The Thirtieth Night

Who?!   Me?!

So The Thirtieth night was an odd one.

Note: My husband and I went out at 5pm for a business meeting /dinner & drinks in Boston and we left Chelsea in charge of both Collin and Ryan. Also, Way back in the beginning of this journey, We instilled a cut off for nursing sessions, making them no longer than half an hour. For some reason,probably because I was going out for the evening, I felt the need to go back on that rule that I have been following for 30 nights and I nursed him for an hour at 4pm. 

It was tough to actually leave. Every horrific thought you can imagine was going through my head - what if we die in a car crash?  -what if the baby chokes on his food?  - what if he gets picked up and dropped by accident? I don't know why I torture myself by thinking like that, I certainly didn't think like that when Chelsea was little! *sigh* So we did finally leave and yes, I cried a bit. 

Needless to say, Chelsea and I sent texts back and forth for a good portion of the night and shared a couple of calls. I asked how he was at 5:30pm and she said he was fine. (I was worried as he has been showing some separation anxiety but he knows Chelsea so I was hoping all would be well in that department and it was)

She said at 6pm that she had tried to feed him his avocado and cereal but he took only 2 bites and started to cry, what should she do? I told her to wait and try again in half an hour or so. She did so and then a new message pops up - He seems content, what should I do? Now why is it so hard to answer this question? I so want things to go well, and if he was content, why rock the boat, right? So, my advise was to skip the solids and start the bedtime routine with the bottle I left. That seemed to to work, and by 6:53pm he was in bed and crying, but asleep by 7:15pm ! Yipppie! 

Then, as I was just starting to relax, at 9:30pm a text comes in and he's up crying (!!!) what should she do? Ummm... I haven't had to deal with him waking up after he goes to bed as he just hasn't done that. Once he goes to sleep, he's asleep for the night! So I told her to do the same as when she first put him to bed, go in, make sure he has his wubanubs, reassure him that your there, rub his belly and go set the timer for seven minutes. So she did, and he fell back to sleep, humming of course. *phew* crisis averted.

We got home at about midnight and all was well. We had a nice night (except for finding parking in Boston, on a Friday night at 7pm - yes, we ended up paying $35 to park!! mental note: do not opt to drive into Boston ever again) And off to bed we went.

Collin woke up at 3am crying and my husband gave him his wubanubs and he hummed himself back to sleep. Then he was up at 5:45am and Bill got up with him (the deal is we each get to sleep in one weekend morning and this weekend, I have Saturday and he has Sunday) So he gave him the 5 oz. bottle I left and Collin sucked it down and continued to complain. By 6:30 I was up feeding him. *sigh* So much for my morning to sleep in, although I did go back to sleep until 8am ish.

Collin slept in the swing form 7:45am to 8:15am and again, didn't want to hear it when he was offered his solids (what is that about?!) and now he's all sorts off schedule and all because I felt bad leaving him and nursed him a little longer! Ahhhhh.... 

Moral of the story? Stick to the darn schedule!!!!!

The Twenty-Ninth Night

Hi There!

So. I think we are on a roll!

Collin napped yesterday THREE times! From 7:40am to 9:40am, from 12:00noon  to 12:40pm, and from 2:30pm to 3:30pm. I was blown away! I even napped myself that last afternoon nap! What a great feeling!!! :) I can't remember the last time I napped! :)

Bedtime was similar to the last few days, and I really thought we would have a tough night because we took out the bassinet piece of the pack and play that Collin sleeps in and he was moving all over the place! He was great though, I laid him down at 6:45pm and by 7:01 he was out! The crying was loud and heartbreaking still but it lasted only 16 minutes, thank goodness!

Tonight will be a big test of the bedtime routine. My husband and I are going to get out for a few hours and are leaving my 17 year old with a list of instructions! :) I'm already a nervous wreck!! I'll keep you posted! :)

The Twenty-Eighth Night

All dressed up

Have we finally arrived?!

Yesterday, he took a great nap, a semi good nap and one mini nap:
6:50 am to 9:30am!
12:10pm to 12:50am
4:45pm to 5:10pm

By 6:20pm he was Mr. Crabbypants, so I started getting him ready for bed. I put him down in his crib, awake, at 6:50pm and he started to cry, but was sound asleep by 7:05pm!!!

Really?! Did that really happen two nights in a row?! I am so excited!! Can't wait to see how today/tonight goes! We are having company Saturday evening and I keeping my fingers crossed that it's that easy to put him down then too!  We'll see! :)

The Twenty-Seventh Night

I am almost too big for my swing!

Wow. I am impressed with my little one!

He took 2 naps yesterday, one nap in his crib (whoot! whoot!) and one in the stroller (thanks Liz & Gabe for walking with us!!!!!

And the picture? Yes, he took a 4 minute nap in the swing yesterday also lol.

