sleep? what's that?
Okay, so i know every new mom (and dad) goes through this but really...will i ever get sleep again? i mean all i'm asking for is like 5 straight hours, that's not too much to ask is it? Last night was horrible. I'm not sure if its a growth spurt, early teething, gas or what but Landon went to bed at 8, woke up at 11 and would not calm down so i fed him. He usually doesnt wake up until at least 12 or 1. We fell asleep on the glider (not unusual) until like 12:45 (a long time for us) and he started crying again. Only this time he started freaking out...nothing would calm him down...he actually let me change his diaper and he was calm but after that started spazzing out again...Will woke up and gave me a break and rocked him a little and landon actually dozed off, so Will went to put him back in the crib...Landon said "just kidding" and started crying again...it was like 1:30 at this time and i gave up and just nured him again...i kept him in bed w/ me and he slept until 6...( mind you he was restless a few times here and there tooting and what not but didnt want to eat again til 6). AHHHHHHHHHH...anyone have any suggestions????
so up until now he's also been crabby. i checked his mouth and dont feel any teeth starting to poke through?? he's kinda snotty so maybe thats it? maybe allergies? i have no idea.....
Willing to listen to what anyone has to say......
(i picked up an 8 hr shift tonite...poor Will, hopefully Landon is halfway decent tonite....)
posted by stacy @ 12:45 PM
3 Comments:
When Belle was around 2 months old she started doing that. I learned to watch quite a few really crappy shows that came on in the middle of the night (including "Real Housewives of Orange County"... I'm not proud). Around 3 months old she started sleeping a little more regularly and I think 2 things really made the difference:
1. Swaddling! When I was in the room, I noticed that she would sometimes jump and startle herself while she was sleeping. I had stopped swaddling her when she was a few weeks old because I didn't think she liked having her arms constricted (she's an active girl), but it ends up that she needed it. I even had to buy a special blanket for swaddling, but she was able to wiggle her arms out of it so I had to double swaddle. I cut one of her larger receiving blankets in half diagonally (into a triangle) and wrapped that part around her arms, then used the velcro-swaddle blanket around that. My blanket was called "SwaddleMe", but I wouldn't recommend it. A friend of mine has a large baby and she uses a blanket that wraps around him a couple of times instead of depending on velcro, like the Miracle Blanket. I'd recommend that instead. Sorry to babble, but the reason that I didn't use just the cut-triangle part is that she would bend at the elbow and ended up with it over her face a couple of times, and putting the other one on top of it kept her from doing that. So, anyway... try swaddling???
2. Call it a night! I was getting frustrated because I noticed that Annabelle would get all antsy around bed time and wouldn't calm down to eat. I kept trying to feed her, and it would just get worse. I finally realized that the "antsy" was just her being ready for bed, and I just put her down and let her cry it out. It was SOOOO hard to just let her cry, but it paid off.
Now, Annabelle is 6 months old (today!!!) and STILL isn't sleeping through the night, but I think that's mostly my fault though for traveling with her so much. Every time that she starts to develop a sleeping pattern, we travel and screw it up. She seems to adjust back pretty quickly, but she's now going to sleep around 9pm, waking at 1 or so (sometimes earlier, but I let her cry instead of going to her and she usually goes back to sleep on her own), then sometimes waking one more time before she gets up at 7am. I was reading that a baby's personality can determine their sleeping habits, and from what I have observed it's pretty right on. Annabelle is a VERY active girl and doesn't drift off to sleep easily, wakes often, etc. Halle is more "chill" and seems to drift off and sleep much better than Belle (she has from the beginning). I've observed and heard similar stories about other babies too. Some of that may have to do with breast v. bottle, but who knows? :)
I know this is tough and I hope it gets better for you! It's hard to believe that I haven't had a full night's sleep in over 6 months, but really it isn't that bad because I take that time at night and make it my special quiet time with Annabelle. It's definitely harder if it isn't "quiet" time, but just hang in there! Hopefully something I said will help!! Good luck!
I really don't have any advice. Remember when we visit SoFl for Tish's wedding and Leah never slept? I didn't do any better with it. The only thing I can tell you is THIS TOO SHALL PASS!
Me again... :)
I just got back from Belle's 6 month checkup and after asking if I'm still breastfeeding, the doctor said "Is she waking up to feed once or twice between midnight and 6am?" I told him sometimes once, sometimes twice. He said that is normal with breastfed babies. Some lucky mommies get zero feedings between those hours, but apparently not many.
I'll second what Angelle said... this too shall pass. Hopefully he'll get better about getting back to sleep when he does wake up. Just remember how much good you're doing for Landon by breastfeeding him, and cherish all of the baby moments! :)
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