Sleep Chronicles; When the Doctor becomes the patient

I am a pregnant mother of a teething 17 month old with a cold.  I have to say this definitely is no fun and not much sleep involved either, needless to say I am so far behind on blogging its ridiculous. I have like 4 drafts that haven't even been touched yet, and countless others that need to be finished.  I took on the task of highlighting an African American Woman in History everyday for the month of February, and I sure have the worst of all monkey wrenches in my schedule, me and my cold.

Okay so I may exaggerating a little bit, but it doesn't help that my current diet consist of tea (lemon juice and honey included), buttered toast, cough drops, and apple juice.  I truly understand why my daughter got tired of the BRATS diet(Bananas, Rice, Apples, Toast, and Soup) after about two/three days. It's not that any of these things taste bad, in fact I love a nice cold glass half n' half Apple juice (half apple juice concentrate and water) its just that having these things in combination with each other over and over, gets kind of repetitive, and not in a good way.  Yes, I'm complaining, but moms need to rant every now and then.

Now when my hubs is sick, I know exactly what to do, but when the situation is reversed he is like a deer in headless.   Don't get the situation twisted, I love my hunny, he is a great man, but definitely a better patient than a doctor.  Of course he is quick to make my tea, and rubs my tummy when Eliana (unborn edition to our family) is karate choppin' me, but he just doesn't have the God giving nurturing ability.  It's not his fault. By nature I am a nurturer, I been taking care of sick patients since my dolly had a cold in her bassinet, and I know what too do, but like most men, my husband only possesses a fraction of this quality.  Yes, when my daughter runs into the wall, he's the first on the scene....and when it comes to discipline watch out now daddy's in charge, but he's a man, as I have reiterated several times.

 Mommy Advice
So with all of this being said, what is mom to do?  Go on. You do what you do best, nurture yourself. Don't forget about hugs and kisses from the fam, even though you could slightly be infectious, they are some of the best medicine, but take the remedies you use on your patients and make them for yourself.  Get rest, the hubs may not be able to nurture you completely, but when he offers for you to go to bed and he'll take care of the little one(s) don't deny him that priveledge, cause' when he goes to work, you are back on duty.  Go with the flow, you may not be able to be babied but having a toddler race around the house, may be just what you ned to sweat it out.

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks
"I believe in Kingdom blogging!"

Sleep Chronicles: The Change

For the past two days I have been fighting a losing battle and I have no idea why.   Naptime is now playtime for Miss Elise in her crib.  I don't hear killer cries anymore, just giggles and glee.  No matter what I have done she just doesn't want to take a nap.

We have been on a great schedule the past couple of months, but it all seems to have gone away.  I have tried everything 5-10-15, rocking her, running around, but nothing seems to work.   I know that I need to work around her biological clock, but I think it is going hay wire right now.

Today was truly the worst day sleep wise for she didn't take a nap, feel asleep at the dinner table, didn't eat, yet slept through the night. What the heck is up with that? To all my mommies out there, any advice?

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks
"I believe in Kingdom blogging."

Sleep Chronicles: So it doesn't quite END

The sleep patterns are unpredictable for a toddler, and the holidays make it exceptional hard to maintain an appropriate nap and bedtime routine. Over the past few week Elise has traveled from house to house, was passed around from hand to hand, it's taxing on a one year old entertaining adults, needless to say most of her naps have been in the car and her bedtime routine was nonexistent.  What is a mom to do?

I definitely don't know the answer to the this mysterious question, all I can say is go with the flow.  It may not be the best answer, but after letting Elise have her first, second, and third wind, when we get home the whole family falls sound asleep.

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks
"I believe in Kingdom Blogging"

Sleep Chronicles: The Final Resolve

Mommyhood (I know its not grammatically correct) is a pathway filled with tears and trails, thrills and chills, giggles and gurgles, A-ha's and Oh no's; It's a process that grows. I am a first time mom, who is enjoying it all. Don't let the smooth taste fool you though, being a mom is work, but when you overcome a hurdle you feel like a POWER Mom (Persistently Overcoming Whining Enthusiastically Rearing). Okay so it is not the best acronym for POWER but it works for me , because daily I am sticking to my guns in order to overcome obstacles without complaining and enthusiastically rear my child.

