The 3 S’s

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Thank you SO much for all the wonderful comments and feedback on my You Are Getting Very Sleepy… post.  I ran out (okay, I sent the Husband out) and immediately bought Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, which many people recommended. 

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It was also helpful for me to hear that Henry’s behavior is well within the range of normal (isn’t that always nice to hear?).  One person commented that week 12 – 16 is often the roughest on the parents because the newness of the situation is wearing off and serious sleep deprivation is setting in <— this also made me feel better.  I’ve said it over and over again, but one of the best things about blogging and reading others’ blogs is realizing that you’re not alone in whatever you’re going through.

 

That being said, Henry is almost in bed (Kristien is singing him a lullaby and about to put him down), and then I’m cracking open that book! 

 

So – did you all have a nice Sunday?  We did.  This morning, we went to the gym.  DadHTP came, too, and we did our usual tag team walk and swim.  I walked around the indoor track with Henry in a stroller…

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And DadHTP swam laps.

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And then we switched.  But I swam in the outside pool, which was nice.  Did about 750 yards, too. 

 

Hmm.  What else?  Oh, when the Husband was at Barnes and Noble picking up that sleep book, he was approached by a con artist.  I kid you not.  The guy talked to him about (what turned out to be) a pyramid scam, and Kristien said he immediately got a super creepy feeling, so he took his card and politely excused himself.  We Googled him later and – yup – turns out he’s a well-known con artist. (I called the bookstore to warn them.)  Reminds me of the time that I was convinced to buy $60 worth of cleaning solution from a door-to-door saleswoman and afterwards, when I Googled the company, I realized that I had totally been conned and the product was not all-natural or concentrated and the proceeds were not going to inner-city kids.  Damn.  Also – $60 for a bottle of cleaning solution?  I was an idiot. 

 

So that was my Sunday.  A little sleep, a little swimming, and a little swindling.  What’s new with you?

{ 38 comments }

 

  • Katie @ Talk Less, Say More September 9, 2012, 8:33 pm

    I’m so excited because I signed up for the local gym today. Having moved back home has been rough but not being able to have my usual routine (fitness included) has made it even more difficult to get myself situation. Having signed up and knowing I can go first thing tomorrow, makes me feel better already!

    • Caitlin September 9, 2012, 8:34 pm

      Have a fun workout 🙂

  • Amanda September 9, 2012, 8:36 pm

    Charlotte is the only city we’ve lived in where we’ve also been approached by con artists. I wonder if it was the same one!?!?!? So creepy!

  • Sarah r September 9, 2012, 8:46 pm

    I’ll be super interested to hear what you think of that book. Like you, I was sleep deprived and desperate… Around that same age too. I hated that book- thought it was terribly written and confusing (to this day I still don’t really know what people mean when they say that they followed the “healthy sleep habits plan”- what plan?!? I am DEFINITELY in the minority here of peoples opinions of the book… I’ll hope you do a review because maybe you can tell me what I missed!

    (my daughter is almost 6 months… It really does get better. At least on most nights. We still have our doozies every once in awhile).

    • Diana September 10, 2012, 6:42 am

      I second your opinion of “healthy sleep habits.” Didn’t find it helpful at all and immediately returned it to the library. “Baby Wise,” in my opinion, gave a much more definitive “plan.” But hey, different things work for different people and babies.

  • Katie @ Peace Love & Oats September 9, 2012, 8:49 pm

    Oh my goodness, I don’t know if I’ve ever been approached by a real con-artist! How random! Glad you got in a nice swim!

  • Brandi September 9, 2012, 9:12 pm

    I’m glad everyone recommended that book. We absolutely relied on it for our first baby, and broke it out again as a refresher for the second baby (now one month old!).

    So jealous you get to take Henry to the gym with you. I found a strength class at the Y that allows you to bring your baby with you, so I’m trying that tomorrow. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to make it through the entire class!

    Good luck catching up on some shut-eye!

  • Marissa@ohhhsolovely September 9, 2012, 9:27 pm

    glad you got some good info on the sleeping situation. i’m not a mom yet, but all this info is great to put in my bookmarks for when the time comes. i’ve heard of that book before & would love to read it when the time comes. hope you guys have a restful night! good luck!

