Here is that latest update on the sleep situation at my house: things are crazy and unpredictable. Porgie is an enigma.
Last week started out very rough. She was waking twice per night. On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday she woke up like clockwork at 12:30 am and then again at 5:30 am. Each day, she had trouble going back to sleep at 5:30, and would coo in her crib for about an hour before finally falling back to sleep.
Then all of a sudden she slept through the night on Wednesday. I woke up at 6:00 am in a state of panic. I nearly fell out of bed and ran to her room. I had a horrible feeling that something was terribly wrong. Porgie was sleeping soundly. I was so proud. I tiptoed out of her room, and went back to bed.
On Thursday night, she woke up crying at 2:30 am. I made her a bottle, but by the time I had walked to her room, she was asleep. So, I went back to sleep too. Porgie didn't wake up again until 7:30 am. Once again, I was extremely impressed.
Unfortunately, Porgie has regressed. On Friday and Saturday, she woke up at 1:30 am and again at 6:30 am. Last night she was up for 2 hours in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I continue to feel the affects of sleep deprivation.
On a side note, I have a confession to make. I miss having Porgie sleep with me. I miss rolling over at night and looking at her sweet little face. I miss touching her fuzzy little head. I miss kissing her at 4:00 am. I miss the sound of her rhythmic breathing. I miss her little body curled up next to me. I miss my baby.
Some days, I can hardly wait until she wakes up in the morning. When I hear her stir, I run to her room and hold her tight. I kiss her and tell her how much missed her the night before. She is so precious. My love for her is all consuming.
10 comments:
Yes, it is wonderful to love a baby. They are so snuggly. I love to hug my baby when she is warm, fresh from sleep.
They are precious, even when up in the middle of the night. Though that really sucks. My baby is doing it too. What do you do with her when you try to entice her back to sleep in the middle of the night?
When Porgie wakes up at night, I usually don't even pick her up. I just feed her a 2 to 4 ounce bottle while she is still laying in her crib. Typically, she is out like a light within mintues.
I used to pick her up and burp her, but she would just get too stimulated and want to play. I can't even burp her when she is awake because she won't sit still.
Some nights are rough, like last night. She started crying after I feed her. So, I brought her into our room (I have kept the bedrail on, even though we aren't cosleeping anymore). I was hoping that she would go back to sleep, but she just played for about an hour and then started crying again. I didn't want to wake John, so I took her back to her room, where she cried for 30 more minutes. In a last ditch effort, I put her in her swing. After about 30 mintues, she fell asleep.
Porgie never plays in her swing, but I can always count on it to put her to sleep. She is really getting too heavy for it. It stops swinging if she is too active (I guess she throws it off balance or something).
What do you do to get Nora back to sleep?
First I try helping her roll back onto her side (she's a side-sleeper and a back-crier) and stick a pacifier in her mouth. If that doesn't work after a few tries, I bring her into bed with me. If she still is upset and can't settle back to sleep, then I figure it's time to feed her (but the rule is I only feed her after 3AM). So I feed her and try to get her back to sleep in her crib so I can pump. Half the time she is asleep when I put her in her crib (falls asleep on the bottle), or just rolls over and sticks her thumb in her mouth, but sometimes she stays away while I pump. Usually she's happy-awake, playing in her crib. If she's sad-awake, I stop pumping and hold her to sleep again (or try to). Last night she played and talked all through my pumping but talked herself to sleep shortly after I got back into bed (I sleep in the nursery). When she was younger, we used to rely on the swing a lot, but now she thinks the swing is for happy-awake-playtime, even when the music/lights are turned off, so it doesn't work for sleep.
i wish i could say that i can empathize, but i can't. i am sooo sorry! please don't hate me!!
yet again, i am reminded of how rare (and fortunate) my situation is. here mikaela is four months old, sleeps through the night like a champ (usually 10pm - 7:30/8am ish) and has been doing so since FOUR WEEKS of age.
she also takes regular naps during the day. right now the nap schedule varies, but is starting to slot into a routine of: a morning nap from around 9:30am to 11:00am, another one around 1:30pm to 2:30pm/3pm ish and finally one last nap around 5pm to 6:30pm.
what i CAN empathize with is your longing to have your baby back in the bed with you. mike and i SOOOO miss having mikaela in the bed with us. she has only been in her crib since three months old.
in fact, we are guilty of making every excuse in the book for putting mikaela in the bed with us. like when she had her shots. she was running a mild fever and was so clingy and crabby. "mikaela needs to be near us. she needs us." we both said. so mikaela got to sleep in the bed w/ us for about three days last week.
i think we enjoy it more than mikaela, to tell you the truth. she sleeps so much more soundly in her "own space". accepting this fact has helped me make the transition. admittedly, i relapse every now and again. :))
Do you read Ask Moxie? I just bookmarked her primer on sleep the other day, so I can refer to it when my new kid is born. I would love to think I have it all figured out, but I am guessing the new kid will be different than the current kid, right? :-)
Anyway, here is the link:
http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2007/02/your_comments_o.html
I have found her blog to be very helpful in many areas.
Oh, I forgot to mention - when things are rough, my mantra is "this is temporary. it will pass". That mantra has kept me sane during some tense moments. Hang in there.
I can emphathize with sleep deprivation. My son woke up 5-6 times a night until he was a year. At this point he started sleeping through the night, but sometimes still wakes, but not to eat, just for reassurance. Caileigh is a MUCH better sleeper so we are counting our blessings with her. She sleeps in a playpen beside us but the one night I put her in her crib, she slept 7-7. I am working towards putting her in her crib but I sleep better knowing she is beside me. One step at a time!
Tiffany,
I am very very jealous. Hopefully, you will never have to experience the woes of sleep deprivation. When Porgie wakes up frequently at night, I am so moody the next day. I snap at everyone.
Cosleeping is wonderful, but also annoying. I loved sleeping with Porgie for the first 6 months, but she just woke up too much. I think John and I were waking her with our night movements. Like Mikaela, Porgie sleeps better in her crib.
Cagey,
Thanks for the link. I love Moxie and have actually emailed her questions before. She is so knowledgeable.
Ashley,
Did you Cosleep with Aiden? Before I moved Porgie to her crib, she was waking up at least 4 times per night.
We never co-slept with Aiden unless he was sick or we were out of town. When I hit an all time exhaustion I would just to keep my sanity. HE woke up nearly every 2 hours from birth on. He is still a fairly "wakeful" child but he sleeps really good now. Now that I have 2 kids with entirely different sleep habits, I tend to think that sleep is hugely dependent on the child. There are things you can do to better/worsen these habits but I think for the most part it is ingrained. That is my experience though. HOpefully Porgie settles into better sleep soon!!
Ashley,
I totally agree that sleeping habits are ingrained from birth. Porgie has always been very "wakeful" too. My grandmother acts like I am crazy. She thinks all babies sleep a lot because her babies slept alot. I wish she could spend just one night in my house.
Fortunately, Porgie has made some improvement over the months. I hope that by 1 year, she is sleeping through the night.
Post a Comment