Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Is Anthony sleeping through the night at 6 months?



Anthony had his 6 month check up Monday. He took the shots like a champ, cried for a few minutes and then forgot about them. There are two pediatricians in the office we take him too. A man and a woman, this visit we saw the female doctor who seems to be stricter than the man doctor. I was a bit worried, because I knew she was going to ask me if he's sleeping through the night. When she saw him at his 2 month visit she said he should be sleeping through the night, so I knew she would not be happy to hear that he still wakes up not once but twice a night. But hey, at least he sleeps in his own bed, right? When I told her she said I am a lot more patient than she is and I should invest in some ear plugs and give this baby some tough love. I internally dismissed what she was saying, because I know that I can't listen to him cry, it gets me every time, the most I can let him cry is a few minutes. So yes I realize all of this is partially my fault, but it wasn't until she said that HE needs the uninterrupted sleep for growth and development that I decided to seriously try. Here is how it has been going.





Sunday night (before the doctor visit)


8:30 put to bed.


8:30-9:30 in and out of the room several times to put paci back in mouth until he finally falls asleep.


10:00 awake and crying again, Todd and I are trying to watch a movie (fools gold*) so I bring him down and let him sleep while I hold him. (because it's the easy thing to do)


11:00 sound asleep in my arms for the past hour, put him back to bed.


11:15 awake and crying, pick him up and hold him again, while we finish the movie.


11:30 put him to bed, he cries, we shut the door, ignore him and he falls asleep after a couple minutes. I go to sleep too.


1:30 baby awake, feed him and put him back to bed.


3:30 up again, give paci


4:30 up again, feed baby, back to bed.


5:30 I have to get up for work. (now I know why I am so tired, and Tony takes such good naps during the day)


Monday night (our first try at tough love)


8:30 put Tony to bed.


8:45 he starts crying, give paci and set timer for 15 minutes, watch The Bachelorette with the volume way up so I don't have to hear him crying.


8:54 sound asleep! Only 9 minutes, but it felt like forever.


He woke up again at 1:30 and 5:30 to eat and I gave in because I had to work in the morning and was too tired.


Last night


8:30 put Tony to bed and he starts crying right away. Set timer for 15 minutes and ignore crying.


8:45 still crying, send Todd up to console him. Todd gets him out of bed and brings him downstairs and says, "he doesn't want to go to sleep, he is so cute, don't make him do it." (I know we have no one to blame but ourselves for this problem we have created.) I take him back upstairs put him in bed and he starts crying again. Set timer for 15 minutes and within 6 minutes he is sound asleep.


10:30 pm, he wakes up, I decide to feed him since I am still awake and then make him sleep the rest of the night.


4:30 am, wakes up to eat, goes back to sleep until 8:50 am! Wow, what a treat for me.


I know it doesn't sound like much progress, but trust me 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep is huge.


In other baby news, he is perfect, alert, interactive and very happy. Still wont bear weight on his legs, but the doctor assured me that I do not need to be concerned, even though all his other baby friends that are younger than him can do it. (I know you shouldn't compare babies, but sometimes you can't help it).


He can sit up for a few seconds on his own before he topples over. So I went ahead and made the appointment for some professional pictures. We're going to take them at the beach, I can't wait to see how they turn out.


And in pool news...


We went to a friends pool at her condominiums this past Sunday and got yelled at by someone who lives there. She didn't think we lived there, which is a requirement to use the pool, I told her I had a pool pass (not technically lying, because my friend who does live there, gave me her pass to use). I think it may have helped me in my argument for my own pool. When we got home, I asked Todd, hypothetically, if we were to get a pool where would we put it? He entertained my question by going outside and saying where he thought it should go. Hypothetically of course since we're not actually getting one ;) Then we came inside, and while I was feeding Tony dinner, Todd was on the computer, I assumed looking at stocks like he usually does. But then he says, "we should get one like this." To my surprise he was looking at swimming pools, and the one he picked out was awesome, and way cooler than anything I would ever imagine asking for. It had a hot tub that was connected to the pool and overflowed into the pool over a rock wall. So of course we're still not getting a pool, but I definitely think he's warming up to the idea.

For those of you who wonder how I find time to blog, this is what we do sometimes after breakfast.


He watches Baby Einstein, while I blog. I can get about 20 minutes of computer time before he loses interest in the TV. Notice he has outgrown the bouncer seat, so I have to prop it up with a pillow.

*Fool's Gold was a big dissapointment. They filmed the movie in Australia, the same time we were there visiting in October 2006 and even in the same town we were at. We never spotted Matthew McConaughey, but he was around and in town when we were there. The scenery pictures are exactly from where we were, but in the movie they are not in Australia.

12 comments:

Rachael said...

I predict that Anthony will start sleeping through the night about the time you get pregnant again. I know, I'm cruel like that. :)

Good job on the tough love. I could never do it. Thankfully, only 1 of my kids didn't want to sleep at night. If I'd have known Jack would sleep so much better than KK, maybe I wouldn't have waited 4 1/2 years!

Tina in CT said...

Gotta get tougher on the sleeping or you'll regret it down the road.

My friend had an inground with the hot tub attached. The only drawback to that was it had to be closed in the fall along with the pool. If you got two separate units, just think how wonderful it would be to jump in the hot tub when it's snowing and you look out on all the white beauty around you while you sit in the hot tub warm and relaxing.

Sounds like your husband might be coming over to your thinking.

soontobemrs said...

I agree, that movie was extremly dissapointing!!! Did you happen to notice that in the opening of the movie credits that was Lizard Island??? How cool are we that we were there?! hahaha

Mandy Lou said...

As long as you know you only have yourself to blame then there isn't much of a problem right? ;-)

I'm just amazed at how big he's getting!

BabyMakes4 said...

tough love...it's your gift to tony. just tell yourself that. you are giving him the gift of sleep. plus, once you get through this you'll be able to watch a whole movie uninterrupted!

Colette said...

I just found your blog. Your son is adorable! Where did you get that thing for the pool?? I am looking for somthing like that for our son. I would love to know. He is just too cute!

Denise said...

It sounds like your making headway on the sleeping thing. It's so hard to hear them cry but worth it in the end... that is if you can balance the guilt of letting them cry with the satisfaction of a good nights sleep. The balancing act of motherhood!

Paula said...

It sounds like your making progress with the sleeping issue. You are WAY more patient that I am...I like my sleep too much. We were lucky though because Hannah would never cry for more than 5 minutes. I agree, its too painful to listen to.
You have GOT to see the movie Bella, we watched it last night and really liked it.

PrincessGreen17 said...

Look at him in his little chair watching tv!!! That is too cute. Good luck on the pool, I have wanted one since I was little. Someday. I love the idea of a rock waterfall, too!

Natalie said...

I can't stand how cute he is. I just need to see him so that I can sqweeze his little legs. I'm sorry that he got up so much, its a good thing he is not my baby, because if that were the case, he would have one really grumpy momma.

Amy said...

Good luck with the tough love... I certainly wouldn't have your patience. I would be such a crab if I had to get up that much (even more than I am now!) But I can understand why you give in. He is so adorable! I love the new pictures!
And I have been trying to talk Rick into a pool for 5 years! I am so jealous that Todd is coming around so much quicker than Rick!

Ellen said...

Oh, my goodness -- he is seriously one of the cutest babies I have ever seen! I just called my husband to come look at the pictures, and he gushed along with me.
We are not parents yet, but would like to be within the next couple of years. I enjoy reading stories by moms like you to get a little preview of what life will be like.
Good luck with everything! It looks like you are doing a wonderful job -- he looks like such a happy child!