Rice Cereal and a Worn T-Shirt

These are the things I'm attributing to the success of last night's sleep! As you may already know, Emilia has been really struggling to sleep through the night these past couple weeks. She's been waking up 2-3 times each night.

My husband's Aunt Jill gave me some advice this past weekend about trying to put her down earlier and then when she wakes up to just give her the paci and see if she'll fall back asleep. She said she's done that with all 3 of her daughters and after a few nights, they were sleeping through the night with no problem. So, I gave it a try. It worked the two days we were out of town REALLY well, and I was so hopeful that it would continue. Then, Sunday night, back to screaming hysterically at midnight and 3:30.

I decided while sitting at work yesterday, half asleep, that it was time to bring out the big guns- Rice Cereal. There are mixed opinions on if feeding your baby rice cereal will actually make them sleep longer because their bellies are full or if it won't. But, I was getting desperate. (I should also mention that E's pediatrician said at her 4 month check up last month that we could start her on rice cereal whenever we wanted...) So, I picked it up on my way home and was pretty excited about starting my little girl on something new.

I got out her bumbo seat (the highchair is still in the box in the dining room...I'll tackle that another day...) and was going to feed her in the kitchen. I had Jason get his camera for some 'first rice cereal' shots (such a cheesy momma, I know!). Well, little did I know that Grammy, Poppy, Uncle Justin and Aunt Mimi (all hanging out in the living room) wanted to witness this event too. I was planning to do it in the kitchen to cut down on distractions for Emilia, since it was something new and I wanted her to be able to focus (even though the camera flashing with every bite might have also been distracting, haha)...but, I obliged the family and brought her into the living room for their viewing pleasure. (O: They were all really cute, oooing and aaaaing from behind me.

Emilia didn't seem to really enjoy this new experience...I think only a little of the cereal actually made it past her lips. She kept making the raspberry sound (that I think until now, she had forgotten she could make...we haven't heard it in weeks!) and most of the runny cereal would come back out. After several attempted spoonfuls, she started to gag a little (I think she stopped paying attention to what she was doing and let it run down her throat). That's when I decided we were done for the day. I'm not sure if we'll try again tonight, or if I'll give her a couple days and then maybe try oatmeal cereal...I hear babies like that better.

Anyway, that's the first half of why I think my baby girl slept from 8:30 until past 6:15 when I left this morning...

The other half is a very smart suggestion from my friend Jodie! She left it for me on facebook and I really appreciated her suggestion!! She said a mutual friend used to bring a used tshirt with her daughter to use during naptime...so, I thought 'What do I have to lose?' So, after the rice cereal experience, bathtime and nursing, I laid Emilia in her crib. I put a light blanket over her like always, and then took off the shirt I'd been wearing all night and laid it on top of the blanket.

I can't say whether it was the rice cereal or the used tshirt that helped my sweet baby, but whatever it was I'm so thankful!! When I woke up to my alarm at 5:17 (instead of Mia's cries), I couldn't believe it! I snuck into her room to make sure she hadn't got stuck under my shirt or anything and there she was. She was in the same position as when I put her down, with the blanket and shirt still neatly laying on top of her. She must have slept very soundly, because I can't remember the last time she stayed in the same position all night.

Yay for rice cereal and worn tshirts!! (O: