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Thursday, January 13, 2011

4 Months {& err...3 weeks}

4.5 months. Seriously?

Ok, so I am totally slacking on Claire's 4 month post. But in my defense, her well check-up wasn't until last Friday & I wanted to wait & post her stats when I got them:

Weight: 11lbs 4oz. {10th percentile} At least little tiny is gaining weight! Stupid cleft pallet.
Height: 25" {75th percentile}
Diapers: Size 1
Clothes: 0-3months & some 3-6month onesies & has outgrown most of her footed 0-3mo jammies ::tear:: ::sniff::
Milestones: Officially rolling over from back to tummy every chance she gets., grabs everything & puts it directly in her mouth. Recognizes mom & dad & our voices. Developing stranger anxiety (crazy). She's also begun the early stages of teething. No teeth or buds yet, though
Eats: 4-5oz of breast milk {via bottle} every 3 hours
Sleep: still waking up 3-4x a night. Two of those times, we feed her. ::crosses fingers she will go back to her 12hr stretches soon:: However, she did surprise us last night & only woke up once!!

Loves: bath time, her play gym, grabbing hair, books, Playhouse Disney & Yo Gabba Gabba
Dislikes: sleep, getting her nose & throat suctioned {but who does?!}, her glider in her room, tummy time {but tolerates it}, people with dark brown/black hair. HAHA!

At her appointment on Friday, I was explaining to the doctor how frustrated/worried we were at bedtime because Claire would not take her last bottle of the day. We knew she was hungry, but every time we tried to feed her, she would just scream & refuse her bottle.

The doctor laughed an said "well, it sounds like Claire has what I like to call Smart Baby Syndrome. She knows at bedtime, you take her in her room & feed her & she doesn't like that because she knows she has to go to bed." Well I'll be damned! The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The minute we would sit down in her glider, she would begin to fuss & start to scream if we even tried to feed her.

So, on Friday night; we gave her a bath & went into the living room to give her, her last bottle. And wouldn't you know she chugged the entire thing without a fight & went straight to sleep when we put her down in her crib. We successfully tricked our "smart baby"!

Speaking of sleep, we've also begun The Ferber Method of sleep training per our pediatrician's recommendation. I know this is a controversial subject & I was weary of it myself, but something had to be done & it made me more comfortable knowing our pedi gave us the O.K.

This method is essentially teaching our baby to fall asleep on her own, without depending on us or the bottle. I was afraid she would just cry & cry when we tried to put her to bed. But she seriously surprised the hell out of us on Friday when we started it. She fussed for about 5 minutes after we put her down. I went & gave her the binky & let her know I was there & she fell right asleep. When she woke up throughout the night, all we had to do was the same thing & she would go right back to sleep.

Go ahead & judge me for letting my child fuss herself to sleep, but it's what works for us.

I'd say that so far, so good with this sleep training. I'm glad we've got some sort of method going because I hated just flying by the seat of our pants when it came to the nighttime craziness.

Also, thank you so much for your recommendations on my diaper debacle. I ended up grabbing a pack of Target's Up & Up brand the other day. I loved them...until they started giving little miss diaper rash :( so it looks like I've got to stick with my Pampers Baby Dry. I ordered 252 from Amazon Mom last night & will be getting them tomorrow. Score!

16 comments:

  1. We let our daughter fuss a little to fall asleep. It worked great for her and she has been a wonderful sleeper since. Good luck!

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  2. I'm a big fan of sleep training, so you go girl! My Leila slept through the night from 2 months until she was about a year, but now we've created a monster and she sleeps with us from about midnight on. I know - LAME! I am planning another round of sleep training soon... I swear!

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  3. We did Baby Wise (which also let's the child cry a little but teaches him to self-soothe) and I'm sooo happy we did! He's 16 months and has been sleeping from 7pm-8am for as long as I can remember! It's totally worth it!