Sleep training is madness.   You have your successful days and then the days that are pure torture. You feel accomplished one moment, then the next you fill like the worst mom in the world.  Its craziness I tell you.  I have to blame me, I was Elise's crutch.   Midday and Nightly since the day Elise was born she has been lulled to sleep in my arms or my husbands.   I(We) thought  that we were doing the best thing for her, but Oh were we wrong. She was so used to being in our arms while she was asleep, that when she woke in the middle of the night she was like, "What they hey, where  my mommy  and daddy at." I didn't know it was such an issue, that she was leaning on us to be there throughout the night. Come to think of it how would you like it if you were sleeping on a nice cushy pillow and you wake up and you are on a tough brick, I guess Elise was like, "Hecky naw mommy!"

So here I was with a one year old who didn't know how to sooth her self to sleep, but it was time to make a change. So thus began the sleep chronicles. It's been about three weeks since my journey began, filled with many tears and headaches on my end.   5-10-15 is so hard when it is eight at night and you have been with a one year old all day.   The kitchen timer was my friend for a week, then I just wanted to trash my stove cause' apparently I wasn't doing something right.  For days/weeks I struggled to get Elise's sleep cycle together, but guess what father did know best.  

I wondered why most of the days that  my husband did the process Elise would fall asleep in about ten minutes.   I was like what the heck am I doing different.   We were doing the same process, or so I thought.  When I laid Elise down I just put her there, kiss, maybe a bottle and a goodnight(good nap nap time) and it always took between forty-five minutes to an hour for Elise to fall asleep.   But my oh so wonderful husband had a hidden secret that I didn't learn until about a week and a half ago, a pat and a rub on the back was the trick to Elise falling asleep.  I guess she needed some type of soothing to aid her, not just commando mommy. Who knew?

Once I learned the secret it was all over for Miss Elise, cause' I knew falling asleep on her own was possible.  Laid her down, gave her a little bit of milk, patted her back, stroked her hair, kiss, good night Elise and the magic potion took it's course and she was out in about five minutes.  Now this bridge was hard to cross, and I definitely didn't always understand what she needed, but we made it.  Now at eight forty-five at night Elise has been sleep for more than an hour, it's a miracle. Thank you God for making Powerful daddies.

Final Resolve: Overall 5-10-15 worked. It took more than four days for Elise, every child is different, but it worked.   Elise is now successfully soothing herself to sleep at nap time and bedtime.  My advice for other mommies out there, don't wait to your daughter turns one to start this method, start as soon as possible.  It is possible to stick to your guns, throw in some ear plugs if you have to, cause' the tears that fall are temporary and you will appreciate it when the Midnight feedings are gone.  You live and you learn, but make sure you grow some patience.  God is key, heck I wouldn't have made it through without him.  You can do it.  Be like Nike Just Do it.

(Pictured Above: Elise at 11 months, tuckered out after snack time.)

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks

Sleep Chronicles (Days 4-8)

Okay so it has been a long time coming this sleep scheduling thing, letting Elise fall asleep by herself. It was suppose to happen in 4  days but I kind of messed that up, because I deviated from the schedule by letting Elise fall asleep during car rides (we left during her naptime) and not getting home until past midnight a couple of days this past week.

Now it hasn't all been bad, in fact we reached a milestone last night when she just laid herself down to go to sleep at her appointed bed time. I was like wow.  Bedtimes have been better she has went from 45min to an hour, to about 20-30 minutes. But naptime, that is a completely different saga.  I mean I put her down at the same time everyday, go through the 5-10-15 method and she never seems to want to go to sleep, I can walk in her room and she will just be sitting up smiling and looking at me. I feel played. 

In all fairness to Elise I have been tired a lot lately, so my hubby has had to spend most morning with her, but that shouldn't effect her sleep pattern should it?  Sometimes I feel like a horrible mother which I know I am not, cause I have to just let her cry, but I know she has to learn, better now than later. What is she going to do, when she actually has to go to daycare. They are not going to be nearly as patient as mommy is.  Needless to say we have a new hurdle to cross, getting this naptime thing together.

We will see how the rest of today and tonight goes....Off for my 15 with Elise, fingers crossed/

Sleep Chronicles(Day Three:Torture)

Day Three: Torture.
Naptime:Around Noon... One trick that I heard from mommy after mommy including my own, is that you need to make sure that your baby is full in order for them to successfully let your baby soothe themselves to sleep, but on Day Three I am getting tired and I feel like it is pure torture. I feed her well. I gave her a bottle. She even has a binky, and yet there are cries for freedom and it is murder. Now I know that its good for her, but my ears don't. They want to go into the room rock her so that the screaming can stop.
12:31pm Now I am well into my cycle on 15. She fooled me a while ago I thought she was sleep, but Oh was I wrong cause as soon as I walked in the room after hearing a shriek all I see is a big grin....I am being played by a 1 year old , who says she is not a genius.  I am convinced that the creator of Naptime did not have a  child at all.
Naptime and Bedtime Updates coming soon....