Last night, I laid him in his bed at 6:50pm. Still doing every 7 minutes, guess how many times I went in?!

ONLY ONCE!!!!  :) He was sound asleep by 7:04pm! Yippie!!!

Let's look at this - 2 good naps equals little issues at bedtime?! Seems so, doesn't it? I'm thrilled! Now if we can only repeat this every night! Now that would be something to be celebrated!

We will see.... wish us luck!

The Twenty-Sixth Night

1st time in a shopping cart!

I laid Collin down, awake, in his crib at 6:47pm and he immediately started crying. I did switch back to every 7 minutes, which I found much more comfortable for me. He stopped crying at 7:21pm. So about 40 minutes, which was the norm there for a while. :(

I really do wish I had put the nursing at the beginning of the routine way back on the first night. I didn't realize what type of ramifications that would have. It not only affected bedtime but nap times also.

Speaking of nap times, they aren't going so well. Yesterday, I tried FOUR times to put him down and he just screamed and screamed. I give him between fifteen and thirty minutes (depending on the level of crying) and then I announce that the nap is over. I don't want there to be sleep issues later, with him associating sleep with crying. Needless to say, since he didn't nap, he was Mr. Cranky-pants in the evening before bed. We didn't even get though our usual two books because he kept hitting the books and crying. Well, off to try today's first nap.....

The Twenty-Fifth Night

1st time in a restaurant high chair!

So. Yesterday, being Easter, we were out most of the afternoon so Collin took his nap(s) in the car.
He was noticeably less smiley than usual and cried whenever I tried to hand him off to anyone else. I thought he may have been coming down with something but he seems fine today so far.

As I feared, making this change in Collin's bedtime routine has definitely set us back. He cried last night for forty-five minutes! I went in ever 10 minutes, but really feel like that is just too long for both of us and will be switching back to the every 7 minutes tonight. I may try 8 minutes and see how that feels. *sigh*

On a good note, he is showing quite an interest in the books I am reading him before bed. He tries to eat them now instead of ignoring them. :) hahaha. He does not try to eat the recordable books that my Mom and Bill's Dad & Step-Mom have made for us. He really loves those books! I have been doing one recordable book and reading one or two books, depending on the length of the books. If it's longer, I do one, if it is one of the really short ones, I will read two.

I do need to get more books as I am quickly tiring of reading the same ones every night. I did pick some up at the consignment sale I went to, but only a few. They were sold in bundles of like 4 or 5 books, and I got 2 bundles but the books in the middles of the bundles weren't all that great. So I am looking for maybe a children's book club, where the books are not $16.00 each! Any suggestions?

I do know about Kohl's Cares. Do you all get those books? They are great books and amazingly low cost! AND your helping out a great cause when you buy them. I think they change the set every quarter. I don't buy the stuffed animals, although they are very adorable but we just don't need them. :) I'm sure it will be tougher not to buy them once Collin is walking and talking! (I can't even imagine that at this point, but I know it's coming FAST!)

The Twenty-Fourth Night

The Easter Bunny came!

Happy Easter!

So it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
The minute we went into the bedroom, he knew what was coming and started to scream so much that he wouldn't nurse!  He had never done anything like that before,  so I went back out into the living room where he was all smiles! Little stinker! I started again about ten minutes later and he was much better.

I nursed him first and was worried that he would fall asleep as usual and i'd have a crying munchkin to change and read a story to but he didn't fall asleep (!). So we finished nursing, changed into pajamas, read 2 stories rocked through a lullaby and laid him down. He started to cry the moment I laid him down and kept crying for 28 minutes. Not as great as some other nights but not too shabby either. My husband and I took turns going in, at TEN minute intervals (waaahhh) and it passed quickly.

He was up at 6:15 this morning (better than 5:10!!) and my husband got up with him and kindly let me sleep in. I slept until 8am and feel GREAT!!

We are off to dinner. Can't wait to put Collin's little suit on him!!

The Twenty-Third Night

Brand new, holding my sister's hand.

So. The Twenty-Third Night STUNK.
We took a walk last night, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm and Collin slept the whole trip. When we got home, I was willing to let him stay up a little longer as it seemed to me that he had just had an hours nap but he was yawing and rubbing his eyes, so I proceeded to the bedtime routine (not the new one).

Everything went well until I put him in his crib, then all hell broke loose! He cried for an hour and ten minutes. :(   *sigh*

I am not sure if it was because of the nap, or the lateness of the bedtime or maybe a combination of both plus the fact that he was tired. We did do 10 minute intervals but they seemed so very long, that I think we will go back to the seven minutes that we were doing.

Since he didn't actually fall asleep until 9:20pm, I did expect him to get up a little later this morning. That did NOT happen. He usually gets up between 6 and 6:30 but today he was up at 5:30! YUCK!

