Well, it was a sense of achievement for me last night as Em managed through the night with only 1 feed! I tried really hard not to pick her up when she stirred and made little cries and yay, we kinda made it!
I realized that Em seemed to be falling into a pattern of waking at 1am and 4am every night so my aim is to push the 1am waking a bit later and eliminate the 4am feed altogether so she only wakes once. Last night was pretty successful on that account!
So here's what happened: Em still woke at 1am and I fed her as usual (added in a bottle in the hope it would keep her fuller for longer, although she didn't take much of it so we returned to the boob). And then I put her down to sleep and as usual, she woke at 4am again, which I normally presume is for a feed, but last night, I decided to try to hold it off for as long as I could, just to see if she could let sleep overcome her instead of hunger. And she did! I managed to pat and shush her past one more sleep cycle, but come 5am, she was fidgeting again and made a little cries. I thought I might have to feed her then, was almost going to pick her up, but then realized she was dozing in and out of sleep - i.e cry and fidget then still for about 10 seconds, then fidget and cry a little again and then become still... So I decided to resist picking her up and continued shushing and patting some more. This only worked for 10 mins at a time before she would stir again so by about 5.30, I picked her up to see if she would settle without crying for a feed and she did!
So then I slept with her in my arms, all the while shushing and patting as she stirred through every sleep cycle and we made it! Until I reached for my phone to check on the time and accidentally made a loud bang that woke her. That was alright then because it was 6.45am (yay!!) and she was due for her 7am feed anyway.
I'm so happy!!!
Although she didn't self settle the last few sleep cycles and we broke all the rules - i.e me rocking her and holding her to sleep - at least I know she CAN last through without that extra feed! Let's hope I can do it again tonight!
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