Sleep Training.. TAKE ONE!

Yesterday I went to the doctors to get my ear checked. I thought for sure I had an ear infection, the pain was so horrible! When the doctor told me that my ear was perfect I was confused. Where was this intense pain coming from? The doctor then told me that I was having a TMJ flair up. TMJ? How the hell could that be possible? The doctor told me that is was most likely from stress and lack of sleep, which caused me to clench my jaw or grind my teeth while sleeping. Right after she mentioned stress and lack of sleep, there was no doubt in my mind that TMJ was exactly what it was.

The last couple nights have been rough. Putting Jayde to sleep has really become a chore! It's been so frustrating trying for hours to put her to sleep and waking up for so many night time feedings. The last two weeks I have been completely exhausted. Jayde never sleeps or naps, and I never get a break!  Last night, I put her to sleep and she woke up in about 10 minutes wanting me to come back into the room with her. At that point, I had enough! Keith and I agreed we would put her in her crib and try letting her cry it out. As i picked her up and put her in her crib, i started having second thoughts. Thinking of the night I was about to have ahead of me made me tear up. As a mother, hearing your baby cry is the worse thing ever. I then talked myself into it, saying to myself that it was for her own good. I put her down, gave her a kiss goodnight and left the room. Immediately the crying began..

Luckily I was some what distracted because last night was Tuesday, which meant "16 and Pregnant" and "Pregnant in Heels" was on. Not only that but Keith made me a delicious dinner, yum! Keith and I would take turns checking on her in intervals. We first checked on her after 3 minutes, then five, seven, and ten. Since 10 minutes was our max time, we checked on her every 10 minutes after that point. The first few checks were not that bad. She had not really worked herself up at all and when I went in there and turned her mobile on she would stop crying for a little bit. However, after about 45 minutes went by, she was MAD. Every time I went in there to check on her she would look at me like, "What the hell is going on? Why are you not picking me up?" The look on her face and her cries broke my heart and there was nothing I could do to calm her down. Every time I would leave the room she would get even more upset, it was the saddest thing. Once leaving the room, she would scream for about 5 minutes and then she would calm herself down. By the time I had to go back in there she was just whining. It was frustrating because every time I went to check on her she would just get mad all over again, it seemed to be a never ending cycle.

As I was in the living room watching TV something magical happened, she wasn't crying. I looked over at Keith and asked, "She couldn't be sleeping, could she?" I waited until the 10 minutes were up and then went to check on her. Was she sleeping? Nope! But instead of screaming once she saw me, she smiled. I was confused. I couldn't help but laugh. This wasn't suppose to happen, was it? I left the room and told Keith what just happened and he looked at me like I was crazy. We decided that since her crying wasn't getting her anywhere she was trying another tactic, she knew that mommy couldn't resist her cute little smile. Smart baby, right?

At that point, Keith and I weren't really sure what to do. Do we keep checking up on her if she isn't crying? We decided we would and every time we went in their Jayde would be wide awake smiling at us. It had been 2 hours and Jayde was STILL not asleep. In the mean time, a fellow mommy messaged me on facebook and asked how everything was going with letting Jayde cry it out. I told her about what was going on why we decided to try the sleep training. She then told me that between 3-4 months babies go through something called a sleep regression. I looked it up on the Internet and everything they said made complete sense as to why Jayde's sleep schedule was horrible. Basically around that time their sleep cycle changes and it takes longer for them to get into a deep sleep. Because they are adjusting and getting used to this, they wake up more frequently. Not only that, but at around 4 months babies go through intense growth spurts. Not body growing growth spurts but brain growing growth spurts. This causes their brain activity to be going non-stop, which makes it hard for babies to fall asleep and stay asleep. And of course, every growth spurt of any type comes with frequent feedings. All of this makes sense, right?

After 2.5 hours of trying to let Jayde cry it out/smile it out and then reading about the 4 month sleep regression, Keith and I went and picked our little baby up. Yes, I know your thinking about how stupid I am for being strong for so long and then giving up. But, I don't feel as if I really gave up. I think of last night as a "test run." I have even questions about the whole crying it out and sleep regression thing than I did before. Thank god on Saturday I'll be going to a sleep solutions class and I will be able to talk about everything to a baby sleep expert. Once all my questions are answered and I feel confident that leaving Jayde to cry is really the best thing to do, I will be trying again!