Our newest son, Aren, had been sleeping through the night as of about 8 weeks of age and then recently experience a bit of a sleep hiccup here during these last three weeks where he started waking up every hour. His bedroom adjoins ours so Christine is able to respond very rapidly whenever this would happen.
A couple of thoughts come rushing to mind when I consider these last three weeks.
Gary Ezzo: On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .)
This is the book we used to get our kids sleeping through the night--all 4 of them. It works every time. What we use is the sequence and scheduling part of the book. The discipline part and religious aspects of it, are not part of our family's use of it. But we are very thankful for the scheduling information because it made all the difference. Use your judgement, but don't be afraid to let your kid cry. It can't hurt them. What can hurt them, though, is irregular sleep patterns. (****)
Joseph Garcia: SIGN with your BABY - Baby Sign Language (ASL) Kit: Includes Book, How-to DVD, Quick Reference Guide
All our kids can sign now. When our first child awoke screaming one night at about age 1, she was unable to tell us what was wrong, until we asked her if she had pain, using the sign for pain. She responded by signing "pain" by her ear. She had an earache! We administered some herbal medicine to the problem ear and she went back to sleep. Beatiful! (*****)
Robert S. Md Mendelsohn: How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor
As a new parent you can become anxious about things like fevers, coughs and other events that seem to be causing your new child stress. This book was like a light in a dark room for us. We learned to keep it on our kitchen counter and any time something distressing would happen, we would look it up in his book to find that it was usually a) normal and b) not in fact life threatening or necessitating a $2,000 visit to the emergency room or c) would go away if we just helped our child get through it. Obviously there are exceptions, but the above became the rule and we were able to relax a bit more and get to the business of being good parents to our children instead of paranoid and stressed hospital patrons. (*****)
Joel Fuhrman: Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss
Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD: The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children
Robert S. Md Mendelsohn: How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor
Send some love
