Broken Sleep
I should be blogging about months four, five or six (whoa!) in terms of Henry's growth, new skills and personality in general, but I'll save that for another day. Today's post comes to you from the land of sleepy. In fact, I probably should be napping during this likely 30 minute nap, but I wanted to dust off the ole blog.
I will say that the first eight weeks or so of Henry's life were by far my sleepiest yet. There was plenty of crying between Henry wanting something all the time (milk or sleep) and my exhaustion and general feeling of overwhelm.
I remember once trying to rock him back to sleep in the middle of the night when I caught myself before falling over because I was so tired. In the early days, the only way to get him to sleep was to stand and rock and shush him. He never did like us sitting in the chair to do that.
As everyone tells you, things really do change constantly with babies. They are doing so much growing both physically and developmentally that it's bound to happen. But knowing that fact doesn't make it easier.
So just as soon as we had sleep trained him around 14 weeks, he decided to refuse to go to sleep without nursing. Talk about two steps forward and three steps back. And he's gone from waking up maybe 2-3 times per night to eat to sometimes 4-6. Needless to say, this mama is TIRED.
I think we'll be soon trying the Baby Whisperer sleep methods again (which involves plenty of crying and soothing them to let them know you're there) and I'll probably start waking up Pete to go in and try and put him back to sleep when I don't think he needs to eat. While I know he doesn't "need" food every few hours during the night, as a mom, it's hard to hear your baby cry (which often sounds pretty desperate) and not go in and solve the problem.
Anyway, this is all a long-winded way of saying that I'm tired, but I'm also continually surprised at how well I can function on very little sleep (usually 4-6 hours of broken sleep) and still want to go running several days a week. Yes, I probably should go to bed at 8:00 p.m. to snag a little more shut eye, but I can't seem to bring myself to go to bed that early. Plus, that's often time reserved for a bit of computer work for the running store or simply some chill out time.
What's your ideal amount of sleep? I operate much better with 8 hours, but I suspect that won't happen again for a few years.
I will say that the first eight weeks or so of Henry's life were by far my sleepiest yet. There was plenty of crying between Henry wanting something all the time (milk or sleep) and my exhaustion and general feeling of overwhelm.
As everyone tells you, things really do change constantly with babies. They are doing so much growing both physically and developmentally that it's bound to happen. But knowing that fact doesn't make it easier.
So just as soon as we had sleep trained him around 14 weeks, he decided to refuse to go to sleep without nursing. Talk about two steps forward and three steps back. And he's gone from waking up maybe 2-3 times per night to eat to sometimes 4-6. Needless to say, this mama is TIRED.
Aw, I miss my snuggly little six week old.
I think we'll be soon trying the Baby Whisperer sleep methods again (which involves plenty of crying and soothing them to let them know you're there) and I'll probably start waking up Pete to go in and try and put him back to sleep when I don't think he needs to eat. While I know he doesn't "need" food every few hours during the night, as a mom, it's hard to hear your baby cry (which often sounds pretty desperate) and not go in and solve the problem.
Anyway, this is all a long-winded way of saying that I'm tired, but I'm also continually surprised at how well I can function on very little sleep (usually 4-6 hours of broken sleep) and still want to go running several days a week. Yes, I probably should go to bed at 8:00 p.m. to snag a little more shut eye, but I can't seem to bring myself to go to bed that early. Plus, that's often time reserved for a bit of computer work for the running store or simply some chill out time.
What's your ideal amount of sleep? I operate much better with 8 hours, but I suspect that won't happen again for a few years.
Comments
I, too, continue to be amazed at my ability to function on such little sleep. Even more than my desire for 8-10 hours at night is my desire for a really long afternoon nap! I can't explain it but for some reason I really just want to come home from work early, crawl into bed in the middle of the day, and sleep until diner time!