Sleep Update

More or less, things have been going well. After yesterday's achievements, we went to bed convinced that we had figured out how to help Miles nap better. An hour later, Miles woke up screaming. We still haven't figured out why Miles woke up at 12:30 pm - and stayed awake until about 2 - but we're just hoping he doesn't do it again today. After that, he slept until 6:30, but those feedings were more reminiscent of his newborn days than now.

Today was pretty good. I put Miles down for his first nap with only having to pick him up 4 times. He woke up 45 minutes later, but with 3 more pick ups, he slept for a little bit longer. Right as I was putting him down, Erin (one of my bridesmaids and new CA resident) came down from Oakland to help me with Miles for the day. We spent the better part of the day chatting and it was great to catch up.

We kind of missed his second nap as I was at my Dr. appointment. Miles fell asleep in Erin's lap, and we transferred him into the car easily. By the time we got home, he felt that his cat nap was enough and he was not going to go back to bed. Drat.

For his last nap, he started to fall asleep in the stroller 1 block from him. Once I got home, I put him down immediately. He ended up staying in his crib for an hour before he fell asleep again. I could hear him a bit whiny in his room, but he wasn't crying. I checked on him, and his eyes were closed and just making "I want to be asleep" noises. The problem was that every time he would be on the verge of sleeping, the neighbor's construction band saw would go outside his window. Poor Miles, he just wanted to sleep, but kept being interrupted!

Bedtime was easy as always.

One interesting thing of note is the ease with which he fell asleep today outside of his crib. At the doctor's office, he was quietly sitting in Erin's lap and fell asleep. In his stroller, he quietly drifted off without crying like he used to. I am not sure if our training has anything to do with the above, but today it just seemed like he was "better" at falling asleep than he has been.

Or is that just wishful thinking?

Nightly Routine - Bath Time

Miles has become much more agreeable about Bath Time. He is completely content to sit and soak...and sometimes waiting patiently while Mom and Dad snap some quick candids. We now give him "the soak" every other night as part of his bed time routine. He gets a good cleaning, a little massage, dress for bed, story time, his anti-gas medicine, some dinner and then he is shuttled off to bed.

Today's Nap Update

So, we have continued with the baby whisperer's approach to sleeping with great success today! If you read below, yesterday, I needed to pick Miles up 42 times before he fell asleep. Today's first nap, Tim only had to pick him up 7 times and he slept for about 45 minutes. When he woke up, it was clear he was still tired, but he wasn't wailing. So I picked him up 3 times and he slept for another 20 minutes. For the afternoon nap, Tim picked him up 7 times and he is asleep again! There is a lot less crying, I think he is getting more accustomed to the routine. This has been our best day of sleeping since we unswaddled his arms.

So far so good!!!

UPDATE: For his last nap of the day, we went through the routine, and he is now asleep - no pick ups needed!!! I guess my "spirited" little man just needed me to figure out how best to teach him. He really is a great little learner if the methods are right. What a great napping day!!!

Sleeping - I mean Struggling

Old picture but I love it...

Sleeping has been a struggle since Miles rolled over. I have been trying to let him cry and keep going in to check on him, but he can cry, and cry, and cry all the way through a nap until his next feeding. He's been sleeping less than 2 hours per day and finally falling asleep exhausted during his last feeding (not good from a training perspective either). He is also back to waking up in the middle of the night crying - I think it's the arms out of the swaddle that is pissing him off. We haven't gotten a full night of sleep since he rolled over.

Anyway, frantically, I started pulling books off the shelf that Jeannie (sister-in-law) gave me and reading them for tips. The most recent one is "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" by Tracey Hogg. Her philosophy is that a child is a person and you need to respect them as such. You also need to understand their temperament (I think Miles is combination "textbook" and "spirited") and listen to their cries to learn what they mean. You shouldn't respond too quickly, or you can miss what the baby is trying to say with their cries. She is adamant that you don't treat all cries with hugs, a boob, or a pacifier. That makes for bad training later on.

I've been saying since Miles was born that "he won't let us put him down". According to her, that is all too common, and you need to teach the baby independence. As such, once you put the baby down and he cries, pick him up (don't let him cry it out) and sooth him until his needs are met and he has stopped crying. At which point, you put him down again. And repeat. She is adamant that you don't over-coddle the baby (which we have been guilty off). Once their needs are met, put them down again. She talks about going through this process with one baby over 100 times the first go, 40 times the second, and 8 times the third. I guess the theory is the baby learns that it isn't scary or upsetting to be put down. They learn if they cry that they will be comforted, but also that they will be put down again and that is okay.

