Battle one: to eliminate Kenny’s growing obsession with getting to watch TV every day. Call? Victory! We just completed 11 days of no TV watching, and we celebrated by letting Kenny watch an episode of Boz while I was busy with Cooper. Though it took several days of him still begging for a cartoon, the simple answer, “It’s No TV Week!” quelled him and eventually he stopped asking. Not only that, but he’s been playing 100% better by himself when I’m with Cooper. He’s back to his imaginary games and looking through picture books and such, and not so much getting into my hair and begging to be entertained.
Battle two: Get Cooper to nap longer than 45 minutes. Call? Lost. Still no napping longer than 30 to 45 minutes, though I have at least moved most of the naps to his bed instead of the swing. As for letting him go to sleep at naptime on his own, that’s still a failure, too. Our pediatrician said to let him cry for up to an hour. So I did, and still no nap. But I pick him up, jiggle him for a minute and set him in the swing and it’s snooze-ville. For 45 minutes.
Battle three: Get Cooper back to sleeping through the night. Call? So far so good! I’ve had much better nights since putting him down later (after an evening nap from 8 to 9 or s0, then nursing and putting him down for good at 10), and last night he slept for 10 hours straight. Yahoo!
Ah, but today was a sleepless one for the Mini Coop. He took ONE nap (of 45 minutes) and he’s still up. It’s 8:00 PM now. Actually, he’s starting to doze on Casey’s chest in front of Monday Night Football. I’m emotionally wrought, as much of the day was spent listening to him wail and cry… even the jiggles and the swing were no help today. Hm. Maybe the 10-hour night was all he needed??? right.
We actually had quite a scare today with Kenny. We were in the midst of making dinner and Cooper was being such a pill, I took him upstairs to try again to put him down, and left Kenny downstairs with Casey. Casey had to take a business call, but Kenny was playing in the room with him, so all was fine. Until suddenly as I came downstairs and Casey hung up the phone and we both looked at each other and said, “Where’s Kenny?” We raced through the house, looked outside (Casey had been grilling) and we couldn’t find him or hear him. Finally, Casey walked into the guest room where our washer and dryer are, and heard a muffled whimper. Kenny had crawled into the dryer to hide, and managed to shut the door and was stuck.
Talk about stopping your heart. He was probably in there no more than three or four minutes, but who knows how long before he would have suffocated?? Casey gave him a huge hug of relief, then a sound spank, which Kenny almost seemed happy to get after his scare. Then we went over where he is NEVER allowed to hide, and reminded him that when he wants to play hide-and-seek, he needs to make sure that we know he’s hiding. My heart is still pounding.
And Cooper is wailing again, so off I go…
By the way, my writing will be fairly sporatic over the next two weeks… we are going to California for my grandma’s memorial service, then off to Florida to be with Casey’s family for Thanksgiving. I don’t know how much computer time I’ll find over the next two weeks, but stay tuned!
Comments
7 responses to “Battles Waged, Which War to be Won?”
My Mia is still having the same issue as Cooper in regards to the napping. When she’s at daycare during the week she’ll take 3 to 4 hour naps… and then she sleeps through the night starting at 7pm. But, I had her home for a three day weekend, and she never took a nap more than 45 minutes, and was up until 8 or 9pm. I honestly wonder if it has more to do with all the noise at daycare than anything else, because it’s so quiet here at home. Have you considered getting a noise machine (it’s getting a little too cold to be running a fan)? I’m considering getting it for home to help her get more rest on the weekend… Hopefully the TV war keeps going your way, and napping will get better.
I know you said you have lots of books on sleeping, but I found a book that helped me with my 2nd child. It’s called the 90 minute sleep solution. It basically says that everyone has a 90 minute rhythm of alertness. After that we become tired. Anyway, it says for young babies they need to sleep every 90 minutes. After a while they may be able to stay up longer, but in increments of 90 min (90 min, 180 min, 270 min etc.)
I had the other books for my first child and I don’t think she is as good a sleeper as my second (who is now almost 9 months old). At first she only slept 45 minute naps, but I kept at it and now she sleeps 2 hour naps most days. Hope this helps.
Sorry to hear Cooper is being such a pill! My bet is he’s over tired since he’s not sleeping well, fussy and such. You should seriously check out that book I mentioned (Secrets of the baby whisperer). I’m not kidding when I say it’s a wonder book. I would have been in a nut house long before now with 3 under 3 if I hadn’t had it. It’s all a bunch of common sense, but put in a way that makes total sense in how to implement it! I wish we lived nearby so I could come help you out!
Hang in there and if you have any questions, I might could help you via email…stephanie.griffin@mchsi.com if you want to talk!
Oh my goodness! 😯 I’m glad Kenny is okay! The things kids do… probably why we’ve been to the ER twice with head injuries… 😳
Wow! The dryer! It is amazing how quick those little ones can be! Hang in there, sister!
Hello! I don’t know how you do it without TV – not that I use it for a babysitter but I would be in big trouble without it. I have certain shows that I let Emery watch – they are pre-programmed and come on at a certain time so I know I can take a shower, get laundry done, etc. I think you’re rock star for being so determined! I think you “might” change your ways as time progresses. 🙂 It’s amazing how much crap is on TV but on the other hand how many amazing shows there are as well. I’m very strict with the amount of time Emery is able to watch TV but every Monday the Disney Channel has a movie; ie, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Finding Nemo, etc. We DVR it and then it’s a good time for us to watch it again as a family. Just a thought. :0
We’re going through the “I don’t want to nap phase” with Maddox right now as well. I’ve found that the little bugger is literally testing me. I let him cry it out for about 20 minutes and I couldn’t take it any longer. The SECOND I walked up to his crib he went from total hyperventalating to laughter. So I picked him up and gave him a good hug, laid him back down and told him to go night night. I did this three more times over a two hour period, it SUCKED and he was noisy but finally, he went to sleep. I agree with the others that they get overly tired and over stimulated. JMHO. 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving and have a safe trip!
Kristjana,
You know the many “Ben” stories – he didn’t sleep more than 20 minutes in a row for a year, then didn’t sleep through the night until he was 5. I was very happy the year I had to get a root canal and could leave him with a babysitter for a couple hours several times in a month. I was unable to converse coherently for months at a time. but they do grow up and eventually sleep. You are a great mom – go with the flow of the day and do rest when you can.
About the great Houdini – at Radio Shack you can buy some alarms for $30 – $50 that can be placed on doors or dryers,etc. They are portable and removeable and LOUD. They will alert you. So if you wish, you can place them and move them at will. I used this system when Barbara was a teen (if you remember) – so I would not have to stay awake at slumber parties to monitor the giddy girls or have giddy boys try to get in the upstairs window. So alarms are good now – and later.:)
On a serious note:
I dropped a note to your sister as well – my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. What a blessing that all of you are able to be together to honor Grandma Kay. I know how you all will miss her.
Love,
Aunt Syl