He is still not sleeping through the night.
He is still nursing (at night and during the day).
I am still not down to pre-pregnancy weight.
Three things I did not think would be happening at 13 months old. Kind of discouraging on all accounts, but I'm taking steps to deal with all three.
This week is spring break, so I decided that since Adam wouldn't be working as much (and would hopefully be able to get more sleep), this would be the week to crack down on Ren's sleeping habits. He has been getting up consistently twice each night...in the midnight hour and then the 3 or 4am hour. So I get up and nurse him each time and put him back to bed and that is that. I knew that wouldn't change unless I took steps to fix it.
So.
I have tried just picking him up and cuddling/rocking without nursing and it doesn't work. He just gets more and more mad and wakes himself up more.
I tried letting him just cry for awhile and go back to sleep on his own, and he would cry for like an hour or more, never getting himself back to sleep.
So my method this week has been to not take him out of his crib, but not leave him alone to fend for himself. When he has been crying for awhile or when he seems really really upset, I've been going into his room and telling him "It's time for sleeping, you need to go night night." Then I'll lay him back down if he's sitting up and cover him up. I make sure he has his blankie to cuddle. I rub his back and give him a back scratch for a bit and then leave.
The first night, I was still trying to decide between cutting out just one nighttime waking, or cutting them all out, so I nursed him the first time he woke up. The second time, I made Adam go in there and that calmed him for awhile but he kept waking up so I had to go in and rub his back.
The second night was terrible. I worked until late, so I didn't go to bed until after 1am. Then Ren woke up and I did my thing and got him calm. Then Sutton had wet the bed so bad that he ended up having to sleep in our bed the rest of the night. Then Ren woke up again. I didn't end up going to sleep until after 3am and then Ren woke up for the day around 7:30. That was rough.
Last night was the third night. Ren didn't wake up at all until the 2am hour, but then he was up crying for 2 hours, with few breaks. I went in there several times, and ended up having to get him out of his crib to change a poopy diaper (which hasn't happened during the night since he was a newborn) so I hope that wasn't detrimental to the cause. Finally after 2 hours of crying, I felt like there was nothing more I could do, so Adam went in and rocked him for awhile. He fell asleep around 4 or 4:30 and slept until almost 8. So maybe a little progress? I don't know. I'm hoping tonight is better.
I have been feeding him pretty much an extra meal right before bed so that I don't have to worry about him being hungry. I know it's just habit that he wants to get up to nurse. And it's a habit we have to break. But breaking habits is hard, and it hurts my heart to put him through this. For him, it's a huge life change.
He's been seeming more clingy/cuddly during the days, so I know he misses our nighttime cuddling and that's sad.
It's also interesting to see the difference in his demeanor when he wakes up during the night versus when he wakes up in the morning for the day. At night, he's immediately crying and whimpering and it gets progressively more forlorn. In the morning, he doesn't cry at all when he awakes. He coos and babbles and plays in his crib until we come get him.
So there's the sleeping update. I will update again when we're through it and on the other side (fingers crossed).
As far as nursing goes, some days I have only been nursing him before the afternoon nap, before bed, and then during the night. Some days, he whines and grabs at my chest and tries to get my shirt off so I give in. At this point, I'm thinking one thing at a time...so after we have our nights figured out for awhile, then I will really focus on being consistent with cutting out feedings.
And the baby weight. I feel like I have gained and lost the same 5 pounds a hundred times. I will do so great for a week and then our stressful life gets in the way and I don't have the willpower to keep up with it. I'm trying to use the summer and my upcoming 30th birthday as motivation, but it's an hourly struggle.
To end this post on a more positive note, here are a few photos of my sweetie. The first one I used for the I Carry Your Heart Blog:
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