Mr. Bear

In my last post, I mentioned that Kaia had slept through the entire night, all by herself for six nights in a row. I'm scared to give this too much attention for fear that I might jinx it or that it's just been a short lucky streak for us (she's gone through phases before where she would sleep by herself through most of the night), but last night made seven consecutive nights and it's making a world of difference for me!!

Since birth, Kaia had reflux and choked a lot. She choked in the hospital before we ever brought her home : ( This usually happened after eating, but it could be right after or even an hour or later and she often choked in her sleep at night. Because of this, we kept her in a bassinet in our room and we woke up to check on her with every little sound - and I got used to her being there. As Kaia got older and gained better control of her body, the reflux (and choking) resolved itself. At around six months of age, we moved her from our room to her own. Through all of this, we had some successful sleep-filled nights, but any change (teething, growth spurts, etc.) affected her sleeping pattern.

Just before moving from New Orleans (a month or two before Kaia turned a year), she started sleeping through the night again. When preparing for our move, we let her spend a couple of weeks with my parents in Mississippi. Then, I went to MS for a couple of weeks while Greg got everything settled for us in California. All of that was a lot of change for her... Plus, she started walking during that time... Then, she and I moved to CA and she had a whole new home to adjust to.

Finally, mostly because Greg is working so much and has such a random schedule, night duty (along with most other duties) have become my responsibility -- I'm not a night person in the first place, but especially not while tending to a baby full-time throughout the day and being pregnant with another one. Instead of working consistently over the past six months to get Kaia back to sleeping alone through the night, I've been selfish. It's been easier to bring her to bed with me when she wakes up and that's what I've been doing. But, easier now does not always equal easier later, as in this case.

So, I know my friend Rebecca has had success using the Ferber method with her 5-1/2 month old son, Jack (kudos!!). We tried it with Kaia when she was about 13 months old and it was way too tough for me -- maybe it works better for younger babies (??).

Well, about ten nights ago, Kaia woke up in the night and I brought her to bed with me, as usual. Unlike usual though, I also brought one of her stuffed bears. Instead of letting her snuggle with me in our bed, I put the bear between us and wrapped her arms around it (she still reached over to hold my arm). I did this for a couple of nights (still bringing her to our bed when she woke in the night, but also bringing the bear) and gave her the bear for every nap. Finally, seven nights ago, I put her to bed with the bear... she woke in the night... when I went in to get her, I just gave her the bear instead of picking her up and she went right back to sleep! For the last six nights, I haven't had to go give her the bear in the night, but when I've looked in on her she's either holding him or he's nearby : )

Side note: Kaia has quite a few things that she likes to hold, but she had never shown preference to any one thing over any other.

Now, my fingers are crossed that this is more than a short phase and that things won't get too crazy for her when Laila arrives (sometime within the next 16 days!).

Kaia - Singing and dancing with THE Mr. Bear