Sleep training ... again

Back in October, we gave the Ferber Method a whirl. It was tough but we got through it and it worked like a charm until I stopped breastfeeding. The past few months we've rocked Ben to sleep. Most of the time, he has sleep through the night (4 a.m. is through the night for us) until he gets another bottle. Then we started to notice he was getting pretty attached. He started waking up at midnight, 2 a.m., 4 a.m. and most of the time he wouldn't go in his crib. SO, we knew what to do. The most awful thing in the world ... time for the old cold hearted cry it out method.

Last night he went down, not problem but at 11 p.m. he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep without laying on Brian. So, we decided, it was time. And for an hour I laid there listening to the crying while Brian snored away. When he awoke again at 4 a.m. for his bottle, drank it and went fast asleep and then woke up at 5 a.m. crying. After about 2 mins, he was fast asleep again until 6 a.m.

Tonight, the same thing -- bath, lots of cuddling, books, rocking and then down in his crib. This time, it took 10 mins and he was out. Granted, he had 4 binkies in his crib because he has a tendency to get more upset about his lone binky he dropped on the outside of his crib. I'm happy to report, he knocked two of them out of the bed. One was at this foot, the other in his mouth.

They say the second time around it goes fast because they've been through it before. Some say they don't believe in this method but it's works for us and that's all that matters.

Let the screaming begin

It has been a trying few nights in our house as our good little sleeper has decided that he was going to start waking up at midnight, demanding a bottle. I chalked it all up to a growth spurt but after five nights of this, I realized that Benjamin was starting a habit of this. Too lazy and tired to dig through my healthy sleep habits book, I called the pediatrican’s office and talked to the nurse for some hints. Lo and behold, night time feeding is a no-no at 10 months and so is falling asleep while drinking a bottle (NOT in his crib, we’re holding him). Since he started drinking a bottle, this has been his night time ritual – bath, pjs, books, bottle/rocking. Ben has been sleeping until 5 a.m. most mornings and when he has woken up at midnight or 1 a.m., I usually rocked him back to sleep or held him. Another no-no. So, we’re faced with crying it out, again. It wasn’t hard the last time but seems harder because he can now stand up in his crib.

Last night, we had decided that if he woke up at before 3 a.m., we wouldn’t give him a bottle. The last five nights, he’s woken up at midnight. Guess what – last night, he woke up at 3:30 a.m.

My point – kids are not predictable. You’re playing Russian Roulette every night when it comes to sleep. Someone said this lasts until they are 5! Yikes. Why do ppl have more kids? Maybe parents adapt to less sleep?

In a few weeks, we plan on making some changes to his nighttime routine. Bottle will come before bath and we’ll add just a couple minutes of rocking before we lay him down in his crib for sleep. Tonight he had his bottle, cuddled and I then laid him down drowsy. No fussing at all. Bam, went to sleep. So maybe he can fall asleep on his own? Oh well.

Let the screaming begin.

Longing for sleep

I think Benjamin's sleep time has went from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. At 7 p.m., he's wide awake playing. I lay down and nurse him but he just won't go to sleep. Then he screams when we put him in the crib so I cuddle with him until he falls asleep. We cried it out in October and I sense we'll have to do it again. He was sleeping a long time at night but now that has gone away and he fights sleep when he wakes up at 2 a.m. I'm longing for sleep once more.

His gums are bothering him. They are red but there is nothing popping through. I long for that tooth to pop through. Every morning, "where is your tooth?"

He's growing so fast yet his sleep is all over the place. I long for when I can stay awake until at least 11 p.m. and I'm not cranky at work.

But -- I love that little guy! Who wouldn't? He's so darn cute esp when he reaches out for me when his daddy has him. It just melts my heart and makes the sleepless nights bearable for another day.

What joy! What personality!

Someone told me last night at an event that 6-7 months is when you really see your child's personality. Ben is definitely aware of the world. He spends his day rolling around the floor, giggling at the dog and going crazy for solid foods. Lately, his favorite thing is the Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer his grandma bought him for Christmas or his monkey (The Dude). I thought I had this mom thing down months ago but it's easy to figure out what he wants. Lately, he wants the drops in his mouth that sooth his teeth. He'll be fussy and when I whip to bottle, he gets quiet and opens his mouth. He is not fond of sitting up. He last a whole 30 seconds and topples over.

