Sleep

One of the things I've been working on is getting Jared to sleep. He was all sleep trained and doing well. Then when he was 4 months old he started getting congested and not sleeping well. So we put a humidifier in his room and things got a bit better. And THEN the holidays happened. Starting around Thanksgiving, Jared was often toted around to different places and slept in different beds. I wanted Jared to fall asleep quickly and I didn't want to disrupt our hosts at night, so whenever Jared cried I nursed him back to sleep. And sometimes I fell asleep during these feedings. So Jared was falling asleep nursing, in my arms, in my bed. He really was sick during Christmas, so I did what I had to do to comfort him.
However, I wasn't sleeping well. Jared was up at least 4 times in the night. After talking to the pediatrician, Ken and I decided to let Jared "cry it out." All of my family had recommended this, but I wasn't certain. My resolve is not very strong in the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully, the night before we were going to start sleep training Jared woke up NINE times is the night. I say thankfully because my resolve was steeled. We decided to follow the plan in Dr. Weissbluth's book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." It had really sound research about the importance of sleep, by the way. We recorded the last few weeks using a sleep log.
Anyway, I could describe the last couple weeks for you, but I'll post this picture and save a thousand words.

(Red is crying, blue is sleep, yellow is awake or eating if it is at night)

As we are both getting better, things have regulated a bit. We are still working on naps, but life is significantly better. I have found that I am a better and happier mother during the day. Speaking of which, Jared is fussing!