Sleep training night #2

Sleep training night #2:


Last night she was bottle fed instead of breastfed again. No issues getting her to sleep.


7:50 PM- asleep in crib

6:30 AM - up for the day

Not a single peep out of her all night!!


This is either:

1.) pure luck

2.) 1 night of crying it out did the trick

or

3.) The whole problem was hunger due to me not making enough milk. (I'm thinking this might be it and that makes me sad that she might have been hungry. Then again, the night before last, she had a bottle and she still cried a bit so who knows)

We'll see how tonight goes!
She woke up super happy today but after eating and playing for a bit, she was tired again. She was also really tired when I picked her up from day care yesterday. They say with babies sleep begets sleep. That seems to hold true.

On another note, Lauren had cheerios for the first time yesterday and loved them. She's getting really good at putting food in her mouth and passing small things like cheerios from one hand to the other. She's very smart. :)

Sleep training, night #1

Well, we decided why put it off until the weekend, let's get it behind us as soon as possible. I went out and bought a video monitor last night. I knew it was the only way I could keep myself out of her nursery. I don't know how I got by without this thing in the first place, well worth the $100!!!

We changed 2 things last night:
1. Bottlefed instead of nursed
2. Let her cry when she woke up

It seems like she has nursed forever lately (over an hour sometimes) before bed. Then when I finally pull her off, she's wide awake. I've been thinking she either really is napping, or I'm not making enough milk to fill her up and that's why she keeps nursing and when I pull her off, she's agitated b/c she is still hungry. So last night she scarfed down 6 oz of milk (after having had 6 oz and 2 jars of baby food just an hour before!) and was out like a light. I put her in her crib and she didn't wake up. This alone was a vast improvement from what we've been dealing with lately!

8:20 - put her in her crib
8:55 - she woke and started crying. She was crying very hard - coughing and choking at times from crying so hard. :( I just had to turn the monitor sound down low so I could barely hear her and then just watch her. It was horrible but with Matt's support, we stuck it out.
9:25 - finally asleep! (the past few nights we've taken her out of her crib and she's been up past 10 and crying in our arms anyways)
9:30 - awake again but only cried on and off.
9:33 - asleep for the night!!!
7:40 AM - up for the day and happy and smiling like I haven't seen her do in a week!

So, we feel really, really good about the way last night went. We could see the difference in her mood this morning so that was a great pay off. That 30 minutes of crying was very hard to deal with but we just had to keep reminding ourselves that she would be better off in the long run and that we caused this problem by going in to her in the past.

We can only hope that each night will get easier and that she will be back to a great sleep schedule in no time.

A few times in the night we turned on the monitor just to watch her sleep. So sweet!!

Lauren got a package in the mail yesterday. Grammy & Grandpa sent her a toy cell phone since she LOVES to play with the dirty regular phone. She loves her new toy!!

Sleeping woes continued...

Lauren has been sleeping through the night since she cut that tooth. That's great. But now I can't get her to go to bed before 10 pm. She used to go down around 7:30. Her schedule is the same. It almost seems like nursing her is making the problem worse. Normally I give her her bath around 6:30, feed her at 7:00 along with DH and I, then we read books in her darkened nursery, then I nurse her, and put her in her crib. Now when I nurse her she just nurses forever and when I try to pull her off and put her in her crib, she's wide awake like she just woke up from a nap. She WILL NOT go to sleep. She starts crying the second I pull her off from nursing.

Last night, after I tried everything I could think of for 2 hours, Matt took over. He just put her on his lap and rocked her and shooshed her. He said she squirmed and squirmed and cried, he didn't confine her, just held her on his lap and made sure she didn't squirm off. Eventually, after about 15 minutes of full out screaming, she fell asleep. It was a little after 10:00 by that point. I tried that too but I gave up much quicker than he did and tried something else.

I had a long talk with our day care provider this morning about this. I'm afraid the problem here is that we have created a bad habit. Over the past 5-6 weeks, she had an ear infection and pink eye, we traveled a few weekends, she was teething, now this cold - all of these things have contributed to a later bedtime and me going in and soothing or taking her out of her crib. On the weekends, I can not get her to go down for a nap either. At daycare, she is put in her pack n play at 1:00 and apparently, she is asleep before Lynda (daycare provider) even gets across the room. She said she HAS to put sheets up on her pack and play so she can not see anything at all. If the sheet falls off - even when Lauren is sleeping, she instantly wakes up and is ready to play, if she puts the sheet back on, she falls right back asleep. Lynda said any type of stimulation for Lauren at all during naptime means she doesn't nap.
She said she knows how much it stinks but if we want her to put herself to sleep, we HAVE to let her cry it out. Us rocking her to sleep and going in and patting her back is reinforcing this behavior. She does not act this way for Lynda. We have had Lynda babysit for us at night at times too and Lauren goes right down for her at night just like she does at naptime. I think Lauren is learning how to manipulate Mommy and Daddy.

