I read the book Babywise before I had Keira and knew that it was going to be something I wanted to try. Being such of a "routine" person myself, I knew that I would function best if Keira was on a schedule and I could know what was going to happen and how to deal with it. I've been attempting the "eat, wake, sleep" 3 hour increments for the past 4 weeks and yesterday was the first time I let her cry herself to sleep. She had been somewhat fussy and would need some help in order to get to sleep for her naps. She was alert and awake for a lot of the day and I couldn't get her to sleep at certain times. It was stressing me out.
They say you can start letting them cry themselves to sleep around 6 weeks so I was anxiously awaiting her 6 week bday (which is today...crazy!!). So last night for her evening nap, I let her cry. It was torture! She cried and I cried. She cried for about 45 minutes and finally I gave in and picked her up. It was horrible!! When Pete got home I cried to him too...seriously, I felt like someone was ripping my heart out listening to her. I put her to bed at 8:30 and she fell right asleep. I don't think it was cause of any method I used, I just think she was exhausted from crying so hard for so long. Regardless...she slept the WHOLE night!!! I fell asleep around 9:45 expecting to get woken up around 11 to eat and I didn't wake up until 5 am!! And she hadn't woken up at all throughout the whole night! At first I was worried and immediately checked her to see that she was breathing and she was doing just fine, sound asleep in the bassinet right next to me. I was extremely uncomfortable so I fed her and put her right back to bed. I then woke her up at 7:20 to eat again. It felt incredible to get a full night's sleep!! I haven't done that in months!!
I'm determined to get this babywise thing to work and I know that the outcome is a happy baby who knows how to sleep and sleep well. So this morning I tried again. I put her down for a nap around 9 am and she cried for another 45 minutes. Heart wrenching! BUT...she fell asleep! She slept for about 15 minutes and then startled herself and woke up and cried for another 10 minutes. I'd go in every 10-15 minutes and shush her and pat her and check on her. I could tell by her cry that she just wanted to be picked up. Right now she's at the end of her second nap, which she went down for no problem (again probably cause she was so exhausted from crying). We'll see how the late afternoon one does and then how she sleeps tonight. We're going home for a week next weekend and I'd love to have her on the schedule by then and sleeping well. I have a week to give it a shot. Hopefully it's successful!!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Babywise
Posted by juliegoodman at 12:45 PM
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2 comments:
Julie, congrats on having a night of sleep! such a great feeling huh!? I too read baby wise. At first I didn't know how I felt about all of it. I liked some parts, like the eat, wake, sleep. And i did that and loved it, and still do it actually. So its great and it works! I am sure you will like that schedule...for i too am not a scheduled person but found this to be awesome. I did not like the idea of letting her cry it out. I tried when she was about 6 weeks and struggled. To be honest, it took me till she was 3 months to truly let her. It is so hard! But, eventually it is so worth it! I started by setting the timer for about 5 minutes and letting her cry for that long and then comforting her, then putting her back down for another 5. Eventually i would go in and comfort her but not pick her up. I wanted to be tuff, but it is hard, so i found somewhere in the middle i guess. It's a hard process for mom especially. But, you will find what works for you and be grateful that you were intentional about it! best wishes to you! i am sure you are a fabulous mommy :)
That's wonderful Julie!! It has worked so great for me. It gave me such confidence to know when they cried, exactly what they needed, rather than just trying a few things to figur it out. Not to mention, when you're out of the house, its great to plan your day around their feedings.
I started letting both boys fall asleep on their own around 2 or 3 weeks old but I cheated- I used a pacifier. Babywise would call that a sleep prop but I ignored that completely. It gets to be a pain when they lose it at night and you have to go put it in but I just suffered through that part.
I'm a hard core swaddler too. Both boys were swaddled past 8 months. I use two blankets and with the first one, I tuck it over each arm so they can't get their arms out and then do one tight overtop. It honestly works wonders. (I can send a video demonstration if you want :)
I also did what "krisilugbill" said- I'd tell myself I'd let them cry for 10 min. before going in. I didn't lift them out (unless they were really upset) but I'd shush them and pat their backs or something. And actually, both boys slept in a bouncy seat for the first couple months so I'd bounce the seat and not have to lift them up.
Congrats on your first real night of sleep!! That's the greatest feeling in the world. Just wait til they sleep 12 hours in a row...its HEAVEN!
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