About 3 weeks ago (right before he turned 6 months), my son actually started sleeping longer periods through the night. This is probably related to the fact that I moved his nursing schedule apart during the day, from 2 to 3 hours. Once, he finally goes to sleep, he now only wakes up 3 times in the night before getting up for the day. He was also doing a good job of falling asleep in his crib, but the last week…GAAAAAAAH!!!!!! He doesn’t want to be in his crib. Well, he’d be fine with it, if I were inside the crib too, and he keeps trying to pull me down next to him. Unfortunately, I’m just a wee bit large for the crib. I’m pretty sure I’d destroy it. I almost think he’s going through separation anxiety early, except he’s doing fine in the church nursery.
I’m not a big fan of the crying-it-out method. I’ve actually purchased a book called “The No-Cry Sleep Solution” by Elizabeth Pantley. I haven’t finished reading it, but I need to soon. Again. GAAAAAAAH!!!!!! One of the things that the book has stressed is helping babies wind down by giving them a calm environment before bed and sticking to a schedule. I’ll admit, I haven’t always done a good job of this, but I have to do something. It’s just ridiculous. I can’t spend 2-3 hours every night trying to get him to fall asleep. I’ll confess that there have been a few times where I’ve walked away and let him cry himself to sleep after 10 or 15 minutes. I felt horrible, but I knew that A. I’d only let it go on for 15 minutes. and B. He’d keep crying even if I was in the room with him. So what was the point? I can’t stay with him forever. I have a home to maintain. Things to do. I’m frustrated, because he’s not a newborn anymore, and he was doing so much better.
It’s not even the falling asleep that is a problem anymore. He’s started to cry and refuse to sleep after his nightly feedings. I can’t go back to co-sleeping. I was happy to do it while the SIDS risk was high, but to be honest…I slept like crap. If he was in bed with us, there was no room. My left arm was always hanging off the bed, and I was terribly uncomfortable. If he was in his bassinet, he still woke up constantly. Hubby’s snoring woke him up. Either of us getting up to use the bathroom woke him up. It was, frankly, ridiculous. I was so happy and thankful when we moved him to his crib, and he started sleeping longer…and so did I.
And just when you think it’s going well…. Baby says, “Pysche!!” GAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
Hubby’s in Baby J’s room with him right now, and he’s screaming. Apparently Daddy doesn’t do the trick. He needs Mommy. So I guess I’ll go back in there. I think once I get him to go to sleep, that’s it for the night. I’m just going to bed. I have baby food to make, clothes to fold, the dishwasher to unload, etc. But it’ll just have to wait.
5 Comments
Aww, hang in there! I I know this age can be tough. It seems like there are always issues to contend with in a child’s early years of life, and sleep is constantly changing. My daughter is 3 and now she won’t nap anymore. It’s hard!
I keep reminding myself that it’s not forever, but when it’s late at night (or the middle of the night), it’s hard to remember. Good thing he’s so stinkin’ cute. Totally make up for it!! =D
This sounds a lot like my daughter and she just turned 1. 🙁 I don’t think she has ever fallen a sleep on her own, always by nursing or bottle when I worked nights. She still wakes up 3-4 times a night to nurse. When I put her to bed she is in her crib but after her first night feeding she refuses to go back to her crib, as soon as I lay her down she is up and crying so we have ended up co-sleeping. We never co-slept was she was littler because it scared me, but now that she is bigger it is the only way I can get *some* sleep. I hope things get better for you (and me!) soon!
Girly!!!! I feel for ya! But just like the saying goes…..this to shall pass! It sucks when they are so small because they cannot tell you what is wrong with them and it is up to us (usually the mom) to figure it all out……while holding a kicking….screaming and sometimes absolutely insane child but we do it and then they sleep and then we can recoup our love for them! I told you about Gabriel, after hubby left he went through separation anxiety and would wake up 6+ times a night, and not just wake up hungry….wake up angry, kicking and screaming sometimes for 30+ minutes. I was working, going to school and trying to do the taking care of house thing and I was at wits end. I can tell you that a lot of prayer, support from friends and family and just knowing that it will only last for a little while will get you through the roughest of circumstances! I can probably relate to anything your going through so you know at any point you can pick up the phone, or email me and I am here for ya! Sorry I am just now reading this article, hope he is feeling much better by now and I hope you are sleeping slightly better too! One other point to make, you look fine so don’t stress yourself about your weight!! If you have a nice….and safe area that you can walk or run at then go whenever you have the energy to and or try to find a decent price gym that offers childcare. But you are just doing a great job at this mom thing so do not be hard on yourself, do yourself a favor and find your pros and cons, that way when you have the next bundle of joy there will be far less stressors in your life!
Thanks, Lindsay! I was stressing over it, but I stuck with it, and he is sleeping better overall now. I mean, there are rough nights every so often (like a week ago) when he cries on and off for an hour, and I don’t know why he won’t sleep. But then there are days like today, when I put him down for a nap, and he immediately rolls over and closes his eyes- no fussing! I’m not looking forward to the baby/daddy separation this winter. You know, I’m going to be asking you for advice!