The Sleep Saga Continues...

Ok, since I have used this blog to complain for the past five months about my sons sleeping habits I thought that I would fill you all in on some successes I have finally had with Tru’s sleep lately…
I read the book “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” from cover to cover. Some of it scares me and makes me feel like I will never get this parenting thing down (you know, that part that says if you deprive your kid from sleep then they will become ADHD and so forth) but I’ve learned a lot and it’s starting to really help. Here are a few things that I have learned.

1- Earlier Bedtime - When I first gave Tru a “bedtime” it was between 8:30-9 PM. Trent doesn’t get home from work until 7 PM so this gave us time to eat, bathe Tru, play around a little, then put him in bed. However, he was waking up every 2 hours at night and up for good at 6 AM!! Not okay with me. This book strongly encourages an early bedtime. So I started putting him to bed at 7 PM. It’s been hard to get dinner ready by 7 and baby in bed by 7 but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. Slowly each night has gotten a little better. First he was still waking up every 2 hours, then it was twice a night, now it’s around 4-5 AM to eat and right back to bed until 7 AM. I feel pretty good about this. Before he was getting around 9 hours of sleep a night, and now it’s closer to 12.

2- Dark Room - I’ve hung a blanket up in Tru’s window so that it’s pitch black in there during the day. I think that this has helped him sleep in a bit longer and not wake up with the sun.

3- Put to nap sooner - The book talks about getting them down for a nap when they are calm and getting sleepy, not when they are already screaming and rubbing their eyes. This has been the hardest for me. I feel like Tru goes from playful and giggly to screaming his head off in two seconds. So I’ve been trying to have quiet time around the time he should be going down for a nap. Reading books, going for runs outside, rocking him. We are still working on this one.

4- Ignoring his cries - This is so hard. At night when he wakes up before 3 AM I just ignore him. He usually cries for a few minutes and falls back to sleep. I used to go up stairs and stick the pacifier in his mouth and he would fall asleep again, but I don’t want to have to do that forever. So I’ve let him cry. Also, during his naps he usually wakes up after 30 minutes crying. I used to go get him and the nap was over…. but I’ve been letting him cry for a few minutes and 80% of the time he falls back asleep for another hour or so. This happened during both of his naps yesterday, and he ended up taking a two hour nap and a 3 hour nap instead of two short 30 minute naps like he used to.

5- This darn blanket!!! - I wrap him in this big soft blanket. I don’t like doing this because they say not to sleep your baby with blankets until they are 1 year old to reduce the risk of SIDS. Trent had a little sister die of SIDS, so it’s not necessarily “something that just happens to other people” if you know what I mean. This one scares me to death because that’s the last thing on earth that I would ever want to happen. But he really doesn’t nap when I just put him in the crib without being wrapped in this blanket!! Two days ago I gave back the blanket, and he’s been napping so much better since. So I keep a really close eye on him, when I do hear him waking up I check on him to make sure that he’s still okay. The interesting thing is that when he is wrapped in the blanket he stays on his back and doesn’t roll around the crib. I guess he likes it. Hopefully by the time it’s 115 degrees out here he will decide he can go without the blanket. Night time is different. I don’t sleep him in a blanket at all at night, just for naps.

Ahhh… I’ve learned a lot. Still learning. Before Tru was getting about 11-12 hours of sleep a day. Yesterday he got 17 hours of sleep. I’ve learned that sleep begets sleep. The more sleep they get at night, the better they will sleep in the day. I realize that there will always be bumps in the road and I have a lot more sleepless nights ahead, but hopefully I’ve figured it out and every-night wont be a sleepless night.

CB - I am so happy that you are such a good friend and always willing to offer me support and advice. CB is a good friend of mine that I met at Brighton. It’s been 6 years since I worked with her, and I still felt comfortable enough to call her for moral support and advice the first time I let him “have it out”. Thanks so much friend!!!

Thanks to everyone else who has commented here, given me reassurance that this wont be forever, and advice on what books to read, what to try, etc. It has helped so much, and you all deserve a huge paycheck for being such good mommies and not complaining endlessly like I have. Ummm…. I’ll work on getting those paychecks over to you!!!