Yes - I'm very hesitant about the cry it out method but I think it's time to nip this in the bud. Lynda said we are MUCH better nipping this in the bud before she learns how to stand up in her crib b/c it will get a lot harder then. Plus, I was reading my Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book last night and it talks on and on about how much sleep deprivation effects a childs learning ability, happiness, and health. Lauren has been sick so much, we can't afford to let this start effecting her health more. Also, she's just not as happy since this whole thing started as she used to be. She used to wake up smiling and she doesn't do that now. She's crying by time I get her to the changing table. Lynda also said she has noticed her not being as happy during the day as she used to be.
This alone makes me realize I HAVE to do this. I want a happy baby and I can't let the fact that making her cry it out is hard for me effect her happiness on a long term basis. It will be very hard to do this but I KNOW it's the right thing to do. I want her happy, healthy, and learning to her full potential and that is not going to happen unless she is well rested.
I asked Lynda about going in and soothing her and also about doing the pick up, put down method, and she said, any stimulation at all is going to reinforce this behavior. I know that. I'm sick about the thought of her having to go through this but everything I've read says it usually only takes 3 nights for things to get better.

Deep breath. I'm resigned to it. I'm not sure I'm going to start it tonight. Since there is a 3 day weekend coming up, I think I may start on Friday and hopefully it will be fixed by the beginning of the work week. I may have to put her to bed and leave the house. Matt does much better with this than me and he will be able to let her go. I'll be bawling. He'll be focused on the end goal and what's best, I'll be caught up in the emotion.

Wow, that turned out to be a book.

Daddy & baby naps

Saturday was an awesome day. I found myself thinking "it doesn't get any better than this" many times. There wasn't anything spectacular going on, just an all around great day. Daddy let Mommy sleep in and he got up and played with Lauren for hours. That afternoon we set up the pool in the backyard and Lauren and I hung out in the pool for about an hour. I worked on my tan, she drank pool water until she gagged. I had her in her new "disk" floaty and she loved it. Daddy and Lauren took a 2 hour nap together in the afternoon. He had her in her diaper only and when I checked on them, they were so cute. She was on her stomach and he had the blankets pulled up over her back, I could just see her bare little shoulders peeping out of the covers.

Sunday we went to church and Lauren did great there. The cold that popped up Saturday got worse on Sunday and she had so much drainage, she threw up her lunch big time. At least I think that's what caused her to throw up. She was crying pretty hard after that. Daddy calmed her down and rocked her until she fell asleep on his shoulder. THey took an 1 1/2 nap together in the chair. It seemed to be the theme for the weekend. Lauren was feeling much better after her nap.

Spoke too soon...

Lauren had a rough night of sleep last night. We ended up in the guest room together. She went to bed late again, aruond 9:30, she woke at 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00. AT that point we went in the guest room and I nursed her again. She nursed forever but kept crying. I don't think I have enough milk to nurse in the middle of the night anymore. I finally made a bottle and she sucked 5 oz down and feel asleep around 2:00 am. She woke many times between 2 and 7 when she got up but went pretty easily back to sleep. *yawn* Tired Mommy today!! Her teeth usually come in twos, with the second following a week or two after the first. The first is just startin to poke through so I'm wondering if this sleep distruption is pain from the second tooth. Time will tell... Poor baby girl. I can't stand to see her so agitated in the night, it makes me sad for her.

On another note, the girl is learning like mad these days. She has this Ball Popper game that she just loves. The balls go through this maze and then pop up in the air then go back through the maze. It blows my mind that she can follow the balls with her eyes and grab them out of the maze as they move though. Her hand eye coordination is definitely improving. She also yells out to call the dogs to come play with her. If only they would realize what she is doing. Bud is starting to show more interest in her these days. He goes up and sniffs her and lets her grab him. Sunny's doing really well with her too. Lauren is seeming to be a bit more gentle rather than pulling at her ears, whiskers and poking her eyes as much. Anyways, Lauren is just a little sponge these days. I worry that I'm not spending enough time reading to her. She's soaking everything up and I want to make sure we are doing everythign we can to assist her learning. Reading to her is bit of a challenge b/c she would rather play with the book than listen to me read and look at it. I have better luck if I let her it on the floor with the book on the floor in front of her. I'm trying to read at least 3 books to her a day but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
Daddy really got her laughing last night by tickeling her arm pits.

