Not so good.
We got in the bath, fought to brush teeth and then down to nurse by about 8. He went to sleep pretty fast but woke up around 10:45. He woke up A LOT last night and got up for the day around 6 am. He napped for 30 minutes at 9:30 and again at noon. He will likely nap around 4 or 5 and then we are in for a looooooooooong night.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Nap Day 1
We ran some errands at around 10 and when we came back he asked to nurse. I had a feeling he would go to sleep so we distracted with Bee Movie! When that was over we went to bed to nurse but he wasn't ready yet. We came back at 12:30 and he was asleep by 12:45. I put the nature sounds on and brought the elmo in to start the "lovey" and he slept until 1:30! Which almost 2 hours is AWESOME for him. Usually the max we get is an hour but some days its 20-45 minutes!
Sleep Schedule Night 1
I really try not to complain about lack of sleep and the other things that go with nursing and sleeping with a two year old because MOST of the time I am ok with waking every couple of hours to get him back to sleep by nursing. Some nights are worse than others of course but for the most part it has been manageable. But now, my insomnia has reared its ugly head again and I have decided that 1-2 hours of sleep each night for the past two weeks is unacceptable. I am fighting to go to sleep for about 5 hours and then by the time I get to sleep he wakes to nurse again and then the cycle begins all over again with me trying with all my might to get back to sleep. It has SUCKED!
I also have not rushed this because there was really no need. I felt like he needs to nurse and sleep with me through the night and I need to meet that need and not take it away from him. But yesterday I realized I still need to "help" him get better sleep habits now. For he is not a little baby anymore that just has BASIC needs of comfort and food.
We also are trying for another baby and I am pretty sure I would have a nervous breakdown if I had two to nurse all night. So I think this will be better for all of us in the long run to not put this off anymore.
I have put it off again and again because there is always something. Sickness, travel and teeth are the main things. But even though we are going to a wedding this weekend we decided to start the routine last night.
As you know I do not believe in crying it out. I think its wrong. It also would not work at all now because 1. He is in our bed 2. He would just run around and cry and no sleep would come from it. I read the "No Cry Sleep Solution" a while back when he was younger so I broke it back out to see what it said.
I am not a routine/schedule person. Never have been so this will be a learning experience for me as well. But one of the major parts of successful sleeping is a bedtime routine. So we are going to start it and stick with it. Another thing I am really guilty of is having the TV on all night. With insomnia the TV is my friend at 3am when I can't sleep but I know this can't be great for his sleep cycle. He never wakes up and watches it or pays attention to it but I know its not a good thing to have going on in there....
Last night was a good night to start an early bedtime because his day before we like this.
Bed 10pm
Wake at 4am
Nap from 9:00- 9:20
Nap from 2:00-2:15
Yes..... those were his naps. So he tried to go to sleep nursing at about 5pm and we just held him off.... So he was ready for bed much earlier than normal. I think we are going to shoot for 8pm as his bedtime. Not too early to where we have to start his bedtime routine the minute Tim walks in the door and also not TOO late. He has been going to bed between 9-11 for his whole life depending on when his last nap was.
My first goal is just to establish regular bedtime and nap time and wakings. I orginally wanted to night wean first because I have been getting really aggitated at night when nursing and it has been frustrating. But that being said.... the trying not to nurse was what caused the 4 am wake time. If I don't nurse him back to sleep. He doesn't go back to sleep. He gets off the bed and wants to get up. It is impossible to keep him in bed if I don't nurse him aside from holding him down to the bed and making him cry... yeah I am not doing that.
So I need to get a bedtime/routine going before we attack that monster issue again. The suck-sleep association has always been his thing. He can not fall asleep with out nursing. If I had known it would present such and issue at almost 2 I would have tried to break that cycle earlier. As it is I plan on not developing such as strong suck-sleep issue with future kids. It is one of the hardest things to break.
So bedtime and regular naps are what we are working on now. Hopefully I can just push past the agitation when he needs to nurse at night for now.... I can't promise that as it is about the most frustrating thing in the WORLD.
So last night we start! We decided to start a bedtime routine that would get him in bed at 8pm. I started last night at 7 but it was just too long. Bath, books and teeth brushing only take so long. So last night we were in bed at 7:30 and he was alseep by 7:45 but he had been wanting to sleep for hours so I am not calling it a sucess just from the quickness.
So we are doing the following.
Turning off the TV about 30 minutes prior to bed. We don't have TV for him but it can still be stimulating
Bath
Teethbrushing ( which is a struggle nightly)
*last night I rubbed his feet for a moment with some lavender oil*
I tried to read a book but he just wanted to nurse because I had been making him wait.
