Sleep Diary - Night 2

The nurse told me when she handed me the "Bible" that the first night was the worst and the first few nights would be rough.  Well...she was right in one respect and wrong in another.  The first night was actually better than the second, but both nights have absolutely sucked!  Last night, Ryne cried for 45 minutes before he finally fell asleep!  I mean seriously, I don't even have the energy for that!  After he cried that long I figured that maybe he would sleep through the night just from sheer exhaustion.  Wrong!  He woke up sometime around 3 AM and cried until 5:02!  Two hours of almost non-stop, inconsolable crying!  I let him cry a bit then got him out to hold him to calm him down, which didn't work.  I later offered a bottle, which he wouldn't take.  His cry progressed from scared to pissed!  He didn't want to be in his crib and he didn't want to be asleep.  He wanted me, but he didn't want me to do anything that might cause him to fall asleep again.  Oh how I wish I had a dumb baby sometimes, who wouldn't pick up on my plot!  I honestly believe Ryne is nothing shy of genius!  

After about an hour and a half of Ryne crying, I literally sat in the floor and silently cried and prayed.  Mom even came upstairs to check on things, but I shooed her away because I was so worried that it would rile him up even more.  Adam's parents offered to keep Ryne tonight so we could get some sleep, but I felt like it would be a setback.  Another bed, that he's hardly slept in, with another person trying to put him to sleep seemed like a recipe for disaster!  I would rather press on in hopes of breaking these bad habits as soon as possible!

I've learned a few things just in the past few nights.  The literature suggests routine, everyone does, but a routine is actually working against me.  Ryne knows the routine and knows the intended outcome, so know the fight starts earlier in the routine than it used to be.  So much for trying to give this child a bottle or read a book!  Last night he started clawing my face and kicking the book.  He is not an aggressive child, but this was a little more aggressive than I would like.  He will not take to a transitional object.  Poor Tad, he must be feeling quite lonely and abused since he gets thrown into the floor frequently!

I've also learned that going in to check on Ryne and rub his back to calm him down, does NOT calm him down.  It only makes matters worse.  If things don't improve I am going to call the nurse Monday to see if they have any other suggestions.