Sleep Feat
We had a major sleep victory over here two nights ago: Livi slept through the night!
I thought my eyes were messing with me when I heard her start to cry to let us know she was awake, because SUNLIGHT was peeking through the blinds. Sun! Morning! I picked her up out of her bassinet, glanced at my phone, and who knew: 6:45am. I can definitely get used to that.
(It’s Naked Face Project almost everyday over here)
We had been getting up anywhere from 3-4:30, again at 6:45 or so to eat then back to sleep until ??, which was great, but it was an amazing surprise to have a full night of sleep.
Just to mess with us, she wore her cranky pants all day yesterday 😉
I never really knew how important sleep was until I read The Baby Whisperer. It made me realize that many of the days that Livi would be crying and crying, she was overtired and didn’t know how to unwind. By following the routine in that book –I love the fact that it’s not a set time schedule, just a sequence of events- it really helped me to recognize her tired signs and take her to nap mode after the first yawn. Sometimes it’s swaddled in the pack n’ play, usually it’s in the K’Tan or Moby, and today, it was rocking for an hour and a half in our new downstairs rocker.
Had to test it out 😉
As you guys know, I’m not a huge rocker/glider fan and the only time I’ve ordered one, it was a legendary fail. Well, we wanted to get a downstairs rocker for mom and nana to have while they’re watching Livi and I’m at work, and my stepmom found that one at Pier 1. She said it would add texture to our den (since our couch is cloth) and the bonus is that when we no longer need it for baby rocking, we can put it on the patio (along with this egg chair that I need in my life).
This morning, I got the chance to read more of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child while we were rocking, and I’m excited to learn more about establishing good sleep habits. We learned the hard way that less sleep continues the cycle of even less sleep, and when she naps better during the day, she sleeps better at night.
After following The Baby Whisperer routine, like clockwork, every hour and a half or so after she wakes up, she’s ready for a nap. The morning and afternoon naps tend to be longer, but it’s always Eat, Activity, Sleep over here.
During the first couple of months, I seriously thought I might never have a full night of sleep again. As much as I love hanging out with Livi, it tends to be a little more fun during the daytime and I don’t feel like a zombie 😉 Her sleep stretches continued to extend throughout the night, to the point where I started to look forward to her 4am eating/snuggle sesh.
To all the moms who are going through the first round of sleepless nights, there actually is a light at the end of the tunnel! They weren’t lying.
And if you’re pregnant, go take a nap.
The end.
![Right [not] on schedule](https://fitnessista.com/wp-content/uploads//2012/06/photo4-150x150.jpg)
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Um, yes I will go take a nap. As if I needed another excuse!
You looks so beautiful and radiant, no need for makeup at all! So glad you’re all getting some more sleep 🙂
Great post! I will need to pick that book up for sure! I know that I want to do some kind of sleep training and the fact that it isn’t based on a set time schedule sounds really perfect.
I’m going to go take my nap now, cause Gina said to 🙂
So glad you’re getting a little more sleep!
For me, the light is at the end of a VERY long tunnel. My son is about 2 years old and still doesn’t sleep through the night. Nothing has ever worked for us. =(
I hope Liv continues her good sleeping habits. I have always heard that good naps result in good sleep at night. Sounds like you’re doing something right!
Which baby whisperer book are you reading?
hey you look better without makeup! totally!
Yay! Congrats on the sleep marathon. I’m glad to see Liv is stretching it out at night – gives me hope that my LO will be there soon. We’re on nearly the same schedule – dream feed around 10:30-11, feed again at 4-5, back to sleep until 7ish. However, she went 11-5:45 last night, so we’re getting close!
We’re also doing the Baby Whisperer EASY routine and while there are lots of things in the book I don’t agree with, the routine has been such a big help in being able to decipher Charlotte’s needs.
overtired and didn’t know how to unwind = YES that is the case for babies and it persists into childhood, too, I find. The more amp’ed up my little pumpkin gets, the less she wants to sleep, but then the more tired she gets, and then she compensates by staying really high-energy and amped up, and doesnt want to sleep. It can be a vicious circle and so yes, patterns, routines, very good things.
Glad you are figuring this all out early!
Hey that’s our porch rocker!!!
Glad you slept well!
Isn’t sleeping through the night soooo awesome 🙂
Overtired is a big thing that sometimes parent’s forget about. Some kind suggestions say to keep baby up longer to get them to sleep through the night, but it can actually have the opposite effect in that baby gets super duper cranky during the evening. Babies in the 2-3 month stage need 15 hours or so a day! That is still lots of sleeping!!
Great post! Running to amazon to have baby whisperer sent to my kindle!
Congrats on getting a full night’s sleep, that’s amazing!! I remember waking up in a panic when my daughter first skipped her overnight feed, but then feeling so reassured and happy when I realized she was doing just fine 🙂 t highly recommend Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child…it helped us to understand our daughter’s sleep needs as she went from infant to toddler and also how we could help create the best environment so she could get quality rest. I hope the sleeping through the night trend continues!!
I’ve been trying sooooo hard to savor every moment that I can get to sleep in or take a nap. My problem is, I always think of stuff that needs to get done or think of the fact that it’s been way too nice outside to sleep in; I need to take advantage of the nice weather. I know that once I get further along and when baby gets here I’m going to just wish I would’ve stayed sleeping while I could.