Ben's sleep is better. It was going pretty good for a while and when he started solids and teething he started waking up every two hours it seemed. Most of the time if I snuggled with him, he'd fall asleep. Other times, he needed a diaper change but lately he's been sleeping 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. He is more than capable of falling asleep on his own. Most of the time, he goes in the crib, rolls around and then falls asleep with in a half hour. He doesn't cry and I think he secretly enjoys his time to himself.

This month, we're thinking about goals for 2009. More about that in the upcoming weeks. Until then, I will watch the snow fall and enjoy the lights from our Christmas tree and feel blessed that I have such a beautiful baby boy.

Prince Needy Pants

Sleepy needy baby
Originally uploaded by Shanlee

Since Benjamin has started teething, he's been a bit of a snuggler. If I don't get him down for his nap in time, he expects to fall asleep on my shoulder or be held like a baby (yes, I know he's a baby). He still is pretty attached to his pacifier as well. On Tuesday night, Wednesday morning -- he slept 10 hours! I woke up at 3 a.m. and ran in to see if he was ok. He was and sound asleep. At 5 a.m. he woke up ate a little bit and took the rest of his sleep cycle sleeping on his belly between his dad and I. I knew better than to think this was going to be a regular occurrence as last night he woke up at 12:30 a.m. and then 2:30 a.m. and then wouldn't go back to sleep until I caved at 4:30 a.m. and brought him into bed with us. Working on 4 hours of sleep was rough but since I was really busy, the day went fast and was pretty painless. Some have suggested just feeding him rice cereal at night and just give him veggies in the morning.

I just want to say, his clinginess is quite cute and I know this stage won't last so I don't really mind sitting on the couch at 2:45 a.m. holding my baby in my arms. I tried to convince Brian of this but he kept snoring.

Welcome back zoo zoo

Sporting the Santa hat
Originally uploaded by Shanlee

Since Benjamin has been teething, he has his "zoo zoo" in his mouth all the time. Sometimes it is upside down, other times he chews on it. The only time it's not in his mouth is when he's hungry. I hope he pops some teeth soon.

Another fun trick he's started is not going back to bed after he wakes up at 3:30 - 4 a.m. I leave him to play in the crib and after about 20 mins when he should be sleeping, he starts screaming now. This has happened three nights in a row. Brian usually caves in and brings him into bed where he rolls to his belly smiles and falls asleep.

This stage is so much fun. I can't wait to see what's next because he always smiley (even with the zoo zoo) and happy.

"What!?! You're not supposed to eat it this way?"

"What!?! You're not supposed to eat it this way?"
Originally uploaded by Shanlee

We're back from our first airplane ride with Lil B. The plane ride down to Arizona went better than expected and of course, everyone loved him. He didn't take the best naps but he did really good at sleeping at night. He isn't a big fan of being passed around and was really overstimulated on Saturday night but Sunday he was back to normal though the grandparents and us kept him up an hour late and then had to wake him up an hour early to head to the airport. The plane ride home was a different story as he was really fussy and had to be nursed to sleep during take off and landing. Photos from the trip can be seen here.

Ben just loves his feet. Every opportunity he gets, he is sticking them in his feet. We also think he's teething but I'm sure they won't pop up right away.

On a non-related baby note, our 13 year old cat Zach was put down today. He had been sick for a while and there was nothing we could do about. When we got home, he wasn't moving but breathing. He eyes were open so we laid him in the sun until Brian took him to the Central Oregon Humane Society to be put to sleep and cremated.

RIP Zackers. We will miss you sitting in the sun.

Five months

Dear Benjamin,

Tomorrow, you will be 5 months old. Wasn't it just yesterday we just brought you home from the hospital? First off, you met your Grandpa Casey. Your grandpa never thought the day would come he'd be holding you and it stirred up a lot of memories for him of when I was a baby like you.

Over the past month, you've developed your own personality. You love the Old MacDonald puppet book and you've graduated from the bouncy chair to the bumbo chair. You're favorite toy is froggy with the mirror and you love the sassy mirror though we have to take it out of the crib at night because you'd keep yourself up playing with it. We have started to let you play in the exersaucer and the jumper too. I think we're going to need a storage unit for all of your toys.

