Oh what I wouldn't do for a good 8 hours of sleep...i would even take 5 or 6 continuous blissful hours of uninterrupted sleep. aww it sounds so nice. It's weird to day dream about sleep, but it's probably one of my favorite day dreams. I have had a few people tell me it's possible to have Liam sleep 5 or 6 hours straight even this young! I have been trying their methods with little success. A good night seems to be if Liam will go back to sleep within 20 minutes of waking up being fed and changed. These times are rare but cherished. He is more consistent waking up every three hours to feed at night than he is in the day time. I am not one of those people who functions well at night. I have heard some mom's talk about how much they love the time they spent with their babies in the middle of the night. I wish I could be one of those mom's but instead I am half mom half zombie. I usually have one eye half way open, and can only grunt. For example when Jason asks if I need help I respond, "ugh." A lower pitched ugh means no and a higher pitched ugh means, "yes, help please!!!" Ok I am not always this bad but its not pretty. Still every night I go to bed with hope that maybe this will be the night that Liam sleeps more than 3 hours. Ha and it's funny what rules you break in the middle of the night. For example I have been told over and over don't let the baby sleep in your bed because it starts bad habits. Well at 3am Liam can sleep in our bed until he's 18 for all i care! Fortunately Liam does spend a good amount of the night in his crib lately. As long as he has his binky he doesn't seem to care where he is but when your the one having to hold in his binky or keep replacing it, you would rather be lying down.
Even with a lack of sleep I can't express how much I love that little boy. I don't I could understand this kind of love until I had a baby. I was thinking about the different relationships in my life and the different degrees of love I have for people. There is the love I have for my parents and family, then the love I have for my friends, the love I have for my amazing husband, and then I had Liam. A whole new type of love develops within you where you know you will do anything and everything to give them the most wonderful life you can. Your world just revolves around this precious little person and you dedicate your life to them. Even when your covered in poop, pee, and spit up.
Here are some pics of our Handsome little man!
Love that yawn!
Liam always has to have his arms out of the blanket and around his head and face.
and they say babies can't smile?
Love this pic, with our neighbors beautiful flowers.
On a very very sad note Mozzie has had some trauma. Against the advice of my mother I cut Mozzie's hair short because his hair was getting matted and he hates getting brushed. I dropped Mozzie off at the groomer and when I got back there was a rat in his place.... This is the last cute picture I have of him all fluffy... so pictures of Moz may be limited until his hair grows back. Jason insists it's not as bad as I think but every time I see him now I let out a sad sigh. Don't worry I still love him all shaved and naked looking. I also blame my bad decision on sleep deprivation. ) :
Oh janae don't worry it gets much better he will start sleep at least where it's manageable!! We let Maxxon sleep with us until he was like 2 months sometimes you just have to do what works!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mel! I agree! I can't wait till Liam's a little bit older so him and Maxxon can play! Miss you guys!
DeleteI need to see a picture of Mozzie's new do! I know a lot of people do say their babies slept through the night by this age, but mine did not either, so don't feel bad their methods aren't working for you. Be patient for the 4-6 month age range and generally nights will be better.
ReplyDeleteThanks Em! I just hope in the future he goes to sleep as good as Halle. I am not sure how Eli is but I know she was a gem during nap and bedtime!
DeleteHave you heard of the woombie? It is a swaddle bag thing that zips. You get them at diapers.com. It is what we used for James and it was amazing! He slept for 6-8 hours straight most nights(this is when he was around 5-6 weeks old). Before that he either slept in his car seat or the swing. You should definitely look into it. I remember dreading the night because I knew I would spend the majority of it awake and grumpy!
ReplyDeleteI haven't but I will definitely look it up! I am the same way, I hate night time and am a total grumpy head. Thanks for the advice!
DeleteI'm no pro so you can take or leave what I have to say! I would definitely recommend swaddling Liam- -arms and all. Teryn LOVED to be swaddled so he slept that way from day one but at about 3 months old I thought I'd stop swaddling him because I thought he needed to learn how to sleep without it. I quickly learned that he wasn't able to. Like, physically unable to. I read a study somewhere that said it takes approximately 4-5 months for babies to gain real control of their limbs and reflexes. Until then, they startle themselves out of sleep. I watched Teryn sleep and while I could see him dreaming, he would twitch and startle himself out of sleep every time so I went back to swaddling and swaddled him until he was 7 months or so (I would have stopped earlier if he hadn't loved it so much). He was sleeping 12 hours (uninterrupted) at night at about 3 months. Ryder is a different story though. He is like Liam- -he wants his hands up around his face. Because of that I give him one arm out but I keep the other one swaddled tight to his body. He has been sleeping 8-10 (uninterrupted) hours at night since 2 months. I'll probably start giving him cereal sometime this month and he'll reach the 12 hour mark.
ReplyDeleteAnyway! I'm obviously long winded! But I know I appreciate other mothers' experiences and tips so I thought I would share.
