And yet another sleep update

This weekend was interesting.....
PJ was gone Friday night, so I just went to bed early and Brennan came straight to bed with me. And guess what, he didn't wake up until about 4:30am for a nursing session (that is the earliest I will nurse him now).

Sat night - he took a late PM nap so went to bed late. Same deal as Friday.

I was curious - what would happen Sunday night when we were back on a normal schedule and routine vs starting the night in my bed. Would he wake up around midnight like usual to snuggle with mommy? Or would he sleep longer? Maybe even until 4;30am?

Low and behold - I woke up with a start at 1am - no cries from B's room - and I was so tempted to go get him b/c of course my mind is going crazy - what if something is wrong, what if he fell out of his crib, what if what if what if - but I realistically knew things were fine and I fell back asleep. Then like clockwork - 4:30am hit and the cries came - so B came to nurse and snuggle with me until we got up at 645am! Will this continue?

Now - if only I could curb the 4:30am snacktime........one thing at a time though - just one thing at a time.....

And then not so much

Should I even wish for more than 1 good night in a row? Last night was miserable - lots of crying. lots.

A good night's sleep

Last night was heavenly! Brennan went to bed, woke up to come sleep in bed with me, easily fell back asleep, and slept until 4:30am - miracle, especially considering the two previous nights were not so fun......

New Playroom and New Sleep Plan

We finally got our playroom up to speed - check it out!

So a few months ago, I stumbled across an article called, "Changing the Sleep Pattern in the Family Bed" and it caught my attention b/c it really spoke to me and sounded like our situation! Don't get me wrong, I love having Brennan sleep with us (more like me!), but I was getting tired of the 24 hour nursing buffett - it didn't keep me up, as it is really easy to roll over and "offer", but as I looked in to the future, I just knew it needed to stop. I knew that B-man didn't need to eat all night and that he was old enough for the process of self-soothing to start taking place. So I waited until we were not going to be travelling or having guests for a while, and committed to the plan.

Nights 1-3 - those were rough. He was pissed when I pulled him off before he fell asleep. It was hard for me too b/c it meant being awake much more at night.....

Nights 4-6 - yikes, not much better. He hated me walking him around and the 1st two nights of this part, it took over an hour in the middle of the night to get him back to sleep, let alone me! He was fighting being in my arms.

Nights 7+ - this is where we are now. Sat night was the best night of all - I just let him cry next to me in the middle of the night, but offered a hand for soothing, and he quickly fell asleep. Last night, not so much.....he was struggling to stay asleep.

The thing I really like about this plan is that I am not banned from nursing him - I just have committed to no nursing during a 7 hour stretch - but anytime before or after that, I am free to do what we both want/prefer. It ends up being more than 7 hours (my 7 hour stretch is 10pm-5am) and Brennan tends not to wake up before 10pm, so really it ends up being more like a 10 hour stretch for him - 7:30-5am - and he is fine.

A key for us is having a sippy cup of water next to the bed for his middle of the night wake up - he does seem thirsty and it seems to calm him down to be able to take a few sips.

Hopefully this will be a good plan overall - I am happy so far! And Brennan still wakes up and likes to love on his mommy, so the pissed off phase in the middle of the night, sure doesn't last!

NOTE - this plan is for babies who are at least OVER 12 months old!

Finding Nemo!

Brennan had a great Halloween this year - he was Nemo! We had a party at daycare and then went to a few houses around the neighborhood - it was so fun. The only downfall, little man was sick all weekend. Even stayed home Monday and Tuesday! But that's okay - he got full election covererage and is so excited about Obama!

Such a funny guy

We got B's Haircut this weekend @ Cookie Cutters (not going back though - yucky and dirty!) but good haircut!



I think he looks SOOO cute - so much more like a little boy than a baby. My goodness, I hardly recognized him!

So it was soo funny last night - Brennan and I were hanging out in his room b/c PJ had a colleague over and they were working on a case. Anyway, we were listening to Raffi and B was just enthralled with the cd player - and then he started dancing. OMG - it was the cutest, funniest thing in the world. He was sitting on the ground, facing the CD player and just bouncing (not really with the rythm, but close) - and then he would sway his head from side to side and shoulder to shoulder. I just laughed. And when I said, Brennan DANCE - he would start all over again. Just looking at the CD player made him dance even when no music was playing. Tooo cute.

Wordless Wednesday