  • L. September 9, 2012, 9:35 pm

    You must be lucky to swim in a pool where no one else ever seems to be!
    Just now catching up on your blog posts since I last read and I can’t imagine juggling all that you do in one day. I might manage one blog post every two days and you seem to get in at least two per day! How do you manage with all you have going on? Running/Jogging/Swimming/baby tending/novel writing/blog postings. WHEW.

    If I were a sleep deprived mommy like you I would for sure be taking naps when Henry did! 😉

    • Caitlin September 9, 2012, 10:41 pm

      I prewrite a bunch of posts and that helps a lot 🙂

  • Amanda September 9, 2012, 9:43 pm

    Sounds like a fab Sunday! I am so impressed that you are able to get to the gym even with the new-baby-serious-sleep-deprivation thing. You rock!!

  • Danielle @ A Sense of Balance September 9, 2012, 10:13 pm

    I food prepped like a mofo! I feel like I can start the week relaxed knowing my nights will not be crazy hectic trying to figure out and cook dinner after hitting the gym.

    Good luck with a better night’s sleep tonight! (You can hope, right? :-))

  • Sam @ Better With Sprinkles September 9, 2012, 10:28 pm

    I’m pretty sure most babies have a growth spurt around 3 months – it could be why he’s awake and hungry so often. Hope you get a better sleep tonight!

  • Anne @strawberryjampackedlife September 9, 2012, 10:41 pm

    We got suckered a week ago. We just moved to Tennessee, and apparently look like suckers. This lady approached us in the Cracker Barrel parking lot asking for gas money to drive to her grandson who was in the hospital in Kingston. Now being from the city, we are used to just walking right by people panhandling or asking for money on the street, but being cornered in a parking lot was a new approach. Also a miscommunication between my husband and me resulted in giving her $20 and not $10. UGH! Felt so stupid after that.

  • KaraHadley September 9, 2012, 11:02 pm

    I was once approached by a con artist in France. She pretended to pick up a ring off the street. She asked me if it was mine, but I didn’t speak enough French to understand. So she said in English that I could have it as a souvenir. Then she asked me for money. And then more money. I was so caught off guard that I ended up giving her close to 10 Euros (about $13.50) for a ring that turned out to be copper.
    And g’luck with Henry’s sleeping. I don’t know how you are still functioning after this long with so little sleep.

  • Alex @ Raw Recovery September 9, 2012, 11:17 pm

    I’m sorry to hear that the husband had that experience with a con artist! It gave me goosebumps because I get really creeped out by situations like that. Hopefully you will all be getting more sleep soon! I really enjoyed the facts about sleeping on the last post!

    Yesterday I went on my first hike since I moved back to Colorado two weeks ago. I had so much fun hanging out with someone who is really important to me and taking cool pictures on Hipstamatic and Instagram! I’m hoping to get in lots of hikes before the mountains here are covered with snow. I think I have a few more weeks left and I’m looking forward to seeing the leaves change colors 🙂

  • Sarah September 10, 2012, 12:35 am

    I’m so glad my comment helped you out 🙂

    Great book too!!! I often drag out my copy. It is pretty dense but all evidence-based. I felt like I was reading advice based on data which is what I need.

    Good luck with tonight!!!!

  • Annette@FitnessPerks September 10, 2012, 12:35 am

    Ughhh creepy people in a bookstore. 🙁

    YAY for finding a great book! Good luck with that!

  • Abby September 10, 2012, 1:16 am

    The sleep thing really does get so much better before you know it/ you stop realizing how tired you are? Also over the last few weeks i have literally read my way through almost all of your archives ( i swear I’m not creepy, I just had a lot of time on my hands lol) and now I feel like I know you personally haha.

    • Caitlin September 10, 2012, 8:39 am

      Hehe 🙂 I wish you the best!!

