I hesitate to rejoice so soon lest it all be a freakishly good 24 hours and not a repeat occassion, but I'm going to anyway!
Hannah spent ALL DAY Sunday screaming the kind of screams that make you worry that maybe there's something actually wrong. It was terrible. Worse than terrible. I've gained new patience though so I kept my patience and sanity for the most part (except for when I was worrying that she had an ear infection or appendicitis--I mean, how do you know when there's something actually wrong with a baby who screams so much?). We gave up on the day around 7:00 p.m. and started the bathtime/bedtime routine. Usually this proves a terrible decision; in the past, it didn't matter when you started the routine, she was going to scream until 10:00 or later anyway. But we did it anyway and she fell asleep at 8:00....So strange. I fully expected her to wake up after about 45 minutes and want to eat on the other side and yell at me some more but she didn't wake up until 1:45 a.m.! Awesomeness. But wait, there's more awesomeness.
Prior to falling asleep, I told Eric I wanted to start crib training her this week since he has a few days of school and can help. I've been thinking about it for a while but had read something earlier that day about how if you don't intend to co-sleep for a while, around 3 months is a good time to break the habit. It also said that both mom and baby tended to sleep better and deeper separate. I knew I'd sleep deeper without out, but was doing it for her sake (and I'm glad I did--I love that snuggle time--but it's time to make that a less regular habit) so reading that at this age, she'd sleep a bit better on her own too, I was sold.
So she wakes up at 1:45 and I'm tired and decide that we'll break the habit another night. I take her into bed with us as usual and nurse her, but this time when she's finished instead of falling asleep as usual, she started squirming and scooching and thrashing about. Sooooo....back to plan A: crib train. I took her to her crib and put her to bed then woke Eric up and asked him to comfort her and ensure she got to sleep. I knew I had a lot of work to do today so I intended to go back to sleep and just let him sleep in, but I couldn't sleep until I knew she was asleep anyway. And the result?? Drum roll please.....after about 25 minutes, she was fast asleep and she slept until 7:40 this morning. Wahooo!!!! I slept deep enough to dream and was able to wake up on my own at 7:00 and get out of bed without having to be careful not to wake her. And she woke up in a GREAT mood which was a nice change from the incessant screaming of the day before.
She didn't nap as well this morning as usual (2 catnaps of about 45 minutes each) but she took a 3 hour afternoon nap which I prefer to the long morning naps she used to take.
Tonight we started the routine at 7:00 again, and she was out by 8:00....it'll be interesting to see how the rest of the night pans out. Fingers crossed that it is equally as smooth as last night.
Told you ... they have their own schedule, but if you are patient and persistent, they eventually make it to where you want them to be.
ReplyDeletei am so proud of hannah and mama! this is amazing terri! congratulations....now which seasoned mother is gonna answer that question terri asked about knowing when the screaming baby is actually sick because i'd be interested to know as well...for future reference.
ReplyDeleteso so so ??? has it stuck? is she a sleeper?
ReplyDeleteand the sick baby thing - if she's crying she's probably fine. something might be jabbing her (check her clothing... or diaper rash) but she's alright most likely. NOW if she screams and passes out, acts listless or has a fever then something is def. wrong. Appendicitis is usually accompanied by a vomiting and almost all kid sickness comes with a fever - in the case of my kids, very high fevers... scares the crap out of me. But don't listen to me, ask your pedi.