operation crib sleep
I have to be honest, the first night of "operation crib sleep" went way better than I was anticipating. Maybe it's because I had prepared myself for the possibility of getting even less sleep than normal, or maybe it's just that Colton felt sorry for me, but either way he slept in his cradle throughout the entire nighttime hours.
I had decided that this week would be the week that I would try every option. There are several things that we haven't yet tried with Colton, for several reasons, but he is a little bigger now (in other words, he is less new) and we are getting more comfortable with him and now is the time to try them all. I have swaddled him, but never with his arms down. We haven't put his arms down because he seems most comfortable with them up by his head while he sleeps, but if needed, I am open to trying the arms swaddled method. Colton did not like the pacifier given to him at the hospital, so we tried a couple of other brands, only to realize that he really isn't a pacifier kind of baby. He loves to suck on his fist and he is hit and miss on getting his thumb in his mouth (I think when he gets this perfected, he's going to be a much happier kiddo). The only way he will take a pacifier is if we hold it for him, and as soon as we lay him down, or let go of the pacifier, he drops it out of his mouth with no desire to suck on it and at that, the only one he seemed to "like" was the GumDrop Pacifiers. Since we were given several different brands of pacifiers at the baby shower, I was willing to try them all.
So, with an open mind, we started with his nightly routine. Around 8:00pm, he got bathed, dried, lotioned up, warm and ready to eat. After eating only part of bottle, he started getting his nighttime fuss on. After a dose of "gripe water" and a little more of his bottle, he was squirming, spitting his pacifier out, kicking and moving his arms. I decided to try pacifier option #1, the MAM baby pacifiers: BPA-Free pacifiers for babies. He took it right away and sucked on it all by himself and it took about 5 minutes and he just passed out, pacifier in mouth...in my arms. I got him into his Halo SleepSack, held my breath and laid him in his cradle. Success! No moving, fussing or crying...just complete silence. I could hear the angels singing "hallelujah" (but it was only about 9:30pm). :-)
I called Matt to chat for a bit and got myself ready for bed when I heard Colton on the monitor. It had only been about 30 minutes and he was awake and fussing. It wasn't a real cry but he was "talking", flailing his arms and moving his head from side to side. I placed his pacifier back in his mouth and he sucked on it (again, without me holding it - this alone is a big success) and calmed down a bit but continued to move his arms. This is when I decided to try the arms down swaddle method, hoping for the best but prepared for a fight because this baby LOVES his arms/hands. I used the sleep sack to swaddle his arms down by his side, made sure he had the pacifier and rocked him. It took about 5 minutes and he was back to sleep. I gently laid him back in his cradle and (of course) he woke up and tried to get his arms free. He fought and fought for several minutes and I just continued to keep my hand on him, rubbing his arms and talking to him. Finally, he gave up the struggle and somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes, he was sound asleep, pacifier in mouth and in his cradle.
Colton normally eats another bottle somewhere between 11:00pm and 12:00am before he starts his "long stretches" of sleep for the night. So, I was prepared for him to wake up in about an hour and go through this entire process again, but when I woke up to Colton crying in the monitor, it was 1:45am. Hooray - he had slept in the cradle for over 3 hours. I was so proud of him - silly, but I was! After Colton's 2:00am feeding, getting him back in the cradle was about like the first time, but once asleep he didn't wake again until 6:15 this morning. After this morning's feeding, I "rewarded" him (and myself) by putting him in his bouncy seat and we both went to sleep quickly and happy.
Was last night a fluke, or are we on a good path already? I don't know, but I do know that every night will be different and we will have good nights and bad nights. I am very happy with how Colton handled his first night without his "bouncy seat". He woke up this morning a very happy baby. I think that, even though he didn't sleep any longer stretches than normal, he rested better laying flat as opposed to curved in his seat. He has been chatting with me and smiling at me all morning - and that warms my heart.