An average day

Yesterday was just a typical day. I picked Lauren up from daycare. She played on the floor while I cleaned the kitchen and got dinner partially ready then I played on the floor with her for 30 minutes. We played her piano, her train, her music toy, and we read 3 books. Next she got a bath, then had dinner. I tried to feed her boiled carrots mushed up but it didn't work so well. I didn't cook them enough so they were not mushy enough. They were a slight bit chunky and she seemed to have a hard time getting them down. She kept gagging like it was stuck in her throat. So, we skipped it and went on the the beef baby food. Now she has had all of the meats except ham. We are starting to introduce "regular foods" slowly - small bits of pasta, etc.. She hasn't had much yet but she seems to be doing well with what we have given her. Bedtime came around and she nursed forever but never fell asleep. Finally I put her in her crib awake and she cried for a few minutes then fell asleep. She was up about 10 minutes later then put herself asleep, up again 10 minutes later and put herself back asleep, then about 5 minutes later she was screaming bloody murder and was wide awake. Daddy got home just then so I took her out of her crib so she could visit with him. She stayed up until Daddy rocked her to sleep around 10:00 then we didn't hear a peep out of her until 6:40 am. She woke in a great mood this morning. She was in her crib laughing before I went in there.
Miss Lynda at daycare asked us to bring hats with an elastic band b/c she won't keep the hat on anymore. She's in a walker outside at daycare now and it's harder to keep her in the shade all day now like she used to. Time to get out the old needle and thread and put some silly elastic on her hats. :)

Dreamland & tooth #5

Well, it looks like we are pulling out of this tough stage of Lauren waking in the night. I'm thinking it was 100% teething related. I'm glad we didn't make her cry it out. This little tooth (top right center) is right on the verge of popping out, I can feel the tiniest point sticking out. So, she's through the painful stage and she slept through the night the past 2 nights again. 8pm-7am pretty much with a few minor wake-ups about an hour after I put her down. A little pat on the back and a song sung by Mommy and she was back in dreamland until morning. Phew!

Fathers Day & feeding herself

Boy it seems like the milestones are coming one after another these days! I can't remember if I told you I started feeding Lauren some actual food recently. We started last week with some Gerber fruit puffs. They disolve very quickly so they are good for learning to chew. She did great from the very first one. Today at lunch I put some on her high chair table to see if she would pick them up and feed herself and she did! Yay Lauren!! First she just picked them up and played with them. Eventually I guided her hand to her mouth and she put it in. After showing her one time, she was doing it herself from there on out. Now, sometimes she has the food in her fist and she can't figure out how to get it from her fist to her mouth. Ha!

She's getting pretty skilled at picking up small pieces of things now, that pincher grasp is improving!

Last night she said ma ma ma ma when she was crying for a bit. Certainly not directed towards me but I sure like to pretend she is calling out for me. :)

We celebrated our first Fathers Day last weekend. Daddy wanted to take Lauren out on the boat for her first time so that's what we did on Saturday. It was a hit! Lauren LOVED it. She laughed and laughed at the wind in her face, she floated around in her little boat and in her lift jacket and basically just had a blast. She didn't even wince at the chilly water when we put her in. She even took a little nap on the boat ride back to the marina. I think we have a little fishy on our hands!

Pulling up!

Lauren has started pulling up. She can pull to standing if I just hold her hands. She's trying to pull up on her toys but most of them are to light to hold her weight and they tip over. We lowered her bed last night.

She's had turkey the past few days and seems to love it. I think she's going to be a meat and veggie girl. She likes her fruit but she seems to like the other things more.

We had a good night sleeping last night. I'm not sure if it was due to the new approach we took or if we just got lucky.
I put her down at 9pm. She woke up at 10pm. I gave her 10 minutes and the crying wasn't getting any lighter so I went in to her. I told myself I was going to try 10 minutes without taking her out of her crib and see if I could get her back to sleep. I patted her back and she just kept screaming. Then I sang to her and she calmed down for a bit, when I stopped singing she started screaming again. I tried rubbing her gums a bit, at this point she was yawning. She stopped crying while I rubbed her gums then popped her thumb in her mouth, rolled on her side and she was out. It took about 10 minutes maybe a bit longer. I didn't hear from her again until I had to wake her at 7:00 am.
I got EIGHT hours of sleep!!!
I hope we are on the upswing!

