3 Cheers!

Annie slept for an 8 hour stretch last night!!! WHOO-HOOO!!! Granted it was from 6:30pm - 2:30am but this is the longest stretch ever! I nursed her and then she slept until almost 6am!

To read more about our sleep journey click here and here and here!

Having a child who doesn't sleep well, sleep can become an almost obsession. Wanting to read books about sleep by sleep experts (and there are many - all with different researched-based perspectives), scouring the Internet looking for tips from other people in baby/parenting forums, writing down techniques and coming up with sleep plans.... it all seems so exhausting. But not nearly as exhausting as NOT actually sleeping.

Earlier this week, I participated in a Live Health Chat via The Chicago Tribune's website which featured two of the leading sleep experts and pediatricians: Dr. Marc Weissbluth and Dr. Bob Sears. They have very different perspectives on night time sleeping.

Dr. Weissbluth, in his book Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child gives parents a solution to the child's night-waking (assuming that night-waking is a problem) with the premise that a baby can and should sleep well and through the night and a well-rested child is not only a happy child, but one who can function with full potential. He is the doctor who coined "sleep training." His approach is definitely met with resistance as he advises parents to let their child "cry-it-out" in order to learn to self-soothe with the aim that the child will no longer need nighttime visitors.

Dr. Bob Sears (along with several members of the Sears family) advocate for the Attachment Parenting lifestyle. In his book The Baby Sleep Book he explains that nighttime waking in babies and children is normal and that they should be parented to sleep - i.e. rocking, nursing, singing, shushing, etc. - and that when the child awakens in the night, the child should be attended to. Crying is not necessary and could trigger feelings of abandonment and learned helplessness ("Nobody is coming to me when I signal for help = Nobody cares about me"). And that the high level of stress hormone in the body (cortisol) could alter the normal brain functions of the child.

So what's a parent to do???

I'm definitely more of an Attachment Parenting kind of mom (babywearing, breastfeeding, highly attuned to my children's emotional radars), but while participating in this chat, I found Dr. Weissbluth to actually be more helpful! Even though I won't be letting Annie "cry-it-out", Dr. Weissbluth's comments on baby sleep were actually constructive and practical. One of the things I took from this chat was that Annie could be waking up frequently because I'm putting her to bed too late. She was going to be between 7-7:30. Sounds reasonable, right? Well, last night my little cherub was fast asleep by 6:30pm. And although she made a few noises and cries, she settled down by herself and went back to sleep. And she never cried for more than a few minutes (until 2:30am which is when I went in to nurse her).

I'm still aiming for Annie to be able to put herself to sleep and stay asleep for longer stretches of time, but for today, I'm going to rejoice that she got a beautiful 8 hours in a row!!

A Follow-Up to Sleepless

A follow-up to our "No-Cry Sleep Solution":
Here's what I've implemented to help Annie sleep better at night:

• I've given her a Lovey - there is nothing cuter than seeing Annie all cuddled up with this little bear head attached to a small, soft blankey. She has a blanket that she really likes but this little bear lovey is something she can hold on to and suck on. We snuggle with the lovey when she nurses and she loves to hold on tight to it when she goes to sleep.
• To help her disassociate nursing with sleeping, Pantley suggests that the baby learn to fall asleep with more than one method. So I nurse her until she's very sleepy and then I rock or bounce her until she's almost asleep. Then I put her in her crib with the hopes that she can do the rest herself. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn't. If she starts crying, I try to pat her butt (she's a tummy sleeper) and put my hand on her. If she gets upset, then I pick her up and keep swaying and patting until she gets sleepy. Then put her down. And repeat until she goes to sleep in her crib. Yes, this gets tiring if it takes five times.
• We have a very solid night time routine that I follow every night. Same order of events. Same books (well, the last two are the same. Sometimes she joins Chloe for storytime before heading to her room for the night). And I try to put her to bed around the same time every night too.

Following Pantley's advice, I'm doing a sleep log every 10 days. So, here is our Day 10 log:
Jan. 11
Naps: 9:45 - 10:30; 1-2; 6-6:40
Asleep for the night 8:15pm
12:20am - cried. Nursed for 10 minutes then back to sleep.
3:45am - cried. Nursed for less than 10 minutes then back to sleep.
7am - awake for the day!
SUCCESS! Best night in a very, very long time!!!!!

Jan. 12
Naps: 10-10:45; 1:30 - 2:15
Asleep for the night 7:15pm
11pm - cried. Nursed for 20 minutes then back to sleep.
3am - cried. Nursed. Both sides. Had a difficult time settling back to sleep. Awake until 4:15am.
7am - awake for the day.

This seems to be the new pattern; being awake for 1-2 hours in the middle of the night. I'm not sure if it's because she's overtired and not settling to sleep well or if I'm putting her to bed too early. I follow her lead and put her down when she's tired. Hmmm... we still have a ways to go but as you can see, we're getting there!