The Chronicles of a Sleep Deprived Mom (Background and Night 1)

Ok sorry... I had to start off with a super cute picture. I wasn't able to upload any on my 6 month update, so here it is! Plus, even with all the frustration and misery I have been feeling lately, when I see that little face in the morning, it reminds me that I would do anything for that little guy!

So in my last post I sort of touched base on the sleep issues we have been facing. It really seemed to come out of nowhere. Well, I take that back. Once he figured out how to roll over in his sleep, the sleep seemed to stop. I immediately thought he must have had an ear infection, but we took him in, and his ears looked fine. I tried to blame it on teething, but teeth still have not appeared, and it has been well over a month. So here we are... totally sleepless. Which isn't a good look on any of us. It results in a cranky baby, a pissy mommy, and a lot of arguing between mommy and daddy.

I thought I couldn't handle the whole cry it out (CIO) method, so I bought a book that was a much gentler approach and really emphasized loving on your baby, rocking them, nursing, etc. I thought it would be perfect. But basically they said let the baby run the show... I was already doing everything they said to do, and was waking at minimum every 2 hours at night. I ditched that book REAL fast!

I downloaded a sample of Ferber's book on iBooks, and read the first 2 chapters. I decided it would be worth a shot, and was planning on buying it Friday. We had Kael's 6 month well check appointment that afternoon, and after talking to the doctor, I decided to not even buy the book. I would use what I could find online, and the doctor's recommendation (use earplugs and let him cry).

So my plan was this:

1. I would still nurse him at bedtime. If he fell asleep, okay. If not, I would lay him down in his crib once he finished and was drowsy.
2. I wasn't going to just let him cry and not go in and check on him. This is where Ferber stepped in and I used his gradual approach. I would let him cry for 3 minutes, then go and check on him. Then wait 5 minutes before checking on him again, and then 10 minutes. Never taking him out of the crib, or talking to him. Just patting his back and telling him "shhhh".
3. I also wasn't sure how long he could go without nursing. In the past, 9 hours was the longest he had gone without eating. I also knew that I was throwing in weening with the CIO, so I was expecting the absolute worst. I told myself that I would give him 10 hours and then I would feed him since that was an improvement from his previous 9 hours.
4. I wanted to stick with our normal bedtime routine as much as possible. It is typically like this: dinner at 6, bath at 6:30, read a book or two, and then nurse around 6:45 and he is asleep by 7

So here we go...

Night One-Friday:

• We followed our typical bedtime routine. Kael nursed and was asleep by 7 pm. When I went to lay him in his crib, he woke up. I kissed him, told him I loved him and good night, and left him.
• He rolled around and played for 20 minutes. At 7:21 he began to cry. I waited 3 minutes, went and patted his back, and left. Went back in after 5 minutes, and again after 10. Right around the 20 minute mark, he fell asleep.
• He slept for a solid 4 hours, and then woke at 12, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, and 5:30
• Thankfully each waking consisted of 3-4 minutes of crying and then he was right back to sleep
• When he woke at 5:30, I decided to go ahead and feed him. He was still slightly awake when I laid him back down. He whined a little, and then was right back to sleep.
• He woke at 8:30am fussing, which is not normal. Typically he wakes up in a very good mood. When I went to pick him up, I realized he had peed through his diaper, pajamas, and sheet (hence the fussing...). Once he was changed, he was back to him normal happy self.
• The biggest shock of all came at nap time. He actually took two 1.5 hour long naps. His normal nap schedule is 3, 30 minute naps.

I know some people believe letting their child cry it out makes them more clingy and dependant on their parents, but I haven't seen this at all. Kael seemed happier, and although he was more snuggly before his naps, I didn't mind that at all!

I was worried that the only reason it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating was because he had received shots Friday afternoon and I thought they might have helped knock him out. I guess we will see...