I especially am thankful for the past two nights when he woke up for the 1am feed. So this post is a "kudos to dads" post =) I mean I had to shake him pretty hard to wake him and he was pretty disoriented... but he did it! Of course, I was still awake listening to baby cry a little longer than usual... but he did it and it helped me sleep a little more.
So here are some pros and cons for me feeding vs dad feeding...
Pros to when I'm doing the feed
I usually go to the baby before he is even fully awake or crying. I hear his little pre-crying grunts and basically stick a nipple in his mouth before he gets to an all-out scream. Less disruptive for everyone in the house... less painful for baby...
Cons to when I'm doing the feed
I often fall asleep in the middle of nursing and wake up unsure when baby fell asleep and how much he ate.. therefore no wonder if he wakes up an hour later hungry again!
Pros to when daddy does the feed...
He knows exactly how much baby is eating and can keep waking him until he finishes entire bottle. Therefore, baby usually sleeps longer after the bottle feed.
Cons to when daddy does the feed...
Takes him a while to get to baby! He first goes to the bathroom... then goes downstairs to heat up the water in the microwave... then gets the bottle out of the refrigerator... and finally heats up the bottle for a few minutes in the hot water. By then baby is screaming pretty loudly and for quite a while. He is now fully awake and has the potential to wake up his sleeping sisters...
After all is said and done, I'm still taking the help because I'm soooo tired. Today I drove like fifteen minutes going the wrong direction on route 95 after picking up my mother in law from the airport. It took me a while to figure out why my gps kept telling me to take the next exit for a u-turn... I know... scary.
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One last thought about dads. This happened a couple of weekends ago and I thought it was pretty funny... I think...
So we're at Sesame on a somewhat rainy cloudy day. Those are the best days to go because there are absolutely no lines! Oh and side note and money saving tip - I waited until Aug this year and got a season pass for 2012. Means I can use it for the rest of 2011 and then all of 2012. Then I'd prob not buy 2013 until Aug again and get the season pass for 2014. This way I can get a pass for basically two years of use...
Anyways, I let daddy go on the rides with the girls while I waited around with E since daddy is usually at work during the week. Well, before one of the rides he asks me if I'm sure A is old enough to ride these rides. "Well, yes for the ones we are going on as long as accompanied by adult, " I answer. "Why?"
"She fell right off onto the floor during teacup ride" he tells me.
"Um. The whole point of you riding the rides with them is so that that doesn't happen... you weren't holding her?"
"Well, after she fell on the floor, I set her back on the chair and braced her with my legs"
So I wasn't sure how to respond to that but as you can see... I've been playing back this conversation in my head for a while and even now I just have to shake my head and conclude that dads and moms are just different... we think differently... we parent differently... and our instincts and responses are different... but I do still appreciate the help...