Sleep Chronicles(Day Two: Naptime Blues)

Day Two: Naptime blues
It's day two of the 5-10-15 method. So far its going pretty good, I actually got some sleep last night. Elise stirred twice but guess what, she soothed herself right back to sleep. How you might ask? Because I didn't go in her room right away like I wanted to. She slept about 11 hours, which is about what she needs as a 1 year old.

Nap time (Around 1PM)
Now nap time today is a work in progress. There were a few factors that kind of killed today going smoothly. I did exactly as yesterday and put her down for a nap, left quickly and did my 5-10-15 minute increments however daddy came home a little later for lunch today, right around nap time. It don't blame him, I man has got to eat, but she was so excited when she saw him bring in her mega blocks that all of her sleepiness went away. So when I laid her down for a nap she was okay for a bit, but she was up and down constantly, so I had to just leave her in there by herself. She sung a few songs, told me in her baby mumbles ,"Mommy dad-duh come get me now," and it has been a little over an hour. Now I know she is tired, but she refuses to go to sleep...uggh. She's not crying but I know that she is awake. See how the rest of this goes....going in to save her now....

4:44pm So needless to say Elise never took a nap until about 30 minutes ago and it has me scared for tonight. She went out in the first five minutes, but I do plan on waking a sleeping baby at 5:45 so that my night isnt terrible...

Well I went against the grain and let her sleep to 6:30. She was still tired of course, but she woke up alot more pleasant after finally having her nap. She truly needed one cause she was acting like she was having PMS (Love her though.)

Bedtime
I let her stay up a little later cause' daddy got home a little later and I knew she wanted to spend time with him (You know by the smile when he walks in the door, like you done been mean to them all day.) I completely deviated from the schedule of 8pm bath 8:30 bedtime, but you got to do what you got to do. Everything was later, bathtime, and the chronicles. It went ok. Daddy tried 5-10-15 and it was breaking his heart...it took almost two cycles to get her to bed. We heard the cries but we stuck our ground.

Bedtime Update : Okay so after the two cycles of 5-10-15 when she finally went to sleep at around 10:30pm. She slept until 8:30 this morning, about one hour earlier than she normally wakes up. But guess who had sleeping problems last night, me. I just couldn't fall sound asleep for nothing in the world last night, ugh. I was tossin' and turning, and tried everything to fall asleep, and you know what it is.....I am so used to getting up in the middle of the night by myself or with my hubby to rock Elise back to sleep, my sleep pattern is all jacked up. I woke up like 5 times thinking Elise was crying and awake only to hear the sounds of cars whisking by in the night sky, no Elise. I gotta get used to this and I gotta get rid of this insomnia, no body told me mommyhood was gonna be like this. I don't think I have slept solidly in a year. Bye bye sleepless nights, hello pillow

Last Updated October 13, 2010

Dont forget to check out the rest of the Sleep Chronicles Post Day One: The beginning  Day Three: Torture and the rest of this mommyhood journey....

The Sleep Chronicles(Day 1)

Day One: The Beginning
Today is day one of the sleep chronicles featuring Elise.  I am using a method I would like to call 5-10-15 in order to teach Elise to soothe herself to sleep on her own at nap time (as you  may have noticed from my previous posting, "It's not punishment, it preparation.") Naptime and Bedtime go a little something like this

-lay Elise down give her a kiss and a blanket, quickly exit room
-Elise crying and screams and does anything that she can think of to get me to come.
-I set the kitchen timer for 5 minutes, wait five minutes.
-If Elise is still crying, I go in once more lay her down, give her kiss and a blanket and quickly exit....
-Elise may cry. I wait 10 minutes this time (Elise usually goes to sleep during this time.)
-But if Elise is not sleep after 10 minutes of fussing, I do it all over again and wait 15 minutes. (I have gotten to 15 minutes yet she is usually out during 10)

Now today is the first day. Naptime went okay, it was  kind of hard for me but I kept myself busy by blogging and catching up on some reading. Naptime went so well today that she got 3 1/2 of beauty rest which is a blessing.

Bedtime was alot harder because daddy was home and you have to get him in the mix, so we took turns doing 5 -10-15.   We did our normal bathing/bedtime routine.   I flexed it a little bit and gave Elise a snack before bath time so her tummy would be full.  Still in bedtime mode it took about 45 minutes for her to fall asleep on her own.

So far so good I wonder what tonight will bring?

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks (Mom Chronicles)