Wheat & Sleep

I was SO excited to finally re-introduce wheat into my diet. I spent 2 days trying to decide WHAT I was going to choose to eat. First I thought about Sunchips. Then I thought about pasta (fyi, rice pasta is not so great). Then I decided on CEREAL and wondered why I didn't think of it first. I could eat cereal for every meal of the day. I probably eat 2-3 bowls a day and was growing tired of Rice Krispies after 2 months straight. Then came the choice of WHICH cereal I should pick. After reading labels and continuing to avoid things like high fructose corn syrup, tophocerol, etc. I came across plain old Life cereal and it seemed harmless. I knew that it was dairy and soy free. I was so excited to eat breakfast on Sunday morning only to regret it for the rest of the day. Ugh. My stomach was not prepared for change. It was a BAD choice to re-introduce something on an empty stomach. I felt sick ALL day. Nausea, stomach cramps, etc. Just a tip for those on an elimination diet- don't make the same mistake that I did. On top of being sick, the prior night was E's worst night of sleep yet. Those days as a newborn where he would wake every 2 hours were dreamy compared to this.

He followed that horrible night with a not so bad one. He woke 4 times but got a total of 9.75 hours of sleep. If you're attempting the No Cry Sleep Solution or any other sleep training I think creating a night-waking log like Elizabeth Pantley suggests in her book is a great idea. At first I thought, eh, I don't need to do that b/c I'll remember what times he wakes up. Yes, I might vaguely remember times but seeing
-what time he woke
-how he woke
-how long he was awake, what occurred
-time he fell back to sleep
-how he fell back to sleep
-how long he slept for that stretch
was very helpful. According to her book, a baby Ethan's age should be sleeping about 10-11 hours (she notes that it does not represent uninterrupted stretches of sleep). Seeing that made me feel relieved, sane, normal, and motivated.

I've also noticed that Ethan is itching his eyes less. He seems to itch/rub his eyes and head when he's tired and as a soothing technique when he's falling asleep. Sometimes it seems to wake him up more (when his eczema is bad or when he's having trouble sleeping) and other times he falls asleep with the back of his hands covering his eyes.

I look forward to the day when we can introduce a lovey (anyone have experience with this?). He seems to like to squeeze or rub something as he's falling asleep. One day he fell asleep repeatedly squeezing a crib rail. I think he needs a stress ball :)

I love those chubby little fingers.