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New here - baby question

uptown
Posts: 12
 Joined: 2009-02-05
 Dad Points: 16

Hey, I'm a new father in chicago, and glad I found this site - I basically figured that there has to be something like this on the web, and googled it.  SAHD is kind of an unfortunate acronym though, isn't it?  Anyway, I'd love to come to some events.  My wife and I had a baby at the end of May, a boy, and he is a delight although I personally am having trouble.  I work from home at a couple jobs, a little over 40 hours a week, which I feel that I have to do because I took a huge paycut in order to be around my son. I think it will probably be the most important thing I do in my life, definitely more important than anything I will achieve at my job.  However, I also do all the housework and every time the baby wakes up during the night, Its impossible to get back to sleep again.

Our boy recently started standing, more like dragging himself to his feet on tall objects, and it has

made bedtime difficult, because once he stands up, he never sits back down and will cry long after he needs.  does anyone have any ideas for how to get him to lay down? he used to comfort himself enough to fall asleep on his own.

 


‹ Greetings from Missouri (possible) Soon to be SAHD, Wife doesn't approve. ›

Submitted by uptown on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 4:08pm.

kclb58
kclb58's picture
Posts: 10
 Joined: 2009-01-13
 Dad Points: 14
Hi there

I'm from Northwest Indiana, so it's nice to chat with someone else from Chicagoland. To get my son to go back down we use the mobile, or play music, or put on Barney. Some people get offended and say we need to let our son fall asleep on his own, but this works so we roll with it. It also allows me get a little extra sleep at night. :) My son's molars are popping through, so he has a hard time falling asleep and I think the music or TV is a good distraction. Anyway, welcome and Good luck!


Thu, 02/05/2009 - 4:25pm

TimB
Posts: 72
 Joined: 2008-06-21
 Dad Points: 96
Sleep

One of the things that helped us was using white noise. Our son has always woken up once or twice during the night. Once he started standing at around eight or nine months he would sometimes stand up in his crib and cry. We usually just let him cry for a few minutes and he would go back to sleep. White noise helped a lot. We had a CD of rain that we would set to play all night. It also had the benefit of helping us get back to sleep.

As far as work is concerned, I was in a similar situation until or son started walking at 9 1/2 months. At that point, it became impossible to work while he was awake. I tried many things like hiring a nanny for one day per week but eventually, I ended up losing customers. Most of them didnt understand why I wasn't always available and weren't sympathetic to me putting my son first. It's actually ended up being a blessing that I'm not working much anymore. I was so busy and lost so much sleep last year that I kept getting sick. I also don't think I was doing as well at my primary job - being a SAHD.

Anyway, take care and try not to lose too much sleep or get too run down. Being a SAHD is a full-time job.

Tim


Sun, 02/08/2009 - 8:10pm

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