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Meyer Family

Meyer Family
Winter 2014

Monday, February 22, 2010

9 days to easy bedtime

I found an article in my Parents magazine that talked about a 9 day sleep routine. So we started it last night. Something a little different than what we've done in the past. It worked pretty good.
It is from Dr. Kim West, a child and family therapist in Annapolis, MD.

Nights 1-3: After reading and a bottle (or whatever your nighttime routine consists of) - - ours is bath, book, bottle, bed-- put baby into bed and sit right next to it while s/he cries for however long it takes for him/her to fall asleep. You can talk to and pat him/her, but no picking up. Reassure him/her verbally.

Nights 4-6: Remove yourself halfway between the crib and the doorway and reassure verbally that you are still there and s/he is okay.

Night 7-8: Move yourself all the way to the door and continue to reassure verbally if necessary.

Night 9: By now you should be able to lay him/her down and leave the room immediately.

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(I'll continually edit this same post instead of creating a new one each time)
Our night logs:

1)Sunday- I laid him down in his crib at 7:25 after a book, bottle and a little snuggle time. He cried for 35 min before settling down and falling asleep at 8:00pm.
Up at 11, 1:15, and 5:30

2)Monday- Late start on routine. He slept from 4:15-6:30, it was 7:30 before he got a bath and bottle. He wouldn't eat much and we skipped the book as he was super fussy at 8. Put him in bed at 8:15, cried very little and just wiggled around and fussed. Paci in and out and by 8:30 he was asleep.
Up at 10:30?, ?, and 4:30, then he laid in his bed and cooed for awhile before Josh got up with him at 5:30.
He came to the Tech meeting with me this AM b/c he has a doc appt at 9 here in GC. Sleeping soundly the whole time!

3)Tuesday- We had a short night, Jonah and I. Josh was at conferences and Jonah slept until 5:45/6ish. So when he was rubbing his eyes and sucking down his bottle while snuggling into my body I knew he was tired and it was only 7:20. I put him in bed at 7:25 and he wiggled and whined for quite a while. More than last night and he even cried a little. He twisted and turned himself all over the bed, I straightened him out a little, I didn't want the blood to rush to his head. (the bed is propped up on one end)
So in bed at 7:25, asleep by 7:45... up at 9:30, 11:30, 1:20, 4:30-5, Josh up with him at 5:15 until 6:30 when he had to get ready for school. Jonah woke up again at 7 and I had his. I told Josh at 4:30, I feel like we just got home from the hospital with him. He wasn't eating well last night and didn't do a whole lot of coughing. When he did it was bad, but didn't do it often. We didn't do a neb treatment all night b/c I (and daycare) am convinced that the nebs don't let him sleep or eat. His appetite goes way down when he's on a reg. schedule of them. His eyes are getting somewhat better, he was able to look at me this morning instead of us having to clean them off first. If they are still yucky by Fri we are taking him back to People's. Hopefully for some answers and something to help him get better. This neb thing isn't helping.

4)Wednesday- Night 4 went pretty good. He was rubbing his eyes and curling up on me like crazy at 7:15, but I really wanted him to stay up until 7:30 so we could give him one last dose of eye drops before bed. We read books and ate a little more bottle and then as soon as 7:30 hit we pinned him down and got drops in 1 eye and on the other. :-) I put him in bed at 7:35 and he squirmed around for only 5 min and he was out. Tonight was the first night of standing by the door. He still scoots way down to the bottom of the bed. Oh well.
Up at: 10:30, 12:44, 1:30, and 3:30, then up for the day at 5:30. Good thing though is that he ate sweet potatoes this morning and a 4oz bottle. He then slept all the way to GC, no fussing at all. Tonight we have a babysitter, so we'll see how bedtime goes. We might be back in time for bed, who knows. We're just going out for supper. Jami will do a great job though. :-)

5)Thursday-
We got home at 7:45 to an awake little boy and babysitter. He was asleep when we left though. :-) Which I was nervous about. He wakes up and is always cuddle happy and usually wants me. Jami said he was really fussy when he woke up. Other than that I guess they had a good night. He didn't want any sweet potatoes so he just had a bottle. He was up several times in the night again. Josh got up with him mostly. I took some nyquil before I went to sleep so I wasn't worth much. The one time that I did get up I felt like I was going to barf all over, so I went back to sleep. I felt much better this morning.. I think it was the drugs.

6)Friday-
No school for either of us so we were home and Jonah has taken a few good naps today. We took the same approach as bed, put down awake, but sleepy. He cried a lot more the first nap than he did the second. He slept from 10:30-11 and 2:00ish till 3:45. He slept again when we went to get groceries at 5:00ish. He had his bath and played/cuddled with us pretty late tonight. He was kind of tired, but really bouncy and acting silly. So finally at 8:40 I put him into bed and turned on the nightlight/song thing that Grandma Petersen gave him and he was out before it shut off.
Up- 3x... 2 with josh and once with me.

7) Saturday- He took some good naps today. Laid them down and asleep he went. (a little whining, but maybe 5 min worth, while he got comfy. We were bad and put him down pretty late again, mainly because he took a late nap. We got him in bed at 8:40pm and he slept until 11:50 and then again at 4:45am. He didn't eat much of anything throughout the night, which was fine by me. I just rocked him to sleep in ten minutes at 11:50 and then at 4:45 he ate 2 oz. He got up for good at 7:30. He's been sleeping now from 10:45- 1:30... still sleeping. :-)
I haven't been following the plan to T, I've been able to walk out after laying him down and letting him get settled for a few minutes instead of waiting until he's asleep. Last night would have been the first night to do that, but I've been doing it for the last 2 nights and naps. So I'd say we are doing much better than planned. :-)

8) Sunday- Between coming home from church and our afternoon drive, Jonah got in some pretty good naps. He went to bed around 8 and again was asleep 5 min after laying him down awake. He was up though at 10:30 and 4 other times throughout the night. (too tired to remember them all). I know the last one was from 4:15-5:00. He then slept from 5ish to 8:15 this morning. I am home again on my last day of "spring break" and so it was nice to get to sleep in. He woke up with hugs and smiles. Nothing warms a mom's heart than picking up her child and he wraps his arms around her neck. :-) My favorite part of the day.

9) Monday- He slept pretty good today during the day. I woke him up after a 1.5 hr nap in the am and then he napped again for about 40 min in the afternoon. He was pretty sleepy around 6 and so by 6:30 he was in the tub and in bed around 7:10. He woke up at 10:30, screaming bloody murder. We tried to ignore, then soothe, then ignore, but we finally gave in and gave him a bottle. He probably really was hungry, he didn't eat much of his night bottle before heading to bed. He was up again at 5:00, he went back to sleep pretty quickly though with a paci.
We woke him up at 6:20 though so he could eat and get dressed before heading out to daycare. He wasn't happy being woke up, we told him tough, you wake us up all the time. :-) I don't think he cared. :-)

So.... thanks for following our sleeping blurb, I'm sure it will all get better with time and patience. :-)

1 comment:

The Schilling's said...

Just know, we are praying for you! I really hope this works for Jonah. I know it's been a long six months. Good Luck!