a grand experiment.

I had been recommended to read BabyWise by multiple people every time I would whine and complain about how little Eli was not sleeping (day and night).  Firstly, I ignored it, assuming the problem would work itself out and I didn't need some 'program' to get my baby to sleep.  Then, as the weeks progressed and I became more desperate so I ordered the book from Amazon, but never read it.  Finally, after Sunday night (where he slept a mere fifty minutes on his own), I broke down and seriously began *skimming* the book. As I began to realize that according to this sleep program I was failing to the extreme, I took note of some things to change about our day.  The biggest being how long I made Eli eat.

Normally, Eli only eats for about 10 minutes from one side.  He is uninterested in eating after that, and my pediatrician even told me that if he is eating quickly, 10-15 minutes for a feeding should suffice, and it is very obvious that Eli is getting enough to eat, so I didn't think much of it.  Lately, though, he has slowed down the rate at which he feeds.  I decided to try and get him to eat 10 minutes from both sides as a starting point (the book says 15-20).  I was surprised how easy it was to get him to do this.  We continued into a bit of playtime (BabyWise has you to implement a feed/wake/sleep pattern) and then I put him down to a nap.  HE ACTUALLY TOOK A NAP.  I continued the day with basic principles from the book and can I tell you, the day was so so so much easier?!  By the end of the day I felt I had drawn enough from the book to know how to follow a version of the program that would work for us, and I'm currently sitting in Eli's nursery (he had his first night in the crib last night...bittersweet) because he started fussing a bit at around 6:15 and I'd like him to sleep until 7.

So, today, October 9, 2012, I begin our grand experiment, a full day of the BabyWise program, and I am hoping beyond hope that it does wonders for everyone in our little family.

------>>> side note though: why doesn't anyone tell you this kind of stuff before you have the baby!?  I would have loved to have been informed that legit sleep programs existed before all the terrible nights where Eli got maybe one or two hours of sleep and we got even less.  Oh well, live and learn.  Obviously I will update later on progress.