Saturday, March 24, 2007

Dear Babies of the World... (this ones for you Kings Mama!)

***NOTE: I found this on a friends mspace page, I take no credit for the cuteness of it!*****

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great-- I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore.

So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle. It goes like this:

Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3--every hour. Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer.

These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what's up with that? The cat said "meow". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn't matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am.

Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me

6 comments:

The Preister's said...

thank you for the comment! I would like to talk to you more abour your daughters cancer, treatment, etc. Do you have an email address that I can reach you at, are you on myspace, or babyfit?

Dr. J said...

THAT'S HILARIOUS. OHMGOD, I wouldn't be surprised if that was what he was thinking. So, last night, I'm sick as can be and I'm sleeping on the couch both to get some sleep and also to prevent getting big and little man from getting sick. So, King E just cries every hour or two with this, "oh no Daddy won't do. He's not doing it right! Maaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaa!!!" So, of course I come running like a blurry eyed lunatic. And, I got to sleep on the couch for my trouble!

Knitty Yas said...

hahahaha! hmm... reasons why i dont have kids. ;p

NB Warrior said...

Yas - you are too funny! They grow out of that phase. =) Eventually....

Kings Mama - Did you end up getting any sleep??? I don't know how you guys are still doing it. Have you talked to his Ped? They always say that babies are able to sleep through the night around 6 months. If they keep waking up it's because it's a habit now and they know you'll come runnin'! ;o) How does Jason feel about all this?

Martha said...

Michelle.. thanks for visiting my page. PLEASE spread the word about Ashleigh's book!! Thanks!

Jennboree said...

Hilarious! And so true :)

A big reason my babies sleep with me until they are a year. Transition is a wee bit easier.