Last night looked like many of the previous nights, however I actually got up on time for the dreamfeed! Ryan set his alarm and I got right out of bed. The good news is that aside from some minor fussing which she settled herself down during and two dreamfeeds, Natalie slept nearly 12 hours!
8:06 - In bed, minor fussing
8:18 - Asleep
10:40 - Dreamfeed 7 minutes
3:30 - Dreamfeed 3 minutes. She really wanted to eat longer and was not so happy when I unlatched her and gave her the pacifier, but quickly went to sleep.
8:00 - Awake for the day
If we can just get rid of that middle of the night dreamfeed! We will try 2 minutes tonight, 1 minute Sunday night and no dreamfeed on Monday night. I really, really, really hope it works!!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Top 5 Saturday Laughs 2.11.12
Happy weekend! I am looking forward to *hopefully* sleeping in tomorrow morning. I am linking up with Melissa from The Mommyhood Chronicles for the Saturday Laughs Bloghop. Make sure you stop by and check out all the funny posts, it's a great way to kick off the weekend.
I hope you enjoy our laughs from the past week.
5. I had turned on Mickey Mouse for Natalie one morning while we were getting ready. After I got her out of bed, Claire was protesting watching Mickey and decided to take measures into her own hand, literally. She started pretending that her hand was a remote and was pushing her buttons. I thought that was rather creative.
4. Both girls love to play on our bed. Ryan was hiding under the covers with Natalie and would sit up and yell "surprise". Everyone was cracking up, but Natalie was laughing the hardest. She would get so excited every time the covers were whipped off, that she would jump so hard that she nearly stood up.
3. Tonight during her bath, Claire was testing her limits. She was being very rude and rather mean. Everything was "NO" or "don't say that" or "stop talking". Can attitude start already with a nearly 3 year old?! She had to get out of the bath without getting to play (again making mommy very unpopular). At this point, I was thankful that Ryan got to deal with Miss Attitude and I took Natalie to her room to feed her. When it was time for Claire to go to bed, she asked me to carry her like a baby. She then informed me that she "was a mean baby in her bath, but is now a nice baby." At least she understood that she was being mean?
2. Speaking of baths, the girls often take a bath together. Claire loves to blow raspberries on Natalie's back and belly. As Claire was about to raspberry Natalie's back, she stood up and Claire's lips landed squarely on Natalie's booty. I laughed until I cried!
1. Claire has a large stuffed cowboy Woody doll from Toy Story. She calls him 'Big Woody' since she also has a smaller stuffed cowboy. That in itself is funny, but this week she gave Big Woody to Ryan to hold while she went to do something. As she was running away, she yells, "Daddy, you're holding your favorite Woody!" We both busted up laughing.
Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 10
I honestly didn't think I would make it this long. Don't get me wrong, it is challenging hard, really hard. Natalie has done a great job learning to sleep, but the challenge comes in getting up to the alarm at all hours of the night during this weaning process. I just don't want to do it. I want to sleep as long as she does. I want to feed her when she wakes up at 5:00. The only thing that keeps me going is my memories, I remember that we've been down that path before. I went back to work when Natalie was eight weeks old and she was only waking for her 4 am feeding. Fast forward 6-7 months and we were waking at least three times a night, sometimes as often as every hour throughout the night. I do not want to go back there, ever. So I keep pressing on, however I now must enlist help from Ryan. I am starting to hit snooze or flat out sleep through my alarm for the scheduled dreamfeed. So I have asked Ryan to set his alarm and make me get out of bed. We are getting so close (insert wishful thinking font here) to sleeping for long stretches and I must press on.
Last night looked quite similar to the past few nights:
8:00 - Natalie was in bed. There was minimal fussing, but lots of playing with the six pacifiers in her bed
8:12 - Asleep.
