one. it was storming. and even at 29, i still hate thunderstorms. i really thought our house might get hit by lightening. we are up on a hill...and all i could think of is that we're closer than any of the other houses.
two. pratt is an insomniac. his sleep habits haven't yet been ideal or anything...i mean, i realize he's an infant...but still, as clint said last night around 345, "it seems as though it's getting worse."
yes, yes it does. that coming from someone who got...oh...i dunno...let's see...a total of 3.5 hours of sleep last night.
i've tried several things. i just can't figure it out. anyway, i read a book today that basically combines several schools of thought on sleeping and babies. well, really kids of all ages.
i've figured out some things i'm doing wrong.
one. we don't go outside enough. supposedly their circadian rhythms are helped by seeing sunlight and being aware of nightime and the dark too.
two. i've been letting him fall asleep in his swing. sue me. anyone who has a kid knows that this is so easy to do. i mean, he's so peaceful there.
three. if he eats at 830, i try to wake him for a later feeding.
four. everytime he wakes in the middle of the night, i'm feeding him.
so the book basically tells you to do what you feel is best. but, it gives suggestions. like never let them fall asleep in the swing or bouncy seat. or even in your arms. i mean, you can...but you don't want to get in that habit.
and then there is the whole feeding him when he wakes up in the middle of the night deal. well, according to my friend allison and this new book...babies can be waking up to hang out with their moms. i mean, that's sweet and all...but i'd rather pratt want to hang out with me during the day. but whatever...i guess i'm cool with it...because it is pretty sweet. well, it's sweet right now at 330 pm...not so much at 330 am. so i've tried this now three nights. when i hear him start to wake, i run in and get him, put the pacifier in his mouth and rock him through waking up. it works...but i'm up again an hour later, rocking him again. which makes me think that he's hungry. and i want to give him a bottle...but then i fear the whole "one step forward...two steps back".
i'm telling you...raising kids is rocket science.
and...i'm now under the impression that if they are waking up early...like in pratt's case around 4 am FOR THE DAY...then it's because they are OVER tired. yes, overtired. so confusing to me.
so on average a baby from 0 to 2 months sleeps 7.8 hours during the night. and i read today where most infants that age start to get sleepy somewhere between 730 and 830. this makes sense. pratt is usually fighting sleep around this time. but now i feel like maybe his last meal should be at 830. and he shouldn't be woken up for another one. but then there is this part of me that doesn't want to get to sleep...and be awoken for a midnight feeding.
the book also said that babies shouldn't really be allowed to take any naps of length after 430 pm. are you kidding me? i'm supposed to keep that child up for four consecutive hours. there is no way. i couldn't do it if i stripped him naked and ran outside. he'd sleep through it.
anyway...back to that number one. we're going out more. so i put pratt in the jogging stroller and got ace. it's too darn hard to take ace on a leash and push the stroller. so i just trusted that ace would be good. (this is the first time i've ever done this...i'm a total neurotic. so it wasn't easy) we live in a subdivision...but it's out in the woods. i mean, all the lots are like 3 or 4 acre lots. and it's out of the city limits. so no dogs are on leashes out here...and none of them are locked up. we had a really good time. ace behaved so well. he sniffed out as many squirrels as he could, but he always came back to us when i called.
here's hoping for at least four hours of sleep tonight :)
5 comments:
my mom tells me that I was one of those babies. One of those who just wanted to play and wanted company at night. Wasn't hungry, wasn't dirty... I just wanted somebody to entertain me. Thanks for the tips - I'm going to use your blog as a parenting guide. :)
Hannah, I feel your pain. It was three years ago that our little girl was at that exact stage, and I was ready to tear all my hair out. Lack of sleep is awful.
I know the books say that you should do this, and you shouldn't do that, but you just have to find something that works.
We ended up discovering that our daughter liked the swing so much that she would sleep in it. We got so tired of not sleeping at night that we broke in and let her fall asleep in her swing with the assistance of a vacuum cleaner (the white noise was super soothing to her). She would sleep in the swing all night long.
Eventually, we weaned her off of the swing. She was about 6 months old, and it wasn't that hard. Since then, she's been a good little sleeper.
If you're in the mood for more reading on the topic,
Happiest Baby on the Block is a good one.
Good luck. The good news is that it will eventually get better!
well, it seems that babies like to throw all reason out of the window! it seems reasonable that if you (or he) goes to bed 2 hours later at night then he will awaken 2 hours later in the morning (or for the night-time feeding)...we've found that no matter what time we put him to bed, he loves to wake up at 3:45am or so. we were the exact same way, not wanting to go to bed before the midnight feeding. now he sleeps through and we've been putting him to bed earlier and earlier every night, but still get up around 3-4....so, where is the reason here? a friend told me that i can always leave Q at a firestation if he is being unreasonable...good idea!
So i am confused after reading this...what book are you reading? I agree you have to find what works for you. I think it is all about giving them a routine at night so they learn ok this means i am getting ready for bed etc. When we start that water in the bathroom our C is learning that means I get a bath and then I still have to feed her after that(more like a snack) and then she basically puts herself to sleep. She is sleeping through the nights now but the paci has worked for her too. She puts herself to sleep with it. I can't remember if he takes a paci or not. Some babies don't like them! ha!
Looking back though I think it is totally worth the loss of sleep, but yes sleep is nice too!!
that pic is great!
I dont know many babies under 6 months that sleep through the night, especially without a feeding. Don't be so hard on yourself - you'll figure out what works best for ya'll. It was around 6 months for us that everything fell into place - jackson is just one of those "i dont like to sleep much" kids. Thankfully our Pediatrician had 3 kids and only 2 were good sleepers. He told me it has much more to do with their personality than it does any "routine" you can try to put them in. Some parents have great sleepers and that makes the rest of us feel like something is wrong with what we are doing. Remember to trust your instict above any book - you know more than you think you do :)
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