Finally!!

After 7 long years of having my older son crawl into our bed at all hours of the night and having to wake feeling cramped or teetering off the edge, he's finally finally FINALLY sleeping through the night!!!!!!!!!!

The past 4 weeks, he has been staying in his bed of his own volition. We did everything in the past to aid this transition - sleep training, rewards, bribery, etc. Nothing worked. He slept and woke in his own bed without waking TWICE... by accident. Every night would be more of the same. Len and I actually love having him climb into bed for a cuddle but he was getting so big and we were suffering from serious lack of sleep and soreness from being dribbled like a soccer ball all night.

Our baby has finally taught himself to sleep through the night and has successfully conquered his fear of being alone in the dark. Praise the Lord!

Completely Knackered

So, we've been attempting to put Zachary to sleep in his own bed and his own room for the past 2 nights and it's been somewhat hellacious. He wakes up practically every hour after the first 2 hours screaming on top of his lungs and pleading for us to come back in. We persist in ignoring him but then he comes out with gobs of tears streaming down his face to plead his case. We do exactly what the textbooks say and tell him it's bedtime and lead him back to bed. Not even 2 minutes later and he's back. This carries on until one of us (ie, me at the moment since Len is trying to finish writing his paper) gives in and sits on a chair by his bed and waits for him to fall asleep. Just as I sneak out and try to sleep in my own bed, the screaming begins again. Finally at around 5am, both Len and I are about ready to throw in the proverbial towel just to get a few meager hours of shut eye. This usually means either of us falls asleep on Zac's bed with him.

Sigh.

How long we're going to be able to keep this up is beyond me. We're trying so hard to get him to sleep on his own bed so that Len and I can finally get some proper sleep without little limbs doing a number on our already tired bodies. Looks like trying to get this chick out of the nest is going to be more challenging than we hoped.

I'm already swearing that it'll be different should be have another baby. That child is going to be sleeping in his/her own cot as soon as possible (definitely before said child learns to stand and escape from the cot)! Let's see how determined we are the next time around.

P.S.
Because I'm so wiped, photos will be scant for the time being so pardon the lack of illustration.

We're Back!

Goodbye Barcelona, hello Singapore! The Pattiselannos are back on home turf once again. It's been about 2 days or so and we're not even close to feeling normal. We're still sleeping at odd hours and feel like penguins who got lost and found themselves in the tropics.

We have been trying to keep busy to readjust our sleep cycles to local time. We've spent most of our waking time clearing out our room in my parents' place and doing a little rearrangement so Zac gets his own little room. I'm hoping to ride on the jetlag and ease him into sleeping on his own. We'll see how this progresses as the days wear on and the jetlag wears off.

Just this afternoon, Zac decided to make his transition that much more difficult by throwing (albeit by accident) his pacifier out the open bedroom window. Tonight is going to be an interesting experience for all of us.

Wish us luck!

That's A First

He actually fell asleep all by himself while standing up and leaning against the bed!

Sleep Training: Day 8 (Thoughts)

We're still sticking to our sleep training even though I haven't blogged about it for a while. Since yesterday, we're back down to just 1 nap a day. This is probably more because he'e managed to recover from jet lag but whatever the reason, I think the sleep training has helped with the adjusment.

Zac actually goes down for nap and the Big Sleep pretty easily and stays in his cot! Instead of leaving the room, I put him in his cot then I sit near by until he falls asleep. I still lay him down up to about 5 times when he stands but he kinda gets the idea soon enough. At least now I don't have to lie down with him and pat him to sleep! Also, no more escape antics which makes me wish I had videoed it when they happened.

His one-nap-a-day hasn't quite stabilized but his schedule is roughly like this:

0730AM -- Wake up & wash up
0745AM -- Breakfast
0815AM -- Play time
1000AM -- Snack
1200AM -- Lunch
1245PM -- Nap (usually for about an hour give or take 15 mins)
1415PM -- Snack and drink, followed by play
1700PM -- Bath time
1800PM -- Dinner
1900PM -- Pre-bedtime snack
1945PM -- Brush teeth, wash hands and feet
2000PM -- The Big Sleep!

He usually sleeps through till close to midnight before he wakes. Unlike the book, I do go in and reassre him by laying him down and putting my hand on his back. That usually does the trick then he's off to la-la-land again. Sometimes in the early morning, he still climbs the cot onto my bed but I don't even realise when this happens! (It's a good thing the cot is pushed up against my bed!!)

Sleep Training: Day 6

It's 6am and we're up. I figure Zac's hungry since he went to sleep with virtually nothing in his stomach!

Sleep Training: Day 5 (Nap & The Big Sleep)

Zac took a good long hour to fall asleep this morning and was up fter just 45 mins. Strangely, he was that beat when we headed into the hairiest time of the day - mid-afternoon. Since he was in such a good mood, I decided to get rid of the 2nd nap of the day and worked on getting him to sleep earlier. His bath time was moved up and so was his dinner.

