Doubts

This post sponsored by two of the more aggravating (yet harmless) pregnancy symptoms: Restless Legs Syndrome and a wildly itchy belly, complicated by the fact that it is also numb, which means neither scratching nor moisturizing bring any relief at all. (Who me? concerned about cholestatis, the very malady I mentioned knowing nothing about just last week?)

Anyway. Have you ever had a fight with a boyfriend but you don’t want to tell anyone why because they’ll say all kinds of negative things, like they never liked him anyway, that will make things tense because there are still some things you like about him and you’re not sure you want to break up? Well this is kind of like that, so go easy on me.

A few weeks ago, when I wrote about The Contented Little Baby Book, I mentioned that I had temporarily mis-placed it. Yesterday, it was recovered and I re-read and remembered some of my initial doubts and questions and began to have more.

• For starters, the author says that it’s important to follow her routine from the very first day you come home from the hospital. And yet, the routine section of the book does not begin until two weeks of age. I’m pretty sure no one has ripped out any pages, so what gives?
• Second, she advocates the baby sleeping in a pitch dark room fitted out with blackout shades, for both naps and night-time. But wouldn’t that be setting him up to be unable to sleep under any other conditions?
• Third, she feels an electric breast pump is essential, even though her routine has you pumping relatively small amounts to be used during growth spurts. As I may have mentioned, I fear and am horrified by the electric breast pump.
• Fourth, I was left with the impression the first time I read the book that she does not believe in leaving the baby to cry. Because, you know, she wrote, "I would be absolutely horrified if any of my babies cried for even one hour a day." But later on, she talks about babies being "unsettled" and leaving them for 10-20 minutes to "resettle" themselves. Is that a euphemism, by any chance, for crying?! A whimper or some general fussing I get, five minutes I get, but could she be talking about letting a two week old baby cry full on for 20 minutes? Without even recommending, say, attempting to comfort him by letting him know you’re there but not picking him up, as I have read elsewhere?

So I’m feeling conflicted and confused, not to mention overwhelmed by the extreme strictness of her routine. And yet, I’ve known others who swear by it, though none who used it from day one (generally because they didn’t find out about it until later). I’m the kind of person that needs a plan but doesn’t mind if it changes. I think the best answer for me is to use this as a guideline, something to shoot for and just try to figure out what works best for the kid when he makes his appearance on the outside. 24 days to go!