Sleeping Milestone

For the last 5 days, we have been working on a new technique to help Curtis sleep better at night and during the day. In a book (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child) recommended to me by my sister Leah, it says that by the time the babies are 5 months old, they should be able to sleep up to 8 hours without being fed or needing to wake up. Curtis is six and a half now and he's was waking every 3-4 hours either out of habit, or actually needing to eat. He actually has a heathly sleep schedual, waking between 7-8, napping at 9, then noon, then 3, and then betime between 7-8. But his naps were only a half and hour, and he kept waking up during the night. The book recommended that we let him cry it out for 3 days, never letting the crying spells outlast an hour. The first night was tough, but he cried for about 45 minutes. The second night he only cried for 15. And last night, he cried for about 5 and then slept until 4:00 am. He eats dinner at about 6:00 so I top him off before I go to bed at about 10, leaving him no excuse to wake up for a while. I know that letting your babies cry it out is controvercial, but we really felt like something needed to be done. He wasn't happy, we weren't happy, and his craziness was getting out of control. He's been so much happier now that his sleep is more productive. I didn't feel like i was harming my baby letting him cry. The cry it out method worked for Curtis...and now we all sleep so much better!

What I learned in Sharing Time

I love kids imaginations...Here's a story that just happened today. - I was giving the sharing time lesson to the Jr. Primary. I had 2 copies of pictures (we played memory) of things that Jesus had done through his life. One of the set of pictures was of Jesus and the last supper...with the sacrament. I said to the children, "What is Jesus doing in this picture?" One of the Sunbeams replies, in all her glory, "That's Jesus eating cheese!"...Kids can be so funny and immaginative. I think I'm beginning to like my calling(s). I'm also the pianist...sundays are busy!

The Reason for the Fussyness

A couple nights ago, Curtis could not sleep. He and I both got about 4 hours of solid sleep. I seriously tried every kind of medicin that I had...Tylenol, teething tablets, gas relief, etc. NOTHING worked. He was fussy the following day (Wednesday) due to lack of sleep, and something was bugging him. He would just wake up screaming in pain. At about 9:30 last night, I went over to my in-laws to see if they could help me. Keep in mind that Clifton is in Las Vegas for a convention. Anyway, I'm thinking of all of his symptoms...he's had a cold the last week and a half, lots of poop, can't sleep at night, and a low grade fever. So Lisa, my m-in-law suggests it an ear infection. I search on the internet for symptoms of an ear infection, and he has just about every single one. After about 2 hours of solid crying, he fell asleep. I thought to myself, i'll just take him into the doctor tomorrow (our regular doctor is out of town so I would just have taken him to the office and have the other doctor look at him). Just kidding...he'd only been sleeping for an hour when he woke again screaming in pain. I decided it was time to go to the hospital. So I loaded my sick baby into the car at 12:30 a.m. to see what the doctor at the hospital would say. Curtis has an infection in his left ear, and his right ear is in the early stages. I got an antibiotic, and was on my way within an hour.

It's hard when your baby is sick...you don't sleep, you forget to eat, and your worried all the time. My face is breaking out already. Being a mom is hard stuff. People are crazy to have more than one!! hehe

Curtis also loves to sit up! He's such a big boy!

Look how CUTE I am!

Sleepless Nights

About a week ago, I was attempting to ween Curtis from the night feedings...then he got sick. He had this horable cough that was deep in his chest. It has slowly worked it's way up into his nose and now he has a hard time breathing at night because he likes to sleep with a binky. So during this sickness time, i've felt bad for him. I've been feeding him 3-4 times a night! We've taken a step backwards from the weening. Curtis is still sick and I'm looking forward to when he gets better, so I (and he) can get some sleep.