sleep Training: Day one

Last night was my first night of sleep training, and considering we weren't able to do it perfectly, still yielded pretty great results. The idea behind sleep training is to help teach John to do a couple of different things. #1 Sleep through the night, or for at least 6 hours straight. #2 Take his naps in his crib or co-sleeper and not in my arms and (eventually) #3 Sleep without his pacifier

After quite a bit of reading on how I should proceed, I basically learned that there are two separate camps when it comes to sleep training. The first advocates a Cry-It-Out method where you simply let the baby cry until he or she falls asleep. This can be punctuated with the parents going in to momentarily comfort the baby, but not pick up or cuddle the baby. This method was not one I thought I could do so I've decided to go with a second option.

The second option basically says lay your baby down while still awake, but tired, and let them put themselves to sleep. If the baby begins to cry, go in and pick him or her up and provide cuddles, kisses, or whatever kind of comfort your baby likes until your baby is calm, but not yet asleep. Then you lay your baby back down! Some people have said that they have had to go through this process 126 (literally) times before the baby has decided to go to sleep. One important part of this process happens a little before bed, and that is establishing a bed-time routine. Mike and I have decided that the best routine for John would be at 8:00 to give John a bath, give him a massage, nurse him while Mike reads our devotions, and then lay him down for bed. We actually started the bedtime routine a couple weeks ago, and John seems to have adapted to it. He really likes his baths and massages!

Last night was our first official night of sleep training. We were at a birthday party so by the time we got home and had finished his routine, it was 10:20. But I laid him down, and he went to sleep within about 10 minutes. I didn't have to pick him up and comfort him even 1 time! He slept until 6:00 this morning, so he already met a milestone of sleeping for more than 6 hours straight!

This morning I had the privilege of trying out the sleep training technique for naps. I decided that instead of a set nap-time, I would go for 1 hour after he is fully awake for the morning. Since he went back to sleep after nursing at 6:00, he didn't really "get up" until about 8:45. Or at least Momma didn't. So, at about 9:45, I changed his diaper, gave him a few kisses and laid him down in his co-sleeper. Five minutes later I heard loud wails, and went in and picked him up and cuddled him. I rocked and sang to him for about 5 minutes and laid him back in his bed. Success! He has now been asleep for 25 minutes straight, and I have not been holding him. It feels so wonderful to type with both hands instead of with just one as I have been doing for weeks now. If I post tomorrow, I will let you know how long he napped before waking up. But now I'm off to sweep and do dishes and laundry and all the things that I haven't been able to do for so long!

Ok, so it only lasted 3 more minutes from the time I finished this post, but still, 28 minutes is progress!

Facebook comments

Last night I read an article that really bugged me. This lady got fired from her position as an EMT and it is thought that it was because she made some inappropriate comments about her boss on her Facebook page. Everyone was jumping to this lady's defense saying that she has the right to free speech. But seriously, she posted it in a very public place, and it would have been easy for someone to find it, print it, and give it to the boss. Was the boss then supposed to just sit there and say, "Well, she said it on her own time, so it doesn't matter."? My thought is NO!!! Come on, seriously, take some responsibility for the fact that in a moment of anger, you wrote something really stupid, and you got fired over it. Also there was this little matter of the fact that she had been written up a couple of times already that week, which is probably why she was mad at the boss in the first place. Good grief. Let's all just sue the world for everything!

On a house note, things are going pretty well. We still haven't found Mike's dress shoes, so a run to Target to get some was necessary yesterday, but otherwise things are going great! The cats love this place, but I think they run so much that they make themselves hungry. It seems like we have to feed them more to keep them from yelling at us. Today was the first day of trash pickup, and apparently they come at 6:30. They grabbed them from the side of the house for us, but next week we'll have to remember to put them out Tuesday night instead of Wednesday morning. I'm certainly not getting up that early to put them out!

Anyone out there ever made curtains? I need to sew some for our bedroom as I can't find anything I actually like, and I'm pretty sure I don't want blankets stretched over my windows for the rest of my life. If anyone has any mistakes to avoid or tips, I'd love to hear them!

Updates

So the day after my last update, I began a month long "vacation" from regular internet usage. Meaning our neighbors, who's internet we had been borrowing, security encoded their account. And since we were moving in a month and didn't want to pay for two installation feeds in one month, we just used our phones to access the internet until we moved into our new house. I love all my faithful readers (that means you, Sydney) but there is no way that blogging was going to occur on my phone.

So, a newish month, and a new house. I've managed to find my sweatpants, my toothbrush, and my shampoo, so I feel like I'm doing pretty good. A crew of amazing ladies have unpacked 95% of my kitchen supplies, so I can even make myself some breakfast! Also, I'm just going to say that I love having a washing machine IN my abode. And it is so quite I don't even know it is running until it sings me a little song when it is done. Ahhhh, this is the good life!

Starting tomorrow

I am going to attempt to blog every day for the month of October. Let's see how it goes! Lots will be happening, which should make it a little easier! We will be starting baby birthing classes, which will be a lot of fun! Mike and I will hopefully be helping out with the Children's Christmas musical, which should also be a lot of fun. We will be waiting and waiting and waiting to close on our house, which will not be so much fun, but will be very exciting at the end of the month! And of course our little baby will be continuing to grow. Hmmm, I may even post weekly pictures of how the baby bump is progressing.

Cruddy Day

So yesterday when I said that morning sickness was getting better, I spoke optimistically and far too early. Today has been the day from hell. I wasn't able to keep anything, even water, down until about 4:30. I had a chicken burrito from Taco Bell and then fell asleep. I got to keep it until about 7:30, but then it too departed from me. I'm laying in my bed now trying to fight the urge to go do what is now so normal for me. Is it bad that I've actually turned a five gallon bucket into a stool so I don't have to sit on the floor in the bathroom? It really does make throwing up much less nasty. Firstly, your face is above the bowl, not right smack in it. Also, it can be very helpful when you want to just sit there and feel miserable. I also think it helps clear everything out easier. I'm working with gravity, not apart from it. I have placed a hand towel over the bottom of the bucket, so I even have a slightly padded seat. Today I have been using a dark red towel. I feel like royalty! Anyway, all this to say, today has sucked. If tomorrow is not at least somewhat better, I'm going to just cry. But! I have an appointment with my OB tomorrow. Should be exciting!

Pregnant again

So I have felt like I couldn't blog adequately until I could freely admit that Mike and I are expecting again. We hit 12 weeks this past week, so we are pretty much in the clear as far as first trimester difficulties. This pregnancy has been as different as night and day from the last one. Firstly, I've been horribly morning sick. Luckily this has been getting much better. Its pretty much just settled into throwing up some time after dinner. I can handle that! I'll chronicle more of the differences soon, but for now, I'm going to go visit the porcelain throne and see if I can maintain my raspberries and grilled cheese.

my dinner

I feel the need to blog about my dinner. I am going to have baked potatoes with chili and it will be delicious.