THE DUCOMMUNS

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We are the Ducommuns! There are 4 of us now-Craig, Laura, Zamara, and now Mahashavah, our 1 year old son. We adopted Zamara from Ethiopia in 2008. Our son is also from Ethiopia and we are hoping to bring him home soon. We live Flagstaff Arizona. We are so glad you found us. Take a look around and don't forget to leave us a message.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Nighttime sleep issues

Hello everyone!  We have been very busy.  I begin work in 1 week.  I can't believe my 3 month maternity leave is coming to an end.  

Zamara has been working on cutting her 2 front teeth the last couple weeks. That has put her in quite a cranky mood lately.  She is the most cranky in the middle of the night.  Last night was one of the worst for us.  She woke up at 1:45am and kept us up and down until 4:30am crying.  We tried everything, Ibuprofen, diaper change, rocking her to sleep, singing, a small bottle, etc...nothing worked! At 4:30 Craig and I both decided to just let her "cry it out".  We closed her bedroom door, closed our door, turned off the baby monitor, put in earplugs, and went back to sleep!  We turned on the monitor briefly at 5:15am and all was quiet. We didn't turn on the monitor again until 7:30am.   She was awake and crying just slightly.  I went in and she seemed like the usual old Zamara. Smiling and happy (although a little extra tired all day) So I am guessing she slept for at least part of the time we had the monitor off.  

All of this may not seem like a big deal, but this was the FIRST time we have let her cry it out before.  To be honest, I cried a little bit last night too.  It was hard to just let her cry!  People have been encouraging us to do this when she doesn't want to sleep at night.  Up to this point, we just haven't been ready to do it yet.  Since she was adopted we worried that she really didn't know if we were going to come back or not.  At this point, though, she has bonded very well with us and I don't think we need to worry about that issue so much.  

Friends and family have encouraged us all day.  After Craig went into work today I went over to our friend Brian and Debbie's house for breakfast.  I told them the whole saga from the night before.  They were so encouraging that we did the right thing.  I cried a little bit before breakfast at their house too!

Hopefully tonight will be a good night.  If not, I feel like I may have a little more confidence to allow her to cry herself back to sleep.  

Well that is what has been going on lately.  Not too exciting for most people, but it has been a big deal to us.  

I hope everyone had a good halloween. We will be posting some more pictures soon.

Blessings,
Laura

3 comments:

tisha said...

Cutting teeth doesn't sound like fun. I hope tonight goes better for you.
Tisha

E said...

Awww.... Sounds rough! However, you guys have to do what works best for your family of three! I know lots of very happy, well-adjusted kids whose parents have let them cry it out. That wasn't right for our family, but it may very well be what Zamara needs & what is right for you three. Hang in there. I hope things improve quickly! I know this has been a difficult road and I hope things smooth out, especially with you going back to work soon!

XOXO
Erica

Kris said...

You might want to try Hyland's Teething Tablets. They always helped Kaara sleep when she was teething. I usually gave her tylenol at bed time and then if she woke up in the middle of the night a water bottle with the teething tablets in it.