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  4. We tried various sleep training methods and I read a couple sleep training books. OMG I remember the 4 month wakeful period, I think she was up every 1-1 1/2hrs.
    Nothing worked for us and my daughter didn't start sleeping through the night until she was 11 months old (she sleeps GREAT now). Whatever works for you, hopefully you got a handle on things.

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  5. we ordered ferber's book and will be starting that as soon as we get a plan in action. we let her cry it out once, and it worked... then we went out of town and I just wasn't ready to do it all over again when we got home.

    big mistake. now that she can stand up and doesn't fall asleep as easily. so props to you for doing it now!

    and if she is only fussing for a few minutes, I wouldn't worry. sounds like she is trying to protest, but knows she really wants to go to sleep :o)

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  6. Girl do not even feel bad about sleep training. I am surprised you waited this long. Every mom has to do what works for them and their family, and we used the same method with Caleb. It has made bedtime and middle of the night wakings so easy, and I sometimes just want to shout to the world how great it is. She is learning a very important task of falling asleep on her own, and that will be used all throughout life.

    We recently just moved our 17 month old to big boy bed, and we have had zero problems. He does not try to get out, and he has no problems going down. I think this is completely due to the fact that we have sleep trained him for so long.

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  7. Go you for letting your daughter learn how to make herself fall asleep! My daughter is (almost) 15 months old and that is what we had to rely on. She now knows what time she does to bed and when I put her in bed she doesn't fuss at all. It's great :) By the way I am Mandy. :)

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  8. We let Cooper cry himself to sleep some around that age also. Sometimes its just the way to make them get used to going down easier. Its all up to the parent. It sounds like Clair is getting so big :)

    I'm glad you guys are good.

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  9. I don't understand why people get so upset about letting babies fuss it out at night. I know as a mom to a 4 month old as well, its my only option right now. It is hard to listen to her fuss, but I know she is not hungry, not wet, not hurt, just mad. We all need our sleep. So I totally applaud you! And shoot, if she is only fussing for a few minutes, you're doing great. My little girl has been at it for a week or more and we are still at the fuss for 15 minutes before finally fussing herself to sleep. I'm praying it gets easier quickly.

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  10. Toes are a big hit at our house right now too. We did Ferber but tweaked it to be a little more nurturing. He goes right to sleep now. He still wakes up 4573 times a night but I can get him to bed initially pretty easily. He still needs the boob to fall back asleep.

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  11. Even though my girl goes to bed great, I'm going to look into this Ferber method. Everyone has got me curious now. Whatever works for you is what you should continue doing! No haters!
    www.oursweetserendipity.blogspot.com

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  12. I did sleep training with my first baby who is now 2. Just letting her fuss and she was a changed baby! My second baby is now 3 months and thankfully puts himself to sleep but I wouldn't hesitate to let him fuss for a few minutes.

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  13. Ferber worked for us and although it's hella hard that first week, it is is SO worth it. My son is now 15 months (!!!) and thanks to Ferber, he goes right to sleep the minute we place him in his crib and sleeps 11-12 hours straight. The one thing that helps get through the crying was telling myself that I am trying to help him develop healthy sleep habits and that my intentions are good.
    Oh and the Up & Up diapers did the exact same thing to my son. Those cute polka-dotted and inexpensive diapers gave him a nasty rash so it was back to Huggies for us, oh well. Amazon Mom rocks!

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  14. I just realized that you're daughter is only 4 months old. Mmm, I forget when Dr. Ferber recommends the minimum age but I believe it was 6 months??? I could be wrong though.

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  15. You are a great Mom, so don't even think twice when it comes to helping your baby do what's best for her - SLEEP! Our son is 12 wks and I'm counting down the days till we can start sleep training. To each his own, that's what I say!

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  16. 4 months already...........WOW; she is the cutest!!

    If the Ferber works than you go girl; we let B fuss as well & after about a week he was sleeping better. Each parent & child are different & no one should judge you for the decisions you make for your child!!

    Good Luck & I hope that you are all sleeping well VERY soon.

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