Sleep Baby Audrey, Please Sleep

Exhausted and not sure what to do about Audrey's sleeping, or lack of sleeping, I talked to my sister, once again. She and I have been brainstorming for over a month about each plan, why it didn't work, what to tweak and what to try next. So far,we had tried shh and patting her. We had tried letting her cry in her room alone, twice. Each time for several nights. We had tried the presence plan- where Phil hung out in her room, consoling her. That lasted about five or six nights, with no results. We had tried formula. We had tried stretching out her feedings by rocking, walking, and holding. We had tried hiding me for a couple of nights and having only my mother or Phil respond to her. None of the plans offered by books or doctors was working.


Sam asked me what I thought I was going to do next. I was waivering between sleeping with Audrey ( which offered the most sleep, but still not much) or trying the shh/pat method again. I thought the pick up, put down method by the Baby Whisperer might work, but I was sooo tired and the thought of having to execute that plan sounded physically exhausting. And I wasn't totally convinced it would work. It seemed sooo similiar to the presence plan that Phil tried. As Sam and I talked, we decided that maybe Audrey was overstimulated by the presence plan. For the five days Phil camped out in Audrey's room, he sang, quoted verses, rubbed her back and patted her. Maybe a lesser version of this- just patting and shhing- might work. But I still was reluctant. I used something like the pick up, put down method with Kristen. I remembered two years ago, leaning over Kristen's crib for several minutes, several times a night for several weeks and I remembered how uncomfortable and exhausting it was and I just didn't think I had it in me to do it. The Baby Whisperer said the first night might include you picking up the baby and putting her down 330 times !!! So Sam said, "Well maybe I could come and do it? Maybe a non-parent would be best anyways. " And so Sam took off work, drove from Austin, TX to come pat and shh my daughter to sleep. Thank God for her !!!


So with God and an army of prayer warriors (my friends, my family, Phil's friends, Phil's family, and Samantha's friends) supporting us, we began yet another sleep program.

The first night, Audrey woke up four timess. Each time, Samantha would pick Audrey up, console her, lay her back down and then shh and pat. After the first arousal, Aunt Sam picked Audrey up once, put her down and then patted and shhed for two mintes. What ??? Are you kidding?? The second wake up was a little more difficult and Sam picked Audrey up 12 times and was shh and patting for 15 minutes. The third wake up was feeding time, so after drinking a bottle, Audrey fell asleep with little assistance. The last wake up of the night took 25 minutes with Aunt Sam picking her up ten times.



Night two was very similiar. Audrey woke up five times. The first wake up took three minutes of patting and shhing with only one pick up. The second arousal took 23 minutes with Aunt Sam picking Audrey up 13 times. The third wake up was feeding time and Audrey fell asleep unassisted after her bottle. The fourth wake up took three minutes of patting and shhing and Aunt Sam picked her up one time. The last wake up of the night was a little more difficult. Sam picked Audrey up 8 times and patting and shhed for 45 mins



Night three was awesome !!! The first wake up was just a few minutes after being layed down for the night. Aunt Sam consoled Audrey in three minutes and only had to pick her up one time. The next wake up was feeding time. Audrey slept six hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her next and last wake up took ten minutes of consoling and only one pick up.



Night four, Phil took over. Audrey woke up four times, but was quickly put back to sleep each time.


Night five and six were similiar. Audrey had a few wake ups, but a couple minutes of Phil patting and shhing put her back to sleep.

But then coughing and teething kept Audrey up nights seven and eight. Phil and I were up all night, hoping and praying that Audrey would just go to sleep.


Hopefully sleep is coming soon for the O'Neal house.