San Tan Flat II

After I had a nap on Saturday we realized we only had a few hours left in the day to do something fun for the weekend.  So, we went somewhere close, affordable, kid friendly, and delicious!  

San Tan Flat!

Daddy, J, and Hen, and Batman too because he goes everywhere with Henry, of course.

 Mama & Ollie with my yummy salon salad!

 Throwing wood into the fire.  These boys love it!

Problem Partially Figured Out

Read previous post before this one...

So, Henry just woke up and I was in nursing him.  He was eating perfectly fine when Jaxon came in and started making all kinds of noise.  Henry just looked up at me and started screaming.  I calmed him down but he didn't want to eat anymore after that.  He just wanted to watch Jaxon play.  I got Jax convinced to finish watching Sesame Street so he left.  I tried feeding Henry again and he ate.  From the other room we heard Jaxon shouting about something he saw and Henry stopped eating, looked up at me, curled his bottom lip under, and started screaming again.  Now, it could be gas, but the timing is just too much to be coincidence.  I am pretty sure he likes it quite while he eats and he doesn't want to be disturbed.  Most times he eats, Jaxon is around and distracting him.  That's probably why he eats for such a short time and then that makes him need to eat more often.  

Anyway, boring mom stuff, I know, but I'm just trying to figure it out!  Jaxon was such a good little eater.  20 minutes each side, done and done.  With Henry, I never know if he's full!

Baby Wise Confused Me

Okay, so I am confused...I read the book Baby Wise and I tried getting Henry on their suggested schedule of eat, play, sleep.  I know it's better for kids not to fall asleep eating so I don't let him do that, but he is always hungry before going to sleep.  I don't think I should let him cry when he's hungry just so he'll fall asleep so he can eat when he wakes up.  I really tried doing it for a few days but it made him take like a 30 minute nap and then he would wake up because he was HUNGRY.  I don't know what to do.  The book makes it sound like when the baby is on this schedule everyones lives are easier.  I'll tell ya, I don't know anyone's life who became easier while trying to do this.  It also makes it sound like if we don't have our babies on this schedule, they will grow to have sleeping disorders that will effect them the rest of their lives.  And, it says they put tons of babies on this schedule and they were all sleeping through the night by like 12 weeks.  I've always heard (and believed) that all babies are different with different needs, but this book makes it sound like this schedule is for ALL babies.

I have heard a lot of people doing this method, but I just can't see it working for Henry.  If any one has experience of their own with this, please share it. 

At his age of 3 months, the books says he should eat 4 to 5 times a day and none of those feedings should be at night and his naps should be 1 1/2 to 2 hours long.   

So, lets see here...If he ate 5 times a day, from 7 am to 10 pm, that's 15 hours that's every 3 hours (day time feedings only).  There is supposed to be about a 2 hour nap then he's only awake for about an hour at a time and he takes 5 naps a day...Not Henry.  It's different every time.  It's partly my fault because I don't think he eats a full feeding every time.  Sometimes I have to stop him before he is really done because I have another kid to deal with.  So, he only gets a snack.  That's reality!  And, he's not ready to go to sleep after being awake for an hour.  He eats more and sleeps less than the book says a baby his age should.

I dumped the book for a few days and they have been way happier days!  I feed him when he's hungry and it is somewhat of a schedule.  But, I guess he eats more often than the book says and he naps less.  His pattern is eat, play, eat, nap, with 3 naps a day--morning, early afternoon, and a short one in the late afternoon to get him through the evening.  Then, 2 or 3 feedings at night. It's about 6 to 8 times a day and 2 or 3 at night.  I asked a few other moms with babies Henry's age and a little older and they say their babies are still eating like 2 hours apart and some 1 1/2. 

I think Henry's problem is he doesn't get a full meal when he wakes up so he can't make it until the next time he wakes up.  But now, he is used to these short(er) meals, only like 10 minutes, when it should be more like 20 or 30, though the book does say a baby can drain a breast in 7 minutes, so maybe he just eats fast, but I have been trying to make him eat longer and he is uninterested and gets mad about it.

Anyway, people probably don't even care about this and probably won't even finish reading it...but I'm wondering:  Is this scheduling plan really possible, or am I just a totally unorganized mother who can't successfully deal with 2 kids to put her little baby on a schedule causing everyone's life suffers because of it?!