So today I am going to take the Doctor's suggestions and feed him solids 3 times, putting him down for a nap after each. I am also planning on starting the new routine (see The Twenty-Second Night) I'm quite worried and really just want to nurse last but know that is not what is best for him. I know that if I continue to do that, we will eventually run into an issue when we wean AND I am pretty sure his naps are so difficult to get him to take because I am not nursing him to sleep at naps like I am at night.

Wish us luck!

The Twenty-Second Night

Loving the Bjorn

AGAIN! No crying at all, not at bedtime and no earlier crying session! Yippieee! We have finally got it down, and now... we are going to shake it all up!
We saw the Doctor today. She said we are doing wonderful! We just have some tweaks to make. So here is our current bedtime routine, see if you can spot what we should change:

1. Change Diaper.
2. Put on pajamas.
3. Read a story.
4. Nurse.
                                                 5. Rock and sing a lullaby.
                                                 6. Put in crib, give pacifiers.

Can you guess?
It's the nursing. He's often falling asleep at the breast and not on his own, so we need to move that to the first thing and do the rest after. So I am kind of worried that this will trigger the crying all over again. So I can already tell you that the 23rd night is a mess, i'll be starting the new rule on the 24th night. We will see how it goes.

Also, just a side note, these suggestions that the Dr. has given us are for Collin specifically, not for anyone else as she does not know your child's specific situation.

The Twenty-First Night

Guess what we did last night?!?!?! We repeated The Nineteenth Night!!!
Yeaaaaahhhhhh!!!! SO exciting!

I put him down for 7pm and didn't hear another peep until 6am! No crying sessions and still not much in the way of napping, but still - it was great!

And I was asleep by 8:30pm! Double yeaaahhhh! :)

Tummy time is happening once, maybe twice a day which is better than what we were doing. He's still kind of cranky in the afternoons and could definitely use a nap but refuses to take one. A friend suggested the book, 'No Cry Nap Solution' has anyone read it and used it??

Yesterday, I got another dino wub a nub so we had one to stay in his crib and one to take places with us, also one to use while the other was being washed! I showed Collin both of them at the same time and he got sooo excited! Kicking his legs and squealing like crazy! It was so cute!!!

The Twentieth Night

Oh my goodness. Today I have had it. Maybe i've had too many good nights? I was due for a crappy one. *sigh* So Collin cried for about 45 minutes when I put him to bed last night and I just felt like we were doing so well and now we went so far backwards. I could have dealt with 15 minutes, but did we really need to go all the way back to 45 minutes? Grrr... so frustrating.

Of course, I HAD to stay up for the season finale of Parenthood which ended at 11pm (what was I thinking?! this is what the DVR is for!!!) I think I finally fell asleep at 11:30, thinking i'd be able to sleep until 6am when Collin woke me up, but nope. My husband woke me up at 1am because the stupid cat had peed in our bed! Really?! Are you kidding me?! So I was up from 1am to 2:30am doing laundry and plotting ways to kill the cat.

Collin woke up crying at 5am but did go back to sleep for another hour once I gave him back his pacifiers. So I got around about 5 hours of broken sleep last night and so far today, Collin has slept 0 minutes which has left him quite cranky. Not to mention the fact that both dogs have gotten sick in the house multiple times today and I have a very angry cat at the door screaming to get back in.

I know i'm supposed to be thankful for what I have and to count my blessings but frankly, i'm too darn tired and annoyed to do that. I can't wait for bedtime!!

The Nineteenth Night

So. The Nineteenth night was the very first night that Mr. Collin James went to sleep without having any type of crying session and also did NOT wake back up all night long!!!!! Woooo Hooooooo!!!!!!!!!

They say it takes 21 days to make a habit, I wonder if we are finally getting there?! I can't wait to see if that can be repeated tonight!! * stay tuned*

Naps still elude us. Some mornings he will nap for a whole 45 minutes but some mornings it's only 15 to 20 minutes. All afternoon naps are disasters. He will sleep in the car and sometimes the stroller, but that doesn't allow me to catch a nap! :)

Because of this lack of naps, he is usually pretty cranky come bedtime and I sometimes have to put him to bed a little earlier that I want to. I would rather he went to bed at 8ish and slept until 7ish. Right now he goes to bed at 7ish and is up at 6ish. I'm concerned about 'moving' bedtime a little later by a few minutes because I'm worried that if I wait too long to put him down, he'll be overtired and cry (and cry and cry...)

Has anyone successfully moved bedtime?

The Eighteenth Night

I am going to get this in my
mouth if it's the last thing I do!

Collin took 2 morning naps yesterday! Short ones, but 2 all the same! No afternoon naps at all and by 6:30 he was ready for bed! I put him down at 7:15pm and we heard nothing from him until 5:45 this morning!

