I've been meaning to type a short post on sleep issues again. Not bad things, just an update. So we pretty much gave up for the short-term on having Emma fall asleep on her own in the crib. It was stressful for all of us, and between the teeth, then the illness, and everything else, we changed the routine. Now I just rock her to sleep and put her in the crib.
Amazingly enough, it's working like a charm. We do our bedtime ritual, I nurse her, we read a story, I turn off the light and sing her nighttime song, and then we rock. It typically takes 4-5 minutes for her to fall asleep and then I get my warm Emma cuddles for another 5-10 minutes and put her in the crib. She'll sleep there -- WITHOUT a peep!! -- for a good 2 1/2 - 3 hours. She had been waking up screaming after the first 50-60 minutes in the crib and then taking another 30 minutes to get back to sleep, so this is a huge step forward.
We bring her to bed and I'll dream-feed her, and then we go to sleep. This is where it's still been challenging. She still wakes every 3-4 hours and wants to feed, and I've been starting the night-weaning process but each time I do, it seems like something comes up. The first time it was her gums swelling and we thought her molars were starting to come in. Then it was this virus that took all three of us down. But now we're back on track. Last night was terrible, but the night before.... she slept (drumroll please....) for 6 hours without any problems!!! Unfortunately I was still up every 2 hours between the call of nature and some insomnia, but it was wonderful.
Another step forward is how long she sleeps. She had been waking up when I got out of bed for work, or sometimes waking at 5am for random reasons. But lately she'll sleep typically until 7am, and sometimes even until 8am! We're averaging 12 hours a night. That, plus her one nap (lasting on average an hour and a half), I feel like she's doing ok.
I'm confident that in the next few months that I'll be able to drop the 1am and 3am feedings (she doesn't do the 1am one half the time already unless she's ill or teething), and I'm hopeful to drop the 10pm one after that. So that would meaning nursing at 7pm when we're getting ready for bed and then nursing at 6am when we wake up for the day.
It would be *glorious* if I could get 8 hours of sleep in a row. I fantasize about sleep still, and the longest I've slept in a row since she was born was 4 hours, but I'm also learning how to cope with limited sleep and how to go back to sleep faster after she does pop off from nursing.
And so this isn't a word-only post, here's my gorgeous little girl wearing her supper. We had turkey, pasta with sauce, and mango soy yogurt, LOL.
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