I picked up a new book this week. It’s called The Sleepeasy Solution
Sleep. Easy. Solution.
That’s what I need. Asa is still waking up about 3 or 4 to eat every morning. Yes, he goes right back to sleep. Yes, his total hours of sleep is about 11 or 12 hours. Yes, he goes to bed with minimal crying. BUT I cannot make it much longer on this interrupted sleep pattern. I find myself getting aggravated at Asa, Les and Lydia because I haven’t slept.
For awhile I was just doing a minimal cry-it-out thing. I’d make a set time, say 2am. And if he woke up before then I wouldn’t get him up. Then after he’d wake up at 2am for a few days, I’d move my new time to 2:30. The plan was to keep moving it until he slept till the morning. Well, we’ve been stuck on 4am and the last few weeks he’s gotten worse–waking up at 2:30, 3:15 and every time in between.
The problem is Asa will cry for days. He just won’t stop. Sometimes I think he’s actually crying-crying. But other times I can tell it’s just PROTEST crying. He just wants me up there with him! Those are the times I go in there and he doesn’t have a tear in his eye. He’s immediately cheerful when I pick him up. And he looks at me with a little glint in his eye that says, “I won, Mommy!” OK, maybe not that severe but that’s what it feels like.
I’m not opposed to cry-it-out, I just don’t think it always works for a normal person. I’m strong enough (and consider kids strong enough) to cry for awhile–even up to an hour. But past that, it just seems to get kids more riled up. And parents stressed out. But the whole idea of doing-whatever-it-takes to make a kid fall asleep without a cry…rocking, nursing, laying down with, slowly-moving-away-centimeter-by-centimeter-so-they-don’t-wake-up just doesn’t work for me. I don’t think it helps kids learn to sleep unassisted.
What’s a normal middle of the road girl to do?
Well, this book is supposedly the MINIMAL cry sleep solution. We are on Day 3 of night weaning and this is how it’s been…
Day 1: NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING CHILD WAKE YOUR SLEEPING CHILD
According to the book, I was to wake Asa up an hour before he usually wakes on his own. So, I set my alarm for 2am. Then I groggily walked into his room and PICKED UP A SLEEPING CHILD to feed. I can’t even believe I did that. He ate for 10 minutes. I laid him back down and he went to sleep as usual. But lo and behold at 5:15 he was up screaming his head off. I won’t tell you how long he cried. But it was long. I don’t think I slept again that morning.
Day 2: T-minus 2 minutes.
I set my alarm for 3am this time. I was instructed to watch the clock and once he had eaten for 8 minutes (that’s 2 minutes less than the first day) I had to stop him and put him to bed. He was fine. Laid right down and didn’t wake up until 6am. Not bad.
Day 3: UTTER FAIL.
I don’t want to talk about it.
Day 4: AKA Day 2
I woke Asa up at 3am. Fed him for 8 minutes. (I had to revert back to Day 2 because of the aforementioned FAIL.) Fell asleep instantly—with a sweet sigh of delight even. He woke up at 6:35. I let him get up like it was his normal wake-time. Then he proceeded to cry for the next 45 minutes…whether he was in my arms, playing with a toy or crawling on the floor.
Not very encouraging, huh?
I’m going to give it a few more days. The whole idea is that you limit the feeding by 2 minutes every night. Then by the time you get to ZERO minutes, he won’t wake again. We’ll see what happens.
Has anyone done Sleep Easy before? If not, do you have any ENCOURAGING sleep stories to share?!
See Part 2: Days 5-11: It DOES Work!!
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Oh, I feel like I could have written part of this post myself! Tebow wakes up somewhere between 2 and 3:30 every night and it is getting to me. The other night he was WIDE awake at 2:30. My husband ended up sleeping on the couch so I could deal.
I’ll be watching to see if this helped you or if others say it helped them.
.-= Alli´s last blog ..Big Baby =-.
I’ve never used Sleep Easy nor do I have any encouraging sleep stories to share. I do, however, send you virtual *hugs*!
(My current sleep issues involve my soon-to-be-3-year-old trying desperately to give up his nap. I would love it if he would hang onto it for, I don’t know, two more years maybe? lol)
.-= Janna´s last blog ..Anderson and Light the Night =-.
While discouraging to read your post it’s also heart warming to know that I am not the only one baby sleep deprived. Lil Man who is 2 1/2 has not slept a full night since he was 6 months old. He began sleeping through the night 9pm – 6am every night until about 6 months and not a night since. Lil Bit, 5 months old – NEVER sleeps. Day or night = Never! I honestly do not believe this child has ever slept four hours straight. I would be pushing to say he’s slept three hours. Nap time is lucky to see 20 minutes, maybe 30 on a really good, exceptional day. Some nights he may fall asleep by 11pm but he’s awake by 12:30AM and stays that way until sometimes 3:00-3:30. If I’m lucky I’ll get a couple of hours sleep and he’s up ready to go again. His Mama was the same way … for the entire first year of her life! I’m too old to be doing this again.
I feel you sleep pain.
