Today was David's actual birthday. Somehow the day flew by just like any other Sunday...
We woke up,
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| We love our morning snuggles!! |
Ayden gave his daddy one more present,
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| It was a double photo frame with pictures of Ayden for his desk at work... |
Then we finally got ready for the day. We went to the grocery, took a short nap (well... Ayden and I napped while David watched part of a movie) and then headed out to my parents house to finish cleaning up from the party. We also picked up some containers for the backyard vegetable garden we plan on growing this summer.
Once our future garden was all packed up, it was nap time for Ayden so we took the opportunity to drive around a couple of neighborhoods in our town to see if there are any interesting houses for sale. We didn't really find anything but it's always fun to look.
While I was making dinner, Ayden was really sucking on his fingers. He's been exploring his hands for a while but now it seems he's intentionally trying out different finger sucking options. It's cute but I know finger sucking can be a difficult habit to break. It'll be interesting to see if he finds an option he likes and makes it a habit.
I am so looking forward to this upcoming week because we have nothing extra planned!! That means we can fall back into our normal groove which will be so nice :).
How do you feel about finger vs. pacifier sucking? We're on the fence... If a baby needs to suck, they're going to. A pacifier can be bad because it can get lost or fall out and wake the child up yet good because someday it can be taken away. With fingers, on the other hand (haha, pun intended), the child can always find yet they can't be taken therefore making a very difficult habit to break. Dilemmas, dilemmas...
Also, any advice on swaddle weaning? Whenever we go without cold turkey, unless he's on his tummy, Ayden still startles himself awake. I'm okay with tummy napping, but definitely want him on his back at night while we are sleeping too. I've heard that leaving one arm out, and alternating which arm is out each night, is a good way to do it so we're giving it a try. I'm open for other suggestions as well!
~Sarah
ive never been in the delima of pacifier or fingers because my son never chose any. but i wanted to point out that ayden is 3 months and he could be at the beginning stages of teething. i know for my son, he started teething at 14 weeks(his gums were swollen and red), but didnt actually get his first tooth until 6 months 1 day. you mentioned the other day that ayden was crying really hard for a bit. its possiable that the sucking is part exploration, part teething.
ReplyDeleteVery good point! I think you are right...
DeleteMy daughter had a very strong sucking reflex when she was born and needed a pacifier. She used it for 3 months and then one day kept spitting it out so I took it away from her. She has never needed it or her fingers again. My son, on the other hand, was not interested in the pacifier but started sucking his thumb when he was a few months old and still sucks it to this day. I prefer fingers to pacifiers because in my experience (12 years as a nanny) kids usually grow out of sucking on fingers while pacifiers can be a hard habit to break.
ReplyDeleteAs far as swaddling, we swaddled until they were 4 months, my son did not like being swaddled and had no problem transitioning. My daughter took longer, we started with one arm out then went to both arms out and finally to no swaddler. We still use sleep sacks on both kids though since they don't keep blankets on at night. We will be elimination those for the summer months though.
I hope this helps.