I did the same thing 🙂
I am almost 41 weeks PREGNANT (!!!!!) and have been napping like a fiend the last few weeks, hoping to stock up on sleep for when my little girl arrives (any day now!). And I will definitely get the Baby Whisperer as I’ve heard so many good things about it.
Any other ‘must-have’ books for new moms? I have ‘Happiest Baby…’ and ‘What to Expect…’ but would love more suggestions.
Can’t wait to join the Mommy club! 🙂
Go get “Baby 411” stat!!!!! It was our Year 1 Bible!!!!
Congrats!
Baby Whisperer totally saved my life with both of my children. Another great one is No Cry Sleep Solution. That one is good through the toddler years as well. My kids have both had their phases, but they are great sleepers, and bedtime is a breeze. My daughter is 9 and my son is 7. This time will be gone in a flash, so keep hanging in there. 🙂 I can’t believe mine are as old as they are. But every year/stage is a new wonderful moment of my life. You have lots to look forward to. 🙂
i’m a huge believer in the eat-play-sleep cycle over here. i just can’t make it without my sleep. i can do it for a couple of months of the newborn stage and then i get a little crazy. especially after the first when you can’t just nap when the baby naps, not possible when you have other kiddos running around. but it’s worked for both of my boys and still to this day they are amazing as far as napping and night time sleep go. glad your little one gave you a good solid night. i hope she keeps it up!
haha okay super i can nap…even though its 7 at night…im so tired!
I wish I saw the light at the end of the tunnel over here. My daughter is 4 months old and we are up 5 times a night, every single night. I follow the sleep books religiously and nothing is working for us 🙁 We are zombies.
glad everyone got some sleep!
Congrats on the full night of sleep! 🙂
I remember the very disorienting feeling of waking up after our first “sleeping through the nights.” Congratulations! I hope you get a few more in a row under your belt 🙂
Awesome!! But I’m secretly hating just a liiittlleee, Little Man is 9 months old and still wakes up once at night. But it’s crazy how your brain gets used to less sleep! Once a night for a few minutes while we change and feed is a dream compared to 3-4 times =) Your little girl is beautiful, btw!
YAY for a full night’s sleep! Doesn’t it just feel AMAZING!?!?!
Yay for sleeping!!!! I can’t imagine having no sleep… I hope for everyone’s sake I’m blessed with a child who sleeps through the night.
I’m sending this post to a couple of my friends that just had babies. One of them was worried because she felt like such a zombie and was convinced that she’d never ever get a good night’s sleep again. I’ll tell her to hang in there! I’m glad to see that Livi’s sleeping well! She’s such a cutie.
Score for y’all! I still remember that feeling of panic when mine finally slept through the night.
Your egg chair link isn’t working, I think (or at least it doesn’t link to an egg chair). I love the ones at Pier 1.
I thought all babies did the eat-play-sleep cycle by nature. And they just get their parents acclimated to it. LOL
That chair is adorable.
Go Livi! So excited you’re getting more sleep – it makes a world of difference, although I do still miss those 4 AM cuddle sessions sometimes. 🙂
P.S. Love Dr. Weissbluth!
jealous. i have an almost 7 month old who still eats twice a night, but i will take it compared to the almost 8-10 times he was waking and the sleep sessions in the rocking chair.
So jealous! I’m such a zombie right now, my 2 month old is eating 3-4 times a night. Feel like there is no end in sight. Following Baby Whisper and Healthy Sleep but no luck yet. Hopefully he sleeps through the night soon. : /
Sounds like you guys are doing so well! I read the Baby Whisperer when my little man was a baby, it really helped us too. Once we nailed the day sleeps, his nights improved majorly. Love your rocker, it looks so comfortable 🙂
My daughter is 2.5 months and we have had a few really good nights in a row finally! One night she slept throught he night 100% and the last two she has gone to bed in her bassinett around 7pm and had one middle of the night feeding anywhere from 1 to 3am and then slept until 6:30am. I found that she stirs a few times before then and lets out a few crys but its not a real cry because every time I walk over to get her her eyes were closed and she was sleeping! I think I used to make the mistake of grabbing her right away not knowing it was a sleeping thing! Only thing that I dont get about the book is how to adapt it to real like. Aka not always being home at 10am/2pm/7pm etc. You have to have a life too and if it means your baby naps ‘on the go’ sometimes, I need to get out of the house for my own sanity! Also, my baby is nowhere near a nap routine yet but if Im home and see her yawn I try to put her in the crib or swing and if we are out somewhere she will sleep in the carseat/stroller.
No kids over here but this makes total sense. When I get overtired I want to cry and I get fussy and agitated! Makes sense that Liv would too. My Mom told me that when I was a toddler she would try to read to me and rock me and I would cry and point to my crib. I guess even then I knew when to just give up and go to bed!
ahh, so nice to know the light does exist. i’m in the first 3 weeks and i feel crazy sometimes. i look forward to that first full night 🙂
hang in there! i was convinced i was never going to sleep again, and was very grouchy about that fact 😉