Thursday, September 06, 2007

What's in store for us tonight?

Well, my last post said Braewyn and Philip were sleeping soundly in their new shared room. That was at 9:30pm on Tuesday night. Around 12:30am that night, I heard Braewyn begin softly crying over the baby monitor. I had put her to sleep in a gown and swaddled her legs in a blanket. I peeked in to check on her and saw the blanket had come loose. Why didn't I put her to bed in a sleep sack? I tried to give her the pacifier (sometimes she takes it, sometimes she hates it) with no luck. I then picked her up, took her to the living room, put her in a sleep sack (if you don't know, it's like a sleeping bag that zips up the front with arms), and tried to rock her a little to settle her down. A characteristic we've noticed about Braewyn, when tired she reaches an uncontrollable state with loud screeching crying. Horrible! I even tried to nurse her to sleep but she was still screaming with her mouth on me. Next attempt, the bouncy seat on vibrate, but again no success. After 45 minutes of nothing soothing her, I laid her in the bassinet which has now been in the office (our third bedroom) for several weeks and closed the door. She cried for about 20 more minutes before going to sleep. I was so stressed out that after laying back in bed for a few minutes, I returned to the living room and watched an episode of "Hogan Knows Best" (reality show about Hulk Hogan & family) on VH1. I fell asleep just after 2:00am. Woke around 6:15am to Braewyn's crying. That time she ate well and we started our day VERY sluggishly.

That brings us to last night. Home from church around 8:00pm. Matthew dressed Philip for bed while I bathed Braewyn. Prayers with Philip and he was in bed around 8:45pm. I fed Braewyn and she was in the crib around 9:20pm. Quiet at last. At 4:00am, she begins to cry. We enter "cry-it-out" mode. After 20 minutes, I silently walk into their room to make sure she's not stuck in the crib slats or something. Nope, the little girl was laying smack in the middle of her crib. After another length of crying with each minute going by hoping and praying she would go to sleep, I enter the room again and try to give her the paci. By now, she is to her screeching state and poor Philip sits up and says, "Mommy, is it wake up time?" Still dark outside, I say, "No, sweety, not yet. Go back to sleep." He's my angel at the moment and lays down without a word. I scoop Braewyn up and proceed to the livingroom.

I go ahead and try to feed her. She latches right on and eats away steadily. Well, there you go, if the girl's hungry she's gonna let us know. I changed her diaper which was pretty wet, finished feeding her, and now had my happy yet sleepy sweet baby Braewyn back. I laid her back in the crib without even a pacifier and she was content. She slept until 8:00am.

This is where is gets hard having two children... not comparing and doing things with one just because it worked the first time. I need to go to bed now as it's Russian Roulette as it when I'll be awoken. I'd love advice from readers about your bedtime experiences. Are there children who just begin one day sleeping through the night without having to go through this cry-it-out period? Maybe Braewyn is still in need of an extra feeding at night (although she was sleeping from 10pm until 6am for a week a while back!). What can I do about my feelings of guilt for throwing this screaming banshe into Philip's up 'til now peaceful bedroom? I want to create in Braewyn the great sleeping habits we helped foster in Philip. I just want to avoid any unnecessary stress in the meantime. Thanks for "listening."

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