YW's mom left Friday July 5. At first, we were just worried about getting through our first weekend alone, until Wesley's school would reopen on Monday. LIttle did we know, we would need to watch both of them alone for 9 days, since Wesley's school would be closed all following week, due to a hurricane power outage. How we survived:
1. Shift schedule overnight. YW would feed J around 9PM and again sometime between midnight and 2AM. Then drop him off outside AB's room. This way, YW could sleep a long stretch afterwards. AB could sleep a long stretch from 9PM to hopefully 3AM. We could catch up on additional sleep during Wesley's naptime, which thankfully was still 2-3 hours in the afternoon.
2. Playdates with our friends. We stayed overnight at J/S house, so those new toys entertained Wesley for 2 days. Also, playdates with EH, where their large number of toys entertained Wesley for 2 days. Another day, Wesley went to our neighbor's house. Other days, we took Wesley to the park playground, church, or he was able to entertain himself at home.
3. Wesley's behavior improved significantly. We think this was due to several factors:
a) Time getting used to baby J
b) Sometimes Wesley's behavior is better when fewer adults are present. He no longer sees someone rush to respond to baby crying, or sees crying as an effective way to get attention.
c) He has been sleeping better: longer naps at home and quieter environment at nap time.
d) We have tried to be more empathetic when he is frustrated. We notice he calms down more when hearing "I'm sorry" and sensing empathy. He tends to escalate temper when we are frustrated, authoritarian and/or argue.
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