So. Marty has decided that he must be held while awake. He will let you put him down, but only if you stay close and make faces at him. And if I put him in the carrier, he falls asleep. Thus thwarting my attempts to be all baby-wise and manipulate his schedule so that he sleeps at night. AS IF HE WILL EVER SLEEP AT NIGHT, OMG!
I know the sleep training basics. Eat, awake, sleep, repeat. OK. He has no problem with the pattern as long as he is fed every three hours on the nose, is then held for awake time, and is laid down on his tummy.* Unless he has to poop. And then he will squirm and fuss until it happens and after the fact until you clean him up because seriously...boy hates sitting in his own filth. I think I'd be with him there.
Because I have other children demanding attention here, I often have to sit him down and let him *gasp* cry it out. I am ok with that. Unfortunately, we haven't been comfortable doing this at night. He sleeps in a room next door to his sister. And we can't afford to let him wake up his sister. Sleep-deprived Olivia spells disaster for all of us.
Last night, I was at the end of my rope. The very end, friends. He fell asleep around 10 p.m. We put him down. At 12:45 a.m., he was up crying for his meal. I fed him. He produced a very full poopy diaper. I cleaned him up. His belly was full. He was clean and dry. Time to go back to bed.
Oh, no. He wasn't having that. He's not really one to "play", but he did want to look around and coo for awhile. That would be fine if he'd do it alone. But no. You, the mommy-person, must sit around and watch me stare at the ceiling fan for at least 45 minutes or I will scream my head off. Oh, yes, I will.
So yes, he did. In the bassinet, in the (air-conditioned and ventilated) closet. And then I turned the monitor down. And we all slept happily ever after until 5:45 a.m. Except for Marty. He probably screamed for 15 minutes, passed out until 3:45, woke up hungry, screamed until he was exhausted, and then repeated the cycle an indefinite number of times until I woke up on my own and checked the monitor.
And you know what? I felt really bad about it when I woke up. And then I went to pick him up and he stopped crying immediately and looked at me like, "oh, there you are. I'm good now." Stinker.
Good thing he's so darned cute.
And also, one month old today. He looks ready to take on anyone who challenges his right to dominate the household schedule. OK, buddy. Let's go.
*Yes, he now sleeps on his tummy. I think it's ok because last Saturday, he rolled himself over for the first time. Just shy of four weeks old. I put him on his tummy while I did the dishes. He screamed (of course) because I dared to put him down at all. All of a sudden, he stopped screaming. I looked over and he was there, lying on his back with a stunned look on his face, like he couldn't figure out how he ended up on his back. It was hilarious. And then I put him back on his tummy to see if he'd do it again. He did! Little guy has some strong arms!
1 comment:
Of course all babies cry, and he may just be wanting to be held. But hearing all of this reminds me a lot of Silas - it turned out that Silas was a. allergic to dairy (he was on dairy formula the first four months) and b. had reflux that we didn't catch until he was 7 mos. He would sleep elevated (in his car seat), or sleep on me, or sleep on his tummy. That was it. He wanted to be held constantly, and never did get into a good night time groove (until he was nearly a year and started eating real food - not to discourage you. Though now he's four and sleeps like a champ, if that helps. =). Anyway, I only mentioned it because I wondered if you'd tried different formulas, or mentioned any of it to your pediatrician.
I'm never a staunch babywise mom anyway, though I do try to get them into some sort of predictable routine (especially at night) asap. Asher slept at 6 weeks, Silas didn't sleep until he was a year, and Emmy came out of the womb - literally - sleeping 6 hr stretches at night. Which makes me think it has as much to do with the baby as it does with the approach. =)
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