This begins the chronicles our journey to help Reagan make the transition from little peanut to big peanut using the methods of The Baby Whisperer:
Mission:
Reagan, sweet Reagan, has been having difficulty sleeping... since December (Happy February!). She's been teething, growth spurting, learning to roll, got her first cold and taking the world in with her big blue eyes. But, it finally seemed like it was time to do something when she woke herself up two or three times in one night because she was on her belly and she just couldn't figure out how to get back to sleep.
Her Habits:
1. Bedtime: 7pm - Waking up at 9pm, 12:30am, 2:30am, 5am (can you say "Zombie"?)
2. 30 minute naps during the day (ugh)
3. On a 3-hour feeding routine (most babies are on a 4-hour routine by 4 months old, she is 5 months + 2 weeks)
4. Fussy in between naps (just not herself)
My Desire:
1. Have a happy baby :-)
2. Help her sleep better at night
3. I really didn't want to implement a "Schedule" - it sounds so rigid and I like the "Baby-Led"strategy - but she was leading us backwards. And Kevin encouraged me to try different things; experts have spent time and energy studying the sleeping and eating patterns of babies. (Just like nutrition research has lead to taller people. And the Dog Whisperer has found ways to improve your pooch.) Hence, using this information isn't a terrible thing. And she'd be fine either way. But, if we keep doing what we've been doing we will keep on getting the same result.
Diagnosis:
All of her little habits indicate that she wasn't getting enough day-time rest, which, in turn creates a bad night of sleep.
Insurgency: (assumes that appropriate change within the existing system is not possible or likely)
Where to start? Well, the Baby Whisperer recommends starting with getting naps longer. We had two very sad days of more tears than I've seen from Reagan, but I really think we made strides quickly. Baby Whisperer suggests using "Pick Up/Put Down" to help the sleepy baby make it through the transition from the first sleep cycle to the second (which is when they wake up at 30-45 minutes). The PU/PD didn't work for Reagan, but BW suggests also trying placing one hand on the baby to help her learn how to self-soothe and get back to sleep! The later worked best for Reagan. (We did not have to use cry-it-out;-)
Contingency Operations:
The first thing we did was stopped swaddling her (cold turkey) at nap time. She went down okay, but woke up at the usual 30 minutes and it took about an hour of patting and putting the pacifier back in her mouth, but she finally went back to sleep (for 10 minutes). (I could tell that she was tired, but she was having real difficulty falling back to sleep.) Then it was time for her to eat. We did this at each nap we could.
To be honest, I was half-hearted at first. But, I gained confidence after talking it over with my hubby. I was so worn out during an entire day of her tears and the subsequent soothing. So, Kevin, the angel of a man that he is, helped me make it through the night:
For anyone wondering if this works, here's our journey so far:
Day #1:Wake: 7am
Nap #1: Down at 8:20 and up at 9:30am
We went to a birthday party, so I fed her and took her out - she slept in the car for about 30 minutes (oh, well)
Nap #3: Down at 12:30pm; I don't remember when she got up - but I know there was plenty of patting and shhing
Nap #4: Sorry, I don't remember this one either
Night #1: Bedtime: 7pm
Wake #1: 9:30pm - I fed her
Wake #2: 12:30am - Kevin soothed her back to sleep (around 15 minutes)
Wake #3: 2:30am - Kevin tried soothing her for around 30 minutes - I fed her
She slept until morning (no 5am waking:-)
(Note: I went to bed and read the first night early - in bed and reading at 7:30pm and asleep at 8:30pm - I think this helped me a ton - even if Kevin did most of the heavy lifting this night :-)
Day#2:Wake: 7am
Nap#1: Down at 8:20am up at 9:30am - tried patting until 10am
Naps #2, 3 and 4: We went to church - so she didn't go back down for her second nap until 1:30pm
took three one-hour naps in the afternoon
Night #2: Bedtime: 7pm
Wake #1: 9:30pm - I fed her
Wake #2: 12:45am - Since Kevin had to get up at 6 am, I was on-call. It took me one hour to get her to go back to sleep. At around the 45 minute mark, she just started staring at me. I just left the room, I hear her talking to herself for a bit and she eventually went back to sleep.
Day #3: Wake
Nap #1: Down at 8:30am - woke at 9:20am (I got her up, but she was fussy and I should have patted her back to sleep, Oops)
Nap #2: Down at 11:30am - woke at 12:05pm (I didn't go into her at all. She was talking to herself and whimpering a tired cry.) Fell back to sleep around 12:20 and slept until I woke her at 1:15
Nap#3: Down at 2:30 - but asleep (and needed some help with the shhing and the hand on her belly) at 2:45pm - woke at 3:40 (had to shh and hand on belly but didn't go back to sleep)
Nap#4: Down at 5:30 - woke at 6:05
I am BLOWN AWAY that she is already taking LONGER NAPS!!! Hooray!
I will post regular updates on our battle for MORE SLEEP!
Here's Reagan waking up from a nap. She will crane her neck all the way around to check out who's at the door.
She's so full of smiles in the morning and after a good long nap.
This is her latest maneuver.
Joy,
I had a thought about this sleep issue for you.I think that listening and paying attention to Reagan's cues is 100% Baby Led. Meaning, you don't have to let her do things however she happens to do them, but rather you pay attention to what she's telling you by how fussy she is, how content, etc. So, she's telling you she needs more sleep by being fussy. If she is still fussy when she wakes up, what her body is telling you is that she is not ready to get up from that nap! Even if she thinks it's time to get up. :)
You are being a great mommy by noticing that what is going on now isn't the best for Reagan or for you and working to change that! I think that part of the parenting job changes as babies move from "infant" to "baby". We get to help our little ones learn to regulate their own systems (self-soothe, eat when hungry/stop when full, fall asleep/wake up, etc) with the security of mommy and daddy being right there with you helping you in it! A lot of big changes for baby--solid food, rolling over, limb-freedom and control, and hopefully sleeping for longer periods of time! :)
I loved the Baby Whisperer (and Toddler Whisperer...so helpful with McGever Kid #2!!! :) Praying for patience and understanding for you all in this transition!
Posted by: Erin | February 1, 2010 at 11:43 PM