Sleep...I Remember You!

Aren't sleeping babies the most beautiful sight? This week I have decided it is time to start getting more sleep. Tanner has been doing 8 and 9 hour stretches between feedings at night since he was about 2 and 1/2 months old so I know he can do it. Lately though he has been waking up 3 times a night just because he wants to be plugged back in or he wants to eat more. I have allowed it since he is, after all, my baby. I remember when Eliza was 4 and 1/2 months old the doctor told me to stop feeding her at night at let her cry it out and then we could both be getting the sleep we needed. I did and after 3 nights of long, hard crying (on both of our parts) it was done and she was an excellent sleeper.
I figure if I feed him before I go to bed he won't have to go more than 8 hours for sure. The first night I had to plug him in twice. The first time he was fine with that and went right back to sleep. The second time he was mad when I plugged him in and walked away. He cried for a while and then fell asleep. The second night I had to put his pacifier in once and he was quiet by the time I got back to my room. (I moved him into the pop-up crib in the family room so Nathaniel could sleep and not hear him as well. No reason for both of us to be up, right? His sleep is more important right now to keep his mind sharp. We haven't paid all of this money to have him fail the bar due to sleep deprivation.) The third and fourth night I fed him before I went to bed and I SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Two nights in a row of sleep. I fed him at 5:30 before I went out jogging one morning and the other at 6:30 when I got up. What a difference sleep makes. Last night he woke up once, but I couldn't blame him. It was 85 degrees in the house. I didn't swaddle his legs in the blanket since our A/C wasn't working and I didn't want him to be too hot. He had wiggled his way out of his blanket altogether and then his hands had knocked out his "fire". He went right back down once I plugged him in and swaddled him properly. I'm lovin' it!
This morning he took a 4 hour and 40 min nap. I had to run Nathaniel up to school and I had just put Tanner down so I called Lilian (our elderly neighbor) and had her sneak over to listen for him while we were gone. She said she saw me loading up all of the kids once just to bring Nathaniel to school and that I should just have her watch them while I was gone. I didn't laugh in her presence at the thought of her alone with my four rascals. I couldn't do that. They would eat her alive! Plus, it isn't hard to load them all up. We do it all of the time. I did decide to take her up on it for just a sleeping baby. After all, you NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY...even if it means you have to call in the neighbor for back-up. You do whatever it takes to get your kid into good sleep habits early.