Ferberizing, Night 2

Let me just say it: I ♥ Richard Ferber! That man is my hero!

Last night, we plunked Nikos down in his crib, wide awake, at 7:30pm. He was asleep by 7:40, and didn't wake up again until 2am!!! I fed him, put him back in the crib, and he fell asleep in a few minutes without crying at all. I didn't hear from him again until 5:45, which is pretty darn close to his regular wake-up time of 6am, so I fed him and we began our day. I cannot believe how effective Ferberizing has been for our little guy!!! I had heard plenty of stories about how it worked well for some people and not for others, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I am thrilled!!

And now, a caveat: I think our guy might have an ear or sinus infection, which could explain why he's slept so much... We have an after-hours appointment at noon today, so we'll see what's going on. He's still happy and smiley, and he doesn't have a fever, but his snot has changed from clear to yellow (I know, TMI) and his eyes started oozing yellow goop yesterday. This kid has been sick for so long now-- one of the drawbacks of putting him into daycare with other germy kids! He had croup and then, just as that was clearing up, he came down with a bad cold (which he then shared with his mommy-- I even stayed home from work for a day, it was so bad!). Now, instead of getting better, it seems to have progressed into something else. sigh... The upside to all this is that he usually sleeps LESS when he's not feeling well... so I bet that the Ferberizing is actually working! And hey, even if it's not- he's still getting into a fabulous sleep routine, which is just as good!

Anyhow... The new goal (assuming we can maintain this excellent nighttime routine!) is to work on taking three decent-sized naps during the day. Nikos prefers to take "naplets" of about 30 minutes, and he takes a bunch of them. Ferber says this isn't good, because the first 10 minutes of a nap are the most rejuvenating-- so if Nikos gets too many of those little rejuvenating bursts throughout the day, it might hinder his ability to sleep at night. So we are now attempting to consolidate the naplets... wish us luck! :)

**UPDATE (2/17): No ear or sinus infection-- just a bad head cold and possibly a little bit of pinkeye (hey, why not??). Turns out our little guy isn't so little, though... he tipped the scales at 15 pounds even at his appointment!