sleep.

sleep is as important to me as sonic drinks are.  happy hour one AND happy hour two has seriously been the best christmas present a girl could ever dream of.

so having max learn to self soothe has been like heaven on earth over here.

pratt did it right at 4 months.  it took one night.  looking back, i should have known that was way too easy. but i didn't.

so along comes screamer mcscreamerson and well, my whole world was flipped upside down. i really thought i would know what to do.  know when he was sleepy.  be able to sleep train him early.  and do it right the first time.

but no.  colic is a b.

max can scream for hours without breaking a sweat, tear, etc.  it's nothing for him to just scream.  i don't know what he's communicating from it.  because he's not in pain, at least, i don't think so.  he's just not happy.  and wants to be held.  so he can be fussy in your arms.  and not fussy in his bed.

i was quick to go to him when he would wake up and scream because pratt's room is right across the hall and i didn't want him to wake him.

so i wasn't as consistent as i should have been.

no, that's a lie.  i wasn't consistent at all.

until a week ago.  i decided he was 7 months old.  and that he needed sleep.  good, consolidated, uninterrupted sleep.

it took a few days.  maybe 3 or 4.  i never really let him cry for long.  i would go in, rub his back and sing to him.  naps have always been the hardest for him.  at bedtime, he would usually fall asleep while being rocked.  but not at naptime.  he has ALWAYS fought naps.

the last few days he has been waking around 5.  i go in, change his diaper.  turn his sound machine back on.  flip him on his belly.  put in his pacifier and he falls to sleep.

sleeps until around 7.  wakes, eats food.  takes a bottle.  sleeps around 9.  yesterday he slept from 9 until 1115.  he was up until 2.  slept from 2 until 5.  i think he went to sleep around 715.

he woke a bit ago at 540.  i did the same thing.  i know weissbluth says don't go to them before 6, but his diaper is so wet.  i can't stand the thought of him trying to sleep with it on.

so i think we're on to something.  and i just couldn't be happier.

so if you're in the midst of colic or sleep deprivation, know this: it will get better.  as modg said, "i've learned that everything is a phase."  true that.