In my previous post about sleep I know I said that Carson has been sleeping good and that I have been letting him cry. The truth is that I have been giving in and slowly resorting back to old habits of helping him get to sleep. Yes, his sleep has improved and I haven't been helping him get to sleep all the time, but I have been giving in if he cries too long.
I have been giving him the opportunity to get to sleep on his own and we did let him cry for a while about 6 weeks ago and we saw an improvement almost right away. Then, I started rocking him to sleep again so that he would just sleep and I could get on with my day. This was selfish of me I suppose. I was again, taking away his independence and thinking of myself and getting out of the house. I should have stuck it out because it would have been easier then doing it again now.
Yesterday was the first day of letting him cry again for real. This time I'm sticking to my guns and motivated to see it through. No more giving in.
Here is how the day played out yesterday...
Morning Nap
Sucked. Basically napped for 30 minutes. I let him cry, then gave in after about 20 minutes because I wanted to get to the gym for a class at 1030 and needed him to just sleep. He ended up having a 40 minute nap at the gym daycare. This is not ideal. He should be napping properly in his crib for at least an hour to get a restful sleep. Something new I've learned from Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.
Afternoon Nap
Sucked again. He fell asleep on his own but only slept for 30 minutes. He has learned how to sit up and does this in his crib and gets frustrated that he can't go back to sleep sitting up.... can anyone? So, I did go in and walk him around the room for 20 minutes. He settled down and when I put him in his crib to sleep he woke up. So frustrating. I let him cry for a while. After an hour of listening to him cry and almost go to sleep, then cry, I gave up.
Bedtime
Since his naps were awful, I knew he was going to be overtired and cranky so I started bedtime a little earlier. Another important thing I learned is to follow your baby's cues. They will let you know they are tired. Don't ignore it!
I bathed Carson and then nursed him in his room with no lights on. This was around 530pm. He started to fall asleep nursing so I switched sides and he woke up more. I gave him his soother and then put him in his crib after hugging him and kissing him goodnight. I tucked him in and put on his mobile. I have never tired letting him sleep on his own for bedtime ever, so I was expecting him to scream bloody murder.
I went in our bedroom and waited for the crying to begin. It was 6:11pm. At exactly 6:14pm, there was quiet in the room. I waited about 5 more minutes before sneaking into his room and putting his blanket on him.
He then slept for 3 hours before stirring around 9pm. I let him talk to himself and find his way back to sleep. He did take about 15 minutes or so until getting there, but he did it. At 1230am he woke up for a feeding, it had been 6 hours since the last one.
Another 3 hours later he woke up again. I noticed he was pretty hot. Not sweating, but almost feverish. I noticed this before bedtime but figured I'd wait to give him anything for it. This was the right time, so I gave him some Advil and nursed again. He seemed thirsty. He slept after this until 7am.
Huge breakthroughs last night! I'm so happy. None of this has been easy. Austin has had a harder time with it since he's not here as much. It's hard to hear your child cry, but we know it's worth it. I'm sure Carson will protest many other things as he grows up and we will have to say no. That's all we're doing now. It's all for his own good. We all need more sleep and with more sleep there will be less stress and a much happier family life. We're on the right track, we just need to keep on going.
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