4 posts tagged “sleep strategies”

Baby C has been asleep in his crib now for more than 2 hours.

Yes, he's still breathing.

I'm currently uploading pictures to my favorite site so that I can share them with our families (my parents are in the Philippines right now and really would like to see some pictures of him soon), and as I type, I am listening intently for any sound coming from the baby's room.

The fact that he has been sleeping this long in his crib without anyone in his room is a small miracle in itself. But, as I've been reading all sorts of articles and books on babies and sleep, I know that when the baby is ready to sleep on his own, he will do it. He first needs to trust me to know that I (or Chris) will come to his rescue if he needs something, and only when that trust is established will he be okay sleeping through the night.

I, in turn, need to trust that he will eventually sleep through the night.

So, I've got one more set of pictures to upload and then I'm calling it a night. And, hopefully, he'll stay down for another, oh, six or seven hours or so.

Here's hoping, anyway!

Okay, so Baby C did really well this past weekend with his sleeping. We were off to a rocky start on Friday until I remembered the swaddling trick, and he did very well last night. Tonight is the true test, and I hate to admit it, but I was very tempted to crawl back into bed with him while he was eating, and even now, while I'm trying to coax a burp out of him. (This is why I'm online at such an ungodly hour.)

I think the trick is going to be getting all the gas bubbles out of his tummy before he goes down. If I can somehow manage that, I believe we'll have this sleep thing solved.

Two nights ago, I never would have thought it possible.

No, Baby C is not sleeping through the night (yet). I really think that would be this side of miraculous if he did it - literally - in one night. But he's sleeping now in 3 - 4 hour stretches, which is the equivalent of his eating schedule, so I really have no grounds for complaint.

After talking to my sister about my struggles with him, she asked me to reconsider letting him cry himself to sleep. After all, he's only 4 months old (today!), and he's still eating on a fairly regular basis. So, I changed tactics a bit, and it seemed to work really well. At some point, yes, he'll need to cut out one of his nighttime feedings, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Here's how tonight went:

9:30 - Last feeding of the day. Had him swaddled already while I fed him, then put him down (still awake but drowsy and content) with his pacifier. After a bit of a struggle, during which one arm got free and Chris had to reswaddle him, he slept without incident.

1:30 - I heard him fussing and went into his room to find him sans pacifier. I put it back and started to return to bed, only to hear him spit it out and continue fussing. After I realized it had been 4 hours since he last ate (and I was feeling particularly full), I fed him (still swaddled). Once he finished (unlatched on his own),  I managed to get out one tiny, feeble burp before putting him down (drowsy and content). I gave him some Mylicon to forestall any gas pains the remaining bubble might cause, then popped his pacifier in his mouth.

4:40 - Same as above, only that it had been 3 hours since he last ate.

So, he's asleep in his own bed again, and I just wanted to jump online and give my little update before I forgot about it. (I think little anecdotes like these are best when delivered fresh.)

I've learned a few things over the past few days:

1. I am not a bad mother for letting him sleep with me because it afforded us both a chance to get some rest.

2. Cosleeping was, however, making me a little crazy because it cut into time with my husband, and it's just as important for me to be a good wife as it is a good mother.

3. A boy who hated being swaddled from birth actually may change his tune at 4 months.

4. He may also change it back again, and I need to remain flexible.

5. My instincts are not off.

I have to thank everyone who commented on my last post about my non-sleeping baby with words of encouragement - and reminders that other moms (besides my own and my husband's) have gone through this, too.

Bolstered with this new confidence, I dusted off some books my sister passed on to me, reread a number of strategies, and told my husband, in no uncertain terms, "Here's what we're going to do."

Well, getting the boy to sleep initially was a challenge. He was rubbing his eyes, so I knew he was tired, but I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why he wouldn't settle down. Finally, it dawned on me that he wanted the closeness of being held by Mommy or Daddy, so I swaddled him, and POOF! Eyes still open, he quieted himself, and I left the room after telling him that Mommy and Daddy love him very much.

That was at 11 o'clock.

Fast forward to 1:20 (yes, I slept for two whole hours without the baby!), and I could hear him fussing. Don't get up, I urged myself. I let him fuss for a few minutes, then got up to check on him as his sounds became more urgent. He managed to unswaddle himself a bit, which I quickly righted, then left after telling him that Mommy and Daddy love him very much.

But then the cries wouldn't stop. In fact, they intensified. My husband rolled over and looked at me with this Aren't-you-going-to-do-something-about-his-crying look, and I reminded him of the sleep strategies the books suggested. "This is where we're going to need to be very strong during the week," I said. (Yes, there's a reason I waited until a Friday night to test out the books. Believe it or not, I anticipated this kind of reaction.)

At 1:40, after going back, giving him Mylicon drops (in case he had more than a little gas), leaving him alone for another five minutes, and still no end in sight for the crying, I picked up his tightly swaddled little body and rocked him to sleep. Careful to return him to bed before he hit absolute unconsciousness, I watched him squirm a bit, accept his pacifier without protest, and settle down into a quiet near-sleep state.

I've since heard him make a few gurgling sounds, but nothing to cause me to rush into his room and check on him immediately.

We may survive this yet. I'll keep you all posted.