Okay, I swear I am not bipolar, but it has just been a couple hours since my last post and I feel like a new woman. Finn woke up in a good mood. We got a load of laundry in, he played happily while I began a loaf of bread, we played together and he did some tummy time. We read a book and now he is napping again. Still in my arms, but heck I'll take it!
I also just read some of the mommy boards that I frequent and found some posts of moms at there wit's end because their baby was up 8x + last night. So I guess Finn is actually doing extremely well in comparison. Gotta keep things in perspective I suppose. I don't have the foggiest what I am doing, but I don't think I have screwed him up too badly yet so just gotta keep plugging away.
2 comments:
Hi Sadie, sleep issues are tough and don't worry you are not alone. If you want to try something new here are a few tricks I swear by for me and my patients.
-try not to put him in his crib asleep. He'll wake up confused that he wasn't where he went to sleep and even scared. If you put him in his crib awake then he'll learn to fall asleep on his own which is a must for when he wakes up at 3am for the heck of it.
-get a bed time routine at the same time every night with at least 3-4 stable activities that happen every night(bath, lotion, nursing, 'read" a book, sing a song, kiss Lilly goodnight etc) then put him down in his crib. He will cry and the first 3-4 days is very tough. You can go back every 5-10-15 minutes give him a pat and say we love you etc but just know that he is safe, comfortable, not hungry and he is tired. He will learn to fall asleep on his own and you are NOT doing him any damage. I promise it's more traumatic for moms.
-when he wakes up to nurse at night do the same. I had Joel bring Dela to bed to me. I nursed and then I took her back. I tucked her in, turned on her crib jungle friends and left.
-after about a week of rough nights at about 8 weeks of age Adeline was officially a good sleeper. She would wake up 1-2 times to nurse (she would cry) and a few times a night just on her own. (we would hear her coo and move around then go back to sleep). When this happened we knew she wasn't hungry (cause we had just fed her and knew that a 2 month old was capable of going through the night without food) so we would let her be.
I know a lot of people hate the "let them cry" approach to sleep time but it is temporary and it's better for them at a few months of age then trying to correct bad habits at 12 months
-that said bad habits are only habits that bother you and your family. If you like him falling asleep in your arms and sleeping in your bed then there is no problem!
sorry to tie down your blog!
S
Hey Sis, What Sarah says is soo true, we waited till Zak was almost 2 to do the let him cry and the 1st week was very rough but then we made it and it felt so much better as it took almost 2 hours to get him to sleep. Colton was so much easier. With both of us working our bad habit was letting them both come to bed but trust me they wont be with you at 18, I think we finally made the move for Zak and he is 7 now and we are on our 2nd week of him not deciding to come to our bed and Colton has be in his regulary for a year. Again as Sarah says it is up to you whatever you choose, dont feel bad. You are doing a great job. I love you
Sissy
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