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I spoke to my parents at about lunchtime yesterday and was telling them (well, boasting) about how Frankie was going. If you read yesterday’s post, you might remember that Day 3 is the day where the mums start to do the settling themselves. We watch a nurse do it a couple of times first, then a nurse observes us do it a couple of times, and then we are on our own. So I said to my parents, “Frankie hasn’t grizzled at all today! I might not get any practice resettling her!” And of course, upon getting back to the hospital room, Frankie starts grizzling like a grumpy old cat. So after watching the nurse settle Frankie a couple of times (successfully), Frankie again turned grizzly towards the end of her afternoon nap. I had my first shot at settling Frankie with the Pat Pat technique and it worked a dream! She grizzled a bit on my exit, but then calmed right down and did another sleep cycle. Amazing. Pre-Masada, I would have (guiltily) put her straight into the electric swing.
Last night, all of the fathers came in for a session on settling as it is super important that the baby have consistency with settling techniques. My husband was telling me they were all taught the Pat Pat, and then practised on each other. I guess that fully grown men are similar to babies? The fathers are then allowed to stay overnight, which was nice for my husband to get some time with Frankie before bed and in the morning. It’s awesome that Masada incorporates the world outside of mother-baby to help enforce the techniques we learn here.
This afternoon we have our final group session about life post-Masada. We have also been told that it is Q&A time for us too. So I figure that session will go for about 36 hours.
I continue to bombard all the nurses with questions, so here are a few more things I am learning. And no doubt, tomorrow’s post will be a big one with everything that comes out of this afternoon’s session!
In no particular order…
– A few people have asked on the blog about what to do if the Pat Pat doesnt work. If you find yourself in this situation, and if you have done the Pat Pat three times, then give them a “cot cuddle” (sit them up in the cot and cuddle them until they calm down), and if that doesn’t work take them out of the cot and give them a cuddle until they calm down – then do the Pat Pat routine.
– Someone asked about whether you make any noise when Pat Patting. The rule is – if the baby makes noise, you Shhhh, and if the baby is quiet, you are quiet. Easy. Although not easy to count to 100 when you are also trying to Shhhhh.
– One of the nurses gave us a great piece of advice yesterday. She said “Focus on the (Pat Pat) process, not on the sleep”. If you are in with the baby and all you are thinking is “please get back to sleep”, it is only going to stir you up more – and if you are stirred up, the baby can sense this and it rubs off on them.
– When it comes time to drop the red eye feed (as I call it – that is, the one between 3-5am), the trick is to just resettle them at this time, rather than feed them. It might (apparently) take a few resettles at first, but I have been told to persevere for a few nights and she should start sleeping through. We get to drop the red eye feed when the baby has doubled its birth weight. I think I might feed Frankie some sneaky doughnuts to help speed up this process.
– I always wondered how much time needs to pass when you are timing the grizzle/cry before you reset the clock. The answer is five minutes. For example, if you haven’t heard a grizzle for five minutes, then you re-start the timer for another 10 minutes before going in to resettle (if you need to).
– If your bub wakes at 6am, but you are working on the Masada wake time of between 7-8am, I was told to resettle, and if the baby hasn’t resettled by 6.30am, get them up and start the day.
– Here is a funny one: Frankie always yawns for the first 5-10 minutes of the first feed of the day, without fail. I think to myself, “Frankie you have been in bed for 12 hours – how can you be tired already?!” But apparently, tired signs in the first 5-10 mins of awake time actually means they have had a great sleep! Good to know.
– Masada use Ergo sleeping bags. In case you are interested.
– The maximum nap time Masada recommend is three hours. Any longer than this can throw the day out of whack.
As I finish this post, I am excited to say that I put Frankie down 20 minutes ago for her second nap of the day and although she grizzled for a couple of minutes when I left the room, she has been quiet ever since. Go Frankie!
Our final group session with Q&A time starts in 90 minutes. Keep the comments and questions coming and I’ll try to answer them all (or seek out answers for you)!