Operation Sleep

Gameplan: New upstairs neighbors moving in Friday night - this is it! Go cold turkey on the swaddle. No going in until 7am unless there was an emergency. Cash just gets more pissed when we go in and leave. Stay strong.

[Disclaimer: I know there are lots of different ways to help your child sleep. Please don't judge me and I promise not to judge you. This was our first attempt and if it doesn't go well than we will try other things. Jenny V - I know crying it out goes against everything good and holy about attachment parenting. I hope you will forgive me.]

NIGHT 1 • Tuesday - Wednesday Morning
9:15 = Cash finally goes to sleep after 45 minutes of tears, wondering what the crap happened to his swaddle, and rocking to sleep and ever so gently laying him in the crib. Are we ready for this?
10:26-10:32 = 6 minutes of crying
11:20-11:25 = 5 minutes of crying
12:35-12:50 = 15 minutes of crying
1:14-1:35 = 21 minutes of crying
2:50-3:04 = 14 minutes of crying
4:11- 4:15= 4 minutes of crying
5:10-5:43 = 33 minutes of crying (the hardest one - he must be hungry, I thought)
6:55 = Scott brought him in our bed

Rough night but if 30 minutes was the longest that kid has got in him than that wasn't so bad, right? I was expecting hours of tears. I thought he would be mad and give me the cold shoulder but he was all smiles and snuggles. Baby amnesia is lovely. I didn't sleep well at all. When I did fall asleep it was an anxious light sleep. Made me worried that I wouldn't have the resolve to make it through Operation Sleep: Day 2 and had to be extra on guard to not fall asleep on my clients. You can't be partially present when doing therapy so it is more challenging when sleepy.

NIGHT 2 • Wednesday - Thursday Morning
8:15 = Cash in a calm and relaxed mood when I feed him. Played in his crib for a few minutes and then fell asleep on his own.  No tears. Ok!
2:30 = I wake up and see the time. Impressed with my little man for making it 6 hours and happy for me that I got 4. Expecting to hear him any minute.
5:10 = Scott goes pee. We do the morning bed whispers for a bit. I am thrilled out of my mind I can hardly go back to sleep. I start worrying that something might be wrong in there even though I can see him on the video monitor. How could he go this long? My powers of thinking about him wake Cash up. He cries for 3 minutes and then goes back to sleep.
7:15 = He wakes up and I go into feed him. Afterward, he pukes all over me because my boobs are so full and creamy. This is what it must feel like to have a boob job, right?! :) He's not use to having so much to drink so puking is the result (or it is revenge for the night before? hmmmm...). We change clothes.

This pretty much sums up how I feel right now.

I realize from talking to lots of moms that we are not in the clear yet but it gives me hope for better sleep ahead and that perhaps this pain that I have had behind my eyes for 3 months will start to lessen.

Thank you to the Mom's Club for all the advice on Facebook and in emails. I couldn't have made it through the mom guilt without you. Literally, I kept reading my messages in the middle of that first night to stay strong.

Cheers to sleeping babies (and moms)!