Thursday, February 16, 2012

Sleep Or Lack Thereof

I have finally reached the end of my rope.

My rope has turned into a thread and I'm hanging by it. :)

It is time for Griffin to learn to sleep and I am bound and determined that we start this week on it. You see, I have yet to be blessed with a child that has ever really slept through the night with out some very firm persuasion on my part. Oh yes, maybe once or twice they all did it, sleep though the night I mean. But, looking back now, I'm fairly certain those were accidents :). My children would never mean to fall asleep and sleep until 4 or 5 am. That would just be wrong! To go soo many hours with out filling their little tummies and then socializing with Momma until the wee hours of the morning... the HORROR! :)

So, last night was the first night that I got serious. I realized that I was providing tons of little things that I thought would help Griffin sleep better. He slept in a Halo sleep sack swaddler, he had a positioner (because he liked to sleep just a little on his side), and of course he liked nourishment every hour.and.a.half. I was wrong.

Last night, we went cold turkey on all of it.

By providing so many crutches all I was really doing was hurting him and neither of us was getting good quality sleep. He is now old enough (gah! he's getting soo close to being 5 months old!), weighs enough, and is socially aware enough to sleep train.

Last night I layed him down as usual. I did put his sleep sack on him but I didn't use the swaddling portion. Those little "wing" things I just velcroed around his waist. He fell asleep after his night night bottle and surprisingly stayed asleep until 11 pm! Usually once he senses that his arms are free he starts to have a little baby panic attack. :/.

I had pre-planned my attack on this situation and had gone to bed at 8 pm (thanks Bobby!). When  I went upstairs to Griffin's room I took 2 blankets, 1 pillow, and a travel alarm clock. I briefly went into Griffin's room and soothed him for a moment and then left.

Cue hysterics.

I felt really bad. You could hear how mad and confused he was after I had left the room. I was prepared though and litterally camped outside him room and timed out 10 minutes and then went in there again (and again and again and again and again).

Griffin said that he had his doubts this would work...

Around 12:40 am I could tell that he was getting more sleepy and less agitated. I finally stopped going in there because he was less upset when I didn't go in there than the times that I would go in there to comfort him and then leave. By 1 am, he was out!

He woke up again at 4 am but I let him cry for the required 10 minutes before I went in and replaced his paci and he fell right back asleep with out crying again and slept until 5:30! 

I did it!!

I know that this "cry it out" or "Ferber" method isn't for everyone. I'm not even sure I could completely define what I did last night as either of those because frankly I have not read Dr. Ferber's book on the subject. I merely took some of his main ideals and added in what felt comfortable to me. 

I'm ready to try it again tonight!

I know that nap times will still be rough for us and I'm sure that Griffin and I still have a while to go before he is comfortably sleeping through the night with out any aid from me. But, I'm committed to his sleeping success. It can only make him a happier, healthier baby and in turn that makes me a better Momma!



13 comments:

The Anglin Family said...

Girl, I'm praying for you!! I know how rough that is..my first two were horrible sleepers. By the time Cam got here, it was much easier for me to let him cry. 5 months? Really..is he already almost that big? Wow. He is soo sweet!!
You have to do whatever works for you and your baby to sleep! I'm a firm believer in that:-)
Hugs!!

ccc said...

I never was able to train any of my kids to do anything...let alone sleep lol!
Boy, he really looks like your other boys in that picture. Hope you get some quality sleep soon, momma!

Beth Ann said...

Oh, bless your heart! :( Ugh. Somehow I have been blessed with a good sleeper. He eats, plays, and then naps throughout the day with one long (2+ hours) nap swaddled in the swing in the mornings. Last night was the 3rd night he slept in his crib...and he slept 9 hours! I know you want to kill me. I don't think it is anything I've done...I guess it is just the way he is. He eats and then plays for longer than usual before bedtime. I try to keep him up as long as possible...then I feed him again (so these 2 feedings are closer together than usual) and he falls asleep then I lay him down and he stays asleep! (Still swaddling). I'm sure since I'm telling you this he will throw me for a loop now. However, we don't go to bed until 11-12...because I like to stay up that late. Haha. I know one day when I have more than one kid I'm going to have to establish earlier bedtimes! I hope your method works out for you....and sooner rather than later!

Brittany said...

sleep is soooo hard -- you need it and you will feel so awful without it. praying all goes well.

i have tried crying it out and i'm a softy and always resort to co-sleeping. however, once they stop nursing - both boys transition well to their own beds --- blessed, i know.

he's a cutie........so sweet

The Mama said...

Go girl!!!

Sleep training was one of the hardest things I have done. I agree that each person needs to do whatever works for them. For my kids, it was all out cry it out. I tried everything before we got to that, but it just worked out for them to just cry. I think the most either of them cried was 45 mins or so but oh man. After I did it at night I started at naps as well and that was also rough, but in the end, it led to both of them being great sleepers.

You are a WONDERFUL momma!!! They are all so lucky to have you!! Hope tonight goes well and you get some rest :)

Tristan said...

praying for you..no sleep is the pits!
good for you for sleep training..taylor-austyn has to be rocked a VERY asleep and then laid down and she stays asleep..and she is 2..haha..i have never just been able to lay her down and her go to sleep!

DandelionBreeze said...

Hope things improve for you guys... we had to use this method with our DD and it ultimately worked well - but took about a week or so... so persist :) It'll be worth it... she's been sleeping through the night ever since :)) Love to you all xoxo

Natasha said...

I'm glad it went so well for you guys! I will have to try your plan out soon- I'm getting exhausted and I have to go back to work soon! By the way he looked great after his night!

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

I love his happy smile! That can be so rough. I haven't been blessed with great sleepers either. So I think all my kids have cried it out at some point. It's so worth it for me and my little one's always seem happier after they're getting more sleep. Good luck! Hopefully he'll be sleeping soundly soon. You too. :)

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Odd my name went through with my comment--I don't think it's done that before. Janae is me, Grumpy Grateful Mom. :)

Jayme said...

My twins still don't sleep... sigh.

Mary said...

Sleep training is so hard! Our kiddo loves to be snuggled at all times!! He hates being swaddled though and will wake himself up trying to get out of it. He also wakes himself up by moving his arms...it's a lose lose situation with the swaddling or leaving his arms out for us :/

Amy said...

This all sounds really complicated so I think if I ever have a baby, you're going ot have to come stay with me for the first 5 months. After all, your boys will all be teenagers by then and you will love to get away from them :)

 
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