determined (sleep schedules)...

over the weekend, i decided it was time to get jaelyn to sleep on her own {again}. i reviewed some parts of one of my favorite books, healthy sleep habits, happy child by marc weissbluth and set my mind on the priority at hand! i am determined to get jaelyn on a better sleep schedule.

over two weeks ago, crying it out didn't seem to work so we gave it a break and i am trying it again. being woken up several times during the night isn't working either. honestly, a lot of my giving in and bringing her to bed or rocking her back to sleep was for me. i mean it was for her because she needed to sleep but it was for me too. i am having a hard time of letting go of my little newborn baby. she isn't a newborn any longer. she is almost seven months old and she is old enough to be on a much better schedule and have much better sleep habits! i just love holding her and snuggling her but it is time to do this during the day and let her sleep soundly during the night.

jaelyn is very determined too. she cries a lot and for a long time and it breaks my heart. she will cry for up to an hour sometimes longer. of course, we always make sure that she is ok while she is crying it out. so we are working on letting her put herself to sleep so that if she wakes up during the night (or nap) she can learn to put herself to sleep. getting her on a good sleep schedule will allow her to sleep better and longer. it is so hard to hear her cry, she is such a good baby and rarely cries during the day, but she is making up for it at night. here are the sleep logs for the last few nights. you can tell by sunday night and monday, i mean business and became intentional and consistent...

saturday:

8:00 pm ~ nursed and put down to bed asleep
9:00 pm ~ awake already, went to her gave pacifier, refused it so rocked her to sleep
9:30 pm ~ put her back down asleep
11:15 pm ~ woke up just as i was going to bed, frustrated, i decided that i was going to have to change to work on getting her back into a good sleep schedule.

sunday:
12:30 am ~ after letting her cry it out and going to her once she fell asleep
5:00 am ~ wakes up to nurse ( a little early, but ok then) goes back to sleep until
8:30 am ~ wakes up for the day/nurses
10:30 am ~ falls asleep in car on the way to church, wakes up when we are taking her into the nursery.
11:15 am ~ awake in nursery/takes a bottle
1:00 pm ~ quick nap in car on the way to lunch
2:00 pm ~ falls asleep in car on the way home, stays asleep after being put in her crib until
3:30 pm ~ wakes up/nurses
6:00 pm ~ eats cereal
7:30 pm ~ nurses and falls asleep, put in crib
9:00 pm ~ wakes up and cries it out, daddy goes in every 20 min. to soothe her ( i am determined to start this week out with the goal of getting her on a good schedule!)
10:30 pm ~ finally falls asleep and stays asleep until the next morning!!!!

monday:
6:55 am ~ wakes up (with some help from siblings getting ready for school) and is such a happy baby!!! /nurses
8:45 am ~ rocks with mommy and then put down for a nap awake, cries for 20 min. falls asleep
10:00 am ~ wakes up/nurses
12:00 pm ~ eats cereal
12:45 pm - 1:00 pm ~ rocks with mommy and then put down for a nap awake, cries for less than 5 min. and falls asleep
1:45 pm ~ wakes up crying, try to let her fall back to sleep for 20 minutes - does not
2:05 pm ~ removed from crib (poor baby has a poopie diaper and is hungry) nurses
4:15 pm ~ rocks with mommy, then put down for a nap awake, cries for 45 minutes.
5:00 pm ~ removed from crib with no nap/nurses
6:00 pm ~ eats cereal
7:00 pm ~ nurses for night feeding, has quiet time and rocks with mommy
7:45 pm ~ put down in crib sleepy but not all the way asleep
8:15 pm ~ wakes up screaming, daddy gives paci and leaves,
8:35 pm ~ still crying, daddy gives paci again and leaves, begins to cry with short spells of silence
9:30 pm ~ finally falls asleep