I'm happy to say, you've mastered sleeping. It was a rough week and mommy and daddy but we toughed it out and BAM, you can fall asleep on your own. You're favorite position to sleep is on your side with your hands on your face. Sometimes we'll find your on your belly but that's OK, you've mastered rolling. We'll put you in one position in the crib and find you in the complete opposite. On a good night, you'll sleep 9 hours straight but mostly it's 7-8 hours, then back in the crib until 5 or 6 a.m. and then you snuggle in bed with me. That is my favorite time of day.

You love to kick your legs too. I'm gonna have to take a video to properly explain what I mean by this but you love to kick.

Dr. V gave the go ahead for us to start feeding you rice cereal. At first, you didn't seem to care about it but then something clicked and you love going in the high chair for breakfast and dinner. I think it's helping you sleep too.

Benjamin, you have discovered your surroundings. You're reaching and grabbing. This past week you realized that we have a dog named Charlie and you reached out with amazement and petted him.

You have nicknames too! Benji is what they call you at day care. Daddy penned you Lil B on twitter and I mostly call you Ben, Benjamin or Benjamin Boo Boo Bear. Janette calls you Bennyhanapoopoo. Hopefully, you won't be confused in a few months.

Month five will bring more challenges but if we can get through transitioning from sleeping in the swimg to the crib, we can tackle anything. (I hope)

Love,
Momma

Bedtime!

Brian reading to Ben
Originally uploaded by Shanlee

So, we started doing the Ferber Method to teach Benjamin how to sleep and lo and behold, it worked! Tonight there was no crying! Last night just 10 mins. We have started a consistent bedtime routine including a massage, putting on pjs and sleep sack (shown here), book reading and then nursing. Ben is usually awake when we put him in the crib and tonight, it was like her knew what to do. The last two nights he's slept 7-8 hours straight. We think he's sleeping longer because he's eating rice cereal at 6 p.m. Some say it's a myth, other says it helps him sleep longer. Either way, something is working because I was well rested today.

I will say, this method is tough at first. Brian had a harder time than I probably because I been doing the research and he's been going along with it. We argued a lot that first night but as the past few days have gone on, he has warmed up to the idea and is a believer.

Now Ben is sleeping in the crib. We have a rain sound machine. When he wakes up, I feed him and he falls asleep until about 5 a.m. Then I bring him into bed and we snuggle. I will definitely miss it when he totally sleeps through the night.

Hoping by posting this, I'm not jinxing myself!

Can I pay someone to Ferberize my baby?

Well, we let Ben cry it out last night. We did his normal routine .. bath, lotion, getting dressed, sleep sack, book, nurse and he went down for a whole 10 mins before waking up. The crying began and Brian and I took turns going in and checking. After 45 mins, he was sound asleep at 7:30 p.m. We both thought "that was way too easy." Then he woke up at 10:30 p.m. He usually wakes at this time but wouldn't nurse so Brian fed him a bottle. He went down in the crib and cried for 10 mins. When I checked on him, he was sucking his thumb, fast asleep. He awoke again at 3 a.m. Again, this is normal so I tried to feed him and he wouldn't nurse. That was very frustrating for me but Brian told me to keep trying. Finally, he calmed down and ate and was back to sleep until 5:30 a.m. where I brought him into bed and cuddled with him. Since I don't get to see him during the day, I like cuddling with him before I get ready for work but I know someday we'll have to break this habit.

It will be interesting to see how tonight goes. Wish us luck.

Guess I'm not an ice queen

After countless nights of not getting any sleep, we decided to let Ben cry it out tonight. I thought "I'll have no problem just letting him cry in his crib. I can handle it." I remember the pediatrician saying that after about 5 mins, we'll start to doubt our self and just keep on checking in every so often. Well, the whole crying it out lasted a whole 30 mins and I rescued the kiddo and snuggled in bed with him where he instantly falls asleep. I guess I can endure a few more nights of him sleeping next to me until this Friday when we will try again.

I guess I'm not an ice queen after all. Too bad you can't pay someone to Ferberize you kid.

