sleep training

Weeks 4 & 5 Baby Summary

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Max is now 5 weeks old, so it is time for his 4 week summary from last week.

Sleep has been about the same; a 2.5-3 hour routine, waking between 2:30-6:00am for a snack, then back to sleep until 7:00 to start our day.

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Well, I was trying to write the 4 week summary during week 5. But week 5 was so rough, I didn’t get it done.

When Max went to his newborn checkup, we knew he had some reflux. This is really normal, and as long as it doesn’t bother baby, there is nothing to really worry about. Most babies outgrow it; Lexie had a mild case of reflux, we even had an upper GI test done on her, but we never prescribed meds. She was diagnosed around 2 months and at 3 months I started cereal to help keep it down; she was already sleeping through the night it was just her days were so horrible with crying for hours.

Well …. Mister has decided to follow in her footsteps a bit early. At 5 weeks old, which was October 8, Max stopped sleeping during the day (but still slept 8-10 hours at night…)
His symptoms were choking and coughing after feedings; even 3 hours after a feeding. He would pull off when we nursed, arch his back and cry .. but then over eat from the bottle to comfort himself, which in turn caused the reflux and gas pains to be worse. He wasn’t really spitting up that much, it was more silent reflux, with occasional spitting up. The spit up would be clear with white in it; come to find out that is the stomach acid with milk in it. Normal baby spits up is just mostly milk. So the poor little guy was miserable and during the day so were Mommy and Lexie.

The doctor gave us some Zantac to try. It seems to help, but I ordered some ColicCalm, because I’d like to get him off the Zantac if I can.

It messes up the natural bacteria in baby’s tummy (because it nuetralizes the acid) and can cause constipation and even worse gas than he already has. The poor kid doesn’t need anymore issues! We are also trying a tiny bit of oatmeal in his bottles; I really didn’t want to do this, but after 4 days on the Zantac, which is helping with the burning sensation, he is still choking during naps from the reflux coming up. So we are hoping the oatmeal will keep it down. If it doesn’t work we will not keep doing it; he already sleeps so well at night I don’t want to risk anything hurting his tummy more or causing issues that interrupt the only rest he gets.

I really, really thought we were in the clear because he was so happy, so sleepy, so hungry … then the reflux flared. So, I am trying to go as natural as possible, but we may have to stay on the (very expensive) Zantac. Maybe this week will be better…

Two Week Update

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Well, for the last few days M has had a terrible tummy ache. It has included bad (and stinky) gas pains, and no pooping. But, I read over at one of my favorite blogs this could be a growth spurt. He not only had fewer poopy diapers, but was more fussy than usual, slept more, and was up at odd hours during the night. I did not realize fewer poopy diapers were part of the “growth spurt” symptoms. Anyway, this morning he finally had a poopy diaper and it looks like he is feeling better and back to his usual self.

Eating
He is so laid back! I thought L was laid back (aside from her 2-3 hour screaming/colic spells) but Mister is WAY more relaxed than she was. He nursed like he knew just what to do from day one, he is a BIG eater, and an even bigger sleeper. I have to wake him all day for his feedings. This morning was the first feeding he actually was awake when we started, and stayed awake the entire time! I was very proud of him. =) Now, I say he is a big eater … he was NOT prior to this growth spurt. He acted like he could care less abotu eating; he slept during feedings, didn’t eat well when he did eat, and wasn’t gaining weight. After 2 weeks he had only gained 1 oz (at this point he should have been gaining an ounce per day, on average). So we started supplementing like we did with L.

This also has to do with my supply. After he nurses for 40-50 minutes, he now takes a 2-4oz bottle. And he attacks it! So he is now eating MUCH better, staying awake longer throughout the day, and gaining weight.

Mister has gone from 8lb 11oz at birth, to 8lbs 4oz on day five, to 8lb 5oz on day 12, to 9lbs 4oz on day 17 (or 2.5 weeks).

