100 days and the 3rd sleep book
May. 22nd, 2022 08:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whitewriterI've been swinging Wendy to sleep for 99 days.
Yesterday I stopped when someone in mother's group mentioned a phone call to Tresillian yielded the following info: if the baby doesn't learn to fall asleep in the cot by 4 mo you'll have problems.
We're at 3.5 months today - exactly 100 days old. What seems so old now yet is still so tiny and young. Incredible.
Nothing strikes fear into me than being told soon I will have problems I don't want to have that can be easily prevented by solving the issue now.
Last Friday my friend helped me source this amazing tool called a "bibs dummy".
Until approximately 8 weeks, Wendy sucked anything.
At 12 weeks, she's picky as F. She'll suck the old dummy she loved as a 5 week old (which I only used at special occasions, family events, car rides etc. and not at home for night sleep or anything --- another fear - that I will be up at all hours shoving a dummy to make a baby sleep at night -- )
I remember the first time we used the dummy and how much like baby cocaine it was. 5 weeks and 5 days at a family wedding, medula brand because we couldn't find bib's as a friend had recommended.
Then on the mothers group chat, a free ebook was posted - Precious little sleep by Alex Dubief.
It is a very prescriptive read of what issues may arise and a very prescriptive way to avoid problems or solve them early.
Issue (as identified whilst reading the book -- but I must agree this was getting to be a problem): Wendy is a motion junkie
Solution: Wendy needs to learn how to sleep in the bed or without motion to soothe her to sleep
Prescription: Use all tools that will work at the age of 3-4 mo. to achieve this. White noise. Quiet, dark, boring room. Dummy (for sleep purpose only). no eye contact etc. Patience - it'll be worth it! the book says.
I've got the bib's dummy now. And the will power to change a niggling problem before it becomes an actual problem - so since Thursday (99 days of age) I started dummy for bed time only- and whilst it took me 2 hours of shushing and sitting and patting and a lot of whining - but we got there. She fell asleep, in the bed.
When she whines really hard or outright cries I pick her up and give her a cuddle and we're back down again. If she asks for boobs by bobbing her head I'll offer the breast (and more than likely she will just suck once or twice and fall asleep) - but then it's straight back down again. And if she's whining instead of picking her up its dummy + pat.
eventually. EVENTUALLY. with time - I think her melatonin finally overcomes her whines and tiredness and along with the whole shush/pat/dummy/warmly wrapped in a nice temperature dark room -- she falls asleep, in her bed.
And then I go and do my bits and bobs and get into my bed beside her and fall asleep too. Pete watches all actions and I try and point out the key things to note (the no eye contact, when I'd pick her up or when I wouldn't etc.
He tried to learn the Indonesian nursery rhyme I've been singing: it's getting to be rather effective although I reckon I could sing anything and it would probably work.
In anycase. It's generally taken anywhere from 15 mins to 1 hour of patting and shushing and dummying and I think it helps. In the morning at 102 days of age was the first time I ever saw her just fall asleep on her own on the floor on the playmat whilst we were half ignoring her. Her startle reflex is really strong and kept waking her up however (after she did this twice) so I eventually picked her up, put her in a bag and popped her in the bed with a dummy and 2 mins, asleep.
That's twice that she's had a morning nap with practically zero assistance (besides the dummy and the bag. I'm trying to also separate which room things happen in. Like, sleep always in the bed and bedroom, play always in the kitchen/ other areas. So it's like wake and nappy room. Sleep room. More cues the better I think.
Yesterday I stopped when someone in mother's group mentioned a phone call to Tresillian yielded the following info: if the baby doesn't learn to fall asleep in the cot by 4 mo you'll have problems.
We're at 3.5 months today - exactly 100 days old. What seems so old now yet is still so tiny and young. Incredible.
Nothing strikes fear into me than being told soon I will have problems I don't want to have that can be easily prevented by solving the issue now.
Last Friday my friend helped me source this amazing tool called a "bibs dummy".
Until approximately 8 weeks, Wendy sucked anything.
At 12 weeks, she's picky as F. She'll suck the old dummy she loved as a 5 week old (which I only used at special occasions, family events, car rides etc. and not at home for night sleep or anything --- another fear - that I will be up at all hours shoving a dummy to make a baby sleep at night -- )
I remember the first time we used the dummy and how much like baby cocaine it was. 5 weeks and 5 days at a family wedding, medula brand because we couldn't find bib's as a friend had recommended.
Then on the mothers group chat, a free ebook was posted - Precious little sleep by Alex Dubief.
It is a very prescriptive read of what issues may arise and a very prescriptive way to avoid problems or solve them early.
Issue (as identified whilst reading the book -- but I must agree this was getting to be a problem): Wendy is a motion junkie
Solution: Wendy needs to learn how to sleep in the bed or without motion to soothe her to sleep
Prescription: Use all tools that will work at the age of 3-4 mo. to achieve this. White noise. Quiet, dark, boring room. Dummy (for sleep purpose only). no eye contact etc. Patience - it'll be worth it! the book says.
I've got the bib's dummy now. And the will power to change a niggling problem before it becomes an actual problem - so since Thursday (99 days of age) I started dummy for bed time only- and whilst it took me 2 hours of shushing and sitting and patting and a lot of whining - but we got there. She fell asleep, in the bed.
When she whines really hard or outright cries I pick her up and give her a cuddle and we're back down again. If she asks for boobs by bobbing her head I'll offer the breast (and more than likely she will just suck once or twice and fall asleep) - but then it's straight back down again. And if she's whining instead of picking her up its dummy + pat.
eventually. EVENTUALLY. with time - I think her melatonin finally overcomes her whines and tiredness and along with the whole shush/pat/dummy/warmly wrapped in a nice temperature dark room -- she falls asleep, in her bed.
And then I go and do my bits and bobs and get into my bed beside her and fall asleep too. Pete watches all actions and I try and point out the key things to note (the no eye contact, when I'd pick her up or when I wouldn't etc.
He tried to learn the Indonesian nursery rhyme I've been singing: it's getting to be rather effective although I reckon I could sing anything and it would probably work.
In anycase. It's generally taken anywhere from 15 mins to 1 hour of patting and shushing and dummying and I think it helps. In the morning at 102 days of age was the first time I ever saw her just fall asleep on her own on the floor on the playmat whilst we were half ignoring her. Her startle reflex is really strong and kept waking her up however (after she did this twice) so I eventually picked her up, put her in a bag and popped her in the bed with a dummy and 2 mins, asleep.
That's twice that she's had a morning nap with practically zero assistance (besides the dummy and the bag. I'm trying to also separate which room things happen in. Like, sleep always in the bed and bedroom, play always in the kitchen/ other areas. So it's like wake and nappy room. Sleep room. More cues the better I think.
