Sleep Update

To accompany my goals of sleep training, I have been reading "The Happiest Baby on the Block." If you have had a child in the past 7 years, or work in childcare, you are very familiar with this book. It has become a phenomenon, working on other ways to sleep train besides "crying it out." It focuses on the 5 S's (swaddle, shush, side, sound, suck). It follows the 5 S's to get a baby to sleep well- stating to swaddle a baby, shush them to sleep, while rocking them on their side, with white noise as the sound, and sucking on a pacifier (to wean around 6 months). Well, I can do all of those with Preston, but he refuses a pacifier. 4 out of 5 not bad. But, my issue with him is not GETTING him to sleep, it is STAYING asleep. This book has helped boost my confidence tremendously in the stressful process. Needless to say, sleep training at night is not getting much better. He still continues to nap decent during the day in his crib, but night is a whole other story.

The book talks about different types of babies and different temperaments. Both Reese and Preston are considered to be "movement babies". Reese slept in a vibrating bouncy seat for her first 5 months of life. These types of babies (which according to the book account for about 40% of babies newborn-5 months of age) need some sort of movement to comfort them while sleeping. So, I am just going to do what is needed to get some rest, so I can stay healthy/good spirited to keep up with Reese during the day. The author states that some babies need movement until 4-8 months, and your baby will let you know when they are ready to move into the crib. So, that is what I am going to do. I am done fighting it at night. But, since he will nap for me during the day in there, I'll take it. Today he slept for an hour and 15 minutes (straight!) in his crib. So, I will follow his lead and he will let me know when he is ready for the crib at night. I am just not comfortable with the whole "crying it out" thing. I have read too many studies while working in the childcare field for many years that crying it out can lead to anxiety later in life because the baby feels in secure when their needs are not met at this young of an age. As a person who has dealt with anxiety issues before, I don't want to set my child up for that (that is probably my greatest fear!) So we will do what works for us for the time being, giving Preston and I peace of mind :)

In the world of Reese, she is now (basically) fully potty trained. She has no more poop accidents, and has very few pee accidents as long as we keep reminding her to go potty every hour or so. It is nice not having to change two kids diapers, and our wallet likes it too!!

Tomorrow I am headed to Chicago for a girls day with my college girlfriends. We will be cooking a "Thanksgiving" dinner, drinking lots of wine, and catching up. It is always nice to have days like this. Let's just pray when I get home on Sunday all three of them (Kyle, R, and P) have survived, :) I have faith in them.....