Post by ClaireOtoms on Apr 18, 2014 19:57:09 GMT -5
I actually just moseyed on over to the boards to see if you had updated since this morning. I'm glad to hear round 1 went so well - here's hoping the rest of the night goes fairly smoothly!
“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.” - Natalie Goldberg
Is she ready to night wean? If so I would start offering her a bottle with an ounce or two in it and then start watering it down. Our kiddo eventually decided water wasn't worth waking up for.
I can't remember when we got tough on sleep but I think it was about that age. Maybe a little later. When you decide to do it I would not spend any time trying to get her back to sleep. She's in charge of getting herself to sleep. You make sure she is ok, no poop, not sick, etc. Then you leave while she is still awake. I was in with her for less than a minute unless there was a problem. Of course all bets are off if kiddo is sick.
I realize this sounds a bit hard ass, but seriously my kid is the most amazing sleeper. At least so far!
She's still pretty small, so if she needs/wants to nurse MOTN, that's ok with me. What sucks (and is new) is the waking up after 2-3 hours. She was sleeping 8, waking up, nursing, then sleeping another 3. And no issues going down after the MOTN nursing session.
And the naps suck. Today she woke up and was sitting up in her crib crying when I came in. She's a much happier baby when she is napping at least an hour.
I used the "The Sleepeasy Solution" on DD when she was 6 months. She was still eating once at night at that time so what that book suggested was going in to feed her BEFORE she wakes up hungry. They say to chart when she wakes up over the past week or something and then go in something like 15 minutes before that to feed her. I tried dream feeding when she was younger without success but it worked then. The reasoning is that if she wakes up sometimes and cries and you go feed her, but other times she doesn't get food/comfort then it's sending a mixed message. Don't respond to crying with feeding. I believe it said if she woke up early to eat to wait until she goes back to sleep to then go in and feed her so you aren't responding to her cries with food (I don't think that ever happened for me though). The weaning process they suggested also worked great for us.
Sleeping through the night is vital for that sweet-controlling little baby and for your family. It's amazing how they learn how to get the upper hand before 12 months old. I think they start training parents at birth. I know mine did.
She's still pretty small, so if she needs/wants to nurse MOTN, that's ok with me. What sucks (and is new) is the waking up after 2-3 hours. She was sleeping 8, waking up, nursing, then sleeping another 3. And no issues going down after the MOTN nursing session.
And the naps suck. Today she woke up and was sitting up in her crib crying when I came in. She's a much happier baby when she is napping at least an hour.
I used the "The Sleepeasy Solution" on DD when she was 6 months. She was still eating once at night at that time so what that book suggested was going in to feed her BEFORE she wakes up hungry. They say to chart when she wakes up over the past week or something and then go in something like 15 minutes before that to feed her. I tried dream feeding when she was younger without success but it worked then. The reasoning is that if she wakes up sometimes and cries and you go feed her, but other times she doesn't get food/comfort then it's sending a mixed message. Don't respond to crying with feeding. I believe it said if she woke up early to eat to wait until she goes back to sleep to then go in and feed her so you aren't responding to her cries with food (I don't think that ever happened for me though). The weaning process they suggested also worked great for us.
“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.” - Natalie Goldberg
Post by underwaterrhymes on Apr 19, 2014 6:15:38 GMT -5
Updating (mostly for my own reference, but also in case SKP82 is interested). He woke up once more at about 5:30 but went right back to sleep on his own. (I would have gotten up for the day with him if he'd woken up at that time, but was glad he stayed down.)
He was up for the day at 6:30.
We'll see how nap time goes today, but overall that was not NEARLY as bad as I expected it would be. Putting him down AND the one middle of the night wake up at 2 something both only resulted in about 20 minutes of crying. So relieved.
OVERVIEW 4/18/14 - Night 1 6:47 - Down 6:50 - Check 6:58 - Check 7:06 - Asleep 2:19 - Awake 2:20 - Start nursing 2:24 - Done nursing and down 2:28 - Check (2 minutes) 2:35 - Check (2 minutes) 2:40 - Asleep 5:30 - Stirring and noise, but stayed down 6:32 - Up for the day
That's awesome! Do you feel better rested or were you anxious?
I was really anxious and struggled to go back to sleep after 2:30. So I'm still tired. And he's fussy and clingy this morning. But I feel awesome! I really think he needs this and so do we, so the short-term stuff is worth the long-term reward.
Do you have your windows blacked out? We went from 6.30 wake ups to 8.30 - 9 wake ups when we blacked out her windows.
We have blackout shades.
On the nights he doesn't go down until 8, he will get up around 7. But on nights he goes down at 7, he wakes up around 6, so around 11 hours seems to be his max for him. He's 13 months, though, and I believe that's about right.
Honestly, I'm a morning person, so I'd rather he go down earlier and get up earlier so I get more adult time with H at night.
Do you have your windows blacked out? We went from 6.30 wake ups to 8.30 - 9 wake ups when we blacked out her windows.
We have blackout shades.
On the nights he doesn't go down until 8, he will get up around 7. But on nights he goes down at 7, he wakes up around 6, so around 11 hours seems to be his max for him. He's 13 months, though, and I believe that's about right.
Honestly, I'm a morning person, so I'd rather he go down earlier and get up earlier so I get more adult time with H at night.
