Cold Turkey - night 4 and 5

Isabel did well for night 3 and 4 - slept from 10pm to 7:15am. Then last night, all was erased it seemed. She had trouble going to sleep. Didn't sleep until 10pm, then woke a little at 10:30pm, then 12:45pm (we had to feed her), 4:30am, then 8am.

While we would like for her to sleep through the night, we don't have the heart to have her cry night after night. We also don't want her to feel scared in the dark. So we have a new strategy starting tonight.

Not all was lost as we accomplished two goals with this training so far: 1. have her sleep unswaddled and sleep with no milk until at least 6am. Both were successful. Yeepy. I still have plenty of milk again for her to be 100% breastfed. She looks so cute sleeping with her arms spread out.

Our new strategy is to have a routine for her at night that is gentle. First a bath around 7:45pm, then feed her, then read or play with her for a bit before she goes to sleep. If she wakes up in the middle of the night, Agnes will try to soothe her without picking her up (she won't leave her though). We will still try not to feed her before 6am. This way I can pump some milk for her and have a chance to sleep as well. After 6am, I will feed her or Agnes would feed her the bottle if I need to sleep.

We will see how this goes. Every baby is different I guess. Isabel is a good girl. She will learn all in time. She still haven't learned how to sleep on her tummy. She always seems to freak when she is tired and happen to flip herself on her tummy. She doesn't know how to flip back to her back to sleep or sleep on her tummy. This may be why it was hard for her to be sleep trained. Whatever the reason, we are making adjustment and see. What's really important is she is a very healthy and happy baby. :-)

- Lei

Cold Turkey - night 3

She didn't sleep until 9:45pm, but she slept all the way through to 7:15am this time. I was restless all night worried about her, waiting for her to cry, and feeling relieved when I didn't hear it. Motherhood is tough at times.

We agreed to feed her at 8am so she cried and complained from 7:15 to 8. And then I fed her and took a nap with her for an hour. Those are the best times. She was snoring, so cute.

I am hoping tonight will be just as good as last night. No guarantees though. She is a baby after all. Wish us luck..

- Lei

Cold Turkey - night 2

Isabel fell asleep before 9pm last night and woke up twice (at 1am and at 5:30am). I am really glad I went out salsa dancing last night because I was so tired, I was able to sleep through the crying while Agnes soothed her according to the Ferber Method. I don't think I could have taken it if I was awake. Isabel was up 45 min at 1am and almost 90 min at 5:30am. But she did fall asleep after that until 8am. While I was able to sleep through most of it, I dreamt again of feeding her and cuddling her in my dreams.

I fed her in the morning at 8:15am. She ate and slept with me until 11:30am. I guess I felt guilty, although it's so necessary. We have spoiled her by feeding her at night when she really doesn't need it. Now we are correcting that.

Tonight will be hard, as I am at home all night. I am trying to sleep late, so I will be tired later and won't wake up to her crying... my poor baby... On the bright side, I am saving up more milk for her as I still pump at night.

The battle continues... wish us luck... She looks so cute unswaddled and snoring

- Lei

Cold Turkey

Isabel is almost 6 months old. We finally decided it's time for her to sleep through the night, unswaddled and unfed. This is hard as this mean we would have to let her "cry it out" if she wakes up in the middle of the night, not pick her up, or feed her. We are using the Ferber Method. It will not affect her health as she can go without eating for 24 hrs and be fine. It's just that she is so used to waking up and eating in the middle of the night. We have to do this to break the habit eventually.

We started this last night. She actually went to sleep by 8:50pm and didn't wake up until 4:45am this morning. But then she cried and cried for what seemed like forever (maybe 45 min). Agnes soothed her according to the Ferber method (first after 5 min, then 10, then 15). Isabel fell asleep and then woke up again at 6:10am.

This time hearing her cry was heart wrenching. All I dreamed about before she woke up again was feeding Isabel and holding her in my arms. We originally agree to not feed her until 7am but I couldn't take it. Since she already fell asleep once on her own, I fed her at 6:30am and she fell sleep by 6:50.

She woke up at 8:15 this morning and seems fine. We have to do this again tonight and thereafter until she sleeps through the night. yikes. At least I am so lucky that Agnes is doing this. I just need to stay out of the room and let her cry, which is soooo hard already. Wish us luck.

- Lei