Like The Fourteenth Night, he had a crying jag in the afternoon, (although not as bad/long as then) so I guess he didn't need to wake up and cry? Hmmm...

I am still working on tummy time and getting him tired enough to go off to sleep without having to yell and scream first and I think we are getting there, very slowly but surely.

Although naps still are rough. For the last 7 days, he has napped from about 8am to about 8:45 am but as I type, he is still crying instead of sleeping (and I KNOW he's tired!) and I've got the timer going. I really really really hate hearing him cry. It's bad enough at bedtime but to have to do it with every nap? I don't know if I can do that. Unfortunately, it seems to be the direction this is going. yuck.

The Seventeenth Night

My new mat, thanks neighbors!

This night was similar to the last few. He was cranky and tired about 6:30pm so I put him down and he woke up about 20 minutes later and cried for about 15 minutes.

Naps also were similar - he napped for 45 minutes at 8am but that was the only actual nap that he was put down for and actually slept. He did sleep a bit in the car though. Still working on those afternoon naps... The only difference is that in the morning, he gets bananas and cereal before he goes down, so maybe repeating that will work? I just need to pick a time and do it.
So. there is one, well actually two things that are different about last night! TWO TEETH! Now, Collin got his two front bottom teeth the day he turned four months old, and here we are at five and a half months old and you would think that his two top teeth were next, right? NOPE! I have a vampire! The two top 'canines' came in yesterday!!! What is that about??!!

The Sixteenth Night

Nice try.

So yesterday's naps went so-so. He napped great in the morning - 45 whole minutes! But afternoon naps were taken in the car, as we were out most of the late morning and early afternoon.

We saw the eye doctor who said Collin's eyelid droops because he has a prominent brow (WHAT!?) For those of you who have ever seen my child, you know that this is a crock. I'll have to get a second opinion. *sigh*

So things have been going so well at night, that we thought we would try something new. Can you say, 'dumb move'? Instead of putting Collin to bed in his crib, we tried putting him to bed in his car seat and going out to dinner. Haha! How about we try 'EPIC FAIL?'

He did sleep all the way to the restaurant and we thought we were going to be able to do it. He started to fuss the moment we got him out of the car into the restaurant but I thought he'd settle right down. We ordered drinks (yes, amaretto and cranberry for me, merlot for my husband, root beer for my step-son Ryan) and he started to get louder, so I took him outside to try to use motion to settle him down, and he was making sleepy humming noises, so I came back in. I took one sip of my drink and he started to get louder. I glanced at the menu and he really started to cry. I took him out to the car and tried everything to get him to quiet down but he was just not in his bed and he didn't want to hear it.

My husband paid for the drinks (they didn't charge us for mine which I thought was really kind of them) and we headed home, baby and I both in tears. My husband reassured my that it was fine, we would just go home, put him to bed and he and Ryan would go get Chinese food and a bottle of wine and all would be well. *sigh* So that is exactly what we did. Collin went right to sleep the moment we started to drive away from the restaurant and settled right into bed once we were home with minimal fuss.

So how come I see all these families with kids around Collin's age eating out in the evening?! Do they all stay up late normally? How do I manage to have an evening out with my family??? We would have to go out at 5pm to make it home for 'bedtime'! That's just sooo early for us!!! Is anyone else running into the issue?

The Fifteenth Night

Uhhhh... yeah, maybe i'm a little tired.

Yesterday's naps went pretty well. He napped after his cereal and bananas for 45 minutes, and again in the afternoon in the stroller. My neighbor got to hear him humming himself to sleep, lol. I will record it one of these days, it's too funny.

Last night, I put him down pretty much already asleep at 7:00pm and at 7:25pm he woke up crying but went back to sleep (yes, humming) by 7:40pm. So we didn't get a repeat of The Fourteenth Night but it wasn't too bad. His crying started out loud and piercing but quickly diminished to the falling asleep humming.

The more I read and the more people I talk to, the more I am thinking he is not getting enough stimulation during the day, and therefore having a hard time falling asleep because of the extra energy. I am trying to find things to keep him busy, but not too busy. I think this may be a bit easier once he can sit up on his own?  I have also noticed that he sleeps better when we have been out. Once we replace my husband's car, i'll be able to take him out more often, so hopefully that will help too. And with the weather being nice, we will be out walking more often anyways.

I was told yesterday by a professional that Collin should be sitting up on his own. Hmmm... he's not even 6 months old yet, it seems kind of early yet, doesn't it? She also said that 'tummy time' (which I have to admit we don't do much of) will help him build those same muscles he needs to sit up and it will tire him out (!) So we going to try to do more of that. Not going all that great yet, but we are trying.

Did you know: Babies breathe with their stomach muscles and don't use their chest muscles to breathe until they are over two years old? When we put them on their tummies, they get some resistance when they breathe, hence the crying. I just learned that yesterday and thought it was quite interesting!