He had been munching on all sorts of stuff so come dinnertime he wasn't all that keen to eat. He ate a few mouthfuls thought but then proceeded to throw up the contents of his tum. Poor little guy was already super tired to begin with so the vomitting was a shock to his system that made him even more exhausted. It didn't take much for him to fall asleep at 7pm!

I really hope he sleeps through till 7am at least.

Sleep Training: Day 5

So last night, Zac went to bed at 8.30pm. He woke once but as far as I can remember, he went back to sleep but in the early part of the morning, I found that he had climbed out of the cot and onto my bed! Guess it's ok if I don't even know it...

I'm hoping that he'll eventually sleep more comfortably and soundly till morning. He seems to start getting fidgety between 2am and waking time. That's a long time to be fidgety!

Sleep Training: Day 4 -Thoughts

It's Day 4 and it's more of the same but today Len took over the naps and successfully managed to put Zac to sleep. Yay Daddy Len!

I'm feeling a little battle weary and terribly tired since I've been having my sleep broken for the past few nights. At this moment, I feel a little like the Israelites of old when God sent Moses to bring them out of Egypt. Immersed in the current fog of sleepiness, I have thoughts like "was it really that bad back when Zac was sleeping with me?", or "this sucks! I think I was getting more rest before all this!". I'm glad my parents are here and have been trying to encourage me. Even Len has been telling me that there is SOME improvement with the sleep situation.

I shall keep at it for as long as I can and pray hard that Zac will eventually learn to sleep on his own. Words of encouragement and support are definitely the hallmarks of success where sleep training is concerned. I definitely DON'T recommend doing this alone!

Sleep Training: Day 3/4 (The Big Sleep)

Zac went to sleep without much fight at 8.30pm. He did wake at midnight and 3am but it wasn't too bad. I figure that I have to tailor the methods recommended in Tizzie's books to suit my situation. Since we have little space in the apartment and Zac has figured out how to get out of his cot by himself, he has to sleep in our room. This makes allowing him to settle himself at night a little more difficult and rougher on our sanity.

I sleep soon after Zac sleeps so I have the energy to wake up and lay him back down to sleep when he wakes in the middle of the night. Wake-up time proper today was 6.45am so we're closer to our goal of 7am!

Just to keep things in perspective and to remind myself, my goals are:

• to get Zac to sleep in his own cot for naps and the Big Sleep.
• to get him down to nap consistently once a day.

Still on Nap 2

I'm sure there's this fable about celebrating too soon. Shortly after my post, the kid woke up. It's only now at 4pm that he finally throws in the towel and goes to sleep. I'm pooped.

Sleep Training: Day 3 (Nap 2)

I'm doing a little jig as I type this!

Zac went down for his 2nd nap at 2.30pm and within 8 mins, he was out like a light. No escape attempts, no marathon screaming (minimal protests), no cranky tantrums. Hallelujah praise the Lord!

I'm going to watch TV to celebrate.

Sleep Training: Day 3 (Nap 1)

After going down for the night, Zac woke at 2.45am and fussed a little. I laid him down a few times and he finally settled around 3am. He woke again at around 4am but I put his head on his blanket and he went to sleep pretty quickly. It wasn't until 6.20am that he woke for real (pulled out his pacifier and said "mamam" - code for "I'm hungry and want to eat")! An improvement over the past pre-5am wakings.

He was in a pretty good mood for most of the morning so I delayed his naptime to closer to 9am. No fussing or fretting at first followed by some whimpering but it lasted all of 15 mins! Morning nap lasted about 45mins but I think we're making progress. Still it's only Day 3 so I shall have to be consistent and vigilant about sticking to my resolve.

I'm very blessed that Len's been so supportive. He's had very little sleep but he's not at all a grumpy bear and has been really encouraging about it. Thanks babe! XXOO

Sleep Training: Day 2 (Naps 1 & 2, The Big Sleep)

I didn't have much time to put up my entries about today's events simply because I was too pooped and still am!

I delayed Zac's morning nap to 8.10AM and he went down without much of a fight. 15 mins and he was out though only for 45mins. I took him out of the cot and he fell asleep on me while I sat on the couch. His 2nd nap was a doosey and after 45 mins of fighing sleep and screaming, he decided to poo so he had to have a change. I decided we both needed 10 min recess since I hadn't had lunch and the clean-up seemed to be a much needed break for him too. I put him back into the cot at 2pm and it wasn't for another hour plus before I gave him his pacifier (I know, I know... I caved) and he calmed down and fell asleep.

My parents watched him while I made a grocery run. I really needed a nap badly so I went to lie down once I got home. Seems he woke up after an hour or so, but in a good enough mood.

Zac had his bath around 6pm, dinner at 7pm then I put him in his cot at 8pm. This session started off really quietly since I pushed he cot against my bed so I could watch him more closely at night. The novelty of he new position probably distracted him but that didn't last long. He eventully caught on and hollered at me for about an hour. One improvement this time is that he didn't climb out of the cot quite as often (just 2 times).

