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After much thought, reading, advice, and prayer, we decided to start sleep training. Here's how it went:
Night 1-I rocked Hannah to bed at 7:30. I know-rocking her to sleep is not training, but this is much earlier than her "normal" bedtime, which averaged around 9:30. I just wanted her to get used to going to bed earlier before we started making her fall asleep on her own. She actually slept straight through until the morning, which made me think that maybe an earlier bedtime was part of the solution to our problem.
Night 2-I put her in her crib at 7:00. She didn't start crying until 7:15. I decided to reorganize a closet to distract myself. I went in a few times and gave her a kiss and told her that I loved her, but that made her even more mad. She cried until she fell asleep at 7:40. Even though that is not that long, it was hard. However, she slept perfectly, straight through until 7:00 am.
Night 3-We were nervous because the book said the second night of falling asleep on their own is the worst (the first night I put her to sleep). I put her down at 7:20 and left the room. She started SCREAMING and I started crying once I left because I was afraid that she was going to cry a long time. I began to doubt myself. So, I went the distraction route again. I had two cheesecakes to make, so I started those. Before I even had the crusts done, she was asleep-less than 5 minutes-and she slept straight through the night again!
The very next day, Hannah had her first tooth come through! I was a little surprised about this since that follows her gestational age, which is only 5 1/2 months! I know the book said to take a break from the sleep training if your child is teething and come to find out, we did the rough nights right before her first tooth came through! Also, Hannah is really trying to figure out how to crawl, which the book mentioned as another possible setback. Despite these things, I decided I would try to continue.
Night 4-Hannah started crying as soon as I set her down. I walked out of the room to the couch, and literally before I sat down, she was asleep-amazing!
I do have to say that even though it is nice to have a break in the evenings, I do really miss Hannah. It is weird to have waking hours without her and I miss her falling asleep in my arms. However, I have to remind myself that I am doing what is best for her and my marriage. She needs to have healthy sleeping habits and Josh and I need to have time together.
I appreciate that several of you mentioned that you rethought things for the second child. The learning process is not done. Next time, I think I may start this around 4 or 5 months, although each child is different, so it may be hard to say for sure. I know for Hannah, I could not have started this much earlier. Since everything was going fine, I did not want to change anything until it wasn't going well and I would not give up those hours of holding her sleeping for anything. I loved it.
I have also started to get Hannah on a day schedule this week. I was very resistant of setting a schedule for our days even though all of the experts say this is necessary. I didn't want to be one of "those moms" who can't go to lunch because that's baby's nap time, etc. I know my mom never had a schedule, and I have enjoyed flying by the seat of my pants and doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and toting Hannah right along. However, we are reaching the age where that is not as practical. She doesn't just fall asleep whenever she is tired like she did in the beginning. So, I have developed a schedule, and I actually really like it so far. I know when she will be napping and so I don't worry about when I will get certain things done-I know I can do it during her set nap time. It has been a really easy transition, and I hope it continues. I am beginning to see that Hannah was not getting the amount and quality of rest that she needed, and I think this is a really positive change.
This is such a learning process. Even though I feel like I was around babies my whole life and am very comfortable with kids, I have obviously never had the responsibility of being the primary caregiver-and there is a big difference! Talk about on-the-job training! I do wonder about days where it will not be as easy to keep our schedule and I would like feedback on that. Do you stress out if you will not be home at nap time or bedtime? How long does it take your child to adjust back to routine? Do they get really cranky? Living and learning as I go....
Before Hannah was born, Jennifer lent me the book, "Sleeping Through the Night." Reading this book was one of the things left on my to do list when Hannah came 5 weeks early. After muddling through the first few weeks of parenting, the sleep thing seemed to be going well, and by 10 weeks, Hannah was sleeping 10+ hours straight. "Who needs to read a sleep book?" A lot of nights, I would just go and set her down and she would fall asleep. I thought, "It's not supposed to be this easy, is it?" Josh and I would laugh at how easy it was. I would literally set her down wide awake and not hear from her until a decent hour the next morning. At some point, she started falling asleep in my arms and I would just go lay her down. Also, no big deal. She was still sleeping 10 hours. Recently, she has started fighting sleep and we really have to rock her or encourage her to fall asleep. We will try to lay her down and she will wake back up and then we have to start all over again. Or, we will get her down and she will wake up crying half an hour later because we are no longer holding her. It's getting to the point of frustration, so I broke down and am reading the book. It definitely encourages the "cry it out" method. I was totally put off by this thought in the beginning but am about willing to give it a try. Although, there is still a voice in my head that says if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. I don't want to see my baby "suffer" as Josh would say, but I also want to end these frustrating nights and have some time with my husband. The book promises that by the third night, things will be getting better. Has anyone tried this? I am really considering it but would appreciate any comments or advice.
