Hmm, it has been a while since my last post. Let's see...well, lately I've been trying to do some "sleep training" because Morgan was waking up 3-4 times a night and I was hoping to get to 1-2 times a night. We've been reading The No Cry Sleep Solution since I'd really like to avoid having Morgan cry-it-out. It hasn't really been working, though. The main thing I've been working on is getting her to put herself to sleep, instead of letting her fall asleep at the bottle. She HATES that and gets very mad. I've been resorting to giving her the bottle and then she falls asleep 2 minutes later. However, she does not stay asleep long. Last night she woke up and cried at the end of every sleep cycle, which is about 45 minutes to an hour. She woke up 4 times before midnight and I finally just took her into the bed with me so I could get 2 hours of sleep. I still had to feed her a few times and I moved her back to the crib at 5, but she wasn't having any of it, so back to my bed, we went...It seems like it's getting worse, rather than better. Before, she would sometimes sleep 9p-12a, then 12a-3a and then up again around 5a. Now, she goes to bed around 8:30p and gets up at 9:30p, 10:30p, 11:30p, etc. I've tried moving her bedtime earlier, but if we put her to bed at 7:30p, she just gets up at 9, 10, etc. I tried a pacifier and she didn't like it - it just made her more upset. I know every baby is different, but I wish there was a magic fix that would make her sleep just 3 hours at a time. Is that too much to ask? I could handle getting up 2-3 times a night, really. It's the 4/5/6+ times a night that's killing me.
We decided to take a trip to the beach, but that was a bit of a fiasco. The hotel said they had a crib and brought us this deep, metal death-trap. There was no way I was putting my baby in that thing. When bedtime came, I just cleared space in the bed and let her sleep with me and my husband slept in the second bed. It took quite a while for her to settle and she slept about 2 1/2 hours, but after that she was up every hour or so. She even had a stretch around 2-3:30 a.m. where she would not go back to sleep. The next day, we went to eat at our favorite restaurant where they dump the shrimp boil on the table. Well, that does not work when you have a 6-month old in tow. We had her in the high chair, away from the table, but she kept bucking and wanted out. My husband ended up holding her while I ate, and then I held her while he ate. The next morning, we took her to the beach. We wanted to go early to avoid the heat. She fell asleep literally the moment we parked the car at the beach. So, my husband went out and swam a little in the ocean while I sat with her in the truck. After her nap, my husband took her to the shoreline and dipped her feet in the wet sand. She didn't fuss or cry, but she didn't smile, either. I don't think she knew what to make of it. My husband's parents were going to come for a visit later that day and stay with us in the hotel, but my husband didn't think that would go very well, with Morgan not sleeping and all, so he called them and told them that we'd be heading home early. Unfortuntately, we had a non-refundable reservation, so we couldn't get any money back for the lost night. We headed home, anyway, and she still woke up every hour, but at least we were home.
Last night, Sunday, was a pretty good night for Morgan sleep-wise. I decided that I was going to just give her the bottle and let her fall asleep drinking her milk, since it always seemed to make her so happy and I'd try to figure something else out. Greg took her for a walk in the park and she fell asleep. She napped from around 7:30 p.m. - 8:15 p.m., so I thought we were going to be in trouble. When she woke up, I got her in her jammies and made her a bedtime bottle. She drank and fell asleep and I got to see those sweet sleep smiles again. When she has had a good drink, she makes these little smiles in her sleep. I moved her to the crib around 8:55 p.m. and she went right to sleep. BUT, she woke up 10 minutes later and I have no idea why. We got her back to sleep at 9:05 p.m. I fell asleep around 9:40 p.m. and I think she woke up about 10 minutes later. My husband went to get her and put her back to sleep. I know, this isn't sounding like a good night, so far. However, after finally getting to sleep around 10, she stayed asleep until about 1 a.m., so that was 3 hours! I fed her a couple of ounces and she went back to sleep. She made a peep at 3 a.m., but I realized she wasn't really awake, so I left her alone. She slept until 4 a.m., which was another 3 hours. I fed her at about 4 a.m. and she slept until about 7:20 a.m. She did make a few peeps at 6:40 and 7 a.m., and I actually went to get her out of bed at 7:20 a.m. I wanted to try to keep her close to her normal wake-up time. Overall, with three 3-hour sleep stretches, I'd say it was a great night!
We don't know how to repeat the process, though. I am thinking we don't want to be in the habit of letting her nap at 7:30 p.m. We can't really put her to bed at that time, either, because she doesn't stay asleep long. Well, we just have to keep working on it, but I am grateful for every night that she sleeps more than 2 hours at a time.
