Baby schedule at 3 months

It's only been 2 weeks since I wrote about Jimmy's schedule here, and so far we've had some progress, mainly where there was 'no schedule', I was able to slowly introduce a routine. This is it so far:

06:00 - he wakes up. On the dot most of the time. Change his diaper, feed him, and he usually poops at this hour. He doesn't poop that much anymore.

06:30 - I lay him down in his crib and let him finish his business while I shower.

07:00 - I clean his bum, strip him naked, open the curtains, and let him suntan on the mattress in his room (his room has a full size window). Meanwhile I vacuum our apartment. Halleluya I now have a maid, so I usually just lay down and browse for a bit.

07:15 - I close the curtains and still let him lay there naked so his bum gets some air time, and he gets some playtime alone, discovering my super interesting ceilings and walls (he stares at them like they're the most amazing things in the world). I quickly mop, do dishes and sometimes laundry.

07:55 - put diapers on, feed him and he usually falls asleep while feeding. Now the challenge is to make him nap on the mattress by himself. Sometimes he's willing to sleep on his tummy, but most of the time, he only wants to nap in my arms.

08:00 onwards - chaos. No schedule. Feeding, nap, singing, dancing.

08:30 - since I now have a maid/nanny, I now make her carry Jimmy until he falls asleep, to ensure he actually gets some sleep during the day. I know this isn't the best approach, but I want him to get some needed rest. And it works, he's been napping for an hour the past 2 days.

10:00 - he wakes up, I change his diaper, feed him again, and so far he's been falling asleep while feeding.

12:00 - I change his diaper, put him down in the living room while I eat lunch. This is his second playtime alone during the day

12:30 - feed him again, change diaper, feed again.

15:00 - I give him to the nanny, she carries him around and he naps for an hour.

16:00 - I change his diaper and feed him again.

17:00 - I put on some music and make him dance/exercise.

17:30 - bath time.

18:00 - last feeding before going to bed.

19:00 - he's out.

Then he wakes up 1-3 times between then and 6 AM.

Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE)

Aku baru dengar mengenai RIE hari ini dari teman sesama Birth Club Juni 2013. Pas aku baca websitenya, ternyata ada beberapa hal yang menarik. Aku coba buat rangkuman inti-intinya RIE ya berdasarkan pengertianku.

Intinya pengasuhan anak secara RIE ini berfokus pada respect terhadap bayi kita, menganggapnya sebagai individu dan bukan hanya objek yang tidak berdaya. Jadi kalau menurut RIE, bayi itu adalah individu yang bergantung kepada kita, tetapi memiliki kompetensi untuk belajar sendiri, dan dapat mulai berkomunikasi dengan orang tua mereka dari lahir.

Rekomendasi RIE antara lain:

• mulai berkomunikasi dengan bayi kita sedini mungkin (Contoh: "Sekarang mama mau lap badan kamu dengan lap hangat ya")  

• memberikan perhatian penuh kepada bayi dan melibatkan mereka selama aktivitas yang "membangun hubungan" seperti mandi, menyusui, ganti popok (Contoh: Jangan sambil BBM-an pas lagi menyusui hihi)

• memberikan kesempatan bagi bayi untuk bergerak bebas dan melakukan kegiatan yang dipilih sendiri olehnya dalam area bermain yang aman

• berlatih untuk mengamati perilaku bayi dengan peka untuk benar-benar mengerti kebutuhan bayi (termasuk jika bayi perlu digendong).

Aku dan suami memang dari awal sering berkomunikasi dengan Jimmy, karena kita baca di internet itu akan membantu pengembangan bahasanya. Kita juga coba untuk mengamati kebiasaan-kebiasaan dia biar kita tahu dia maunya apa.
Contoh: kalau mulutnya dibuka-buka terus, itu tanda ada angin yang mau dia keluarkan, jadi kita langsung sendawakan.

Tapi untuk poin #2-3, aku ga selalu lakukan. Misalnya menyusui. Jimmy tuh kalau minum bisa lamaaaaaa banget, kadang 2 jam. Mana mungkin aku ga ngapa-ngapain dan hanya perhatiin dia selama 2 jam itu, pasti lah aku sambil nonton TV, browsing atau chatting. Kalau aku murni nyusuin saja, aku malah cepat bosan dan gelisah, akhirnya pengen cepat-cepat selesai, padahal mungkin Jimmy belum puas.

Kalau poin nomor 3 sedang aku coba lakukan. Sebelumnya aku memiliki pengertian bahwa bayi tuh perlu banyak dihibur pas dia bangun karena takut dia bosan. Kadang aku biarin Jimmy sendiri sih selama 30 menit pas dia dijemur kalau pagi, atau kalau aku ada urusan lain. Nah kalau menurut RIE ini, bayi  ini sebenarnya tidak bosan, kecuali orang tua mereka membiasakan mereka untuk memerlukan stimulasi terus-terusan. RIE berpendapat bahwa bayi memiliki kemampuan untuk bermain dan belajar sendiri.
Contoh: Jimmy tuh paliiiinngg suka lihat atap. Kalau sudah gitu jangan harap deh dia nengok kalau kita panggil, dia akan cuekin. Dan dia memang bisa anteng sendiri sampai sejam lihatin atap dan tembok.

