sleeping - night #6

Judith slept through the night last night (10:00-5:45)! (Of course she did, because we'd just decided last night to hold off another few weeks on "helping" her learn to sleep through the night.) I was thinking that the last few days had just been to crazy to be getting her on a schedule, and so we probably weren't training her at all, and we might as well wait another couple weeks until she was a little bit bigger and older and more ready. And then she went and did it on her own!

Her evening was pretty normal - she "tanked up" just fine - on her own really, because she's been wanting to eat every two hours for the last day or so. And then she just slept - which is amazing! I only woke up twice during the nights, although at 5:00 a.m. when I woke up for the second time, I had to get up and check to make sure Judith was still breathing! And when she woke up, she only ate for her normal 10 minutes, so it must not have stressed her out too much to go all night.

Now I'm really curious about what tonight will be like!

night #5

We made the decision (yes, Lance actually voiced his opinion!) to let her sleep until she woke up, and just feed her at that point. She slept for 6 1/2 hours (poor, tired girl!) and woke up ravenous...she ate for 20 minutes!...and then slept for another four hours.

And now, after these five nights of "experimentation" I'm starting to think that I should go back to doing what I did last night (which had been my routine up until five days ago) for a few more weeks and then try this again. Yes, I'm tired at the middle of the night feeding, but I don't really mind losing 1/2 an hour of sleep if I can get five and four hours on either side of it. And it would take away my fear about not feeding her enough. On the other hand, her eating for 20 minutes in the middle of the night is not normal - usually I could hardly get her to eat for 5 minutes - and so I was thinking that she was probably just nursing for comfort to go back to sleep. If that's the case, then I'd just as soon train her out of that as soon as possible.

We'll see what tonight brings.

sleeping - prelude to night #5

So tonight is pretty messed up. We had family over (which is good) and so Judith was pretty much just UP for the last 5 hours, (which is bad). She's SO tired! I'm not sure if that's good, because she should sleep longer to make up for sleep lost, or if it's bad because she's too overtired and will just wake up looking for comfort. I guess we'll see. Daddy was able to help her sleep (finally!) a few minutes ago, which also complicates the issue - should I wake her to feed her again so she can make it through the night (she last ate at 8:30, so she definitely needs more to make it 'til morning), or should I just let tonight be what it is, and feed her when she wakes up, however many hours away that is. Guess I'll play it by ear. (See how much Lance is rubbing off on me?!) Update tomorrow.

the Daddy Dance

Sometimes, when Judith is screaming, the only thing that quiets her is dancing with Lance. He cradles her in his arms and waltzes around the house. It's beautiful to watch. And really, if I try the exact same thing, it doesn't work...she wants her Daddy.

sleeping - night #4

so. she "tanked up" just fine - without spitting or anything - but she didn't sleep all that long before waking up the first time. It was 2:30 when I gave her the pacifier. Then she woke up at 4:30. I didn't feel like I could give her the pacifier again, since it had been 7 hours, I fed her. She ate ravenously for exactly 12 minutes, and then stopped like a switched was turned off and went back to sleep. Since then she's been wanting to eat every two hours or so, and only sleeping an hour or so in between. It's hard to believe she could already be going through another growth spurt, but it sure seems that way today! Wonder how THAT will affect the night sleeping.

alertness

I have been noticing today how much more alert Judith is than she was even a few days ago. She'll watch our faces now, if we talk to her, and she her attention actually gets caught by things. This morning she and I had a very fun five minutes or so lying on the bed watching the ceiling fan (well, ok, I was watching Judith watch the fan). She cooed and gurgled and smiled up at it, while I watched the whole process with joyous wonder. I pray that I'll remember moments like these in another 10 years when she's talking back when I ask her to do something.

sleeping - night #3

I'm not sure the "tank her up" thing works so well for Judith. Maybe her little stomach just isn't ready for that much food? She gets really gassy and spits up a lot after the last feeding of the day. Last night was pretty bad - lots of screaming and buckets of spit - and it took her almost two hours to go to sleep! She was finally asleep around midnight. She didn't wake up at 4:00; she slept straight until 5:30, which means that she did go 7 1/2 hours without eating, but she was only asleep for about 5 1/2 of those hours, so I wouldn't really consider it sleeping through the night...but I guess it's another step in the process. She seemed pretty hungry at 5:30, but she fell asleep eating again, and only ate for 10 minutes. It's extremely difficult to wake her when she does that, and I'm getting a little wary of trying to "force" her to eat more, because it just seems to make her spit up. I'm really not sure what to do about that!