Please HELP us!

Hello ALL!!!
I have been away from the "blogging" world for some time, but I am making a personal goal to complete some important posts this week! This is the 1st and the most urgent!!!

Our SWEET, ADORABLE Britan is STILL NOT sleeping well at night!!!!!!!! For instance, last night she was back and forth between me and Brooks from 1 AM to 4 AM!!!!!!!!!!! What is wrong, what should we be doing, why can't/won't she SLEEP??!!!

I posted several months ago about the "Magic of the Babywise Book" and that helped for approximately 2.2 seconds (MAYBE 3 weeks) and when I say it helped/worked, I mean she wasn't getting up ever hour and 1/2, she was only getting up every 4 hours, WHICH at the time was a HUGE improvement. BUT once we got her eating cycle regulated, her sleeping routine never quite reached PERFECT!

And then we put her on a cruise ship for 3 nights and then "forced" her to have fun in Orlando for another 7 days (she really had fun, I am just thinking now that this has probably prohibited progress). So we come back from a magical vaca (which I will blog about later this week) and she is off track again, which we did expect, but here we are almost 2 months later and still no consistency to be found!!!!

I should have started keeping a sleep journal a long time ago, but this is what I remember from the past week............

Wednesday was decent, went down around 9, got up at 4:30, ate and slept till 6:30!! GOOD NIGHT

Thursday TERRIBLE went down around 9, was up 1 UNTIL 3, most parts SCREAMING, so I think teething.

Friday better than Thursday, down at 9, up at 3ish, down till 7!!!

Saturday ok....down at 9, up at 11:30, down till 5....

Sunday PERFECTION!!!!!!! Down at 9 up at 5:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Down till 7:30!!!!!!!!

Last night......TORCHER! down at 9, up at 1 AM  until 4 AM!!!!!

OMG, there is NO pattern, you see!! Please help me!!!

Here is a list of things that might answer some questions for you:

EARS! My 1st thought too, but she has NO symptoms (I know it can be ears without symptoms), but still nothing, not sensitive to touch or no pulling. ALSO, last month when she went for her check up, her ears were PERFECT and that night she had one of these episodes of 1-4 AM! SOOOO it makes me think, not ears!!

TEETH!!!! I wonder daily! I was always the person that said babies don't teeth for months before getting teeth, but I am now EATING those words! She only has 2 teeth, she will be 10 months tomorrow, according to the "chart" she should have 4. I truly thought she was getting them months ago, but still nothing. Also, at the doctor visit she said she saw them trying to POP through and here we are a MONTH later no TEETH!!! SOOOOOO MAYBE!!!!!!!!!!???????

Nightmares!! I question, do babies have nightmares, sometimes the only thing that calms her is to be held tightly and she refuses to get back in her bed!

Reflux! I am convinced that it is GONE and will NEVER come back!! She hasn't had her meds since Feb. and is doing fine without them!

Growth Spurt?! I am not sure...she is on her eating schedule and she appears to get full at those meals, she doesn't cry for more and sometimes doesn't always eat it all....

CRYING IT OUT!!!! Oh, yes! I was a believer! This was what helped us from Babywise, but honestly once she has cried for 15 minutes at 2 in the morning, who can sleep anymore. SO we do let her cry in 15 min. intervals and at times longer and it doesn't help and doesn't stop!!!!

Routine! My house is run on a routine, her eating is routine, her napping is routine, her bedtime is routine!

I am also terrified because we are going to Washington State in a few weeks...her 1st time flying and a different time zone should really improve her schedule, right?

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO for all the experts out there...send me your thoughts and any other suggestions!!! BECAUSE not sleeping for 10 months is starting to show its toll!!!!!


Thanks and LOTS of love from the Sleepless Derting's!!

Stayed tuned till tomorrow!!!!

Where have I been?!?!?

I am really not sure of the answer.....

Life has not been too crazy lately, but I guess you could say steady! We have been spending lots of family together at home saving our pennies for our upcoming Spring Break vacation....and hopefully for the "new" car that Brooks and I have yet to agree on!

Bryson is well on his way to kindergarten graduation, sadly, and he is also busy playing soccer for his new coach aka Daddy. I can't believe how much he has CHANGED in the last year. We had kinder screening at school last week and I can't even remember Bryson being so shy and apprehensive like some of those sweet upcoming kinders....hard to imagine that a SHORT year ago he was little and shy and now he acts like a grown up that reads and writes and everything else a 6 year old does! SAD, but FUN all in ONE! Soccer season is in full swing and the team is starting to figure each other out and hopefully before the season is over they will grab a win!!!!

Britan is well on her way to being a BIG girl. She has figured out how to crawl the normal crawl, pulling up on things, trying to stand alone, clapping, waving and sometimes talking....where has my baby gone???? I can't believe how big she has gotten and sooooo fast! I do have to admit she is still not the best sleeper..we just can't find that happy medium that makes her sleep....Brooks thinks that she will be this way always and honestly we have adjusted to the frequent wakes during the night. Yes, we are still using some Baby Wise tricks, but my girl has NEVER slept for more than 6 hours at a time...4 tops and that is on a rare occasion. She loves to be outside and LOVES to laugh at her brother and all of his silly tricks! She is still a baldy and still loves to wear her bows!!!

Brooks is helping out, a little, with girls soccer at West and he has taken on the new role of U6 soccer with Bryson....which he is still a little upset that I signed him up to coach, but he is coming around a little more each week....just like I knew he would! Other than that Brooks is Brooks.....

Me...work is slowly calming before the EOG storm comes blowing through and that's about it for me too....
nothing really new for me either!

We are all just counting the days till we are sailing the ocean blue to the Bahamas, visiting Mickey's house, riding the Hulk at Universal and playing with the stingrays at Sea World.....

Hope you are well and enjoying the AMAZING weather!! Take care and hopefully I will post more sooner than later!
Love, Alysha