Mommy will get back to the foody goodness later – Tuesday was non stop rain, crabby baby mommy, me loving my mommy so much that she got nothing done, and going slowly crazy from our rain imposed entrapment in the house.
Amy hijacked her mommy’s email last week and sent me this. I’m so glad to see babies around the globe working together for the betterment of our parents.
Sleep Training
OK, here’s my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great–I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I’ve talked to other babies, and it seems like it’s pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here’s the thing: these Mommies don’t really need to sleep. It’s just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep–they just don’t need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle. It goes like this:
Night 1–cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it’s hard. It’s hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it’s for her own good.
Night 2–cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3–every hour.
Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don’t give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT’S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.
Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:
My sleep sack tickled my foot.
I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn’t eaten pears since lunch, what’s up with that? The cat said “meow”. I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
Too hot, too cold, just right–doesn’t matter!
Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies’ internal clocks.
P.S. Don’t let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.
18 Comments
Veronica
Yes, only she has had me for 14mths lol.
That email is a great forward. I hope Alex found some good advice in there.
As of the last week I am steadily working on breaking Mummy’s spirit. The 40min waking seem to be going well.
– Amy (hijacking Mummy’s email again)
Ree
cute!
Hydes Like Us
I remember those days!! (I’m so glad it’s you and not me…hee, hee.) Kidding, kidding…I’m sending sleepy vibes your way. Wait and see. Tonight’s the night!
-HH
the egel nest
Such a clever way to write about his…I love the hijacked blogs 🙂
You SO crack me up!
Bradley
The Egel Nest
Sarcastic Mom
LMAO
That was hilarious.
And how amusing that this is here, right after the night I had with Braden….
Avery
I knew I could smell conspiracy! So glad those days are behind me!!
Modified mummy
That was spectacular!
I haven’t laughed this hard for days. And I really needed it, thank you for posting it up, now I know where my littlebeans are getting this information from 🙂
flutter
Oh poor mommy
MamaGeek
Hee-larious. You are oh so clever!
candace
omg. you are too funny! I say that as I lay here in bed with two kids who suck at sleeping in their own rooms and they are way past the age of sleeptraining. I’m convinced it’s a consipiracy against me ever getting four hours in a row again.
Blogversary
I can’t even read this. I will be due very soon w/ my second and I don’t want to think about those nights again. 🙂
Wacky Mommy
It takes me back, reading this. Here’s to sleep, ladies!
Arkie Mama
This was too funny! And so true. My youngest is 2 1/2 and I still can’t sleep through the night.
Sincerely,
Broken, sleep-trained Mommy
Random Ramblings
That was cute! I don’t miss those days at all!
candace
I came back to read this again. I’m half awake but pumped full of coffee. Tonight my kids will sleep through the night in their own rooms…. (that is my mantra)
Mrs. Flipphead
Amazing, isn’t it? How fast we will offer them anything, and I do mean anything, to get them to sleep through.
Someday he’ll sleep, I hope. Just keep telling yourself that he’s already sleeping through the night and maybe in some metaphysical miracle, he will.
Oh, I so do not envy you. I am so glad that’s over for me (well…most nights anyway). He may not sleep through the night for a good long time, but eventually he will understand enough of what you say that bribery may work.
My oldest has a whole fleet of Thomas trains for that very reason. Well…that and potty training. I’m sending sleep vibes your way.
» Onward, Soldiers!
[…] I saw this post by Alex over at Alex, Year One and was really […]
The Revolution | Sleepless Nights
[…] I sent this email to Alex. It was sent to me by another baby I know (thanks Z). Braden has heard about it and […]