Zeth, omg, have decided to sleep train him as his sleep quality has gone from bad to worse. Have joined the sgsleep baby fb group and read up many articles on this sleep training to make sure i know what to do. From what i read, the problem with his sleep is that he doesnt know how to connect sleep cycles and would require assistance whenever he reaches the end of a sleep cycle. I would latch him at night before he can fall back asleep every 45min/ 1.5hr (he wakes up 7-8 times a night). His day naps are also short, like 30min each time only. So during his naps, i would stay in the room with him. Whenever he wakes up at the 30min mark, i would again help him fall back asleep either with his pacifier, or carry him or put him in a carrier. You basically cant do much in the day cos you have to perpetually be with him. I worry for mil cos she would have to take care of him plus do all the chores + cook when i go back to work. So yea, finally decided to sleep train him. (didnt do it for Keath since he only woke up 3-4 times a night last time. naps were ok for him.)
So I embarked on this with a check and leave plan, meaning to check on him upon X minute of crying etc. The first time i tried was on day nap. Whenever i go in to comfort him, he cried even harder, so after gg in to check on him for 3 times, i decided that i should just use the cry it out approach so as not to agitate him further. Eventually, he cried for 1 hour and still didnt nap. I then carried him out. T_T It was a painful process. It was tough to watch your baby cry like that for a long time.... But i persisted for his greater good. Then for the second nap, he fell asleep after i fed him, too tired already. Third nap came and he cried for 37min before he fell asleep. By then, he already knew how to fall asleep by himself. Then came night time, again he was too tired and fell asleep after feeding. I decided not to sleep train at night first, maybe let him train another 1-2 days before i do the night time training. On the second day first nap, he already knew how to fall asleep by himself with 15m of crying. So yes, one day is all it takes for him to learn how to self soothe. On the third night, when he woke up in the middle of the night, we also let him self soothe himself. Took about 10m of crying. I would still latch him if say he wakes up after 8 hours of his last feed or if he cries hysterically. So now, we no longer see him waking up so many times at night already. Perhaps about 1-3 times, i will feed once and the other 2 times, he will whine (no longer cry) for 1-5min before gg back to sleep. So yes, babies are really smart. If we trust that they would be able to sleep by themselves, they would!
But then, day naps continue to be a nightmare. It is still short. Even shorter than the past liao. It has now become 20-30min in duration only. They say the issue with catnap is that he is undertired/ overtired, that's why cant sleep long. But i have tried to keep him awake longer/ shorter (which he can) and yet his nap duration is still so short. It is sooo disappointing. Throughout this whole month with 3 naps a day, he only had 1 nap that is 43m, his longest ever record. The rest of the naps were 15-33m ONLY. Nvm, i am going back to work already. There's nothing much i can do already. Just have to wait it out, perhaps after he grows older, he would be able to sleep longer.
Developments for this month include being able to crawl alr! It’s anazing to see how much they can change overnight! And he also could call me already. Though it is not the accurate mummy, it is mamare, but we all know he’s calling me! But he only calls me this when he wakes up at night. During awake play time, nope you won’t hear him calling. Then he could also pull himself to a standing position in the cot already - all these happened 1-3 days before I went back to work. He must know that I’m gg to work soon and decided to let me witness all these. Such an adorable boy!
When you ask him to hit the toys with his hands, he understands and would do so. He has 4 tooth already and he bites T_T. When I wear sleeveless I’m so scared! Hahah. And fortunately, he is starting to take solids! No longer rejecting various food and gagging. He’s not a milk lover like Keath but ok la, still takes when he is sleepy. If you give it to him when he is awake, he will be so distracted by the things that are happening around the house. It will take a long time to feed him. Zeth is also starting to blabber a lot especially when he tries to crawl, a lot of gay gay ger ger. Not mama yet! He also knows when we call him zeth, didi or say korkor, mummy. He can also look in the direction where you point.
Cant believe that i have stayed at home with absolutely no work for 9 months! Time really passes by so fast. I really enjoy being a sahm (with salary and once a week housework)! I thought i would be bored, but no, i dread going back to work. Cos i can imagine how busy i would be all over again working for the same boss haha. And being able to spend time with the kids is smth that i would want to relive all over again. They are at this stage where i'm their everything and are at a stage where they display numerous milestones in their lives. Being able to stick to them, especially Zeth for 24/7, though tiring, it’s absolutely fulfilling. He’s so cuddly, smiley and chubby to kiss. I don’t know how often I kiss him everyday. He also smells so good! So babyish and even his breath is nice. Hahaha yes I like smiling his mouth, head and feet. You don’t realise that they are growing fat by day until other people tell you that they are big already. It’s a blessing to be able to be with him these 9 months. Actually if you ask me to be home for another year without salary, yes i wouldnt mind. But oh well, have already accepted the job offer. I hope that work will be manageable in the new organisation. No more 1am nights everyday please.
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