Grammy & Grampa Mertz's June visit to Atlanta

Lauren's Grammy & Grampa Mertz from Troy visited for the weekend. Lauren & Lara picked them up @ the airport & Lauren smiled big to Grammy & had a tentative look for grampa, as always. Grammy & Grampa babysat while Mom & Dad did stuff sometimes. Lauren went to the Park with Grammy & Grampa. She also had watermelon for the 2nd time & chicken for the 1st. She stood up & played with her new toy for a long time & slept with Grammy & Grampa quite a lot.Many pictures were taken & often Lauren tipped her head to the side for pictures & just to be cute (like her Mom did when she was a baby). Grammy & Grampa had a wonderful time & can't wait until the next visit. Maybe Grammy & Grampa will sneak Lauren home in their carry-on @ the airport.

She seems to be feeling better...

Boy was Lauren tired last night. She was asleep a little before 7pm. She had a short daytime nap due to her doctors appointment. She had a very watery poopy diaper when I picked her up from daycare. I used some Enfamil AR with Lipil instead of the regular Enfamil w/Lipil on Monday. I wonder if that upset her belly.
She slept better last night than the past few nights. She stired quite a bit between 7-10. I had to take her out of her crib and nurse her back down and just soothed her the other times that she was unable to put herself back to sleep. She woke at 1:30 and sucked down a 5 oz bottle and fell back asleep. She fell asleep in her high chair last night before finishing her dinner.
She was such a happy girl this morning after 12 1/2 hours of sleep. Full of smiles and giggles! Daddy really had her laughing by kissing her belly on the changing table.

Doctors Appointment

We went to the doctor today to follow up on Laurens ear infection. It is gone and she got a perfect bill of health. Doc did think he saw another tooth coming through on bottom. Here comes #5! That explains the restless nights, loose stools today, excessive drooling, and fussiness. She is actually in great spirits today but daycare said she didn't seem like she wanted to eat much and she had 3 loose stools today so far when I picked her up at 1:00. She did have some apples last night too though... Lauren now weights 18 lbs 8 oz. WOW!!!

Brooklyn, West Point and back home

We traveled again this weekend. Matt went up to West Point on Wednesday. Lauren and I went to Brooklyn on Thursday to stay with Bob & Julie. I was slightly nervous about traveling now that she is getting more and more active but everything went great. Thankfully we had a Grandmother sitting next to us that didn't mind Lauren playing with the fring on her poncho the entire flight. Uncle Bob & Aunt Julie fed Lauren and played with her and enjoyed seeing their apartment and sleeping with Mommy on the air matress. We took a tour of Brooklyn, went to lunch, swung in the park, and took a walk down by the water. This was Laurens first trip to New York. Friday night Bob & Julie drove us up to West Point. Lauren stayed home with Granny & Poppy while Matt and I went out to kick off his 8th grade reunion. Lauren did well with Granny & Poppy but they didn't get much sleep that night. Sounds like they had a great time though and they got lots of time together since Lauren stayed up and partied until 11:00 PM. Saturday we went to the picnic at Round Pond and Lauren met lots and lots of Daddys long time friends. She was exhausted by the end of the day as she never got a nap in. She was very cranky by time we got home so Mommy and Lauren took a nap together. Granny and Poppy watched her again that night while Mommy & Daddy went out. Sunday we flew home.
Sunday night was a rough night. Lauren went to bed at 9, woke from 12-12:45 and again from 2-3:45, then woke again at 4. At that point, I took her in the guest room and slept with her so I could soothe her back to sleep when she woke. She was very, very tired this morning and fell asleep on the changing table as I changed her diaper. Lynda at daycare said she was very restless and cried quite a bit but got better after her afternoon nap. I'm concerned that possibly her ear infection never went away b/c she has been rubbing her ear a bit. Then again she also does this when she's tired so it's hard to say. She could also just be overtired from a busy weekend, or it could be teething related. She is drooling like mad again. Once again, it's just so hard to know what to do... I don't want to over-react, but I also don't want to ignore it since she doesn't seem to give too much indication when she is sick. Anyways, we have a follow up visit to the doc tomorrow to see if her ear infection cleared up so I guess we'll see if that is the case. If she has an ear infection still, I will feel horrible that we flew two weekends in a row with this. :( I did a dumb thing and scheduled her doc appointment tomorrow during nap time at daycare....grrrr, too late to change it now.
We will be home for quite a few weekends in a row now and we can get her back on track.

Oh yeah, Lauren is now babbling Da Da Da Da Da..... Matt is mush. :)