sweet sweet sleep

The kid is not sleeping. AT.ALL.

We are about at our wits end over here. He was doing so well. He would go down and sleep until around 5 or 6. I can handle 5 or 6, no problem. Then, little by little, he kept trying to push the time back. We would occasionally make him cry it out again to get him back closer to 6.

Maybe it's a growth spurt, maybe it's teeth.

but he is NOT sleeping.

Last night he woke up around 12:15, and screamed until 1:30 when we finally gave him and got him. I was starting to wonder if it was his tooth. He is cutting a top tooth right now, so we got up, gave him some tylenol etc, and got him back down. He was up again at 5:30.

The night before he was up around 3:30 screaming. We were strong, we were tough, and then we heard... KKAWHHAAAAMMM! He had been standing in his crib, and fell and smacked his poor little face against the side of the crib. Obviously we had to go in and make sure he wasn't gushing blood and the entire hour we'd laid in bed listening to him scream had been wasted.

*sigh* I don't know what to do. We've tried crying it out, we've trying letting him sleep with us (something I swore we'd NEVER do), we've tried going in soothing him and putting him back down. NOTHING works.

I'm so tired, and really wishing for a full night of sleep.

Maybe when he's 1?

Do you smell it?

FALL.

I can smell fall coming miles away, and this morning, it's here. A small, faint, but distinct smell, of leaves that are soon to change color, cool mornings, frosty dew, apples, pumpkins, hot cider... i could go on forever..

I LOVE FALL.
So this morning, I'll enjoy my warm cup of coffee, and the windows open on this brisk 45 degree morning. it's fantastic.



As a side note. Levi is doing a little better. I think he's feeling better, though he keeps waking up in the night. I tell ya, this kid fights sleep like it's his job. Last night he was awake for over an hour. He was just laying in his crib, talking to himself. But of course, I couldn't sleep. He's been coughing, and I'm wondering if it's waking him up?

We're going camping this weekend with my family for the 3 day weekend. Mike has been working a lot lately, which we are thankful for, but he is exhausted, and I think will enjoy a longer relaxing weekend.

coffee coffee coffee

I.AM.EXHAUSTED.

Levi was up at 2:30, 3:30, 4:15, and 5 crying. We finally got up with him at 5 to feed him. Mike said as soon as he picked him up, he turned towards him to eat, so clearly he was really hungry.

I don't know what to do.

I really want him to sleep through the night, and some nights he is a champ. He'll sleep from 9-6 without a peep. Then we have nights like last night, and I wonder if maybe he has hit a growth spurt and wants/needs to eat, or if he is just being stubborn about sleeping through the night? If he really has hit a growth spurt and NEEDS it, then okay.. but if he just WANTS it......

These are the moments I wish he could talk and tell me what he wants.

His schedule is as follows.

Nurse 5-6am
Breakfast Cereal about 8:30
Nurse 12ish
Nurse 4
Dinner Cereal 6
Nurse 8-9

Maybe he's ready for more than just cereal? He does follow us religiously when we eat... He watches us take a bite, follows it to our mouth and repeats the motion... the entire time...

While I ponder all of this, I'll be inserting a coffee IV......

fake out

Just when I think he has it, the kid throws us a curveball.

The last 2 nights, he has been up 2, if not 3 times, crying.
Mike say's he "just checkin'" to see if we really meant it when we said..
no more midnight feedings.

Hopefully it gets better again soon.

success

A month ago we were still getting up with Levi once if not twice a night. It took several weeks, including a few very rough nights, but we've arrived.

Last night Levi slept from 9:30-6:15. without so much as a peep.


it's bliss..
like 3 scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream



(or your favorite kind of ice cream) on an extremely hot muggy day kind of bliss. :)

mission accomplished.

success...sweet success....




We have successfully sleep trained this little guy.
He is basically sleeping from 9-5 now.
I feed him at 5, and he goes back down til around 8 or so. He was a stubborn one. It took him a good 2 weeks to get him to realize that mama wasn't going to feed him anymore in the night and he still tests us occassionally but he's pretty much figured out that he's done in the middle of the night. :) hooray!!!

Since getting him to sleep through the night,
I've noticed that his day schedule is MUCH more predictable.

Awake from 8-10
Nap from 10-12
Awake from 12-4
Nap from 4-5:30-6

Then he's basically up until he goes down for bed. I'm still working on getting him to go to bed earlier. Since getting him to sleep through the night he wants to nurse every hour in the evening, but I'll take that to not getting up in the night, and I know eventually he'll settle down into a better schedule for the evening.


I've been continuing my research this week on baby food and I found this WEBSITE Check it out! It's chocked full of great ideas, how to's and good timelines to follow. Everything I've read says to wait until 6 months to start solids. I think maybe we'll start a second bowl of cereal in the morning in a week or so, and see how that goes before making any more decisions on food.

Oh and he's no longer stationary.. he rolls EVERYWHERE! We were at Mike's parents over the weekend. I laid him on a blanket in a side room to take a nap, and when I went back in to check on him later, he had woken up and had rolled under the desk... no more leaving this guy unattended...

And one more just because he's so cute when he's sleeping. He is officially a tummy sleeper now. We put him on his back, but he immediately rolls to his tummy and sleeps comfortably that way the rest of the night. I don't blame the kid, both mama and papa are tummy sleepers as well.

crying = sleepless nights

tell me it gets worse before it gets better.

please.


Levi was up every 2 hours last night. S.C.R.E.A.M.I.N.G.
We never gave in. I made him wait 8 hours to eat
but the mama in me of course kept second guessing..

maybe he didn't eat enough before he went to bed..
maybe he really DOES need to eat..

you know the drill.

so this is what happened...

he ate at 8. went to sleep. woke up at 12:30 fussed for about 15 minutes, settled down. woke up at 2 cried pretty hard for 10ish minutes calmed down. woke up at 3:30 SCREAMING.. continued screaming for 30 minutes before falling asleep. woke up at 5 and it had been more than 8 hours so i fed him.

the 3:30 was just a 1\2 hour early on 8 hours,
but i feel like if we give in at 7 1\2 we will back track again.

i'm so tired this morning.
everything i read says 3-5 days before they get it. we're on day 4. so maybe tonight is the magic night?