Saturday, March 26, 2011

Ferber

As I type this post, my child is sleeping soundly, unswaddled, in her crib.  It is 2 p.m.   This is the same child who, last week, wouldn't nap outside of my lap, had spent only 1 night in her crib, and had begun waking 3+ times each night out of the clear blue sky!  How is this possible?  Dr. Ferber.
I know that his methods are controversial, and I am positive that just because this worked for us does not mean that it would work for everyone.  I, however, was Ferberized in 1 night (according to my mom anyway) and so I naturally considered this method when researching ways to help Evie sleep better.  Although I have done many things with Evie that swing more toward the "attachment parenting" side of things like breastfeeding her on-demand, wearing her when possible and practical, and having her sleep in our room at night and on me during the day, my natural parenting style, I confess, is not really so "earth-mother, nurturing" as all that.  I am really fine with allowing Evie to experience a little discomfort for a lifetime of benefits, as is the case, I think, in helping her develop good sleep habits. 
Evie has been sleeping through the night from about 7 weeks so Ferberizing her was not really about getting her to sleep longer.  It was really about getting her to go to sleep at a more reasonable time, like between 8 and 9 as opposed to 11ish when she was in our room, and getting her to sleep in the crib in her room and then go back to sleeping through the night.  I'm pretty sure that Nick's and my nighttime trips to the bathroom, coughing, sneezing, shifting in bed, etc. were beginning to disturb her, thus causing her to wake and cry several times a night, all of a sudden.  It was suddenly absolutely imperative that she move to her room, something I was not ready for a month ago. 
In preparation for the "Ferberization" I set up shop in our guest bedroom, ready to wait out the night, going into Evie's room every 10 minutes.  I packed in water, 2, count them, 2 monitors (1 video and 1 sound only placed in the crib), magazines, books, my phone, my Nook, and my computer.  I was ready for anything!
Imagine my surprise (and dare I say slight disappointment) when that first night she was asleep within 30 minutes.  The next night she went right to sleep, woke around 1:30 and was back asleep around 2, and then last night she slept all the way through from 9pm until 6:30 this morning, then went back down after nursing until 8!  We are still working on naps in the crib.  Right now they max out at 30 minutes, but I know that this too will improve.  I can't believe how non-traumatic this has been for both Evie and me! 
I am so happy to have a little time to get chores done during the day and a few minutes to spend with Nick at night before we go to bed.  I am crossing my fingers that this continues to work!  I am so glad that we tried Ferber.  I was scared at first of the "cry it out" approach, but once I realized that I didn't need to let Evie cry long before intervening I was better able to embrace it.  It has really worked for us!  Wahoo!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

 Shamrocks for St. Pat's!
 Loves looking out the windows to the backyard
 Fun snuggletime on the couch!
 Evie and Daddy helped with some chores yesterday!
 She was a big help with dusting!
Precious

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Beautiful Day!

Today was a beautiful day!  Evie, Finlay, and I spent some time in the backyard.  I laid out a blanket in the shade (no worries - no direct sunlight for the baby) and then put Evie's playmat down on that.  I did some lunges, crunches, etc. while Evie got to play outside for the first time!  We weren't out there for long, but it felt great and I look forward to doing it again tomorrow.  Maybe being outside again will help entice me to work hard and lost those last several pregnancy pounds...hope springs eternal!
 Isn't this precious?  I only wish there was MORE napping going on during the day.  I have ordered Ferber, the Sleep Lady, and Healthy Sleep Habits from Amazon and plan to do my research and begin trying to help Evie organize her sleep better ASAP.
 Here are Evie and Daddy out to dinner at Leal's with Grammy and Pops during their visit last weekend.  Sorry for E's weird face - I promise it was the best shot of the two of them.
 Trying to knaw on her tutu during dinner.  She's starting to get really into putting things into her mouth.
 Here are Grammy, Evie, and Finlay taking a morning rest.
 Fin's trying to steal a kiss!  We are working hard on educating him on where to kiss and where NOT to kiss.  Ugh.
Sweet sibling snuggle

Sunday, March 13, 2011

New Computer

My computer crashed for good last week - boo!  So today I got a new one- yea!!  This is the model that I chose: a Toshiba Protege R705, and I already LOVE it!  It is small and very light (3 lbs.) which make it a good compromise instead of a netbook.  I'm busy loading software, etc. onto it tonight, but I'll try to post some new Evie pics ASAP!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Happy Baby

One day last week I walked into Evie's room to find this.  Precious.

Some more good tummy time

Having a good laugh in the Bumbo

Still laughing!

Very happy baby

Really loves her dad.  The feeling is mutual.