The photo above was taken just a few minutes before Archer woke up from his first 24 hours of sleep training. Both amused and a little frightened, Phil and I decided after a few chuckles that we probably shouldn't wrap him in his swaddle blanket before bedtime anymore, as this is the way it finally settled in after a night of being tossed about.
WHY SLEEP TRAINING?
Well, after about three weeks on the road visiting family and friends, Archer and I had become sleep deprived. Now, while Archer seemed to remain his loveable, grinning, endearing self, I had become a sociopath, so, I thought, something had to change. Lulled into a gentle complacency about Archer's sleep habits in early infancy, I was suddenly gripped by a rigid desperation when he stopped sleeping through the night and began to awaken three, four, and five times before dawn.
First, I cried and wallowed in anger and self-doubt for a few days. My mom was a patient listener, taking Archer during the day so I could nap and weep piteously. With a calm gaze, she would say, "Like Nana always said -- you've got to roll with the punches." An agreeable enough quip, sure, but how much punching does this rookie mother have to take?
So, in an attempt to roll with said punches, I spent the last part of my trip making little to no effort to put Archer to sleep beyond nursing him. This, coupled with healthy doses of excitement and stimulation from many friends and family members, sent Archer and I slowly sliding into a patternless whir of exhaustion.
Enter my dear friends Petie and Brook. Both seasoned mothers and candid suppliers of both solicited and unsolicited advice, they were quick to stand firm on the virtues of sleep schedules and the infamous "cry it out" method -- a solution that was rumored to be heartless, cruel, and wrought with lifelong emotional damage to all those who participated. I asked Petie how long it would take. "A week. A really hard week," she replied. "My kids sleep 12 hours a night," Brook added, encouragingly.
I nodded with as much conviction as I could muster and whispered to our poor, unsuspecting child, "live it up now, baby boy -- when we get back home, it's time for some hard core sleep training." Yikes.
My sister-in-law Bridget had given me the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book by Marc Weissbluth, and at 3:00 yesterday morning, as Phil was bouncing and shushing our I'm-wide-awake-and-cheery-and-have-no-intention-of-going-to-sleep-for-the-next-hour baby, I finally began to read Chapter 6: Months Five to Twelve.
Now that I've read carefully through the theory, methodology, and supporting research, I'm giving it a go with all the vigor I can muster on a scant four hours' sleep. Here is a time log of the first day of Archer's "sleep training":
6:05am Wake
6:20am Humongous diaper blowout
6:25am Full bath resulting from above blowout
6:40am Full meltdown resulting from removal of Archer's favorite froggie bath toy
6:45am Nursed
7:15am Independent play on mat
8:00am Put down for mid-morning nap while drowsy but not asleep -- a bit of fuss
8:08am Sleeping
10:12am Awake and happy
10:40am Nursed
11:00am Walk to store and bank in jogger
12:25pm Begin nap routine with non-nutritive nursing (NNN)
12:35pm Put down for early-afternoon nap while drowsy but not asleep -- a bit of fuss
12:36pm Sleeping
1:15pm Awake and crying -- left to return to sleep unassisted
1:38pm Stopped crying, staring pathetically out window
1:41pm Crying again
1:53pm Stopped crying, biting on blanket for soothing
1:58pm Crying again
2:35pm Nursed (never slept more than initial 40 minutes, cried for about an hour)
2:50pm Supplemented with 2 oz formula
3:00pm Mat play and walk in front carrier
4:10pm Begin nap routine with NNN
4:15pm Put down for late-afternoon nap while drowsy but not asleep -- no fuss
4:16pm Sleeping
4:44pm Awake
5:00pm Nursed
5:15pm Supplemented with 5 oz formula
5:30pm Trip to Lake Padden
6:40pm Bedtime routine with reading and music
6:50pm Nursed
7:05pm Put down for the night while drowsy but not asleep -- no initial fuss
7:15pm Crying begins
7:28pm Sleeping
11:45pm Nursed
Midnight Sleeping
4:20am Nursed
4:35am Sleeping
7:05am Awake for day two of sleep training!
Conclusions...except for the hour-long crying jag during his early afternoon nap, this kid is doing alright! He isn't a very skilled self-soother at this point, but I'm hopeful that he will get there. I think moving his cradle into his own room was a huge factor -- baby steps toward independence.