On another note, we are off to the Pediatric Opthomologist today to see if Collin will need surgery for his Ptosis. I wonder how surgeries or sicknesses play into the whole sleep issue? Wish us luck!!!

The Fourteenth Night

And on the fourteenth night, the magical (?) two week mark, my wonderful, adorable son was put to sleep at 7:45pm with no crying. I patiently waited for a half an hour for the piercing cries to begin. NOTHING. I took a shower. STILL NOTHING .

You won't believe this... I still don't believe it... He went to bed with no crying and woke up at 6:30 this am! How, you ask? I haven't a clue! Oh do I wish I knew HOW! I could bottle the answer and make a mint!

Collin started yesterday with a nap at 8am. A good nap - 45 whole minutes! That's allot for him. I was encouraged! Then I tried to put him down various other times during the day and into the early evening - nope. He took two 10 minute naps! Oy! And guess who was sooo tired by 4pm that he cried in my arms for almost two hours... o!!! oh!!! ohhhhh!!!! haha... THAT IS IT! Have your child get the crying out before bedtime and then they won't cry at bedtime?! Sooo.... maybe the crying is a release of energy - he's not really crying because he's going to bed, maybe he's crying to get rid of enough energy to be able to go to bed? Does that make any sense?

If that's the case, then how do I get him to spend some energy without crying??? Hmmm... I've been so worried about over stimulation that maybe he needs more stimulation?! My goodness, I don't know if I have the energy to entertain more than what i'm doing now! Any suggestions?

The Thirteenth Night

Professional hand chewer.

I put Collin down, awake but drowsy, at 7:20pm and he immediately started to cry. (I do hope that someday he will no longer do that and I hope it happens before he is a teenager!) BUT, by 7:35pm he was sound asleep! That was fifteen minutes! I am thrilled!!!

In my search for answers to this nap issue, knowing that daytime sleep is somehow connected to night time sleep, I decided to take a look at how long it took him to fall asleep each night. Here's the list:

 1st night:      110 minutes
 2nd night:     100 minutes
 3rd night:       47 minutes
 4th night:       45 minutes
 5th night:       40 minutes
 6th night:       65 minutes
 7th night:       55 minutes
 8th night:     110 minutes
 9th night:       35 minutes
10th night       25 minutes
11th night:      10 minutes
12th night:      30 minutes
13th night:      15 minutes

I have tried and tried to find some kind of pattern, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it all all. If anyone notices something, please feel free to chime in! .... off to put him down for a nap, or a scream fest, depending on how you look at it!

The Twelfth Night

Trying to sit up in the high chair!

Collin hardly napped at all yesterday. He was a little fussy but not too bad, certainly not as bad as a baby with no naps should be! He did nap from 8 to 8:20am and again in the car from 2:20 to 3:10 and that was it. Hmmm... not sure how to go about fixing that? I can't figure out why Sunday's naps were so great and yesterday's naps stunk.

He did a half hour of crying at bedtime on the Twelfth night, not as short as previous nights but not horribly long either. I am still doing seven minute intervals so I only went in twice and after the first time, the crying was more putting himself to sleep humming than crying. I don't know how to shorten this time or why the short nights were short.

I know the nighttime sleep is connected to the daytime naps but I just can't find the dots to make them fit. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I am doing a mini version of the nighttime routine at nap time and sometimes he fights it like at bedtime and sometimes he goes right out to sleep but only sleeps 20 minutes or so. I can't find a difference in routine or environment either. How is everyone else's naps vs. night time sleep lately?

The Eleventh Night

I look just like Daddy!

I can't believe how well the eleventh night went!
It was almost the bedtime of my dreams! 

First let me say, Collin actually took 2 naps yesterday! One was about 40 minutes and the other was an entire hour!!! That never happens! 

Then, he fell asleep nursing at 6:40pm and I tried to wake him up a bit before laying him down in the crib but I was unsuccessful. So, I put him down anyways and waited. 

At 7:20pm (40 minutes later, instead of the usual 15 to 20) we heard the cry. My husband went in and comforted him, gave him his pacifiers, and when he came out we set the timer for 7 minutes.

The timer went off and I went in, only to find a sleeping baby!! WHAT?! That was less than ten minutes!!!! We couldn't believe it! And we didn't hear another peep out of him until 5:55am!  Yippppie!!!!

I don't know why or how he's doing so well and honestly, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. lol... 

The Tenth Night

Looking at Auntie!

PROGRESS!!!!
Guess who fell asleep after only 25 minutes?! You'll never guess! Give up? Ok, i'll tell you.......
                                                  - it was COLLIN!!!
That's the shortest time yet!!!

He was cranky most of the day, I think he may have some teeth coming in. Auntie Lori got him to nap in the afternoon which lasted about an hour (!!!) and I wonder if that helped with bedtime?

