Digestion and sleeping – who knew it was so complicated??

Although Charlotte will probably hate me later for sharing all these details, I feel compelled to post more on our experience the last couple weeks, if only for the benefit of future adoptive parents.

So here’s the confession: having a child is like one big science experiment. You create your hypothesis, and then you run a bunch of tests to see if you were correct. Example: Charlotte was extremely constipated (we’re talking blood in the diaper, hysterical crying, constipated). Our theory: too many bananas, new formula with high iron content, not enough liquids, not enough veggies, maybe some prunes are required.

The next day we start our experiment. No more bananas, change formula brands, and bring on the prunes and water. Here’s where it gets tricky….she won’t drink the water. Tried it in a bottle, in a cup, even tried spraying it into her mouth. Nothing. OK, add more prunes, we think + a whack of Nutrios (oats are often helpful in these situations). WRONG. Now we have hysterical crying and the runs.

Hmmmmmm Maybe eating toys will help? I digress....

OK, stop prunes immediately!! Also WRONG. Back to constipation and all its evils.

Hmmm again.

All right, now try small amounts of prunes at every meal. Add in cantaloupe. Pooping is mostly normal, but now she is waking up @ 1:00 am to do it. This is not what I want to be doing at 1:00 am, and Charlotte seems quite unhappy with it as well. Also seems to have gas pains. AHHHHHHH.

Next attempt: 5 spoons of prunes, only at breakfast. Also watermelon and cantaloupe at breakfast and lunch. Will have to keep you posted on how this one turns out, but based on today’s output, things are looking good.

The experiment continues……

We are also experimenting with different sleep strategies. That Charlotte, she’s a tricky one though! Each time we think we have a good thing going, she figures it out and either wakes up too early, or goes back to extreme waking at night.

Two nights ago we thought we had it licked: 2 naps during the day (one for 2 ½ hours in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon.) At naps, sing the ‘Hush Baby” song so she knows this is ‘daytime sleep’. Try to nap at home, but if all else fails, or the timing just isn’t right, don’t be afraid of the car seat nap. Better that than an over-tired, cranky baby.
At night, play the Chinese lullaby CD and do other routine stuff, so she knows it is the ‘big sleep’. Give her a bottle when she wakes up (even though this is frowned upon by dentists and child specialists), because this is what she wants/is used to and it is what will get me back into bed quickly. We will wean her off this nasty habit later…..

Using this strategy, we thought we were making progress. Each day was a little better. Although she still woke up 5 times between 7:30 and 11:00 (which I don’t care about since it is not rousing me from my bed), she slept from 11:00 to 5:30 Tuesday night. “Hooray!” we thought. “We’re freakin’ geniuses,” we thought.
We thought wrong.
Wednesday night she was up every 2 hours. The only clever thing I managed to do was at 5:18 am. She was wide awake and refusing to go back to sleep, and there was no way I was getting up for the day at that point. So I flipped the CD player back on, gave her a bottle and pretended that it was 7:30 at night and this was regular bedtime. That’s right, I’m a first-class sneak. Ah ha! Fooled her!! She went back to sleep until 7:15 am…. : )

Tonight’s strategy: we’re back to Mommy smelling like beer and Charlotte lathered with Orajel and Advil, our tried and true method in China. I'm not proud. I'm very, very tired.

Stay tuned.

Ah yes, and have I mentioned that through all of these she remains completely adorable? All day she smiles, laughs and generally has a good time. I don't know where the heck she gets her energy. I am relying on caffeine, personally.

Hmmmmmm, now that I look at this photos I realize that she really needs a new hairdo. She is looking a little too Elvis-like for my taste. Still cute though!


Her older sister also remains completely adorable and a little nutty. She’s not much for wearing clothes, and her current obsession is our patio umbrella. Why do 4 yr olds get so fixated on having certain things a certain way??? For this week, the umbrella must always be UP!!