10:30 - Dreamfeed before I went to bed
3:00 - Start of alarm sequence - which continued until 4:30 when Natalie fussed and I cursed myself for not getting out of bed at the scheduled time. If I had just gotten up, she probably wouldn't have woke up! She cried off and on for 13 minutes
4:50 - Went in to dreamfeed Natalie, she had been quiet and still for 7 minutes so I assumed she had gone back to sleep. When I opened her door, she sat right up - ugh!! I fed her, but kept her awake. She ate for 3 minutes, I put her in bed awake and she went right back to sleep.
7:30 - Natalie began stirring, but kept going back to sleep
7:50 - Up for the day (yes I was late to work this morning)
It is a good thing that I keep being reminded to look 'on paper' to see our progress. I can see it on paper, I am more tired than ever so I don't feel it. If someone would have told me 10 days ago that Natalie would soon only get up once/night I would have been ecstatic. I need to remember that perspective to keep motivated to do this. This is short term, even if it takes a month (written with pleading, "please no" undertone here). When we're done she will know how to sleep and that is a lesson that will help all of us for the long term future.
Last night looked quite similar to the past few nights:
8:00 - Natalie was in bed. There was minimal fussing, but lots of playing with the six pacifiers in her bed
8:12 - Asleep.
10:30 - Dreamfeed before I went to bed
3:00 - Start of alarm sequence - which continued until 4:30 when Natalie fussed and I cursed myself for not getting out of bed at the scheduled time. If I had just gotten up, she probably wouldn't have woke up! She cried off and on for 13 minutes
4:50 - Went in to dreamfeed Natalie, she had been quiet and still for 7 minutes so I assumed she had gone back to sleep. When I opened her door, she sat right up - ugh!! I fed her, but kept her awake. She ate for 3 minutes, I put her in bed awake and she went right back to sleep.
7:30 - Natalie began stirring, but kept going back to sleep
7:50 - Up for the day (yes I was late to work this morning)
It is a good thing that I keep being reminded to look 'on paper' to see our progress. I can see it on paper, I am more tired than ever so I don't feel it. If someone would have told me 10 days ago that Natalie would soon only get up once/night I would have been ecstatic. I need to remember that perspective to keep motivated to do this. This is short term, even if it takes a month (written with pleading, "please no" undertone here). When we're done she will know how to sleep and that is a lesson that will help all of us for the long term future.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Happy 10 Months Miss Natalie Sue
We have entered the double digit months! Very quickly Natalie is growing into a toddler, right before my eyes. The list of things that she is able to do is exponentially expanding.
Here are some of the milestones of the month:
- She has started walking behind walkers, chairs and anything that will push.
- She is signing "more" "all-done" and "milk"
- She often says "mu" when signing milk
- Waves and says "buh-buh"
- Natalie loves to pray at dinner. She folds her hands and claps after we say amen.
- She blows kisses and likes to make blah, blah sounds while moving her hand over her mouth to change the tone
- Hates being told no, she gets very upset
- She will try to climb anything in her path
- That second bottom tooth came through. She has six more on the way, but they are moving slow.
- Natalie loves to see babies. In person, in pictures or herself in the mirror. She sometimes says "be-be" and giggles with delight.
- She prefers to take bites of food rather than have small pieces on her high chair.
- She has recently began exploring things in her world through touch. She loves to touch all the animals of her mobile before I lay her down in bed. She is becoming very aware of the world around her.
- The nights are getting better thanks to SleepEasy sleep training. We are on our 10th night and beginning to see some progress. I am hoping by the time I write another monthly update, that is a milestone that we can include!!
Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 9
I can't believe that tonight will be the tenth day of sleep training. In so many ways, it feels SO much longer. Our whole family now has mild colds, the girls seem to have it worse than Ryan or myself. I feel my body fighting it, so I am really hoping to get some sleep!
Our night went very well, even better than the night before.
8:02 - I put Natalie in bed, she didn't cry at all.
8:10 - Asleep
10:30 - Dreamfeed before I went to bed.