Being a Mom is such a wonderful experience and there's nothing in the world that can compare to this "job". I'm learning every day just how little I actually know. Each day is a journey and all the dirty diapers, feeding times, lack of sleep, crying and fussing is worth it when I see one little smile on my baby's face.
I had decided that this week would be the week that I would try every option. There are several things that we haven't yet tried with Colton, for several reasons, but he is a little bigger now (in other words, he is less new) and we are getting more comfortable with him and now is the time to try them all. I have swaddled him, but never with his arms down. We haven't put his arms down because he seems most comfortable with them up by his head while he sleeps, but if needed, I am open to trying the arms swaddled method. Colton did not like the pacifier given to him at the hospital, so we tried a couple of other brands, only to realize that he really isn't a pacifier kind of baby. He loves to suck on his fist and he is hit and miss on getting his thumb in his mouth (I think when he gets this perfected, he's going to be a much happier kiddo). The only way he will take a pacifier is if we hold it for him, and as soon as we lay him down, or let go of the pacifier, he drops it out of his mouth with no desire to suck on it and at that, the only one he seemed to "like" was the GumDrop Pacifiers. Since we were given several different brands of pacifiers at the baby shower, I was willing to try them all.
So, with an open mind, we started with his nightly routine. Around 8:00pm, he got bathed, dried, lotioned up, warm and ready to eat. After eating only part of bottle, he started getting his nighttime fuss on. After a dose of "gripe water" and a little more of his bottle, he was squirming, spitting his pacifier out, kicking and moving his arms. I decided to try pacifier option #1, the MAM baby pacifiers: BPA-Free pacifiers for babies. He took it right away and sucked on it all by himself and it took about 5 minutes and he just passed out, pacifier in mouth...in my arms. I got him into his Halo SleepSack, held my breath and laid him in his cradle. Success! No moving, fussing or crying...just complete silence. I could hear the angels singing "hallelujah" (but it was only about 9:30pm). :-) I called Matt to chat for a bit and got myself ready for bed when I heard Colton on the monitor. It had only been about 30 minutes and he was awake and fussing. It wasn't a real cry but he was "talking", flailing his arms and moving his head from side to side. I placed his pacifier back in his mouth and he sucked on it (again, without me holding it - this alone is a big success) and calmed down a bit but continued to move his arms. This is when I decided to try the arms down swaddle method, hoping for the best but prepared for a fight because this baby LOVES his arms/hands. I used the sleep sack to swaddle his arms down by his side, made sure he had the pacifier and rocked him. It took about 5 minutes and he was back to sleep. I gently laid him back in his cradle and (of course) he woke up and tried to get his arms free. He fought and fought for several minutes and I just continued to keep my hand on him, rubbing his arms and talking to him. Finally, he gave up the struggle and somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes, he was sound asleep, pacifier in mouth and in his cradle.
Colton normally eats another bottle somewhere between 11:00pm and 12:00am before he starts his "long stretches" of sleep for the night. So, I was prepared for him to wake up in about an hour and go through this entire process again, but when I woke up to Colton crying in the monitor, it was 1:45am. Hooray - he had slept in the cradle for over 3 hours. I was so proud of him - silly, but I was! After Colton's 2:00am feeding, getting him back in the cradle was about like the first time, but once asleep he didn't wake again until 6:15 this morning. After this morning's feeding, I "rewarded" him (and myself) by putting him in his bouncy seat and we both went to sleep quickly and happy.
Was last night a fluke, or are we on a good path already? I don't know, but I do know that every night will be different and we will have good nights and bad nights. I am very happy with how Colton handled his first night without his "bouncy seat". He woke up this morning a very happy baby. I think that, even though he didn't sleep any longer stretches than normal, he rested better laying flat as opposed to curved in his seat. He has been chatting with me and smiling at me all morning - and that warms my heart.
Being a Mom is such a wonderful experience and there's nothing in the world that can compare to this "job". I'm learning every day just how little I actually know. Each day is a journey and all the dirty diapers, feeding times, lack of sleep, crying and fussing is worth it when I see one little smile on my baby's face.
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