Crackdown

Last week we swayed off the sleep training trail pretty sloppily so it was my intention to get started back on the right track tonight. Ben had other plans because he decided last night that he didn't need sleep so I was forced to start the crackdown last night instead. So I will blame any rambling or nonsense in this blog on a bit of sleeplessness & anxiety.

Soooo, we went through his whole routine at the normal time & I was rocking him to sleep (remember, I hadn't yet started the night sleep training yet so still rocking/feeding). He nodded off fairly quickly but then woke up immediately when I put him down & fought sleep with both Marcel & me after that for about an hour. We were not in the right frame of mind to rock him for 2 or 3 hours like we have done on many occasions so we gave up & got him up while we watched a bit of TV & he played a bit.

Finally, around 9pm we gave him another go & he just wouldn't give in! He was so so so sleepy, his eyes kept closing but he'd struggle to keep them open & wiggle & rub/scratch his face & head to wake himself back up. I had finally had enough - I was annoyed but not mad so I thought it might be a good time to try him soothing himself since we weren't doing any good. Mind you by the time we got to this point it was around 10pm. Grrrrr.

After much to'ing & fro'ing about how to handle it since he had never done a night soothing by himself & never actually been successful during the day getting himself to sleep, I decided to bring a pillow & blanket & sleep in the comfy chair in his room so he had a bit of comfort. Blah blah blah, I am rambling. He cried for about an hour (yes, I gave him cuddles when he'd get worked up) but eventually it faded out & at 11.30pm he was asleep!! Still a bit of twitching & whimpering in his sleep but he was out. He slept until 3.30am, which was actually pretty good since he normally drinks all night to stay asleep. I gave him a quick feed then because the Family Care Cottage nurses said I'll probably have to give him a night feed or two while he was getting used to things. I dumped him right back in his bed when he nodded back off, which only took a few minutes, & he stayed asleep until 5.00am. I fed him again then because I wasn't 100% sure what to do - I figured the 3.30 feed was his "middle of the night" feed & the 5am feed was his "early morning, go back to sleep for heaven's sake" feed. Then he officially woke up at 7am. I'm not too proud to admit that I actually fed him again then just in case he would sleep a little bit more & give me a break but no good.

All that mumbo jumbo just to say, we've started the night sleep training & I have no idea if it's going well or not so I'll keep you posted. I'm very proud of my gorgeous little man but now I'm not so sure if I should keep fighting with his stupid naps or follow some of the people I read online who just did the night sleep training & just kept up rocking/feeding for naps. Something tells me I'll just figure it out when he either goes down easily or gives me another pain in the ass fight.

Ahhhh well, he's a good boy & one day we'll get caught up on our missed sleep. It may be many years from now but it shall happen. And I'm trying to focus on the bigger picture - you may have heard that one of our Socceroos (oh yes, our official soccer team is called the SOCCEROOS! Yikes) had to go home because his 4 year old was just diagnosed with leukemia. Life's just not fair I say. Suddenly sleep issues don't seem so bad.

Anyway, sorry you had to read such a boring blog. I wish I had some great ending to make it worth your while but alas, I've got nothing. Hope you're having a super day!