Good choice! I would do the same. Our kid goes down between 7.15 and 7.30 and we just changed her monitor to dropcam so we can see her much better now. Turns out she stays awake but unmoving just staring into space for a good hour after we put her down. It's a little weird. Lol.
Sounds like you had a good night. Fingers and toes crossed that it gets better and better from here!
Post by underwaterrhymes on Apr 19, 2014 8:44:22 GMT -5
themoneytree and Que? - What's drop cam, btw? We have a Motorola video cam and have it mounted in the crib so we can see him well in some positions, but not at all in others.
themoneytree and Que? - What's drop cam, btw? We have a Motorola video cam and have it mounted in the crib so we can see him well in some positions, but not at all in others.
It's a new camera system that can be used as a security camera or as a monitor. It has audio, an excellent picture and you can view it on iPad or iPhone. For example if someone is babysitting you can see what is going on. We have 2 one in her room and one in the kitchen.
That's awesome! Do you feel better rested or were you anxious?
I was really anxious and struggled to go back to sleep after 2:30. So I'm still tired. And he's fussy and clingy this morning. But I feel awesome! I really think he needs this and so do we, so the short-term stuff is worth the long-term reward.
FYI - it took me a good month or two until I felt "normal" again after J started basically STTN. My body needed to adjust to not needing to be up all the time and worrying about how often he would wake. So don't feel bad if he starts sleeping great, but you still feel exhausted and worn out for a bit. I think that is very normal.
I was really anxious and struggled to go back to sleep after 2:30. So I'm still tired. And he's fussy and clingy this morning. But I feel awesome! I really think he needs this and so do we, so the short-term stuff is worth the long-term reward.
FYI - it took me a good month or two until I felt "normal" again after J started basically STTN. My body needed to adjust to not needing to be up all the time and worrying about how often he would wake. So don't feel bad if he starts sleeping great, but you still feel exhausted and worn out for a bit. I think that is very normal.
He's down for his first nap. Pretty much the same as last night.
Lots of crying for the 3 and 5 minute checks but asleep before the 10 minute one.
When you say lots of crying, do you mean full out screaming/sobbing?
I ask bc that's what DD does and I don't know if that's the same kind of crying other kids are doing during this. I am not confident she would calm herself down when she gets like that.
But if that's what everyone else goes through, I think that would make me feel better!
“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.” - Natalie Goldberg
When you say lots of crying, do you mean full out screaming/sobbing?
I ask bc that's what DD does and I don't know if that's the same kind of crying other kids are doing during this. I am not confident she would calm herself down when she gets like that.
But if that's what everyone else goes through, I think that would make me feel better!
S full blown sobs & screams while sitting up or standing. Then he tires & lays down & sort of whimpers into his lovey. He'll fall asleep whimpering/singing to himself. It never lasts more than 10 minutes.
“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.” - Natalie Goldberg
Post by underwaterrhymes on Apr 19, 2014 18:30:21 GMT -5
Yeah, SKP82. Full on hysterics, compete with little hitching, sobbing breaths.
It really fucking sucks. We just put him down tonight and it's worse than it was last night.
ETA - Worse in terms of his sobbing, but even shorter in duration.
We put him down at 7:23. Did the first check at 7:28 and he seems to be asleep. Not sure because he's out of sight of the camera, but he's been silent for almost 10 minutes. No need for the second check.
ETA again -
4/19/14 9:20 AM - Down for nap 9:23 AM - Check (2 minutes) 9:29 AM - Check (2 minutes) 9:37 AM - Asleep 11:31 AM - Up 2:19 PM - Down for nap 2:22 PM - Turned on soother by self 2:23 PM - Check (1 minutes) 2:29 PM - Check (1 minutes) 2:34 PM - Asleep 4:15 PM - Up 7:23 PM - Down for bed 7:28 PM - Check (2 minutes) 7:35 PM - Asleep
“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.” - Natalie Goldberg
Post by underwaterrhymes on Apr 20, 2014 6:00:56 GMT -5
So last night was interesting.
He went down about 7:30 and the screaming / sobbing was rough, but we only did the 1st (5-minute) check. The second (10-minute) check wasn't necessary.
Then he woke up at 2:40, but wasn't crying. He was just talking to himself and banging his pacis against the crib. He was fine for about 10 minutes, but then started to cry, so I went in and nursed him.
HE DIDN'T CRY WHEN I PUT HIM BACK IN THE CRIB, YOU GUYS.
He just fussed a little bit and talked to himself some more. About a half hour later, he did cry a bit, but only for two minutes. We did no checks and he went back to sleep on his own.
Up at 6:00 AM, though. I don't think he was ready to get up because he's Mr. Cranky Pants.
But overall, this is going really well.
4/19/14 9:20 AM - Down for nap 9:23 AM - Check (2 minutes) 9:29 AM - Check (2 minutes) 9:37 AM - Asleep 11:31 AM - Up 2:19 PM - Down 2:22 PM - Turned on soother by self 2:23 PM - Check (1 minute) 2:29 PM - Check (1 minute) 2:34 PM - Asleep 7:23 PM - Down 7:28 PM - Check (2 minutes) 7:35 PM - Asleep 2:40 AM - Awake and playing by self / talking 2:47 AM - Fussing 2:49 AM - Crying 2:50 AM - Nursing 3:00 AM - Back down; fussed a little, but no crying 3:22 AM - Fussing a little; no crying 3:36 AM - Crying, but no screaming 3:38 AM - Quiet / Asleep 6:01 AM - Up for the day