Last week, after my one week update, little Yo-tan continued to improve. I was feeling pretty good about my skills as an Ima (mommy). He had two naps on Thursday that were each almost an hour! Then on Friday, he had a nap that was about 70 minutes (how do I know? I use a free app called Baby Daybook that lets me keep track of everything)!
DAYTIME:
But then we had a bit of a setback over the weekend... I was really exhausted, so instead of putting baby to nap in his bed for his morning nap, I laid down with him and let him nurse while he napped. I did this for a couple days. It was wonderful bonding time (I love snuggling with him; he's so solid), but there was a downside over the next day or two: he started "fighting" with me over going down at naptime, which meant that I had to go back to nursing him to sleep and try the unlatching "Pantley" method (which I did on and off).
I started beating myself up about it, but then a few of the nights, when I would put Yo-tan down after our routine, he would squeak to himself (he's become extremely chatty over the past week)... and squeak... and squeak. I waited for the squeaks to become kvetches and then cries, but they didn't! Okay, a few nights they did, but there were also a few nights where he just squeaked himself to quiet sleep (like last night)! I didn't believe it; I had serious doubts. I really didn't think it could happen... but it did.
The fact that he would still fall asleep gently, despite the setbacks, made me feel better about not being super strict about the routine (I wouldn't recommend it though; I think it just makes everything take longer).
I had so little faith that my actions would succeed that I would even leave the bedroom and come out to my husband, warning him that when the baby squawked, it would be his turn to go in (since he didn't smell like milk). And then, nothing! The wonderful silence that comes with a sleeping baby.
It's also been difficult this week because Yo-tan has learned to sit up. We all know that when a baby learns a new skill, they want to practice it all.the.time. Yup. He's also teething on and off. And Yo-tan also now gets distracted, so easily, by everything. He gets distracted when nursing, when going to sleep, whenever. Add that into his new skill sets and it's a recipe for trouble at bedtime.
Even so, on Sunday we had a 90-minute nap (okay, yea, we also had a lousy 24-minute nap), on Monday we had a 76-minute nap (yes, we also had a 32-minute nap), yesterday we had a 95-minute nap (he slept for 30 minutes in his bed and the rest with me) and two separate half hour naps (yesterday wasn't great), but today Yo-tan made me feel good about myself (funny how our self-worth sometimes gets so wrapped up with babies)... THERE IS AN IMPROVEMENT!!!! I never used to have any naps longer than 40 minutes and those were what made me happy. WOO HOO!
Late this morning I put him for a nap by nursing him to sleep because he was fighting me again, and he woke up only 27 minutes after he went down. Fantastic. Grumble. But I didn't go in right away to get him and HE FELL BACK ASLEEP for almost another hour! There IS a reason it's important to remove associations from your baby's sleep, and this is precisely why. More cheering!
BEDTIME:
As for his nighttime sleeps, out of the past week, I had a couple nights where he slept for 4-6 hour chunks (rather than 2-3). It was really nice and helped me feel better the next day. I've also (still) been working on not immediately responding to his noises (I lay awake and listen) and there have been a few times where he's fallen back asleep. Maybe it's only for 45 minutes, but I figure it's part of the process.
It seems that the better daytime naps do, in fact, lead to better sleeping at night, but it's a process. Keep at it even if/when you doubt it'll work. I've seen slow improvement, but I have seen improvement. It has saved my sanity, which, in turn, has made me happy, my husband happy, and my family happier.
I'll keep the updates coming - hopefully my blogs help SOMEONE out there suffering from the same thing. HANG IN THERE, mommas!
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