Hannah went for her 6 month appointment last week. Her shots went amazingly well. Everyone said they get worse each time, but so far, hers have gotten better each time. I took her glow worm and she just stared at it and smiled during the first two shots. She let out a little wimper for the third shot and then we were done. That thing is a lifesaver! They told me that Hannah is in the 94th percentile for her height and 77th for weight-not bad for being 5 weeks behind!!
Hannah started sleeping in her crib last week. Josh and I were both very sad about it. Neither one of us really wanted to do it, especially Josh, but I was just worried that if we didn't do it now, she might never do it. I do have to admit that she has woken up most nights and ended up in our bed with us though, so I'm not sure that's any better really :)
Hannah has tried lots of new foods, so now she has decided that she doesn't like her cereal unless there is fruit in it. I was amazed at how she gobbled it up in the beginning because lots of people said their kids hated cereal, but now that she has been exposed to flavors, she is the same way. She especially seems to love bananas and squash.
The weather has been so great lately so we have been going on walks. Josh set her in the grass the other day and she loved it. She kept ripping it out of the ground. Surprisingly, it did not go in her mouth, but I'm sure that won't be long!
Josh's Grandma Downing was in the hospital this week, so Hannah and I went and spent an afternoon with her. She loves Hannah so much; it really seemed to lift her spirits. She is doing better now and is back at home. It's amazing how babies can brighten everyone's day!
Hannah started on solids a week before her 6 month birthday. The doctor said if she started waking earlier, that would be a good sign that she was ready. Even though I wasn't overly anxious to start solids, I wasn't wanting to give up sleep either :) So, when she woke up around 4 or 5 for a few days in a row, I decided it was time. We gave her rice cereal first, which she did really well with. She also likes oatmeal, avocado, squash, and bananas. My friend Laura and I made lots of baby food the other day, so the freezer is stocked with peas, carrots, applesauce, and squash. There's a part of me that wants Hannah to slow down, but each stage does bring new joys. She is so much fun.
We are having a nice family day at home for Valentine's Day. Josh and I went out last week to celebrate our 11 year dating anniversary. We usually do that instead of going out and fighting the crowds on V-Day.
Hannah is quite the popular girl this holiday. She has gotten lots of fun presents. Growing up, my dad always got us girls presents, while my mom got presents for the boys. I thought this was a fun tradition that we could continue in our family, so Josh and Hannah exchanged presents. I got lots of chocolate from my dad and from Josh-that should help me lose my last 10 lbs of baby weight :)
On Saturday, we had a girls shopping trip to Indianapolis. Jody, Hannah, Courtney, Caroline, and I headed over at 8:30 in the morning, and we did not get back until almost 11:00 at night! What a long day!
One of the best parts about the day was that I ran into Amy Troyer at Crate and Barrel! All of a sudden, I hear "STEPHANIE DOWNING!" Amy was coming out of the store as I was going in. How fun is that-It was so good to see her!!
We had originally scheduled the shopping trip because Jody wanted to get Hannah a Valentine's Day dress at Janie and Jack. They only had one Valentine dress, and we weren't that in love with it, so she ended up getting her lots of spring and summer clothes instead. She also got her first pair of sunglasses, which match her new swimsuit. Now we are ready for the warm weather to come!!!