Auntie Kathleen & Uncle Vaughn gave Collin this beautiful, crazy soft blanket that he went to bed with and I wonder if that had something to do with it too?

He still woke up at the usual time - 6:45am but that meant he slept for 12 hours!! WOW! I wonder if that's a fluke or if he will continue that?! Please, Please let it be the new normal! :)

Today I will be diligently working on naps!  The issue is that he fights it just like he fights going to bed at night and I don't want to do the crying sessions all day long.....  Any suggestions?

The Ninth Night

Lovin' my jumper!

So last night was a little later than usual. I have an Aunt that lives in Florida who is up visiting at my Mom's house (Hi Auntie Lori!) so I was late in getting home. I really wanted to stay and visit longer but Collin started to get really cranky and I knew there was no way I could stay. :(
(When does this change?! Will we ever be able to be out past 7pm without getting a babysitter?!)

I started the bedtime routine as soon as I got home and put Collin into his crib (tired but awake) at 7:50pm. His crying seemed more like frustration this time which is new. After our Doctor. appointment earlier, my husband and I agreed on 7 minutes instead of five, feeling that 10 was just too long of a jump. By 8:25pm, he was out. That is 35 minutes! Five whole minutes LESS than usual!!! Yeaaaaa!

It seemed to go by really fast too, as there were two of us doing it and because of the seven minute wait, I think we went in a total of 3 times, the 4th he was asleep! I was also able to deal with it better because his cry was so different. All the other nights it was that really upset cry that breaks my heart, but this night is was frustration - like if he was talking, he could whine, "Mommy, I don't waaaaanna go to bed!".

Today we are going to work on our naps. Collin usually takes tiny little cat naps, lasting no longer than 30 minutes at the very most and unless he is in the car, he usually fights the naps or falls asleep nursing. Our goal is to get him to go to sleep on his own and to sleep for 1 hour clips. (This seems like an unreachable goal right now!!) Wish us luck!!

The Eighth Night

Bath time!

So, they made it through without me! :) I left at 5:15pm and my husband was feeding Collin his sweet potatoes, which he didn't eat as he was much more interested in playing with Daddy then eating.

When they went to go get changed for bed at 6:55pm, all hell broke loose and Collin started to cry. Hard. He refused the bottle I spent days collecting for him in anticipation of tonight's feeding that I wouldn't be there for. He was put into his crib at 7:25pm where he did  a lot of eye rubbing (so we was definitely tired!) and crying while Bill did the 5 minute interval soothing.

By 8:05pm, he was asleep. So, since he started crying at 6:55pm but was put in the crib at 7:25pm, do I consider that and hour and ten minutes, or 40 minutes? If it's an hour and ten, then it's worse than the few previous nights and if I say 40 minutes, it's the same, NO better....? *sigh*

We saw the Dr. again this am and she said we are doing great! To keep doing what we are doing and to continue on. Our next steps are to stretch out the times we go in to comfort him at bedtime, 10 minutes vs. 5 minutes, and to start putting him down for naps with a mini version of the bedtime routine...... we'll see how it goes.

The Seventh Night

Going bye-bye!

So. We have a twist! Usually, I nurse him right before bed and he falls asleep. I put him in his crib and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the  crying to begin.

This night, he was still awake at the end of our nursing session! I just sat there, looking at his big, beautiful smiles, wondering 'what the heck do I do now?!' All these adorable smiles are going to be wiped away the second I lay him down in his crib! This is going to make me feel worse than having him wake up crying!! Ahhhh!

So we read a story. And another story. (Can you say procrastinate?) *sigh* I then kindly explained (!) to my 5 month old son that it was time for bed and in order to be a healthy happy baby, he needed his sleep. I then rocked him through one lullaby (and then another) and hugged him, kissed him and laid him down. The crying started before his head touched the mattress!!! And of course, my heart broke. I told him I loved him, gave him both wub a nubs, and left the room. I went straight into the kitchen, set the timer for 5 minutes, poured myself an amaretto and cranberry and sat down and cried. I felt horrendous.

I put him down at 7:20pm and went in every 5 minutes and stayed for 1 minute until 8:00pm. Did you see that?! FORTY minutes! That's 5 less than it's been! PLUS the 15 to 20 minutes of quiet before the storm was eliminated! Not too shabby, right?! Well, the story's not over yet.....

My husband is doing bedtime with Collin tonight, by himself, since I am going shopping! So after 3 nights of doing it alone, I get the night off! Now, I think my son must have gotten this memo because at 9:40pm, he was up again! We had to start all over! Although it was only 15 minutes instead of 40, it was still hard and of course, I didn't know at the time how long it would last. But it's over now, and I get tonight off and my husband will be helping for the next 3 nights! *relieving sigh*

Everyone I talk to says this should last for three to four nights. That was the memo my son didn't pick up! Geesh!

