The Great Experiment

I am coming to learn that raising a baby is one giant experiment! Whenever we hit a snag, it's all about playing with different variables to figure out what works.

Our latest snag is a seriously crappy sleeping schedule, mentioned in the last post. For the last month, Elizabeth has awaken during the night at least once, usually twice, between her usual go-down at 8:30 and get-up at 5:30ish. It has been rough. Wonder Week 19, perhaps, but I think I've also created a bad habit. After each wakeup I go in and feed her--instead of what I should try, which is soothing her without feeding and even waiting several minutes to see if she will cry herself back to sleep. I guess my impatience has done me in, and when that telltale wail drifts from the next room at 2:30 AM and I stumble blindly towards my daughter, all I want more than anything in the world is to be back in bed, and I know that feeding her is the only thing that will quiet her down.

So that's one part of the experiment I'm still playing with. It's hard to play scientist during those bleary, can't-move-my-bones-out-of-bed-one-more-time moments, so it's been challenging.

Tonight I played with a more significant variable. After doing some research, I wanted to see if a little formula added to the usual nighttime nursing would fill up E. enough to sleep for longer stretches. (We're going to wait a couple weeks to start cereal, which is also purported to help babies sleep longer at night.) So tonight, I popped open my free sample of Similac for the first time and mixed it up with some thawed frozen milk, heated it up, and took it upstairs with us for the pre-bedtime feed. I nursed Elizabeth for a while first, then tried the bottle. She SUCKED it down, literally without coming up for air. She even nursed again after finishing the bottle!

Okay, we might have something here. I'm praying that sleep sustains her more tonight. And if she does wake up wailing, I'm at least going to try to delay the second feeding--we'll see how that goes.

Time to go check on my sweet sleeping science experiment :) Until next time!