Inspiration in Motherhood
I have been thinking about writing this out for a few days now and I have decided to share a couple of personal experiences that have taught me a lot about personal revelation and motherhood.
Experience #1. Ever since Esther was a baby I have dreaded potty training. A lot of people make it out to be the worst/hardest thing ever. So I was hesitant to start. We tried a little right after Esther turned two and she did fairly well but Adele was a newborn and I didn't really feel like pushing it. So I decided to wait until Esther was closer to three and not worry about it. Then these past couple of weeks I kept thinking that with Esther's communication developing so much that now would really be a good time to try. I kind of pushed it off and wondered if maybe it was just my own thoughts, comparing Esther to other kids her age, or maybe just me being done with two kids in diapers. (It was probably some of those things too). After a few times I thought maybe this is the Lord trying to help me and guide me (which of course I am praying for guidance all the time because I need all the help I can get with these kids haha). So I decided to go for it. We started out slowly and Esther has done amazing. (Maybe I'll write a full post about all we did). She is like 90% potty trained now and it has been so much easier than I thought.
Experience #2. Anyone who has read my blog for more than a minute can probably tell that Adele's sleep has been a main source of stress since she was born six months ago. Not even because she is such a difficult baby or a very horrible sleeper, (even though I think she is on the more challenging side of the baby spectrum when it comes to sleep), but because I have just been so lost about what to do with it all. I started trying gentle sleep training methods when she was a few months old, just laying her down awake and getting her if she cried, or just trying to put her in a crib or bassinet once she was asleep, those things didn't work. We ended up co sleeping but I could never feel fully at peace about that either because I was constantly worried she would suffocate or something (I don't really worry now that she is bigger though). She napped pretty well in the swing but I always worried about her getting a flat head from it. At 4 months old she was diagnosed with reflux and we got her on medicine. At first I thought, "ok she isn't in pain anymore now I will sleep train her". So I let her cry a few times and I felt horribly guilty every time. It's not even that I am against sleep training or cry it out, but for some reason I just could not stand to let her cry and it made me feel like a horrible mom. After Leland saw how this was effecting me we decided to just continue co-sleeping because it was what gave us the most sleep and peace as a family. So at the same time that I decided to potty train Esther, I decided that since we would be home anyways I would try really hard to get Adele into a good routine and nap schedule. I felt guided that it was the right time to do some gentle sleep training and that she was big enough to handle it. I read the book Happy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child to pump myself up haha. So one night for bed I put her in her crib and she cried, a lot. But it felt a lot different from the other times because I felt so much at peace. I knew it was the right time for her to learn how to sleep. I would go in every few minutes and rub her face with her favorite blanket and tell her it was time to sleep. And it worked! She fell asleep that night and has taken every nap in her crib since. It has been great. We have still been taking it slow though. If she is screaming or crying an unusual amount, or if she is over tired I will just nurse her to sleep and then put her in the crib asleep. Even putting her in the crib asleep was something that was impossible just a few weeks ago because she would bolt awake and scream as soon as she hit the mattress. She is still waking up to eat at night but even that has improved a lot, she is going 4-6 hour stretches instead of her previous 1-3. I'm not sure what was different about this time compared to all the other times we tried but I am grateful for the gentle nudging from the Spirit, guiding me to do what is best for her.
So if anyone made it through that novel, I just wanted to share these experiences because they taught me a few things. 1. Mother's intuition is real and you should trust that you know your child best. 2. Heavenly Father cares about our lives and our children. He wants to help us raise them and will guide us to what is best for them if we just ask him. 3. Don't get too arrogant because right after these things happened, I was feeling so good about how things were going and so happy that these "trainings" were going so well, then BAM I rear ended someone. :( Luckily it was just a minor accident but it still caused some damage that is going to cost us a lot of $$$$. Oh well, Opposition in all things I guess.
Experience #1. Ever since Esther was a baby I have dreaded potty training. A lot of people make it out to be the worst/hardest thing ever. So I was hesitant to start. We tried a little right after Esther turned two and she did fairly well but Adele was a newborn and I didn't really feel like pushing it. So I decided to wait until Esther was closer to three and not worry about it. Then these past couple of weeks I kept thinking that with Esther's communication developing so much that now would really be a good time to try. I kind of pushed it off and wondered if maybe it was just my own thoughts, comparing Esther to other kids her age, or maybe just me being done with two kids in diapers. (It was probably some of those things too). After a few times I thought maybe this is the Lord trying to help me and guide me (which of course I am praying for guidance all the time because I need all the help I can get with these kids haha). So I decided to go for it. We started out slowly and Esther has done amazing. (Maybe I'll write a full post about all we did). She is like 90% potty trained now and it has been so much easier than I thought.
Experience #2. Anyone who has read my blog for more than a minute can probably tell that Adele's sleep has been a main source of stress since she was born six months ago. Not even because she is such a difficult baby or a very horrible sleeper, (even though I think she is on the more challenging side of the baby spectrum when it comes to sleep), but because I have just been so lost about what to do with it all. I started trying gentle sleep training methods when she was a few months old, just laying her down awake and getting her if she cried, or just trying to put her in a crib or bassinet once she was asleep, those things didn't work. We ended up co sleeping but I could never feel fully at peace about that either because I was constantly worried she would suffocate or something (I don't really worry now that she is bigger though). She napped pretty well in the swing but I always worried about her getting a flat head from it. At 4 months old she was diagnosed with reflux and we got her on medicine. At first I thought, "ok she isn't in pain anymore now I will sleep train her". So I let her cry a few times and I felt horribly guilty every time. It's not even that I am against sleep training or cry it out, but for some reason I just could not stand to let her cry and it made me feel like a horrible mom. After Leland saw how this was effecting me we decided to just continue co-sleeping because it was what gave us the most sleep and peace as a family. So at the same time that I decided to potty train Esther, I decided that since we would be home anyways I would try really hard to get Adele into a good routine and nap schedule. I felt guided that it was the right time to do some gentle sleep training and that she was big enough to handle it. I read the book Happy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child to pump myself up haha. So one night for bed I put her in her crib and she cried, a lot. But it felt a lot different from the other times because I felt so much at peace. I knew it was the right time for her to learn how to sleep. I would go in every few minutes and rub her face with her favorite blanket and tell her it was time to sleep. And it worked! She fell asleep that night and has taken every nap in her crib since. It has been great. We have still been taking it slow though. If she is screaming or crying an unusual amount, or if she is over tired I will just nurse her to sleep and then put her in the crib asleep. Even putting her in the crib asleep was something that was impossible just a few weeks ago because she would bolt awake and scream as soon as she hit the mattress. She is still waking up to eat at night but even that has improved a lot, she is going 4-6 hour stretches instead of her previous 1-3. I'm not sure what was different about this time compared to all the other times we tried but I am grateful for the gentle nudging from the Spirit, guiding me to do what is best for her.
So if anyone made it through that novel, I just wanted to share these experiences because they taught me a few things. 1. Mother's intuition is real and you should trust that you know your child best. 2. Heavenly Father cares about our lives and our children. He wants to help us raise them and will guide us to what is best for them if we just ask him. 3. Don't get too arrogant because right after these things happened, I was feeling so good about how things were going and so happy that these "trainings" were going so well, then BAM I rear ended someone. :( Luckily it was just a minor accident but it still caused some damage that is going to cost us a lot of $$$$. Oh well, Opposition in all things I guess.
Great post.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your testimony! I agree! It amazes and humbles me how much Heavenly Father cares about us, especially in our journey in motherhood! Also, that sleep book is my sleeping bible! It has helped me so much! Good job! You are doing great! Sorry about the car accident.
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