Wanna fight?

So, we’ve had a lot more sleep through the nights recently. In the past week, there have been a few… two of them were even back-to-back. There doesn’t seem to be any correlation between anything we do during the day and how well he sleeps. We may as well flip a coin. However, we’ve seen a drastic improvement in his ability to stay asleep. He’s laughed, cried, and made lots of other noises in his sleep. We go to his room expecting to find a baby waking up or already awake, only to find him still sleeping quite nicely. This wonderful little advancement is a bit of joy. Now, we don’t run at every sound in an effort to get there before he gets too worked up. Now, we wait for multiple sounds and simply don’t have to get up and check on him as often.

So, again, I don’t claim that anything we’ve done is *the* answer, but I like to think that what we’re doing is helping our son learn better “sleep habits” and that’s why he’s sleeping better. It could just be nature as he continues to grow up and learn on his own.

However, even though we’re getting more rest and have more energy, we have stumbled across a new challenge. While our son seems to be learning how to sleep better, he is also learning our techniques. It seems, that unless he is *very* tired, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to lay him down in his or our bed without him knowing that we’re trying to put him to sleep. As soon as he realizes it, he starts getting pretty fussy.

As I mentioned before, our son likes to get up on all fours and, eventually, just sit up. It’s a great way for him to keep himself awake. At first, this didn’t pose much of a problem. His skills at getting to all fours and sitting weren’t all that great, especially when he was tired. We used to be able to give him a little nudge and he’d sort fall over on his side and be laying back down. After a little while of this, he’d waste too much energy to make any more tries and just go to sleep. These days, however, he is *quite* skilled at getting to all fours and sitting up. He can do it in about 2 seconds when he’s on his game. Additionally, it is significantly harder to push him over.

So, he is essentially fighting us and our attempts to teach him how to fall asleep. We don’t take offense, but it is a new challenge when we thought we were moving closer to more easiness surrounding his sleep. At present, we’re considering something new that we found. It’s Dr. Hull’s method.

We have no idea what the method is, but what intrigued us was how much he stood behind it. First, it’s a DVD set, not a book. Video is so much easier… heck, I can even watch some while carrying my son around the sofa! Second, there’s a 30 day money back guarantee. Well, that’s just putting your money where your mouth is, and I respect that. Third, one of his DVDs has an entire section on adoption. There’s not much mention about the details, but just by acknowledging this need, Dr. Hull gets an extra point in my book. Fourth, his method includes strategies from newborn to toddler. That means he realizes that once you get your kid to sleep well doesn’t mean he’s always going to sleep well for the rest of his life. Score another point for Dr. Hull… he’s actually living in the real world. Lastly, there’s 7 days a week support via Email. Sure, we don’t know the turn around, but it looks like you’re Emailing Dr. Hull directly. If that’s the case, I applaud this man who is *actually* trying to help sleep deprived parents EVERY day.

So, with a money back guarantee, we figure it’s pretty much risk-free (I bet shipping and handling is not refunded). Once we get it and watch it, I’ll let you know what I think. If it works, then you’ll know what to spend your money on…

~ by Steve "Oz" on September 4, 2007.