Sleeping
He still sleeps a lot throughout the day, like any newborn. We do a Eat, Play, Sleep routine (loosely, mind you). He doesn’t always do the wake/play part. He is a very sleepy baby; Lady was a very wakeful, spirited baby who slept while nursing and in short spurts of about 40 minutes throughout the day until at 5 weeks she slept 8 hours through the night!

Mister sleeps all the time. He is getting better about staying awake throughout the day in short spurts, but sleeps more than he is awake. At night, he eats between 7-7:30pm, is usually asleep by 8:15pm, and sleeps until about 1:00am. I don’t wake him to eat and I don’t do a dream feed. I sleep. =) This is why I feel so good this time around; some people may say my milk supply will suffer going that long at night without feeding, but I really think my mental state is more important. So I sleep.
At about 1-1:30am I change his diaper, he nurses, takes some of a bottle (only about an ounce though at this feed) then sleeps until about 4:00-5:00am.
Now, the last few nights have been an exception with the fussiness, terrible gas pains, etc. I am hoping tonight he goes back to his regular sleep routine, and the past few nights have been this “growth spurt” that occurs between 2-3 weeks of age. We will see!

Diapers
Mister wasn’t having soaking wet diapers at all prior to supplementing. His diapers had one tiny damp spot after 3-4 hours. They were actually so dry I hated to change them at all and waste dry diaper! This was a big cue to me he wasn’t getting enough. Even a breastfed baby should have 6 soaking wet diapers a day. He had 6 damp diapers, but never soaking wet. Once we started supplementing this boy has a soaking wet diaper before and after a feeding! He was also not having regular poopy diapers before, but now has at least one per day (minus, the past 2.5 days of miserable tummy problems). So things are looking up.

It just took longer for him to catch up to the outside world. He is so mellow and happy, as was Lexie most of the time, I think that is how he will approach life. Where his sister is a bit OCD and likes things in just a certain, perfect way, I think Max will be more care free like his daddy. It’s fun that they already have their own personalities, and I get to watch them change and grow!

Lady

This was our first 2 hours home frm the hospital;
I left the room to do some laundry, and came back to this.

Lady has adjusted well. We have a few power struggles each day, but that isn’t anything we didn’t have prior to Mister being here. I’m sure that’s just part of her 2’s. Otherwise she is just as fun and easy as always. She loves to sing, makes up her own songs about what we do throughout the day, loves dancing, rolling around, playing outside and getting dirty.. VERY dirty. And she loves to love on her brother; she calls him Bubby Max and herself Sissy Lexie.

Loves her Bubby

 

 

 

 

 

 

18 Month Sleep Regression

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Here we are. 18 months old. Fun. Cute. TONS of developmental milestones. Molars coming in … and due to those milestones and molars, the dreaded sleep regression! She has all the typical signs- fighting nap, waking early, waking several times at night crying (which may be something similar to night terrors, but she goes back to sleep within 5 minutes, so we leave her alone). But it’s wearing us all down and out. I recognized the signs from when she had a 4 month sleep regression and now I just know that getting her to go to sleep is going to be hard work.


She’s getting overly tired before nap, since she’s been waking at 6:00am instead of 7:00am. So today we are trying an earlier nap time. We will see how it goes. This also means an earlier bedtime, probably in bed by 6:20-6:30, instead of 6:50pm. Hopefully this will get her back with enough sleep in her system that she starts waking at 7:00 again, instead of 6:00 every morning.


I don’t think I need to explain the importance of sleep for children. At 18 months old toddlers need between 13-14 total hours of sleep per day. If you factor an hour an 45 minute nap, that leaves about 12.25hours of night sleep for Lexie. She has been getting about 11 hours sleep at night for the last few weeks. Over a few days this leads to over tiredness which = cranky. cranky. cranky. and gradually less sleep every day. So before it gets so haywire I’m pulling my hair out, we are intervening!