.-= Linda S´s last blog ..It Has Been A While =-.
Oh dear – I’m sorry… I have nothing to share. I read Babywise, and it worked like wonders for both kids… but they also do not cry forever. They had short attention spans when it comes to crying…
Praying for you!
You are so blessed to have a child sleep 11 or 12 hours. What time does he go to bed?
Erin never slept through the night until she was 5.
That’s a lot of sleep time so maybe put him to bed a little later.
i spent over a month crying my baby out. he was stuck at 2:30am
it sucked.
even now that he is weaned, he still will ocasionally wake up at 2am and be UP FOR THE DAY.
if you figure this out, PLEASE post about it!
.-= melissa´s last blog ..bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils… =-.
so sorry to hear about your sleeping problems. Mamas definitely need their rest!! I used Babywise for all three of mine and they were sleeping through by 5 months
I’m sorry Amanda! Poor Lydia just did so awesome that your expectations are high:) Even now, I’m happy if Evan sleeps through the night. Megan on the other hand has been wonderful – expect the last two months … she’s stuck in a horrible zone of waking up at about 3 and then again about 6. I don’t mind 6 … but just like you that interruped sleep thing is what really stinks!! Last night was horrible!!! Evan woke up 2 times & Megan 4. Yep, that’s 6 times b/n them!!! The last three nights I’ve tried giving Megan water in a bottle when she wakes up. Now last night was horrible but the other 2 I felt like I was getting somewhere. Can you give him water in a cup or something? I know she doesn’t need the milk at that hour, so my hope is that she’s less interested b/c she knows she’s not getting any … to be continued …
.-= mandi @ it’s come to this´s last blog ..Conversations with a four year old =-.
Hi Amanda:
I got your post- thanks for thinking of me. I love that our babies are the same age. It makes me think of you when we hit a milestone etc!
It sounds like at this point little Asa is used to eating in the middle of the night. He probably cries for a long time because he’s hungry. He doesn’t need to eat nutritionally, but his little body is accustomed to it. So the sleep easy thing might just pay off. Like basically, if you get him un-used to eating then he will sleep or at least when you hit another block you can let him cry and he might not cry so much before falling back asleep. If he uses pacifiers you could try giving him the pacifier instead of feeding him… AND- have you tried feeding him an extra time during the day (especially in the evening, if you cna feed him twice closer together it might help)? Then if he’s had more than he’s used to during the day, he might not want the food at night. And consistency always pays off for my girl- a few days of routine makes a world of difference so keep at it before you write something off!
Just ideas, you’re a more experienced mommy than me! I know you know this but God is faithful and good. Pray for wisdom and discernment as you watch Asa that you might be able to figure all his baby ways!
lots of love-
Erin
.-= Erin´s last blog ..Oh Blog, How I Miss You! =-.
mainly want to offer hugs to you. it’s such a frustrating part of having children. i loved the sleep sense program. it’s an e-book and i found the info invaluable but it was also full of encouragement. but i do hope asa gets the swing of things soon, for everyone!
.-= Candace´s last blog ..Hey Cupcake! =-.
Hugs from me, too. I just don’t know what to tell you. I had fat babies who were easily Babywise-d and people spit on me when I tell them that, so I am only confiding online where you cannot spit.
I am praying for you, though. I know it’s frustrating and you are doing the right thing trying new options and asking for advice.
I hope you find what works perfectly for your family.
Maybe one day, you too will be spat upon for your happy ending.
.-= Hillary @ The Other Mama´s last blog ..Facebook: Friend or Foe? =-.
My encouragement is mainly in the form of empathy, and the assurance that this too shall pass. Yeah, I know (from experience!) that that’s not very helpful, but nothing at all worked for my youngest son. I had four perfect sleepers, waited 6.5 years to have our fifth baby, and then he was ROTTEN in term of sleep! Not only did I feel like I was starting all over again with child-rearing, I was doing it sleep-deprived! I have a number of crazy, give-me-sleep-or-give-me-a-coma posts on my blog for the first year of his life. Once he was weaned and a little bit older (about 11 months), he finally started sleeping. He’s now almost 2 and is a pretty good sleeper. Sometimes I think they need to write books NOT about how to help kids cry it out, but how to help parents wait it out. At least with my son, that’s all that helped.
.-= Stacey @ Tree, Root, and Twig´s last blog ..WINNER: Carolina Pad Fashionable School Supplies =-.
Sooooooooooooo? What happened last night?
.-= Erin´s last blog ..Oh Blog, How I Miss You! =-.
This is great features on blog!
Babies wake for a reason! Less than 25% of children sleep without waking for a 10 hr period, in fact ‘sleeping through the night’ is classified as 5, FIVE, straight hours! I understand you are tired and frustrated but parenting doesn’t end at 7 pm, we don’t get to punch out for 12 hours. Being a Mother is a round the clock job and Yes, that means even at night. My youngest son is now 10 months old and do you know the last time I slept more than 3 hrs straight???? I sure don’t! One waking a night is nothing, enjoy the alone time.
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