Day Light Saving Week from Hell

My boys were both on the best schedule & I was beginning to feel like we were all getting into the perfect routine since Colton's birth & then it happened...........time changed & my boys took it seriously.  We kept them up in the hopes that they wouldn't be too effected by it & get up at 6 & 6:30am instead of their regular 7 & 7:30am times.  NOPE........they decided to get up at 4:30 & 5am & have been on that schedule (or very close to it) for the past week & I am at my wits end on what to do to get things back to normal.

I am struggling to keep the baby up at night but am doing it & B is happily staying up but he is the on getting up between 4:30 & 5am; he is tired too but refuses to go back to bed so this makes for a very long day with a somewhat unhappy little guy.  Plus he has a little cold so that isn't helping his mood either.  Colton seems to maybe be getting back into the groove of his sleep schedule because this morning he didn't get up until 6 so maybe tomorrow will get better & the day after that will be even better.

I am tired & irritated & am at a loss.........I am struggling with both boys in the mornings & evenings so if anyone has any suggestions on how to return them to their regularly scheduled sleeping patterns I would greatly appreciate it!!  All that being said; I did have the best day with them yesterday & still want to eat their adorable little face off.......even being as tired as I seem to be they are the best little guys a momma could ask for!!

On the up side we did Colton's 6 month photo shoot & our family photos last week & here is a sneak peek of the amazing photos CK Photography captured.

Houdini

Brayden has become a little Houdini & been escaping from him room.  Every since we took the binky away he has been a little harder to get to sleep so I have been showering him with kisses & leaving him to cry for a second/minute in his room.  Then one night I was in our bedroom putting away laundry & turned around & B was standing there smiling at me.  He had figured out how to get the door handle thingy off the door (very quietly I might add) & scared the crap out of me.  I tried to figure out what to do for the night & finally just locked his door & unlocked it when he finally fell asleep.

The next day Lance put this up.  B actually doesn't mind it being there HOWEVER it has effected his sleep; meaning he is getting up really early (between 4-5:30) going to the door to open it & crying at the gate for me to get him.

Even with the gate up I am locking his door for him to actually lay down & go to sleep.  If I don't he goes straight to it, opens it & cries..........what do I do??  Do I just let him cry with the door open so he knows that he has to go to sleep?  I have been hoping that he will stop crying so that I can just leave the door open since the gate is there but that really hasn't been working out well for me.  I can't really let him scream because Colton's room is right across the hallway & I don't want 2 kids awake & screaming.........I'll just keep doing what I am doing I guess & just hope & pray that he understands that he is in there for the night (& nap too) & then when he stops the crying & then I open the door permanently.  

I feel like I get one thing figured out & 5 other things pop up that need to be figured out...........being a parent is a hard job & some days I feel completely up to the challenge but other days I feel like a complete failure & like I am going to lose my mind!!

Sleep Training/Ferberizing Sucks!!

About 2 weeks ago we decided to start Brayden on some sleep training since the amount of times he would wake up each night was between 6-10; I read up on the Ferber method & decided that it sounded a bit extreme & that we would try a modified version of it & hopefully he would start to STTN very soon. What we were doing was working wonderfully & we were on a roll last week but then he caught a horrible cold & it all went down hill this past weekend! He wasn't feeling good & couldn't breath well out of his little nose (especially at night) & I was very concerned & he looked so darn pitiful that I went into check him, rock him, give him his paci...whatever I thought he wanted I did or gave to him this past weekend. I never have & never will let him cry when he is not feeling well; in my mind there is something wrong with letting my sick baby boy cry himself to sleep!

Brayden is feeling better & almost 100% again so we decided to start again on the sleep training last night.............HOLY CRAP am I tired!! He was up & screaming I think about 5 times but I managed to only get up twice. I got up the first time after he had cried for 5 minutes straight & I only went in, gave him his paci & told him I loved him & he was back to sleep in about 10 minutes. Then I got up the second time (about 2 hours later) when he had cried for 15 minutes straight....I mean non-stop screaming & yelling type crying; I got up after the 15 minutes & again only gave him his paci & tell him I love him & then I went back to our room. He screamed for about another 5 minutes & right when I was about to give in to my little man he stopped; it was so crazy he just stopped crying & started to babble a bit & then he was out. He cried (not screamed) 3 more times (I think it was 3) but these times he only did it for about 5 minutes & then he was back to sleep all on his own.

I didn't get up the last 3 times & the whole time I was watching the monitor I was trying to convince myself that I am not a bad mother for not going to him, he is not going to think I don't love him anymore.....I tried to convince myself that he was still going to smile at me with that big gummy grin & love me in the morning & you know what HE DID! He still loves his momma & gave me the same big, happy, & beautiful gummy grin I have gotten every other morning; it is crazy how his grin reassured me that I was a good mom!!!

It didn't shock me that I would have a problem with letting him cry but it shocks me on how much I felt like a bad mother for doing this; having a child is hard & making the right choices on what to do & not do is even harder......I know I am not a bad mom but look at his little face & tell me how am I supposed to let him cry??


Song of the Day: Sugarland - It Happens

Just A Small Vent........

I know that I am a new mother; my son is only 6 months old & he is my first child so I am learning as I go HOWEVER why do people still feel the need to tell me what I am doing with MY child is wrong?? People started doing this when I was pregnant & it would drive me bonkers then but now it makes me absolutely insane when people look at me & say "just let him cry" or "what are you doing that for?"........WHY do I have to let my son cry?? WHY is that the ONLY way?? WHY????

Brayden has been waking up a few times a night & we let him whine/cry for no more than 5 minutes before I go in, give him his paci, turn on his aquarium & then he quites down & is back asleep in no time at all. Yes I am tired but he is my son & I am there to take care of him & give him what he needs.....even if it is at 11pm, 1am & 3am. I don't mind doing it & I am sure if he could find his paci on his own he would but he is only 6 months old & I am his mother & I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!!! I didn't ask for your advice........actually your rude ass started the conversation by telling me how tired I looked (FYI people don't want to hear that) & I just told you why I was a bit tired & you decided to then insult me again & make me feel like a bad mom by doing what I think is best for MY son!!!

People need to realize that we are all different & we all have different views & ways of parenting & just because my way is not your way doesn't make my way bad or wrong.........& that is all I have to say about that!!!