By Holy warm brownies and ice cream! She did it! Lily slept through the whole night last night! She woke up about 2 minutes after the alarm went off, but at least it was after the alarm and not before.
Yesterday she had her first round of immunizations, which also meant her first time with Tylenol. That may have had something to do with her sleeping through the night. With Lily being number 3, we've learned a few things from the first 2 kids. One of those is to give them Tylenol before going to the doctor for immunizations. It helps - a lot. I remember when Michaela went for some of her immunizations and, being a new Dad and not knowing any better, I didn't give her Tylenol before going. That was a long trip home that day.
Speaking of parenting tips... for any new or soon-to-be parents out there, here is a tip or two about immunizations. When your child goes to the doctor for immunizations make sure to give them some Tylenol before you leave the house (that way it has time to get in their system before you get to the doctor), bring a bottle for them to work on while they are getting their shots (helps distract them, but watch out for any gagging when they get poked), and try to dress them in something with snaps on the legs. This way you can have the baby dressed and ready to go after the doctor checks them out but before they get their shots. Simply open the snaps for the nurse to give them the shots, then close them up and head out the door. This is much easier than trying to dress an upset screaming baby.
After Lily had her shots, she spent the day with Grandma instead of at daycare. We thought, unfortunately correctly, that Lily might be upset after her shots. She was, as Grandma can attest. We weren't sure what Lily's reaction to the shots might be which is why we asked Grandma if she would be brave and watch Lily after her doctor's appointment.
Apparently she slept little and was upset quite a bit. After she came home we had to go grocery shopping. Lily slept through that, slept through dinner, and slept through the other girls going to bed. She finally woke up when she normally goes to bed. I fed and changed her, and kept her up for a little while. Then she fell back asleep and slept for a good 8 hours or so. Unlike with the other 2 kids, I didn't panic when I woke up this morning, wondering if she was okay. Instead I just enjoyed the feeling of a good nights sleep... for about 2 minutes until the monitor started squawking.
Hey, Alex, this is your Mom commenting. Yes, Lily had a rough day yesterday, and I must say I don't think I ever took care of the other 4 of my grandchildren on a day when they were so uncomfortable! When Lily was good, meaning comfortable, she was very good. When she was bad, meaning screaming and crying from pain, she was awful! I felt so badly for the sweet little thing. Another point to remember, new parents, careful of Baby's legs after immunizations. They are very tender and they don't like to be changed. At all. Even when they really, really need it!