Sleep Training

I hate sleep training.  It is so hard on me and my babies.  I never had to "sleep train" Logan, he just seemed to start sleeping through the night on his own around four and a half months.  Olive and Axl seemed to start creating bad sleeping habits around four months.  The "experts" call this the "four month sleep regression."  According to the experts, the sleep cycles of babies begin to change and mimic those of an adult around four months.  This is when babies often begin to create bad sleep habits or associations.  In Olive and Axl's case the association has been the need to be nursed, rocked or walked back to sleep.  So Axl has been waking every one or two hours needing my help to get back to sleep.   At first it wasn't so bad, I would nurse him, or rock him and he would fall asleep and I would put him back in his bed. Then I would nurse or rock him, he would fall asleep but as soon as I tried to lay him down he would wake up crying again.   Then I became lazy and just put him in bed with me to nurse while I slept. That worked for a few weeks, and then he began to get really restless around four or five am and not be able to go back to sleep at all, even though he was trying to.   This just doesn't work for me.  I have had to teach him how to soothe himself back to sleep, and even though it has been hard, it is working.

So how do I sleep train? Basically I start a bedtime routine and then put Axl down to bed awake.  If he cries, I go in his room after five minutes and give him his binky and remind him that he is okay.  Then I leave.  If he cries again, I go in after ten minutes and do the same thing and then fifteen minutes.  I continue to do this every fifteen minutes until he falls asleep.  I also determine when he usually wakes to eat and feed him about 30 minutes before that time so I know he isn't hungry.  So our plan has been that i put him down at 7:30 with feedings at 12 and 4.

The first night he cried for 30 minutes before falling asleep,  Then I woke him at 12 to feed him and when I laid him down at 12:30 he started crying.  He cried for two and a half hours then whined for 30 minutes before falling asleep.  Then I woke him at four to feed him and when i laid him down he slept until 7:45 and woke up very happy "talking" in his crib.  The next night he cried for 20 minutes and then not at all during the night.  The third night he cried for 15 minutes and now he doesn't cry at all.  The last two nights I have gotten lazy and instead of waking him to feed him I have waited for him to wake up...bad mistake, he now needs me to nurse him again every time he wakes.  Sigh.  I guess I will have to start setting my alarm for 12 and four again.

Once we get this down the next steps are...add a feeding at 9:00 pm, eliminate the midnight feeding and push back the four am feeding to five.  That way I will be able to sleep from 9:30 to 5:00 in FOUR shorts weeks when I go back to work.  This plan is somewhat comical to me, because honestly I am horrible at timed/scheduled feedings.   I would rather just feed my baby when he is hungry.  Hopefully soon he will decide he isn't hungry in the middle of the night.

On another note, I really wish my house wouldn't make funny noises at night.  Really freaks me out.  I don't like nursing Axl in his room in the middle of the night because I feel so isolated from everyone.  And with all the white noise machines we have in our house, I feel like Scott wouldn't hear me if I needed him.  In fact, I know he wouldn't hear me.  He can sleep through anything.   I usually get up and feed Axl in front of the computer while I blog surf...I would use the time to update my blog, but I have a hard time typing with one hand.  However, this also freaks me out because the screen is so bright I can't see anything except the computer screen.   I think I am sleep deprived, I am not usually so afraid of the dark.  Last night I was having nightmares and yelling in my sleep. Scott had to wake me up.  It was one of those dreams you have where you know you are dreaming, but you can't seem to wake up or move.

One of these days I will sneak in and take a picture of my baby sleeping so I can post it here.  He never naps unless I am laying with him so sleeping picture ops are few and far between.

Blog Tag

Alright, I was tagged in a blog tag, and I have never done this before so I thought it would be fun.

The Rules:

1.  Post these rules
2.  Post 11 random things about yourself
3.  Answer the questions provided by the one who tagged you
4.  Create 11 new questions for the people you tag
5.  Tag 11 people

11 Random Things about me:

1.  I haven't had a pedicure in four years (since Logan was 5 weeks old).  I enjoy pedicures but don't think the fumes are safe for small children/babies to inhale and if I ever have free time without my kids, I can think of many other things I want to do with my time and money.

