K-man had his 1 year check-up yesterday. He's growing nicely and is over the 90th percentile on height and over the 50th percentile on weight. That boy needs some fat on him! His head is still growing a little larger/faster than "normal", so we're going back in a month to see if the rate of growth has steadied out. He's babbling like crazy and seems to invent a new "word" every day. One of the things we discussed with the pediatrician yesterday was Kelton's new technique of crying until he can't breathe and turns purple. She said, "Uh-huh...he's a breath holder. There's lots of them!" Her brother happened to be one and held his breath during potty training as a form of rebellion. What we learned is that the body responds to rises in CO2 in the bloodstream as indicators that the person needs to be "shut-down and rebooted". CO2 rises occur well before drops in the oxygen in the bloodstream. So, when baby blacks out, that's just his body saying, "Hey, Dude! If you aren't going to breathe, then it's nappy-nappy time and I'm taking over!" No harm done. And there are a lot of children who do this several times a day. Thankfully, he hasn't gone that far, yet. I'm hoping he doesn't decide he likes that little trick.
We also discussed his poor sleeping habits and she strongly encouraged us to get K-man out of our room and in to a room of his own. We already knew that when he stirred, we stirred, but we didn't think of it in reverse terms. And she made a good point that the battle will be easier fought now rather that in 2 or 3 years. (2 or 3 years??? I really hadn't planned on him being in there that long!) Our main bedtime battle is the battle of the cries...he will fight and fight with us over how and when he's going to sleep. A bottle and a pillow? A bottle in his pack and play? No bottle and some baby tv? Next to mom or dad on the bed? In the crib? Sometimes it's a 10 minute routine of guzzling the bottle and rolling over to sleep. Other times it's over an hour with a lot of screaming and crying. So, we got his crib moved to his room last night. I hung some lights on his wall that are bears, trees, and fish - made for a good nighlight. We also put a cd player in there for his lullaby cd (I knew that thing would come in handy). K-man had his bath, got dressed in his jammies, then I told him it was bedtime, layed him down in his crib, handed him his bottle, turned his cd on, kissed him, and walked out. After about 5 minutes, I heard *THUNK* "WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" That was the bottle hitting the side of the crib as he flung it away and decided that he didn't like this new arrangement. And he screamed...and cried...and screamed...I went in after three minutes (I'm a strong one, aren't I?) He was standing in his crib, clinging to the side, and I rubbed his back and hugged him and told him it was bed time and kissed his forehead then walked back out. More screaming and crying...went back in 5 minutes later...more consoling...left again...screaming crying...5 minutes...consoling...re-offered the bottle...left. And so on and so forth for 20 minutes. Somewhere after 20 minutes, he quit screaming and I thought he'd start again in just a minute, so I waited. After a few minutes of silence, my husband popped his head in and looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders. So he went to check on the baby and he was on his tummy sound asleep (in under 25 minutes). He woke up once at midnight, cried a little, but was back asleep by the time Hubby rolled out of bed and walked down our little hall to check on him. He slept until 6:15 this morning. I'm so proud of him for sleeping through his first night! I'm so glad he fussed for only 25 minutes instead of the hours I was prepared for. And I'm so sad over not having him in our room. The corner where his crib was is so empty and I cried over it...and might cry again tonight. I loved being able to lay there and watch him sleep. I loved being able to reach over and touch him when I needed the reassurance that my baby was okay and that all was right in our little world. I loved seeing his little rear stuck in the air while he snoozed away.
I know this is best for the baby. He'll learn to fall asleep on his own and how to soothe himself back to sleep during the night. Those are healthy sleep habits. I know this is best for my husband and me. We'll sleep better and get some more time to ourselves (which we need). But even with all of that knowledge, I still want to rush down that hall and grab my baby and stick him in bed with me. So, here I lead into a question for any readers. Is your bedroom a family friendly room or a parents' only room? And what was your parents' when you were growing up?
