I'm not doing so well with my reslolution to blog more this year. Oh? You've noticed? Sorry about that.
I'm going to take a moment and be real and completely honest with you here. Things have not been easy around our household lately. Aeralyn has decided that sleep is her enemy, and she fights it with every fiber of her being day and night. Now, most of you know that she's never been a good sleeper, even from day one. I read so many books about how newborns sleep up to 18 hours per day and how you, the new mother, should sleep when the baby sleeps to get your rest.
Well, guess what? Aeralyn must have heard that they were saying that nonsense about babies, and she decided that she was sent here to this world for the sole purpose of proving them wrong. And oh boy, is she doing a great job of proving those jerks wrong.
She's always been a big fan of the "cat-nap". After fighting sleep for 20 mins to a half hour, she will finally give in and crash. Then, she wakes up 15 to 30 minutes later refreshed and ready to go for a few more hours. I rarely get the luxury of her taking an hour long or longer nap so that I can relax for a few minutes and get things done around the house. And when I say rarely, I mean maybe once a month if I'm lucky. Instead, I have learned to do things at lightening fast speed. During a 15 minute cat-nap, I can empty the dryer, put the clothes from the washer into the dryer and start another load, unload and re-load the dishwasher, take a potty break, fold the clothes from the dryer, eat lunch, sweep the kitchen, and put up a Tatertot Tuesday post.
I've just accepted this as our way of life, and it's really not that big of a deal. She has always slept pretty good at night, in my opinion anyway. I know I've gotten many a weird look when I get the question "Is she sleeping through the night?" and I say "no". I hear stories of babies that slept through the night at a month old, never to make a peep until 8am. That sounds fantastic, but that's not Aeralyn. She is 7 months old and has never, not once, slept through the night.
Her pediatrician told me at her 4 month check up that she should be sleeping through the night by now. When I met his statement with silence, he said "She is sleeping through the night, isn't she?".
"No, not yet. But it's not that big of a deal."
And it's not that big of a deal. It's not like I'm walking the hallway of my house at 2am with a screaming baby for hours on end every night. That's actually only happened one time since she has been born, so I think I'm getting pretty lucky on that deal. But she does wake up several times a night, and the only way to get her back to sleep is to nurse her.
On a normal night, she will go to bed between 8:30pm and 9:30pm in her crib, she will sleep until 12:30am - 1:30am, and I will go get her and bring her to bed with us. I'll nurse her back to sleep, and then she will usually wake up 1-2 more times to eat, and that's it. I was thinking that was pretty good, even though I know she really should be sleeping through the night by now.
But this past 3 weeks has been a comepletely different story. She has went to bed in her crib at her usual time, only to wake up 30 minutes to an hour later. Then for the rest of the night, she is up atleast every hour, sometimes every half hour.
Every. Single. Night.
I'm more exhausted now than I was when we first brought her home from the hospital. And the worst part is, I think I've created this monster. She's not hungry in the middle of the night, she is only nursing for comfort. And I've let her do it. And now? I don't know how to stop it.
I am seriously at my wits end. I'm so tired, and so incredibly grouchy. I'm pretty sure no one wants to be around me right now because I have bitten the heads clean off of every one I know. My house is a wreck and I have had almost no "me" time. I think that last part is what is really getting to me. I have blogs piled up in my Google Reader from these past weeks that I haven't had any time to read. And obviously, I haven't commented much either. I'm sorry about that, and I promise I still love you. I just really don't have the time right now.
And I'm sure you can guess how the Healthy Living is going....
So, if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know why. We've got to make some major changes around here. And if you're sitting there with some advice, I'd love to hear it. Especially if it's something other than putting cereal in her bottle (tried it a long time ago, didn't work, and now she will NOT take a bottle), or letting her cry for hours on end (I'm physically unable to ignore her crys). Or, if you don't have any advice, that's okay too. I just need to know that we're going to get through this. Please tell me there's a light at the end of this tunnel.
I'm going to take a moment and be real and completely honest with you here. Things have not been easy around our household lately. Aeralyn has decided that sleep is her enemy, and she fights it with every fiber of her being day and night. Now, most of you know that she's never been a good sleeper, even from day one. I read so many books about how newborns sleep up to 18 hours per day and how you, the new mother, should sleep when the baby sleeps to get your rest.
Well, guess what? Aeralyn must have heard that they were saying that nonsense about babies, and she decided that she was sent here to this world for the sole purpose of proving them wrong. And oh boy, is she doing a great job of proving those jerks wrong.
