Naughty Napper... Jake Stone

It's never a dull moment here at The Stone house. Jake is strong willed... and clever. I mean... he's so smart. And that scares me. He just figures things out and quickly I might add. So, with this intro I shall not delay. 

Jake Stone the escape artist is also Jake Stone the naughty napper. The last 2 days Jake hasn't really been napping. He's tired, but he refuses to lay down. We all remember the pictures of the video monitor I posted, right? Sleeping sitting up? Well, my strong willed child is now refusing naps. And he's tired folks. I know he's tired. He yawns, rubs his eyes, and gets a little fussy. Yep, he's tired. So, this morning I let him get REALLY tired. We ate, went on our morning walk, I chased him all over the front room... The tired monkey started with the yawning, etc. At about 9:30am I put him down. He slept for an hour and a half! yay! So, then this afternoon I thought he was back on his nap track. My napper was back! WRONG.

I put him down for his afternoon nap and he laid down with his little blankey while I rubbed his back. He looked up at me and smiled and started talking! NO! I thought... he is supposed to sleep... Even though it's super cute... I want him resting, so he isn't cranky. I waited him out. He closed his eyes. I walked out of the room. I'm so darn tired so I came down stairs and laid on the couch. About to close my eyes.... and... I hear banging. I look through the video monitor and there he is. Smiling in the monitor. Grant nailed the monitor above his bed. Safely so that he couldn't grab it in his crib. Well, my (tall) little guy managed to put his arm through the crib and pull the cord. However, the monitor is nailed to the wall. So he grabbed the cord (which was up pretty darn high and behind his crib, and started playing. And my naughty napper was talking and looking into the monitor. 

What was he saying? Well, lots of babbling and a few ma ma's! But, pretty sure he knows by playing with that cord I'm going to walk in there and get him. How did he find that cord? How did he reach it? How does he know to smile in the monitor (he's also been doing that since day one)? 

Looks like I have my hands full over here ladies and gentlemen. I better go. He's crawling toward me... looks like its time for a game of chase! 

Until next time. 

- Escape Artist/Naughty Nappers mommy

Sleep training part 1,678,768

HA! Sorry for the exaggeration... but, I swear this process as taken forever. It's still a work in progress. But, I do however have some good news on the sleep front (thank you for the people that text and email me asking how it's going).

I start Jake's bedtime routine at 6:30pm. Feed (food that I make), bathe, formula bottle with rice cereal, and then passed out bedtime around 7:30/8pm. Yes, formula bottle. As I stated a few blogs ago with travel and Jake's lack of sleep I was going to introduce 1 formula bottle to him, after I try it out. I started mixing a little in with his rice cereal for breakfast (with fruit), and again with oatmeal for dinner (with a veggie and fruit). He didn't have any reaction, so when we were in Oklahoma I decided to give him a bottle one of the nights we went out for Vicki's birthday. I blogged about it before, but I wanted to update the status of formula and sleeping. So, let me jump to where we are now.

Breakdown:
6:30 - Veggie and fruit
6:45ish - Bath time with daddy. This is their time. I don't even mess with it. Grant has a whole system. It's daddy and baby bonding time.
7:10ish - Daddy gives Jake a bottle of formula with rice cereal. They watch a mellow movie with soft music, noise maker in the background (set to rain), and daddy also reads to him.
7:30ish - Daddy comes downstairs and has a glass of wine with mommy.

Jake is currently waking up a few times. Around 11:30pm, and 2:30am. Both of those times we left him cry it out and it usually takes about 10 minutes.  Then he wakes up around 4am. I go in at 4am feed him, and lay him back down until 6:30/7am. If he's really going crazy at 2:30am I go in and feed him then.

So, I know this still isn't great... but, it's great to us! It's only going to get better, right?

It was a hard decision to start the formula, but it is keeping him fuller longer. I'm still breastfeeding all through out the day, but this last feeding Grant is in charge of. It also is giving me a little freedom. Since I'm a stay at home mom I'm with my little man all the time... seriously, we are inseparable. This gives me time to workout, go to dinner with friends, and even gives Grant daddy time (without me telling him how to do things). It is working great for my family. I'm glad I did it. I don't have any plans on more bottles. But for now... this works for us.

