Night 6: PP had a cold and sleeps in her bathrobe.
This is after the 4.40am wakeup call which we did picked her up, fed her and then had a mini "Cry-it-out" session. All in less than 30 minutes
"Cry-it-out" sleeping method weekend summary for night 4, 5 and 6.
For night 4, PP slept well enough and woke up early. 7.30Am to be exact. I was too tired to listen to her cries, and i feed her. And then she refused to go back to sleep. AAaaaaaaargh. Have to wake up early as well. At least she's not waking up in the middle of the night anymore.
Night 5: PP had a very eventful day at Aiden's birthday bash. She caught a cold virus somewhere there and she was overwhelmed with everything. More about this when i get photoooos from PP's Aunty Alia :)
Since her day had been eventful, her bedtime rituals were not-so eventful.
PP was fed, given her bath, wanted milk, gave about 30 mins worth of feeding, played a little with her Tiyah and G-Na, tried to read her bedtime story, "milk please" she said, so gave PP her bedtime feeding on the rocking chair. After 10 mins, she was gone to la-la land. Not sure whether she had enough of milk I continued to rock her while occasionally touching her face to see if she respond. She didn't so after 1 min, I put her in her cot. PP's head turned left, right, left, let out a whimper. And fall back asleep. ....Okay. Done! That was around 10.55pm.
So not much "cry-it-out" method done there. Maybe my cry-it-out method is evolving. Maybe I'm not really practicing the right way to do "Cry-it-out" method. But what do you want me to do? wake her up just to let her cry herself to sleep to try out this method? If she sleeps while feeding. she sleeps while feeding. so long its not a 2 hour feeding marathon. The feeding have been shorter since I tried this method though. No more than an hour. Trust me, it used to go longer than that :P if she wakes up after a long feeding like she used to to want to play until 2am. then to the cot she goes to cry.
She woke up around 7.15am on Sunday morning. Not eventful at all. I felt pretty useless the rest of the night...suddenly i have all this time with nothing to do.
Night 6: And then she got a cold. What do i do now?! continue? what? what?!
Instincts tells me, don't. Not when she is sick. We sticked to her bedtime ritual plus the added cold remedies. Gave her a long bedtime feeding...and I fell asleep next to her. Next thing i know she was crying beside me, she probably woke up because she can't breathe due to her blocked nose. Daddylicious came to the rescue! He picked her up, put some more menthol rub and rocked her back to sleep on the rocking chair and then moved her to her cot around 11pm (i was asleep so hubby said around then. ok) . So not much "cry-it-out" method done there.again. More soothing and rocking.
Until she woke up at 4.40am. Again. What do i do? Pick her up? NO? but she's sick. So i just sat and watched for a bit until Daddylicious gave me a look that spoke volumes. I really didn't know what to do. Follow the method? Or act on instinct? Daddylicious said PP is sick, it doesn't count.
I found a wonderfully written website that gave a good overview of how to get babies to sleep using cry-it-out. So new love of my life, Dr Greene.com. And he said
"No matter how hard it gets, you must follow the plan with two exceptions: 1) If your child is sick then, of course, you will want to take her out of her crib and give her the attention she needs. 2) If you are on vacation, or not in your own home, and your daughter is disoriented or afraid, you may want to hold her."
Done. Daddylicious then picked PP up after a minute or 2 of crying and tried to rock her back to sleep. No luck and then i noticed her lips were dry. She really is hungry then. Thirsty. Must be the low grade fever acting up. I fed her for around 10mins before she went back to sleep. As soon as i place her on the crib, she cried again. Soothe her without picking her up and let her cry a bit. Tired, whimpering cries. By 4.55am, she was fast asleep again until 10.30am. i conclude, even if baby is sick, let her cry a bit. not the fervent, outraged cries but tired cries and whimpers are accepted enough for me. I know she was not hungry and sleepy even though she is sick. but if i dont put her down. She wont get enough rest, and neither would Mummylicious.
More Dr Greene's notes on how to put babies to sleep using this method
"If there is any question that she might be teething, getting a cold, or otherwise needing special attention on the night that you are going to initiate this process, wait to start it. If you are going to be successful, there is no turning back once you start. This is how it is done:
- Prepare for bedtime as you normally would, making sure all of her physical needs are met.
- Include all the things that she has learned to associate with going to sleep in her bedtime ritual, i.e. lullaby tape, special blanket or toy, etc.
- When she gets sleepy, put her in her bed.
- Position yourself so that you can gently pat her and make sure she remains lying down by gently applying pressure on her body if needed.
- When she begins to cry, don't pick her up -- this will be extremely hard to do, but if you pick her up, she will learn to cry next time until you do again!
- Continue to pat her, sing to her, tell her you love her --whatever it takes --even though she is crying. You will not be abandoning her, only teaching her to let go and fall asleep.
- Ideally, you and her mother can do this together for mutual support.
- When one of you can't take it anymore, that one should leave the room for a while.
- Keep singing, patting, and comforting her until she falls asleep.
This will work, eventually. The first night it may take an hour-and-a-half or even more for her to go to sleep."
Useful link
