Thursday, May 21, 2009

Confused

Babies are confusing. Just when I think I have Lil Miss figured out she changes things up on me. This week we have continued with the no swaddle nap time and yesterday evening we progressed to both arms out. So far so good.

She did well and only fussed for a little while. So the naptime transition is going well but the nighttime is getting worse. I got brave and decided to try her with one arm out a few nights ago and that was a disaster. She woke up at 11:00 crying Level 5 (on our 1-5 scale) so I rushed in and swaddled both arms again. She cried for about 5 minutes and fell back asleep. After that I decided to stick with the complete swaddle until we master naptime.

Well, last night is when she left me completely confused. She slept until 2:00, I fed her, laid her back down happily asleep, and fell asleep myself thinking "great, I will get 8 hours of sleep tonight". Next thing I know I am awaken from a very deep sleep at 3:30 to her crying Level 4. I rush in thinking she had a bad dream (which she has had in the past I think) only to have her immediately stop crying and look up at me and smile. Oh no Miss...now is not the time for that so I tighten her swaddle, rub her tummy and tell her night night. She only cried for a few minutes after that and then fell back asleep. Fast forward to 4:30, awake again but this time it takes her 45 minutes to fall back asleep and she keeps busting out of her swaddle no matter how tight Jeff or I make it. Awake again at 6:00 and I give her a short feed and lay her back down. Some more crying and just when I am about to give in, I decide to go pick her up and give her some cuddles to see if she is still tired. A couple yawns is the only sign I need to know that she did not get enough sleep yet so I put her in one of her sleep sacks (gave up on the swaddle since she just kept coming out of it) and let her cry it out once again. Now at 7:08 she is back asleep and I can finsh the bowl of cereal I started over an hour ago.

Now, we haven't officially started sleep training but I am doing some of the Cry It Out method because it works for Katie and for me. I know she can go to sleep on her own because she does it all of the time for her naps and at bedtime. I just don't understand why she is waking up so frequently at night??? I knew having a newborn meant sleep deprivation, but I sure didn't expect it go on for 5 months. I sure hope I can get 7 hours of sleep in a row again sometime soon. Hopefully we can get her away from the swaddle completely and then she won't spend so much energy at night trying to bust out of it.

Now moving on....Katie and I had a fun little photo session yesterday so I thought I would end on a happy note with some smiles and funny expressions from our Lil Miss.




1 comment:

eLiZaBeTh said...

oh my.....that last picture! She is such a beautiful baby Andrea. I love your posts, you are so funny! "Babies are confusing" yes, they are and they still are at almost 5...my lil miss is Little Miss Indpendent to you, thankyouverymuch. Sassy is an understatement!
I have an idea...maybe she is a little scared of the dark in her bed at night, maybe put one of those crib mirrors that attaches to her crib rails? Or one of those crib music/night lights? They turn on soft music & a dim light when the baby touches them, or you can turn them to stay on. I think they just get a little freaked out when they wake up & it is dark & the mirror would kind of be like there is another baby in there! A little friend!

 
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