Oh, My Darling Little M

SLEEP!! SLEEP!! SLEEP!!!!

After my last post, I just had to do a follow-up. After I had written what I had written, I decided that it was indeed time to sleep train Mercedes at night. I always dread sleep training. Somehow I sleep less on sleep training nights than I do when my baby is waking me up every hour to nurse. I guess it's because I can't bear it to hear her cry it out. And, when I check on her and she's chewing helplessly on her little chubby hands, my mommy "alarm" goes off. I just don't like it. Jon Mark doesn't understand why I just don't turn off the baby monitor and get ear plugs. I guess I'm afraid that if I can't hear everything, then when my baby needs me and I'm not there then something terrible is bound to happen. However, I do know that sleep training is in the best interest of everyone so I was set to do whatever was necessary to see that we were successful.

But, something is different this time around. Jon Mark purchased a "baby monitor" that is a motion detector. If the baby hasn't moved in 20 seconds, it sounds an alarm to wake up the baby, and to wake up the parents. This makes me so much more comfortable. So, I decided that two feedings a night were doable, one around midnight and the other around 4 am. I turned the volume of the monitor off (this won't affect the alarm) and I turned my white noise fan on. I slept so good!!! I felt so rested in the morning. I think I actually hit REM sleep long enough to actually have a dream! That hasn't happened in so long. The next night, I tentatively turned the volume back on and remarkably, Little M slept exactly the way she was supposed and has continued her successful streak for quite a few days now (I think four). So, here's to sleep training! Bye-bye baggy eyes! Hello REM!