She's always been a big fan of the "cat-nap". After fighting sleep for 20 mins to a half hour, she will finally give in and crash. Then, she wakes up 15 to 30 minutes later refreshed and ready to go for a few more hours. I rarely get the luxury of her taking an hour long or longer nap so that I can relax for a few minutes and get things done around the house. And when I say rarely, I mean maybe once a month if I'm lucky. Instead, I have learned to do things at lightening fast speed. During a 15 minute cat-nap, I can empty the dryer, put the clothes from the washer into the dryer and start another load, unload and re-load the dishwasher, take a potty break, fold the clothes from the dryer, eat lunch, sweep the kitchen, and put up a Tatertot Tuesday post.
I've just accepted this as our way of life, and it's really not that big of a deal. She has always slept pretty good at night, in my opinion anyway. I know I've gotten many a weird look when I get the question "Is she sleeping through the night?" and I say "no". I hear stories of babies that slept through the night at a month old, never to make a peep until 8am. That sounds fantastic, but that's not Aeralyn. She is 7 months old and has never, not once, slept through the night.
Her pediatrician told me at her 4 month check up that she should be sleeping through the night by now. When I met his statement with silence, he said "She is sleeping through the night, isn't she?".
"No, not yet. But it's not that big of a deal."
And it's not that big of a deal. It's not like I'm walking the hallway of my house at 2am with a screaming baby for hours on end every night. That's actually only happened one time since she has been born, so I think I'm getting pretty lucky on that deal. But she does wake up several times a night, and the only way to get her back to sleep is to nurse her.
On a normal night, she will go to bed between 8:30pm and 9:30pm in her crib, she will sleep until 12:30am - 1:30am, and I will go get her and bring her to bed with us. I'll nurse her back to sleep, and then she will usually wake up 1-2 more times to eat, and that's it. I was thinking that was pretty good, even though I know she really should be sleeping through the night by now.
But this past 3 weeks has been a comepletely different story. She has went to bed in her crib at her usual time, only to wake up 30 minutes to an hour later. Then for the rest of the night, she is up atleast every hour, sometimes every half hour.
Every. Single. Night.
I'm more exhausted now than I was when we first brought her home from the hospital. And the worst part is, I think I've created this monster. She's not hungry in the middle of the night, she is only nursing for comfort. And I've let her do it. And now? I don't know how to stop it.
I am seriously at my wits end. I'm so tired, and so incredibly grouchy. I'm pretty sure no one wants to be around me right now because I have bitten the heads clean off of every one I know. My house is a wreck and I have had almost no "me" time. I think that last part is what is really getting to me. I have blogs piled up in my Google Reader from these past weeks that I haven't had any time to read. And obviously, I haven't commented much either. I'm sorry about that, and I promise I still love you. I just really don't have the time right now.
And I'm sure you can guess how the Healthy Living is going....
So, if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know why. We've got to make some major changes around here. And if you're sitting there with some advice, I'd love to hear it. Especially if it's something other than putting cereal in her bottle (tried it a long time ago, didn't work, and now she will NOT take a bottle), or letting her cry for hours on end (I'm physically unable to ignore her crys). Or, if you don't have any advice, that's okay too. I just need to know that we're going to get through this. Please tell me there's a light at the end of this tunnel.
Labels: General Randomness, Gripes Galore, Parenting
4 Comments:
(((hugs)))
Sorry, that's all I have. I'm completely out of sleep fairies :(
If you fall asleep during breakfast tomorrow morning, we will understand. And if you fall asleep in a bowl of grits, we will take pictures.
Awww!!! I hate it for you!
My only advice for you is to let me spend a half a day with her while you go out to get a manicure, pedicure and eye brow waxing. Or, go to the mall to just walk around aimlessly. Maybe you could even run next door to your neighbor's house to take a long nap.
What ever you want, I'm there for you!
So sorry...I remember those days. (Believe it or not, you'll miss all of this baby madness one day.)
*big hugs*
Given that we didn't have this big of a problem with Kira (we did a little), I don't think I can really offer any helpful advice. I do know that from all I've read, this is very common with breastfed babies (Kira was strictly formula after 3mths old) and so usually does take a lot longer for them to learn how to self soothe (Kira hated pacifiers & would always spit them out and after she was around 4-5mths old, used her thumb) and sleep through the night. I've read that it's normally around the 1yr mark before BF babies stop co-sleeping and stop waking through the night.
Will she take a paci? If you haven't already, you could try giving her one (it does take some work to get them used to it) and gently rubbing her back/shoulders while she's in bed if she sleeps on her side or tummy; lightly stroking the sides of her face and/or forehead if she sleeps on her back. If you do this (and stick with it because it does tax what's left of your reserves) each time she wakes and isn't hungry, she will eventually learn that you aren't going to bring her to bed and let her nurse to sleep. Being with her lets her know you're still there with her, but her bed is where she'll now be sleeping.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel even if it doesn't seem like it. :)
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