6 comments:
Congratulations! I hope the good sleeping continues. You are so right to do it earlier rather than later. We have started and stopped so many times with Connor, although he's been in his own room since 1 month, that it's almost impossible now that he can get out of his crib. I wish you many more sleepfileld nights
Wife has a friend who had a kid sleep in the parent's bed for 9 years. Ummm, no. They are divorced now. And it was the DAD's idea.
I'm not for kids sleeping in the same bed. The only exceptions are nightmares and storms. And we make a little place for them on the treadmill next to the bed.
But it will be a fight for a little while. We've been lucky though. My daughter is a really good sleeper. Out in 2 minutes. We usually have to pick her up off the couch. Chip off the old block I guess.
But it will work out. He'll have something that will help him sleep. My suggestion is not to give him anything like TV or a radio or he won't be able to sleep unless he has those then that's another problem that's been created.
Knot
I so know what you are talking about. We have two girls ages 5 and almost 3.Sydney our 5 yr old slept with us until our second one was born and she transitioned to her toddler bed like it was meant to be. Both of my girls have very bad acid reflux so before we know what was wrong with our oldest, she slept on my chest as I was really worried about her. Because she was an easy transition, I figured baby number two would be easy. Her reflux was way worse and she would choke, so she stayed in our room until she was 2....then she went into her own room and bed and slept through the night. Well, that lasted a week. She wakes up at midnight every night from her big girl bed and she gets into my bed. I am torn. I love having her with me in my bed (she was also recently diagnosed with Asthma) and I want to make sure she is breathing. My hubby wants more couple time and we really have to plan it in order to stay balanced. it is a tough call for sure, but I have no regrets with my kids being in our bed because they will never be little again and I want to enjoy every moment with their cuddling. We are trying for number three so we do make it work for when we need "couple time". All your feelings are normal, you love your child and there is nothing wrong with having them with you :) I know that we have some work ahead of us with getting our almost 3 year old out of our bed, but we are getting there. She is getting a sleeping bag for Christmas for the floor if that tells you anything :) ha ha
I so know what you are talking about. We have two girls ages 5 and almost 3.Sydney our 5 yr old slept with us until our second one was born and she transitioned to her toddler bed like it was meant to be. Both of my girls have very bad acid reflux so before we know what was wrong with our oldest, she slept on my chest as I was really worried about her. Because she was an easy transition, I figured baby number two would be easy. Her reflux was way worse and she would choke, so she stayed in our room until she was 2....then she went into her own room and bed and slept through the night. Well, that lasted a week. She wakes up at midnight every night from her big girl bed and she gets into my bed. I am torn. I love having her with me in my bed (she was also recently diagnosed with Asthma) and I want to make sure she is breathing. My hubby wants more couple time and we really have to plan it in order to stay balanced. it is a tough call for sure, but I have no regrets with my kids being in our bed because they will never be little again and I want to enjoy every moment with their cuddling. We are trying for number three so we do make it work for when we need "couple time". All your feelings are normal, you love your child and there is nothing wrong with having them with you :) I know that we have some work ahead of us with getting our almost 3 year old out of our bed, but we are getting there. She is getting a sleeping bag for Christmas for the floor if that tells you anything :) ha ha
My parents' room has always been the parents' room. Our room will be too. Everyone keeps telling me I will want to cosleep. With the way Hubby moves around and the dog jumping into the bed, it isn't happening. Everyone keeps telling me I will want the crib/bassinet in the room with me the first few weeks. There just is't room and I have decided if I need to sleep in the glider the first few weeks, I will. I am afraid that if I have baby with me all the time I will feel suffocated by it all and so it's safer for me to have our room and his room.
Okay, so I know I am late to this post (can you tell I am catching up on my reading?), but just wanted to put in my two sense. Ry slept in his bassinet in our room until he was 4 months old. At that time, he moved to his crib in his own room, at which time he only woke up once at night to eat. After we did the cry it out method at 8 months (only 20 minutes also), he slept through the night. My parent's room was always their own room. If we had a nightmare or needed to sleep near them, we would take our blankets and make a "nest" on the floor of thier room. We never slept in the bed with them...
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