sleepless nights

Monday, January 10, 2011

we have returned to sleepless nights here on newberry lane and it is painful. it started while we were away over the holidays. ph and i were sharing a room with chace, so i do not know if it was being in the same room, in a strange bed or having an ear infection that started the cycle. perhaps it was all three, but in an attempt to allow some of the house sleep we did whatever we could to get him back asleep. my thinking was that it would sort itself out when we got home. we rocked, we slept holding him, we fed him, whatever it took to encourage sleep.

well, we are home and i am here to tell you it has not sorted itself out. it is better, but we are still up at least once a night. doing what? eating of course. i know that "they" say not to feed once your child can sleep through the night. BUT my kid doesn't eat if he is not hungry, and he is scarfing down his bottle. so he must be hungry. i don't have the heart to let him cry it out at 2 am. how can i leave the room when he is sitting in bed, reaching for me through tears and snot, saying "mama, mama, mama" over and over. if i feed him he eats, goes back to bed and sleeps until 7:30 or 8.

it will work itself out, in time and i am sure that he will return to sleeping through the night, only to have that cycle disrupted by a new tooth. i know that this too will pass, but it sure is rough on the parents.

5 comments:

  1. you know what your baby needs mama. good job listening to yourself. sorry about the sleep though. you kinda forget how painfull it is until you have to do it again.

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  2. I hate the saying "misery loves company" but it's true. Stella is doing the SAME thing right now. I, too, chalked it up to being in MN for three weeks and uprooted from home and her schedule and her comfort zone. We're back now, and she's powering through a bottle at 5 am. BUT, on top of that, she's up at midnight crying to come into bed with us. Part of me says that it's good leverage as I'm trying to convince DRL we need a new bed, preferably a KING size, and part of me says: Someday she won't even want to sleep AT home, let alone snuggled up next to me. But then, there's that selfish human voice screaming I WANT TO SLEEP DAMMIT!

    But, coming to your blog today, and reading this post, has helped. Last night was especially heinous, and it IS good to know that we are not alone. Even though I am sad that you have to suffer, too.

    Oh the irony of life.

    I am pretty sure that parenthood is the reason vineyards are so successful. Breweries, too.

    xo
    A

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  3. You know my story Lucinda ... just keep on listening to your instincts. This too shall pass. In the mean time, take advantage of naptime to get some rest! Love, Alicia

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  4. This is just the beginning of many sleepless nights...It is called being a mother....as Sissy said..."you are a mother till you pass"...I think this is why mothers learn to get by on very little sleep.....Take a power nap....xoxo

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  5. It WILL work itself out in the end. You are right. Brice was exactly the same way, waking in the night and would not go back to sleep without some milk. And once he had his milk, he was happy as a clam and went right back to sleep. And you know what, he sleeps through the night now with no training from me. He just got there by himself. It will get better again, but in the mean time, just listen to your instincts. They are usually always right!

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