Day 48: Sleeping

After almost a week of crib sleeping and a consistent bedtime routine, I would say we have a success! She doesn't cry when we put her in the crib or anything. I say that because we haven't tried laying her down awake yet, and probably won't until she's around 12 weeks old. I want her to be able to self-soothe, not have to learn it through crying. I am in the process of reading the No Cry Sleep Solution so that I am prepared and can start using the tips now.

Yesterday was rough and it's partially my fault. We took Rylee to my parents so that we could run to the store and pick up a few things. She hadn't really napped before that (maybe 20 minutes) so when we got back to my mom's a few hours later (around 4pm) I was shocked to hear that she had just laid down for the first time not 10 minutes before. Within 15 minutes, she was up and so the crying/screaming/purple-facedness began. I am not a fan of "crying it out" and never plan on doing it, so my mom, Paul, and myself spent the next several hours trying to calm her down and help her sleep. She would calm down for a bit and then it would start over again. Around 8pm, I decided to try our bedtime routine at my mom's, this involved me taking a bath with her at my mom's and busting out the books we bought her that day. This calmed her, but by no means was she going to sleep. We decided at that point to head home. We took the long way home in hopes that the car ride would help her sleep. When we got home, she was still wide awake, so I rocked her. She was asleep in about 20 minutes, but it didn't last. So I busted out the MobyWrap, and within 5 minutes she was asleep. I kept her in the Moby and walked around for about 30 minutes and then slowly unwrapped her and laid her down around 10:30, which is several hours later than what she's been going to sleep.

The reason I say it was partially my fault is that after we got her down, Paul and I started cleaning the bottles and preparing them for the next day. To get her to take her Zantac I use a Medela bottle (so she doesn't associate the medicine nastiness with her normal bottles) with less than an ounce of formula and put the Zantac directly in it, then give her that bottle. Well earlier that day before going to my mom's, I made her 2nd dosage and tried to give it to her, but she had just finished eating not long before and wouldn't take it, so I set it to the side. Well then we left, and all I remembered (mommy brain) was fixing the medicine and putting the bottle in her mouth, so when my mom asked I told her she had already had both doses, and not to worry about it. Poor little girl was probably in reflux hell because of this! I felt so bad when I saw this, knowing that she was probably not only crying because she was tired but also because she was in pain.

Paul took the night shift last night, but I told him if she was fussy and he was having problems to wake me up and I would be glad to help. Well he woke me up at 6, and told me she had slept until 5 AM! That's 6-1/2 hours! HOLY COW! She was exhausted! He had fed and changed her but she wasn't getting any happier. Well I started to think she missed a normal feeding, so I got another bottle and after drinking a few ounces she was out for another few hours. She even took a 2-1/2 hour nap today! However, she is starting to get fussy again, so I hope it's not a repeat of last night (she has had both doses of Zantac today, no worries).

I'll end with a happy baby picture from yesterday

rocking her shades