Well, I must go... my pinot is in hand and my husband just walked in from his basketball game!

Enjoy your night!

Sleep training by Brooke Stone part VI

Where do I begin? Rough weekend over here at The Stone house. I decided NOT to blog over the weekend about it to stay positive. We need to keep Jake on schedule and in his crib. But, he is failing to get with OUR program. I can honestly say this child is the most strong willed of any baby I've seen. He is so stubborn and strong in general. This is amazing, however, it also means that when he doesn't want to do something he stays strong willed and stubborn as well. ha! 

So, let's just talk about last night. Grant and I decided perhaps 7pm is too early. So, we are extending to 7:30-8pm. We started the routine and by 7:50pm he was asleep in Grant's arms. Grant went to put him down and BAM he's awake screaming. The song and dance continued for a few hours. No lie. A few hours. About 9:30pm he was asleep. Only to wake an hour later. Song and dance started again. Problem with the song and dance is that he's now expecting it. So, we resorted to the "cry it out". 

We noticed that it got very quite at times in his room. We'd look through the video monitor and we would see the following: 

(Warning: the pictures are taken from my blackberry of the video monitor. They aren't very clear.)

This picture is from Saturday night.

This picture is from Sunday night.

Poor little guy sleeps sitting up. He refuses to lay down. At one point around 10ish I went in fed him and he fell asleep. I put him down and he slept until 11:00pm. Finally we did the "Cry it out" till he fell asleep at midnight. Grant said I passed out around 11:30pm saying I didn't know what to do anymore. I was clearly so tired I was talking nonsense. So, he stayed up until Jake fell asleep. He finally laid down on his belly, butt up. 

He was asleep until 5:30am! YAY! So, that was a long stretch. He never changed position because he was clearly worn out! At that point I brought him in our room and fed him. I slept until 8am with him next to me. 

It's heartbreaking. I hate it. I just want him to sleep good, and for us to sleep good. Is this too much to ask? ha ha. 

Blog more later.

Cheers,

Sleep training by Brooke Stone part IV

Is it possible for it to get worse before it gets better? YIKES. Last night was VERY tough. I'm exhausted. Jake isn't a sleeper. So far, he got 2 things from me.

1. Allergies
2. Light sleeping or the ability to survive on minimal sleep.

Hmm. Well, perhaps we've been co sleeping for such a long time that it's going to take time to break him of this habit? Anyhow, here is the schedule of what went down tonight.

4:30pm he was so tired he passed out. Grant put him in his crib. I freaked out... WAY TO EARLY TO SLEEP! He woke up at 5pm and we played, danced, sang, and even watched a little Yo Gabba Gabba. He started getting sleepy again... probably because of his lack of naps during the day. I keep this kid active. You would think he'd want to take naps. I moved dinner up to 5:45pm. The entire routine was done by 7pm. I put him down awake. He rarely falls asleep on me. He began to scream. I went downstairs. Grant walked in the door from Basketball. Tag it was his turn. Finally after 45 minutes, he was asleep.

9:45pm he woke up, and Grant went in rocked him back to sleep. Jake woke up again at 11:20pm. I fed him and put him back. He woke up again a few hours later and put himself back to sleep. 3:30am he woke up, I fed him, and then fell asleep with him on the futon. AGH. I'm just so tired. I woke up at 5:30am, put him in the crib where he slept for 10 minutes and woke up screaming. I went and got him and put him in our bed. Grant's cell phone went off at 6:30am waking all of us up. So, there's the story. Jake has only had 1 nap today. I had to drive him all the way to Irvine to accomplish this. I'm going to work on one more nap since it's already 3pm. Maybe a solid 45 minutes? Who knows.

Wish me luck tonight. Hoping to start getting sleep sometime soon.

I'm a sleep mama Stone.

Sleep training by Brooke Stone part III

I'm going to sound like I'm contradicting myself for a moment... but, some may actually understand what I'm saying? Even though we were up quite a bit last night, Jake was falling asleep back on his own... without me rocking him. Making strides people!

