Parent Challenge #1
Mummy and Daddy Vs Harrison
So last week we faced our first parenting challenge. We were trying to get Harrison to sleep a little longer throughout the night. This basically came about after seeing a family member who very politely informed me that I was looking rather tired. I have to say I was very close to breaking down in tears, not because of the comment but because someone had realised and I didn't have to feel bad saying that it was because of Harrison and his need to wake up every 2-2.5 hours for half an hour at a time…sometimes longer. She was shocked and said no wonder!
After speaking about how we could possibly help him get a few extra Zzzzz's in I came home determined to see it through and try and get Harrison to go a few more hours.
How we were going to tackle this (but please remember what works for one baby may not necessary work for another, it's a case of trial and error to see what works best for your baby)
A Bedtime Routine
A Bedtime Routine
This is a lesson well learnt for when baby #2 might come along.
We have been going upstairs with Harrison between 7.30pm and 8pm to start getting him ready for bed. By then he has had a few yawns so we are thinking yes bedtime for Harrison. However what I've learnt is that by the time we have got him ready for bed (usually a good half hour) his brain has kicked in and said no it's not bedtime so the result…overtired baby which results in wriggling and taking ages to settle….hence him not going to sleep till 10 o'clock some times.
New Bedtime routine starts at 6.30pm…Bath, Feed, Story and Sleep
We have been going upstairs with Harrison between 7.30pm and 8pm to start getting him ready for bed. By then he has had a few yawns so we are thinking yes bedtime for Harrison. However what I've learnt is that by the time we have got him ready for bed (usually a good half hour) his brain has kicked in and said no it's not bedtime so the result…overtired baby which results in wriggling and taking ages to settle….hence him not going to sleep till 10 o'clock some times.
New Bedtime routine starts at 6.30pm…Bath, Feed, Story and Sleep
Also as a new mum, whenever baby cries you go into the 3 what is wrong. 1) Nappy Change
2) Hungry
3) Comfort
So Harrison was waking up constantly and I automatically check the nappy…Clear…Must be hungry so feed him but what I realised was that he was actually using me as a comfort then falling asleep on me and I'm disturbing him putting him back in his moses basket so back to square one. This leads us onto the next challenge…A bit of Tough Love
As much as every parent hates to hear their baby cry, sometimes its necessary.
Last monday was horrible for us, we followed the bedtime routine and it was now the sleep element. Harrison had to get used to falling asleep in his moses basket and not me. I also had to give in and allow him to start using a dummy. We had tears and screams!
Every 5-10mins one of us would go up, talk to him but NOT pick him up and then leave.
After a while he then realised that the dummy was a good comfort so the screams slowed down..eventually he cried and comforted himself to bed.
Tuesday we had tears (no screams) but after a few times putting his dummy back in he settled.
Wednesday we had the result we had been wanting…he went straight off to sleep and slept 7am-1pm!! Tough Love was becoming worth it.
Since then we have minimal tears going down. He stays asleep till 12.30-1am wakes up has a feed then goes down till 3am (dummy lost, dummy in, straight back to sleep) then wakes up at 5am for a feed and wakes up for the day at 7.30am.
This is a massive improvement and I'm so proud of him and us for sticking to it. I feel like a human again and plus we are able to get out the house earlier as he's up early instead of 9.30am/10am which was before as he was constantly waking up.
Next Steps
I think we may have to start giving him a bottle for his last feed, ill start off with my milk but if it still doesn't fill him up we will switch to formula. Having a bottle allows us to know exactly how much he has had so this should last him for the night.
In the next few weeks I also plan on moving him into his room (My baby is growing up!!). This will benefit both us and him.
We can watch the TV without thinking we are going to wake him up and he can escape his Daddy's snoring as thats enough to keep anyone awake!!!
I would love to hear your stories on how you got your little one through the night or if you have any tips I will enjoy reading and testing them out.
AMY xo
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