Ferber progressive waiting

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/sleep/index.html

Sorry if you don't agree with this or think I'm a bad Mom for doing it. Trust me it was a hard thing to do. Colby developed some bad sleeping habite. With the tooth he got at 12 weeks. Then him gettin gthe ear infection, he got in the habit of waking up too often at night. I'd put him down at 9:00 and he'd be up at 9:45. This went on for several weeks. One night, he never went to sleep. It was not a problem that had anything to do with what he does at daycare either. Something needed to be done. I decided that after he finished his antibiotic that I'd work on it. See the link above for Ferber's method. Here is how it went for us. I will post updates later.

Thursday 7-26- Bed 9:00, woke up at 9:45. Waited 3 min then 5 min then at 10 min he wasn't crying. When I went to see if he was asleep, he was smiling and playing. I was gonna go back in bed but he started crying again. His cries definitely got lower as time passed. Sometimes he would just play. He did have quiet moments. I don't know if he ever fell back asleep. I'm not sure, I may have even dozed off a few times. I told him I wasn't picking him up till midnight. Well, I got him at 11:45 and fed him . He ate for the whole 10 min before falling asleep. Lately he'd only do 5 minutes in the middle of the night. He was back in bed by midnight and woke up at about 4:45.

Friday- Tonight is worse than last night. He didn't fall asleep while nursing so I put him in bed awake. He was OK for awhile. I'd go in and he'd start smiling at me. As soon as I'm out of sight, he screams. I don't mind rocking him to asleep. But, I guess he won't learn to soothe himself that way. At the 10 min span, Rowdy said he thinks this is BS. That he hopes this isn't still going on when he has to get up at 4 to go to work. He finally feel asleep about 11:00. He woke up at almost 3:00 and I fed him. Then he got up at about 5:30 and I fed him. He fell asleep on the boppy but when I stood up with him, he woke up. Rowdy stayed up with him while I went back in bed. Now it is almost 8:00 and I got up. Rowdy asked me if he woke up again after 11:00.

Saturday- I didn't nurse him till 9:00. He was drowsy but didn't fall asleep. He had fallen asleep in the car. But, I decided to rock him after. He fell asleep before 10:00. He woke up when I put him in the bed. He stayed quiet for awhile. Then he cried for 10 minutes. I didn't hear a peep out of him till about 3. I went to the bathroom then I was gonna feed him. I went look in and his eyes were closed. He didn't wake up till about 6:30! I'm not getting my hopes up. But, I sure hope this continues. You know last weekend he slept like 6 hours straight for 2 nights. Then he got back off track.

Sunday- I nursed him and he fell asleep. I put him in bed by 9:00. Like clockwork, he was up at 9:45. I went in at 10:05. He smiled some and cried some. I left and he cried till 10:25. Then he got up a little after 2:00 and I nursed him. He fell asleep on one side which is normally all I do. Then he woke up so I switched sides. He kept wanting to smile and play. He was done and still awake so I rocked him. Again, he kept wanting to play. Finally he looked drowsy enough so I put him in bed by 3:00. I don't know how long before he fell asleep. But, he was quiet. We woke him up at 5:15 to get ready for work. So, that wasn't too bad for him. My problem is that we took a long nap around noon. It was either that or the fact that I'm not used to sleeping for a long time. But, It was hard for me to fall asleep. Plus I kept looking at the clock and thinking he's wake up. Plus kicking Rowdy to stop snoring. So, now I've got to work on my sleep disorder too.


Monday- I put him in bed at 10 till 9 and he was up at 9. I was like hey it's not 9:45 yet. I fed him some more and his eyes kept getting heavy. Like he was nibbling and not eating. But, he cried every time I unlatched him. So, I rocked him. He was drowsy but then wasn't asleep when I put him back in bed at like 9:30. I went in at 20 and then 25 minutes. Again, he held my hand and smiled with his eyes all big. Then once I got out of sight, he screamed. Rowdy got out of bed and watched TV. He came in at 10 till 11 and said he was sleeping. That is a long time to cry. He said poor thing and I agree. I'm wondering if this is really working. Anyway he didn't wake up after that until 5:15 when he was supposed to.


Tuesday- I actually had to ask Rowdy how long he cried for. I put him down at 9:00. He was very sleepy. He cried at 9:15. Rowdy came to bed at 10:00 and I asked him if he was sleeping. He told me he only cried for like 20 minutes. Also that it was more like whining and not hard crying. I had fallen back asleep and didn't check on him. He woke up at 2 and I fed him. Then he woke up at 4 for the day.


Wednesday- He woke up at 9:45 last night. He didn't cry for long. I guess 15-20 minutes again. Started off loud then got quieter. I fell asleep again. Then he woke up at about 3:00 and I fed him. He was wide awake. I rocked him for a little while then but him in bed with the mobile on. Rowdy got out of bed around 4:00. He wasn't crying, just playing. He never went back to sleep. I fed him at 6:00 and he fell asleep. I was gonna just let him play in bed but Rowdy got up. He was really wide awake. I didn't want to push the middle of the night wakings. I figure I'd concentrate on the not getting him up before midnight thing. I wish we didn't have to start his day so early (5:15). If we didn't, he may sleep later sometimes.