The Sixth Night

Baby in a pot!

So we made it through the SIXTH night.... isn't this supposed to be over after like night three or four?! How much longer shall this torture continue??!! *sigh*

He slept from 6:50pm to 7:10pm and then cried from 7:10pm to 8:15pm which is an improvement over The First Night  but longer than The Fourth Night. I thought this was supposed to get better, not worse? His cries were very upsetting and loud last night too, not the quieter (but not actually quiet) cries from the night before. *sigh*

BUT, on a happy note, once he was asleep at 8:15, we didnt hear another peep until 6:30am! I know this is a good thing, but I want it all! lol! I want to enjoy (not dread) putting him to bed AND I want to sleep all night. Is this possible? How about realistic? And how long do we keep doing this before we consider it a flop?

So tonight I will go it alone again (ahhh!) but tomorrow night, I'm going SHOPPING and my husband will be in charge! A night off from the crying!!!! Yesssss! One more night till I get a night off and then 3 nights in a row with help! *phew!*

The Fifth Night

And we're OUT!

So. I made it alone! - the crying lasted 40 minutes, which was 5 less than the fourth night! I did find this time that about half the times when the timer went off and I booked it down the hallway to go comfort him, he would be quiet, so I would hesitate at the door for a moment until I heard him and sometimes when I went in, he would cry harder.

I felt almost like I was making it worse? But it had been five minutes!! I needed my one minute not only to comfort him but to comfort myself! *sigh* I can't imagine a day when putting him to bed is going to be enjoyable. He is still humming at the end and rubbing his face into each of his wub a nubs, one after the other, back and forth from side to side. I've never seen anything like it!

What is everyone doing about a light? Do you leave a small light on for your baby? We were leaving his turtle on, that lights up the ceiling with stars, but when he's crying, he grabs at anything in his reach an ended up with the turtle over his face, so we had to take it out and his crib has a tent on it to keep the cat out and I've draped blankets over the top to block the morning light, so I can't put the turtle on outside the crib either. Suggestions anyone?

The Fourth Night

"Good Morning Mommy!"

So. As the third night happened a little late, tonight Collin was falling asleep between bites of his sweet potatoes! At 6:30pm, not wanting to miss his 'sleep window' nor did I want to skip the 'bedtime routine', I quickly changed him into pajamas, and sat down in the bedroom to nurse him. I skipped the book and the nursing lasted about 5 minutes and by 6:45, he was out like a light!!

At 7:03pm, that now familiar piercing wail came from my son and the 1 minute on, 5 minute off dance began. My husband took the first shift, and we continued from there. 45 minutes later, Collin was out for the night. He did the humming thing for the last few minutes before he fell asleep - I wish we could get him to do that instead of the crying!!!

There was no night waking, no noise all night long! By 8:30pm, I was out like a light too, and woke up to a little babbling baby at 6:30am! :) I haven't slept that long in, hmmm? 5 MONTHS AND 5 DAYS!! I feel like a new woman!

So tonight, I will be doing this all alone. (Thank goodness I got all that sleep!) I'm scared to death. When he is in the mists of crying, my stomach actually hurts and I feel like i'm going to lose my dinner. BUT I am under the impression that once this is over (Sleep Training) Collin will go to bed each night with little to no fuss and life will get better.

Although we did speak to someone yesterday who did all this, then their son got an ear infection and they had to start all over!! OMG! Really? Can that happen???

Collin has had a stuffy nose since yesterday am and i'm not sure if he's coming down with something or if he is showing an allergy to the oatmeal we started yesterday morning? How do you tell? Just wait it out I guess? Hmmm....

The Third Night

Teamwork!! 
©2010 Fran Paliotta

So. Progress? A little!
Yesterday was an odd day. We got started a little late on bedtime. Not too late - 8pm instead of 7pm, but we got up at 8 am so i'm thinking that will work. By 8:12pm the Prince was sound asleep, in his crib, with both wub a nubs, one in each hand. By 8:20pm, he was wide awake, crying.

So, as my husband and I had already agreed upon, we went in for one minute, told him we loved him, made sure he had his pacifiers, rubbed his head a bit and then set the kitchen timer for 5 minutes. At each 5 minute interval, one of us would go in and do the same. By 9:07pm, he was quiet! This kind of sounds easy, but it really wasn't. I don't know if I could have done it alone. My husband kept me grounded and on track and stopped me from going in and picking him up many times.

He did make some noise at 9:30pm, 1:00am, 5:00am and got up at 7am for the day, but the best part? The crying wasn't as hard and loud as it had been on the first and second night and it didn't last nearly as long!!