I got everything in the picture above for $6.18 (Two ocean spray juices, Two boxes of Kashi granola bars, 7 Yoplait yogurts, 1 Huggies baby wash, 4 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 Package Quilted Northern Toilet Paper)
Since I started staying at home, I have got onto "mom blogs." There are tons of blogs totally devoted to saving money and being frugal. I have found that many of the moms who write these blogs are Christians and are practicing Christian principals. Jennifer actually gave me the web address for one of my favorites. It is:
http://freebies4mom.blogspot.com/
She references and links to many more blogs, which will in turn send you to even more blogs... the savings are endless. You will find that many will post a picture of what they purchased at the store and how much they spent. I was excited about this, so I am posting a picture of my last trip to Target, where I spent a total of $6.18 using a combination of Target and manufacturer coupons. What a deal!! Also, at my last big shopping trip to Wal-Mart, I used almost $40 in coupons! I am actually getting things for free a lot, or sometimes I even get paid for "buying" things after my coupons! I have been clipping from the Sunday paper and printing lots of online coupons. It takes time, but it's rewarding!
l
After much thought, reading, advice, and prayer, we decided to start sleep training. Here's how it went:
Night 1-I rocked Hannah to bed at 7:30. I know-rocking her to sleep is not training, but this is much earlier than her "normal" bedtime, which averaged around 9:30. I just wanted her to get used to going to bed earlier before we started making her fall asleep on her own. She actually slept straight through until the morning, which made me think that maybe an earlier bedtime was part of the solution to our problem.
Night 2-I put her in her crib at 7:00. She didn't start crying until 7:15. I decided to reorganize a closet to distract myself. I went in a few times and gave her a kiss and told her that I loved her, but that made her even more mad. She cried until she fell asleep at 7:40. Even though that is not that long, it was hard. However, she slept perfectly, straight through until 7:00 am.
Night 3-We were nervous because the book said the second night of falling asleep on their own is the worst (the first night I put her to sleep). I put her down at 7:20 and left the room. She started SCREAMING and I started crying once I left because I was afraid that she was going to cry a long time. I began to doubt myself. So, I went the distraction route again. I had two cheesecakes to make, so I started those. Before I even had the crusts done, she was asleep-less than 5 minutes-and she slept straight through the night again!
The very next day, Hannah had her first tooth come through! I was a little surprised about this since that follows her gestational age, which is only 5 1/2 months! I know the book said to take a break from the sleep training if your child is teething and come to find out, we did the rough nights right before her first tooth came through! Also, Hannah is really trying to figure out how to crawl, which the book mentioned as another possible setback. Despite these things, I decided I would try to continue.
Night 4-Hannah started crying as soon as I set her down. I walked out of the room to the couch, and literally before I sat down, she was asleep-amazing!
I do have to say that even though it is nice to have a break in the evenings, I do really miss Hannah. It is weird to have waking hours without her and I miss her falling asleep in my arms. However, I have to remind myself that I am doing what is best for her and my marriage. She needs to have healthy sleeping habits and Josh and I need to have time together.
I appreciate that several of you mentioned that you rethought things for the second child. The learning process is not done. Next time, I think I may start this around 4 or 5 months, although each child is different, so it may be hard to say for sure. I know for Hannah, I could not have started this much earlier. Since everything was going fine, I did not want to change anything until it wasn't going well and I would not give up those hours of holding her sleeping for anything. I loved it.
I have also started to get Hannah on a day schedule this week. I was very resistant of setting a schedule for our days even though all of the experts say this is necessary. I didn't want to be one of "those moms" who can't go to lunch because that's baby's nap time, etc. I know my mom never had a schedule, and I have enjoyed flying by the seat of my pants and doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and toting Hannah right along. However, we are reaching the age where that is not as practical. She doesn't just fall asleep whenever she is tired like she did in the beginning. So, I have developed a schedule, and I actually really like it so far. I know when she will be napping and so I don't worry about when I will get certain things done-I know I can do it during her set nap time. It has been a really easy transition, and I hope it continues. I am beginning to see that Hannah was not getting the amount and quality of rest that she needed, and I think this is a really positive change.
This is such a learning process. Even though I feel like I was around babies my whole life and am very comfortable with kids, I have obviously never had the responsibility of being the primary caregiver-and there is a big difference! Talk about on-the-job training! I do wonder about days where it will not be as easy to keep our schedule and I would like feedback on that. Do you stress out if you will not be home at nap time or bedtime? How long does it take your child to adjust back to routine? Do they get really cranky? Living and learning as I go....
