Sleep Training

We are finally updating our blog! After a month and a half of no updates, it’s finally here! My main excuse for not updating the blog more frequently is because I don’t understand how this iWeb (it’s a Mac thing) works. Mark, who is obsessed with all things Apple, made us switch to this Apple-based blog rather than use Blogger, so it’s not as easy for me to update the blog. But Mark swears it’s easier and so much better than blogger. I guess I’ll just do my best and learn how it works.

Luke will be 4 months old in a week. He is so much fun and really is a good baby. Right now we are working on sleep training. I have read approximately 5 books about babies and sleep. I know most people just go with the flow and assume their baby will learn to sleep through the night on their own. But most people that know me, know that I have a slight control issue. So naturally, I want to “help” Luke learn to sleep through the night. The general consensus from the books I’ve read is that around 4 months babies are neurologically and physically capable of soothing themselves and sleeping 8-10 hours straight. Luke goes to bed around 8:30 and then wakes up around 2:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. for a feeding. I am trying to eliminate the 2:30 a.m. feeding. The first night he cried for 1 hour and 20 minutes. It was excruciating. But he did go back to sleep and woke up at 5:45 for a feeding. He didn’t act like he was starving or anything when I fed him and he went back to sleep until 8:00 and woke up happy. Last night (the second night of the training), he only cried for 15 minutes and then woke up around 5:30. He only took 3 ounces and went right back to sleep and woke up happy and full of energy at 7:30. So, the training seems to be working. The books say it takes about 3 days for babies to adapt to the new sleep pattern, so hopefully tonight he will cry even less.

Click here for our most recent pictures of Luke and pictures from the holidays. Luke’s first Christmas was wonderful. He got a lot of fun new toys, books, and clothes. We’ll post some of those photos next. Now he is starting to enjoy his toys. Also, he really loves when we read to him. He has a really good attention span. I think Dr. Seuss books are his favorite so far.