Six Hours

21,600 seconds = 360 minutes = six hours = a fourth of a day = 0.0357142857 weeks = 0.0178571429 fortnights = 0.00821372779 months = 0.000684477316 years = 0.000171119329th of a presidential term = 6.84477316 × 10^-05 decades = 6.84477316 × 10^-06 centuries = 6.84477316 × 10^-07 millennia ...

After a day it starts to become meaningless, but when Celeste managed to go to bed a little before 6:00 p.m., wake up a little before 10:00 p.m., feed somewhere around midnight and then wake for the day at 5:47 a.m. ... well, six hours is a significant period of time.

Before, she would go to sleep sometime between 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., wake to feed sometime between 10:30 p.m. and midnight, wake to feed sometime between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., and then up for the day between 5:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Last night we started what will hopefully only be a weekend project of getting her to sleep through the night more.

She was tired before Evelin got home, so I fed her a bottle and got her to sleep before 6:00 p.m., she peeped around 8:00 p.m. and a little before 10:00 let loose with a lot of tears. I went in and tried to give her a pacifier, but she kept swinging her arms at me. Eventually, I got the pacifier past her wails and she quieted right down. I spent a little time patting her back, but did not pick her up, and she stayed quiet.

About 10 minutes later, after I'd brushed my teeth, I went in to check on her and she was wide awake, but quiet, just playing with her blankie. Within a half hour, she was back asleep.

Around 11:30 p.m., Evelin poked me to and try to sooth Celeste back to sleep again, but she wasn't interested in the pacifier this time. I did get her to calm down, but she continued to whimper for a while and Evelin went ahead and fed her around midnight. (It had been six hours since she'd last ate afterall.)

At about 5:30 a.m., we started hearing some noise from Celeste's room. It was gradually building, but we wanted her to wait until after 6:00 a.m. By 5:45 a.m., however, it was clear that she wasn't going to just play quietly, so we started the day.

I'm sure I am jinxing things by blogging it — why should this time be any different? — but if my soothing her at that first wake forestalls the first night feeding enough to drop the second night feeding, well, then six hours feels a lot like a full night's sleep to me. (Of course, the real test will be if my leaving to go to work at 3:00 a.m. becomes a cue for her to wake or not ...)