Ashley recently posted about her routine to get Declan to sleep through the night and CHRONICLES OF A BABYWISE MOM just posted a summery of her first week. It's interesting to me how different people have different experiences with sleep...or lack there of.
Samuel is now sleeping through the night, but the first 2 months were rough! I was up every 2-3 hours during the night giving Samuel 2-4 ounces of formula. I was only getting about 1-2 hours of sleep at a time. It was a major shock to my body to not get any REM sleep and every part of me felt it. I know some moms say, "I love every minute of being a mommy." Sorry, not me...I felt guilty for feeling this way too. After talking to many people, I no longer feel guilty....everyone is different....for me the strain on my body was too much.....I will not look back on the first 2 months with fond memories.
Once he hit the 3 month mark (the pediatrician said to wait until 4 months) I started in with the rice cereal in his formula. We increased his feedings to 6 ounces, but very quickly moved up to 8 ounces per feeding. Samuel was definitely ready for the rice and the increase in ounces. Within 2 days he started sleeping longer and I was getting 4-5 hours of sleep at a time. Then he started sleeping through the night 2 or 3 nights at a time and then he'd wake at about 2:30 a.m for a couple nights. I'd then feed him another 6 ounces and he'd go back to sleep for another 3-4 more hours.
For the past week he's been sleeping through every night, about 8:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. What a glorious feeling! I am a much happier mommy now. Samuel still takes a 2 + hour nap in the middle of the day and another little 30-45 minute nap around 5 p.m. Other then that he's awake most of the day.
I, like Ashley, do let Samuel cry a little before he falls asleep. It doesn't happen all that often anymore and I do believe he needs to learn to self sooth and fall asleep on his own. We keep his room very dark at night and lighter during the day. He uses a pacifier sometimes, but it's not something he has really latched onto. I also have a small space eater, set to 72 degrees, that will come on and off, to keep the room nice and warm. I think he likes the noise it makes too. We use thicker, overnight, diapers, so he won't wet through and wake himself up. We do baths almost every night and take a walk around the neighborhood too.
Every baby and every mommy is a little different. How has your experience with sleep...or lack there of....been?
5 comments:
Honestly, we've been about the same! lol We take a walk every evening, then the kids get a bath... a small playtime, and then bed. My kids are 1 and 2 though. When they were little, it was very similar to your experience. I let them both fuss for a little while before they went to sleep. nothing out of control. but, they are both great sleepers now. They both never took the the paci. not sure why. Maybe I didn't do it right. lol :) He's sooo cute sleeping!
Congrats, Tracey. Sounds like things are really going well. I'm curious about how the day care is going, too.
Connie
I know I say this every single time, but dang that kid is cute!
First child. Slept through night starting at 6 days old. My mother hated me, and I didn't sleep because I was up checking on her to make sure she wasn't dead.
2nd and 3rd kids. No memory.
Twins. 5 weeks of neglect, when they got here they didn't sleep. I was awake about 20 hours a day for three months. I began hallucinating from lack of sleep. I once thought Boog's head was a thumb. The second I got the ok from the doctor I fed them and put them to bed at 8 pm, if they cried I let them. Hubby woke them up at midnight to feed and change them and then we did not disturb them until 7 am and they got up whether they wanted to or not. They stayed on the 8-7 routine for a long time. I think they were around 4-5 months, I can't remember, but had it not happened soon it would have killed me.
I'm glad you are being honest about your feelings about not loving every stinkin moment. I think that the biggest disservice we do to ourselves and others is pretend that our lives are all sunshine and rainbows.
Andrew is consistently sleeping from 9pm-9am now and it is so, so nice. I learned a lot from our son, and, if God blesses us with another baby, I'm going to use the same strategies with the next baby a little earlier. We are doing basically what Ashley is doing, with a consistent routine, pacifiers, and letting him cry a little but not enough to get hysterical. He has always known we are there for him, but he has learned to self-soothe, too. So much work to get there, but well worth it.
So glad the rice cereal worked for him. It never did make a difference with Isabel. And you know our struggles with her. But I think we're about to round that corner and get a full night sleep of course I'm afraid to admit it out loud in case of a relapse.
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