帰ってきました - back in Tokyo

昨晩東京に戻りました。８日ぶりの我が家、もっといなかった感じがするのが不思議。

実家では朝昼晩ご飯が出て、掃除・洗濯もほぼ母がやってくれるおかげでかなり羽を伸ばせた。

ネントレはひとまず中断。環境が変わったのと上の歯が生えてきた（気づいたら上も出てきてた！）せいか、息子がやたら夜中起き（ひどいと１時間おき）寝に戻すのが大変でギブアップ。最後の２日は添い寝にしたらスヤスヤと寝て夜中２回しか起きなかった。もう少し大きくなって聞き分けきくようになったら又やろうと思って本は本棚に戻した。

ひさびさに東京から離れた山の中にある実家での生活、つくづく子育てに最良な環境。できるならあんな静かな、山と海に恵まれた土地で子育てをしたいものだ。

写真は父母がちょっと早いけど１才の誕生日のプレゼントに、とくれた木琴。良い音がする。

Toru came to pick us up at my parents in the afternoon yesterday and we drove back in Tokyo.  It has been only 8 days but it feels longer. 

Sleeping in a different bed in a different environment and also little teeth coming out in his upper jaw (yes, little ones are barely shwoing!), Kohki woke up every two hours past few days and I decided to take a break from sleep training.  Last couple days, he goes to sleep in a baby crib as usual, but when he wakes up to feed during the night, he sleeps with me.  This way, he sleeps longer and he ended up waking up only couple times.  Anyhow the old way works better now and the book went to take a rest in our book shelf.  Sayonara for now.

Spending time at my parents house which stands in a small valley in a beach town, I wished I could raise Kohki in such environment.  Few hours away from Tokyo, it is a dreamland.

Picture is a xylophone which was given as Kohki's early one year birthday gift from my parents.  Being a handmade from a natural tree, it makes beautifully limpid sound.

帰省 - at parents

ネントレ明日で10日目、夜起きる回数は変わらないものの寝る時間が延びた。だいたい17時に食事、18時にお風呂、18時半過ぎに寝て朝は6時半くらいに起きてます。その間起きるのは3、4回。早く起きないようになってほしいものだわ。

旦那がノロウィルスにかかり、先週金曜から急遽実家に息子と帰省してます。携帯の電話の入りは悪いは、父のＰＣが遅いわ、でしばらくｂｌｏｇアップできなそうです。今週末には東京に戻るのでまたゆっくり書きます。

Due to Toru's sickness, Kohki and I have been staying at my parents house since last Friday. Mobile reception being bad and dad's PC being slow, I won't be updating the blog as often. Will be back in Tokyo coming weekend.

ネントレ - sleep training, about to give up

本が届いて早速始めたもののかなり辛い。
特に朝方はこちらも眠いし根負けして結局抱っこで寝かせて自分の隣りに寝かせてしまっている。
昨日は１８時半過ぎに早々眠くなったものの、３度着地に失敗して可哀相で抱っこで寝かせてしまい、夜起きた時も結局１０回ダンナが着地に失敗し抱っこで添い寝・・・
３日目にしてすでにギブアップ状態。でもネットで見るとみんな最初は失敗の連続だけどある時、「あれ、寝た？」という日が来る様子。継続は力なり、か。失敗も含めて気分的に続けてみる程度でいこうかな。じゃないと上手くいかないことにイライラして、ネントレ前より疲労困憊しそう。

昨日は区の保育園でやっている子育て広場にいってきた。以前区の保育園を見学に行った時にもらったチラシで知ったもので先週初めて行ってすっかりハマった。午後は特に同じくらいの月齢の子が来ていて子供は他の子と遊んで刺激になるし、母親は母親で日々の子育ての悩みをお互い話したり、保育士さんに相談したりできる。育児と家事に追われ煮詰まった時の逃げ場として心強い。

上の写真は育児のストレス解消、甘い物。母乳育児は砂糖厳禁？知るかっ！
下の写真は、隣町のコジャレたカフェで。バギーでも嫌な顔をせずに入れてくれたのに味をしめて夕方前の空いてる時間を狙ってたまに行く。

As soon as the book came and I did a speed-reading and right away tried the training.  Today being the third day I am already ready to give up.  Kohki just won't give in and as much as we try to calm him to sleep in his own bed without one of us holding him, he either cries and cries or suddnely awakens.

Another sleepless night. It is almost easier to go back to our old style and get little more sleep. I read other people try and error and it looks like the key is to continue the effort hoping one day our son sleeps himself.

