Anderson's Sleep Update

Sorry, everyone, for the very detailed introduction to this issue and then the following weeks of silence. I guess life sometimes demand you live it w/ no time to document it. Thus, my memory of how things have been going is pretty foggy, but I do want to give a possible final account of our efforts. Anderson is going to sleep now with no protest, both at night and in the afternoons. And, when he wakes in the middle of the night (still an issue)--I've made myself get up, give him a bottle in case he's hungry and rock him, and lay him down back in HIS packnplay whether he's asleep yet or not. Last night, around 3 am this process ensued but I was so excited that he just had a tiny little whimper of a protest and then burrowed his nose in his blanket and curled his little knees under him and was back asleep before I left the room.

Alas, for the 1 oclock nap and bedtime we are completely dependent on the Youtube Elmo video and most times he falls asleep around the 15 minute mark where Elmo is bringing in his broken walkman to Luis and Maria, saying his little friend is sick. So...unless anyone has a digital copy of this thing, our future babysitters may be a little doomed. Until we can wean him of this as well. At first, he stayed awake during the whole thing and it was just an attempt at creating a 'winding down' atmosphere...something that would get him to be still for a bit. Then I'd take him into his room, read him a couple stories and then give him a bottle and and sing and then lay him down asleep. The whole thing was actually taking much longer than even our previous routine of singing and rocking with a bottle, BUT he was actually going to sleep 'on his own.' Now, it has replaced story time and singing time and all the traditional bedtime rituals. I am happy that for the past few times he hasn't needed a bottle--he just drinks a sippy of milk while he watches and then falls asleep on one of our laps and we lay him down after that. I am not happy that our baby falls asleep watching tv, basically. Not a habit I want to instill. And yet, it is Elmo. And 80s Elmo at that. So, I know it's not poisoning his brain or anything and I'm thankful that he's at least used to us laying him down and walking out.

So, thanks, Meghan, Sara, and Shannon for your comments and empathy--you girls were definitely ones I had hoped would read and relate to me on this! I'd love to hear more detailed accounts of anyone's experience, although, as I said earlier, most of us just have time to live this stuff and take a shower--not so much time for writing about it. One time saver I've discovered: bathing with Anderson at night w/ Bedtime Bath (the purple stuff). Bubbles!!!