I was supposed to get up at 2:30 and dreamfeed again, however I hit snooze and finally turned off the alarm. I woke up at 4:55. Obviously, Natalie either woke and put herself back to sleep without fussing or did not wake at all. She went 5 1/2 hours between feeds! Incredible!
4:55 - Dreamfeed for 4 minutes
7:30 - Natalie happily woke up on her own.
Last night was a first for us, there was absolutely no crying throughout the entire night (11.5 hours)! She went to sleep and stayed asleep the whole night (or at least fussed only a little since it didn't wake me up)!!! I love being able to update with progress :-)
Thanks to everyone who is following our journey and your prayers for sleep! The encouragement has been so helpful!
Our night went very well, even better than the night before.
8:02 - I put Natalie in bed, she didn't cry at all.
8:10 - Asleep
10:30 - Dreamfeed before I went to bed.
I was supposed to get up at 2:30 and dreamfeed again, however I hit snooze and finally turned off the alarm. I woke up at 4:55. Obviously, Natalie either woke and put herself back to sleep without fussing or did not wake at all. She went 5 1/2 hours between feeds! Incredible!
4:55 - Dreamfeed for 4 minutes
7:30 - Natalie happily woke up on her own.
Last night was a first for us, there was absolutely no crying throughout the entire night (11.5 hours)! She went to sleep and stayed asleep the whole night (or at least fussed only a little since it didn't wake me up)!!! I love being able to update with progress :-)
Thanks to everyone who is following our journey and your prayers for sleep! The encouragement has been so helpful!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 8
We have officially crossed the one-week mark. For the first night in quite a few posts, I feel like we made solid progress last night! I am so excited to finally be able to write those words. I understand that in the grand scheme of things, this is short term, but while in the thick, it sure feels long.
Here is the summary of the night:
8:02 - I put Natalie in bed, she did not fuss at all.
8:09 - Asleep
10:38 - Dreamfeed (At this feeding I have started letting her eat as long as she wants to in hopes that she "stocks up" for the night. I don't mind this feeding since it is nice to sit in her quiet dark room before heading to bed.)
11:14 - Cried for a minute and went right back to sleep
3:15 - Dreamfeed for 4 minutes (this is the feeding I am going to work on weaning first)
6:00 - Natalie woke up, sat up and began protesting. She was pretty worked up but settled down after 5 minutes, laid down 3 minutes later and was back asleep shortly after.
7:15 - Pseudo dreamfeed - she woke up while eating for the day
Natalie slept with minimal interruption for 10 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now if we can just get rid of that middle of the night feeding and keep this sleep pattern, we will be in business.
Thank you for following our journey and for the support!! I am hoping this is the start of a trend with Miss Natalie :-)
Here is the summary of the night:
8:02 - I put Natalie in bed, she did not fuss at all.
8:09 - Asleep
10:38 - Dreamfeed (At this feeding I have started letting her eat as long as she wants to in hopes that she "stocks up" for the night. I don't mind this feeding since it is nice to sit in her quiet dark room before heading to bed.)
11:14 - Cried for a minute and went right back to sleep
3:15 - Dreamfeed for 4 minutes (this is the feeding I am going to work on weaning first)
6:00 - Natalie woke up, sat up and began protesting. She was pretty worked up but settled down after 5 minutes, laid down 3 minutes later and was back asleep shortly after.
7:15 - Pseudo dreamfeed - she woke up while eating for the day
Natalie slept with minimal interruption for 10 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now if we can just get rid of that middle of the night feeding and keep this sleep pattern, we will be in business.
Thank you for following our journey and for the support!! I am hoping this is the start of a trend with Miss Natalie :-)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 7
Day 7 was way more challenging than the first six days. This was also the day where I learned my breaking point. Claire has shared her cold with her little sister and Natalie has been congested the last couple days. So I was concerned how this would impact our sleep training. We had a rough night, but I am not sure if the cold was the culprit or not. Here is how our night went.