Here's the timeline (I'm all about lists and documenting times to see how the progress goes):

6pm: I started dinner for Grant and I. At the same time I was also cooking lunch for Jake for the next few days. Grant started to fed Jake dinner.
6:20pm: Jake was getting really heavy eyes. I continued cooking while Grant started Jake's bedtime routine.
6:30pm: Bath
6:45pm: Book - Goodnight Moon.
6:50pm: I came upstairs breastfed him. Sang and rocked him.
7:00pm: Asleep in crib

Then.... The fun began!

8pm: woke up crying. We started the the every 5 minute or however long we wanted to check in. After 20 minutes we let him cry it out.

8:50pm: Asleep in the crib again.

9:30pm: woke up... and put himself back to sleep after 10 minutes.

11:30pm: Awake crying. I went in, fed him, rocked him, and put him back to bed.

Not sure of all the exact times in between 11:30pm - 3am he woke up... but, watching through the monitor he would cry himself back to sleep within 10 minutes of waking!

3:30am: I fed him, rocked him, and up him to sleep. Only he woke when I was putting him down. I walked out anyhow! He fell asleep on his own after 10 minutes... give or take.

6:30am: woke up. I brought him into bed with us. We were waking up anyhow!

So, even though there was a lot of waking, he was able to put himself back to sleep. This is a HUGE step to us. I'm so happy... even though I didn't sleep much.

Have a good Thursday!

Sleep training by: Brooke Stone

After 4 books, 1 DVD, and countless sleepless nights I have the solution for Jake Bowman Stone.

I have learned quite a bit from all the books, DVDs, friends/family, and theories. However, what I came to realize is that all babies are different. We all know that our precious angels are different so why wouldn't that go for their sleeping patterns too? Why must we be sticklers for the cry it out method or the strict schedules we can barely maintain if we travel or live a life on the go (Baby Wise)? I have decided to take the bull by the horns and do things my way. Something within my comfort level. I LOVE order and organization. But, one that works for Grant and I.

I couldn't bare another cry it out session. I also think the every 5 minute check in is a little much. Again, this is for Jake. I'm not talking about all children. Just mine.

Yesterday I prayed. I prayed for strength. I prayed for God to lead me in a path which is good for Jake and myself. One that could give Jake sleep and myself a piece of mind. Who needs sleep anyway? I'd rather have peace of mind that my angel is asleep and NOT screaming. Anyhow, I wasn't sure if it was going to be "the night". I started Jake's routine. Fed, bathe, book, starry lights on the wall, and then noise maker on. Breast fed him and changed his diaper again and put him down. At first he was playing and whimpering. Then began the screaming and crying. I knew he was tired. His eyes were red and he was rubbing them. I left the room at 8:30pm. I turned the video monitor on and then Grant and I took turns checking on him. We went in ABOUT every 5 minutes and stayed in their until we felt comfortable and then left again. We rubbed his back, put his pacifier in, talked to him, etc. After 30 minutes of that I decided to pull back the time. I waited. 15 minutes later... my baby was dead asleep. Snoring. On his stomach, legs under him, and face down. I went in to reposition him. That was a challenge, because I didn't want to wake him. He was so tired he let me move him around. Passed out by 9:22pm.

He woke up at 1:16am for a feeding and then back into crib. Woke up again at 5:10am for a feeding and back down until 7:15am. I'm OK with the feedings for now. Let him get into his sleep routine a few more days and then I can start weaning the feedings.

I know that was only night 1, but I'm excited. We all slept great. I'm excited for Jake to get more rest in the night. He woke up this morning so very happy. He's a happy baby, but even happier. In fact, he is playing in his pack n' play right now. He never plays in that thing! He's been playing in there for 30 minutes already. He ate all of his breakfast and isn't fussy in the slightest. We are getting ready for a walk along the bay and then beach. Post pictures later.

Thank you Lord for the strength and courage to try new things. I'm so happy and looking forward to sleeping again.

Amen.