Hi again,
I just meant the "schedule" I was kind of figuring out a few posts back on moving to two naps and how feeding would work.
As for the paci weaning... I'm FREAKING out right now! :lol: As I said, 1/2 hour pu/pd 1st nap, 5 min. "waahing" (so mantra cry) and finger sucking 2nd nap, just put her down for the night now (1/2 hr early I might add) And this is the big one...after her bottle we cuddle and she tucks into me (my only cuddles :wink: ) and sucks her soother. So I was soooo scared to try no paci. But... she did it!!! I don't mean to jinx it but she didn't cry when I put her down! She chatted a bit and it's only been 15 minutes, but.. I'd definitely count this as a success! As for what I'm going to do when she wakes all night again, as I'm sure she will, I guess just pu/pd and hope for the best! Wish me luck!
Oh and the babysitting went fine. Basically dh got to play video games with the kids while I fed dd, did all the dishes, changed the diapers... :wink:
Here's the early waking thing Matthew's Mommy gave me:
(Partial excerpts from "Good Night, Sleep Tight")
Good Morning! Welcome to the most requested topic to be included in Snooze Week to date! Mornings for some of you, it seems, begin as early as 4 AM as others of you lounge around until 9 AM waiting for your baby to wake up. Both of these scenarios, however, can have their own repercussions. Waking up too early can mean a tired family and earlier naps, throwing off bedtime rituals later. Waking up too late does the opposite, pushing nap time to later in the day and sometimes prolonging bedtime. The solution is to find a schedule that works for you and your family and teach your child to stick to it!
Early risings sometimes have a very simple solution. If too much light is coming into the baby's room, buy room-darkening blinds (also good for napping). If an external noise-garbage trucks, songbirds, or a dad with a long commute who has turned on the shower-is waking him, you might want to try a white noise machine or a fan. Unfortunately, it's not always so simple.
If your child is awake at 6:00 or 6:30 a.m., cheerful, refreshed, and ready to start his day-even if you aren't-you'll probably have to live with it. That's a common and biologically appropriate wake-up time for a baby or small child. Remember to adapt the meal and nap schedule to suit his early hours.
Babies who wake up before 6:00 a.m., or who wake up cheerful at 6:00 or 6:30 but are a total grump by 7:00, are a different story. You need to intervene and coach him to sleep later. The longer you endure early risings, the harder it is to change the pattern, so I strongly suggest you address it now, even if it takes a few weeks to see results. Once they're older, it can take months. Make sure your early riser is getting enough daytime sleep because nap deprivation can cause poor night sleep and early awakenings.
If your baby is under 8months old and you think he is waking up very early because he is hungry, try waking him for a final feeding about 11:00 p.m. as an interim step, and also work on making sure he takes more food during the day.
When your early bird stirs, go to his room immediately. You want to try to get him back to sleep ASAP, not let him scream himself awake. Give him his lovey and try to soothe him back to sleep without picking him up. Follow the Sleep Lady Shuffle guidelines outlined in Good Night Sleep Tight). Even if he doesn't doze off again-and not all babies will at first-do not turn on the lights or get him out of his crib until 6:00 a.m. no matter how much he protests. Getting him up earlier, while it is still dark, sends a confusing message and is another example of intermittent reinforcement. He can't understand why he can get up in the dark at 5:45 a.m. but not at 2:15 a.m. Also, many parents I've worked with have learned the hard way that if they let him get up at 5:45 a.m., the next thing they know it's 5:30, 5:15, etc.
At this age, I usually recommend that the parent stay in the room for this early-morning routine. If, however, you feel your presence is encouraging him to be more awake, as often occurs with older children, you can try leaving his room after a bit of reassurance and see if he falls asleep again on his own. Check on him every ten to fifteen minutes. If you stay in the room, keep the interaction minimal. Try sitting in a chair with your eyes closed. When the clock finally strikes 6:00 a.m. and he's not falling asleep-and it can seem like it takes a very long time to reach 6:00 a.m.-leave the room for a minute or two. He may cry, but try not to let it bother you, you will be right back in a minute. When you come back in, make a big deal out of "good morning" time. Do your dramatic wake-up. The morning routine is the flip side of the bedtime-routine coin. Your goal is to help him distinguish between day and night, to know when it really is time to get up. Your message must be clear: "I'm getting you out of the crib because it's morning time-not because you were crying."
If your early riser is over 2 or 2.5 years old and sleeps in a bed, then you will have to return your child to their bed and treat this like a night wakening. Continue with your Shuffle position until the clock strikes 6:00 a.m. Consider using an alarm clock radio to help signal to your child when it is wake up time. If you sometimes let you child get out of bed and start the day before the music comes on then he or she will not take the alarm clock seriously!
Important points about early rising:
-Nap deprivation and too late a bedtime cause early rising!
-In other words, skipping naps and putting your child to bed later will cause early rising-I know it's not logical- you and I would never do that - but it is true!
-You can't assume your child needs less sleep than the average until they are taking decent naps and sleeping through the night for several weeks.
-Room darkening shades are critical!
-Early rising takes several weeks of utter consistency to change so stick with it!
Patience, consistency, and understanding of both your child and his needs are critical for this process to be successful. Be firm and be loving and good mornings will be right around the corner! I wish you both many happy mornings together!
