O.k. So I thought solids would be the cure all for sleeping through the night. WRONG! Caedmon is capable of sleeping through the night; has done so plenty of times before we started eating solids. I figured solids would just give him that little extra he needs to make it through the night. But he continues to get up 1-3 (yes, sometimes 3) times a night. We had three good nights over the weekend, in which he went 8 - 9 hours! That didn't last long.
I was determined to take my spring break week and work at getting him to sleep through the night. I have failed miserably! I have so much trouble letting him cry. I'll start out good, but then when he gets extremely upset, I can't take it anymore. I am so different from the mother I thought I would be!
So last night, he woke up at 1:15a.m.! Ridiculous! I fed him on one side and put him back to bed. Not 15 minutes later, he wakes up. Corey goes in, picks him up, gets him back to sleep, lays him down, and once again he wakes up. I say, we're just going to have to let him cry; he just ate. He fusses half-heartedly in spurts, and for 5 minutes, is completely quiet and I'm sure he's gone to sleep.
All of a sudden, he starts crying pretty hard. I only let it go a couple minutes before I go into his room. I'd hardly gotten in there when he throws up the entire contents of his stomach all over himself, his face, his sheet. I feel terrible! He gets himself so worked up sometimes, or it was the excess mucus from crying that perhaps made him gag and then throw up??
I've learned in my 6 months of parenting, never say never. I tried hard before I became a parent not to say, "My child will never do that." I didn't always succeed. I was always so against children sleeping in bed with their parents. I thought it was dangerous as well as bad for the husband/wife relationship. Well, I've lost track of how many times Caedmon has ended up in bed with us, and last night it happened again. I was at a loss for what to do, but mostly just too lazy to stay up and rock him back to sleep.
Anyone have any advice? I'm pretty sure I can't handle consistently letting him cry. Sometimes he's perfectly happy when awake and laid back down at night and he'll go to sleep on his own in a short time without even fussing. And the other night I let him cry himself back to sleep, but he never was that upset.
He's so inconsistent. Is this a phase we're going through?
Today, he fell asleep eating, stayed asleep through the whole diaper changing process, but as soon as I laid him in his crib, his eyes pop open and he's wide awake! AGGHHH!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Keelie-
My heart goes out to you! I came upon your blog quite by accident, but then, maybe by divine intervention? I am a mom of 4. They are all teens now, ages 20, 18, 16 and 14, but I rememebr the baby days like it was just a moment ago. We are a Christian family and my husband is active duty in the Air Force. I was a stay at home mom for 7 tears and have taught preschool part time off and on for another 7 tears. We had our children all in less than 5 years. Can you say CRAZY!? Those were some rough years. Finally a good friend introduced us to a book called Baby Wise (By Ezzo). After 4 years of no sleep, something had to be done. Following this book's principles gave me the confidence that a full night's sleep was really in the best interests of my child. It took a full week of all night long crying episodes. Broke my heart. Hardest thing I had ever done. My kids are strong willed and determined. For some kids it might not take as long. But sooo worth it! I would be happy to help you through it if you truly want to get through it. Believe me, it won't last forever, a week at most, and best of all you will feel like a new person and it will be better for your entire family and your marriage. Eating and sleeping cycles go hand in hand and this is something I never knew. First thing to get under control is the eating schedule. Many doctors and well meaning friends say to feed on demand but I am proof that this practice breeds demanding children and a demanding 2 year old is not what you want. Feeding on demand is something for newborns. Your baby is not considered newborn anymore. You can get so much out of this book. I hope you'll take a look at it. You can always e-mail me too! motherspreciousgems@comcast.net
Good luck! By the way, Caedmon is adorable!
Hi Keelie!
I am sorry that you are having such a difficult time with Caedmon. With Christopher I had to establish a night time routine. We would feed him, give him a bath, and then do some rocking with singing or reading. Then I would set him down fully awake in his crib. Of course he would cry, but then I would check on him every few moments, while increasing each time interval. In the beginning it was really hard, sometimes he would cry so hard that he would make himself vomit. Also when I checked on him, he would cry even harder. I would stroke his hair and say nice things to him, but never picked him up (only a few times when it was really really bad). It was really difficult the first few nights, but afterwards he learned to self soothe himself. At 6 months of age, they should be able to self soothe, but it's something that they have to learn. I also have a stuffed animal in his crib that makes him feel better (he likes to rub his face against soft objects when he is trying to calm down). Overall, we've been pretty lucky with Christopher's sleep routine. It get's better when they are more active and can move around more. I would try to stop feeding him at night if possible, because they use it as a crutch.
On another note, I used to believe that cosleeping was dangerous (which it can be) but if it works for you and your husband, go for it. If Christopher wakes up during the night, we put him in bed with us. I personally enjoy the closeness that we share as a family with cosleeping, but it's not for everyone. Good luck!
I just read this AFTER reading that you're letting him cry. Good for you, keep it up, he doesn't need to be up, and especially not eating, during the night. I agree completely with "koryn". Joey was my only baby who didn't sleep through the night by 8 weeks and that's just 'cause I didn't know what I was doing. The good news, he doesn't remember any of it! Neither will Caedmon.
I'm a HUGE fan of Baby Wise too. Without that, my husband and I would have never gotten the sleep we need. There are directions on how to "start late" with the concepts too. I started Alex at 4 months because I didn't know about it before then. Good luck!
Post a Comment