I know it's been a while since I've posted, but it's been a crazy couple of weeks, and Carrie and I have been busy readjusting to big changes at home. Baby Grace is growing up quick and took a huge step, moving out of the bassinet and into her own place. Of course, her own place is her own room just across the hall, but still, I'm already dreading the day I help her move into a dorm.
As you can see, she's moved into pretty sweet digs, with an awesome monkey motif created by Aunt Kelly. We went with monkeys as a tribute to Grace's in-the-womb nickname Banana, which was itself a tribute to her status as the third monkey in the family, which was a reference to the fact that mommy's and daddy's housekeeping skills that make it seem like a pack of wild simians were set loose and ran roughshod through our home.
Anyway, in addition to the big move, we figured it was the right time to start teaching Grace how to sleep through the night. Beforehand, our approach to Grace's daily schedule was to let her wake up and pass out whenever she wanted, which was all sorts of fun but probably not a viable long term strategy. So in the spirit of responsible parenting, Carrie hit the web to figure out a strategy, which we ultimately based around a great article from Parents Magazine.
Summing up, the article's advice is to build a consistent routine over time and get the baby used to the idea of crib time being sleep time, in part involving letting her cry for a bit instead of scooping her up the second she makes a sound. As you'll see in the play-by-play of Grace's first night on her own, the crying thing was even less fun than it sounds like it would be.
Attempt #1
At around 10 PM, Grace fell asleep in mommy's arms, so I picked her up to bring her to bed. Almost instantly, she woke up, a harbinger of what was to come. I made my first mistake immediately, putting her down as soon as I walked in the room and then turning on her mobile. Rather than relaxing her, the spinning animals were fascinating, making her totally awake and alert. Like a sweet idiot, I kissed her goodnight, told her that mommy and daddy were nearby so she didn't have to worry and left. Naturally, as soon as I got downstairs, Gracie totally lost her mind, kicking her legs, waving her arms and screaming for comfort.
In order to start getting her acclimated to the sleep schedule, our plan for putting her down was to wait five minutes before coming to get her, which felt like the longest minutes of my life. Carrie nearly needed the butterfly net to keep me from running up the stairs as I watched her wriggle and fuss in the monitor. The time eventually passed and I sprinted up the stairs, spending all of eight seconds offering her vocal reassurance and touch before picking her up and feeding her.
Attempt #2
After a bit of bottle, Grace got drowsy and I put her down again. All was quiet for about fifteen minutes before disaster struck. Grace accidentally set off her crib TV, just slightly rousing her. As the minutes passed, this little flicker grew into a raging inferno of screaming, and I was back upstairs. I held out a little longer, watching over her and trying to talk her down, but all I could hear in her wails was "DAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDY", so there was nothing I could do. I picked her up, changed her to at least try to fool her into thinking that she wasn't running the show, fed her a little more, then finally got her back down.
Attempt #3
About an hour later, Grace was up again, hungry again. At this point, I'd completely given up on waiting her out and picked her up right away. One good fart and a couple of quick ounces of milk and she was back to sleep. Or so it seemed. A tiny squeal, and then - oh no - a determined cry. I hoped that maybe she just needed another burp or a bit more food, but hope turned out to be a fool's dream. I picked her up once more and it became clear that Grace was sleepy, but terribly dissatisfied with her accommodations. She instantly curled up on the least bony part of my chest (difficult to find) and passed out. Fifteen minutes later, I dared to put her down. It was touch and go at best.
Attempt #4
At some indeterminable hour of the night Grace woke up and seemed to need her customary feeding, a moral victory if nothing else. She drank some bottle and fell asleep quickly. However, the second I got back under the covers, she was up again. Back to the bottle, then I gave her a belly massage to help settle her stomach.
This was when the best thing happened. Grace flashed me a wide, bright, wonderful smile before dozing off and starting to dream. I put her down one last time, startling her and causing her to stiffen her arms and legs in full-on starfish position. The startle passed quickly though, and five minutes later she and I were in bed for good.
Postscript
Grace, Carrie and I have come a long way over the past two weeks. We've learned to make sure she's changed, well fed, comfortable and drowsy before even attempting to put her down, and as a result, Grace has learned to go to bed around 10 and more often than not sleep through the night. Not bad after such an inauspicious start.
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