Sleeping Beauty

Working on sleep habits seems a lot different for an adopted child. Zoë came to us as a good, independent sleeper. She had obviously learned to comfort herself, playing with her fingers and tucka-tucka-ing herself to sleep. We ruined that sleep independence, but we so with our eyes open (literally, I'm afraid).

She was so tiny when she joined our family that it only made sense to give her bottles on demand, at whatever hour she demanded. So, while most 9-15 month olds would have been weaned off the middle of the night feedings, we were un-weaning her. The nutritional sustenance joined with the bonding experiences of knowing that her night cries were being answered and the comfort of having her new parents lying beside her, giving her the food and love she needed. Zoë has put on weight such that I think she now weighs more than the twins did at her age. She's healthy, round in all the right baby places and happy as ever. Mission accomplished except that we weren't getting much sleep and Zoë spent much of the night tossing and turning and was taking longer and longer to get back to sleep after having a bottle.

When we got back from T-Bay Kate was talking to a family doctor friend who said that Zoë is now such a healthy weight that there is no further reason to keep feeding her in the night. And that stopping the bottles is probably a good time to also stop lying next to her while she's trying to get to sleep. So, the new regime started a week ago and it seems to be a huge success. She has slept through the night 5 or 6 times in a row and gets herself back to sleep quickly if she wakes during the night. The initial getting to sleep is still inconsistent and she's definitely pissed off when we leave her room in the evening, but all three of us are better rested in the morning. So it seems like a success so far.