Tales of Bad Sleep Habits - Part 2

After 3 days, I was have had little or no whimpering at bed time. He only cried the first day and a half. It is wonderful to put him to bed without any fussing. Now, when he is tired, he will start to put his head on my shoulder and get all snuggly. This is truly awesome.

Yesterday at the fair, he took a nap in the stroller. I was concerned that he would not get his afternoon nap and we would have to leave early. This being able to sleep on his own will hopefully make our up coming trip that more pleasant.

Whoo Hoo!

Bottle, Boob or Boo-Hoo - Tale of Bad Sleep Habits

Well, I thought this would never happen to me, but it did. My child has been trained to fall asleep with a bottle or after nursing. I know, I know... During the day I needed some me time and he would go to sleep without screaming, so I got into the habit of sticking something in his mouth. Now, I am totally ashamed and from all his screaming as he is learning to sleep on his own.

The good news is that the process is going a bit better than I expected. Watching Dustin's cues is a big part of it. We have always had a routine during the day, but I had gotten a bit lax about it at night. For the last two nights, we had a rigid schedule. Dinner, bath, wind down and sleep.

The first night it worked well. Last night, there was screaming for 20 minutes. Do not get the wrong impression, I am not letting him scream without going in there to comfort him. I set the timer for 5 minutes, go in, pat his back and tell him I love him. Next, I set the timer for longer and repeat process. This whole thing really fries my nerves. Who knew a child could protest so loudly, when they are clearly exhausted. This morning there was light protesting and after 10 minutes he was out. Let's hope the rest of the day goes as well.

Do you have any advice or tips that have worked? I would be happy to hear them.

Have Baby , Will Travel

Yesterday, Dustin & I just got back from a trip to Grandma's house. We had to go over a river, but not through the woods.

Traveling for 3 hours in a car with Dustin, alone, was a cause for concern. The ride there was not a problem. We left an hour and a half passed his nap time, so he was really tired. In addition, I fed him a bottle right before we left, so he was in a food induced coma. The car was barely out of the driveway before he was asleep. Yay, me!

The first stop was for gas, but since he was already a sleep it was not a problem. The second stop was for a drive through at Del Taco. He fused a bit, but was back asleep once I got on the freeway again. Although I had to pee like a race horse when we got to our destination, no other stops were scheduled.

Coming home was a different story... I fed him before we left, but I nursed him and he went to sleepytown before he finished the bottle. This turned out to be a mistake. Dustin woke up at about 1.5 hours into the trip. So, I stopped in Benica to change him a possibly grab a snack. Plus, the stretch was appreciated. We find the restroom and there is NO changing table. This is the first stop after the bridge and many families were stopping there.

Changing Dustin on the floor in the restroom was not as fun as I was hoping. This mom and child were in the way and blocking one of the restrooms. One of the workers comes in a asks if the restroom I am blocking is open. I confirmed that it was and if she could wait for me to finish snapping my son I will get out of the way. She says it is too bad that they do not have a changing table. Yeah, that was helpful. Maybe they should do something about that. Since I was so annoyed, I left without a snack or using the bathroom my self. Ugh!

We make it the rest of the way without incidence as I gave Dustin a cracker before we left and a bottle. He did not go back to sleep, but he was content and that is really all that matters. Next time I make that trip, I will know better than to stop in Benica and plan ahead.

Hopefully, our trip in August via plane to Kentucky will go as smoothly. I am nervous. Please share any of your travel tips. I would greatly appreciate it.