Sleep, Oh How I Miss You

We are still battling sleep in our house. It seems to get better for a bit when we try something new then progressively gets worse over time. Last night I was up for 3 hours with a toddler who just wanted to play. He is almost 18 months old now and has only slept through the night a couple times in his life. So tonight we start working on getting E to sleep through the night yet again. I am so tired that something has to be done! Wish us luck. Any tips would be great!

Week 1 Complete

We have officially completed week one of baby sleep boot camp. We have had our ups and downs but overall are make progress. Eli is only up 2 times a night which is a lot better than 10. I would like to spread it out more but I am not sure if I am ready for that tonight. I think I will give it a few more days. Over the last week we had a great 2 night with an 8 hour stretch. The last 2 nights weren't as good. Night 6 went pretty good. Eli slept 6 hours and then 4 hours so that wasn't too bad. Last night he went down at 8:30 and woke up at 11:30. I finally nursed him at midnight thinking it would put him back to sleep. Not so much, he thought it was play time. So he played by himself in his crib until 1am. He then woke up at 4:30 and slept in until 8am. He also refused his afternoon nap today.

Tonight it was a lot of work to get him to go to bed. He was very tired and would doze off in my arms but would FREAK out when I would try to put him down in his bed. I am thinking that he is getting another tooth or something because this isn't like him at all. I will recap sleep in another week.

BSBC Nights 4 & 5

Tonight we are starting night 6 of baby sleep boot camp. This is my recap of nights 4 & 5 as the title says. It has been 2 amazing nights. I can't believe how great they have been but I keep telling myself that they were just flukes because I don't want to get my hopes up. So here is how they have gone.

Night 4:

Friday was a busy day and we spent most of it outside. Eli hadn't napped well again which made him a very tired boy. We were out watching Dan play softball until 7:30 which is bedtime so of course he fell asleep on the way home. Dan and I let him sleep in the car for awhile in the driveway with the windows open so that we could get some work done in the front yard. Finally at 8:20 I woke him up to get him ready for bed and down for the night. He was asleep by 8:30pm. At 11:oo he woke up and was not happy. I ended up feeding him at 11:30 which was earlier than I would of liked to but he was one extremely angry boy. After this Eli slept until 7:45am! That is OVER 8 hours!! I couldn't believe it. I woke up at 6 in a mild panic and had to go check to make sure he was still breathing. A mother always worries. I really couldn't believe that he had been asleep that long.

Night 5:

Saturday was a good day spending most of it outside again. I really think the fresh air helps Eli sleep. He had taken a late nap so when we tried to put him to bed at 7:45 he just sat in his crib and talked. Then he started to scream. I went in and checked on him a few times and it was apparent that he was not tired and ready for bed so we let him come out and play for a little bit. At 8:40 he was finally showing signs that he was sleepy so I nursed him again and put him in his bed. I went to bed a couple hours later and woke up in another mild panic at 5:10, yes that is 8.5 hours! I went to check on him again like a neurotic mother and accidently woke him up when opening his door. So I nursed him and he went back to sleep until 8am.

Dan and I haven't slept in until nearly 8 in months. It felt amazing. I am praying that its going to stay this way but still telling myself he is just random because I don't want to get my hopes up. Right now its 12:20am and he has been in bed since 8 so we are still over his 4 hour mark that I have set for this week so that is a great sign. I am off to bed and praying we sleep until 8 again.

BSBC Night 3

It seems like nights are getting better. Eli didn't go to bed well last night but I was expecting that. He didn't get his afternoon nap making him overtired. This usually leads to a complete meltdown at bedtime. He had his expected meltdown as soon as I took him out of the bathtub. Of course as soon as he was able to nurse he calmed down. This is just one of the many benefits of nursing, you can calm your child right down, but that's another post for another day. Unfortunately because he was so tired Eli fell asleep after about 10 seconds of nursing. I snuggled with him for a little bit because I love it and it's the only time he will snuggle. Then put him down in his bed. He wok up and was very angry with me. Because he had been extremely hungry but didn't eat anything he woke up and realized he was still starving. I did something I never do, I took him back out of his crib and fed him some more. I usually don't do this but I knew he was hungry and was not going to deny my hungry baby his milk. This time I focused on keeping him awake so he would eat. He did nurse well and I put him back in his crib awake at 8pm. I didn't hear another peep from him until 12:30am. That was 4.5 hours. After letting him fuss for a few minutes and knowing he wasn't going back to sleep I went in and nursed him. He went right back down. He did wake up crying at 4:15am. I just fed him in my sleep deprived state I didn't even look at the clock. This really gets me in trouble. I need to pay attention to the clock or we will end up right back where we were. The good thing is that it was only 15 minutes early and tonight I will take special care in watching the clock and making sure we wait at least 4 hours. Eli then woke up at 7:40am for the day. I really think we are making progress!

I do want to note that I am not usually a by the clock feeder. During the day Eli nurses whenever he wants. This is usually every 2-3 hours. He does however go 4 hours on occasion. However, I feel like continuing to feed on demand all night is going to leave use even more sleep deprived than we already are.

Today I leave you with a new photo of my sweet little man that I took this morning, while typing this post. We will be back tomorrow to let you know how tonight went.

