Day 1
Day 2
Days 3-5
Day 6 {30 min; 35 min; 40 min; 40 min (subsequent waits)}
8pm - Bedtime - She was so tired at bedtime that she was falling asleep as she was taking her bottle. Laid her down and she was out cold. Then, she woke up all. night. long. I think she woke at least six times during the night. The third time I assumed she was actually hungry so I went in and gave her a bottle. She took it all quickly and then fell asleep again. Only to wake up three more times. The night was such a blur, I don't really remember all the details, but she was able to put herself to sleep several times before I had to go in her room, so that was good! I know I can't expect perfection every night. It's all about baby steps!
7am - woke her for the day.
8:45am - Nap - No crying or fussing at all. Put herself right to sleep.
1:00pm - Nap - No crying or fussing. This nap was super short. (I haven't really been focusing on sleep duration for naps this time, but it seems that Clara's afternoon nap, which before could easily have been 2-3 hours, is now 1 hour tops, and usually more like 30- 45 minutes. Did anyone else experience this at around 6 months?)
4:20pm - Nap - Earlier than normal due to her super short afternoon nap. No crying or fussing.
Day 7 – {35 min; 40 min; 45 min; 45 min (subsequent waits)}
8pm - Bedtime - went down with ease as she was really sleepy. She woke at 8:40pm and that is when the craziness began. She cried for nearly 2.5 - 3 hours. I think she finally fell asleep, for good, again around 11:30pm. We went in several times and at one point gave her a bottle and the Hyland's homeopathic teething tablets. She also got a diaper change. I'm really not sure why she was so worked up. Brandon suspects it was maybe a little reflux, since her cry was a little different. More like she was uncomfortable and not just "I want to be awake, pay attention to me." Every time we went in the room you could tell she was SO tired, like she wanted to be asleep, another reason we suspect she might have been uncomfortable. Once she finally gave up at 11:30pm she slept, solid, until morning, waking at 6:30am.
8am - Nap - No crying at all!
1pm - Nap - No crying at all!
5:30 - Nap - Fell asleep in car on our way home from an errand (bad timing on my part) so I transferred her to her bed when we got home and she stayed asleep until I woke her a little bit later.
*All three naps today were awesome - long and thus some good consolidated sleep. I had to wake her from each nap today!*
8pm - Bedtime - She cried for ten minutes when I left her room, and then woke up about two hours into bed and cried for a little while, but not long enough where either of us had to go in to console. She stirred some in her sleep, but for the most part, slept solid until 6:30am. *edited to add - Brandon just informed me that yes, she did cry long enough that warranted a check. He handled it as I was apparently passed out in bed. Oops.*
So there you go. Seven days of sleep training, again. We are very pleased with how she responded to the Ferber method and would recommend this style to any parents out there that are ready to help their kid sort out their sleep habits. While I was hesitant at first to try Ferber's approach (for several reasons of which I will address later), I will admit that this style makes me feel more comfortable as going in every so often to check on your baby only reassures you that, despite some tears, they are in fact ok. And if they are not, then you can deal with the issue right then and there.
I'm sure this sleep documentation bored some of you to tears and thus you are probably not even reading todays post. Like I said, I really wanted to have this all documented for our own memory. For those of you that followed along, thank you! I might write a reflections post here soon, comparing the two methods we have tried and things we learned along the way, or tips for other parents out there that are considering sleep training of some kind. We will see...
Our sweet Clara has finally, and hopefully once and for all, sorted out her nights and days. This is not to say some nights won't be rough or that we will never see a regression in her sleep; we know that parenting, and all the issues that come with it, are rather fluid, always changing so to speak. We are fully prepared for set backs here and there. But, I think she has this sleep thing figured out!! Which makes for a happy baby, and a very happy momma.
0 comments:
Post a Comment