Now THAT Was Good!

I’ve spent so much time complaining about lack of sleep here, I figure I oughta give my baby props for a great night last night!

Let me back up just a little and tell you about our Sunday.  He woke up for the day at 7:30am (he had been up for a mid-night feeding at 3:30am, too).  He would not go back down for a quick nap before church, but he did catnap in my husband’s arms for about 20 minutes during church.  We got home around 3pm and by 4pm I was insisting that we try to lay him down for a serious nap.  I mean, he’d been “up” for more than 8 hours!!  He only slept for about 40 minutes in his crib, and then he fought and fought his bedtime until 10pm.  Some people will ask me, “Well, is he FUSSY while he’s awake?,” I guess figuring that if he’s a good baby while he’s awake then what’s the big deal?  The big deal is that he NEEDS to sleep, and I NEED to have a break from him, even if he is being halfway goodnatured (but the truth is, if he’s tired but not sleeping, then yes, he usually is pretty fussy).

Anyway, I was feeling pretty raw yesterday morning, because even though he didn’t go to sleep until 10pm, he was right back up at 2am.  He went back down at 3am and was back up at 6am.  Talk about one mean see-saw!!

My husband managed to get the baby down for a morning nap yesterday, and I took some time to seriously consider my mental state.  With such little sleep and with so much confusion about having such a difficult baby, I have been left feeling raw and exposed.  I’ve been crying so much!  And I can feel the fatigue all over my body!  But my husband and I talked yesterday morning, and I decided I was going to try to buck up and find a little more strength to get through, since I can’t spend every moment in such limbo.

I also managed to sleep for about 40 minutes while he napped yesterday morning.  Glorious.

Once he was up, we had some errands to run.  Lo and behold, he ACTUALLY slept in his car seat the entire time I was at the grocery store!  He hardly ever does that (sleeping in public, I mean), preferring instead to limit his few hours of rest to his crib.  It made the trip to the store so much more peaceful.

Then in the afternoon he napped for two hours, and I SLEPT!!  It was the loveliest kind of sleep, when you know you’re napping in the middle of the afternoon and it feels so lush and luxurious.  It was heaven!

But the big story, the reason I even have energy to post this at 8:30 in the morning, is last night.  He went down at about 9:30, and I decided to try something new when he woke up in the middle of the night.  He was up at 2:15am, and instead of bringing him downstairs and watching TV while I nursed him, I kept him up on the couch in the gameroom upstairs, I turned on only one soft light, I didn’t change his diaper, I only nursed him a little, and then I put him right back down.  You know what?  It worked!  He was only awake enough to eat just that little bit, and when I put him back down – even though he was still a little bit awake – he didn’t make a peep and went right back down to sleep!  We were only up for about 30 minutes!

So I went back to bed at 2:45, and he didn’t wake up until 7:30am!!!  My blessed husband got the other kids up and off to school, so I got to sleep that entire time!  Put it all together and I actually got one pretty good night’s sleep.

I’m sure this jumble of numbers and times doesn’t matter a whole lot to most of you, but I wanted to make sure I record it so that it’s not only the horrible, 2-hr-sleep nights I remember.  And I’m not sure my new program of nighttime feedings is going to keep him from getting up regularly anymore.  But I’m feeling encouraged, and I just wanted to share!

You might also enjoy these related posts from Tree, Root, and Twig:

1. So This is What Comes from Cooperation?
2. Here's Hoping (::Fingers Crossed::)
3. The Thinks You Think at 4am

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