Bedtime and the End of the Sleep Suit

First... A couple of people commented on my last post saying that Jordyn may need an earlier bedtime.

I agree with you. I'd like for her to have an earlier bedtime, but that just simply doesn't work for us, due to my job and needing to get a minimum amount of sleep to be able to function. I am going to try to move her bedtime back a little, but as soon as it starts to move her wake-up time earlier, I'm going to push it up again. I just can't go to sleep at 1 and wake up any earlier than 7 and be an even halfway decent mom (or employee). And that's assuming she's actually asleep for those six hours straight! Lately, she's not. And it's not like she's taking 3 hour naps late in the day on a regular basis; she's only done it twice (and the second time it was starting at 4, not 6:40). I think considering her sleep has been atrocious lately, both night and day, she just crashed by the time she made it that late in the day. I don't necessarily think it means her bedtime is too late - she's actually adjusted quite well to the later bedtime, and it really does mostly work best for both of us. I think between having a bad cold a couple of weeks ago, teething, and imminent developmental milestones, her sleep is just so bad right now it wouldn't really matter what time she went to sleep - she's still waking up in the night and sleeping restlessly sometimes when she is asleep. It's a work in progress...

That said, she's actually gone to sleep very easily the past few nights. It's as if the bedtime routine that we've done for months has finally kicked in as a sign that it's time to go to sleep. Or something. Or maybe she's just so tired from not sleeping well the night before. But regardless, I've been able to put her down in her crib "drowsy but awake" and she's fallen asleep pretty easily and quickly, which hasn't really ever worked before. I hope this keeps up!

Now... two nights ago, bedtime was quite... amusing? Yeah, it's funny now, but it wasn't so much at the time! To back up a little, one of the issues I can't figure out with trying to move her bedtime up is that it then gets too close to dinner, and she isn't hungry for her bedtime bottle. She's at the point where she gets three "meals" a day consisting of a bottle of formula and solids, and then a fourth bottle at bedtime. She's an EXCELLENT (almost too good) eater, so if there's not enough time between dinner and bedtime, she's not hungry and doesn't have room for the bedtime bottle, but it's an important part of the bedtime routine in that it helps her settle and relax. Plus, without it, I don't think she'd be getting enough formula each day. I'm not putting her to sleep later simply because of this issue, but it's something I'm trying to figure out.

Anyway, back to two nights ago... Dinner hadn't been too long before bedtime, so I made the bottle smaller than usual. We went upstairs and did the usual routine, except I had this random spur-of-the-moment idea to try to the sleepSACK again instead of the sleepSUIT. I wanted to try the idea of layering two pairs of pajamas to try to mimic the cozy feel of the suit (as suggested by the sleep suit company). I put two pair of lightweight cotton pajamas on her, but then thought they weren't tight enough on her arms (my theory was that her arms were the problem, as they're in sleeves in the suit but aren't covered at all by the sack), so I decided to put a sweater on her that has tighter sleeves, and then started to put her in the sack.

At this point, she was PISSED. She'd been on the changing table too long, and was probably getting hot, and at the same time, I was realizing that this was ridiculous and she was in way too many layers. So, I decided to scrap that plan and put her in the suit, so I started taking layers off of her. She was screaming. I got her down to one layer of pajamas and into the sleepsuit as quickly as I could, then picked her up and tried to calm her down. It worked a little, but she was still pretty upset, so I decided to give her the bottle to help her calm the rest of the way down, and then go to sleep - i.e. back to our regular routine.

Well, the bottle DID work. She calmed down and took the bottle as usual, but stopped sucking when there was maybe a quarter of an ounce left, which she doesn't usually do. I put her on my shoulder to burp her, as usual, patted her on the back a few times... and she proceeded to vomit the ENTIRE bottle (and I think some of dinner) ALL. OVER. both of us! I mean, this wasn't spit up, this was an absolutely MASSIVE amount of vomit. It was in my hair - and not just a little bit, either! - on my neck, all over my shirt, my jeans, and a little bit on the glider. I dim the lights pretty low for her bedtime bottle, so I couldn't tell where it was other than on me, but I could *feel* it all over me!

I was completely shocked and taken by surprise because this has never happened before. I mean, she was a straight-up spit-up fountain for a long time, but she hasn't been spitting up too much at all lately. And she's never been a big spitter with the bedtime bottle for whatever reason. So I didn't even have a burp cloth on my shoulder! I was immediately worried about her, but she was totally fine. Calm, smiling... like nothing had even happened. I put her on the changing table and stripped. Took off my shirt and my pants, because, well... I had no choice. I was COVERED. I needed a shower - badly - but I had to get her to sleep first. I briefly contemplated giving her more formula, because it had ALL come up, but then decided that was crazy. If she woke up hungry in the middle of the night, so be it - I'd feed her then.

And then I realized... the sleepsuit was full of vomit. No way could she wear it to sleep that night. It had to go right into the washing machine with my clothes. So, with no other choice, back into the sleepsack she went! I didn't put the sweater on her, but I did put the second pair of pajamas back on. Then I stood there, in my bra and underwear, and held and rocked her until she was sleepy, and then lay her down. My system these days is to put her down, and then sit down in the glider and shush or sing softly until she falls asleep (unless she starts to really cry or scream, which she hasn't done).

And then I took a shower, which was most definitely first priority, even though I was starving because I hadn't eaten dinner yet. And then I threw in a load of laundry including the clothes I'd been wearing and her sleepsuit. And then I grabbed some food, sat down to eat, and... she started to cry. I mean, I literally hadn't put the first bite of food in my mouth! She was sort of fussy-crying, tired-crying, not screaming-crying. And so, I let her cry while I ate. I was SO hungry, and I figured it may well be a rough night, given that she was in the sleepsack. I figured I'd end up going up and bringing her into bed with me sooner rather than later, which would mean it was my bedtime. And I had to eat first! I turned the monitor down low, put the tv on, and ate dinner.

And you know what? I eventually realized that I didn't hear her anymore. I checked the video monitor, and she was asleep! She woke up at 1:30 or so, I think, and I brought her into bed with me, and then she got really restless around 6:20, but seemed to still be asleep (although I wasn't), and then woke up maybe a little before 7. Basically how she's been sleeping lately, and not any worse with the sleepsack versus the sleepsuit! I think maybe bringing her into bed with me in the middle of the night lately when she's been waking up has helped, because I take the sleepsuit off at that point. I don't know. But then last night I put her in a new (bigger) sleepsack I got at a consignment sale, and she slept similar to how she had the night before, and she's in it again tonight. So far so good!

So, the vomit incident led to the end of the sleepsuit, which has actually taken a lot of stress away, because I was really worried about how I was going to get her weaned off of that thing without having to start from the beginning with her sleep.

My "plan" is that I'm really hoping that eventually, someday, she's going to just stop waking up in the middle of the night and start sleeping straight through again, in her crib. She starts each night in her crib, so if she'd just stay asleep, she'd be there all night. I've just given up on trying to get her back to sleep in her crib when she wakes up in the middle of the night, at least for now. And if she starts sleeping through the night again on her own, then I won't have to worry about how to make that happen. And if not? Well, I'll cross that bridge...

4/9/13, Edited to Add: She slept in her crib, in her sleepsack, from about 8:30 to 6:50 this morning! I did give her ibuprofen before bed, because I think her teeth hurt, so not sure if that had anything to do with it. But that was the first time in a while that she hasn't woken up in the middle of the night and come into my bed!

Also wanted to add that I don't know if the vomit was because of the bedtime bottle being too close to dinner, or because she was so worked up when she drank it, or maybe a combination.