Nights 7 & 8 of Ferberizing

Stasa has responded so well to being Ferberized. It has made bedtime much easier. I can't wait until she is able to fall asleep without tears. Luckily she only cries for a bit right now.

Tomorrow we're hosting Tom's dad and Aunt Jeanne for dinner. Before that I'm going to start putting together the stuff we need to take up to Michigan. Fun!

Night 6 of Ferberizing

Last night we increased the first cry time to 10 minutes. She cried the whole time. Tom went up and comforted her and put her back down. Then we waited 12 minutes and she stopped crying, but then started up again. Tom went back up and comforted her. Then we hit the longest wait. 15 minutes. She only needed 2. Passed out and slept through the night.

Night 5 of Ferberizing

I am a total believer in the Ferber Method. Stasa has responded to it so well. Tonight I put her down awake and left her. She cried for 5 minutes and then I went in and comforted her for just a couple of minutes and put her back down. She cried for maybe 2 minutes and then passed out.

Once we have her putting herself to sleep regularly, we're going to start swaddling her with one arm out. I'll post an update in the morning about how the rest of the night goes.

UPDATE: She slept through the night! NOW I remember what real sleep is like. Pleasepleaseplease let her do it again tonight.

Nights 3 & 4 of Ferberizing

So night 3 was pretty much the same as night 2. Out while nursing for the initial sleep time. Then up around 2:00AM for another feeding and she passed out while nursing then, too.

Last night was night 4 of Ferberizing and I was pretty pleased with the progress. She didn't fall asleep nursing at bedtime, so we put her down swaddled, dry, full and AWAKE. She didn't even cry the full 5 minutes and then she passed out. She woke up at 1:30AM still swaddled and hungry. She fell asleep nursing (thank God) and I crawled back in bed still half asleep. She was up AGAIN at 3:30AM completely unswaddled and on her tummy, face in the mattress. This is quickly becoming her new trick. Since she already ate, I scooped her up, reswaddled her and put her back down - as fast as I could. She squawked maybe twice. I had braced myself for the worst and was prepared to wake Tom to take care of her, but mercifully she passed out.

Even though last night was a success, I'm still exhausted. She's got to stop waking up for the middle of the night feedings. They are killing me.

Night 2 of Ferberizing

Stasa didn't nap at all today, so she was wasted by 6:00PM and ready for bed. I swaddled her up and fed her and she passed out. She hasn't made a peep since I put her down and it's been about 3 hours. I fully expect her to wake up at some point tonight since she went down so early. And I'm not looking forward to letting her cry it out in the middle of the night when I need to be sleeping for work tomorrow. sigh.

And in other news, I'm sitting here struggling to write my self assessment. I loathe writing it every year. It would be so much easier to just have my assessor write it as he/she interviews me.

Day 1 of Ferberizing

This weekend marks a first for us. We're Ferberizing Stasa. We should have started last night, but I was too exhausted to even get off of the couch. So, we started with today's morning nap. She woke up this morning around 8:00, played with Tom while I showered, then played some more on her playmat and jumperoo. I fed her and changed her and then brought her upstairs for her nap. She usually naps in the swing downstairs, so napping in her crib is a first, too.

I put her down unswaddled at first, but she was screaming bloody murder, so I picked her up and calmed her down. Then, I swaddled her tight in my makeshift muslin miracle blanket. I walked her around for a bit and then put her down in her crib. Of course she immediately started crying before I even left the room. I went and sat in our room to wait 5 minutes. She cried the whole time. And then stopped at the five minute mark, just when we were getting ready to go in and comfort her. As soon as we breathed a sigh of relief, she started whimpering and fussing. We went in quietly and peeked at her and she wasn't crying, just whining "eh, eh, eh." Before we left her room, she was passed out cold.

So, Ferber attempt #1 was a SUCCESS.

We're going to let her sleep for another hour and then get her up for a bath since she spit up all over herself. And then we're going out to McCormick and Schmick for a Mother's Day lunch. Yum!

Oh and Tom brought the Chevelle home today and we took some pictures of him in it. I'll post them later today. Here are some pictures I took yesterday afternoon.

Yawning kitty

Naked playtime!

Hanging out in her Bumbo in her new Ralph Lauren romper