I started to get a bit ahead of myself in the Night #2 post and mentioned his night #3 bedtime. To recap, he went in at 7:22p and was asleep by 8:11p.
After he was asleep, I read a little more of the Sleep Lady book. I am planning on weaning from nursing once we get through this sleep coaching a bit. In the book, it mentioned that Daddy should take over during the weaning phase. It makes sense - the little one has associated Mommy with nursing and sleep and is going to protest (loudly!) if she sits there and doesn't do anything. I asked Ryan to take over the entire coaching gig and he didn't even bat an eye and said yes (I really, really love my husband!)
He was crying at 9:53p. It didn't sound like a strong cry (moms, you know what I mean!), so I let him go for a minute. He put himself back to sleep very quickly, within a minute or two. So we didn't even have to go in!! Yay!!
He was up at 1:10a. Ryan went in, but came back to bed by 1:13a. So either I wrote that down wrong or it was a really quick visit!! Ryan was a little sleep-deprived this morning and could recall the details.
He was up at 4:27a. As Ryan went in, I realized that my throat was a bit sore. I attributed it to the heat and the dry air and thus needed to drink some water. I thought Hudson might be having the same problem, so I brought him a sippy cup up. When I opened his door, I saw Ryan kneeling next to his crib patting him. I handed him the cup and Hudson saw and got worked up a bit. Therefore it took a little longer to get to sleep. He wasn't back to bed until 5:00a.
He woke up at 6:20a (I think - I forgot to write it down and Ryan and I are now debating whether it was 6:20 or 7:20a). When I got him, he still seemed a bit tired. I tried to lay him back down, but he kept getting up. I figured that it wasn't worth sitting with him for 30 minutes until he went to sleep since he would have to get up shortly thereafter anyways (he had a doctor's appointment this morning).
All in all, it was a good night. Ryan and I have talked about scaling back and making sure that we don't pat him too much and really just sit there (no interaction). The patting must be limited to the times when he's so upset that he's having a hard time breathing. We don't want to just replace nursing/walking with patting!
I was nervous for throwing his nap schedule off since I knew he would fall asleep on the way to and from the doctor's. He "napped" from 9:15a-9:30a and also 11:15a-11:30a. He wasn't pretty unhappy after that second cat nap, but I knew that it would be bad news for him to take him full nap that early. So, we got home and he had lunch. Joyce, our nanny, took over. We talked with her about the method and she was willing to try. She said that he was rubbing his eyes around 1p, so she took him upstairs and he was asleep by 1:15p! I'm not surprised - he's always better behaved for her!
Tonight we "shuffle" our way to the door instead of next to the crib. We're anticipating a spike in the protesting, but hoping it's not too bad.
12/28/12
11 years ago
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3 comments:
So happy to hear about your successful night! Sounds exactly like most of our nights (except for the morning wake-up). Hopefully it just gets easier and easier. There are definitely times when I have to hold myself back from going in and she is usually back asleep within 1-2 mins but had I gone in right away it might have been a whole new story. Good Luck!!
Jenn - this info is great and I'm so glad it's working for you. I can't believe you've been getting up 5-7 times a night before with Hudson. You poor parents! You must be so tired! Just curious - when does the sleep lady say you should start this process - what age? Finn is still in the co-sleeper in our room. I'm not quite ready to move him just yet :)
Glad to hear things are going well. What great news.
I think I read in a book that kids are always better behaved for others, because they know we [as their parents] love them unconditionally, so they feel free to act out around us. Cute, huh?
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