Sleep training Clara, Day 4

I plan to keep documenting the ins and outs of our sleep training experience until we hit one week. If this is boring you to tears then just check back with us next week, mid week!!

But just incase you are interested and want to catch up:
Disclaimer and run down of Day 1
Run down of Day 2
Run down of Day 3

Day 4: 9/7/12

• 7am - Clara still snoozing so I go get her/wake her to start our day. Give her TONS of positive reinforcement for such a great night. :) 
• 7:30am - feeding/cuddle time/playtime
• 8:30am - can tell she's getting sleepy so we begin our soothing routine
• 8:40-10:40am - nap #1-  put down awake in crib. She fusses (not cries) for maybe 10 minutes and is out cold by 8:50am. Yay! Great morning nap!
• 10:45pm - feeding/cuddle time/playtime
• 12:15pm - she starts showing sleepy signs so I give her a little more to eat
• 12:30pm - soothing routine and lay her down in crib. She's out by 12:45pm w/ only minimal fussing. 
• 12:45pm - 4:30pm - nap #2 (She has several awakenings during this nap although each time is able to babble and fuss a little bit w/ out it turning into full fledge crying. She is able to fall back asleep on her own each time. About 3pm she begins to fuss so I go in to soothe her and realize her diaper is wet. I change diaper and then lay her back down. She falls asleep almost instantly.)
• 4:30pm - feeding and playtime until Brandon gets home then later we all run a few errands together
• 6:15 - start bedtime routine
• 6:45pm - feeding
• 7pm - put her in bed followed by NO CRYING. She goes down so easy! From here on things get interesting, and confusing, and I start to wonder if we are experiencing the regression that so many families say they experience on/around day four. (I read several testimonies in the book of this happening. Weissbluth says this is very normal but encourages families to keep at it!)
• 9-10:30pm - she wakes up and starts fussing and stiring quite a bit. I give her a few minutes but she's not quieting down so I decide to go ahead and feed her so she can make it a while longer into the night. She takes nearly 4 oz and once I put her back down she is quiet for 15 minutes and then the crying begins. She cries from 9:30-10:30pm and then passes out. 
• 12-1am - wakes and starts crying. Not sure what to do since I know that it's been three hours since she ate last, but I also know that last night she had such a great stretch without eating. Her crying increase in intensity so I assume she is hungry and/or has a dirty diaper. I go in and change diaper (majorly wet) and try another feeding. She takes about 3 oz and then becomes disinterested. Lay her back down in crib by 12:15am ,and then she proceeds to wail, hard, for a good 45 min. 
• 3-3:20am - wakes and starts crying. At this point I have no clue what I should do. It's been another three hours since her last feeding but I decide to give her more time to work it out before I go in and get her. After about 20 minutes of crying she is back asleep. 
• 3:30 - 3:40 am - she's back awake and crying again. I decide to give her until 4am and at that point, if she is still crying, I will go in and give another feeding/diaper change. She's back asleep after 10 minutes of crying. 
• 5 - 5:30am - she's back awake and crying. Ok - so here I have a few options. 1- Feed her now and then lay her back down until at least 6am and start wake time early, assuming she doesn't go back to sleep, or start wake time at 7am if she is able to fall back asleep. 2 - let her try and work it out until 6am on her own and then if still not asleep go in to start wake time/give feeding. I go with option #1 assuming she is probably hungry, since her last feeding was at 12am. She takes 4 oz fairly quickly, burps and then it's back in her crib by 5:15am. She cries for only 15 minutes and is asleep by 5:30am... thank you God!
• 7am - she wakes on her own so I go get her to start the day. 

Wow, what a night. I'm not sure how to even process all of the above. Praying this is just an expected regression and not a sign of our nights ahead. Despite our crazy night, and the disappointment from all the night awakenings, there are still several small successes from the day.

Small victories today:

Minimal amount of fussing when put down for both nap #1 and nap #2!

A nice long afternoon nap!! (This is a big goal as most kids will keep this nap time, or something very similar, as they continue to age)

She's able to soothe herself back to sleep after several awakenings during afternoon nap! 

No crying at bedtime!

And we press on to Day 5. . . 

Crossing my fingers that Clara will take another long afternoon nap today, so that mommy can too. Time to make some strong extra strong coffee. 

Oh, here is an interesting article describing why sleep regression is common in a four month old baby. This refers to common sleep regression for this age group and not specifically to regression for CIO method but I think it sheds some light on what's going on, in general, in a four month olds little brain. 

See ya!