Ben's sleep saga notes

(Hopefully this will be more accurately titled "Ben's sleep notes," not needing the "saga" part.)

Ben was a really good sleeper as a newborn. Then when we got back from Vermont he abruptly got all crazy with sleeping, waking up a lot at night and not napping well at all, completely rejecting the Rock N Play for a week.

The step we are taking this week to help him fall asleep on his own and hopefully not wake up so much at night is for me to not nurse him to sleep at night, with at least 20 minutes between milk and sleeping.

Last night there was a lot of crying. Jeff rocked him in the Rock N Play and held him, then I held him for a little bit. Then I rocked him to sleep in the RNP. He fell asleep around 8:05, woke up at 11:50, 3, and 6 to eat, then got up for the day around 8:30.

Tonight Jeff rocked him in the Rock N Play. Then he cried a little bit. Then I talked to him and held him, tried to put him in the RNP for a minute or two. Ben was really fighting his sleepsack, grabbing it and trying to chew on it, so I put him in the crib to distract him. He rolled onto his side, fought with his sleepsack a little, then went to sleep when I was out of the room, at 8:15. (Night wake-ups were at 11:20, 1:20, 4:30, and 7:15. Not great. Plus Sam woke up a couple times.)

August 12:
Fed at 7 p.m.
Put in crib at 7:20. Too much sleepsack chewing and fussing. Put in RNP at 7:30. Sleeping by 7:35. Woke up at 1 a.m.! YAY! Then at 4 and 6:20. A very good night. Awake for the day at 8:20.

August 13:
Fed at 7 p.m.
Put in RNP at 7:25. Too much sleepsack chewing and kicking. Put in crib at 7:40. Sleeping by 7:45. Woke up at 11 p.m., 3:45 a.m., and 6:45 a.m. Another good night!

August 14:
Rough day full of short naps. Fed at 6:20 p.m. Sleeping in RNP at around 7. Woke up at 8 and 10 p.m. to eat. I heard Ben snuffling around at 1 a.m. When I went in to check on him, he was asleep on his stomach. Around 2, I rolled him over because he was making weird noises. He woke up at 2:20 and 5:45 to eat. Slept until 7:15. Not bad, but not great. I'm glad he could keep himself asleep even though he rolled over.

August 15:
Another bad nap day. Fed at 7:40. Asleep in crib at 8:20. Woke up at 10:30, 1, and 4:45. Awake for the day at 7:30. Not so great.

August 16:
Fed at 7 p.m. Rocked to sleep in the RNP. Slept until 5 a.m.! I was very alarmed, and for good reason, it turned out. Ben was out of sorts all day today, doing a lot of crying and not wanting to eat.

August 17:
Fed at 7:30 p.m. Rocked in RNP, asleep by 7:30. Woke up at 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. Awake for the day at 7:15.

August 18:
Fed at 7 p.m. Rocked in RNP, asleep by 8. I woke Ben up to feed him at 10:45 since he hadn't been eating well at all for the past two days. Then he woke up at 3 a.m., so I tried to feed him. Instead, he cried loudly like he's been doing during the days and refused to eat. I put him back. He cried a little bit later, maybe 10 minutes later, so I tried to feed him again. He kind of ate for one or two minutes. Then he seemed to want to just smile at me, so I put him back in his crib. He went to sleep after rolling around for about 20 minutes and slept until 7...when he again refused to eat.

The nights have definitely improved now that we're putting Ben down at least 20 minutes after I feed him, but I am totally confused about his eating habits in general now. We'll see how this week goes.

August 19:
Kind of fed at 7. Asleep on own in crib at 7:45. Very hungry at 11:35 p.m. Kind of hungry at 4:30 a.m. but not really. Awake for the day at 7:35 but not hungry until 8:45 a.m.

August 20:
Fed at 7. Almost asleep on own at 7:40 in crib. Then lots of hard crying, and I ended up holding Ben until he was all the way asleep at 8. So frustrating. He woke up at 9:30, 12:15, and 6:35 to eat. Weird again.