Growing too fast

Last few days have been rather rough at home. El has been going through what we think is a growth spurt. It may sound great that your own child is growing well - and it is - but there are also many consequences as a result of something growing very fast in a short period of time.

First, anything that grows very quickly in a short spurt needs a lot of energy. Think of it as a 50m sprint. You need tremendous amount of energy to push that short distance. Same with El.

On Friday night, after I got back home, my wife told me that El was feeding voraciously. She had fed on both breasts (El is strictly a breastfed baby - something I will definitely want to write about in the near future) not once but twice yesterday. Not only that, she fed for a full 20 mins on each side. As a comparison, on normal days, ie before yesterday, she would be content with 15, full on 20 mins on one side.

That same evening after dinner, El was on the breast for, dig this, 45 mins. Halp, my wife cried. I tried to tickle El in the vain hope that she would pop off but I got thwaped by my wife who pointed out that tickling her would result in her popping off with my wife's nipple. Good point. I conceded.

She eventually did pop off on her own and we thought hooray. This means she will be sleepy and more good hours ahead for the L family!

But you know, just as some governments promised more good years one year, the next year the financial crisis strikes. So like a thief in the night, the wailing started 2 hours after our midnight feed. First at 3, then 4, 5, 6. Yes. She was wailing to feed every hour. And each feed lasted at least 20 mins followed by soothing for another 10.

Effectively, we slept less than 20 mins every hour after 3am. If you add it all up, 2 + 4(0.5) = 4 hours. In reality, we slept less than that because it's not real sleep unless you get a stretch of sleep in.

The following day was pretty much the same. Wailed every hr and a half. It eventually got better as the day progressed but both of us were exhausted from the night before. To top it off, my mum, the secondary caretaker in the house, was out for the day. So it was up to us to fend for ourselves the whole afternoon, which we did thankfully.

It's Monday now and things seem a lot better. Growth spurts come and go; they may last 1 day, 2 days or a whole week. Good thing it was not longer than a couple of days for El.

But I am happy, despite the difficulties of that night, to see El growing, naturally. She's getting much longer now and weighs a lot heavier. I used to be able to rest her on my left arm without breaking a sweat. Now after 30 mins, my left arm starts to cramp and ache. Soon I won't be able to swing her around easily anymore :( Then she will start to question me and wear short skirts and bring boys back, who I will beat up, and then she will get married and move out :((

Sucks

Babies are the best communicators

Many first-time parents will complain that they just don't get what their baby wants.

Baby: Wahhhhhhhh
Concerned parent: Okok, babee, I check diaper okay?
Baby: WaHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Concerned parent: (getting a bit desparate) Your diaper is clean, what. Why? You hungry is it? But you just ate 10 minutes ago.
Baby: WAHhahAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Cocerned parent: !!!!!!

And it goes on until the parent finds out that the baby needs burping or when the baby decides to fall asleep on his/her own.

Based these experiences, the parent will just shrug and say, "I dunno what she wants la. Very random."

I disagree. Even if what I just described to you is what my wife and I have been going through the past 3 weeks.

See, its not the baby at fault. It's us.

The baby knows exactly what she wants. For sure. If it's a wet diaper, it's a wet diaper. It's really up to us to find out what she wants. And it's really quite easy.

I have come up with the most scientific way of deducing exactly what the baby wants.

When asleep, she

1) Starts making small noises and moves her hands and feet around: Could be wet diaper or it could be hunger
1a) Check the time, has it been two hours since the last feed or 10 mins?
1ai) If it has been two hours, watch for movements like putting her hand in her mouth and her tounge sticking out.
1aii) If it has been 10 mins, check diaper without disturbing her sleep. If wet, change. If dry, ask yourself, have you burped her properly?

2) Suddenly wakes up and lets out a huge cry: You've obviously been sleeping through step 1. You lose and will have to spend 30 mins calming her down and attending to her needs.

So the moral of the story is always been attuned to your baby's needs from the start. Keep an eye of the clock and when she starts making noises, go to her and observe.

Another oft-cited complaint by parents is why does the baby keep waking up at night and not sleep through it like the rest of us normal human beings?

I too asked myself that question, even though I knew the answer. (Shes's got a dman small stomach, doofus. Obviously, she gets hungry quickly after drinking milk)

Besides that seemingly obvious answer, another simple reason I read up is this: If you are a baby and your parent is busy during the day, what better time to call for attention when you know your parent is in? Night la, then?

Also, always wondered why babies need to be cuddled and carried before they fall asleep? It's instinct. Babies are weak and vulnerable (this will be hotly contested. My baby can seriously kick and punch some) so they need their parent to hold them so that they feel secure before the nod off.

Before flats and brick and mortar houses, humans lived in caves where sabretooth tigers and man-eating baboons used to lurk around. Parents, who wielded spears and swords, were the only protectors around for their children. So children, by evolution and instinct, depend on parents for their security and therefore cuddling and carrying ensures the baby that their sword-wielding parent is around to protect them. That's my theory anyway.