12/15/08

16 Days of New Things ~ Day 1

Yay! We are at day 1 of my "16 Days of New Things" and gearing up for the new year. If the outcome of this series is great enough, I am considering extending it over to its own blog full time. So, if that sounds interesting to you, then get involved here on this blog's posts and subscribe to know when and if it goes full time.

One thing I would like to share my knowledge on is my method for getting my son to sleep in his own crib. I started 4 days ago, because I want him to be completely on his own when his little sister arrives in April. My method has been to establish and stick to a daily bed time routine. That routine has been dinner, bath, dress, and straight into crib.

Now I will go into the details, so you can understand that I follow every step to the T, and this way he knows exactly what I am going to do. Once he is in his crib, I will read him a small book (I have been using the same book) while he drinks from his bottle, then I will turn off the lights, hug him while I sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star once. Right after, I lay him down on his pillow, kiss him goodnight, and walk out of the room.

On the first night, he cried for an hour straight. I would go in once every 10 minutes, find his thrown binkie and give it back to him, hug him until he calmed down and then lay him right back onto his pillow.

On the second night, I followed the same routine and he only cried for about 40 minutes.

Not expecting any improvement and following all my methods above, after laying him down, he only fussed for about 10 minutes! It was such a short time, I wasn't sure if he was really asleep, so I checked and sure enough he fell right over onto his lap and passed out.

Then last night being the 4th night, and his big birthday bash being that day, I was not sure what to expect. Also, he had quite a diaper rash which I am assuming is from an allergic reaction to Cinnamon (confirming at next doc appt), but I followed my same routine and around 8 PM laid him down and he didn't even try and get up. He closed his eyes and fell asleep right with me in the room. I was completely surprised, and I am very relieved.

It is tough though, getting through listening to him cry. I thought so many times that I could not deal and I just wanted to hug him and stop altogether. However I got myself through it by reassuring myself that it is for his own good and mine. I am teaching him a great life skills of independence, patience, and self-soothing. Also, this will help me to get a better night's sleep, which apparently I need (but don't all parents).

Now something new I have learned today: I have fibromayalgia.

Now your turn, what is something new you have learned today? Or do you have something that you know about that you would like to share with others?

7 comments:

  1. I haven't learned anything new - well I take that back I found out their was an error on my blog. But what I will try and learn today is how to utilize entrecard. That is my goal if I don't fall asleep with/before the kids tonight. Looks like we were doing 15 days together.

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  2. Something new I learned that sometimes it's better to do things than procrastinate. I've been procrastinating on going through our stash of storage totes until this past Sunday. I discovered that there wasn't nearly as much stuff as I thought and we managed to get rid of 2 totes after reorganizing and consolidating some things. Sorry to hear about the diagnosis but luckily it's nothing terminal *hugs*

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  3. That is soooo awesome that your little boy is learning to sleep on his own.

    I love your new blog look! :-)

    Thanks for a fun meme!

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  4. I learned this recently and I thought it was appropriate for the season!

    Thanks for a fun meme!

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  5. @Steph bizziemommy.com ~ See if you think about it, you really do learn a new thing everyday. It may be little, but it is something. And sometimes it leads you to wanting or being able to do something else.

    @darkfairymomma ~ Usually when I finally decide to go through the boxes I have been putting off, I find a whole bunch of things I forgot I even had! LOL.

    @MommyWizdom ~ If it wasn't for your advice and talks during those moments, I may not have gotten through it. You really helped me bunches! That budget savings post is very appropriate at this time. I am one payment away from paying off our layaway ($30) and then we will have our Wii Fit! Yay! I'm so excited.

    Thanx all for the wonderful contributions.

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  6. Great job with getting that baby to sleep in the crib! It's so hard to listen to them cry, but so proud of you that you did it!

    Sorry to hear about the fibro. I've had fibro for about 10 years. Try to eat as healthy as you can, get lost of rest and try to exercise, even just a little bit, every day if you can. Yoga is good for fibro. If you take care of the parts that you can, the rest will be much easier to manage. Good luck.

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  7. Thanx so much Teresa! It is great to have encouragement and praise. We all need that, and as you know, it can be physically hard to manage all areas of life without those two things. I can only tell myself that I did good so many times before it just gets depressing. LOL.

    Good luck with your fibro as well. I am kind of putting of getting things in order, I think because I am still a bit in shock and denial over the news.

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