  • Elizabeth September 10, 2012, 1:21 am

    So I’m not saying Healthy Sleep Habits is a bad book, but I will say that I found it kind of confusing. SO many people recommended it to me, I was hoping it would be The Bible of How to Get My Kid to Sleep. Instead, I thought it was more of a general sleep philosophy (with some definitely helpful ideas!) but it wasn’t the step-by-step blueprint I was hoping for. Also, it’s super repetitive and circular, and I found the interjections of client stories distracting.

    What I DID love was the Baby Whisperer books, especially the second one, The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems. It’s very hands on, full of concrete advice, and I really do think her method helped my son become a great sleeper. He’s a bit older than Henry–4 months–and has been sleeping 11-12 hours through the night since he was about 11 weeks old. I don’t agree with every single thing she says (she’s against crying it out, while it doesn’t bother me) but her ideas really, really worked for our family.

    • Jennifer September 10, 2012, 10:19 am

      I have to agree with Elizabeth. I’ve read both books and enjoyed both but HSHHC is definitely not a step by step sort of book. It definitely has some good points. The things I lived by during the first several month: make sure they get good naps during the day, they should never be awake more than 2 hours at a time (except maybe in the early evening) and earlier bed times are key. Our youngest was always asleep by 7:00-7:30 until he was at least 4-5 months old. He did that himself though…he would just start to crater early in the evening and we would bathe him, feed him and put him to bed. I would dream feed him around 10 and then go to sleep myself.

      A lot of people talk about the eat, play, sleep routine. I tried so hard to stick to that but it honestly just drove me crazy. Mine would never nap long enough and then we were all off schedule. I read somewhere to try reversing it to encourage better naps because when they are young eating makes them drowsy so we switched to play, eat, sleep with better results. HSHHC also says that anything under an hour is not considered a nap so if mine only cat napped, I would try to get them to sleep go back to sleep by patting their back or rocking them. Minely are generally not great nappers until they are little older though but I still tried.

      Every book has a different opinion. We just tooks parts of each book that we liked and tried to incorporate them. Hope you find something that works soon and start getting some better sleep. 😉

  • Liz September 10, 2012, 4:42 am

    Glad everyone had a good Sunday. I ran my first ever race a 4.5 miler. It was super hot here in East England this weekend so I was so happy with my time of 48:57. I am running a 5k in October and a half marathon next June. Thanks to
    HTP and my family who gave me the inspiration to turn my infrequent 10 minute jogging sessions into something I really love. Have a great week everyone.

    • Caitlin September 10, 2012, 8:38 am

      Way to go!!!

  • Tami September 10, 2012, 5:42 am

    i did my 3rd half ironman yesterday, I thought of you, knowing that it was a goal of yours. i got a new pr and had a lot of fun, or as much fun as you can while slogging through it all!

    • Caitlin September 10, 2012, 8:38 am

      Rock out!!

  • Louise September 10, 2012, 7:00 am

    Going back to the sleep question of the last post I’ll put in my few cents. Henry sounds totally normal for his age. My 5 month old was waking for 2 – 3 feeds during the night at that age and then dropped the 11(ish)PM feed by himself and then at about 13/14 weeks started dropping the 2/3am feed some nights himself too. So it could happen naturally. My bub has started waking again over the past few weeks but things change so quickly. The things that have worked for us since he was about 2 weeks old are putting him to bed at 7pm (he pretty much imposed this bedtime for himself). He goes to bed awake (own room) and settles himself (he generally doesn’t make a peep at bedtime). I was told by a nurse to just feed overnight (if they only wake once or twice) til around 6 months, as you can be back in bed in 20 minutes as opposed to hours if you’re trying to settle them. But I am still breastfeeding so understand heating bottle/pumping etc would make the task harder.
    Also the dreamfeed has never made a difference for us.
    Sorry this is so long – I just know I felt the same way you did at 3 months and then ta-da things got so much better. You and Kristien are doing a great job juggling everything and it will get easier!

  • Laura @ RunningJunkie123 September 10, 2012, 7:36 am

    I think it’s super cute that you go to the gym as a family!

  • Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy September 10, 2012, 7:37 am

    Con-man in a bookstore? Is nowhere sacred?!