Miles didn't sleep at all this morning. Literally. After he was up for about 6 hours, we put him in the crib and tried to let him cry it out with me checking on him every 10 minutes. He was SO EXHAUSTED and he fell asleep about 20 minutes into it, but woke up screaming 45 minutes later. I knew he was still exhausted but he couldn't sleep. So desperate for anything and not feeling strong enough to let him cry it out some more, I tried the baby whisperer thing and kept picking him up and putting him down. He only took a moment to sooth, and I put him down again. It took about an hour, and picking him up 42 times, but he finally fell asleep and stayed asleep. He actually slept an hour through his feeding so I finally woke him up.

I put him to bed again the same way, according to our "routine", awake but tired. Without crying once, he fell asleep - there was actually a little sweet cooing. He has always been good about falling asleep at bedtime and we'll see how he gets through the night, but his afternoons nap was such a success, I thought I would share it.

Parenting is hard.

Hot shot

So I spent the better part of today recovering from cortisone injections that I had this morning. The procedure was relatively benign though a bit painful as they didn't sedate me because I am breastfeeding. I was a bit anxious going into it, but a couple of shots to the back and I was done. I had to take a wheelchair to the car as my whole leg was numb - the analogy isleaving the dentist after a filling with half your face numb. Feeling came back over the next couple of hours, but I have been soar since.

It turns out, though, that for the next week I am not supposed to lift anything heavier than 5 pounds.

Miles is 15.

Oh my.

I posted to the Burlingame Mothers Club list and I have a highly recommended nanny coming in to help me tomorrow. While Miles is sleeping or I am feeding, she is going to help with some housework - which is great! I think there is more dried milk on the floor from giant vomits than I would care to otherwise admit. Tim will (again) have to take the brunt of the work this weekend, and we will see what we can figure out for early next week.

Big 'Tone!

Miles just hit another big milesTone this morning. I've been working on putting him to bed tired and swaddled but awake for his naps. Mostly he has been falling asleep on his own (though he has cried straight through his naps before). This morning, we did the same routine: a little tummy time, a little reading, swaddle him up, rock and shush him for a minute, and put him down. I walked out of the room and closed the door quietly and got down about 3 steps when I remembered a book in his room I wanted to read. By the time I had gotten back into the room (8 seconds later?) Miles was on his stomach. YAY! He rolled over!!

However, the only bad part about it is that now we have to take the swaddle out of his repertoire. Tim and I actually had a conversation this morning about weaning him on the swaddle as he has been escaping it at night and waking up crying. So, here we are, it's time! Undoubtedly it will make for a couple of painful days / nights of sleeping, but I am assured by other Moms who have gone through this that he will adjust and everything will be fine.

I don't have the back strength to rock him to sleep for all his naps today, so he is just going to have to learn how to fall asleep with his arms free by himself. Unfortunately, that means that I have to listen to him cry, and it breaks my heart.

Hopefully, he'll learn quickly and then we'll be pretty well trained on sleep. Hopefully... I am not sure how many naps over how many days I can listen to him cry. So sad...

UPDATE: He fell asleep after only 10 minutes!!! Given, he only slept for his normal 45 (still need to work on that) but he woke up without fussing. I found him quietly hanging out and occasionally chirping. I guess without his swaddle on, he has nothing to fight once he wakes up! His first nap was great - let's hope they all are!!!

4 months old!!

I can't believe it, but Miles turned 4 months old yesterday! He is progressing along great! Growing bigger and longer, but he is still pretty skinny. His development over the last few weeks has been great. He has tremendous neck strength and we have been able to put him in the bouncy chair (see below) and the exersaucer. He loves all the new things to learn about. He is sleeping at night better and better (last night he slept straight from 8:45 - 7:15 and then fell asleep after the first feeding until 9:00 - 12 hours!). I think yesterday had more to do with the fact that he wouldn't take a nap and was overtired - but it was nice to know he could go 11 hours without feeding!

He seems to be turning into a really agreeable little man - he only really gets fussy when he is tired. We'll probably start soon on some sleep training to get him even more prepared to fall asleep himself. Days with him are wonderful (and easier than 3 months ago!), and I am sad to have to go back to work soon....

More photos uploaded to flickr, too.