Sleeping Schedule: Interrupted

Up until about 2 weeks ago, we had a great sleeping routine.  I even blogged about how well it was going in Lane's 2 Month letter.  But then he got his first cold, and our entire routine went down the drain.

Because he was so congested, Lane and I spent much of the night sitting up, in the bathroom, with the hot shower running.  The steam/humidity helped up both breathe easier, and we often times fell asleep in there.  Or, we'd sleep together in our bed, both of us propped up more upright than usual.  This means Lane got very used to being held, snuggled, and upright rather than swaddled, horizontal, and in his bassinet.

Now that we're both over our illness, we're trying to transition back to our old ways.  And man oh man, is it tough.  Lane wants to be held, rocked, in our bed.  He wants to snuggle, and feel a warm body against him.  And while I LOVE snuggling him, I know he needs to learn to sleep on his own.

Last night was ROUGH.  Lane went down okay the first time, but then was awake again at 1 AM.  I fed him, changed his diaper, reswaddled him, and put him back in his bassinet.  Cue the SCREAMING.  So I got him out, rocked him, and tried to put him down when he was almost asleep.  Nope, not having it.  To make a long story short, we ended up being awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night, and Lane ended up in our bed.

Its really tough for me to stick it out in the middle of the night, especially when I have to work the next day.  It just always seems easier to put him in bed with me, and tell myself, "I'll work on it tomorrow night".

We've used Dr. Harvery Karp's book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" since Lane was born, and its amazing how well the techniques work.  Even Josh, who was hesitant to buy into the hype, now uses the 5 S's on a routine basis.  (I'm totally recommending this book to ALL new parents- SO worth reading!)  Lane is pretty dependent on 4 of the 5 S's, those being sucking, swinging/swaying, shushing (or white noise), and swaddling.  Sometimes when he's just upset and not really sleeping, the stomach/side positioning really helps.  I'm hoping that since Lane is now considered out of the "4th Trimester" (read the book to find out what that is!), we can slowly transition some of these S's out.  I would love for him to be able to sleep without being rocked/swayed to sleep, and I'm fine with him keeping the swaddling (he stays safely warm without blankets, sucking (self-soothing), and shushing (because we have a white noise machine). 

Josh wants to transition Lane into his own room soon, but I'm just not ready.  Its so much more convenient to feed him in our room, and to be able to just reach over into his bassinet to replace his pacifier or to check or eyeballs that may be awake. 

So, as with all other challenges, this shall pass soon.  I know in a few weeks or months when I'm looking back at this post, it'll be hard to remember Lane not being a good sleeper, and this phase won't seem all that bad. 

Sleep, Oh Glorious Sleep

A few weeks ago, I had a long conversation with my wonderful cousin Mandy, regarding babies and sleep.  She has two children of her own, and was (is) a valuable source of information on all things parenting.  Our situation was that Lane refused to sleep lying down, unless it was in bed with me, or lying on my.  He would sometimes sleep in his bouncy chair, and would nap in his swing, but bedtime was awful.  I found myself dreading going to bed.  I spent many nights sleeping napping on the couch, just praying for daylight to hurry up and arrive.  Lane refused to have anything to do with his bassinet, even when swaddled.

I was afraid of Lane become dependent on my for sleep; I was afraid I was "spoiling" him. 

Mandy assured me that I was not spoiling my son, and that things would get better in time.  After all, how many 18-year-olds do you see still sleeping in their bouncy chairs or lying on their mothers' chests?

So, we just waited it out.  And I kept putting Lane in his bassinet during the day, sometimes while awake, and sometimes after he had fallen asleep.  We had discovered Lane loves white noise, so we bought a white machine.  And kept swaddling. 

And wouldn't you know it- he started sleeping in there!  Nightime was still rough, and I kept perpetuating the problem by putting him in bed with me.  But finally, after a particularly rough night, Josh and I agreed something had to change.  So back in the bassinet he went.

And I'm proud to say, Lane now sleeps perfectly in his bassinet.  He'll sleep for 4-6 hours at night, wake up to eat, and then go back to sleep for another 2-4 hours.  He still sometimes needs some "help" getting to sleep, such as being rocked, but we always try to put him down before he's actually asleep.

Its amazing what just a difference a few shorts weeks can make.  We are all so much more happy during the day, and feel much more rested.  Plus, this will all help once we transition Lane into his own room.  And although I sometimes still sneak Lane into our bed for some snuggle time, I feel confident knowing he is on his way to becoming an independent sleeper.