Monday, December 17, 2012

Eight is Great, Again!

It's 4 o'clock in the morning and even though I'm going to be really tired later, I'm excited right now because Joshua just went 8 hours between feelings!!!!

He was working up to 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep when I went back to work in late October. Suddenly, he switched to eating every three hours. To keep sane, I just pulled him into bed with me and nursed laying down. It helped me sleep and he got the extra mommy time he needed, but he also forgot how to sleep for extended periods and was getting used to snacking all night.

I felt that it was time to encourage him to sleep longer and eat less at night, but also knew that initially denying him would result in some sleepless nights. I began my holiday from work on Friday so all weekend we have been trying to use a pacifier when Joshua wakes up instead of instantly nursing him. The first night he woke frequently, but went right to sleep again with the pacifier. Last night he slept longer but when he did wake up was not satisfied with the pacifier and I ended up nursing him around midnight. Tonight, he woke up once for the pacifier, but then went a total of EIGHT hours between feelings before insisting on nursing.

I'm not expecting him to sleep this long every night right away, but I am SO pleased with his progress and SO excited by the idea that sleeping through the night is becoming more of a reality! Other exciting developments; Joshua can grab the spoon while eating (no real control, but he has it in his mouth and gnaws on it). Joshua is drooling like crazy and gnawing on everything. He has rolled from the front to the back a few times and seems close to rolling the other way. And finally, he is beginning to grow just the tiniest little dusting of hair. (A good thing, as we were ready to make a wig out of Lydia's mermaid doll!)

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