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June 23, 2010

Getting Jack to Sleep - Night 2 and 3

Night 2
The night started out rough I'm not going to lie. We started out with our same bedtime routine, Jack started to get drowsy in the rocking chair so into the crib he went. The thing with Jack is he's an all or nothing kinda guy. So once his tush hit the crib the water works and glass breaking screaming began. I once again tried to soothe him in the crib and picked him up when needed. As soon as I would reach in to pick him up he would stop crying. After 30min I couldn't take it anymore. He was getting so worked up and when I picked him up he would be gasping for air because of how hard he had cried. It was so sad. So after walking him around the house for a bit and giving him tons of cuddles, I sat in the glider again and rocked him to sleep. All told it took us about 1 1/2 hours to put him down.

At 10:00 I dream fed and we were off to bed waiting to see where the night would lead.

12:00ish - woke up and we soothed him back to sleep
1:30ish - fed him and he went right back to sleep
4:00ish - fed him and he went right back to sleep
6:00 - woke up for the day

Even though the night started out bad we made some serious progress during the night!! I can't tell you how much difference getting a solid 2 - 2 1/2 hours sleep in a row makes.

I would give tonight's attempt a C simply because the beginning of the night was so horrible.

Night 3:
It took as an hour to get him to go to bed tonight. BUT tonight was done with no screaming!! Same routine as the two previous nights. While I was rocking him in the glider he did cry but he eventually settled after 5-10min. When he was getting drowsy off we went to the crib again. Same thing happened as the other night. Soon as I laid him down, his eyes popped wide open but this time there was no blood curdling screams. I sat beside his crib with my hand on his chest for about 30-45min as he talked, laughed and squealed. As he started to get sleepy (again) he did start to whimper but he slowly faded to sleep on his own. When I thought he was sound asleep I took my hand off his chest and left the room.

Jack woke up and 9:30 for a feeding, it had been 3 1/2 hours since his last meal so we decided to feed him 30min earlier than normal. The rest of the night played out like this:

12:00 - feed
2:30 - tried to soothe then ended up feeding
4:42 - soothed, gave up after 45min I fed him and when we put him in the crib he was wide awake. He talked and squealed as I sat next to his crib. He fell asleep on his own a little after 6:00.
7:00 - awake for the day

Looking at this I know we're feeding him too much but honestly I'm sick with a cold (which I know I caught due to lack of sleep) and we can't take sitting with him for an hour while he cries so we give in and feed him cause it's the easy way out.

Amy wants to go on record and grade this night an F. I'm a little more positive because he did put himself to sleep twice so I give it a D.

Thanks for all your encouragement and advice.

5 comments:

Jen said...

This is so hard! We were in the same boat a couple of weeks ago and suddenly turned a corner. I wish you the best! I think we all have good and bad nights, so don't beat yourself too much :)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like some rough nights. :-( I am sure things will improve soon though!

MammaT said...

He's four months old loves, if he's not ready for food or doesn't need it, he won't eat it. You aren't feeding him too much. You're doing great!!!

Casey said...

You are not feeding him too much! You're doing a GREAT job!! Bird ate every three hours or less until she was about 7 months then suddenly just started sleeping through the night. These kids are hungry and growing and need the comfort and nutrition of the milk. It's a very good thing.

Amy said...

I know you want a schedule, but at 4 months old, he's fine not having a schedule. It's hard, but feeding him when he wakes at this age, especially if it's easiest for you, is fine to do.
My middle child has always been a snuggler, and we had a mattress in his room when he was little. I would go in and sleep there with him if it was a feeding time, and my husband would take a shift if it wasn't. We would sometimes be able to put him back in his crib, but not always. At about 8 mos., we Ferberized him, but at age 9 yrs., he still loves to snuggle and loves it when we snuggle with him at bedtime. (Though since Ferberizing, he has slept alone in his bed! :)) Good luck. Do what you need to get through this time. Don't be so hard on yourselves!