Sleep Take 2

So by now, we have somewhat of a sleep rhythm. Key word here being somewhat.

We did the "cry it out" since we were really at the end of our rope after trying many different methods...putting her down with a pucky while she was almost asleep (she woke up pretty much immediately)...getting her good and asleep before putting her in her crib (she woke up whenever we made the downward movement towards her mattress). In the end, we did the cry it out.

I felt like a horrible mommy. I felt I should get worst mommy of the year award. Sitting there, listening to my child cry, and not doing anything. While she cried, I cried. It was tough. The first night, she cried for about 30 minutes. The second night, about 20 minutes. The third, about only 5 minutes. Then it was brilliant. Our routine was play in the living room until about 8:30, or until we noticed she was getting a bit cranky (sometimes earlier, rarely later). Daddy would get her diaper changed and changed into her pjs and sleep sack. He would kiss her goodnight and the I would nurse her until she fell asleep, but just until she just fell asleep. At that time, I put her in her bed. This is where the first few nights she cried and cried and cried, but eventually fell asleep. Now, there is rarely a peep out of her.

She was a bit sick last week, so we have had to start anew with this, but this is the third night and she didn't even peep when I put her in (the first and second night the second go-around were only 10 and 5 minutes respectively).

When I was pregnant, I thought, "Oh my, what horrid women let their children cry like that? Just rock them to sleep for the love of god!" Ahhh, how we all change after the baby is actually here...

I always thought that the next morning, your child would be a bit mad at you for making her cry to get to sleep. I nearly cried when I went in that first morning after the letting her cry and she gave me this huge smile...it was awesome.

A tip that my friend Tevis gave me was to send positive thoughts and vibes towards your child while they are crying those first few nights. I swear this helped. I started doing it the third night and it was amazing how it helped (or at least how I think it helped, which is really all that matters right?).

So now, Amelia is sleeping pretty much through the night. As I said, she has a bit of a cough (thank you summer cold!) and so sometimes that wakes her up at about 3, so I go in, nurse her for a quick 5 minutes (since she is out after that time) and head back off to bed myself.

De-Swaddling

I know that is most likely not a word, but whatever. I like making up words. It keeps life interesting.

We are now working on getting Amelia asleep without swaddling her. The first night (last night) it was awesome. I nursed and she was OUT. Super out. I was even able to undress her down to her onesie and tights and get her into her duckie sleep sack. Then she slept awesomely! She was out at about 8:45, dream fed at about 11 and continued sleeping until about 5:45. Woohoo! She woke up, wanted to eat, played a little with the little dog toy that plays music that is attached to her crib, and went back to sleep about 5 minutes later. She was out until about 7:15. AWESOME!

Tonight...a whole different story. She so did not want to go to sleep. I tried swaddling her, but now that she knows the greatness that is freedom, she doesn't want to be swaddled (it still works sometimes during the day when she is just so tired, nothing else will work). Then I tried nursing her...nope. Markus tried walking her...nope. So we let her play some more on the floor. After about 10 minutes, she was ready for sleep. Once again nothing was working...so I tried walking around with her nursing. That did the trick. She was asleep in about 5 minutes. She is currently passed out in her duckie sleep sack and I am praying that tonight will be awesome. Cross your fingers for me!