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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Sleep Update

As many of you know we have been working on Meridian's sleep for the past week. It was not an easy decision for us to come to, yet one that we really felt necessary for our sanity and especially for our marriage.

The first night was horrible! Probably more so for me than for her, but none the less, it was awful. I cried right along with her and sent my hubby in to her every five, ten, fifteen minues so that my heart would possibly break less. At the end of two hours, all was silent and for once she fell asleep on her own. It should be noted that we consistenly checked on her and Meridian is not a "crier" meaning not screaming to the point of not breathing. Instead she just whimpers off and on. We realized after that first night that we missed her bedtime by a couple of hours that night, thus why it took her so long to fall asleep. The next night was only a half hour of crying. The following twenty minutes. Tonight, maybe ten.

We finally feel that we are getting some time together at night without having to rush to her crib, pick her up, and rock her to sleep. She is still struggling a bit with waking up between eight and midnight, but is learning how to put herself back to sleep if she does.

Our next step will be night weaning, but I am in no rush really to do that, as I let Zoelle do that pretty much on her own right after she turned a year old. I am curious how I should do it though when we do get there? Right now, and this is a first for me to admit on my blog (as I've always held back out of fear of criticism), when Meridian wakes up at night, we bring her to bed with us and co-sleep the rest of the night. That is a decision we came to after I was just way too exhausted to get up, go nurse, and come back to my bed at night. I would find myself falling asleep in the rocking chair, and not getting any sleep at night. The parital co-sleeping has worked well both times with both of our girls. We effortlessly transitioned Zoelle to sleeping on her own completely at a year. However, I think for Meridian it might be just a bit harder. I would really like her to be sleeping thru the night at or around a year. So if any of you co-sleepers, or partial co-sleepers out there have any ideas, I would welcome them!

Thank you to everyone for the advice, love, and prayers. Keep praying!!

4 comments:

  1. This is so hard!!! I know some people have very strong opinions one way or another, but do what is right for YOUR FAMILY and try not to feel guilty! I do believe that the sooner everyone sleeps all night in their own beds, the sooner everyone will get decent sleep!! Good luck!

    Welcome to the SITS community!

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  2. I hope you have success quickly getting your little one to sleep on her own.

    Good luck too with adopting your new child. Adoption is a wonderful thing. I adopted my son the day he was born.

    Stopping by from SITS! Welcome.

    Cheers :-)
    - CoconutPalmDesigns

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  3. Queenie Jeannie-It is so hard! I hated making the decision to do it, but we really had to do something and rocking her/holding her all night just wasn't working at all. Thank you for reminding me not to feel guilty for doing what works for our family.

    Coconut-She is already doing better from when I even posted this! Yay! Thank you too for sharing about your adoption. It will happen in time!!

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  4. That whole sleep thing is such a touchy issue among parents. I co-slept with each of mine for a period of time. My oldest was only a few months near the beginning and my youngest from about 4mo to about 10mo. When I decided she needed to be in her own bed I just started putting her to bed there and I guess she was ready for it becuase she just went to sleep on her own that first night, no fuss. I do recall a few nights of waking in the middle of the night and crying but eventually she did learn to put herself back to sleep.

    All kids reach the sleep milestone when they are ready so I guess the best advice is to be patient.

    As for weaning, well I let my first do it on her own which she did at around 20 mo. My youngest is 21 mo and still nursing before bed and occasionally during the day if i happen to be home. I will let her decide when to stop as well.

    Good luck in the adoption. My older brother was adopted :)

    Happy SITS Sharefest!

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