7:53 - Natalie was beginning to fall asleep while nursing so I promptly put her in bed
8:03 - Asleep, she never sat up
I was planning to dreamfeed her at 10:30. However our challenging time began just before that.
10:20 - Screamed for two minutes.
I then wanted to wait 10 minutes after she was quiet to make sure she was totally asleep.
10:31 - Screamed again, this time stood up in full protest.
This pattern continued for nearly an hour. The time in between the protesting was beginning to get shorter and she was not laying down as much any longer. When she would lay down she was extremely restless and wouldn't hold still. A minute 'quiet time' between screaming outbursts became a long time.
11:15 - Decided that Ryan would go in for a check-in
11:20 - Natalie hadn't settled down at all and her cry was becoming more intense and sharp sounding. Both Ryan and I agreed that something seemed wrong rather than just protesting being alone.
11:25 - I went in and held her to get her to calm down. She was quite congested and it took a long time for her to settle down. Once she calmed down, I fed her but I was careful to not let her fall asleep while nursing.
11:35 - I put Natalie back in her bed, she protested but quickly quieted down
11:42 - Asleep
2:45 - Dreamfeed
6:30 - Dreamfeed
8:00 - I woke Natalie for the day.
Looking back, I am unsure if she wasn't feeling well or if it was the final "extinction burst" as it is called in the book. It is one last final push for the 'old way' before they totally give into the sleep training method. I am still stumped today. I guess time will tell. At the time it was happening, I was sure something wasn't right, but now I am doubting myself.
I am encouraged that Natalie slept for over 8 consecutive hours. That is a big accomplishment in our world. I scheduled her first dreamfeed a little earlier today to see if she could get past that fussy time that she has had the last few days that normally begins somewhere between 10:20-11:30.
Tomorrow marks a week for our sleep training. Natalie will be 10 months old on Thursday, I can't believe it has been that long since I have slept through the night! I am hoping that by the time she's 11 months old, I will be sleeping again :-)
7:53 - Natalie was beginning to fall asleep while nursing so I promptly put her in bed
8:03 - Asleep, she never sat up
I was planning to dreamfeed her at 10:30. However our challenging time began just before that.
10:20 - Screamed for two minutes.
I then wanted to wait 10 minutes after she was quiet to make sure she was totally asleep.
10:31 - Screamed again, this time stood up in full protest.
This pattern continued for nearly an hour. The time in between the protesting was beginning to get shorter and she was not laying down as much any longer. When she would lay down she was extremely restless and wouldn't hold still. A minute 'quiet time' between screaming outbursts became a long time.
11:15 - Decided that Ryan would go in for a check-in
11:20 - Natalie hadn't settled down at all and her cry was becoming more intense and sharp sounding. Both Ryan and I agreed that something seemed wrong rather than just protesting being alone.
11:25 - I went in and held her to get her to calm down. She was quite congested and it took a long time for her to settle down. Once she calmed down, I fed her but I was careful to not let her fall asleep while nursing.
11:35 - I put Natalie back in her bed, she protested but quickly quieted down
11:42 - Asleep
2:45 - Dreamfeed
6:30 - Dreamfeed
8:00 - I woke Natalie for the day.
Looking back, I am unsure if she wasn't feeling well or if it was the final "extinction burst" as it is called in the book. It is one last final push for the 'old way' before they totally give into the sleep training method. I am still stumped today. I guess time will tell. At the time it was happening, I was sure something wasn't right, but now I am doubting myself.
I am encouraged that Natalie slept for over 8 consecutive hours. That is a big accomplishment in our world. I scheduled her first dreamfeed a little earlier today to see if she could get past that fussy time that she has had the last few days that normally begins somewhere between 10:20-11:30.
Tomorrow marks a week for our sleep training. Natalie will be 10 months old on Thursday, I can't believe it has been that long since I have slept through the night! I am hoping that by the time she's 11 months old, I will be sleeping again :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)