7/05/2006
Return to normal programming.. sleep issues...
I have just worked out that you can change the colour/size/ font of the text on your blog! It took me long enough! I thought it was something that was decided by your template but when I was typing my letter J post I realised that it was possible to change the colour. It takes me a while to catch onto these things but now that I am on the right page, you can all expect more colourful happiness on my blog!!! I promise not to use PURPLE every single time... but I can`t promise I won`t use it 99% of the time! LOL!
Soooo onto the reason for this post.. I am absolutely exhausted this morning because my beloved son decided he wanted to play until ONE am last night. Nothing I did to try and get him to sleep worked and he spent the whole time jumping off the bed, opening the bedroom door and running into the other room where D was working. THEN he woke up at 7am this morning. The good news is that he is asleep now (it is 9am) so I have a little bit of time to myself because I was about to go crazy due to having zero time to myself! Lately J`s sleep schedule has gone all out of whack again and I don`t know what to do about it. I figure it is going to have to wait until we get back from the UK now because there is no point in trying to get him into a schedule now, only to have to deal with the huge change of being in a different country next week. However, it now means I have a month and a half to work myself up into doing some serious sleep training. I think it is time because things can`t go on like this. I am permanently tired and pretty cranky. (This part is particularly bad at the moment because of the crappy hot and stupidly humid weather) I don`t think I am being a good mother because I just don`t have any time to myself and that is not a good thing.
So ladies (and gents if you are interested) in Blog land, I would like to hear some stories about night-time routines. How do you get your child ready for bed? Do you co-sleep? What kinds of things have worked for you? I don`t think I have the strength to try CIO but if I don`t get a good night`s sleep soon, then it may have to happen. Thanks in advance for your help/ advice!
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6 comments:
I never did sleep routine from a book, but here is ours....
Snack at 7pm (yogart, smoothies whatever healthy we have), bath with toys to tire her out just a little more. Story on her bed (she has been in a big bed for months...before bed story on chair then crib). Hugs and kisses from Mom...then Dad snuggles up asks her about her day and then says good night....music on lightly and a light turn thing that turns off in 5 minutes (projects animals and stars on her ceiling)...in turn she sleeps till morning which varies from 5:30 *shudders* to 7:30.
How about sitting down and having a chat about relationship issues? Don't know about Joey but it works like a charm with my husband!
We've tried a bunch of routines/plans with Taiga, who is a wee bit younger than Joey at 9 months nnow.
Right now we have feed him dinner about 1 1/2 hours b4 bed, let him play actively for about 20 minutes, then bathe him, diaper/baby lotion/PJs, and one book on Mommy's lap. I usually nurse him until drowsy, put in a pacifier, and let him wiggle around in bed in the dark until he puts himself to sleep. He cries a very little bit, but usually is asleep in five minutes. I keep the door open to let some light in and so he can hear us. Bath/bed routine occur at the same time every night, w/some exceptions.
It took us a while to get here, however. Before, I had to physically be with him until he slept. I would sing, rock, or rub his back. He was also swaddled until 7 months! This routine usually worked but gradually took longer and longer (30 minutes!). Finally, we let him cry for about three to five minutes then put him to bed. Then he figured out that we would eventually come back in, and that took longer. Now we just kiss him, leave, and return if he cries too much. So, I guess in a way we have sort of accidentally sleep trained him.
No cosleeping in the same bed, but in the same room, yes (baby in crib, us in bed).
I should also add that, despite changes in methods, the order of the routine: play, bath, change, book, nurse, sleep, has been essentially unchanged.
Also,in the past, I was actually misinterpreting his own sleep ritual signals (rolling around and crawling around on his crib) as a sign of play, and kept putting him back on his back over and over. This needlessly prolonged the "getting to sleep" time, and I actually kept him awake. Good luck!
We're having sleep issues here too so I can sympathise!
My six month old isn't really into an evening routine yet and doesn't settle for the night until 11ish but with my elder two I always had the same routine of supper, bath, book, milk and it usually meant they settled with very little fuss. I never had to sleep train my second, but he had a comforter so I don't know if that helped him settle so easily compared with my eldest son who we had to sleep train when he was over a year old.
I would have to go along with the others who said routine makes a big difference. For my five and a half month old it goes like this: cereal around 5:00, a bath around six, massage with lavender scented lotion, milk around six thirty and in bed by seven. I put her down drowsy but still awake, sometimes with a pacifier sometimes not. At first, she objected to falling asleep on her own, but now she goes down with hardly a whimper. I also make sure her naps are at about the same time everyday.
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