The sleep training began months ago..... but we have failed and failed and failed. Finally about 1 month ago I couldn't take it anymore. Neither could J.D.. Monty had been waking up every 1-2 hours. He was throwing fits every time he woke up and would get frustrated with nursing. His two bottom teeth had just come in and needless to say, we weren't functioning because of lack of sleep. Someone even asked me if Monty had allergies because of the puffiness under his eyes.... no allergies, just no sleep. I was done. No more.
SO it began... with batman pi's...
We bot him some new pi's that were more breathable and didn't make him sweat so much. Also, changing him was much easier than unbuttoning a one piece pj suit.
It started with me on the couch, and Monty in a pack n play since we don't have room for a crib. J.D. and Dawson were sent to our bedroom to shut the doors and get a good night's rest. For 2 weeks, I would lay Monty down with a binkie and walk away after one late night feeding. I would wait 2 minutes, go back and lay him down, and walk away for 3 minutes... I would add a minute each time. I wouldn't feed him if he woke up, I'd just lay him back down and walk away.
WELL, this was exhausting after 2 weeks. BUT it was good because I was able to come to terms with the fact that he really was okay without eating and he wasn't hurting himself. SO then I just started to lay him down, walk away until he went to sleep. If he woke up, then I would lay him down and walk away without going back in. He CRIED and CRIED, but after 1 week of this he did it! He slept through the night!! I didn't, but he did!
This was the morning after he slept through the night!
He did it again and again.... Then after 4 straight days, my mom came into town and we had a chaotic weekend. He only woke up once or twice, but still.... my hard work and long nights were reversed. THEN we had to get 2 immunization shots. That blew it all! He screamed and whined for 2 days straight. LITERALLY with no exaggerations. He screamed unless I was holding him... but still even then. Since then, (a week ago) he has had a constant runny nose, red eyes, diarrhea, stuffiness, and aches.
He has also started throwing these fits about going to sleep. He will toss and turn and whine and scream when he is so tired and refuses to go to sleep. This got so bad yesterday, I finally put him in the high chair with a little food and I turned around to finish making dinner....
2 minutes later I found this.
He is this exhausted. So I'm going to return back to letting him cry it out once he gets feeling better. We have accomplished a lot even though we've regressed a bit. He isn't eating through the night and sustains himself for a good 8-10 hours. He isn't waking up as much as he was... and he is becoming better with self soothing through out the whole day. I also can just give him his binkie and he lays right back down by himself. I don't have to do anything but put the binkie in.
Other than that, he is such a cute little boy. He loves Dawson and loves Dawson's approval (laughter) over anything he does. He giggles right along with him. Dawson has taught him how to 'mark it with an M' on Dawson's hand for the Patty Cake song. It's amazing! Dawson also taught him how to motion 'bye bye."
Dawson loves to have Monty use his stuff. Above Monty is sitting in Dawson's chair eating a sausage pancake corn dog.... Dawson loved it so much he took the picture.
Monty loves to pull out the dvd's, crawl like a stink bug, and pull on my hair. He is very persistent and can hold a straight face longer than anyone I know.
He is standing on his own and can stand from a sitting position. It's so neat to see him grow and develop. He is SO strong. He has a deep crispy voice which is crazy for this little baby. Everyone comments on how his voice is already deep... lol! He is the ward's favorite baby and buddy. He is passed around while I teach my 6-7 year olds. The last thing I want to mention is that how much he loves the outdoors. Monty begs to go outside. He will stand next to the door and bang and bang and yell and yell. He will crawl outside so fast if the door opens for just a second. If the door gets shut before he makes it outside he cries with anger.
It's the funniest thing to see how smart he is at 9 months.
He is such a cute baby and we love him so much!
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