22 Weeks Old - Sleep Training Success!

Recently, the pacifier situation has been difficult for both Delaney and me. While she's sleeping, it falls out of her mouth and she wakes up. She cries as I'm searching for the pacifier in the dark. I don't want to startle her by turning on the lights and I'm usually still half-asleep, so I feel around for her face (usually awkwardly tapping her nose - poor girl), find her mouth, and put the pacifier back in. Then she falls back asleep for about 20 or 30 minutes until it falls out again and we start all over. She's been waking up cranky and groggy with a hoarse voice, and I can barely function during the day. It was time to make some changes! I was still concerned about her arms and legs getting stuck between the crib rails, so I called her pediatrician for advice. She recommended temporarily using a mesh bumper for sleep training. Problem solved!

We began sleep training and got rid of the pacifier (cold turkey!) on Wednesday night. Normally, it can take up to 30 minutes for her to fall asleep for the night because of the pacifier constantly falling out of her mouth. Wednesday night, Laney was so exhausted from getting such poor sleep lately. I put her in the crib without her pacifier and left the room at 9:06pm. By 9:13, she was sound asleep! I was shocked. I expected her to cry for at least an hour. She made a few peeps during the night, but for the most part, she slept very well!

Thursday was a bit more challenging. She had caught up on some sleep, and she wanted her pacifier. She really wailed before her naps, and cried throughout the entire last nap of the day. Thursday night, it took her 10 minutes to fall asleep, but she woke up every hour throughout the night. At one point, she cried from 1:20am-1:59am (I kept a detailed log). It was a tough night for both of us, but I vowed not to give in and give her a pacifier. I reminded myself that she wasn't sleeping well with it, and it would really benefit her to learn how to fall asleep on her own. Everytime I heard anything, whether she was crying or just moving around, I watched on the video monitor to make sure she was safe and not pressed up against the mesh crib bumper. It was a long night!

Friday, things took a turn for the better. Each time I put her in her crib for a nap, she would fall asleep within 3 - 5 minutes! Up until this point, her daytime naps were always 45 minutes long - never, ever longer than that, even if she was exhausted. Friday afternoon, she took a 2 1/2 hour nap! Friday night, she fell asleep within 4 minutes! She slept through the night without crying at all, and woke up at 7:20am this morning. SUCCESS! I could hardly believe it! Today, she's been taking really long naps and waking up smiling and happy. I couldn't be more proud of her!

This has certainly been worth the work. The pacifier was great while it lasted and certainly served its purpose, but she proved she was ready to move on from it. I'm sure we'll hit a few bumps in the road as she continues to grow and as her sleeping patterns evolve, but I'm so happy with where we are right now!

A few pictures from this week…

5 Months Old!

I always take way too many pictures of Delaney for her monthly photos, and then I want to post every single picture. I have such a hard time narrowing them down! Here are a few…

21 Weeks Old

Just some pictures from this week…

20 Weeks Old

Laney has been rolling like crazy! She hasn't quite figured out how to roll onto her back from her tummy yet, and she gets frustrated after she's been on her tummy for awhile. Sometimes she also spits up when she's on her tummy, so I can't just leave her there. This poses a slight problem. At night, sometimes she wakes up and decides to roll over. After about a minute on her tummy, she cries for mama to come turn her onto her back. Then mama leaves the room and she rolls over again. This continues for too long and the game quickly grows old. I'm starting to realize this adorable little girl has me wrapped around her finger. I've decided to wait until she can roll onto her back by herself before I begin sleep training (mostly because I'm worried about her spitting up and getting stuck there), but it won't be long before that happens. A night of uninterrupted sleep will be a major accomplishment for both her and for me.

Lately we've noticed Laney likes to be held by mommy or daddy, but she tends to have a hard time being held by others. She cries almost immediately. We think it's a phase and hopefully she'll warm up to other people soon.

Right now, I consider her schedule to be pretty spectacular. She eats her last meal around 9 or 10pm, sleeps until 6 or 7 (although she frequently wakes up wanting her pacifier or cries to be turned over, but that's okay) and quickly finishes a bottle. Then she goes right back to sleep for about 4 hours! Around 10 or 11am, she'll wake up for the day and eat-play-sleep in 2 hour cycles. She eats as soon as she's up, plays for about 1 hr 15 mins, then naps for 45 mins. She's been doing this for about 4 or 5 weeks now, and I love it! I don't think this routine will last much longer, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Last but certainly not least, we drove to Chicago this morning to attend a Bump Club Brunch about healthy sleep habits (perfect timing for that!). Kate Brooks and adorable baby George joined us! We were so excited to meet cute little George. Laney looked huge next to him! What a fun morning with great friends!

We're taking a lot of tummy pictures these days:

This is the sleep position she gets into every. single. time. she falls asleep. As soon as she assumes this position, I know she's thisclose to falling asleep.

Watching her papa's team warm up. She loved it!

She made eye contact with her papa, but I don't think she recognized him with all of the gear on.

Sleeping on her tummy

Hi Kate and George!

New friends :)

Fun Flashback

It's incredible to see how much Delaney has changed over the past 4 1/2 months!

2-week-old Delaney meeting 5-month-old James, and 4-month-old Delaney with 9-month-old James:

 Fresh out of the oven, and again at 4 months:

Almost too small for the carseat at the hospital, and now her legs almost hang over the edge:

 At first, she fit in the palm of her papa's hands, and now she's an armful:

We can't wait to see what the next 4 months brings!

19 Weeks Old

This week, Delaney's great-grandparents, Nona and Bumpa, were leaving for Florida. Her aunt Elizabeth flew in from Denver with James, and everyone got together to send off Nona and Bumpa for the winter. At first, Laney was a bit overwhelmed with everyone paying attention to her, but it didn't take long for her to warm up to all of the attention. She was fascinated with her cousin James. He's able to sit up, crawl, and do a million other things Laney can't do yet. It was so fun watching them play together! It was also Laney's and James' first Halloween! They were a couple of crazy animals...

Not sure about all of the attention:

But she loved seeing Nona and Bumpa:

Her first time in a jumper:

Hanging out with James:

Happy Halloween!

Mommy's little lion cub:

Laney and James, the cutest little zoo animals ever:

 First Winchester Family Halloween 2013:

Had to post a close-up of this adorable little monkey:

Spending time with Aunt Elizabeth and talking to Papa:

Pretty in Pink:

My new favorite (ridiculous) picture: