Sleep Update

Last night Sam went to bed at 7:45pm, was up crying at 11:15pm, I went in and rubbed his head for a minute, and I did not nurse him until he was up again at 12:45am. That's 5 hours. Woo-hoo!

I can't remember for the life of me what happened after that because for some reason, despite being exhausted, I could not fall asleep. It was like I was over tired. I don't know what my deal was. I finally took half a Valium at 2:00am, laid on the couch and eventually fell asleep somewhere between watching The O'Reily Factor and Fox & Friends.

What I do know is that I woke up with him on my chest on the couch this morning at 6:00am and put him in his crib. (Ooops. That can't help matters.) And he woke up for the day at 8:50am.

Not quite the ideal night by any means, but we're getting there.

Sam-1, Mommy-O

Yesterday I pulled out the "What to Expect the First Year" book for the first time since Sam was born. One look at it's warped pages and I quickly remembered how addicted to and reliant on, I was to it when Bo was little. I read it cover to cover and always had it near by to look up an occasional oddity or paranoia I was having at the time about why my child wasn't doing something or to diagnose what on earth the rash was all over his body. But apparently, with child number 2, comes a sense of calmness and a can-do attitude (or is it tiredness and passiveness?) Either way, I once again found solace in this book last night.

I read all about the sixth month and the developmental path Sam should be following. I looked up the introduction of solid foods and yes, I read the section on sleep. Everything from stopping nighttime feedings to how to get your child to sleep through the night. And it was weird. I already knew all of this information but at times it was as if I was reading it for the first time. The tactics were not new or anything that I hadn't already thought about but after reading it again I was inspired and motivated by this:

Cold turkey: For those parents desperate and determined to get that good night's sleep sooner rather than later, letting a baby cry it out almost always works. Though some recommend utilizing this method as early as three months, it's best to wait until baby's closer to six months. By that point, most babies no longer require nighttime nutrition breaks - unless they were born prematurely and are still catching up. And while a younger infant cries to communicate basic needs, older babies are becoming more sophisticated in their motivations. As long as crying results in being picked up, rocked, fed, they'll keep it up. When they find it no longer works, most will give up on nighttime crying usually within three to four nights.

If you're philosophically opposed to this approach, don't try it. Parenting that goes against parental instincts is rarely successful. Instead, provide your baby with a back-to-sleep crutch, such as sleep inducing music, a pacifier, a nursing - or anything else you choose - for as long as necessary, or move on the plan below.

And so, newly motivated and desperate for sleep, that was my plan last night. I would let him cry, not pick him up, soothe him by rubbing his head, and not nurse him at all. Here's how it went down:

8:00 - Put him in bed awake. Fell asleep shortly thereafter. No crying.
10:30 - I fell asleep.
11:00 - Sam's up crying. I went in to soothe according to plan.
11:05 - Nursed to top-him-off. (New modified plan: don't nurse until morning.)
11:30 - Back in crib asleep
1:30 - Up again crying & screaming. Waited 5 minutes before entering room.
1:35 - Went in, rubbed his head, turned on mobile. Waited 5 more minutes.
1:40 - Still crying. Went back in. Rubbed head. Did not nurse. (Yay for me!)
1:45 - He fell asleep.
3:00 - Up crying again!
3:01 - I went in & nursed him (Damn it! So much for the modified plan)
3:30 - Back in crib asleep
6:25 - Up fussing. I was determined to not go in. Sat at computer and blogged.
6:35 - Fuss turned to crying. I went in to soothe. More blogging followed.
6:45 - Still crying. I'm beat. I nursed him. (Plan aborted)
9:30 - Sam up for the day. (I'll try again tonight)

Bo-isms #7-9

7. Bo has been saying this for a month or 2 now but I keep forgetting to write it down which is strange for me since I crack up every time he says it:
Me: "Did you poop?"
Bo: (With his head tilted to the side and his palms turned up to the sky) "No poop, just gas! "
** I so wish I could get this on video because it's not so much what he says but how he says it. Hilarious! **

8. This, too is something he has done for quite awhile but still ultra cute. Many times when he enters the room he announces himself with his arms up in the air and a big "tuh-da".
** Again, I so need to get this on video."**

9. While playing in the garage tonight, he scraped his shin on the plow of the 4-wheeler and started to cry.
Me: "Are you ok?"
Bo: (As he stopped crying and puffed up his chest) "Yeah, tough guy."

