Here's what happened last night. This isn't what happens every night, but some nights. Enough times to where I'm about to go cray cray.
We usually start trying to get her to go to bed around 7:30. She starts getting fussy then. Brad rocks her for a while and then I nurse her. We usually don't get her sound asleep until 8:30. It usually takes us a couple of times to lay her down in the crib without her waking up.
She slept from 8:30 to 12:45. NOT LONG ENOUGH.
Last night we decided that we're not going to pick her up and rock her back to sleep...she's gotta figure it out on her own. She didn't wake up crying and just laid there for about 15 minutes (I'm watching her on my video monitor). Then she started whimpering. Then when no one picked her up, she started crying. And crying some more. Baby daddy went and picked her up for a bit and tried to get her to calm down and go back to sleep. Fail. So he put her in the crib and gave her the binky. She laid there for another 2 hours. She didn't cry too much, only when the binky fell out. But about 3:00, she started to cry again. At this point, I was so exhausted and didn't know what to do and didn't want her to start crying it out again. So, I caved and gave her my boob...a guaranteed silencer and sleep aid. When I crawled back into bed, it was 3:45. She had been awake for 3 hours. Then she slept from 3:45 to 7:00 this morning. NOT LONG ENOUGH. I have time to blog right now because she's already gone down for her first nap. Yeah, kiddo, you're exhausted because you slept like a newborn last night! But not even when YOU were a newborn because you slept better than that!!
So, I'm asking everyone for advice. I know she needs to cry it out and learn how to go to sleep on her own...but crying it out is the HARDEST thing EVER. Listening to her cry just breaks my heart and all I want to do is hold her and soothe her. But I know that's not helping the situation. I KNOW she can sleep through the night because she did it from 5 weeks old until about 9 weeks old. I'm talking, 8 hours plus another 3 hours plus maybe another 1 1/2 hours. In fact, she slept 8 hours on Sunday night. So I know she can do it. I just don't know how to get her to do it every single night. I'll even take the 6 straight hours she was sleeping for about 2 weeks ago!
I think one of the problems is that she may be teething. She has been really slobbery lately and she's tugging on her ears a lot. I really noticed it last night on the video monitor when she was awake. In fact, she's tugging on her left ear so much/so hard that her ear lobe is starting to bleed where it's connected to her face! Which, I suppose that's a whole different issue/blog post... I guess if she's teething, then sleep methods might not work so well?
A few more facts to consider:
We swaddle her when we put her down for bed. But she always busts through the swaddle, but that doesn't necessarily wake her up.
We usually have the sound machine on very softly on falling rain, but I read that if you use too much white noise, that can delay the speech for the child?? Not sure how true that is, so I'd like to stop using the sound machine. (I think I really need to stop reading all these different studies....it just makes me more nervous and worry even more than I already do!)
I know in order for V to be a healthy, happy baby, she needs to get good sleep. And in order for me to not pull my hair out and call her names, she needs to get good sleep! My 4 month blog post is coming up in a couple of weeks and that's where I usually gush about all her great qualities! I need her to sleep well before then or my blog post will be this:
Dear Violet/Stinker Baby,
You're 4 months old today. Good for you.
I'm too exhausted to blog.
I'm looking into a coffee IV drip right now.
Love, Mommy
This is Violet staring me down through the video monitor last night. She definitely has the look of determination and defiance, doesn't she??
Well....sounds like the norm as far as baby bed-time-drama is concerned. Some parents are as hard as nails and NEVER cave with the Ferber Method. I'm a push-over...(just ask my kids) My 2yr old still sleeps with me and my hubby. Heck... half the time he opts for the recliner! But seriously, all of your ideas are great ones....especially the teething bit. Have you tried a lil baby Orajel or Tylenol b4 nursing @ bedtime?? Feel her gums...are they hard or light in color...whitish?? If that's not the case....she may even have a ear ache...if she is pulling on her ear that hard....idk. Has she ran a fever at all or runny nose....cause those can both be from either teething or a cold/ear infection. Mine were all pretty good sleepers from day one....but like I said, I just gave in to every whim....not the best advice! Good luck.... Let me know what you figure out...Congratulations again...V is beautiful....Love the Blog. Very Cute
ReplyDeleteTake care....Lot's of Love to all of you
The white noise myth is nuts. We love white noise and I'm sure you've heard my kids talk...the only problem is that they talk too much.
ReplyDeleteGive her time. There's usually a sleep setback at around 4 months old anyway, and even the sleep trainers (like Ferber...who I'm not really a fan of) recommend waiting until 6 months old to sleep train. Just remember, this too shall pass. She won't be little forever, and she won't want her mama there forever. Cherish the moments where she does, even if they occur at 3am!
Bethany