just one of the challenges

My baby girl is now on her third month. She gained weight of course, courtesy of Enfalac A+ and thanks to daddy's milk subsidy, got bigger arms and legs, and a louder cry. It was really a struggle on the first two months having to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to feed her and put her down to sleep. A baby's cry signals a lot. She is either of the following: hungry, sleepy, sick, in mood of tantrums, and calls for a nappy change. As a mother, you must be watchful of these needs else, you will upset your baby and frustrate yourself.

I have been reading different articles on how to take care of an infant from bathing her to feeding to putting her down to sleep. There are a lot of ways and it is up to me to try all until I find the one that will work for all of us.

Now here comes the challenge. I work from 4am to 12:30pm, so I hired a nanny to look after my baby when I am not around. I'm just blessed to have a nanny like her who treats my child as her own. Most of the times, she can pacify my baby more than I do. There are also times when my baby sleeps with her. I have difficulty putting my baby to sleep because I have to rock, sing and dance. It is a routine when we try to put her down to sleep. My baby is used to this routine. Well, I could say that it works! I couldn't blame my nanny because that's how the traditional Filipino mothers do. In other countries they have the cry out loud technique wherein the baby is left crying for about five minutes before approaching her to calm her down and help her fall asleep again. This is one way of teaching the child to sleep on her own. They called it the ferberized child. In my case, I have a hard time doing it my own way because my nanny does her own way too. I respect that. I believe that consistency is a must in every thing taught to a child. It is just that she is binded by myths in the boondocks, where she grew up, so it seemed to me that she is not that open to try new things. I don't want her to feel bad either. After all, I'm the mother and the ball will always be in my court.

This is just one of the challenges I have been experiencing. There are a lot of things to learn and discover. I am not afraid to invent or improvise methods on every how to. With the advent of the internet, learning has never been this easy and tips are always readily available.