Brad Dudenhoffer's World

Today was pretty tough. Archer slept fairly well through the night but fought naps all day. He didn’t nap for more than about 40 minutes at a time. Every time he woke up he was just as tired as when he went to sleep. He grew more and more tired as the day went on. We drove about 40 minutes to have lunch with Cyn and he slept for about 30 minutes of it each way but woke up grumping both times. By the end of the day he was so grumpy he even fought eating. He really wore me out today. After Cyn got home I went out in the garage and did some grinding and welding on one of my current projects which really helped relieve some stress. There’s nothing like a six foot spray of sparks and a bunch of noise to drain away the day’s stress. At bedtime he went right to sleep and hasn’t woken up yet. Cyn and I were able to sit down at the table and have an actual meal together! We even had time to watch a movie (Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, weird but good).

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.

~Leo J. Burke

There is more truth to that than anything else I have heard lately.

{rewind to last week}

Archer has been having a tough time sleeping.He wakes up every couple of hours and won’t go back to sleep unless he nurses. At around 3 o’clock he cries until Cyn brings him to bed where he side nurses for the rest of the night. As you can image, nobody is getting enough sleep. We are all grumpy throughout the day and hardly have enough energy to get anything done.

Archer fights sleep during the day so much that he is screaming before every nap. After about 30 minutes he will finally wear himself out enough to sleep. Unfortunately, if I lay him down in his crib, our bed, the couch, or wherever he wakes up and we start all over again. The only way I can get him to nap is to hold him the entire time he is asleep and he will only stay under for about 20-30 minutes. When he wakes up there is about a 50/50 chance he will wake up either screaming or a smiling, happy baby. There has to be a better way. All kids aren’t this hard, are they?

{fast-forward to this week}

One of Cyn’s close friend told her about a program they used for their baby when they had some similar sleep issues. We have tried pretty much everything else (short of just letting him lay there and cry) so in desperation we decided to give it a try and Ferberize Archer. It’s basically a much softer method of crying it out. We stick to a consistent routine every night so Archer knows bedtime is coming up. If he wakes up you let him cry for about three minutes and then go in and comfort him so he is in a state of mind where he can get himself back to sleep. If he still cries you let him go for five minutes before going back in. and so on.

Here’s where we are so far. Cyn gets him almost asleep and the lays him down in his crib. On the first night (Monday) it took about an hour and numerous trips to calm him down. It had Cyn in tears and the only way I could keep from going back to comfort him was to play a nice violent video game, all the time keeping a close eye on the clock so I know as soon as I can go back in. He still woke up a few times that night (once for over an hour) but was in a better mood the next morning.

The second day (Tuesday) was a little better. His naps were about 45 minutes long and he took two of them in his crib. He went to sleep on his own and didn’t need any extra comforting from me to stay asleep. That night it took about a half hour to get him to go to sleep. He woke up about every two hours for fifteen minutes before he went back to sleep. He only had about nine hours of sleep all day.

fast-forward (again) to today/night

Today was great. Archer woke up in a good mood. He was all smiles and ready to play. I, on the other hand, slept horribly and could barely keep my eyes open. I kept waking up throughout the night thinking I heard him crying but about half the time it was just my imagination. After a good strong cup of coffee I was much improved. We had a good morning and when it was time for Archer’s first nap he only took about twenty minutes to get to sleep. His uncle came by to watch him for a couple hours while I went out to clean a couple aquariums and get a much-needed haircut. When I got back we fed Archer and he just about fell asleep in his highchair. I laid him down in his crib and he was asleep within thirty seconds! It was amazing. He slept for an hour and a half. I didn’t know what to do with myself. He was very active the rest of the afternoon and put on his best company manners for the parents-as-teachers lady who came by. He only took about fifteen minutes to get to sleep. He slept for about four hours before he woke up again.

That pretty much brings us up to date. It’s one o’clock in the morning and I typed this between soothing sessions since he woke up about 45 minutes ago. I hope tomorrow is as easy as today has been.