Traveling with baby

Now that the cat is out of the bag (meaning Ben's AZ grandma has found out we're visiting) I can talk about gearing up for air travel with Ben at the end of October. This scares the crap out of me and it's only a short 2.5 hour flight. We're lucky that my SIL has a child one year older than Ben so we'll be borrowing items like a car seat and pack n play. My anxiety is more of breaking his routine which we're trying to set right now.

At our well baby check up today we talked about our concerns. I think his eyes are funny but I'm the only one he thinks this (including the day care provider) but instead of dismissing it, our pediatrician is going to calm my fears and have it looked at by a local ophthalmologist. Ben's lopsided head is better and he now weighs 12.5 lbs. I swear he should be bigger but everyone says it's normal. We talked about starting rice cereal soon (I think we'll do this in two weeks) and crying it out (which we won't do for a few more weeks). He is consistently averaging in the 10th percentile so he's a little small. Our pediatrician commented on how Ben is really strong so I'm really going to focus on putting Ben more on his tummy while at home.

The lack of sleep is getting to me. My husband has decided to start feeding Ben around 11 p.m. at night to see if he'll sleep longer and not wake us up. We've debated about supplementing with formula but only until we have to. I just feel guilty about work and being a mom. I feel I'm not doing the greatest job at both so after expressing this, he wants to step in and help. Thanks, Brian!

4 months

Dear Benjamin,
Today you are four months old. I can hardly believe it (I think I say that every month). So much has happened in the past month, I don't know where to begin.

For starters, you're rolling. We put you in the crib on your back and when we check on you, you're on your tummy the opposite end of the crib. You're giggling too! You'll just be looking at my face and then you start giggling. You love to mimic what ever we're doing. If we talk to you, you try to talk. If I blow raspberries, you blow raspberries. If I curl my lip, you try! It's amazing.

You have also discovered your hands though I wish you'd use this to help yourself fall asleep. We often tell ppl you're eating your hand sandwich. You think your thumb tastes pretty good too. You're also grasping and holding stuff too!

Sleeping has been a challenge. I think we're going to have to cry it out but once you're asleep in the swing, you're down for a while esp if you have your fuzzy blue blanket. You're waking up two times a night which is better than three I guess. Often when you wake up, we hear you chattering over the baby monitor and then you fall back asleep. You're a smart guy so I know you'll have this thing called sleep mastered pretty soon.

My favorite thing to do on the weekend is take a nap with you. You have no problem falling asleep when you're next to me, btw.

We look forward to what the next month brings (hopefully more sleeping in the crib).

Love,
Momma

Enjoying the stages

I've been frustrated with Benjamin's new habit of only sleeping in the swing. It started last week and now he refuses the crib and will only nap in the swing or the bed. We have gone so far to move the swing into the bedroom in order to not sleep on the couch. I was complaining about this when someone brought up a good point -- enjoy the stage because he's growing so fast. So I've been embracing it. Instead of trying to set him in the crib, he goes right in the swing and gets a good night sleep (along with us). We do stop the swing after he's asleep.

We have started a night routine -- bath, lotion, dress, eat, relax and read, swing. Eventually, we'll add crib after swing.

I've noticed that Ben won't fall asleep on my shoulder anymore. When we got home, he was a little tired so we laid in bed and fell asleep. I will miss that stage when it passes.

I can't believe he'll be four months next week!

Sound asleep in the swing

Sound asleep in the swing
Originally uploaded by Shanlee

Sleep -- I'm obsessed with Ben getting to sleep at night. Brian has been cheating and having the swing rock him to sleep. Last night, as Brian headed to open mic, I told him Ben wasn't going in the swing. Instead, Ben headed to bed with me to watch tv. Ben will fall fast asleep in his sleep sack (BEST INVENTION EVER) right next to me. When Brian came home, we were fast asleep. Ya see, Brian isn't for Ben sleeping with us except in the morning so he moved him to the crib.

Brian asked "so when can we cry it out in the crib." Good question. Most books don't recommend CIO until 4 months but I'm all for at least trying to teach the guy how to fall asleep so I'm going to try and avoid it if I can. He is smart and I know if given the chance he'll fall asleep if we set a routine.

But he's so cute clutching that blanket, isn't he?

