Naps are vitally important. We are learning this. Kate still has only about a 1hr – 1hr 30m window that she is awake, active, and happy before needing to nap again. I figured this out a long time ago and am well-trained to put her down to sleep when she first starts getting cranky, which is her first sign that she’s getting tired. She still has no real schedule, it depends on the day and how long she sleeps as to when she needs to nap next. We’ve had some days where she fights it and wants to play instead, but for the most part she and I do really well.

But daddy? Oh poor daddy. This week has been brutal on him! I was out several evenings in a row, with the presentations and other scheduled things. He doesn’t mind watching Kate at all, he loves spending time with her, she takes breastmilk from a bottle… but she will not nap for daddy. Wednesday evening I was gone for 5 hours and I walked in the house to have Kate thrust at me by my husband as he silently escaped to the basement. She apparently had refused to nap until the point that she melted down and cried inconsolably for hours. I layed down with her she nursed until she was content, babbled happily at me for 10 minutes, then dropped into a sound sleep for the night. She just wanted the boob – not for food, but for comfort.

So it’s rough on him right now, but they’re working on figuring something out. This is somewhat of a new problem, she used to sleep on his chest no problems. Thursday evening he got her to fall asleep in his arms and he put her down on the bed and she slept for 20 minutes. That’s still not ideal, but that’s a good start!

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I have to laugh about Kate’s personality and opinion towards bottles, especially given her personality. She’s so picky about so many things, and I know babies – especially breastfed babies – can be very fussy about their bottles. Before she was born I bought 4 different bottles to try, hoping that one of them would be “the one.” I also waited until she was 4 weeks old before introducing a bottle at all, in the fear that she would develop nipple confusion and/or a preference for the bottle. In the end it turned out she will take any bottle, any nipple. Right now Den tends to reach for our MAM and Nuk bottles, but she’s used the Medela ones too. (We also have a Breastflow bottle, but DH is the one who thinks it’s too complicated!) Same goes with pacifiers – I used Soothie at first, which she took to right away, then switched to MAM. She no longer likes the Soothies as much, since she can keep the Mam in her mouth better. But I’m pretty certain that if I lost all our pacis I could give her anything and she’d take it.

Pumping remains a pain in the ass. I’ve been using a manual Medela pump that works well enough, but it’s just annoying to come home, deal with an upset baby, and have to sit and pump both breasts to make up for what she ate while I was out. My sister-in-law gave me her old electric pump, I need to buy new tubing and get it set up to use. At least then I can do both sides at once.

I feel kind of spoiled, actually, since I have been taking advantage of my ability to go out without Kate! I didn’t know if I would ever get to the point of wanting a few hours to myself, but it finally did come. Granted Kate has only ever been with her daddy or me. We haven’t left her with anyone else, mainly because no one spends enough time with her to know her little quirks and preferences. I’d love an evening out with my husband, but only if I know she’s going to be happy and content, which just isn’t going to happen yet.