About a month or so ago, Sam became a horrible sleeper. I'm not sure how my happy, easy-tempered, no-fuss baby became my worst sleeper ever, but he did. He went from two low-key night wakings to taking several attempts to get him in his bed and waking up every two hours through the night. Not conducive to happy peaceful Christmas feelings! And his naps were a disaster, lasting 30 minutes at most and only taking two a day.
Things were not happy around here. I hadn't want to blog about it and admit how bad things really were, but it feels good to come out of the closet. Hi, my name is Gwyn and my baby doesn't sleep.
Jared and I have been trying a few new tactics (including panicked prayer) and last night it seemed like it all came together. Sam slept great, going to bed at 8:00, only getting up once at 4:00 to eat, and then going right back to sleep till 8:00. And his nap this morning was an hour and half! I was able to put away laundry, get dressed, have preschool with Eleanor, clean a bathroom, do the dishes, make and eat lunch, and read some stories to Eleanor all before he got up. It felt so good to actually get a few things done, especially on a full tank of sleep.
I know I am writing this when it is too soon to tell if Sam has really changed his ways. But I am hopeful! And just knowing that he capable of sleeping better has made a world of difference. I readily admit that I am way too obsessed with how my babies sleep, but Sam has taught me that sometimes you just need to roll with the punches and do your best to function on four hours a night. And now that I've done that, six hours a night looks so luxurious!
So thanks for the early Christmas present, Sam! Hopefully you will keep up the good work and Santa will be able to put more than coal in your stocking!
I have no pictures of Sam sleeping (or not sleeping), so instead some pics of Sam trying rice cereal this last week:
I love how he is smiling at his spoon.
4 comments:
Good boy, Sam! What a fantastic present to give your mommy! What a good present to blog about this, Gwyn, for other moms out here who SWEAR our babies are the only ones who woke up every 2 hours. I'd be all for starting Sleepless Mommies Anonymous (well, with my next baby--we're out of the woods just now, I think). I feel like I've had one main goal the last 5.5 years of my existence, and that has been how to get more sleep. So don't feel obsessed . . . !
Merry Christmas! Stay warm--we are mighty snowy & chilly up here in Seattle (here's hoping the power doesn't go out this weekend :)). xoxo R
Hopefully this is the beginning of a good sleeping trend! I can't believe he's old enough for rice cereal!
Rachel - Thanks for the encouraging words. It's so true that there is a lot of pressure to have your baby "sleeping through the night" at 3 months, you almost feel abnormal if your baby doesn't! As an update, Sam has been doing better than before,but if I could just get him to nap longer than 30 minutes at a time, I'd be thrilled! Oh well - baby steps, right?
Jerilyn - I can't believe he's that old, either! The months have really flown by. We started him shortly after 5 months, so it was a bit early. We were hoping it might help him sleep better. No dice, but he sure does love eating it!
Oh how I feel your pain of no sleeping. I have been without sleep for a least a month!!! When I get more than 4 hours I feel like I can conquer the world. I hope things getter better. Maybe he is growing, teething, not feeling well.... who knows, but at least you know it won't last forever. I try to tell myself--someday you will wish he was small again and rock him to sleep :)
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