Thursday, March 25, 2010
I am a liar
It's true. When people ask how HMB is sleeping or if I am having a conversation about his sleep habits I generally lie. I might say "Oh, he always goes to sleep in his crib but he wakes up a couple times throughout the night." First, he doesn't always go to sleep in the crib. Some nights he wakes up and screams before we even go to bed. And I will get him and lay with him on the futon couch (a futon that is pulled up into a little bitty couch in his room) and we will sleep the rest of he night on the couch. OK, you caught me again, not really sleep the rest of the night, sleep for a little while until HMB wakes up again and again, until about 5am when I try and decide if we are up for the day or not. He was doing better...for a little while. When I was in the hospital and my husband was alone with HMB, he just him cry it out. And then when I got home, I still had the radioactive iodine in my system so I wasn't allowed to snuggle with HMB for long periods of time so we had to let him cry in the middle of the night. Things were going well. Then HMB and I headed to CO and although grandma of HMB had a pack n play, she had no mattress so for the first few days, HMB slept in the bed with me. But he was actually SLEEPING! It was so nice! Then he got sick and it was miserable for us all! I prefer to not even count those days!! When we got back, HMB was still pretty good for awhile. He was going to bed well, crying for a few minutes then passing out. I was in bed with my husband, READING before I was to sleep! WHAT!? But it's been a slow and steady downward spiral. First it was 5am, then 2am, then 1am, then 12am...and now he doesn't to be in the crib at all. I have tried to put him in about 5 times tonight. I have tried when he is already asleep, half asleep, awake, I tried to give him another bottle to make sure I wasn't starving him. I want to stay strong and tell myself "I DO NOT want to sleep on the futon couch tonight!" But his cries are hard to handle!! It's my fault, I spoil him and now we both have to deal with it, or else I may never get a good night sleep again!
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I don't know what you are talking about. I am sleeping just fine! :) It is going to be a bit awkward when he's 17 years old and you're still sleeping in a futon with him!
ReplyDeleteI think it is time for sleep training - he doesn't need a bedtime bottle at this age, he's showing mommy whose boss. And he is winning. My favorite sleep book is by Dr. Weissbluth - you might find it useful. Totally unsolicited assvice but...
ReplyDelete1. Bedtime routine. Be consistent every night (time of day, bath time, PJs/sleep sack, book, song, bed). We have NO toys in their cribs or in their room. Sometimes I let Ned take a book to bed so he's entertained in the AM.
2. Blackout shades and white noise.
3. Pacis and lovies - we got our kids addicted early and the lovies are really useful. Not too late to encourage one. We keep it in cribs only (or if we travel.
4. No going in. That goes for the little nighterrors they've been having, the little coughs or tiredness whining/crying. One night Penny figured out how to turn the light on and so we turned it off and it took her 45 mins to calm down. We just kept on eating dinner (it was really tough). We keep the monitor on the lowest setting - enough to hear her O2 monitor and if something is really wrong.
5. Going into crib awake. They are fully awake, not even drowsy - but they are calm b/c of lovies.
Is Jake down to 1 nap? Make sure is his up before 4 pm so he can go to bed by 7 pm.
For your health and sanity you need to break him of this habit. What if you have another kid? Soon he'll be talking and begging you to come in!
I am shooting myself in the foot since I bet our new baby will be a sleep nightmare. But I love Weissbluth and I recommend him. Maybe have your husband do it while you stay with a friend for a few nights? I should only take 3-5 days to do the sleep training. Good luck.
Aw, Suse. You never know what is going to throw you for a loop. Just when everything is figured out, life throws you a curve ball... or grave's disease, pneumonia, ear infection, moving to london, living in a shoebox, stomach flu. Maybe you need to come on a solo long weekend to London and let Chris sleep train Jake - just kidding - well maybe only a little. Russ can re-train Jayma while we go off for a ladies' weekend. Just a thought :)
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