I'll leave this for you as well. I'm a big fan of the Babywise series and this is a blog with all the tips from the books plus the real life tips of a mother. You can choose certain post topics from the list on the right. I've found it very helpful. Good luck!
http://www.babywisemom.com/
OK I need to add something. I'm sorry! I just made it sound like swaddling is the trick. It's a good tip, but it's not the trick. The trick (at least I've found) is waking my babies up every 2-3 hours to feed them during the day. It's natural for them to sleep during the day and it even makes sense when you think about it. Daytime is the time that mommy is moving around and the baby in her womb is cradled to sleep by her activity. When baby is out of the womb, it takes training to organize his sleep habits. I'm the first to admit, waking a sleeping, peaceful baby is the HARDEST thing to do, but it's so worth it! Pack them full during the day and their bodies will learn that's when they eat. Nighttime is for sleep. I don't think it took longer than one week for either Teryn or Ryder to catch on. It's hard to do, but I think it's a small price to pay for a mother's sanity! No mother wants to be a zombie!
ReplyDeleteI have been trying leaving one arm out after I read your post and it seems to help! I just have to wait until he's calm enough and he does better being swaddled. So thanks you! It just gets hard when he is upset because he is very strong and I swear could break out of a strait jacket! I have been reading over babywise too and am trying to establish some good routines. I love the advice, keep it coming! haha
DeleteYou don't know me, but I know a few of your friends and have randomly blog stalked you a few times! I hope you take that as a compliment and not as creepy! I wouldn't even comment, but I just wanted to say that my two children were NOT good sleepers. I tried babywise and a few other methods and with my first I felt like I was the worst mother because it just wasn't working. So, I just wanted to say that I am sure you are the best mom and not to kill yourself over trying to get your little guy to sleep because sometimes they just don't sleep well. That's what I ended up learning. It's not worth it to be sleep deprived and emotionally exhausted because you beat yourself up. You were just entrusted with a little guy that needs a little more patience at this stage :). Hang in there...I am sure you are the sweetest, most loving mom. Keep up the good work and I'll pray you'll get some added energy and strength from on high!
ReplyDeleteThank you, it always helps hearing other moms perspectives!
DeleteYou dont know me either but I went to High School with Jason, and I hope you don't mind if I put my 2 cents in!!! I recently had my 3rd child on April 24th and was having the same problem for the first few weeks, she would just get to sleep and then a few minutes later wake up crying. I am a firm believer in doing what works for you and your baby not all books are going to work for everyone. I definitely do not do things by the book. I have found that if I swaddle her tightly and let her sleep by me where she can hear me breathing and my heartbeat she will sleep for 6-7 hours straight, so that is what I do because I have two other little girls at home and I cannot afford to go without my sleep. Just follow your motherly instinct this stage of life goes by too quickly enjoy every moment!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lindsay! I think LIam is very similar to your little girl. He sleeps sooo much longer if he is by us and can hear the heart beat and hear us breathing. I am trying to put him in his crib to start every night and some times it works and some times it doesn't. If Im too tired I have to let him sleep by me or I won't be able to function. I am glad I am not the only one! Thanks for your comment!
Delete(I love mommy advice so I've come back to your post a few times to see follow up comments!)
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to echo Lindsay and say that you need to do what you ultimately feel is best for Liam. Every mother in the world will have their own experiences to share but no child is the same. I mentioned how helpful Babywise has been for me but I know of several who hate the concepts it teaches because they've never worked for their children and that's OK. We all need to do what is best for our babies! One thing I will say though, in the book Toddlerwise (another book in the Babywise series) it talks about "The how/why Dichotomy". I'm just going to share an example from the book- -it's long but it really made an impression on me!
"The supervisor asked you for copies of the financial report. You go over to the photocopier and push start. You process a few pages, and then the red indicator light begins to flash. What will you do? Of course, the first thing we all think of is to fix the copy machine. You open the paper trays, check for jams, remove the jam, and reset the machine. Again you hit start, and again the red light flashes. Frustrated, you open more panels, clear the rollers, check the toner, shake the paper, and start over. Another jam occurs. You call a few friends over to help you. They suggest calling the copy repair service. Now your controlling passion is to fix the copier.
But if we were to stop in that moment and ask, "What was the original why that led me to the copy machine?" The answer would be, "To duplicate the report." Is there another way you can duplicate the report? Yes, you can go next door and use the neighbor's copy machine, or as suggested above, go to a copy center, or try printing the copies of the report from your computer.
Here is the point. Sometimes the hows of life stop us cold. Out of frustration we begin to examine why our method (how) does not work, and we miss moving forward in life because we are stuck on a broken how. The secondary how then begins to dominate our thinking and consumes our time and our emotional energy. We end up worried and more focused on fixing the how than returning to the original why to consider other means to satisfy it. In fact, we often become spellbound by fear that if our how does not get fixed, our goals will never be achieved."
Sorry that was so long! This mostly hit home when Teryn hit the terrible-two stage and I was so frustrated about how to successfully discipline him, but I think it can be applied to any baby age! Stay focused on the reason (YOUR reasons) you're doing things, like sleep training, scheduling feedings, etc. and you'll find the best way to achieve your own goals.
You're doing great! All of us have to experience it for the first time! It will be over before you know it and you'll wish for your newborn again!
I'm done now =0)
Thanks Dani! You make me laugh but this really is helpful and good to keep in mind while going through this process!!
DeleteI totally know how you feel. I use to feel dead if I only got six hours of sleep and now I think it is great if I get four consecutive hours. Last night she slept almost 5 hours it was awesome. She can fall asleep in any position but she won't stay asleep if she isn't swaddled. She also has been having gas issues. hmmm.... no chocolate :(
ReplyDelete-Valerie Nagle
DeleteIt's good to know I am not alone! Thanks Valerie!
Delete