Got in bed with no tv or lights on
Played some white noise/nature sounds
Nursed
He made it about 4 hours I think. I actually slept last night too so the night waking/nursing didn't bother me! Its the nights I can't get back to sleep that I have an issue with! So we nursed back to sleep as he needed through the night.
We got up for the day around 7am.
I am trying to hold his nap off until at least 12 but hopefully later so we can make sure he only takes one nap. I plan on going straight into the bedroom around his naptime instead of nursing on the couch etc. I am going to turn on the sounds again so hopefully he will associate it with sleep.
I also have not rushed this because there was really no need. I felt like he needs to nurse and sleep with me through the night and I need to meet that need and not take it away from him. But yesterday I realized I still need to "help" him get better sleep habits now. For he is not a little baby anymore that just has BASIC needs of comfort and food.
We also are trying for another baby and I am pretty sure I would have a nervous breakdown if I had two to nurse all night. So I think this will be better for all of us in the long run to not put this off anymore.
I have put it off again and again because there is always something. Sickness, travel and teeth are the main things. But even though we are going to a wedding this weekend we decided to start the routine last night.
As you know I do not believe in crying it out. I think its wrong. It also would not work at all now because 1. He is in our bed 2. He would just run around and cry and no sleep would come from it. I read the "No Cry Sleep Solution" a while back when he was younger so I broke it back out to see what it said.
I am not a routine/schedule person. Never have been so this will be a learning experience for me as well. But one of the major parts of successful sleeping is a bedtime routine. So we are going to start it and stick with it. Another thing I am really guilty of is having the TV on all night. With insomnia the TV is my friend at 3am when I can't sleep but I know this can't be great for his sleep cycle. He never wakes up and watches it or pays attention to it but I know its not a good thing to have going on in there....
Last night was a good night to start an early bedtime because his day before we like this.
Bed 10pm
Wake at 4am
Nap from 9:00- 9:20
Nap from 2:00-2:15
Yes..... those were his naps. So he tried to go to sleep nursing at about 5pm and we just held him off.... So he was ready for bed much earlier than normal. I think we are going to shoot for 8pm as his bedtime. Not too early to where we have to start his bedtime routine the minute Tim walks in the door and also not TOO late. He has been going to bed between 9-11 for his whole life depending on when his last nap was.
My first goal is just to establish regular bedtime and nap time and wakings. I orginally wanted to night wean first because I have been getting really aggitated at night when nursing and it has been frustrating. But that being said.... the trying not to nurse was what caused the 4 am wake time. If I don't nurse him back to sleep. He doesn't go back to sleep. He gets off the bed and wants to get up. It is impossible to keep him in bed if I don't nurse him aside from holding him down to the bed and making him cry... yeah I am not doing that.
So I need to get a bedtime/routine going before we attack that monster issue again. The suck-sleep association has always been his thing. He can not fall asleep with out nursing. If I had known it would present such and issue at almost 2 I would have tried to break that cycle earlier. As it is I plan on not developing such as strong suck-sleep issue with future kids. It is one of the hardest things to break.
So bedtime and regular naps are what we are working on now. Hopefully I can just push past the agitation when he needs to nurse at night for now.... I can't promise that as it is about the most frustrating thing in the WORLD.
So last night we start! We decided to start a bedtime routine that would get him in bed at 8pm. I started last night at 7 but it was just too long. Bath, books and teeth brushing only take so long. So last night we were in bed at 7:30 and he was alseep by 7:45 but he had been wanting to sleep for hours so I am not calling it a sucess just from the quickness.
So we are doing the following.
Turning off the TV about 30 minutes prior to bed. We don't have TV for him but it can still be stimulating
Bath
Teethbrushing ( which is a struggle nightly)
*last night I rubbed his feet for a moment with some lavender oil*
I tried to read a book but he just wanted to nurse because I had been making him wait.
Got in bed with no tv or lights on
Played some white noise/nature sounds
Nursed
He made it about 4 hours I think. I actually slept last night too so the night waking/nursing didn't bother me! Its the nights I can't get back to sleep that I have an issue with! So we nursed back to sleep as he needed through the night.
We got up for the day around 7am.
I am trying to hold his nap off until at least 12 but hopefully later so we can make sure he only takes one nap. I plan on going straight into the bedroom around his naptime instead of nursing on the couch etc. I am going to turn on the sounds again so hopefully he will associate it with sleep.
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