Way back in December, Will slept through the night for the first time. Despite the fact that I woke up in a panic and poked him to make sure he was still breathing (he was), it was awesome. There is no greater thrill than 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep when you're a new parent.
When he slept through the night again the following evening, Ben and I were sure it was a pattern. We were sure we were finally in for smooth sleep sailing. Naturally, we couldn't have been more wrong.
Not only did Will stop sleeping through the night, but he virtually quit taking naps and started waking frequently. Like four or five times a night. So the most sleep we ever got was 2-3 hours at a time. Not cool, child.
To make matters worse, since Will wasn't getting enough sleep at night, he was crabby all day long. And since he was crabby and overtired all day long, he was unable or unwilling to nap for more than 20 minutes at a time. Kill. Me. Now.
Luckily I had a friend to commiserate with. Insomnia and sleeplessness is so much easier to tolerate when someone else is doing it with you. We grumbled about the parents whose children supposedly sleep through the night within the first month, and decided that if you have one of those blessed miracle babies then you should keep that information to yourself. All it does is make the rest of us feel bad.
But then, out of nowhere, Will suddenly started sleeping. First, he stopped taking his middle of the night bottle (on his own), and then one night he just slept. All night long (7:00 PM - 6:00 AM). And he's continued doing it. For the past 10 days. Bliss.
Now that I'm on the other side (for now), I see what those other moms were talking about. When your baby starts sleeping, it's one of the most thrilling things in the world. I literally want to shout it from the roof tops: My baby finally sleeps through the night! I'm rested for the first time in 7 months! He takes hour long naps, which means I get hour long breaks during the day! Wheeee!
So to my friend who continues to have sleep struggles, I'm sorry, and I love you. I've been there, and it sucks. Rest assured, when it finally does happen, you will appreciate it way more than those lucky bitches (er, ah, fortunate new moms) who had sleeping babies at 6 weeks.
Don't worry, since the surgery got postponed until some unknown date, we are doing triage sleep training. And by we I mean Pat. I'm staying at Marie's at night until it is done. :) I'm a sleep refugee. Bad parenting? Perhaps. Necessary? Oh yes.
ReplyDeleteLet me know how it goes. We escaped CIO for now, but I'm not optimistic this pattern will hold. Enjoy your break at Hotel Marie!
ReplyDeleteI was lucky with Eli, he slept great from the beginning. He hit, hmm, let's say 2 and he decided sleep is for the birds, refused to sleep in a crib, and now refuses to sleep in his bed. It has been a long six months. Maybe the opposite will happen for you...not great in the beginning, but ends well. Hey at least in a few months, I'll be up anyway!
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