Thursday, June 3, 2010

A happy ending


I wrote here about the problems we had been having with Carter at night time. HAD been having. He is now sleeping just great.... hold on....

Okay, I'm back. Just needed to find some wood to go knock on.

But really, he only occasionally wakes up now, and if he does, it is just once - usually because of a dream.

AAAAAHHHH.

He has now completed his chart. I told him that after he had 10 nights that he didn't wake us up crying, he would get a special big truck. So ... well, my neighbor Kelly gave us a big dump truck that her son no longer used, and now that truck has a new owner! :)

Since being at the end of my rope last month (at which point Carter was sick and waking up 4-5 times a night), I took him to our pediatrician and had a long talk about his sleep issues. She basically encouraged me to set limits with him, let him cry if there was nothing wrong, and have some kind of reward/consequence system. You know, basic stuff. I left thinking that perhaps that was too easy an answer.

But Chad & I decided to follow her advice. It involved letting him cry a couple nights but then he seemed to "get" what we were expecting from him. We also were giving him rewards for when he slept well. It only took a few nights and he really got in a much better sleep pattern. I'm so proud of him! (And wondering why I didn't think of this on my own, duh. But I was sleep-deprived, what can I say?)

Anyhow, the sleep saga at this point seems to have a happy ending. I am usually sleeping now from about 10:30pm - 6:30am. A whole 8 hours!!! Unbelievable.

2 comments:

nateandkatesmom said...

Enjoy your big dump truck Carter! Glad your getting a full nights sleep now Amy!

Unknown said...

8 hours--that is great. So glad he's figured it out and is letting you rest!