Yesterday, I took Kohki to mom and baby's gathering at a nearby nursery school. This is run by ku's nursery school and babies can play with lots of toys while moms chat and share information.

What is really helpful is to know that I am not the only mother on the planet who feels like not being a good mother because a baby doesn't take a long nap or doesn't like taking bath or doesn't sleep him/herself in his/her own bed.

Pictures are Donuts Plant donuts, a perfect break-food and Kohki with his papa at a cafe on Sunday. We go to this cafe some weekend late afternoons when there are only few customers.

歯が生えた！ Baby teeth

一昨日久しぶりに歯茎をチェックしたら下の歯が少し出ていた。ママ友から授乳中におっぱいをガブッとする話を聞いているからこれからが怖い。

その後熱が下がり、お腹と背中に発疹らしきものがみられたのでおそらく熱は突発性発疹によるものだと思う。発疹といっても、あれ赤い？て感じなので、あくまで多分。

夜泣きは今思えば歯が生えてくるむず痒さなのかなとも思うけど相変わらず起きて、一昨日朝方にいたっては旦那まで起きだしての騒ぎになったので昨日は私も出来るだけ早くベッドに入った。
泣かせてチェックのアメリカ方法だと長く寝るんだけど、どうも泣かせるのが・・・と悩んでいたところに出会った泣かせないネントレ　http://blog.goo.ne.jp/konaho716/e/5df14bccbd7ec98edb82c5c4e30cd5f0
ソッコーamazonで本を頼んでしまったわ。
どうもアメリカでも最近は泣かせないネントレが見直されているらしく、従来の泣かせるやり方は子供の人格形成に問題があるとも言われてきているらしい。
http://parentingbooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_nocry_sleep_solution　(英文）

ただ、泣かせる方法のほうが即効性はあるらしい。ま、ひとまず本を読んで気長にやってみまーす。

写真は息子０ヶ月の時の泣き顔。

Kohki's teeth came out.  They are still very slightly showing from his gum but I could feel with my fingers.  How exciting!! But at the same time my mom friends told me once babies grow teeth, they bite on your bosom when feeding and it really hurts. 

After fever subsided, rashes appeared on Kohki's back and belly, so I am assuming it was raesola rather than cold.  But with babies, nothing goes by the book and you are never too sure about anything, it is only assumption.

After several sleepless nights, I considered going back and trying the US sleep training method, but when the night comes I'm too reluctant to try because it is heart aching to just imagine Kohki cry and cry.  Then I came across a website that talked about "No Cry Sleep Solution" http://parentingbooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_nocry_sleep_solution
and I decided to try this method.  The article says even in US, traditional sleep training where parents let their babies cry is re-considered amongst doctors and parents and more and more doctors started recommending this no-cry sleep solution.  The article also says that the traditional method could be detrimental to mental and emotional wellbeing of the child.   Hmm interesting.
Maybe I give it a try.

The picture is Kohki's crying face at 0 month.

熱 - first fever

今週は木曜にママ友＆ベビが遊びに来た。良く食べ良く寝るベビ友２人は同じ日に生まれた子と1日前に生まれた子なのにうちの息子より大きい。食が細いうちの子、大きくなれよ！

金曜午前、風が冷たい中ちょっと遠出の買い物に出てお昼過ぎに戻る。２人して疲れて昼寝から起きたら息子の体が熱い、機嫌も悪い、熱を計ると３９度近い。かかりつけの小児科にいくと突発性発疹か風邪か様子見とのこと。

初日夜は本人も熱で辛いらしく、寝付いたと思ってベッドに下ろすと泣いてしまい、夜通し旦那と交代で抱っこで大変だった。

２日目の昨日もまだ３８度台、少し元気が戻るものの日中は力なく遊んだりグズッたり。夜ベビーベッドは拒否し添い寝。３日目の今日もまだ熱は３８．５度、機嫌は大分戻りいつもと変わらない感じで家の中を動き回って遊んだ。お風呂、おっぱいの後普通に抱っこで旦那が寝かしつけ、今ベビーベッドで寝ている。

突発性発疹は９０％の赤ちゃんが１才までにやるらしいけど、これで熱が下がって体に発疹が出ればそれだろう。

大人も熱は辛いのに小さい体で熱のダルさに苦しむ我が子が不憫でたまらなく、いつもより優しくしている私です。

On Thursday afternoon, mom friends and their babies came over to chat.  Their babies eat and sleep well that they are alot bigger than our son (born on a same day!).  I always wonder will our son catch up?

