I promise I'll stop soon. These are mostly for my record keeping.
So all day yesterday Tiny Boy cried for 20 minutes and then woke after 30 (and actually during afternoon nap, it was only 17). After all these initial wake-ups, I check up on him to make sure everything's okay, pick him up, kiss him, say my mantra, and put him back down. I bailed after another 10 minutes of crying on the morning nap and we went about our day, hoping to get an afternoon nap at the right time. The afternoon was the first 17 minutes (which doesn't count for anything) and then, after a full 20 minutes of crying, another 40. So not better than it used to be, and frankly, I was getting better naps out of him most days though it took significant intervention on my part (like nursing, rocking for up to 30 minutes) then laying with him in the bed, nursing after 30 minutes, etc. I'll give it a few more days, as the first day of CIO I did get 1.5 hrs out of him without any interruptions.
Night seemed slightly better. Put him down at 7:10; asleep by 7:30. Awake at 8:00. Asleep at 8:10. Awake at ~10:45? I nursed him, put him back in the crib. He fussed for a minute and then was out. Awake at 1:00. Nursed and let him stay in my bed. He woke close to every hour, but didn't constantly nurse. When he was obviously rolling around and having a hard time, I put him back in the crib at 5:00. He was back in my bed an hour later and awake for the day by 6:30.
So this seems like minimal improvement. The first half of the night is pretty much what it always was, only he's not in my bed when I go to sleep. Although it is the least disruptive for me, I think the next step will be to try to cut that 10-11 feeding and see if he can make it until 1:00; I don't mind the nursing, but I think it will help both of us if he can get a longer sleep stretch than 2-3 hrs. Then I'll work on the second half of the night, which has always been more challenging anyway.
What is helping me enormously is that I'm not nursing/rocking and stuck in my bed with him for hours on end. I can actually take a shower (!) and spend some time with LG in the evening.
Like I said, I'm not sold on this method, but I'm willing to give it a full week, at least, before making a decision about how to proceed.
So all day yesterday Tiny Boy cried for 20 minutes and then woke after 30 (and actually during afternoon nap, it was only 17). After all these initial wake-ups, I check up on him to make sure everything's okay, pick him up, kiss him, say my mantra, and put him back down. I bailed after another 10 minutes of crying on the morning nap and we went about our day, hoping to get an afternoon nap at the right time. The afternoon was the first 17 minutes (which doesn't count for anything) and then, after a full 20 minutes of crying, another 40. So not better than it used to be, and frankly, I was getting better naps out of him most days though it took significant intervention on my part (like nursing, rocking for up to 30 minutes) then laying with him in the bed, nursing after 30 minutes, etc. I'll give it a few more days, as the first day of CIO I did get 1.5 hrs out of him without any interruptions.
Night seemed slightly better. Put him down at 7:10; asleep by 7:30. Awake at 8:00. Asleep at 8:10. Awake at ~10:45? I nursed him, put him back in the crib. He fussed for a minute and then was out. Awake at 1:00. Nursed and let him stay in my bed. He woke close to every hour, but didn't constantly nurse. When he was obviously rolling around and having a hard time, I put him back in the crib at 5:00. He was back in my bed an hour later and awake for the day by 6:30.
So this seems like minimal improvement. The first half of the night is pretty much what it always was, only he's not in my bed when I go to sleep. Although it is the least disruptive for me, I think the next step will be to try to cut that 10-11 feeding and see if he can make it until 1:00; I don't mind the nursing, but I think it will help both of us if he can get a longer sleep stretch than 2-3 hrs. Then I'll work on the second half of the night, which has always been more challenging anyway.
What is helping me enormously is that I'm not nursing/rocking and stuck in my bed with him for hours on end. I can actually take a shower (!) and spend some time with LG in the evening.
Like I said, I'm not sold on this method, but I'm willing to give it a full week, at least, before making a decision about how to proceed.
Hi, I don't comment very often, but I have been reading a sleep book called the complete sleep guide by gina ford - its from the UK - and I have had great success. She recommends to cut out all feedings after 10pm especially at little boys age, they don't need the feed if they are getting enough through the day. A paci should work to get him back to sleep. Again, starting so late, you are going to have to bear the crying until he accepts this is how it is. He is just used to your routine to let him feed as and when he wants it. Good luck. DM
ReplyDeleteThanks, DM.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that he IS getting enough during the day; he doesn't take much solid food yet and is a very distracted nurser (except at sleep times). And he's in the 5th percentile for weight.
My understanding is it's pretty common still at 9 mo to take two feedings (around 1 and 5) through the night. the nursing for food doesn't bother me; using me as a pacifier does. And, no, unfortunately he won't take one...
One thing that was important with my younger two is having them in their own room. Each time I moved out of the baby room, basically. This additional aspect of not being able to see me when they wake up in the middle of the night helped tremendously with sleeping through the night. I think I may have been disrupting them when I came to sleep, or was just tossing and turning, so leaving them alone really helped.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!