BSBC Night 2

Last night was much improvement over night 1. Eli went down without a fuss at 8pm like he does every night. His pre-determined feeding time was at 12am which was 4 hours after he last ate. Eli woke up at 11pm which seems to be what he is used to. He always wakes up around 11. I let him fuss for about 5 minutes and he wasn't calming down so I went in and told him he was ok. The main problem is that his blankie was out of reach. He can't sleep without it. I gave his blankie to him and he curled up and went back to sleep without my picking him up. Between 11 and 12 he woke up about every 10-15 minutes. He let out a cry and when I didn't immediately appear he would quiet down and go back to sleep. When he let out a cry at 12:10 I went in and nursed him laying him down awake but close to sleeping. I didn't hear from him again until 4:30am! That was past his 4 hour mark! He hasn't slept 4 hours straight in months. I let him fuss for a few minutes but he wasn't going back to sleep so I got up and nursed him and didn't hear from him again until 7:50am when it was time to get up for the day! It is so nice to see some progress. It seems like we are getting a little more sleep every night. I'll be back tomorrow to let you all know how night 3 went.

BSBC Night 1

Last night was night number 1 of Eli's BSBC. It was a rough one but saw progress even throughout the night. Going to bed is always easy for Eli. He hasn't fought it in a couple of months but staying asleep is hard for him. I went into last night telling myself I would only pick him up and nurse him ever 4 hours. He went down at 8pm like usual and awoke screaming at 11:10. For the next 50 minutes I went in over and over at predetermined timed intervals to tell him he was ok. He continued to scream but I knew he was fine. He had a dry diaper and wasn't hungry. He is just so used to having mommy pick him up and cuddle or nurse him every time he cries. At midnight when he hit the 4 hour mark I went in picked him up and nursed him. Laying him back down drowsy but awake and off to bed we all went. He then mad it until 3:45am! I then let him fuss until 4am which was his next feeding time. He didn't scream at all at this point. He was obviously unhappy but just fussing and whining. At 4am I fed him again and put him down. He awoke at 6:45 and at 7 he got to get up and eat. The reason this was not at a 4 hour interval was because he was getting up for the day.

We are already partway in to night 2 (and I should be sleeping). It is going better than last night and I can't wait to update you all tomorrow!

Sleep, or Lack of Sleep

Eli has entered into his mommy's own version of boot camp. I call it Baby Sleep Boot Camp or BSBC. My sweet little boy is not a good sleeper. He has no problem going to sleep on his own. I always lay him down in his crib awake and he chats to himself for a couple minutes and then he drifts off to sleep. However, this only lasts about 1 hour then he would like his entire night time routine repeated so that he can go back to sleep. I am only human and can only wake up so many times per night and still function. I understand that all babies learn to sleep through the night at their own pace and that it isn't something to be forced. I heard last month that night wakings are only as much of a problem as you make them. Well, after not having more than 3 hours of sleep straight for over 9 months they are becoming a problem. I don't mind waking up 1 or 2 times a night. I am not expecting him to sleep through the night until he is ready but I can not continue to wake every hour every night.

I have read MANY books on sleep, talked to doctors, nurses, and other moms. Everyone has their own opinion of what you should do. Don't let them cry. Let them cry it out. Put them down asleep. Rock them to sleep. Wake them to feed so they don't think they get fed when they wake. After all this input I created a plan using bits and pieces of everything I had hear. I used this method with success a couple months ago to get him back to sleeping in his crib instead of our bed so figured it was time to try it again.

Lindsay's BSBC Guide:

Stage 1: Getting to Sleep

• Be consistent! If you give in the baby knows. You need to be able to outlast your baby. It may lead to a few nights, even a week of even more sleep loss but it will get better.
• Have a bedtime routine. Eli knows when bed time is coming. We go in his room undress him, lotion, diaper change, teeth brushed, redress in jammies, then put on his sleep sack. As soon as the sleep sack goes on he starts to go nuts because he knows what comes next. He gets to nurse while I sing to him. I sing the same song every night. When he is getting drowsy and his sucking has slowed I unlatch him, get one last snuggle and off to bed he goes.
• He doesn't cry anymore when I put him down he is an old pro at going to sleep. However, when he did I let him cry for a few minutes, usually 3 and then checked on him, then 5 minutes later repeated, and 7 minutes later. We never had to go beyond 7 minutes. I told him he was ok, that I loved him, and gave him a kiss on the forehead while telling him he needed to sleep like a big boy.

Stage 2: Dealing With Night Wakings

• Set a predetermined amount of time you would like your baby to go between feedings. Eli goes anywhere between 2 and 4 hours during the day so I picked 4 hours. I know he can go that long without eating as he does it all the time during the day. This means in his 12 hour night he gets to eat 2 times.
• If he wakes up after sleeping for at least 4 hours I let him fuss for 5 minutes to see if he is willing to put himself back to sleep. If that does not work then I go in and feed him until he is drowsy and then back to bed he goes and the clock starts over for his 4 hours.
• If he wakes up prior to 4 hours I allow him to cry for 5 minutes before going in and checking on him. I repeat timed checks mentioned in the previous stage until 1 of 2 things happens. He either falls back asleep or he reaches his 4 hours.

Stage 3: Lengthening Sleep

• After successfully reaching the 4 hour interval I plan on lengthening it.
• Week 2 will be 4.5 hours, week 3 will be 5, week 4 will be 5.5 and week 6 will be 6 hours.
• I am planning on stopping at hours as this will be 1 night feeding and I feel comfortable with that. Eli will then be able to decide when he would like to drop that feeding.

I have read so many things that tell you to lengthen every night. I feel that is too soon. I want Eli to adjust and sleep well but not completely shock him.