Andrea and I are good sleepers. Our children are not. We know it's our fault - we know we created bad sleepers of our 2 bio kids. But, as luck would have it (or not) Baby N is also a bad sleeper.
With ML, well, he was our first, so, in theory he was going to sleep in a bassinet next to the bed and I would get up at night to nurse him. I swore he wouldn't sleep in our bed. Swore. Well, guess what, once I discovered the ease of nursing at night - basically falling back to sleep as soon as he latched on, I was hooked. He napped in his own bed, yup, bed (well, mattress on the floor, Montessori-style), we didn't have cribs, we are hippies. Then, especially once I went back to work, we took turns putting him to bed at night - and staying with him until he fell asleep. I know. I know - DANGER. But, it was our time with him, we loved it - reading lots of stories, singing, making up stories, etc. It was great. But it also created a sleep issue. Now, at 4, we still have a longish bedtime ritual, but ML no longer wakes up in the middle of the night to come to our room. It only took 4 years!
And of course, we did the same thing with JC because we did not learn from the past, and thus were doomed to repeat it. JC was a demon at night. He did not like to stay asleep - and it was so much easier to have him sleep with us and when he woke up at night we would be right there to get him back to sleep. for the most part. JC is now 2 and he wakes up once a night and one of us (we take turns) heads into his room and sleeps with him. I know, again, that's bad. And really, we could just lay with him until he falls asleep then leave, but he is so warm and snugly it's hard to leave. We figure that he will stop waking up by the age of 4 as well. Just two more years! Woohoo!
Now for Baby N. I guess we just hoped that if we got a baby he'd be a good sleeper because lots of babies are decent sleepers and maybe someone (God or whoever) would cut us a break. Nope. When he first came to our house he couldn't sleep AT ALL without being held. As Andrea says, "he needs at least 3 points of human contact at all times." He would fall asleep in our arms and the minute we put him down he screams. No, not cries, we goes right from silence to screaming. It's a treat. Luckily, since he's been going to daycare he's gotten a bit better - he naps for an hour at a time each day in a crib and he will fall asleep in bed on his own at home. But he will not stay asleep. At the most he will stay asleep for 3 hours, then it's screaming. We don't need a monitor to hear him even though he is 3 floors away from us.
Then, two nights ago, he had a cold and was really snotty and I think he slept about 3 hours total - and not in a row. Andrea dealt with him that night and sent me into another room so that she knew she would get a full nights sleep the next night. The hardest part for me is that I did not create this sleep monster - at least with ML & JC I couldn't get too mad because I did it to myself. But, with Baby N, oooohhhh boy, the thoughts I have about his parents when he is screaming at 4:00 in the morning are not nice. Funny how that works. He is feeling better now and slept ok last night, fingers crossed tonight is even better - I am tired of being tired.
With ML, well, he was our first, so, in theory he was going to sleep in a bassinet next to the bed and I would get up at night to nurse him. I swore he wouldn't sleep in our bed. Swore. Well, guess what, once I discovered the ease of nursing at night - basically falling back to sleep as soon as he latched on, I was hooked. He napped in his own bed, yup, bed (well, mattress on the floor, Montessori-style), we didn't have cribs, we are hippies. Then, especially once I went back to work, we took turns putting him to bed at night - and staying with him until he fell asleep. I know. I know - DANGER. But, it was our time with him, we loved it - reading lots of stories, singing, making up stories, etc. It was great. But it also created a sleep issue. Now, at 4, we still have a longish bedtime ritual, but ML no longer wakes up in the middle of the night to come to our room. It only took 4 years!
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| ML snoozing the day away |
And of course, we did the same thing with JC because we did not learn from the past, and thus were doomed to repeat it. JC was a demon at night. He did not like to stay asleep - and it was so much easier to have him sleep with us and when he woke up at night we would be right there to get him back to sleep. for the most part. JC is now 2 and he wakes up once a night and one of us (we take turns) heads into his room and sleeps with him. I know, again, that's bad. And really, we could just lay with him until he falls asleep then leave, but he is so warm and snugly it's hard to leave. We figure that he will stop waking up by the age of 4 as well. Just two more years! Woohoo!
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| He's peaceful now, but just wait...(JC) |
Now for Baby N. I guess we just hoped that if we got a baby he'd be a good sleeper because lots of babies are decent sleepers and maybe someone (God or whoever) would cut us a break. Nope. When he first came to our house he couldn't sleep AT ALL without being held. As Andrea says, "he needs at least 3 points of human contact at all times." He would fall asleep in our arms and the minute we put him down he screams. No, not cries, we goes right from silence to screaming. It's a treat. Luckily, since he's been going to daycare he's gotten a bit better - he naps for an hour at a time each day in a crib and he will fall asleep in bed on his own at home. But he will not stay asleep. At the most he will stay asleep for 3 hours, then it's screaming. We don't need a monitor to hear him even though he is 3 floors away from us.
Then, two nights ago, he had a cold and was really snotty and I think he slept about 3 hours total - and not in a row. Andrea dealt with him that night and sent me into another room so that she knew she would get a full nights sleep the next night. The hardest part for me is that I did not create this sleep monster - at least with ML & JC I couldn't get too mad because I did it to myself. But, with Baby N, oooohhhh boy, the thoughts I have about his parents when he is screaming at 4:00 in the morning are not nice. Funny how that works. He is feeling better now and slept ok last night, fingers crossed tonight is even better - I am tired of being tired.
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| Baby N - the first time he ever fell asleep on his own - it wasn't even bed time! |
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