STW 2008

Gather round kiddies and bring your sleep deprived parents with you. Collect your binkies, your pacies, your bobs, and your soon to be water logged little thumbs. It's time for Sleep Training Week 2008: The Tilda Edition.

Tilda has been breaking out of her swaddles lately. Thanks to her new found strength, she now has to sleep with her arms unfettered. This is a huge adjustment, and she is having a lot of trouble relaxing, as her arms still bust out the old Moro reflex from time to time. Too bad evolution isn't perfect and this reflex doesn't disappear before babies shed their swaddling cocoons.

With Tilda's arms out, she has more trouble getting to sleep, but once down, she is much more comfortable. Like her sister before her, she has already taken to sleeping on her belly. This is scary, yes. However, when babies roll over on their own, the only alternative is to sit bedside and keep flipping them back over. That would be stupid. If Tilda wants the comfort of having her chubby little cheeks pressed into the mattress then so be it. That's why we spent the big bucks on an organic mattress made by the Amish. Hmm. Should I be worried that the previous company's website is no longer selling these mattresses? Note to self: look into this.

Let's get down to the meat of this post. Last night was night number one of STW 2008. We let Tilda cry for 10 minutes before going in to feed her at 11 O'clock and then again at 4 O'clock. Tonight we up that time to 15 minutes, then 20 tomorrow, 25 on Thursday and so on. When we did this with Annie, she was sleeping through the night by the fourth day. She of course has had well chronicled regressions, but I can say pretty comfortably that she is a good, okay mediocre, sleeper. Here's to Tilda and the hope that by the weekend this Dad is sleeping through night right along with her.