Consistency...days 3 & 4

And it continues! I absolutely hate every bit of hearing Vaughn cry, but he has started to cry for smaller amounts of time so I know it's working. I have read as much about sleep training as much as possible. The difficult thing is that most basic sleep training literature focuses on nighttime sleep, which Vaughn has down to a science. However, because he's not getting enough sleep during the day, he has started to wake up earlier from being overtired. That darn cortisol!

Yesterday went okay. He napped in the car on the way to and during the first part of Stroller Strides. Then, he cried for a little before sleeping for 45 minutes for his first nap. Between his naps, we introduced his first solids! Then, his second nap was nonexistent since he cried the entire time. We got him up, stimulated him, then went right into the bedtime routine a little earlier than usual. He ended up waking at 2am, but after nursing ended up sleeping until his normal time.

Today has been the best yet. We got up to go to Stroller Strides even though it was cancelled because of the rain. I wanted to stick to the same schedule so we got ready at our normal times, then went to Barnes and Noble. I made sure we got home at the time we normally would. Then, after eating and playing, I put Vaughn down for his first nap of the day. He only cried for 37 minutes before sleeping for 45 minutes. Then, we played some more, I nursed him, and then he ate some cereal (day two of solids), and was ready for nap number two. This time, he cried for four minutes and 24 seconds. He only slept for 30 minutes. When I went to get him, I could tell he was still super tired so I changed him, rocked him to sleep, and put him back down. He screamed and screamed making me feel TERRIBLE so I tried my back up plan - the swing. Now, he has been sleeping in his swing for an hour. After I finish this post, I'm going to go get him up so he doesn't sleep too long. Can you believe it, I'm concerned about him sleeping too long for a nap. Go Vaughn, Go Vaughn!

So regardless of how nap number three goes today, he's doing really well and has progressed. Even though I feel like I'm being tortured when I listen to him crying, I know that this is helping his overall health as he needs sleep to help his brain and body grow. Dave keeps telling me I'm setting Vaughn up for success...the harder it is today, the easier it is tomorrow.