Maddox has been a fairly horrible sleeper since the newborn sleepiness wore off around 2 weeks of age. ONE time after we were at my husband's going away party for 6-7+ hours he slept through the night in his swing. He slept from 12am-7am, but that was obviously a fluke because that was the first and last time that has happened. Anyway, he will sleep 4 hour stretches (just one) if he is in his swing and then eat and then sleep another couple 2-3 hour stretches. He does the same thing if he is being held all night. I KNOW this is not good for him. He needs to learn to sleep in a bed (whether his pack 'n play or his crib) by himself. I know I am not doing him any favors in the long run by keeping him moving (like when he is in his swing) or holding him. Last night he ate his bedtime bottle around 10:30pm and then he had his bath at 11pm. After he bath I got him lotioned up and dressed and then layed him in his crib in his room with baby lullabies playing softly as the lights were dim and patted his bottom till he peacefully fell asleep. I was thinking to myself "this is great, he actually went to sleep in his crib!" Yes, since I was patting his bottom that means he was on his tummy. My son will sleep no other way. He has fabulous head control, so I am not going to force him to lie on his back when he is clearly uncomfortable. Back to my story, after he was asleep, I took my shower and went to bed myself. He was asleep by about 11:45pm (I didn't look at the clock so it's approximate) and I was in bed by around 12:45am. At 2:30am I woke up to my son screaming. I went and put his paci in his mouth and he went back to sleep. I went back to bed as well and not even 10 minutes later, he was screaming again. This went on every 10 minutes till about 3:30 when I realized he was not going to go back to sleep fully. I got him up and changed/fed him. I was so tired I layed him in bed with me and he still slept horribly as did I. I layed in a very uncomfortable position trying to calm him, but even still till 8am the next morning neither of us slept very well. At 8am I fed him and came downstairs. I put him in his swing knowing he would fall asleep. As he did, I did too. I was so exhausted. We both slept in till twenty minutes after eleven AM.
I live with my mom since my husband is away at training (we sold our condo in January because we knew he was leaving and I did not want to be along). My mom came through the living room and asked how Maddox slept to which I replied "really sh*tty, I'm exhausted." Later on in the day, my mom told me she wanted to let me sleep tonight and she wanted to try putting Maddox to bed. Let me make a note by saying that I DO NOT believe in the cry it out method of putting babies to sleep, but for his to learn to semi-self soothe and to sleep in his crib, he is going to have to cry a little. My mom wanted to try something she used with my brother and I that got us sleeping through the night. She put him in his crib awake after being fed, changed and burped. If he starts crying, she will allow him to cry for 10 minutes, then pick him up and rock him/soothe him, then put him back down again in his crib. If he starts crying again, she will let him cry for 10 minutes then do the same thing till he ends up falling asleep. She came downstairs a bit earlier to do some laundry and I could hear him screaming on the monitor. It broke my heart! This is the whole reason she wanted to try this herself because she knows I cannot let him cry for ten whole minutes without picking him up. After ten minutes she went upstairs and picked him up and rocked him for a few minutes, then layed him back down. He didn't cry anymore after that. She just went and checked on him after not hearing him stirring on the monitor for a bit and he is sound asleep. Now, we will just see how long he actually sleeps. I love that little boy so much. Even though I KNOW it is important for him in the long run to learn to fall asleep on his own and to sleep in his own bed, it is hard for me to listen to him cry. I know he is not physically "hurting" but I am afraid he might feel emotionally "hurt" that mommy doesn't come scoop him up and snuggle him tight. *sigh* I'm such a softy when it comes to my baby boy.
Sometimes I think this part of motherhood is the hardest. It is so hard to watch your baby upset even if you know it is what is best for the. Well, since I have the night "off", I should go get ready for bed myself. Until next time..
Love, Ashley
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Oh, Ashley. I've had very similar experiences with Ulysses. It took about 6 weeks, but we've finally got a good handle on his reflux which has TREMENDOUSLY improved his ability to sleep. It's not completely gone, but boy can you tell the difference. Thankfully, he has started sleeping 4-5 hour stretches on his own (It sounds silly to be excited for that, but after SO long of waking every 2-3hrs I'll take it). BUT, he doesn't fall asleep on his own, either. I have to hold him and rock/bounce him...and even sometimes when I think he's good to go, as SOON as I put him down he's awake.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe in CIO either, but sometimes I have to let him do it for a few minutes so that I can make something to eat, shower, regroup, etc.
Sanity is important, too. lol
Anyway, I guess I said all of that to let you know you are not alone and to remind you to keep Faith. He will fall into a routine soon enough.
Let me know how the sleeping worked out last night, I may have to try that method with Ulysses, too.
<3
How did it go? Did he sleep through the night?
ReplyDeleteI've made the mistake of Putting Caden in things that moved when he's going to sleep too. Now he screams if I put them down before he's asleep and don't pat his butt or have him in a swing! ugggggg. I might have to try this method if it worked!