So Friday and Sunday night were a little long. No matter how much I fed the little guy he wouldn't go to sleep, at least not for the 2-3 hours he was typically sleeping after each feeding. So I got to thinking, what can I do to prepare him a little more for night time and sleeping longer stretches? I did some reading and decided to try and keep him awake for longer spans during the day, not allowing him to sleep after every feeding. We also decided to try and keep him awake for the 2-3 hours before his 10:00 feeding and then plump him up and put him in his crib.
So 10:00 came and we were right on schedule. We put him in his crib and hurried up and went to bed. I hadn't slept in our bed since we left the hospital, and it felt like forever since I had cuddled with my Hubby. We chose to sleep in the living room the last couple nights since I was still sore and our bed is a little high and I would have woken Chris up a million times each night. Since he is the one getting up and going to work he needs his sleep so we try to be as discrete as possible during the night.
It was about 20 minutes later that we heard him whimper. I was trying to lay really still (as though that would help him stay quite and go back to sleep) and holding my breath that he would just fall back asleep. That didn't work. Chris got up to find that he needed his diaper changed and to bust out the Binky so mom could get some sleep. That lasted for about an hour. I got up around 11:30 to feed him and then put him back in his crib and went back to bed. He woke up again around 3:15. We ate, Topher had milk and I had cereal. I then decided to stay on the couch. Sleep is sleep no matter where you are. Right!
Topher woke up for the day at 7:55. Well just long enough to hang out with Dad and to eat.
It was a GREAT NIGHT :)
10 comments:
Sounds like my night EVERY night. Carson is up every 3 hours to nurse. It used to be every 2. I hate to tell you - it might not get better for awhile. :( Some of us just aren't as lucky as others and get babies who sleep through the night right away (uh-hum, SAM!!!...I'm not jealous or anything...)
LOL!!! Poor girls...Sam is just lucky...I am sure I will be in the same boat as you two once we have a baby!
Sounds about right. We kept Austin in our room for 3 months. When we finally weened him to his own room we wondered why we hadn't done that sooner. I remember holding my breath every.single.time he made a tiny noise and just praying he wouldn't actually wake up. Life was even better when we got rid of the monitor. Then we (or should I say "I"?) only woke up if he was really screaming!
Haha, I love your comment Stacey. I was totally the same way. Jackson went straight to his crib the first night and I would only wake up when I heard him from my room (which of course isn't that far away since we're in an apartment. Hang in there Allison. It will get better, you just might have to wait a few weeks. And then seriously sleep when Topher sleeps during the day!
It sounds like you are doing a pretty good job to me! Jaxson woke up every two hours to nurse all day and ALL night for the first few months. They were the longest months of my life! Seriously. It gets better fast though. The bigger they get the more they are able to eat at once and sleep longer. Once they are a few months old it is a lot easier to teach them how to do things like sleep longer and then if they are like Jaxson they will sleep through the night almost every night! It'll be several months before you get there though. But I seriously think you are doing awesome.
I think Heavenly Father felt bad for me because Landon broke my tailbone. It's a pretty even trade, I just hope the sleeping throught the night business lasts! :)
You sound like you're having so much fun! I really, really want to come see you guys. I am going to see what I can do to make it happen. Love, Leslie
My mother in law told me something when our oldest was a few weeks old and I was crazy from lack of sleep. She told us that babies don't really have to eat every 2 hours. Doctors say that...but they usually aren't the ones having big families.
We had some hellish nights before it worked. My husband and I tag teamed each other every night holding, singing, rocking the baby. We could basically do anything we could to soothe him without feeding him. After one week...yes a handful of nights...our baby slept for 5 and 6 hours at a time at night.
We've also did this with our other 4 children. The only one that was slow to catch on to the sleep during the night plan was son #4. But that only lasted a month or so. Honestly, when there is NO reason to get up at night, babies will sleep. And the only reason good enough to get up is to eat. Feed on demand during the day...but nights are for you.
My definition of sleeping through the night changes as the newborn baby grows...it starts at 5 hours and works it's way up to 6 to 7 and to 8+ hours. It doesn't happen all at once, but you will love life more if you can get sleep in a big chunk.
I hope you find many sleep full nights!
An educator at the hospital told me if you can get two 3 hour stretches of sleep at night, then you should be fine. Even if you don't... hang in there! You can do it! (Trust me, we all know it's hard!)
Hang in there - I hear it gets better! (Fingers crossed)
I'm thinking I should cut back on reading these newborn entries because I'm just now starting to get an idea of what we're getting ourselves into!! :) On the bright side, by the time our little one comes into this world, you guys will be total pros!
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