Let's hope tonight, he'll sleep through without too much trouble.

Sleep Training: Day 1/2 (The Big Sleep)

When put Zac down for his 2nd nap of the day, he slept fr a little more than 2 hours before I decided to wake him. It was actually pretty difficult to get him to open his eyes since he was still sound asleep. Perhaps this is all jetlag at work but we'll see.

My parents helped to give him a bath at 6.30PM while I did the cooking. He was still groggy and would have fallen back to sleep if someone rubbed his back or patted him. To try and get him back onto Barcelona timing, I tried to keep him awake until 8PM. It wasn't until 8.30PM that I brought him in for the night. Miraculously, he went down with minimal fuss and was asleep by 8.45PM!

During the night, he woke up twice at 1.30AM and 4.20AM. The first time, I allowed him to attempt to put himself back to sleep but after fussing for a while, Len picked him up to calm him down. We put him into the cot again and went back to our beds. Of course, Houdini attempted several escapes so I ended up sitting by his cot to make sure he stayed in. The next time he woke was a little harder to get him back to sleep. I sat by his cot and resorted to rubbing his belly until he fell asleep. Unfortunately, Len's alarm went off at 5 plus waking Zac up and by then, he was ready for breakfast!

Today is another day, so I say:

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE;
I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!

Sleep Training: Day 1 (Nap 2)

As planned, I put Zac down for the 2nd time today for a nap. He was already visibly sleepy and was hunting for his "dutu" (pacifier/binkie/dummy) - a clear sign of tiredness. I put him in his crib at 3PM on the dot and of course, the protesting started as soon as he knew where he was headed.

I gave him his pacifier and left the room for the mandatory 18 mins. However, after about 5 mins, I felt that I needed to go in because the sound of his crying had changed and I didn't feel so comfortable. He was thankfully alright but since I was in, I remained in the room. It was a good thing I did since he attempted to climb out of his crib and almost managed to on about 5 occasions even though I had removed any object he could use as a step-stool!

Each time that happened, I quickly picked him up and laid him down. If he stayed down, I put my hand on his back for just a minute then walked back to my spot a short distance from where Zac was. I didn't sit right next to the cot since I wanted to create some distance between us. He stopped crying about 20 mins after I entered the room. He spent about 15 mins sitting in his cot quietly, his eyelids getting obviously heavy. Zac didn't go down without a fight and even attempted one last-ditch attempt to escape the confines of his cot. I had to pry him off the bars and make him lie down. After that he dropped off to sleep... without his "dutu"!

I pray each time I put him to sleep and I can only say that all this is posible because God allows it to be so. In this situation especially, I can claim no credit! We still some way to go but I believe if I stick to my guns and have a little faith, we'll both be alright.

Sleep Training: Day 1 (Nap 1)

We're back in Barcelona! As usual, we're a little jetlagged but it's not as bad as when we went back to Singapore. While I was back home, I decided that I needed to make some changes when I got back to Barcelona. Now that Zac's a little older, he's also gotten harder to manage at times. In preparation for us being on our own again, I decided that since my parents are in town, I'd use this opportunity to get Zac sleeping on his own in his cot. Before flying back, I read Tizzie Hall's Save Our Sleep (thank you Trish!) and prayed that my plan to have Zac in his own cot would come to fruition.

This morning, we woke up at 4.45AM. Zac and I had fallen asleep at 4.30PM the day before so in my opinion, it was pretty good sleep. He was hungry and very thirsty so he got a bit of breakfast at about 5AM. My parents woke up around that time so he played (rather noisily!) until 8AM when I decided he looked tired and put him into his cot for sleep.

Following the "Deep End" technique, I laid him down everytime he stood up to show him what I wanted him to do. He protested (very loudly) and screamed angrily at not getting his way. I left the room and allowed him to cry for the mandatory 18mins as prescribed by the book. It was surely the longest 18 minutes, however, I didn't decide to go get him. Zac decided he'd had enough and walked out of he bedroom hmself!

HE HAD CLIMBED OUT OF THE COT HIMSELF USING A VERY FLAT PILLOW FOR LEVERAGE!!!

We were all completely stunned because my escape artist had used his big toe to pull himself up and grabbed the blanket I draped over the edge as padding to repel onto the floor! (I found out because I put the screaming child back into his cot and sat on the floor to keep an eye on him.) Once back in his crib, it was a further half an hour before he finally fell asleep. I did prepare myself for it to take me 2 hours so this is much better than expected. I hope th it will improve the next time around.

NOTE: Tizzie Hall's book calls for a 7AM wakeup time in the morning. Since we're still jetlagged, I tweaked it a little until his sleep times have adjusted. I put him down roughly 3 1/2 hours after he woke up which is similar to the schedule in Hall's book.