bittersweetgirl

Last night there were 2 wake-ups. The books say this is normal for his age (4.5 months).

11:30 pm – feeding

11:40 pm – asleep (crying for under 10 minutes)

2:20 am – feeding

3:00 am – asleep (crying for about 25 minutes)

6:00 am – awake

Nap #1

6:50 am – put in crib

7:10 am – asleep

Nap #2

9:13 am – put in crib

9:18 am – asleep

Nap #3

11:18 am – put in crib

11:25 am – asleep

Nap #4

12:48 pm -put in crib

12:56 pm – asleep

Nap # 5 – slept at 3:05 pm in car seat; missed the window because we were out

Since the last nap was so early in the evening, we put him down a little earlier tonight

Night time sleep

5:50 pm – put in crib

6:00 pm – asleep

His naps are still within the 30-40 minute range. Hoping these will get extended soon!

I met with a couple of ladies from my prenatal class and one lady has a baby that doesn’t take naps at all! That must make for one tired baby and mama.

It’s amazing what a difference a well-rested baby makes. It truly is doing what is best for the family, not just for baby.

With the early wake up time, Baby g started to show sleepy signs by 6:15am. I wasn’t sure to Cry It Out for naps as well but decided to give it a try.

Here’s how the day panned out

Nap#1

6:36 am – put down in crib

6:45 am – sleeping

8:00 am – awake

Amazing…although first nap is usually the easiest since baby is still tired, for him to fall asleep in under 10 minutes was unbelievable! Lots of screaming and crying to get there, but he’s getting better and it’s only day #2.

Nap #2

9:00 am – put down in crib

9:40 am – sleeping

10:10 am – awake

It seems like a long time – 40 minutes from putting him down in crib to sleeping, but the crying was intermittent as he tried to settle himself down. 30 minute nap is short, but this is what he has been doing for the past few months. I am just grateful that he is able to put himself down. My arms haven’t felt this free in awhile.

Nap #3 – missed his window as we were out and about. He slept in car from 12:00 pm – 12:40 pm

Nap #4

1:55 pm – put down in crib

2:00 pm – asleep

2:35 pm – awake

Nap #5

3:40 pm – put down in crib

4:10 pm – asleep

4:20 pm – awake

Tried to see if he would settle back down for another 20 minutes. He wasn’t having any of it, so I figured I would just put him down early again.

Night Time Sleep

6:10 pm – put down in crib

6:17 pm – asleep

Yep, only 7 minutes to fall asleep. I’m so relieved and happy that this seems to be working for our baby. After all I’ve read online, this method doesn’t seem to work for all babies. Hopefully Baby g will continue to do well for the next couple of days. I feel well rested after only 1 night of good sleep. It’s no wonder I had to result to sleep training….trying to walk Baby G to sleep when he has 5 naps a day followed by night-time with frequent night wakings would take a toll on anyone!

Highly recommend “Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child” – although I think the book could really use some heavy editing (it’s not an easy read for sleep-deprived parents!)

Stay tuned to see how Day #3 progresses!

After a few weeks of baby g waking up every 2-3 hours it’s time to take action. He’s exhausted every morning and barely has enough fuel to survive the day. His naps end up being only 20-30 minutes. Seeing that he’s now over 4.5 months, we decided to try the cry-it-out method.  It’s 6:15 pm and he’s been screaming and crying for 20 minutes….my SO and I are hiding in the basement with the monitor..volume turned to off, but we can see the lights on the monitor at the bright red level (highest possible screaming).

We keep telling ourselves we’re doing it for his own sake. Hope he learns to sleep in a week…not sure if I (read: “we”) can handle this for much longer than that.

6:26 pm update – I can’t believe it…he finally managed to fall asleep at 6:21. Hope he can stay down for a few hours at least.