- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Success after IF
I almost forgot...Ferber update (and f/u to my complaint this morning)
All the atypical "drama" (not really, even when we're feisty it's mild) around here almost made me forget to post an update. 
<--- Also, I think that's my favorite emoticon around here. I seem to use it a lot. See?
Okay, anyway..........
My day went much more smoothly after I posted my vent. DS1 peed on the floor during naptime, but aside from that, it turned out to be a decent day. 
Thanks for the positive thoughts!
As for the Ferber update, it has been going remarkably well. Not really consistent or how I expected, but on the whole everything is better than it was, so I can't complain. Here's what's been happening...Maybe someone can shed some light on a few things.
The first night he cried for all of 8 minutes, woke up once to eat, and slept until his usual time (7:30). The next day he napped great in the morning (no crying) and cried 30 minutes in the afternoon, then slept 30 minutes. That night, he did not cry at all, but he woke up twice to eat (following the typical pattern that Weissbluth describes for 5-8 month olds, though he's a bit old to still be in this pattern), and was up for the day earlier (7:15).
He followed the same nap pattern that day (long morning nap, 30 minute afternoon nap) but without crying. It was very clear that he did need a longer afternoon nap because he was unraveling in the early evening. DS1 ended up having a fever and asking to go to bed (this is cray-cray for him), so we put both of them down 30 minutes early. Went down without a peep again. Woke up at 6:30, I think. Can't remember naps exactly, but because of the early wake up, we tried to shift our routine a bit earlier to accomodate. He was clearly a bit off all day because of waking early.
Fast forward to yesterday...Both boys were back to going to bed at their usual times, and the afternoon nap has shown improvement, BUT... The morning wake up got earlier and earlier. He woke up yesterday at 6. I know for a lot of people, this is very normal, but for us, it is not. DS1 wakes at 8 or later. I could not face 6am by myself that day, considering that I'd have to try to keep him quiet and entertained for two hours while DH and DS1 slept... So, I broke a rule and nursed him back to sleep. My reasoning was that things were moving in the wrong direction here, and he was clearly NOT seeming rested in the mornings as his wake up got earlier and earlier. He slept until 7:45. And woke up happy. I'm thinking that was totally worth it no matter what "they" say. Today he woke at his usual time with only one feeding during the night, so hopefully things are stabilized on that front. (I pray!)
Also, the nighttime wakings are variable. Some days he wakes once (4ish), other days he has an extra waking around 12:30. I'm fine with this, but I don't really understand why it's so variable. On the rare occasion that he has woken at some other time (this has happened only once or twice), DH has gone in, and the result has been that he skipped the next regular waking time. I'm wondering if we should "Ferber out" that 12:30 feeding time or just let it go and see what happens...
Today's naps were the best ever, though he did have to cry this morning, which hasn't happened ever for the morning nap. (I guess I'm kind of confused about why he cries and doesn't cry at random times. I've always thought the crying would taper and end, but he's not following a pattern at all...it's very random.) He slept for 1.5 hours this morning (despite a lot of noise!) and then for almost 2 hours this afternoon. And he went down without crying about 10 minutes earlier than his usual bedtime.
So, things are obviously much, much better than the were, but they're sort of random still. I'm hoping we're at least moving in a positive direction.
Sorry that was sooooo long!!!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: I almost forgot...Ferber update (and f/u to my complaint this morning)
I agree with everything njdcgirl said! :-)
Me too. I think Ferber says that by 5 months, there really isn't a need to eat at night. We cut out night feedings by using bottles and decreasing the amount in the bottle each time. When we got down to 1oz, he gave up waking in the middle of the night - he was like, eh, that was TOTALLY not worth it!
Well, I tend to go more by Weissbluth on the feedings. Also, BF'd babies often do need to eat at night longer than FF'd babies. I am positive that he does need one of the night feedings because he is clearly very hungry. But I think the other one is extraneous and he could skip it (in part because he sometimes does and in part because when he doesn't, he isn't as serious about eating).
Weissbluth says that a nine month old baby doesn't need a bottle during the night but that a BF'd baby may still need to nurse -- go by your baby. For 5-8 month olds, he says two feedings is perfectly normal (as does our pedi) and that they should be right around the times I mentioned (12ish and 4ish), so that's why I usually feed him at those times and not at other wakings (which is also what Weissbluth suggests). Since DS is only 8 months, I'm not worried about that one feeding per night at all.
DS2 is a very distracted eater, so sometimes during the day I really don't think he has eaten enough. That may be why he wakes more some days than others...
I've been more confused about why he cries at some times and not others. It's not tapering at all; it's completely random. DS1 followed a nice normal taper and did not cry at all after day 3. Oh well!
Thanks for the encouragement, ladies! I think I will try to focus on encouraging him to nurse more during the day (he does fine unless we are out) and getting him down to one night waking.