Organically Growing

I’m not sure what I was expecting would happen with the introduction of the bedtime lovey, but I have to say I’m a little disappointed.

Wait – that’s a lie. I know exactly what I was expecting: I thought this little cozy doll would signal to Ryder each night that it was bedtime, and he was easily (and quickly) drift off to sleep once I placed it in his welcoming arms in the evening. I thought that when he woke up in the night, feeling startled or scared, that his cozy would lull him back into blissful sleep … without so much as an interruption in my own dreams.

This has not been the case.

Ryder isn’t the least bit interested in the cozy. Sometimes he will clutch at it as he is fighting sleep, or he will drift off while I’m rubbing his face with one of the soft bamboo “arms” (coincidence?) … but generally, it’s not the “cue” I was hoping it would be.

Does it take more time? Or, do I need to try a new toy? Maybe he’s just not connecting to this lovely??

Ryder is becoming increasingly mobile in his crib. He’s doing a cobra pose that has his little eyes peeking up over the top of the crib in the mornings, and he’s spinning around nearly all night long in every which-way.

My concern now (you knew there had to be one, right?) is his head bouncing back and forth on the sides of the crib. He bangs so loud it often wakes me before the crying. And then the crying …. oh the tears. It’s a different cry than his typical late night bouts, which makes me think he’s hurting himself! One day last week, I think he even had a bit of a black eye.

So, I’m thinking about putting the bumper back in the crib to protect against the head bashing. I put a call for opinions out to my mom’s group listserve and have gotten some good ideas – including weaving the bumper in and out of the slats to remove the risk of “pockets” where Ryder could get stuck between bumper and crib. Also, it’s important to note that once he starts pulling himself up in the crib, the bumper will have to go again as he’ll be able to use it as a step.

What do you think?

I’m probably going to jinx us, but Ryder has had TWO successful nights of sleep, going to bed at 7:30p with little to no resistance, sleeping until 2am, eating/diaper change and going back to sleep until 7am. And even at 7, he just hangs out in his crib, cooing and rolling around.

Is it possible we have a breakthrough?

Here’s hoping our upcoming trip to Mexico doesn’t put us back to square one.

Night three of sleep training went about as good as night two. I think. I don’t really remember much. Marc said Ryder was up all night. I can’t confirm, nor deny that. I do remember feeding him at 1am, diaper change at 5am. I should try to consolidate those two events tonight.

What was new was the addition of a “lovey” cuddle doll to Ryder’s nighttime routine. A friend mentioned that her little guy has two loveys- one for naps/bedtime and one for car rides. He only gets to play when them during these noted times, so when she gets out the bedtime lovey, he it’s his cue to start winding it down.

Sounds like a legit idea to me.

For the bedtime lovey, I chose a Cuskiboo Organic Bamboo Cuddle Toy. It’s silky soft and looks like something that would be nice to cuddle during the night. I stuffed it in my shirt for awhile (per package instructions) to infuse my body scent in it. Ryder kept the toy close to him pretty much all night long – dragging it up and down the crib with him. Looking at this picture, I’d say he likes it:

Night two of “sleep training” (a term I picked up from all the very sweet sleep advice emails from local moms on a Yahoo group I belong to) went pretty well. Quite a few wake ups and crying fits, but they were much, much shorter in length and severity (or am I getting desensitized?) and Ryder put himself back to sleep each time with little to no soothing from a parent (sidenote: Marc joined me in the bedroom last night and did ample duty of soothing and even engineered an early morning diaper change. go dad).

Examination of gums this morning shows two little white specks I presume to be teeth cutting through. Layer on the stuffy nose and watery eyes, PLUS Elvira (nanny) said Ryder is doing some serious army crawls across the floor. It’s no wonder he’s not sleeping well! There’s a lot of changes in his little world!