My name is Amanda & I am a sleep junkie.
Well not as much as I used to be. I've always been one for my sleep. I love to snuggle into bed, especially in clean, crisp sheets & rest my head on my pillow. I love the 'cool side' of the pillow. I love to be covered up under blankets- the more, the better. If given the chance, I would always sleep for exactly 9.5 hours. I used to say 'I required 9.5 hours of sleep to function.'
If only that were a possibility anymore!
B will be 11 months old this week & he has 'slept through the night' 4 times in his short life. And by through the night I mean that he went down between 7:30-8pm, woke up once- before I went to bed between 10:30-11pm, & then didn't wake up until Hubs was getting up- 5:30-6am. Most of the time, he wakes up once before midnight, then once around 3am, & then when Hubs is up.
At this point, I'd kill for more than 3 hours of consecutive sleep.
We've been away from home for four of the past five (came home last night) nights & each night that we were away, B slept worse. Saturday night B was up every two hours. And we were awake from 3:30 - 5am. Luckily we were at my in-laws & when B woke up at 6:45, Hubs picked him up & took him to his mom, so that we could sleep in. Oh boy, did we! We slept until 9:30. Amazing!
I'm not sure what the issue is anymore. When we're away, B is typically sleeping in a pack & play, in the same room as us. I think a myriad of things bother him in that situation- the inevitable noise of us coming into the room, getting into bed, & tossing & turning in a bed that might as well be a tiny pile of rocks. When we're at home, however, I don't understand why he doesn't sleep better. I've tried everything I can think of- soothies (as in pacifiers), music, lovies, rocking, patting his bum, rubbing his back, different pajamas, hanging blankets of his crib to darken it, noise makers, a fan, & as much as I hated it , crying it out... the list goes on & on. Generally his awaking results in my nursing him back to sleep, because I KNOW that's the one thing that is guaranteed to work. However, nursing 2-3 times in the night doesn't really work for me anymore... I want my son to sleep. He is tired. He wakes up tired. He naps tired. He plays tired. I am tired. I wake up tired. I wish for naps, although they don't come. I am constantly tired. I think we both deserve more (as does Hubs, who wishes for a wife who wasn't so tired, come 9pm.)
Does anyone have any suggestions? How can I get this child to sleep? How can I get him to consistently sleep? ...how can I get some more sleep?
4 comments:
I wish I had the answer to this question because I am going through the same thing right now. We started co-sleeping at night about a month ago and that has at least helped the nighttime sleep- although it will be its own monster to break that habit. Keep us updated, I need ideas too!
Ok...I will put it out there. We used BabyWise. Our baby slept through the night at around 3 months and has ever since (he's 22 months). Even if you don't decide to use all the techniques they suggest, I think they have some great points. Granted the book is geared more toward younger babies. If you aren't so sure, don't pay money, just go to the library and take it out. I am so thankful that our guy started sleeping through the night so young--I cannot imagine what you are going through! My heart goes out to you!
I have that book actually... I'll take a look at it today, thanks!
Mandy - I totally feel your pain. Miss was the same way, typically waking twice per night, more when we travelled. The only way to get her back to sleep was to nurse her. I used the Ferber method, but instead of just going right to CIO, I did what he recommended when babies have become used to eating during the night. At least according to him, when babies get used to eating at night, they actually end up feeling hungry at the times they are used to eating, so he recommends cutting out one night feeding at a time by gradually pushing them back. So the first night I just made a note of what times she ate, and then the second night I picked a feeding and didn't go in to nurse her until a half hour after the time she had eaten the previous night. Then I pushed it back another half hour from the time she at the second night, and so forth until one feeding was gone. Then I did the same thing with the second feeding. It actually only took a few nights and she was sleeping through the night, and continues to do it now. GL!!
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