Cyclone the baby

Cyclone as a baby – phew. He just didn’t stop crying for hours and hours on end. He seemed overwhelmed all the time. He didn’t sleep well. We rocked and paced and jiggled, we bathed, massaged and he just cried the whole time.

I found it hard to ‘get’ him. It’s hard to get close to a baby that’s stiff as a board and screaming loud enough to crack your eardrums. For awhile I thought it was my own stress because I thought he was going to die thanks to the stupid comment from that midwife.

I had a wonderful Maternal Health Nurse. Her first home visit was when Cyclone was about 2 weeks old. I answered the door, thrust the squalling bundle into her arms and burst into tears. On retrospect I was lucky she wasn’t a salesman because I probably would have done the same thing no matter who was at the door.
Wonderful nurse sent Cyclone and I to bed – for weeks if necessary. I think I stayed in there for three. I highly recommend this for ANY new mother. It gives you time to get to know your baby without the stresses of getting dressed, and in the early days getting dressed seems like such a faraway dream somedays….

Weeks later things weren’t much better. Cyclone fed every 90 minutes and could not be persuaded otherwise. By 4 months things had settled down a little – or maybe we just adjusted. My now teenage daughter was 12 then, so pretty self sufficient, the dogs got used to being fed at 2am and I was thanking heaven for paid maternity leave.

We tried sleep school, but we left early. Leaving a distressed child to cry doesn’t make them any less distressed. I did what they told me for 4 days but even the nurse said she didn’t feel things were changing and it just wasn’t going to work.

He learned to throw a head butt at about six months old. After the 3rd time he got one of us right in the nose we realized it was deliberate. Seriously. He would tuck in his chin and lean his weight forward so he sort of fell on you. Looking back I think he bumped his head by accident but noticed there was a big reaction OOWWWCH and tried it again. Even that young, he was noticing.

He weaned himself and went to Goats Milk formula when he was seven months. I was heartbroken - boobies were the only thing that stopped the screaming. He couldn’t tolerate regular formula, his tummy hurt and of course he cried and cried and cried.

I will finish this entry by saying plenty of babies are like this in their first few months. If you are reading this with a screaming, squirming child in your arms - please do not crap your pants and worry there is something wrong. I am just setting up the story and giving some background.