Towards the end, and in the middle of the night, it wasn't crying, it was more like loud sighing... like meditation humming? lol! 'Ahhhhhhh    Ahhhhhhhhh   Ahhhhhhhhh' over and over maybe 10 or 15 times each time he woke up. (I did nothing but listen at those points) and each time, when the noises were done, he was sound asleep.

Matter of fact, as I sit here writing this post, he is making that exact noise in his swing. His eyes are closed, and he's about to fall asleep! Anyone ever heard of a baby humming himself to sleep?

The Second Night

"I don't wanna go to bed!"

So. The second night was much like the first. We started at 7pm, got into pajamas, read a book, nursed, fell asleep, put him in his crib (sound asleep!) and about 15 minutes later (an improvement over the 5 minutes from the first night?) he woke up screaming.

Now, I understand he would wake up screaming to be taken out of his crib, but WHY does he continue to scream for the next hour and a half?! Inconsolably? We hold him, and sing or talk to him just about the entire time, yet he literally cries and screams the whole time! My husband seems to think he's just hell bent on being out in the living room (we have been staying in the bedroom with him) where all the action is - is that possible?! He is only 5 months old!! I seriously don't get this part and am very worried that it will have a lasting impact on him somehow. :(
On the up side, when Collin did finally fall asleep, he did so in his crib, not in our arms (a first!) he was holding onto my finger with one hand and his giraffe wub a nub was in the other hand although he saw sucking on the foot, not the pacifier part. Whatever works, right?

So tonight, we are planning to put him in his crib and go in every 5 minutes to reassure him we are here and love him. (Per suggestion from Kristen!) *sigh* I don't want to dread bedtime!!!!!

The First Night

"Sleep? I don't think I like sleep"

First let me say, we survived. Hahaha...

Dr. T suggested a 7:30 or 8pm bedtime. I decided that 7pm would be the magical time. (Why? No idea!)

So I made dinner for 6pm and Collin had his sweet potatoes & avocado while we had dinner. At 7:00 I got Collin into his pajamas. I kept the lights low, and talked softly (while he giggled and kicked). At 7:10, we sat down on a little folding chair (that we had put in the room for this purpose) to nurse. We nursed until 7:40. I read "The Littlest Kitten" to him while we nursed. (Note to self: get some bedtime books!) I was also playing Pandora in the background on the Lullaby station. He fell asleep at the breast (per usual) and at 7:41 I stood up to rock him and then put him in his crib. As he laid there, peacefully sleeping, sucking on his pacifier, I was amazed! I DID it!!!! I couldn't believe it worked!!!! I can't wait to tell all my friends! This was soooo easy!!!!

Hahaha... you know what's coming, don't you?

I closed the door, walked down the hallway and let out a big sigh.
Then it happened - a huge loud wail came out of my son, piercing my ears and my heart at the same time.  WHAT woke him up?! Who knows... maybe a gas bubble? maybe a bad dream? I have no idea. What I do know is that he preceded to cry for the next hour and a half. I did everything to console him EXCEPT nurse him. Oh, how that killed me - that was soooo hard not to do!!!!!

So. He finally fell asleep (out of exhaustion?!) about 9:30pm. (I went to bed at 10!) He was making some noises at 5am but I was so tired, I didn't get up. (!) and next thing I knew, it was 7am!  We did it! We made it through the 1st night! It's got to get better from here, right?

We will see....

The Background

So. My son is 5 months old.
And you'll never guess what he is NOT doing: SLEEPING!
Now don't get me wrong, I knew there would be many sleepless nights and days once he came along but here we are at the 5 month mark and I am still exhausted! I still feel like a zombie and I'm wondering if i'll ever feel like myself again!

As of now, Collin will go to sleep about 11 or 12pm and sleep until 7 or 8am. Not bad you say? Ha! Once he is in bed (finally) at that late hour of 11 or 12pm, we then have to wait to make sure he's not going to get up again, so we don't get to bed until about a half hour to 45 minutes later. Then it takes me about a half an hour to actually fall asleep and let me tell you - 7 or 8am comes FAST, FAST, FAST!!

O, and by the way, his naps last between 20 and 30 minutes - not enough time for me to even fall asleep, never mind to feel rested! *sigh*

We recently saw a sleep expert, i'll call her Dr. T. She had us do a behavior diary and then gave us a 'plan' to follow. She gave us some GREAT advise! Here are the main points:

1. Feeding on demand was a wonderful idea - in the beginning, not any longer.
2. We need a schedule - set times in which we eat and set times in which we sleep. 
3. All feeds should be between 7am and 7pm. No more feedings at 11pm.
4. Nursing sessions should not last more than 30 minutes and should be at least 3 hours apart.
5. BEDTIME! It's time to establish a bedtime!! (Along with a bedtime routine, of course!)
6. Be consistent!

I guess the big question now is HOW!? HOW do I do these things?!?!? I really have no idea, but i'm going to try.

So. Off we go on our sleep adventure......