These last few days and weeks have been the most challenging times of Brooke's life thus far. I just don't understand what's going on with her. She's gone from a content, happy baby to a clingy and grumpy baby. To be honest, I'm feeling kind of exhausted and overwhelmed because I don't know what to do to make her happy anymore! Even John was at a loss today. She's not screaming and miserable like she's sick... She's just generally fussy anymore. We've looked and we don't see any teeth coming in and she just went to the doctor so we're pretty sure her ears are OK too.
Another thing that is different with her is her sleep patterns. She used to go down around 8 and sleep until 4 or 5 in the morning. Now she's goes down and she'll wake up sometimes 2 or 3 times before even midnight! Even if I surrender and pick her up and nurse her, only a few hours later she is awake again. She has NEVER been a baby to wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly, she's wanting to eat at random times throughout the night.
Another thing regarding sleep that we're struggling with is naps... She won't take them. The longest nap I can get her to take is a 30 minute nap. I know that this isn't enough. I'm thinking that letting her cry-it-out for naps is going to be the only thing that fixes this problem.
I think a big part of this whole issue is her age and where she's at right now. I know that she's trying to walk and she is constantly wanting to explore things. She has discovered how to do so much in these past few weeks and it does NOT satisfy her to play with her toys. We are so not used to this! She has always been so easy to care for and now she's EVERYWHERE. We try to tell her no and teach her that certain things are off limits, but even at 9 months old, Brooke's has a cow when we say no. It looks like the temper tantrums have begun... Lol!
She's hasn't gone through the separation anxiety yet. She's very clingy and she doesn't want to put down at all, but she doesn't freak out if I leave the room. Knock on wood! That's another thing.. She has NEVER liked to be held. Even when she was brand new she loved to play on her activity mat or her bouncy seat. Now, she'll sit on my lap and hold tightly to my shirt just to avoid being put down. I love holding her but this presents a problem when I have to, heaven forbid, go to the bathroom or eat or do work around the house.
Brooke went to bed wicked early tonight.. Around 6:45. We haven't heard a peep from her so hopefully she'll stay sleeping and catch up on all of this rest she's been missing out on. It's funny because though right now is an exhausting stage for us, I STILL can't wait to have another one:-) Motherhood is so addicting...
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