I Think I've Been Starving My Kid

We gave Sam his first solid food (other than rice cereal) last night and he devoured it. Every last drop of sweet potatoes was gone. There wasn't even an inkling of a splatter on his shirt. He ate it all!

And once again I have fallen suit to the second baby syndrome. Sorry Sam. With Bo, I was gung-ho and made all of this first foods. I made batches of sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash and froze them in tiny containers to thaw out when needed. This time, I went to the Commissary, stocked up on pre-packaged, pre-portioned organic baby food to pop open when needed. So much easier and so much quicker, but oh so much wasted plastic. Sorry Mother Earth.

But, I digress. Sam. Yes. The starving child. Holy cow. I feel guilty. Tough love isn't what he needed to sleep more at night. Food is what he needed.

He ate the sweet potatoes at about 7:00pm, I nursed him around 7:30, he was in bed at 8:00, fell asleep shortly thereafter, and did not wake up until 11:30pm. That's 3.5 hours folks. 3.5 hours. And it continued through the night. It was wonderful. I only had to get up and nurse him twice. I say that's PROGRESS!

So today, I am going to feed him and fill his belly and hope the 3.5 hours turns in to 4.

Sittin' Pretty

He's finally loosing the weeble-wobble-ness, and sitting up like a pro. I can't believe he's going to be 6 months old next week. My little Sammers is getting so big.

Picture Drama

We had an appointment last night to have Sam's 6 month pictures taken and decided to try and get some family portraits done as well. I had grand plans. I wanted pictures of Sam, ones of Bo & Sam together, a family picture to update the one on our wall from 2 years ago, and a cute Christmas picture to send out with Christmas cards.

I knew this was ambitious but I was optimistic. Probably falsely so, but hopeful still. I really thought it would all work out. Sam is so easy going and smiley and Bo has always been a ham in the past, so why wouldn't it?

I ran around town all morning looking for outfits for the boys. I would have done it sooner but I just booked the appointment 2 days prior and this was my first chance to get out. I never found exactly what I was looking for but wasn't ready to give up.

So, later, after naps, totally last minute at this point, I did another whirlwind trip through Old Navy on the way to the studio. And I mean whirlwind. Clothes were flying, sales people were scurrying, and Bo was crying, but by golly I left there with a bag full of clothes in a matter of minutes, and damn it I was going to get the perfect family picture.

Some how, though, in all the chaos, Bo never got the memo.

4 stores, 9 purchased outfits, 2 trips to town, bribes of chocolate, an orange Popsicle, and 1.5 hours of studio time later, we NEVER got a decent family portrait.

We did however, get some great shots of Sam. He is so much fun and such a happy baby. He was smiling at anything and everything. And really, he was the main reason we went to the studio in the first place so I shouldn't complain.

Besides, now I have an excuse to not send out Christmas cards this year. Things could be worse.

It's Time For Tough Love

We got back from Nebraska Monday night and are trying to get back in to the swing of things. I will write later about our trip and all that we did but right now I want to talk about Sam.

Sam will be 6 months old next week and is still up all the time at night. All. The. Time. Lately he's been up every 1-2 hours. It's been getting worse the past few months and is getting really old really fast. I partially blame him having a bad cold and being sick all of October, traveling, him getting his first tooth last week, and me always sticking him on the boob every time he wakes up, but something has got to be done.

We are traveling again in 3 weeks and it is my goal to have him broken from the nightly boobcapades by then. I am exhausted and want a normal night sleep. It won't be easy on any of us, I'm sure, but this is my vow to try.

I actually started last night by only feeding him if it had been over 3 hours. (How pathetic is that?!) The other times he woke up in between, which was many, I went in, rubbed his head for a minute, turned on his mobile and walked out. The longest he cried was 10 minutes so not bad. I was impressed.

And after doing this all night, he finally slept a 3 hour stretch from 3:30am-6:30am this morning. Yay. It's a start and I'll take it.

I am too much of a softy to cut out all feedings cold-turkey but I will get there. I will.