On Friday late afternoon, after a nap, I realized my son's head and mouth (when feeding) feels somewhat hot.  I checked his temperature and it was almost 102 F (38.7 C) so I took him to a paediatritian.  The doctor told me it could be either cold or roseola which most babies get before turning one.

Friday night was a sleepless night holding our son in turn with my husband.  With the fever, our son's sleep seemed shallow and as soon as we put him down, he started crying.

On Saturday, his fever was still around 101 or so but he seemed better and played a little bit during the day and slept better next to me in bed.

Today, he seemed much better but his fever is still at around 101.  Yet, he played as usual during the day and he went to sleep as usual in his crib after we gave him a bath.

If rashes appear on his body in a few days, then it is roseola, so they say, but whatever it is, I am just hoping the fever decreases soon.

夜泣き対策にみる日米の相違 - sleep training, Japan vs. US

うちの息子は今月で８ヶ月、育児書によると夜泣きのピークは８ヶ月らしい。教科書通りの息子は最近夜泣きを始めた（ぽい）。１ヶ月前くらいから夜中泣いて起きること夜通し２、３回が今月に入って４、５回に。寝不足が続ききつい。
いろいろネットで調べると夜泣き対策にも日米の差が：

１．アメリカ～親とは別に寝かせて夜中起きてもすぐには抱き上げず泣かしっぱなし作戦
２．日本～添い寝で添い乳で落ち着かせるｏｒ泣きが酷い場合は一度起こして寝かしつける。基本泣いたら抱っこ

１のアメリカ式を本日やってみたものの、我が子の泣き声に耐え切れず急遽２の日本式に逆戻り。すごいなアメリカ人、１０分も自分の赤ちゃん泣かせておくなんて私には出来ないわ・・・

出産も子育ても想像以上に重労働。でも後になってみれば、「可愛かったあの頃・・・」となるのでしょうかね。

Lately our son cries at night.   Starting from December, he started this twice to three times a night but now that he does this four - five times a night, it is becoming tiring and hard.  Baby book tells me 8th month is usually the peak of baby cry at night and I am crossing my finger that this won't last long.

I have been doing some research on sleep training and I found it quite different how it is done in Japan and US. 

1. US- Baby usually sleeps in a baby crib, seperate from parents.  Let a baby cry for at least 10 minutes before you go check on him/ her.　Elongate the 10 minutes to longer minutes gradually and a baby will learn to sleep himself.

2. Japan- Traditionally a mother sleeps next to a baby in a futon.  Though many people buy a baby cot nowdays, a lot of them tend to switch back to traditional style (sleeping side by side) after few months (esp. when babies start their night cry phase).  When a baby cries, a mother picks him/ her up immediately and cuddle to sleep or if a baby is still on breast feeding, lure him back to sleep by lying and letting their babies suck on breast.

Tonight I tried #1 but couldn't bear hearing my son cry and cry.  It just hurts too much to hear my son cry.  I was only able to wait 5 minutes and busted into our bedroom.  After all, I was probably brought up by my mother with #2 tactic.  Though our son sleeps in a crib when he first goes to sleep, I will likely let my son sleep beside me when he cries at night.   This is how I feel after I've experienced the hardship of #1 US tactic.

Good night.

保育園 - nursery school

今朝空いているうちにと思い、区の保育課にバギーで出かけてきた。
１２日が申し込み締め切りだから混んでるのかと思いきや空いていた。
すぐ受付してもらい、２つの保育園、２人の保育ママの申し込みをした。
状況は厳しいらしい。１月１２日の時点での就労状況なので、４月採用
扱いで書類をだしてもらった私の点数は低い（区の保育園は点数制で
高い人から入園が許可される。

働くか否かの問題じゃなく、保育園に入れるか入れないかの問題が
先決だったらしい・・・こうゆうことって聞いてはいても自分が実際体験
してみないと実感が沸かないものだ。

２月１９日に封書で結果が届くらしい。ま、期待しないで待とう。

This morning I went to ku's office to submit application form and peripherals for Kohki's nusery school starting from April 2010.   The woman who took my documents said due to economy downfall, there are lots of applications coming in and the percentage of getting children into nusery school is very low.

Few months back I was contemplating as to if I should stay with Kohki until he is older or if I should work immediately.  Now the question is more down to if Kohki gets into school or not. 
This might be a tough call.

Ku will send out letter on Feb. 19th letting every applicant know if accepted or not, so we'll see.