sounds like my brother doesn’t know how good he’s got it. his kid (like he, himself) sleeps anywhere and anytime.

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