sleep chronicles, vol. 2

Well, we didn't abort the mission as I had indicated in the last post. And we are glad we didn't. We have been plugging away with the extinction method and continuing to track Eddie's sleep. Yesterday I calculated the average number of hours he has slept in a 24 hr. time frame pre-training and it was 13.3 hrs. Now he is averaging 14 hrs. A baby his age should be sleeping 15-16 hrs per day. So things are improving. He is sleeping exclusively in his crib, which is great for Mom and Dad who can now sleep in normal positions and more soundly throughout the night. And he is sleeping great during the night, only waking up once or twice to eat. Last night he slept from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. without waking! It was pretty crazy. Dad and I both went in to check on him several times to make sure he was still breathing because we were shocked that he wasn't waking up. We sort of figured out that one main reason he cried so hard and long the first night was because we put him on his back, which is the preferred sleep position by everyone in the pediatric medical field because it has proven successful in reducing the rate of SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome, a.k.a. crib death. But, as is the case for many colicky babies, he really can only sleep on his stomach. So now we are doing stomach exclusively and he is sleeping much better...and moving around a lot. He is always in a different position and placement within the crib than how we left him. On Tuesday, Dec. 8th he officially rolled over! Of course no one witnessed it, but when he woke up around 9 to eat he was lying on his back so he must of flipped over.

Although he has yet to have an exact schedule, for now the routine goes something like this: wakes up at 7 a.m., naps from 9 - 10 a.m., naps from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30, naps from 2 - 3:30 p.m. and then we put him down around 5:30/6 p.m., as instructed by the doctor. He is still struggling with falling asleep at that hour and so he either sleeps for only an hour and wakes up, or he cried himself to sleep and it takes an hour or so. It still isn't easy, of course, and we find ourselves walking on eggshells once the baby monitor goes silent. We sit and stare at the flashing red lights, or lack of flashing lights, wondering whether he is truly sleeping or just taking a break or quietly sucking on his fingers. He sucks on his hands and fingers so much now. They are red and chapped from his saliva, almost like a drool rash, and yet I don't feel comfortable putting any lotion or something on them since they are constantly in his mouth and I don't want him to ingest anything. Likewise his cheeks are often inflamed, from sleeping on his stomach and rubbing against the sheets and from lying in his piles of drool...poor guy!

I have spoken with many parents about sleep. Those who have worked with Dr. Weissbluth and used his methods or other similar methods say that yes, it is hard, but it is so worth it. And those that have not done sleep training often find themselves with sleep deprived kids or in difficult situations. Case in point: I was out last night with my girlfriends and one friend had to leave early because she got a call from her husband saying that their one year old would not go to sleep. She said it is because he can only fall asleep in her presence, mostly while she is nursing him. Another friend said that the same was true for her two year old - that she must either hold his hand as he falls sleep or sleep in the bed with him. So, it is, or rather, it will be, worth it when we have a baby who sleeps well.