Sleep Deprivation Part 2

I haven't been deprived of sleep for the past few days now, but I thought I would post a few more instances that occurred in the recent past. So here you go.

You know you're sleep deprived when:

1) You try to squirt the babies bottle into your contact case instead of saline solution (reason #358 why I think I should get Lasik).

2) When preparing to nurse you try to shake up the milk like you would a bottle.

3) When flying on a plane you look out the window, spot a farm, and think you can actually smell the animals before realizing your little bundle of joy just made a deposit down under.

I am getting more sleep. John is too (we alternate feedings). We're starting to get a hang of this ferberizing thing. Sam took a number of naps today without making a peep. And he wakes up like it's Christmas morning. We even got his first giggle today. I'm beginning to think my fussy baby was simply sleep deprived himself.

The Ferberization of Samuel James: Day Four

This picture shows Sam doing what Sam loves best...eating his hands. My friend, CJ says when Sam sees me coming he tries to stuff his hands in his mouth so I won't try to clip his fingernails (I might have accidentally clipped his fingers a few times).

Anyway, the ferberizing is going okay (and I should add we're doing a very modified version of this cry-it-out technique). About 70% of the time he puts himself to sleep in about 5 minutes. 15% of the time it takes 10-15 minutes. And then there is the remaining 15% when the poor guy cries for about 30-45 minutes.

He is sleeping better at night (he took a 5 hour stretch last night), and he is extremely happy when he's awake (which makes me think that he is finally getting the sleep that he needs). I try to keep these things in mind when he's crying.

By the way, if you're reading along at home and have advice for getting babies to sleep, I'm all ears. Don't worry about stepping on my toes.

Does anyone know where I could find a website that tracks a baby's sleep/eating? I'm looking for a free website but have not come across anything yet.

I'm bad for the environment

I had every intention of honoring Earth Hour today from 8-9 pm. But I forgot. I completely forgot. During Earth Hour I checked my e-mail, played video games, turned on my baby monitor and used my electric breast pump...all with the lights on. Whoops. I didn't remember it was Earth Hour until 8:55 pm tonight...and then I wrote this blog. I suppose I could have honored the last five minutes of Earth Hour, but that didn't occur to me until just now. Sorry, earth.

The Ferberization of Samuel James: Day Two

Okay. We're doing okay.

Nap #1 resulted in 30 minutes of crying. Nap #2 equaled 15 minutes of crying. Naps 3 and 4 had him conked out within 5 minutes of crying. It's starting to look like he can fall asleep on his own better than he can with "help."

I was all geared up for a tough night. Knowing his pattern of waking up every two hours I went to bed with my game face on and was prepared for some crying. However, perhaps in an act of asserting he was still the boss of sorts, Sam slept for 4.5 hours on his own. He woke up 2 hours later and we let him cry for 45 minutes.

Overall we're doing well...although it was a bit sad to see him gulping down his milk at 5:30 this morning. The poor little guy was used to multiple midnight snacks so going down to two feedings was a bit of a shocker. Thanks for the supportive comments!

The Ferberization of Samuel James: Day One

Being as:

1) John and I have not slept for more than about two hours at a time over the past few weeks, and

2) There is no question that Sam is getting enough to eat, and

3) Sam is about 3.5 months old, and

4) our next door neighbors are out of town for the next week or so

our doctor recommended we begin some sleep training ala a variation of the Ferber method, or, more commonly known as the "cry it out" method. Multiple friends have warned us that this is a heart-wrenching process and to be prepared to cry right along with him.

We are almost 4 hours into the process, and so far it's been a welcome relief. Instead of rocking Sam for 30 minutes while he's crying in order to get him to sleep, we let him cry in his crib for 15 minutes until he's gotten himself to sleep (we check in on him at various intervals...although his doctor said, "Well, if he's crying you know he's breathing).

I'm sure it will get tougher as we go along (especially tonight), but for now, this seems to be the kindest, most practical thing for Sam.

Good morning, Samuel Drury!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y1Vm1tEDcx8

This is probably only interesting if you are related to me...and then only remotely so...nevertheless, here it is! It's a little dark at first.