Y3W ~ Strong or Stupid?

Yesterday was a big, fat, huge FAIL! He did not take one single nap! He never really even fell asleep nursing because when I broke the latch he popped right back up. We put him to bed extra early and he was in his crib (screaming) by 5:30. It took 45 mins of screaming before he fell asleep ... for 30 mins!!! Another 15 mins of screaming later and he finally fell asleep for the night. He woke up at 2 to nurse and woke at 4:30, 5:30 and 6 but went back pretty quickly on his own. We got up at 7 so I guess that's a success.

So we're on to another day and the first nap isn't going any better than it has in days past. When does it get easier? Am I even doing the right thing? This isn't working and I hate hearing him scream. He needs me and I'm ignoring him. That's how I feel. I feel like a horrible mother. If it was actually working I might feel the pain is worth it, but when will it work? This whole week has been one terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week and I just want it to be over. I'm so tired of the screaming. It breaks my heart. I'm losing my resolve. I just want to know when it will end. HELP!

Nap Training Day 4

Let's just start off with a summary of how nap training day 3 went: CRAPPY.

Nap #1: 7:15 - CIO for 25 mins = 30 min nap

-try for a longer nap - CIO for 30 mins, no nap

Nap #2: 10:30 - CIO 50 mins = 1 hr nap

Nap #3 (cause he needed it): 3:10 - CIO 80 mins = no nap

Bedtime: 6:45 - CIO for 25 mins = woke at 7:40 and 7:50

-woke at 11 - CIO for 10 mins

-woke at 4:30 - nurse, then CIO for 10 mins

-woke at 5:30 - CIO for 10 mins

-woke at 6:00 - CIO for 10 mins, up for the day and nurse

So yesterday was crappy, today....is WORSE!

Nap #1: 8:30 - CIO for 70 mins = NO NAP

Nap #2: 11:30 - CIO for 70 mins so far, no nap in sight. When do I give up on this one? How long do I let this go?

HELP! I thought they were supposed to get progressively better and their crying get less and less until it's zero. When will I see a change? Is there something wrong? Is he just too old? How much more screaming can I handle?

Very tired mommy and unhappy baby. :(

Well, I Promised an Update.

I promised an update so here it is. Yesterday we had a 2 hour and a 1 1/2 hour nap. It was fabulous! I started bedtime extra early and after an hour of screaming, he was down. Unfortunately he woke up at 12:30. I managed to get him to go down with only 10 mins of screaming, but when I went to put his blanket on, I woke him up. DOH. Another 3 mins and he was out. Then comes 3 am. I nursed him and had my husband put him back to sleep. He only cried for 3 minutes. I was hoping for a nice 7 am wake up call, but nope, 6 am and he was up. So we were up at 6 am, but he really should have gone back to bed. I tried putting him down at 7:15. He cried for 25 minutes and then fell asleep only to wake up at 8:15. Back to 30 min naps, really? I tried to let him cry again and in 10 mins he was asleep. Then I made a big mistake, I went in to check on him and cover him with his blanket. I woke the darn kid up. Grr. I tried the crying thing again but eventually gave up and here we are. 9:20 am and one 30 min nap. At least I got showered and dressed today. It's gonna be a long day.

Sleep Training Day 2

On to sleep training day 2. So I started sleep training Matthew yesterday and it was really tough. Here's how yesterday went: morning nap at 9 am, 60 mins of crying, 1 hour nap, afternoon nap at 1 pm, 30 mins of crying, 50 min nap, bedtime at 7:30, 70 mins of crying, woke at 3 am, nursed and put him back, woke up at 6:20. Not too bad. Today is going well so far. This morning's nap I started at 8 am, 45 mins of crying and then I lay down for a little nap. I woke up 2 hours later! Holy cow! Now this is great and all, but it was supposed to only be a 45 min nap. So now our "schedule" is still all screwed up, but maybe it'll even itself out once he learns to fall asleep? We're onto our second nap and I started it at 1:30, he cried for 25 mins and is asleep still. I don't want to jinx anything, but he's been sleeping for 45 mins. A far cry from his usual 30 min dozes. So far, I'm seeing little successes, and I hope it won't take long before we have the schedule down. I haven't cancelled Thursday's or Friday's playdates yet, but I may still have to. They're right in the middle of a nap :( I'll update our progress tomorrow.

Update: The afternoon nap was 1 1/2 hours. Not too shabby! Maybe we're turning a corner?

Sleep? What's That?

Yes, this is another post about my non-sleeping baby. We've ruled out just about everything and tried just about everything. I'm at the end of my rope. My poor sleep deprived brain just can't handle much more of this hourly nightly waking BS. Just thought I'd update you on where we are with this sleep training marathon.

After pushing the issue with our doctor, we have an appointment with a dietitian who will look at his growth chart and my food journal to see if she can suggest any dietary changes that might help my little boy. As that is still over a week away I decided to go gluten free on my own last week. We're one week gluten free and our sleep hasn't gotten much better. This week I'm adding in another factor. I'm eliminating caffeine. I've relied on daily Coke's to get my poor sleepy self through the day, but maybe all this excess caffeine is affecting my poor baby's ability to sleep soundly. So, with one week before the dietitian appointment, I'm going cold turkey on caffeine. Help me!

I'm also trying a little Nanny Robina nap training. I hate letting Matthew cry, but I can't handle the rocking until I'm blue in the face and he wakes up as soon as he's in the crib BS anymore. Today's first attempt took 60 mins of crying going in at increasing intervals and I woke him up after 1 hr of sleep so I can stick to the schedule. Only problem is, now we're an hour off the schedule because it took so long in the first place. Le sigh. It's going to be a long week.

Please cross your fingers that either my experiments work or the dietitian has some ideas. I realize that some babies don't sleep 12 hours until they're 3, but surely waking every hour is NOT normal for a 10 month old.

Y3W ~ Causing a Ruckus

Matthew is crawling ... everywhere. He causes trouble wherever he goes. He loves our cat Mya. He lays on her, grabs her fur and plays with and pulls on her tail. For whatever reason, she just sits there and takes it. I separate the two when she starts meowing, but she just goes back for more. Thank goodness she's a good natured cat or we'd have a whole world of trouble on our hands.

I just love when Matthew gets into something and I ask him "are you causing a ruckus?" He gives me this devilish grin that I love. So here are some photos of Matthew "causing a ruckus".