Sleep, Perchance to Dream
While I'm terrified of invoking the blog jinx, I would like us to hail the great and all-powerful Ferber. On Saturday night, one of the Brown/Medros family got a full night's sleep and it was... Doodles!
We tried Ferberizing for the first time on Tuesday night, with the strong encouragement of our pediatrician. On Monday night the boy had kept me up all night using me as his human pacifier, and I'd reached the end of my sleep-deprivation rope. So Tuesday, he was on his own. It was an ugly night. An hour crying when we put him to bed. An hour at 11 p.m. An hour at 3 a.m. I was pretty near tears myself. Then, on Wednesday, Doodles had a reaction to one of his vaccinations (his highest fever yet: 104.1), so we had him in our bed to facilitate 'round the clock feedings (to keep him hydrated). He didn't seem completely better on Thursday, so again, he stayed with us. So we tried again on Friday, essentially starting over. Oy, it was a hellish night. I hadn't realized that Tuesday night had actually been a good night. Doodles essentially cried from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., with Adam and I alternating going in at five-minute intervals to pat him and tell him he's doing just fine. I was dreading Saturday night. Ferber says it generally takes three nights for the training to start to kick in, and I knew that Friday counted as night one, as we had let Doodles in our bed those two nights, thereby erasing our good work.
We put him down Saturday evening at about 8:30, and with just the tiniest bit of fussing, he fell right to sleep. Normally, he wakes up at 11 and then again at about 3. I waited for the 11 o'clock scream, and sure enough, at 11 there was this little whimper that ended before I even got out of bed (yes, we're lame--Adam and I were in bed at 9:30 on Saturday night). I woke at about 2:30 a.m. and thought, "Okay, the cries are going to start any second now." So I waited. And waited. And then I woke up Adam to go check on Doodles, to make sure he was still breathing (I'm convinced he can smell the breastmilk when I get close, and I didn't want to start him off--at least, that's what I tell Adam). At around 3:15, there was a whimper that again ended quickly. So I waited some more. By this time, I was wide awake, straining to hear every peep from his room. I sent Adam back in a few more times to make sure Doodles was still breathing. At 5 a.m., there were a few more whimpers that petered out back into sleep and he awoke for the day at 6:45. Total sleep Doodles: 10 hours. Total sleep Adam: 7 hours. Total sleep for a very neurotic Jenny: 3 hours. I was more tired on Sunday than I had been on the days that Doodles was sleeping with us and nursing every two hours. But Doodles, Doodles appears to have been successfully Ferberized. And now I need to relearn how to sleep.
We tried Ferberizing for the first time on Tuesday night, with the strong encouragement of our pediatrician. On Monday night the boy had kept me up all night using me as his human pacifier, and I'd reached the end of my sleep-deprivation rope. So Tuesday, he was on his own. It was an ugly night. An hour crying when we put him to bed. An hour at 11 p.m. An hour at 3 a.m. I was pretty near tears myself. Then, on Wednesday, Doodles had a reaction to one of his vaccinations (his highest fever yet: 104.1), so we had him in our bed to facilitate 'round the clock feedings (to keep him hydrated). He didn't seem completely better on Thursday, so again, he stayed with us. So we tried again on Friday, essentially starting over. Oy, it was a hellish night. I hadn't realized that Tuesday night had actually been a good night. Doodles essentially cried from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., with Adam and I alternating going in at five-minute intervals to pat him and tell him he's doing just fine. I was dreading Saturday night. Ferber says it generally takes three nights for the training to start to kick in, and I knew that Friday counted as night one, as we had let Doodles in our bed those two nights, thereby erasing our good work.
We put him down Saturday evening at about 8:30, and with just the tiniest bit of fussing, he fell right to sleep. Normally, he wakes up at 11 and then again at about 3. I waited for the 11 o'clock scream, and sure enough, at 11 there was this little whimper that ended before I even got out of bed (yes, we're lame--Adam and I were in bed at 9:30 on Saturday night). I woke at about 2:30 a.m. and thought, "Okay, the cries are going to start any second now." So I waited. And waited. And then I woke up Adam to go check on Doodles, to make sure he was still breathing (I'm convinced he can smell the breastmilk when I get close, and I didn't want to start him off--at least, that's what I tell Adam). At around 3:15, there was a whimper that again ended quickly. So I waited some more. By this time, I was wide awake, straining to hear every peep from his room. I sent Adam back in a few more times to make sure Doodles was still breathing. At 5 a.m., there were a few more whimpers that petered out back into sleep and he awoke for the day at 6:45. Total sleep Doodles: 10 hours. Total sleep Adam: 7 hours. Total sleep for a very neurotic Jenny: 3 hours. I was more tired on Sunday than I had been on the days that Doodles was sleeping with us and nursing every two hours. But Doodles, Doodles appears to have been successfully Ferberized. And now I need to relearn how to sleep.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home