Ada beberapa artikel lain yang menarik yang berhubungan dengan ini, nanti tak coba rangkum disini ya kalau ada waktu.

Hardest thing about being a mom

I have to say, the hardest thing about being a mom for me is.......waking up at 6 AM everyday! I mean like every single day. No exception. Not 1 day off. Nada.

Every morning I say to myself: I can do this! I can do this! I got this! 12 more hours to go....

And when I'm desperate, I call out to God: Mercy! Mercy God! Just put him to sleep pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Of course Jimmy doesn't go to sleep, and looks at me with a big grin on his face, as if to say "suckerrrr". Love him.

Review: Mamalove swing

Jimmy kalau pagi-sore susaahhh tidurnya. Kalau tidurpun harus digendong. Begitu ditaruh di kasur, langsung melek lagi. Capek deh.

Akhirnya kita cari bouncer/swing untuk bantu dia tidur. Katanya swing itu lebih bisa buat tidur bayi. Tapi karena harganya yang lumayan, kita memutuskan untuk sewa dulu saja. Pilihan jatuh ke mamalove swing dengan harga 50 ribu/bulan. Video ayunannya bisa dilihat disini.

Hasilnya:

• Jimmy ga betah! Dia cuman bengong saja kalau ditaruh disana dan lama-lama nangis
• Ga bisa dipakai dalam jangka panjang karena Jimmy yg umur 2 bulan dengan panjang 57 cm sudah agak mentok kakinya
• Kalau tetap mau beli, mending beli yang pakai colokan. Yang pakai baterai boros.

Untung cuman sewa. Kita sekarang mau beli bouncer saja, rencana pliko rocking chair hammock 3 phases biar tahan lama. Semoga Jimmy betah biar mamanya bisa nonton E! Channel dengan tenang hihi.

Baby schedule at 2.5 months

Jimmy is almost 2.5 months now! I'm trying to establish a daily routine, but we're not quite there yet. He has a fixed routine at night, but it's chaos during daytime. This is what we've been doing so far the past few days:

06:00 - he wakes up. On the dot most of the time. Change his diaper, feed him, and he usually poops at this hour.

06:30 - I lay him down in his crib and let him finish his business while I shower.

06:45 - I clean his bum, strip him naked, open the curtains, and let him suntan on the mattress in his room (his room has a full size window). Meanwhile I vacuum our apartment.

07:05 - I close the curtains and still let him lay there naked so his bum gets some air time. I quickly mop, do dishes and sometimes laundry.

07:25 - put diapers on, feed him and he usually falls asleep while feeding. Now the challenge is to make him nap on the mattress by himself. Sometimes he's willing to sleep on his tummy, but most of the time, he only wants to nap in my arms.

08:00 onwards - chaos. No schedule. Feeding, nap, singing, dancing.

17:00 - clean him up, bathe him.

17:30 - wind down, swaddle him, feed him.

18:30 - 12:30 -- he sleeps (praise the Lord!). I usually eat, do dishes, pump, spend time with husband, and fall asleep around 20:30.

12:30 -- change his diaper, feed. I pump after he falls asleep.

01:00 - 06:00 -- sleep. And the day starts all over again!

Best parents ever

Last weekend was a 4 day weekend for us, and we decided to go see my mom on Thursday. I hadn't seen my mom in almost 2 months because she got sick, and she didn't want to risk being near the baby. We just went to Bakmi Japos in Bintaro, and had a quick lunch. My mom was happy to be able to hold the baby while A and I had a laid back uninterrupted lunch for the first time in 2 months! Usually we have to take turns eating or eat in a rush.

Anyway, after Japos, we went to go see sofas at Informa Alam Sutera. We didn't stay too long because Jimmy was getting cranky. All in all we spent around 5 hours outside. When we got home, Jimmy and I were both exhausted. I quickly bathed him and put him to sleep around 6 PM. I also passed out not long after that. I was so tired that I didn't even hear my husband come in the room. I'm usually a light sleeper and wakes up everytime he opens the door.

At some time during the night, I heard Jimmy making noises. Not crying, but just some mumbling. I was tired, so I thought I'd just wait until he cries to get up and feed him.
Now I'm not sure what happened after that. Either I totally passed out and I didn't hear him cry. Or he didn't cry and went back to sleep. But all of a sudden I woke up startled, looked at the clock.........it was already 4 AM!!

Panic!!!

I shouted to my husband "it's 4 AM!!". He got up startled too.
I let my baby go without feeding for 10 hours straight! I let him starve!! I tried to listen to see if I could hear anything from the baby monitor. Nothing. Dead silence. In the back of my mind, I was actually thinking 'is he still alive??' (Drama queen).

We quickly went to his room, and he was well alive and sleeping (halleluya!). I fed him right away without changing his diapers first. After 10 minutes of feeding, A changed his diapers, and I fed him again for about 5 minutes, and he went back to sleep. He seemed to be fine when he got up again at 6 AM. Fiuhhhhhhhh.

Jimmy, if you read this when you're older, and your father and I are old and helpless, you better not bribe the nurse in our nursing home to 'forget' to bring us our dinner!

We're the best parents ever.

Travel

Itching to travel again....imagining strolling around New York..

That annoying time of the year

Ohh I hate this time of the year when they light up fireworks at night for a month and startles baby J during his sleep. Arghhh.