Notes to my future self on babies and sleep training, number 2

So when Moses was about 4 months old, I remember writing myself some notes on this blog on what to do because man do you forget so quickly how to do baby stuff.  Forget or block it from memory?? Who knows but anyway, I am finally out of the thick of things I think, especially as far as baby sleep training is concerned.  And here are some words of wisdom to future Nelda with baby #4:

• Use the baby monitor sparingly.  I wish I had known that more with the other kids.  I actually am to the point where I leave Grace's door open at night so that I won't hear her every sound and assume she is awake and mistakenly try to jump in and not let her soothe herself independently.  Losing the monitor is the biggest thing I have learned from this baby.  
• Still read the baby whisperer and the baby sleep solution.  These books are amazing.
• Dreamfeed, dreamfeed, dreamfeed.  I would be lost without you!
• Ok I have finally figured out breastfeeding and I'll tell ya what, it's a labor of love.  But it just killed me to see poor Moses have such a constipation problem once I stopped nursing him at 5 months because I lost my milk.  Breastfeeding is such a science and so complicated.  It's been hard to keep up my milk but I finally got a nugget of wisdom from the lactation consultant.  It's called power pumping and what you do is for 3 nights for an hour you pump on and off for 10 mins.  It has saved me twice now when I was about to lose my milk.  Nursing has been such an emotionally charged issue for me that I just take it day by day.  I must admit I finally get the whole "I love nursing my baby it's so special and tender" thing.  But I still have to work at keeping up my milk with this growing baby of mine.  My faint goal is to do it to 6 months.  If I can last longer, I will try.  Like I said, a labor of love.  I pump 5 times a day to keep up.  What really got me going the other day was that I read that almost all baby formula (except some really expensive stuff) has high fructose corn syrup in it!!  Can you believe it??  No wonder kids become obese and develop a sweet tooth so soon.  That is seriously wrong.  
• Here is a nugget of wisdom I read a few weeks ago from some doctor on baby and sleep training:  "We have got it all wrong and backwards with baby raising.  We let them develop bad habits and then we try to break them and it results in a lot of stress and crying.  We need to coax them into great habits from day one and then it'll be a lot easier to let them continue in that stream.  We'll never have to train them out of bad habits."  Anyway, I am paraphasing but do you see what I mean?  I did this with Grace more than my other two.  From day one, practically, I put her to bed with her eyes open but slightly drowsy and it clicked.  Also, VERY IMPORTANT, I let her work it out more than the others when she would fuss.  The reason is, I was too busy with my other kids to have time to soothe her.  This worked well.
• I do think I begun sleep training a little too early with Grace - 6 weeks.  With the next one, I will go back to 8 weeks.  I think this resulted in a bit of a stressful sleep regression later on, which is now corrected, thank goodness.
• Every baby is so different.  Grace is an angel but just her ways are a bit different than the other ones and etc.  It's fun though.  Well, good luck, my dear future Nelda.  I know it's an awful. sleepless time you are having but I promise you it'll get better.  Just kiss and snuggle that cutiepants so, so tight.  They come straight from heaven.