Messages By: toothfairy

I am the mother of a 5 week old boy, and already I have noticed that bad habits start with me.  When I first brought him home, I put him in bed beside me, partly because I couldn't stop worrying about him, but also because I just loved being close to him.  Over the following weeks I noticed that whenever I put him down in his crib and left the room, he would immediately wake up and scream - that would lead to me picking him back up and taking him back into bed with me where he would fall right back asleep.  So - as tough as it was, (and still is) when its bedtime for Dawson, I rock him for a few minutes, but mostly put him in his crib - awake or not (I have a terrible time leaving him by himself when he is awake and alert - I feel guilty!) and just let him be.  Now at 5 weeks old he sleeps in his crib all by himself and I sleep much better in bed with just my husband :)  I think if I had kept on taking him to bed with me, I was setting the whole family up for a bad habit to break in the future.  What do you think?

I have a 5 week old son - I plan to take the full year available to me for maternity leave, and I love spending time with my son, but am worried about becoming lazy and possibly chubbier on my maternity leave.  Everyday is the same, we spend time in the morning cuddling, then when he drifts off I run around the house doing whatever housework I can before he wakes back up.  We take a walk for about half an hour, come back and spend more time cuddling (all in front of the tv) then he drifts off again in the late afternoon.  Please don't get me wrong, I love being with him, watching him develop and grow but am starting to wonder what I am to do for the rest of the year.  I need suggestions - maybe ideas of what everyone else does with their time off (and yes, I know its a time to spend with my newborn child - but there has got to be more!)