Hip Hip Hooray!

I am so happy to announce that Carson is sleeping on his own! Last night he woke up twice, but he put himself back to sleep and that was all before midnight. Well, he'll fall asleep sitting up, so I have to go check on him and if he is sitting up, I have to go lie him down, which makes him upset. We put him to bed at 8:30 now and he sleeps until 8:30 in the morning. It's wonderful! I think I am more tired now that I am actually getting some sleep. Here is a little bit about the whole adventure. This whole thing was tiring, but worth it!

Friday, May 23 (night one): It wasn't so bad. We let him cry, which he did a lot of. He would cry and then 5 minutes we would go in there and talk to him and give him a hug and lye him back down. Then we would do it after 10 minutes, but he usually fell asleep before we went in for the second time. He cried often though. I bet we were up at least 6 or 7 times and went in after 5 minutes and then he'd be asleep before one of us would get in there a second time.

Saturday, May 24 (night two): Was little better sleeping wise, but he scared the crap out of us. He was crying so hard that he threw up on his back. I was so afraid that he would aspirate it. He actually started choking on it, so we had to get him out of bed and slap his back until he cried, but I don't know if he actually choked on the throw up or if he was crying so hard he was still choking, but it scared us. We had to change his pj's and then his bed sheets. He even fell asleep standing up while lying he head on edge of his crib.

Sunday, May 25 (night three): Was a nightmare!! He would NOT stop! He cried and cried from midnight until 6am. Finally we brought him into our room and put him in our bed and all three of us slept until 9:30 that morning. He threw up again this night as well. I think he knows exactly what gets mom and dad to come and pick him up, so he attempted his crying pyrotechnics again. I've been reading a lot about this from "What To Expect For The First Year" and it says that if you attempt these "crying it out" techniques on them that they are wise enough to know what gets mom and dad back into the room. The hard thing about this was, was he would get more angry if you came into the room and then went back out, which would make him cry harder and longer, but we were so scared because of the whole throwing up thing.

Monday, May 26 (night four): Was nice. He put up quite a fuss before we put him down, but he only woke up 4 times. I cheated. I hugged him and then lied him back down while still hugging him. I was practically throwing my leg over the crib to keep my cheek pressed against his. I was the only one who could calm him down last night.

Tuesday, May 27 (night five): Went really well! I am excited to tell you that. We put him into bed about 8:30. He had his blanket and a new stuffed animal that we bought him that we have taken every where with us during the day, so it was always with him. We fed him at 6, put him in the bath, let him play a little, drank a bottle, Dave read him some stories, and we put him down at 8:30. He cried for about 15 minutes and then went to sleep. He woke up twice before 9:30 but he cried himself back to sleep really fast. Then he woke up at midnight. I had to go get him and hug him and then lie him down and he cried, but he went back to sleep. Then he woke up 5 in the morning and cried. We had to go in twice, but then he slept until 9:30! He did really well!

Wednesday, May 28 (night six):Night 6 went great! He only woke up twice. He cried for 10 minutes the first time and put himself back to sleep. The second time, he wouldn't settle down, so I went in there and hugged him and tucked him back in and he cried for about 2 minutes after I left the room and he went right to sleep. We have been putting him to bed at 8:30 and he sleeps until 9am. It's great. I just hope within the next few nights he'll just put himself back to sleep both times. The three nights we have also followed a very strict schedule, so that's my advice to anyone.

9am- Wake up and play
10am- Eat breakfast
12- Nap
2- Lunch
6- Dinner, then bath, then play, then read books
8:30- Bed

Thrusday, May 29 (night 7): Was already discussed in the first paragraph of the blog.