Sleep

Last Monday S and I decided it was time for C to sleep in his crib, which is in his room, which is upstairs. :( I tried holding off as long as I could. You see, our bedroom is downstairs and I felt so uncomfortable having C upstairs, alone. But, S, C and myself were not getting enough sleep so I knew it was time.

Up until now, we would have him in his swing during the day to take his naps. As soon as he would cry, we would turn on the vacuum cleaner to help him sleep. (Poor motor.) And in the evenings, I would rock C for at least one hour every night before I'd gently place him in his bassinet/pack 'n play in our room. He would wake up at least once, sometimes two or three times during the night. This could not go on so I decided now would be the perfect time to try to "train" C to fall asleep unassisted.

I've been reading the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth thanks to E & M (my sisters-in-law). I tried Dr. Weissbluth's stratgies. The first evening was ROUGH. We placed him in his crib around 8pm drowsy but awake. C cried (I hate to admit) for 50 straight minutes. But, he slept through the night until 6am! The next day I tried the same strategy for all of his naps. He would cry for awhile and only sleep for 20-25 minutes most naps.

We are on day 8 of sleep "training" and C is doing so well. Most days for naps he'll fuss for only a max of 10 minutes and then sleep for at least 40-45 minutes. And most evenings we don't  hear a peep from him and he will sleep all through the night. (Although on August 22, he woke at 3:00am (that was a first) but, his new cousin had just been born and so I think he wanted me to wake up so I could hear the good news!)

So, we have another first for C. On August 15, 2011 he slept in his crib for the first time. Now mommy, daddy, and C are all getting a good night's sleep.