At least, nothing I've wanted to talk about.
I've mentioned (and by mentioned, I mean devoted many many blog posts to) the fact that Phoebe has a hard time sleeping. And that her sleeping habits have resulted in two very tired parents. There was a day last week when I finally fell into bed for the night at 2AM, only to have Phoebe wake up within minutes of me putting her down. I couldn't handle it. I just started to cry and shake because I couldn't imagine getting up with her again. Thankfully Bryan took over and held her for the next three hours while I slept.
I woke up at 5:20, Phoebe next to me on my bed, her eyes wide open and her voice reaching maximum levels of deaf-making. She wasn't crying, she just wanted to chat and I clearly was not cooperating. Turns out Bryan had brought her into me twenty minutes before and asked if I could feed her in bed. I was completely asleep but told him (in a coherent, awake-sounding voice) that I could, and I proceeded to feed Phoebe. In my sleep.
Three hours of sleep and a full day of child-wrangling do not make for witty writing in the evening hours, which is why my posts have been short on words as of late.
Phoebe had her six-month well-baby check-up (that's a lot of hyphens) on Thursday and I explained to the very capable PA about Phoebe's sleep issues. She told me that at this point most of that behavior was probably learned and to try to get Phoebe to sleep on her own.
I wrote about teaching Peter and Cooper to sleep when they were ten months old. We've never tried getting a baby to sleep unaided as young as six months. Maybe it's the curse of being the third child that we even considered it, but I don't think I can take another four months of sleeping three hours a night.
So, on Thursday night we began. I nursed Phoebe like usual, read her a short Dr. Seuss book, sang I Am a Child of God while I held her and swayed, then I swaddled her and put her in her bed. And she cried. But here's the crazy part: she only cried for twenty minutes. And she slept for six hours!
She's been holding pretty consistently to sleeping for six hours and waking up at 3AM to nurse, which I can handle. I think my body is actually getting used to the new routine (except for the part where I can't always fall asleep when I put her back down at 4, that's not so awesome).
It's amazing what a difference going from a piecemeal night of five hours of sleep to seven hours of sleep will do for your mood. And coherency.
3 comments:
I'm so glad she's learning to sleep and sleeping well at last! I am a big believer in teaching babes to fall asleep on their own. I know that there's many who don't consider themselves a "good mom" if they let their babies cry to sleep, but let me tell you, I am not a "good mom" if I am losing out on sleep! I am cranky and sluggish and it's not fair to the baby or the older kids. Glad you are settling into a new more-sleep-filled routine! Hooray!!
Glad she's sleeping more and crying at night less! Hope it continues. PS I'm with you on not being able to go back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night. First it was just after nursing, but now it's after she cries and/or has nightmares.
I'm so happy to hear this, and I'm so happy to be reading your blog! It is a treat, however (unapparent to us) fatigue-ridden your writing may be.
I've had tearful nights like the one you described. They are always magnified by the fact that I go through a baby blues period from about months three through seven. Sleep during those months is vital. Fortunately (unfortunately? sigh) I made enough sleep mistakes with Everett that the next two kids were almost smooth sailing.
I'm smiling to myself as I think about your delicious night of sleep. I hope there are many more to come. Thanks again to the invite. I always anticipate your new posts.
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