I'm going bonkers trying to Lil General to sleep. I spend way too much time trying LG to get to sleep. If it takes 45 mins to put him to sleep, he gets up in 20 mins making me go crazy. I can't get anything done around the house. cooking has become round the clock activity because nothing is done in one sitting.
It is not LG's fault that he can't sleep while he wants to. The noise levels at home are way beyond tolerant levels for any sane human being. The wood work downstairs at our owner's place has been going on for a goddamn 60 days. Just when its almost done, some water proofing work has started on the terrace. And our dear neighbour next door has started putting asbestos sheet over his sidewalk which has been on for a week now. From 7:00 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., the only sound I can hear is that of drilling, chipping off concrete, hammering, welding and carpentry. A few more days of this insanity and we will go deaf.
LG's tolerance for noise was high since the bedroom he spent the first four months was by a busy roadside. So he slept through this noise when we came here. He really slept like a baby. But now, I guess its proving too much for him too. He is just a 8 month old baby after all....
Noise Pollution makes LG sleep deprived
If you are a male who is not a father yet and are scared of holding small babies, then don't worry, you are not alone!
A friend of ours delivered a year before we came parents and two hours later after this kid was born, we went to see her at the hospital which is just around the corner from where we live. It was well past 9:00 p.m. and she was so tiny wrapped all around with heads covered and just the face visible. As the kids granny handed her in my arms, I was apprehensive to hold someone so small, scared if I would hold her right and it wouldn't hurt her. yet I did a good job and held her for 2-3 mins. Having grown in a family teeming with young cousins, I had seen a lot of newborns so it came as a surprise about my not being confident.
The Seniol on the other hand stood at a hand's distance and looked at the baby and marveled at how small the hands and feet were. A year later. 19th December, 2006. 7:30 a.m. The Seniol was looking over LG's crib scared of picking him up for fear of hurting his teeny-weeny body. He just sat on the bed opposite me admiring his product touching his little limbs, awed at how long his nails were, those small eyes that refused to open up, while my brother picked up LG and held him in his arms. He couldn't stop saying how babies are small and that their fingers were small. The whole family was behind him to make him carry LG. And he did finally but the fear didn't go away for a week. Once we were home, there was such a huge transformation. For a fortnight after that, Lil General slept only on The Seniol's shoulders. When he left for Pune again, his shoulders were much missed at 3 a.m.
We were seeing the movie Pyar ... ke side effects yesterday and the scene were Rahul Bose is scared of holding his sister's baby reminded me of The Seniol's fear of holding the most fragile thing this world.
Is baby powder really needed for your baby?
Johnson's baby powder smells and feels good. The touch of the powder against one's skin leaves a pleasant feeling and it is easy to get carried away and apply the same on your baby at regular intervals assuming it will make the baby feel good too. For years, grannies in India have taught new mothers how to keep their babies clean and looking good, an important part of which is to white wash the baby with powder.
For four weeks after Lil General's birth I applied Johnson's baby powder after his bath, diaper changes and every time I changed his dress. Thankfully, there were no side effects that were immediately evident. I refrained from using the same thereafter on Doctor's advice. He said it was enough to keep the baby dry without sweat getting accumulated under the fold, armpits etc. This worked. I would just pat him dry with a clean cloth. The weather was not too hot then to get very sweaty. He did not have any diaper rashes either as I mostly used cloth nappies and cotton shorts only.
Your baby's skin is smooth naturally and doesn't need any makeup, at least not yet!
Crawling before sitting
LG is on a mission. He is on his fours unravelling the mystery of what is there in every room, why some rooms are always closed, waiting for an opportunity to push his way through when the doors are open. He has learnt to climb over the diwan, pull himself up, crawl over us and sleep on The Seniol's tummy.
I was told that kids generally sit first and then they learn how to crawl. That phase did not happen in his case. He started by crawling and is still struggling to sit without support.
Nestum Rice- Stage 1 has been a key component of Lil General's diet since he was six months old. He enjoys eating it mixed with mashed vegetables, curd or formula milk. As usual I opened a new carton of Nestum Rice yesterday afternoon and fed him. In the night I emptied the contents into LG's labeled Nestum container that had been washed and dried that morning. To my horror, I saw tiny black mustard like things in the contents of the pack - almost the size of mustard seeds, maybe a little bigger. on closer examination, I realized they were actually bug. Who would have imagined in their wildest dreams for kid's cereal to have bugs. The Seniol went immediately to get it replaced and wrote a letter of complaint as well to Nestle Foods. If this is the state of branded products, then I wonder where we are going?
It also explains LG's smelly dysentery episode since Sunday night. I had spotted 2 or 3 such black things earlier but dismissed them as ingredients of Nestum when I very well knew it is crystal white with no additives. I should have inspected the earlier carton better. The dysentery is slightly under control now but not totally - smelly potty 5-6 times a day containing questionable stuff in it and the texture no better. The discomfort he was at every night as he had those bowel movements are still a nightmare. He has been waking up precisely at 1:30 a.m. every night and would continue with his potty activity until 2:00 a.m. Sometimes, home made stuff is better than these packaged foods.
