Update On Sleep

Well... as you all know, last week I declared "sleep bootcamp" at our house. Last week Gwen slept through the night twice and almost on a third night. That's progress in my book. Somehow the little weasel made me feel sorry for her and I picked her up for a few nights. I know... I'm shooting myself in the foot. So then for the past two nights Ben has been my bootcamp assistant. He is the perfect assistant because he has a much stronger constitution than I do. Last night I heard her wake up once and she put herself back to sleep without any assistance! (that's progress in my book too) She did wake up one other time and cried for 20 minutes and had pats on the back. (that's not long... you all don't realize how determined this girl can be)

So... here's what we're doing.

1. Always put her down for naps and bedtime awake with a kiss and the same phrase- "go to sleep Gwen, I love you".
2. When she wakes up in the night to give her a few minutes to see if she can get herself back to sleep.
3. If she doesn't Ben or I will go in and put her pacifier in and pat her on the back and say "go to sleep Gwen" and leave immediately.
4. We try to wait as long as we can stand it before going in again. (of course we know she's ok because either we've been in there or we can peek around the corner of the door if we are really agile- but it's tricky, cause she's got the eyes of a hawk)
5. I have resolved to not feed her or pick her up in the night. She's not hungry. I know because she eats a lot during the day and she's made it through before.

Why so much talk about sleep? Because it is a hard thing to learn as a first time mom. I mean, there are a thousand different opinions on the subject and if you dare to share yours with another mom they look at you and you can tell they think differently and they always say "they are all different." So, this is where I will voice what we are doing in case someone wants to read it. It took me a while to resolve myself not to pick her up and feed her. It's like in my blood to respond to her or something. Through it all it amazes me that we can have a crazy night in the bootcamp and the next morning Gwen wakes up like she's the happiest little thing ever. Go figure...