Every time I introduce Carter to someone new the first question out of their mouth is "how is he sleeping?" or "Is he sleeping through the night yet?" I'm not sure why people are so curious about his sleeping habits. Is it because they remember the sleepless nights or because they have long forgotten and think that he should be sleeping a solid 12 hours by now? Regardless, I find it annoying. The truth is he's 12 weeks old and his sleep sucks.
He's like his mommy. Wakes easily and sometimes takes a long time to fall asleep. He needs to be bounced on a yoga ball or walked around. He doesn't care for the swing but sometimes I'll put him in there when I've done all I can it's been over an hour of trying to get him to sleep. He doesn't sleep in the car right away like so many other babies do. He's awake, looking around, and then fusses and cries until he finally gives in to sleep. This usually happens when we are about 5 minutes away from our destination. He will then wake up and I have to eventually lull him to sleep. Sometimes at night he'll wake up to nurse and then go right to sleep after, but more often then not, he needs to be bounced for 20-30 minutes before I can put him down. I'm exhausted which means I get frustrated with him more quickly than I normally would.
I go back to work in a month. One month from today and I'm terrified. I don't want him to be in day care... even though it's home care, I still don't want anyone else watching my baby. I don't even know how I'll get through a work day with him sleeping the way he does. Teaching is not an easy job to coast through. You have to be awake, alert and ready to put on a show. I'm worried that doing that all day and coming home to my sweet baby who will resist sleeping will just be a bad combination.
I'm so jealous of my friends who have babies who just fall asleep so easily or sleep through the night for hours upon hours. I'm insanely jealous. I sometimes wonder if we should just stop breast feeding and switch to formula. Maybe then he'll be full enough to sleep longer. However, I don't want to give up breast feeding.
Anyway, I'm hoping some day he'll magically sleep longer at night and fall asleep easily for a nap during the day. Until then, if I'll remain in a haze and nap when I can.
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2 comments:
I'm sorry things aren't going so well. Sleep is so valuable and the fact that you have to go back to work means you need sleep. I am going back in a few short weeks and have been working toward that. We started using BabyWise sleep training when Cooper was 5 weeks and it's working well. It's tough to stick to a schedule during the day, but we do our best and at 8 weeks, Coop is sleeping 7 hours. Maybe look into some kind of sleep training? That way you might not have to give up nursing. I might have to start formula just due to low supply, but I guess that is how it goes.
I wish you luck!
Hang in there my friend! I can only imagine the mind games that you are having to deal with, but try to be strong and trust that all will work out okay...
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