Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Damn Stupid Sleep

Sleep training has been going well at night, but things have gone awry during the day. For the past week, I have not nursed Izzy during the night. He has been doing really well, and has been sleeping through the night. Although this is WONDERFUL and AMAZING, I still have a few complaints.

Izzy now wakes up for the day at 6:00 am. And 6:00 am is way too early to start the day. To remedy this problem, I decided to not get him out of bed until 7:00. This plan didn't work out very well, because he screamed like a maniac for the entire hour. In the process, he also woke Porgie up. And then I was stuck with two cranky babies for the entire morning. So, I have been letting him get up at 6:00 am.

The good news is that because he wakes up so early, he has been going down easily for both of his naps. The bad news is that he will only sleep for about 45 minutes. After those measly 45 minutes, he wakes up screaming. If I do not rescue him from is crib immediately, he will screech so loud that he wakes Porgie from her nap. I thought that perhaps Izzy was ready for one nap per day. I was hopeful that instead of taking two 45 minute naps, he would take one 2 hour nap. No dice. When I implemented this new plan, Izzy just took one 45 minute nap and was miserable ALL DAY.

Why does sleep always have to be a struggle?

16 comments:

Danielle said...

not sure...please let me know when you find out!!! E screams like that too when she wakes up...opr when she used to sleep in her crib. She is sooo over her crib!

dani said...

i bet porgie is wondering, "what the hell's going on around here???"
i hope iz's sleeping habits level out a bit; good luck, christy:)
love,
dani

Laura Marchant said...

Agh, that is hard. Naps can be hit or miss with BG, LM is usually great about sleeping, but when he is hungry he is hungry. Yesterday he woke up only after 30 minutes. I dropped off a bottle of breastmilk and left. He finished the whole bottle then went back to sleep for another 2 hours. He seriously can eat like a horse and I think if there is just one tiny spot in his tummy that isn't full he won't sleep.

Carrie said...

Just a thought, but do you know if Izzy will sleep in his pack and play? I'm assuming that he'll be sleeping in it when you travel.....

You might want to get him use to it before you go to KY.....I only know this because my sister found out the hard way when she came to visit me with her (then) 1 1/2 year old.

TEACHBROECK said...

I actuall caught myself saying that I got a good night sleep...even though I was up at midnight and 4:30!!! Any tips...6 am is fine with me to get up!

Antropóloga said...

That blows.

Ummm...eventually they'll be teenagers and sleep all the time. Does that help?

Alicia W. said...

Cheers to some sleep to the both of us. Mine woke up at midnight and wanted to flippin party for three hours.. What the hell is goin on? I'm on my fifth cup of coffee.. how about you? :o)

Kate Coveny Hood said...

One of my least favorite things about child rearing. At least this phase ends soon. And then the amnesia sets in. So you don't really remember exactly what it was like.

Anonymous said...

Are you following a certain book? Dr. Weissbluth says to put them to bed even earlier, because sleep promotes sleep. Sometimes, if my 15 month old is in a phase and taking very short naps, I put her down for the night at 5:30 or 6 pm and she'll sleep until 7 am. Or, could you try to give Izzy a bottle or nurse at 6 am and perhaps he'll go back to sleep a bit longer? Just a thought, because that sometimes works for my baby. Good luck!

Amanda said...

I always think that as long as i get my sleep during the night i can cope with anything during the day! (usually!)
Good Luck, i hope you get everything all sorted out soon.
l,
Amanda x

amanda said...

i wish i knew why friend.

we have skipped morning nap around here lately and it makes me hurt.

hurt for her bc i know she needs the sleep and hurt for me bc it just makes me hurt.

sending happy sleep vibes your way!

Clare said...

i am so sorry, good luck! Bradley had a lot of sleep issues in the beginning, but he figured it out. i do remember going from two naps to one was one of the hardest transitions ever!

Dana said...

sorry.. good luck with all of this!

Stephanie said...

Crazy! 6am is early. Right now we are lucky to have two that will sleep in til at least 8 even if we put them down at 9. I am curious how things will change once the little one arrives!

Becks said...

I so feel your pain sista. I am so blurry eyed right now..why is sleep such a struggle? I wish I knew the answer too!

Rachel said...

I guess you have to ask yourself-is night sleep better than nap sleep? Probably. I think he will adjust to his new schedule as time goes on. Maybe he is starting to wean off the two naps a day. Who knows. I stink in the sleep department.