  • Jayce September 10, 2012, 8:50 am

    I saw that you are exclusively pumping, and noticed that one of today’s Target Deals of the Day online is a portable bottle cooler/warmer. Thought of you – maybe that could help make night feedings more streamlined and help you avoid Henry waking all the way? It’s 50% off and free shipping! It must be hard work to exclusively pump – whatever the issues you’re facing are, you are obviously an awesome mommy to keep up with pumping so Henry can have breast milk!

    • Caitlin September 10, 2012, 10:14 am

      Cool! Thanks for telling me about this.

  • Bridget September 10, 2012, 8:53 am

    I used to work at Barnes and Noble in Altamonte Springs, and we got con artists all the time. They try to pass themselves off as educated, etc. and prey on shoppers. While I enjoyed the job overall, I really did not like that part of the job at all. Shoplifting, either.

  • heather September 10, 2012, 9:58 am

    I have noticed a lot of comments both for and against the book you purchased. I think as long as you don’t go into it thinking it is a magic cure or plan, you will be fine. All any of us can do is arm ourselves with as much information as possible so we can equip ourselves with more tools for all things baby.
    I have been lucky with both my girls (my newest is about a week younger than Henry) in regards to sleep during the early weeks.
    I have seen a few people comment that Henry is too young to get on a schedule and I have to disagree somewhat. I am not a strict scheduler, but I do think working on finding a rhythm that works for him and both of you is worth trying. We all know you aren’t going to starve or ignore him so why work towards a goal of gently coaxing him to sleep longer at night?
    I am the type of person that REQUIRES adequate sleep to function. I handle a lot of things really well (stress, illness, pain, hunger), but the one thing that will cause me to go bat shit crazy is not having adequate sleep. So, in order to be the best mommy I can be to my girls, I have to make getting enough sleep a top priority. All this is to say, don’t feel bad about wanting to get Henry on a schedule. Don’t let others telling you he is too young to drop one of those feedings make you feel bad for trying to get him to drop one of those feedings. He isn’t too young to give it a try. He might not appreciate it the first couple of times, because he is used to getting his way (ha ha). If he is truly hungry, he isn’t going to let up and it will become obvious pretty quickly that he either really does need to eat that often/much at night or not and I am sure you will react appropriately as you are obviously a very loving mommy. Good Luck!
    Whatever method you choose, good luck!

  • Therie September 10, 2012, 10:47 am

    Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child is a great resource!! I have also been using the Moms on Call daily routine schedule and nighttime guidelines to help our little 2 month old sleep better. Moms on Call also has a book and website that you could check out if you are interested. So far, it is really helping us!! Best of Luck!

  • Amber K September 10, 2012, 11:03 am

    I hope the book helps! Sleep is still one of my favorite things in the world and it’s rough when the insomnia kicks in. And I don’t even have good excuse for my sleep deprivation like an adorable baby! Hang in there.

  • cailyn September 10, 2012, 11:53 am

    I also wanted to tell you about the Baby Whisperer, specifically “The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems”, that book along with Healthy Sleep Habits were my bibles when my baby (now 4 months) was having issues sleeping. I did a mixture of both of those books! I could never handle cry it out, so those two books helped me a lot. Hope they help!

  • Jenn September 10, 2012, 3:33 pm

    Another SUPER helpful book I read was “Baby Wise.” I even reread the book right before I had my 2nd child. It talks about schedules and sleeping and lots of helpful topics. But, it also lets you know that FLEXIBILITY can be key, too. I did not read all of the comments to see if anyone recommended this book…..but it’s a MUST read! Hang in there!
    Jenn

  • Katy @ HaveYouHurd September 11, 2012, 8:47 am

    That happened to my husband and I in Michael’s one time! It was sooo weird. It was another young couple and the girl started out by saying “oh my gosh, I love your shoes!” I was of course soooo happy she said this…later thinking back I was wearing some serious god awful shoes I bought at TJ Maxx for like $2 and I should have known she was BS right there. They went ont to explain a pyramid scheme to us and would NOT let us leave. It was really strange…

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