Adventures in Sleep

Haven't posted in a while. Been busy with what I'm now sure is a slightly colicky and teething baby. Barf.

Had our first big travel adventure to visit family in Regina. Ezri flew surprisingly well!! Slept almost the entire way back, just a big fussy during take-off both ways, but overall I got to avoid the "Why don't you shut that damned kid up" looks. Yay!

Right now our big challenge is sleep. We've been co-sleeping and overall have gotten Ezri into some pretty bad sleep habits. There's nothing "bad" about co-sleeping in and of itself, but it's balls as far as intimacy goes. The other thing I end up doing is sleeping pretty much all night with my boob in her mouth (ditto for naps on the couch), being used as a human pacifier (stupid kid still won't take a soother). As fun as that is (it isn't), she'll be 4 months in a couple of days and I think it's about time we work towards changing that. I don't expect it to come quickly, nor easily, which is why I'm starting now, while it's still not a "problem," exactly, but could become so in the future.

Like I said, it's isn't co-sleeping that's the problem, it's a) her inability to fall asleep without nursing, b) her inability to stay asleep without nursing. She's a pretty restless sleeper, wakes herself up all the time by smacking herself in the face with her hands. And there's no "waking up a bit" with this kid. Once her eyes open, she's totally awake, and considering how long it takes to get her to sleep, doing it a million times a night has not been something I'm interested in.

We have been doing what works. Meaning what's easiest for us. Co-sleeping means I get sleep, it means she gets sleep, it means my husband gets sleep. But it won't (can't) work forever and now is a good a time as any to start the long journey towards crib sleeping. I have complete respect for those families who, either out of necessity or choice, co-sleep for months, even years, but it's not exactly for me.

What I'm starting is a bedtime routine. Essentially using classical conditioning, associating various things with sleep, so that eventually I can remove the nursing element and still be able to get her to sleep. We start with a bath (with calming lavender), move into her room lights low, and nurse her while rocking in the chair. I'm also putting her to bed with the same stuffed animal (it's one of those small blanket creatures with a head and little nubblies on the corners; this one is a green rabbit), so she can associate the feel of it with comfort (she often reaches up at my breast while nursing to fall asleep, stroking it; this is giving her a new thing to stroke so that someone else can put her to bed). Once I acquire some lullaby MP3s, I'll incorporate music into this routine, which is likely to be the strongest association, assuming I stick with the same music each night (or rotate two or three albums).

Sounds like my baby is a psych project.... and I suppose she kind of is. My paper will be entitled "How to Raise a Functional Human." I hope I pass!!

Wish us luck in our bedtime endeavours. Lord knows we'll need it.