It’s a good thing that parents inherently love their children’ down to their very core. Because if Suzianne sleeping at night for more than 1.5 hours at a time was required for us to love her, she’d be out of luck.
However, since our love for her comes without such terms, she’s golden. And very much loved. Despite the lack of Team Newman beauty rest, which she doesn’t seem to need anyway.
She’s all:
While Dave and I are all:
BUT you know when she DOES sleep? The day. Loves her some day. And the Woombie (h/t Andrea). This is now the only swaddle she can’t bust out of. You know, until she figures out how to work a zipper. I give her a week, tops.
Confession: I had a complete breakdown last night at 3:30 a.m.
Me to Dave: {in tears} “This is my fault. She won’t sleep at night. I must be doing something wrong.”
Dave: “She’s a healthy, happy, smiling baby. And she’s only 10 weeks old.”
Me: “But everyone I know tells me their babies sleep five, six, even 10 hours a night at this point. This is something I am doing wrong.”
I truly believe there is something I’m just not doing correctly. I’ve read every book, every blog, every article. We’ve let her nap at night, not let her nap at night. We’ve fed her a bottle of formula to help her sleep better. We’ve changed her diaper in the dark, not changed at all. We’ve rocked her in the dark and not rocked her at all.
I’ve talked to so many of you and you’ve been kind enough to share your tips. I try them all–except for the bourbon-in-the-milk solution, which a cab driver told me about this week–and they usually work the first night. But the next night, we’re back to waking up every hour to two hours.
Is it me? Or is this normal? Suggestion welcome!
Oh, Margie, I can empathize with you. Of our four kiddos, our second one was a non-sleeper like your little darling. To quote the video, “it gets better.” And it can take time. A lot of time.
One thing that helped me was not turning on the TV, but just listening to quiet music, during his awakenings. (That helped ME get back to sleep.)
Since I was breastfeeding, my hubby would often go and get our son and “deliver” him to me, rather than me having to be the one who always got up. He’d take James back to bed, too, most of the time.
I also quit using a baby monitor. If he was making noises, it kept me up. And if he wasn’t, I wondered how much longer it would be.
Hope this helps, even a little.
Barbara
(PS – War eagle!)
Margie!!! I’m going to fb message you once I get mine to sleep…. 🙂
You are NOT doing anything wrong. Dave’s right! She wouldn’t thriving and happy if you were doing something wrong. She may just not be a sleeper. Don’t listen to the people who say their kids came out sleeping 8 hours a night. It’s usually they are in their crib 8 hours but are up every three hours or so. And if they ARE sleeping 8 hours, then hooray for them. Their next one may have colic. Point being, every kid is different, and thank goodness you have Dave. Tag team it, and sleep when you can. I don’t know that you’ll ever sleep as good as you did pre-SA, but it will most definitely get better. I wish I were there. I would come steal her away for a day and let you snoooooooze! Hang in there – you’re most definitely rockin’ it!
I’m sure you’ve heard it all, but I will share what our pediatrician told us when C had her days and nights mixed up. It sounds so elementary, but she said to make day as different from night as possible. Day is very bright and active and loud…and even keep her awake when she seems sleepy if need be. Night is very quiet and dark with as minimal stimulation as possible. Feed her, put her back down. Change her, put her back down. It might make for a rough couple of days, especially if you’re trying to keep her awake when she’s sleepy during the day…but hopefully she will figure it out within a week. Best of luck…I’ve been there!
So glad that you are loving the Woombie! The coolest swaddle option ever 🙂 As far as the sleep goes, Miller was a two or three time middle-of-the-night waker … but not what you described above. I’m guessing one of the books you have been reading is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Any tips I might have would also be in that book. Except, I like the tip TT gave above, make the days more exciting and the nights very, very boring! Good luck. And with all things baby, this too shall pass!
I can count on one hand the number of times my little guy slept through the night from age 0-3 and it doesn’t go higher than four. Yup, FOUR. Chronic ear infection issues likely had a lot to do with it (which I didn’t know at the time thanks to British doctors who don’t readily give antibiotics for this common childhood ailment) but I was plagued with the same guilt, despair and total sleep deprivation that you are experiencing so I feel your anguish. Hang in there and know that precious Suzianne is indeed thriving and doing just fine. She’s just not a sleeper and some kids are like that, mine included. I’ve lived to tell the tale and so will you. Please bring her into the office at some point so we can ooh and aah at her gorgeous cuteness. Take care!