Sniffles and Adventures in Napping

Ellie is going on 9 days with a moderately runny nose. I think it might be allergies. She's avoided a fever and her snot is clear, but it's also persistent. We missed the Y one day and had Grandma watch her a couple other times, but she doesn't seem to have improved or gotten worse. So, I took her to Childwatch today and they didn't say anything, even though she seemed to get really congested sounding right before we left the house. I've decided that the bulb syringes are just about useless, although using a little saline does help loosen things up. As disgusting as it sounds, I've actually tried the Nose Frida, which is a manual snot sucker (ie. Mom sucks on one end and opposite end fits at baby's nostril). Ellie doesn't like it at all, but I seem to be getting a little better at it. It's easier to clean than a bulb syringe also.

Over the weekend, P covered Ellie's windows in black plastic to try out a theory that she might sleep longer in the mornings if she didn't see the growing light and maybe she'd be able to nap in her crib during the day. Well, the real blackout curtains should be in tomorrow, but I don't think they'll work either. She still wakes up for the morning around 6:30 or 7. And, while she did nap in her crib today, it took her crying for an hour to get a 30 minute nap. After discussing with some other moms on Facebook, I'm going to try transitioning her from her Ergo carrier to the crib once she's asleep. Maybe that way we can wean her off that particular crutch. It'd certainly help my back if we could. A few other friends of mine indicated they had similar challenges with their kids and that Ellie might grow out of it by around 6 months if not before. Still, I need to read a couple sleep books and see if I can pick up any tips. I'm kinda sick of reading baby books though. So much of it seems common sense, and there are so many caveats since every child is different.

Lately, Ellie has been spreading out her feedings and lengthening most of them to 20 0r 30 minutes. It's allowed us to develop a schedule of sorts. If I can just get her to fall asleep in her crib we'll be golden. In other news, she's started sleeping on her right side. Because she's been improving on the rolling front, I replaced her birdie bumper with a breathable mesh one just until she gets more independent and reliable about rolling. I laid her down Saturday on her left side and she flipped over onto her tummy, which she didn't enjoy. Sunday, she repeated the trick during tummy time with slightly better results. However, she usually doesn't initiate the rolling, so I've been trying to help her out just to get her comfortable with it, and she seems almost there. She actually rested her head without crying tonight, which to me indicates that she's getting stronger and enjoying being on her belly a little more.