Sunday, July 24, 2011

Anticipating Night 2 of sleep training



So, last night was a HUGE success for Scarlett. She did not need a feeding all night (my breasts were so swollen!!!). Other than her one wake up at 9:23, she did not cry much at all in the night. All of her cries ending before that ten minute mark that I would have gone into her, and none of them hysterical like the 9:23 cry. You'd have thought that I would have had a wonderful sleep. But no, I stayed up worrying about her and how long I thought it would be until she woke up.




Now it's almost 9:23 the next night. I'm hoping that once again my Scarlett will sleep through the night, or at least not get too upset.
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Saturday, July 23, 2011

Sleep training!!!

This photo of Scarlett is not a real magazine cover. It's a website that allows you to make a magazine cover and save the photo file. But I think she makes a perfect cover girl :)





I know it's been an eternity since I last wrote. I am loving mommyhood. I couldn't imagine anything better in the world. Scarlett will be 7 months this coming week. The time is flying! She is sitting up without support (but with me close by as she still flops back or to the side), eating vegetables and fruits (that I now need to add to her cereal so that she'll eat the cereal), and I'm making her fruits and vegetables...ME! In the kitchen!!! I bought all the materials that I didn't have that I should have had...a peeler, a steam basket...lol...these things are probably in most people's kitchens already. I'm really enjoying making her food, I think b/c I like to see her enjoying eating it. The only problem is that Scarlett's bedroom is next to the kitchen, so I need to wait to puree for when she's awake.



The reason I'm writing is because tonight I started sleep training. Since Scarlett's been teething (not that there is any sign of teeth yet), she's been waking up more often at night. Last night was every two hours again. I don't mind feeding her at night, but then I wake up exhausted in the morning. And really, she's almost 7 months and should be sleeping through the night. So am I enabling this behaviour b/c I want to easily go back to sleep, or is it b/c I love comforting my baby?



I decided that now is the best time to sleep train. The neighbours who share a wall with Scarlett's room are away for a few months. They are an elderly couple and I would hate for them to be woken up by Scarlett screaming. She really is a quiet baby.


I put Scarlett down at 7pm tonight. She self soothes herself easily to sleep. It's the wake ups that are the problem. She usually sleeps until at least 10:30 (when I have been doing dream feeds). My friend emailed me a copy of yet another sleep program...but as I read through it tonight, I realized that this could work, and now is the best time to start.



At 9:23, she woke up. The book said to try to wait 10 minutes before going in to the baby...and to watch the clock. Ten minutes felt like a lifetime...especially as she realized I wasn't running right in...Scarlett got hysterical. Finally I went in to her...she wanted to feed, but I didn't. I told her, "mommy's here" and I touched her and she grabbed my hands. But within ten minutes, she started sucking on her sleeve (her form of self soothing) and seemed to relax again. I stood by her crib and just cried...I love being able to be there for her when she needs me, and I felt like I let her down. Although she did self-sooth and put herself back to sleep.



But it's now 11pm, and finally it's quiet in the monitor. Even though by 9:45 she was calm, I heard her whimpering, sleeve sucking, kicking her legs and just fussing for over an hour longer. Heart breaking.



Now I need to decide if I am cutting her night feedings cold turkey, or if I will give her one feed a night if she wakes up. The problem with that is consistency. How will she know if I will feed her or not.


And why am I not in bed sleeping at 11pm if Scarlett is quiet?













































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