Ferber, night 3 recap
We had a rough day yesterday as far as napping was concerned, so Rebecca in particular was hysterical by bedtime. While Daniel might have more endurance as far as fussing goes, Rebecca truly becomes inarticulate with rage. It’s almost scary to watch.
Anyways, we did our bedtime routine with a bath (didn’t put a dent in her hysteria, that’s how mental she was), bedtime bottle, and then down in the crib and a story. Turned off the light, went downstairs and… nothing. Not a peep. Wohoo!
Still, though, the initial bedtime is proving to be the easy part. It’s that 2-4am range when Daniel wakes up, he’s having a really hard time getting back to sleep. This time, he woke up at 3:30, kind of stuck in the corner of his crib. I moved him, and he seemed OK. And then he just… fussed off and on. Little bouts of real crying, but mostly varying levels of fussing. Then he’d be quiet for a couple of minutes, and then start again. Since my checks on him do not appear to have any kind of calming effect, I actually didn’t bother going in until he was really, as the book says, “crying vigorously.” Still very sad to listen to, but my presence didn’t seem to help, so I mostly just let him do his thing. Poor guy fussed on and off all the way until 6am.
Yes, I’m sorry to say, that’s a longer duration than last night. That said, the overall intensity was much lower, so I’m counting it as progress. I will admit, though, that I had higher hopes for this, our third night. But still, progress is being made. I’m a little concerned that, two nights in a row, he has pretty much fussed/cried until it was time to get up. I hope he isn’t learning that if he fusses long enough I’ll eventually come get him. I mean yes, that’s fundamentally true. I just want the poor kid to go back to sleep! You have to give it to him, he certainly is dedicated.
Oh, and with all of Daniel’s commotion, it’s easy to almost overlook the fact that Rebecca slept all night long! Barely so much as a peep from her until she woke up happy at nearly 6:30. Hip hip, hooray!
Now if I could get Daniel to do the same, then maybe mommy could finally sleep through the night.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
way to go, Rebecca!! Daniel just wants to make sure he’s given it his all before given in. Look at it as a predictor of his future determination to be successful – haha!
February 18th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Liz: I found your blog through Beverly’s. I just wanted to say congratulations on your beautiful twins. I’m enjoying reading about your adventures in motherhood!
February 19th, 2008 at 12:32 am
In our house, the one who fought the longest ended up being the better sleeper. After two long weeks fighting CIO, he didn’t wake in the middle of the night (except for serious illness) for … dum dum dum… FOURTEEN MONTHS. Those damn canines, breaking that streak.
And sleeping all night, YEE HAW!