tired of being tired

That was me at this point last week. I had had it. I couldn't deal with Lydia's sleeping schedule being so hit or miss. I didn't know if it was because of her pacifier or if she was just getting too much sleep or too little sleep. After a few nights of being up every 15-20 minutes because the pacifier fell out AGAIN I decided we had to work on this. Something had to change... and FAST. I posted a desperate post on Facebook asking moms for advice. Some mentioned the Ferber method while others told me just to enjoy this time while she's so little and not worry about the scheduling as much some suggested taking the paci away cold turkey...other thinking she was ok to still have it.

So many decisions. Patrick and I decided to do something along the lines of ferberizing Lydia. We also decided to take away her pacifier. We felt it had become too much of a sleep prop. It was no longer being out friend. It had rather become my enemy. We knew that once we made our decision we'd really have to stick to our guns. It'd be hard but it'd be worse to flip flop on our decisions. I had a few (ok a LOT) breakdown moments. Once Patrick came in the kitchen and found me loading the dishwasher through tears. Lydia had just had a 30 min or so crying stretch (I was going in and checking on her periodically) and I just didn't know what to do. I kept doubting my decisions and just felt so unsure about pretty much everything. It's gotten better and things seem to be smoothing out. She knows what to expect and I think I know what to expect.

Here's what we did. It started Tuesday morning after I'd just reached my breaking point. I took away her pacifier for her second morning nap and laid her down. She fussed for a while. I went in after 5 min. patted her on her back then after another 10 min. did the same thing. She feel asleep. I thought, "wow that was easy..." HA she tricked me. She slept for like 45 min and then that stinker known as the "45 min intruder" decided to show up. She started wailing. I went in after 5 min. 10 min. 15 min. 20 min. Ok this stinks!!! This went on all day. She'd sleep good for a while and then would have a hard time going into that second sleep cycle. This first night was rough. She had a few hours of straight crying. Patrick and I obviously didn't get much sleep. This made that second day of sleep training really REALLY hard for me. I was running thin. Thankfully the Lord is kind and doesn't give us more than we can handle right? She slept without a peep that next night :) I didn't get my hopes up too much for the next night. Her naps were becoming more consistent during the day though. She was starting to go down fine without crying and would even go back to sleep if she woke up mid nap. That night (3rd night) was another rough one. She had another stretch of crying for close to 3 hours (I was checking on her..she was fine other than being mad at me and the rest of the world for not giving her her pacifier and not picking her up). That fourth day and pretty much every day since then has been SO much better. She has slept the last 3 nights without a peep. I am truly thankful for the Lord's grace to get us through those really rough times. I'm not naive enough to think there aren't going to be many many more rough spells in the future. But I am really thankful. I spent much of her screaming times praying for strength and patience and joy and a baby that would sleep:)

So here's what our schedule USED to look like.
7:30a: wake up and feed
8:30a: go down for nap
10:30a: wake up and feed
11:30-11:45: nap
2:30: feed
3:30-3:45: nap
5:30: feed
6:30: nap
8:30: feed and go down for bed
10:30: dream feed

4 naps and eating every 3 hours (6 feedings a day). That 6:30 nap was awful. Most of her naps were awful. She was waking up during the night... Not fun!

Here is her NEW schedule.
7:30a: wake up feed
9:15: down for nap
11:00: feed
12:45: nap
2:30: feed
4:15: nap
6:00: feed
8:00: feed/down for bed
10:30: dream feed

3 naps (each 1 hr 45 min) and eating every 3.5 hrs (still 6 feeding a day). Staying up for longer periods and a final awake time of 2 hrs right before bed. Cluster feeding at night... making sure her tank is on full for the long night of uninterrupted sleep.

I am really happy with this schedule. She is sleeping so much better. I like that she is awake for a good stretch at night while Patrick is home.

So that's what we've been up to and are now doing. If you have any questions please feel free.

thanks to all those who gave me advice/prayed for us!