Sleepin' in

I've started the bad habit of bringing Ben into bed when he wakes up around 5:30 a.m. I started doing this to have more time with him and get some sleep. The past three days, we've both slept in until 8:30 a.m. It's been nice but is making me realize why he's so crabby on the days I go to work. The little guy wants to sleep near momma.

It just takes a little PVC pipe ...

DSC05357
Originally uploaded by Shanlee

... to make your kid a new toy. We can't 'take the credit for this. Some parent that goes to our daycare made something similar and well, it's Ben's favorite thing to look at while there. As Brian calls it "hours of fun!" Well, maybe not hours. My comment was that it might be over the top.

Anyways, Ben loves it.

Ben's new bad habit is sleeping in the swing. He won't take naps in the crib and usually at night he won't go in the crib until he's been in the swing for an hour or two. I'm sure this phase will pass but at least he's sleeping. People keep asking if he's sleeping through the night and no, not yet. He doesn't go more than 4 or 5 hours but today he slept in past 8 a.m. in bed with us.

Last night I put away his 0-3 clothes and put out the 3-6 months stuff. Some of the 3-6 is still big but most of the 0-3 was too small. And for anyone out there wanting to buy Ben clothes -- don't. He has enough clothes to last him until he's 2. Our friend Starla and Georell handed down boxes of really cute stuff.

Back to work

My first day back on Monday was hard. Mainly because Ben decided he didn't want to go to sleep the night before until midnight. If that wasn't bad, he did a repeat of that on Monday. Luckily, he went to sleep last night at 10 p.m. I won't jinx tonight so I'm not going to mention it.

Going back was hard. I had four hours of sleep and first thing had a staff meeting to attend. I will say, it is nice having co-workers as my two person marketing department is now four ppl.

Pumping is going good. I seem to be producing enough and our nursing room is a nice calm place to escape and milk away. There are two of us using the room and next week there will be another returning to work.

This is the first moment I've had to myself since returning home from work at 5:30 p.m. I wasn't quite thinking I'd be spending all evening getting a kid to sleep but until he's sleep trained, that how it goes, I guess.

Breastfeeding and working

I'm less than a month from going back to work and well, I'm not looking forward to it. It's not because I don't like my job -- in fact, I love my job. I'm going back to a new manager and new staff and less work meaning I can concentrate more on projects instead of trying to do everything. It's all I've wanted for the past year is to concentrate on doing a better job.

Why am I not looking forward to it? Well, why do you think? I love my kid. I will miss him. I don't want to miss out on his life and things he discovers. I cried when he went to bed at 7 p.m. the other night because the reality is that his bedtime is more and more looking like 7 p.m. He is smiling more and more. He knows me when I go in to feed him at night. He will be crying over the monitor and when he sees me, he is quiet and smiles. I like to think he's thinking "yea, you can hear me!"

I was talking to the daycare provider about his sleep schedule and eating. As much as I would like to run over and feed him, it's not going to happen and I'm afraid he will start to wean himself off breastfeeding as it's happened to friends of mine. That would be really sad. I know 3 a.m. feedings sound like a pain but generally after I shake off the sleep, I enjoy our cuddly time.

So, I'm going to use the power of positive thoughts. I hope he can handle the bottle and the boob until he's at least 6 months old.

The Baby Whisperer

I was just looking and I have three books on how to get your baby to sleep. I'm a little obsessed with sleep, if you ask my husband. My most recent read is The Baby Whisperer.

One of the things the book says is to start your nightly routine as soon as the baby starts yawning. Tonight, Ben started yawning at 6 p.m. Wow, that's early. When I go back to work, I'll just be coming home meaning I won't get to see him much which makes me really sad. So sad, I cried. Ben started yawning and by the third, the bath was ready and daddy got him all clean. Then I turned on the lullabies and nursed him. He went right to sleep. So I checked on him 10 mins later, he was wide awake but calm. The book says leave them if they are crying and so I did. After 10 mins, I went back in and BINGO, he was asleep. Does this mean he fell asleep on his own? I'm unsure -- there was no jiggling involved or rocking but we swaddled him. Does that count on him falling asleep? Maybe this is a fluke.

Yes, I am sad my kid is asleep at 7 p.m. I won't see him that much and man, that sucks. I go back to work in 4 weeks and that means not much time with my child. Oy!