LL had a totally "off" day today. His late-morning feeding was at an odd time because we were meeting out-of-town friends for brunch and wanted to feed him before we sat down to eat ourselves. Then he was so fascinated by the restaurant that he didn't want to nap like he normally does in loud busy places. He fell asleep when we were driving home, but woke up when we took him out of the car, so it was way too short of a nap. Once his morning routine was that far out of whack, he never got back on track. He was over-tired, so he cried. He got himself all worked up, so he was too upset to eat well. Without eating well, he was unhappy, so his next nap was fitful and he remained over-tired. Lather rinse repeat.
By early evening he was hysterically crying. Giant sobs punctuated by shrieks. Awful thing to listen to. I finally got him calmed down, and attempted to soothe him with his last meal of the evening and our usual bedtime routine. It all went okay except that he refused to close his eyes. He'd lie quietly in his bassinet for a few minutes, then burst out sobbing. After the 8 millionth time calming him down and attempting to put him to bed yet again, I sat next to his bassinet for a bit. He was quiet and calm, then suddenly he started kicking his legs and rolling around, followed quickly by the sobbing and crying. And then, a loud fart. And he was quiet again.
It probably should have happened sooner, but right then is when the lightbulb went off in my head. All day, I had been blaming his fussiness on us forcing him to attend brunch, but it suddenly occurred to me that he was just really gassy. Yes, he was over-tired, but it all stemmed from being uncomfortable. And I had totally misread the signs. Poor little guy.
I brought him over to the changing table and spent a good 10 minutes bicycling his legs and pulling his knees up to his chest. I've never heard anyone fart so much in my life. (He's pretty small... how in the world was he holding in that much gas?!) After 10 minutes he let out a huge sigh, then smiled up at me with the sweetest little expression of gratitude. Problem solved.
S is proclaiming me a hero for figuring out what the problem was, and I'll admit to feeling a bit triumphant. LL is not even two months old, he has very limited means of communicating, but his totally in-tune mommy deduced the problem and figured out how to solve it. Go me! At the same time... it took me all day. And it was probably something I ate that gave him the gas in the first place. Apparently I'll take my triumph tinged with guilt.
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6 comments:
I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. You figured it out way before I would have and your new to this mom thing, too. :-)
Your investigative skills are impressive! Glad you figured out what was bothering LL.
Yesterday I had a similar issue...Jules wasn't happy - crying, screaming - and it wasn't getting better. My DH changed him, fed him, nothing. Finally, I swaddled him and rocked him in my arms...after a few cries/screams, he fell asleep. Turns out our little man was tired and wanted a nap. It's not always easy trying to figure out was our little people want or need!
It took me way longer than a day to figure out when monkey had a gas issue. Yeah you to figuring it out, you are an awesome mom!
hello! scientistmother sent me because i was complaining about the dearth of lady computer scientists (that i can find) in the blogosphere. i just skimmed some of your posts and man, your post about your advisor telling you to "hold it in" was horrifyingly hilarious. just a heads up, i'll probably pop in now and then!
nice job with LL :). i pictured a little baby just farting up a storm and started laughing. haha :).
Farts never occur to me as the cause of Harry's fussiness -- I always remember that there are several needs that babies need attended to, but I never remember farts. (Plus, Harry is almost always in need of a nap.) Good for you for remembering gas!!
Reading a newborn's mind must be the most challenging task of motherhood. It seems like one slip up in the morning has ramifications for the entire day. I completely feel your pain.
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