So, after a good month and a half of inconsistent sleeping at night I finally decided that something had to change. Several people, including some well respected family members, recommended the book On Becoming Baby Wise.
I decided to give it a try. I ordered the book on my kindle and read the whole thing in one night. Needless to say, I bought into the philosophy 100%. I read the book with an open mind as I have heard that the message is somewhat controversial. After reading it, I can see why it may not be the right philosophy for all mothers, but it sounded good to me.
I was anxious to get started. We started the process last Sunday, so we are just about 1 week in to our trial period. Within a day or so Dominic had fallen into a nice routine that wasn't far off from the path we were on before starting the Baby Wise way of life. I think this is why I was so comfortable with the philosophy.
The book stresses the importance of setting the schedule for your baby rather than letting them be the one making all the decisions. It suggests starting the process just one week after birth, but I am not sure I agree with that. I do wish I had started sooner than 6 months though. I think it would have been best to begin around the 2 month mark.
Long story short, we have designed a schedule that works for our family. Dominic eats, plays and naps at roughly the same time every day and has been sleeping for 9 to 11 hours since the first night on the program. We are thrilled!
In other news, we went to pick out our Christmas tree today and had a blast! Here are a few pictures of Dominic at Cox Farms. (I guess I forgot to take any of the trees ) :)
That's right.....my months of bragging about my perfect baby and his perfect sleep schedule are starting to bite me in the ass. He has been a bit of a monster lately. The real issue is that he is very inconsistent. For awhile he was going down about 8:30 p.m. and sleeping until 4 a.m. This was working great because I would feed him at 4 and then he would go back down immediately. Then I could catch another hour or so of sleep before getting up for the day. He would waking up again around 6:30 a.m., just in time for me to feed him once more before I had to go to work. Sounds nice right?
Well it didn't last. All of the sudden he started waking up at 12:30ish and then again at 3:30 or 4 and then he wouldn't want to go back down again. I have a couple of theories on the situation. First, I have noticed that this happens after I have disrupted his normal schedule in some way. Either missing a rice cereal feeding, staying up too late, having friends over or just general over stimulation. Another theory is that he is in the middle of a growth spurt. I have read that the six month mark is a normal time for this to happen and he will be 6 months in 2 weeks. My third and final theory is that he is ready for solid foods. He wakes up super hungry in the middle of the night, so I am thinking that the solids might make him stay full longer. Stay tuned for that fun.....I am sure there will be a hilarious video for that.
Regardless of the reasons behind the disrupted sleep schedule, I am trying to remind myself that this is temporary and that it will get easier with time. Sounds so mature huh? It is much easier to say now as I type than when I am pulling my hair out at 4 a.m. Wish me luck :)
In lighter, more festive news, Dominic and I had an amazing Christmas photo shoot last weekend to get ready for Christmas card making. He was a great sport and was sweet and smiley for at least an hour. Here are a couple of the best picture for you to enjoy.
Dominic is doing great with the rice cereal, but I will be honest and confess that it was not all sunshine and roses in the beginning. I actually HATED it for awhile. He was spitting it everywhere and Now that he is getting the hang of it I am anxious to start him on baby food. We are going to wait until he is 6 months to start, but it should be fun. :) It is so hard to believe that 6 months is in only 33 days. Here are a few pictures of my little man eating like a big boy.