Thursday- He was too tired to even eat his cereal. Rowdy was playing with him a lot to wear him out. He was fine and playing taking a bath. Then after I held him while Rowdy fixed his cereal. He started screaming. He loves his cereal and would not eat it. So, I nursed him and he fell asleep by 8:45. He woke up at 9:45 and cried for like 20 minutes. Then he woke up at 11:00 and I nursed him. Just because I thought he may have been hungry because he didn't eat much. Then he was up at 2:00 and cried for like 20 minutes. Then we got him up at 5:10.


Friday- He fussed for a little while when I put him down at 9:00. Then I heard him around 2 or 3 for a couple of minutes. Then the alarm woke him up at 5:00.


Saturday- We went shopping and got home late. We didn't bathe him till after 8:30 and I didn't nurse him till about 9:00. He didn't fall asleep. I rocked him and sang him for a little while and he was dozing off. I put him in bed with his mobile on at 9:30. I went take a bathe and I looked at him and I saw his legs up. I came check this site around 10:00 and checked on him before I got in bed. He was smiling with his eyes closed. I really don't think I heard him at all last night. He didn't wake up till about 8:00!

Cereal

We started him on cereal the day after he turned 4 months old. I used this guideline from the Gerber website...

Introduce just one new variety 3 to 5 days in a row before starting a new one. This makes it easy to watch for food sensitivities. If you suspect a reaction to a food, stop feeding her that food and contact your pediatrician.

After rice, try oatmeal and, if successful, try barley.

First Day
1 Tbsp. Cereal mixed with 4-5 Tbsp. of breast milk, formula or water
Second Day
2 Tbsp. Cereal mixed with 4-5 Tbsp. of breast milk, formula or water
Third Day
3 Tbsp. Cereal mixed with 4-5 Tbsp. of breast milk, formula or water
Fourth Day & Beyond
4 Tbsp. cereal mixed with 4-5 Tbsp. of breast milk, formula, water or juice (once baby has tried and accepted juice)*

We did this with rice cereal. We started with oatmeal last night. He is doing really good with it. I think it was too soon last time we tried (see baptism post) because his tongue reflex to push things out was still there. I think he does goo with 3 tbsp of cereal to 4 of formula. I will have to see how much he will take with his bottle feedings. I'm finally getting to use the formula Christie gave me! I give it to him after nursing in the morning (on weekends) and before nursing at night. I don't do it after nursing at night because he falls asleep. I will start letting daycare feed him with his first bottle. I won't have time to do it. Oh, by the way, it does not help him sleep. I'll be making another post on that.

Here's some pics from his first night.

Speaking of not having enough time...it is fixing to get worse. Rowdy got a new job. It will be a big adjustment for us. He will be working 7 and 7. One week he will be 6a to 6p and the next time 6p to 6a. When he is on days, he will leave before we are up and not get home till about 7p. When he is on nights, he may be gone by the time we get home and he won't be home yet when we leave. I was used to waiting on him to get home so I could get things done. I will just have to figure out how to do them with him not coming home. You know like having to bring Colby in the bathroom with me while I take a bath. Bathing him on my own. Thanks like that that single parents do all the time.

Sleep deprived

Well, Colby got his first sickness. I took him to the Dr. on the 16th because he had been sick for a week He was coughing and had a runny nose. He'd sneeze and there would be an explosion. He had been getting better all week. I took him in because it never went away completely. He had been waking up crying every 1-2 hours. His eyes would stay closed but, he couldn't sleep because he couldn't breathe well. I had been giving him Tylenol cold and cough too. He weighed 15 lbs, 5oz and was 25 in long. They said he had an ear infection. So, he has an antibiotic for a 10 days and another med for the cough. That was Monday that I took him in. Tues. and Wed, he slept 6 hours straight. He was back to his old happy self. Well, Thurs. night was different. He did not go to sleep at all. Everything was going like normal. I fed him and he was in is bed by 9:00. Up by 9:30 crying. I nursed him a little more. He stopped crying but wouldn't go back to sleep. I put him in his crib with the mobile on. Hoping to get at least some sleep and that he may possibly put himself to sleep. Nope, he was crying by 11:00. DH got up with him. He never went back to sleep. I nursed him every 1.5 hours. All he wanted to do was cry. We rocked him, walked with him. Tried the swing which he falls asleep in sometimes now, the bouncy, play mat, a different room. Nothing worked. I fed him at 5:00 and he dozed off for 10 min. Then he woke up OK enough for us to get ready for work. I fed him again at 6:00 and left. He fell asleep in the car. When we got to daycare, he woke up. She said he didn't even fall asleep after I left which he normally does. He had his regular schedule with naps and eating with her. He didn't take an evening nap with me. Sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't. Last night he was up every 1-2 hours again. I fed him at 3:00. He fell asleep in the swing at about 5 when Rowdy got up for work. So, I went in the bed. I came on the couch at about 5:45 when he left. Colby was still sleeping. He woke up at about 8:00. So I got about 2.5 hours of sleep.


I think this is the day he got sick. I took him to a B-day party. It was hot outside. I mainly kept him inside though. I think the change in temp may have done it.

Baptism

Colby slept through most of the mass. Then by the time we were taking pictures he got hungry and fussy. But, it turned out to be a really good day. More people came from Rowdy's side. But, I had been sick and really didn't ask too many people to come.

Four Generations.

His onzie with a cross.