A Mom Like Me

It’s been about a month since I’ve been trying to help Logan (and I!!) get a little more sleep. I made another log last night and I’m happy to see that at least we have seen some improvement!

7:25 nurse, put in crib

11:11 Up, nurse (BUT it’s almost four hours since I first put him down. Yahoo! This is a GIANT step!)

11:25 Back to crib. Getting him back in his bed after the first wake up is a struggle…

11:30 Back in Logan’s room to give soother

11:43 Finally get him to fall asleep by leaning over crib and letting him hold my arm

12:42 Logan wakes again. Way too tired to keep this up all night so I brought him into my bed where he fell asleep instantly.

2:40 Nurse

5:00 Nurse

6:25 Up for the day

Total number of awakenings: 5

Longest sleep span: 4 hours

Total hours of sleep: 11

There are huge improvements here! Seeing a new “typical” night gives me hope of more sleep to come. In a month, Logan has decreased his number of night wakings from nine down to five. His longest sleep span has increased from three hours to four, and his total hours of nighttime sleep from nine up to eleven. Baby steps.

Daytime sleep has already improved dramatically. I am now getting Logan down for a couple naps a day, often ranging from one to two hours at a time.

Despite not always being so well rested, my sweet boy is always so happy!

Hanging with my pal Max!

My littlest is five months old. I can’t believe it. Where has the time gone?

Five months of very little sleep are catching up with me and I decided it’s time to take action. I pulled out my copy of “The No Cry Sleep Solution” which was read three years ago with my first little guy, Tristan, to help everyone get a little more shut eye. (For the record, my one time all night party animal now sleeps 12 hours a night, a good two to three hour nap daily and will even sleep in if he’s tired!) But I digress.

This book offers parents gentle suggestions for helping their babies sleep longer stretches, with fewer wakeups, without resorting to making them cry, which is right in line with my parenting philosophy.

One of the first steps in this plan is to document sleep over a 24 hour period, and then record progress in ten day intervals. Here goes…

Day 1

8:34 pm – Put down in crib after nursing

8:45 pm – snuggle

8:55 pm – back to crib

9:45 pm – snuggles with daddy

10:00 pm – back to crib

10:45 pm – nurse

11:00 pm – back to crib

midnight – nurse, move into bed with mama

3:15 am – nurse

4:00 am – nurse

5:15 am- give soother…. apparent tummy ache, takes 45 mins to get back to sleep.

7:00 am – snuggle

8:10 am – up for the day

Total number of awakenings: 9

Longest sleep span: 3 hours

Total hours of sleep: 9 hours

The daytime didn’t go much better with 3 short naps totaling 60 mins. According to this book, babies Logan’s age should be getting (on average) 3-4 hours of nap time daily, and sleeping 10-11 hours per night. There’s definitely a deficit at our house!

When I see a night like this recorded on paper, it’s no wonder I’ve been feeling so nutty the past few months! Seriously? What’s the point of even going to bed?? And to think this was actually better than a typical night…

I’ve started a couple of strategies suggested in the book. We have formulated a sleepy time routine (read a story, nurse/snuggle in rocking chair, bed). I’ve introduced a “lovey” (the gentle giraffe) which we will always have with us while getting ready to sleep  and will accompany Mr. Logan into his crib. And I’m trying to catch him and soothe him back into sleep before he really wakes up during the day. (Naps don’t typically last more than 20 mins).

This afternoon I went in after 15 mins and hovered near him, waiting for signs of imminent waking. The idea is to shush the baby at the first signs that he’s coming out of sleep and settle him back into deep sleep before he fully wakes. Suddenly Logan’s eyes popped open, arms and legs began flailing…He went straight from sleeping to being ready to party in seconds. No transition period. Definitely no time to shush.

Apparently that strategy is going to take a little work 😉

I have realistic expectations. I’m not expecting the little munchkin to suddenly start sleeping 12 hour stretches at this point. According to the medical definition, an infant is sleeping through the night when they stay down for five straight hours…  a five hour stretch sounds heavenly to me! 🙂

We’ll see where we’re at in ten more days. Fingers are crossed for improvement!

Asleep at last