But here is my hope: that daylight savings time will get us back on track. By switching it up a bit, staying up later that one night and having dark longer in the morning, I’m hoping it will help kick this 18month sleep regression’s butt. But I don’t know .. We will see. If not, I have been reading about how weighted blankets can help your babies sleep better, so that is another option to try. Anything to get over the sleep regression! Everything I’ve read says it can last from a few weeks, or until their 22 months old! Aaaah! I will be too pregnant and too worn out by then for a sleep-deprived toddler! I know that there are many parents out there who dislike their baby or toddler being in the darkness when they sleep, and believe it or not, many don’t believe this is a good thing. Well, it is, and there are many online sources to confirm this. darkness is a friend, not an enemy, says BestForParents! Darkness is good – it tells your child when it is time to go to sleep, just as the dawn tells them it is time to wake up – it’s all about routine, which I will go on to explain next.



What I do know is that people criticize for “scheduling” an routining. However I also know that we are creatures of habit and consistency. Babies and toddlers DEPEND on consistency. When we deprive them of that, their little bodies and minds go haywire. So when parents complain about a sleepless child who is up all hours and doesn’t nap, and runs wild all day, I wonder if they have ever tried a routine/schedule. Because truly, even in a baby/tot that is not a good sleeper it HELPS. It may no have them sleeping 12 hours through the night, but it will certainly establish a sense of confidence and security which will in turn make a happier baby/toddler/older child. Think back to school and even your job/career- there is a daily routine… a certain order in which everything is done. And when you come to the end of a certain task you realize it’s time for your break, lunch, to move on to the next task, go HOME etc. It is the same for a child, and just as important, if not more so.


Another large factor is nutrition. When our kids are eating Oreos (really, daycare?! I’m so glad I send Lexie her own foods), goldfish, PB&J, and juice (AKA SUGAR!) as their main source of nutrition, how can you expect them to feel and rest well? And if they seem to feel and rest well, imagine how much better they would feel if they had a healthier diet? You never know until you try, and I promise there is a difference!


I know all babies and children are different. I do hope that this next baby sleeps and eats as well as Lexie has. But even if it doesn’t, I will schedule him/her and have daily routines. It may not have the baby sleeping through the night (I do realize that some babies just don’t/won’t) or napping well, as Lexie was/does, but it certainly won’t hurt anything!

May 2011- Eighth Month of Life and more…

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Lou Bug is officially 8 months old! =( I know it is a good thing but it is sad too. She has learned several new things since 7 months; she is now: waving, clapping, bouncing to get where she wants to go, sliding around to get places (but not necessarily to meet a specific destination yet) and is cutting TWO top teeth. Poor baby, no wonder she hasn’t felt good lately. She is also trying to bounce from her bottom onto her knees, ans she CAN but once she gets there they slip out from under her. She plays better on her belly than she used to though, so that is good. She is still trying to pull up on EVERYTHING! It is really funny, because most things are still too tall and she gets very frustrated.


A week and a half ago, we started sleep training. I knew i needed to begin, but was so afraid. After talking to a few friends, I decided it would be okay. Lexie has always been a great sleeper, although not a good napper. At night she would take her bottle, talk a bit, snuggle, and then I would give her the paci and I would hold her while she fought sleep for about 5 minutes. At this point she always spit the paci out and I would take it away, put her in her crib and she would sleep all night. I knew paci would be a challenge,but didn’t know how much of a challenge…

Sleep training is NOT a new concept, it has been around since like the 1890s or something like that. It is basically getting your baby to sleep on their own so they can learn to self soothe. This allows them to go BACK to sleep each time they wake at the end of a sleep cycle, which is about 45 minutes-1.5hours, depending on the baby. Lexie’s is exactly 45 minutes. She has never had a problem putting her self back to sleep at night, she just did it. But getting herself to sleep was another issue. Some parents decide to use tools similar to a sleep training app to better track how their baby is adjusting but everyone has their own approach.