2.  I don't like meat.  I can't stand the texture, I hate to "chew and chew and chew."   The last time I had a cheeseburger was when I was in the 10th grade.  I had a Super Sonic Cheeseburger from Sonic.

3.  I am terrified of tornadoes.

4.  I never have long finger nails...they always break.

5.  I like to watch sports on TV...Football, basketball (college) and Hockey.

6.  I am a closet soap opera fan.  I have watched "The Young and The Restless" for as long as I can remember.  Now in the age of DVR I just fast forward through the cheesy parts...I can watch a one hour episode in about 20 minutes.

7.  I used to spend forty-five minutes to an hour in a tanning bed EVERY day.  I now regret that and hope Olive never goes near one.

8  My middle name is Ellena...not so random I know, but I used to hate it because I thought it was hard to pronounce and spelled wrong.  Now I love it.

9.  I like to have my sheets and and blankets tucked VERY tightly under the mattress at the foot of the bed and on all sides when I sleep.

10.  Growing up I hated that I had freckles on my face, now that Logan is getting some I think they are soooo cute!

11.  I love High Heels.

11 Questions from Amber:

1.What is the one food that you would never give up?  Avocados...I love them with salt.

2.What is your one achievement that makes you the most proud? Running a 1/2 marathon.

3.What are the 5 most important things in your life?  My children, Scott, my health, my family (extended), my friends.

4.What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?  I don't know...funny things don't happen to me, although I do some pretty funny and embarrassing things all the time.

5.Are you a night owl or a morning person?  Morning person, I am too tired and can't keep my eyes open much past 10:00 pm.

6.What crazy things do you dream of trying someday? Sky-diving, once my kids are adults.  So I don't have to worry so much about dying and leaving them without a mother.

7.What is the one physical feature that you get complimented on most often? My eyes

8.What is your weirdest quirk?  I have to shower first thing out of bed in the morning...if I don't I just don't feel right.

9. If you were invisible, where would you go? Into Logan and Olive's room at night after I have put them to bed, just to see what they are really up to in there.

10. What traits in others are you attracted to? Honesty and loyalty and being nice above all else and then a good sense of humor about themselves.

11. What is the kindest thing anyone has done for you?  Well I have been the recipient of so many wonderful kind gestures.  The most recent that stands out is when I went out of town on a family vacation, when I came home my wonderful mom had cleaned my house top to bottom!  Love her! 


11 Questions


1.  Where were you born?
2.  What did you want to be when "you grew up?"
3.  What do you like to do on Friday nights?
4.  What is your favorite sport/activity
5.  If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?
6.  Is there anything you wish you could do, but can't?
7.  What was your favorite subject in school?
8.  Where did you meet your significant other?
9.  Is there anything that terrifies you, if so what is it?
10.  What is your favorite movie?
11.  What is your favorite book?


Now to tag 11 people..haha.  I can only think of two people who read my blog and also blog themselves.  Amber (who tagged me, so I doubt you feel like doing this again) and Erika. 

Happy Birthday Logan

My baby boy was four on April 19th!  I can't believe it has been four years already and then at times I can't believe it has only been four years!  It seems like he has been with us forever.

It is amazing how much he has grown and changed these past four years.   Logan is one of the sweetest boys I know.  He is so kind and caring.  He listens very well and loves his sister and brother.  He always comments on how he and Olive are best friends and he takes very good care of her.   Just the other day we were outside walking to Grandma's house and he told Olive, "Don't worry if you see snakes, it isn't a problem, come over here and hold my hand and I will take care of you."  He is really into Toy Story this year, as well as Thomas the Train and Minnie Mouse of course.

I thought in honor of his birthday I would blog about his birth story, but I don't have time right now so that will have to wait for another day.

We celebrated his birthday at "school" on the 19th with Ms. Debbie.  He had so much fun with all of his friends.  We then had a birthday party for him at a really nice park in Albuquerque. Logan had fun playing on the playground and I enjoyed not having to clean up or entertain.

At Logan's 4 year check up he weighed in at 33 lbs (with shoes) and 41 inches.  Still long and skinny.   He had his hearing tested and his vision tested.  He did great on the hearing test but his vision test was "a little outside the normal" range.   The doctor advised we watch him and if he seems to be squinting a lot then have his vision checked, otherwise we will check it again in a year before kindergarten just to be sure.

We love this boy so much!