Catching ZZZZ's

My mom said she never had any problem putting me and my brother to sleep. We'd sleep straight from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. And every parent we knew had their kids sleeping straight by the time they reached 4 months. When JT turned 3 months, we were so delighted that he showed "the signs." He slept less during the day (around 2 to 4 hours) then slept 8 hours straight for 3 consecutive days. Then it stopped. Then it happened again. This cycle occurred only thrice. He reverted back to sleeping with 3-hours interval. He turned 4 months. He turned 5 months. He turned 6 months. There was no improvement. In fact, it only got worse. He'd sleep the 3-hours interval until 4 a.m. then he'd wake up every hour crying. Oh the headache! My husband (who is a light sleeper) and I despaired.

Then Beth suggested I read her blog "Zzzzzzzzz....." She mentioned how useful this site was to her - Johnson's Baby Nursery. So I checked it out. There you can download lullabies with lyrics, create your own ambient sound, create your child's sleeping profile and give you tips if the results were not so good, as in our case.

JT's sleep profile showed a disrupted sleep pattern.One, he was so used to being rocked (he has this very useful rocking cradle) that he can't sleep on his own. Two, sometime during the night, we transfer him to our bed. Apparently, a high percentage of babies who sleep in their parents bed experience a disrupted sleep pattern. I noted that he flails around and search (with eyes closed, head turning, and pursed lips) for...ahem...my breast. Third, JT had a hard time adjusting to our routine since our hours were pretty much unpredictable. So, following Johnson's advice, I made a "before bedtime" routine.



6:00 p.m. Cerelac
6:30 p.m. Breastfeeding
7:00 p.m. Bath time
7:10 p.m. Massage with Physiogel AI cream
7:30 p.m. Rock and cuddle him to ABBA's Golden Hits (He loves their song! He stops crying when he hears 'em)
8:00 p.m. He's fast asleep on his crib

The first 2 nights were difficult. He would wake up after a few hours. Once he realized neither his Daddy or me were going to pick him up, he cried hard and loud. It was heartbreaking. I only pick him up after several minutes, after making sure he really is hungry. Once he was asleep, I put him back on the crib even though I was so groggy that I didn't want to get out of bed. Finally, our efforts payed off! It's been 5 days since JT started sleeping through the night. I checked his sleep profile again and Voila! It said GOOD SLEEP.

Thanks so much for the tip, Beth!