17.12.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin

Dec 17 2004 –

BECAUSE ROB IS NOT KEEPING UP WITH THE WEBSITE, I HAVE TAKEN OVER. PLEASE HAVE PATIENCE AS I LEARN TO DO THIS! IF YOU MISS THE FORMER PROFESSIONAL QUALITY OF THE SITE – PLEASE HARRASS ROB.

So I’m going crazy because Audrey won’t sleep through the night. Not even close. She has regressed into waking up about 8 times a night and I really think I might die if I don’t get some sleep. Took her to the Doctor about her teething ( no teeth by the way, just swollen gums). This was not my usual Dr. and this heartless man said to her ” cry it out”. ( Letting the baby cry itself to sleep no matter how long… after 3 nights most babies are supposed to be magically cured.) Now, with all my Psych background I was familiar with Ferber, Brazelton’s, Sears and the like – but I thought that ” Ferberizing” was an ” old school” practice that had since been deemed to be bad for a baby’s developing attachment and would create negative associations with sleep. Guess I was wrong and thee are still a lot of people doing this. Needless to say I was not going to do this and ran to the library to brush up on my Child Psych. According to most of these books I was doing everything right (having a bedtime ritual, not jumping up right away when she fussed,waiting a few minutes before going to her to see if she falls back to sleep on her own, reassuring her but not picking her up unless she was very upset… etc.) Nothing seemed to work. I let her cry one night out of sheer exhaustion for 4 -5 minutes, that was all I would take. When I came in her sweet little cheeks had tears on them and as soon as I picked her up she snuggled into my chest and slept. This was all the evidence I would need to be sure that the ” cry it out” method ” was not for me. Have these Doctors forgotten about Erickson : Trust vs. Mistrust?

Then I was granted a Christmas miracle…
Audrey Grace is now sleeping. Thank you God! The weather changed, it got very cold so I pulled out her warmer blankets. These are especially soft and I was rocking her to sleep with the blanket on my chest, between her body and mine. I set her in the crib on her tummy with the blanket underneath her and it was bunched up under her head and around her face. She also rolled up against the crib bumper and looked quite cozy. She pulled the blanket over her head and slept for 4-5 hours! Its been 2 days of naps and overnights and she’s sleeping great! Thank goodness we were paranoid enough to get the SIDS bed monitor or else I wouldn’t be able to rest knowing she had a blanked over her face! She’s taking 1 1/2 – 2 hours naps and sleeping in 4 – 5 hour stretches! Maybe its just timing, or dumb luck, or maybe the poor kid just needed a pillow!

Pictures from Audrey’s 1st Christmas:

Getting Ready to go Christmas Shopping: mall1.JPG
Opening a Gift : ballet.JPG
Eating Christmas Dinner: dinner.JPG