We decided to take a trip to the beach, but that was a bit of a fiasco. The hotel said they had a crib and brought us this deep, metal death-trap. There was no way I was putting my baby in that thing. When bedtime came, I just cleared space in the bed and let her sleep with me and my husband slept in the second bed. It took quite a while for her to settle and she slept about 2 1/2 hours, but after that she was up every hour or so. She even had a stretch around 2-3:30 a.m. where she would not go back to sleep. The next day, we went to eat at our favorite restaurant where they dump the shrimp boil on the table. Well, that does not work when you have a 6-month old in tow. We had her in the high chair, away from the table, but she kept bucking and wanted out. My husband ended up holding her while I ate, and then I held her while he ate. The next morning, we took her to the beach. We wanted to go early to avoid the heat. She fell asleep literally the moment we parked the car at the beach. So, my husband went out and swam a little in the ocean while I sat with her in the truck. After her nap, my husband took her to the shoreline and dipped her feet in the wet sand. She didn't fuss or cry, but she didn't smile, either. I don't think she knew what to make of it. My husband's parents were going to come for a visit later that day and stay with us in the hotel, but my husband didn't think that would go very well, with Morgan not sleeping and all, so he called them and told them that we'd be heading home early. Unfortuntately, we had a non-refundable reservation, so we couldn't get any money back for the lost night. We headed home, anyway, and she still woke up every hour, but at least we were home.
Last night, Sunday, was a pretty good night for Morgan sleep-wise. I decided that I was going to just give her the bottle and let her fall asleep drinking her milk, since it always seemed to make her so happy and I'd try to figure something else out. Greg took her for a walk in the park and she fell asleep. She napped from around 7:30 p.m. - 8:15 p.m., so I thought we were going to be in trouble. When she woke up, I got her in her jammies and made her a bedtime bottle. She drank and fell asleep and I got to see those sweet sleep smiles again. When she has had a good drink, she makes these little smiles in her sleep. I moved her to the crib around 8:55 p.m. and she went right to sleep. BUT, she woke up 10 minutes later and I have no idea why. We got her back to sleep at 9:05 p.m. I fell asleep around 9:40 p.m. and I think she woke up about 10 minutes later. My husband went to get her and put her back to sleep. I know, this isn't sounding like a good night, so far. However, after finally getting to sleep around 10, she stayed asleep until about 1 a.m., so that was 3 hours! I fed her a couple of ounces and she went back to sleep. She made a peep at 3 a.m., but I realized she wasn't really awake, so I left her alone. She slept until 4 a.m., which was another 3 hours. I fed her at about 4 a.m. and she slept until about 7:20 a.m. She did make a few peeps at 6:40 and 7 a.m., and I actually went to get her out of bed at 7:20 a.m. I wanted to try to keep her close to her normal wake-up time. Overall, with three 3-hour sleep stretches, I'd say it was a great night!
We don't know how to repeat the process, though. I am thinking we don't want to be in the habit of letting her nap at 7:30 p.m. We can't really put her to bed at that time, either, because she doesn't stay asleep long. Well, we just have to keep working on it, but I am grateful for every night that she sleeps more than 2 hours at a time.
Nobody really talks about how to get your baby to sleep through the night. I remember when I was pregnant my worries were about everything but that. My mother gave me this awesome book, and we decided to let her cry it out...I'm shocked that we even decided to do that and I really think it was more out of sheer exhaustion. And as hard as it was (it was REALLY hard to hear her cry and not go to her...I felt like the worst mother ever) it ended up working after only about a week. This was when she was 4 and a half months. She ended up sucking on her hands...then her thumb to help soothe herself to sleep. By about 5 months she was sleeping through the night. I don't want you to think I'm telling you what to do because I feel like every parent needs to do what they feel is best for them and their baby. I'm just sharing my story with you. It's so very hard to go without a good amount of sleep at one time. I remember when a three hour stretch felt like absolute heaven! I do feel your pain, I can imagine how hard it is to go with so little sleep. I hope things fall into a good sleep rhythm soon. My daughter hated pacifiers too, I actually think it has to do with breast feeding. I don't know any breastfed babies who will take one. Good luck, I hope you all are able to get some good sleep soon!
ReplyDeleteThat picture of her sitting on the bed is just adorable!
Oh, and my husband and I don't go out to eat anymore because we always ended up doing what you and your husband did...one would eat while the other held or walked with Gia. It was so much easier to get take out from our favorite restaurant and either eat after she went to bed, or have her in her highchair at home where she is willing to sit and eat her food or play.