Eight whole hours

Caleb slept last night 8 whole hours last night. Wish I knew what I did to bring it on? He was asleep by 6:30p, woke at 2:30a and then again at 6:00a.

A change in direction

Sleep last night had a rough start with a surprise ending.

Since giving up on the CIO method, Caleb now falls asleep nursing and cuddling on the couch. After making sure he is really out, I try to transfer him (sometimes not very successfully) to his crib. He has started to really like sleeping on his side and he cuddles with his Eeyore. Twenty minutes after placing him in his crib the dogs found something to go crazy about creating a racket that woke him up. I got him back to sleep, and transferred for him to wake up again about 30 mins after I had really fallen asleep. Two hours later he was again awake. This was not looking good, but when I went in to get him, I found him laying in the opposite direction that I laid him down and sleeping on his belly. I nursed him, laid him down and back to sleep he went. He quickly flipped on to his belly and was out like a light for 5 hours where the process repeated itself until morning.

Nap time

The roll

Caleb rolled over today from his back to his front. Makes me realize just how quickly he is growing.

time

Well it's been one week of letting him cry it out. It started out at 45 mins went to 30 mins for a few nights, hit 25 mins one night, but went back to 60mins the next. I would have expected better improvement after one week. How long is this supposed to take? I will say he sleeps much better at night this way, whether it's because he's so worn out from crying or because he's learning to put himself back to sleep I can't say. Last night and tonight he finally went to sleep after I went back in there (after 45min of crying), held him till he calmed down, placed him back in crib with my hand next to his face until he drifted back off. He kept opening his eyes to make sure I was there.
The last two days he has changed his napping habit as well. It's taking more work to get him down for his nap, but instead of 3-4 one hour naps it's 2-3 naps with the first one lasting at least 2 hours.

Four Month Visit

Looks like the Tylenol has kicked in

We went for four month vaccines yesterday. Caleb is one brave kid. A little tears and a sad face during the pokes, but as soon as the nurse is done he is back to giggling. So far so good today, although he started to get a little fussy this afternoon and I dosed him with some Tylenol. We talked to Dr. Mark about sleeping. His recommendation is to start sleep training now, and let him cry it out. The longer we wait the harder it will be.

Official stats:
Weight: 16.5lbs (75th percentile)
Length: 27.5" (>97th percentile)
Head: 16.25"

Well the jump seat just became overwhelming. Gotta Go

A change in time

Well as everyone else is complaining about daylight savings time, it seems to be a blessing at our house. The sleep pattern "seems" to be back to normal (At least for the last 2 nights anyway). Caleb's asleep by 7p, awake at 1a, 4a, and 7a. At the 4a waking I crawl in his bed and let him go back to sleep with me. A bad habit I know, but we will work on that one later. One day at a time for now. He woke up so happy this morning too, no crying when he firsts wakes. That makes me so happy. I'm crossing my fingers that the luck continues!

Caleb laying under the trees watching the wind blow

We went to Beth Hering's wedding Saturday night. Caleb was an angel, falling asleep on Karen's chest. We never heard a peep from him all night. On Sunday he and I went to Sweetwater Organic Community Farm. There was good food and great music.

I bit the bullet

I finally did it. I bit the bullet. I let him cry. Call me heartless or cruel, but you can also call me better rested. After talking with many people, reading lots of comments, and reading through information at baby center about nightwakings, I made the decision to set a 5 minute time limit.
"Sleep-cries are referred as such as the child is initially still asleep when it 1st occurs. The cries are initially very intense, as if the child is in pain or had a terrible nightmare. This initial intense cries often subside on it's own within 2-5mins, followed by fussy/complainy/whiny cries, and the child is in deep sleep again within 7-15mins. Hence, the importance of waiting for a few mins. If one rushes in, one risks actually waking the child and create an actual nightwaking."

So I set the early bed time. He was asleep by 6:00p after his bath, massage, nursing, and the rock. He fell asleep easily and quickly and I laid him down in the crib on the boppy. He was out. I was trying something new by playing an audiobook for him to sleep by. At this point I would try anything that sounded good. At 7:00p he was awake screaming and I rushed in as usual. After many tries of getting him to quiet down and failing I gave up. I came in the living room and let him fall back to sleep on my chest while I read on the computer. That's when I found the information about the sleep-cries. So after about 45 minutes on my chest I laid him back in his crib, no boppy, no sound and I went to bed. One hour later on the dot here came the cries, soft at first and then working into a full blown scream. Robert went to get up, but I stopped him. "Let's give him 5 minutes I said." And so we waited. Both of us laying in bed, tense, our feet shifting waiting for either Caleb's crying or the five minutes to end. At minute three the sobs became screams, at minute four the coughing started, and then at minute five it stopped. Just like that! It wasn't totally over. He cried again for another minute or two, then had that horrible sob that made every muscle fiber in my being shudder. That was the hardest part, but then even that stopped within a minute or so. I could hear him moving around in there for a few minutes, but then he was asleep. Fast asleep, for the first time by himself in his crib. Robert and I let out a sigh, we didn't realize we were holding our breath. It was 9:00p and the whole episode only lasted about 15 minutes.

And then he slept! It was 1:00a before he awoke, this was his normal wake time, I couldn't believe it. I got up and fed him, he was wide awake, and I wasn't sure where to go from here. So I reverted back to the old way, putting him on my chest to sleep. After 30 minutes he was still semi awake and I had to pee so I figured where is the harm, I'll go back to the five minutes. I laid him in his crib and he started to squirm, this escalated to the scream and then the sob, but again right at the five minute mark it stopped. It followed the same suit as the earlier episode, and I stuck it out. And then for the second time in one night, he slept.

The next waking was 4:00a, again this is the "normal" pattern time. I was pretty tired at this point and I gave in letting him sleep with me. I figured why push my luck? We slept till 6:30a and a very bright eyed happy baby greeted me this morning.

 


We also went to the breast feeding class yesterday with Eva and Colton. Caleb had a blast talking to all the other babies! He was 17.2 lbs with his clothes on. This is the same weight as the 6m old babies in the class, and he officially outweighs Grace by 1lb.

A Day of Firsts

We started cereal today. He ate about 2tsp with no problem. He loved it. Opened up and took it down!

We then went to the grocery store and he sat in the cart like a big boy. He kicked his feet and talked to everyone. It made shopping much easier

Sleep was treacherous last night.The trouble seems to have peaked. It took many hours to get to him to sleep with both Robert and I trying everything. Robert eventually passed out with him in the spare bed. Caleb then woke up multiple times during the night and Robert and I spent 2 hours trying to get him back to sleep at 1:00a. Tonight went much better, with the routine seemingly back in place. Lets hope it lasts. I don't think that any of us can take to many more nights like that.

I got a remote for my camera!

Growth picture for 4 months

James Dean for first Halloween

Me and Dad at Mitch's Birthday Party