So, back to my reasoning behind this: I DO NOT want a baby who has to sleep in the bed with me when she is 18 months old because she doesn’t know how to go to sleep on her own because I was not willing to let her TRY to get to sleep on her own. Maybe Lexie will become this type of baby anyways, but at least I can say we tried and at some point succeeded. My second reason for doing this is because there is absolutely NO WAY in this world I could sleep train her when she is able to stand in the crib, arms outstretched over the sides, crying “mamamama, dadadada.” There is just no way. So I decided to begin now, before she can literally talk me into picking her up and holding her to sleep.

It was the hardest thing I have done, second to leaving her at daycare and going to work for free (aka internship). But it went surprisingly well. From day one I have kept a log of each nap and bed time-what time I put her in the crib, what time she stopped fussing/crying, and what time she woke. It started with about 15 minutes of fussing at night; this was something she always did, even when I held her, only it was about 5-7 minutes when I held her. At naps… well naps are a different story. They were harder. I would allow her to cry 6 minutes, then I went in her room, picked her up, loved her, calmed her, and placed her back down. I would usually have to do this one more time and then she would be asleep. The first time she slept for over an hour at a nap-this is a record nap for Lexie! So, in this process I took away Paci. =/

Evil, I know right? But the thing is, if I allowed her to have it in the crib it fell out and she was too tired when she woke at the end of a sleep cycle to realize it was right there, grab it, and put it back in. So rather than me going in non stop to replace it until she was weaned from it, we just stopped all together. At first she would look for it, root around as if to nurse but wanting anything she could use to sooth herself-that lasted about 5 days. Then she was done. She no longer looks for paci or roots to nurse for comfort.

The last 2 or 3 days there has been no crying when I put her in the crib to sleep. She just rustles around some and finally gets comfy and is asleep in no time! It is truly amazing. She also seems just as happy as when I held her to sleep with a paci. I believe this is because I created a new routine for her sleep as well. After bath time, we now go to her room and rock while she takes her bottle and I read a story (or 3). Then I hold her for a few minutes, burp her (which isn’t really necessary anymore) and we say our prayers. Then I squeeze her tight and place her in the crib. She realizes now this is the new routine, and she has adapted to it.

At her nap this afternoon, I put her down and she literally did not make one noise. So, while it was terribly hard for me to let her fuss and cry sometimes (because she didn’t really cry every time, just mainly at naps) it is amazing that she can now put herself to sleep peacefully. Many people begin sleep training when babies are like 8 weeks old-I just couldn’t. Before she was so dependent on nursing and mommy for comfort I could not deny her the holding she needed and craved. But as she has gotten a little bigger she is not that dependent on me for everything.. I just thought it was a good time to start, and it turns out it was.

Now, my next challenges are: extending her schedule from a 3 to 4 hour routine and making her baby food.
I use schedule in the place of routine-Lexie does not do the exact same thing every day. But she is very predictable. She sleeps after being awake about 2 hours, eats about every 3, and naps about an hour 3xs a day. I am hoping to extend the times between each of these things by about an hour-we will see how it goes. She is old enough to drop the afternoon nap, but I don’t know if she is quite ready. I think she will let me know when she is.

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For a Mommy update- I AM DONE WITH SCHOOL FOREEEEEVVVVEEEERRRR!!!! Really, I cannot imagine ever torturing myself again with school, although I know eventually I will get my Masters and would LOVE to get my doctorate and teach at a University one day. But that is too far ahead to think about. Right now I am basking in the glow of achievement and loving every minute of it! Now, if I can get a job for the fall and get my Praxis III over with, then I will really be done and completely certified! I graduate next Friday, the 13th (<--- GO FIGURE!) and I have to go get my cap and gown sometime this week before graduation. Tonight, my poor husband is getting his first complete, home cooked meal in like 2 weeks. I have been so swamped with finishing up school stuff I have not been cooking. We have had a lot of snacks and sandwiches for dinners.

Tomorrow is my Women Can Run Arkansas 5K. We will see how this goes. I expect it will be a slow 5K for me, but Lexie will be running with me, so that is exciting-her first 5K! =) Wish us luck.
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