Well, it all fell apart at around 1:30, but it's still the best night he's had in months, not counting that one night in Columbus that he almost slept like a normal baby. I went to bed after I posted, and just as I fell asleep I heard a little fussing. 1:30, he woke up desperate to nurse, an hour an a half after the last time he'd eaten, and then wouldn't be put down, and so I just took him into bed with me. (Not that I mind this in principle--but I do need him to be able to sleep without me there.) He woke up a few more times that night (have I mentioned the Pancake Principle? Yeah, remind me about that too) but then stayed asleep till nine, when I had to wake him up so I could take Barak to playgroup.
So, did Imma actually get any sleep out of all this? No, I didn't. But. My kitchen no longer reeks, the counter and sink (newly fixed) are shiny and clean, there are four loads of clean laundry (washing machine also newly fixed--two weeks without washing machine, bad news with two little boys) waiting to be folded, and I feel much more refreshed by this than I would be with a little extra sleep. Really.
3 comments:
Uberimma, this is not advice, just a question:
Is it possible that he could have reflux? Reflux does not necessarily cause a lot of spitting up, but it can keep a baby from being able to lie down comfortably.
No, that's not it (I think Barak had reflux though--he slept much better in a car seat than flat in a bed). He can lie down just fine if he's squashed up against me. He'll go right to sleep, but he won't stay asleep. It's that any tiny little disturbance wakes him up, including his own movements while asleep. Even when I'm holding him, he wakes up every fifteen minutes. And then when he's woken up and gone back to sleep a few times, he starts to get very worked up and overtired and upset, and starts to cry. And that's when it gets difficult.
I don't mind advice! I'll take advice! What I don't like is when people tell me it's not my kid, it's me, and I'm obviously doing it wrong and what I'm doing wrong is X, and if I say I tried it and it didn't work it's just because I didn't do it right--all this when they've never even met my kid, much less tried to get him to sleep themselselves. That's what drives me insane. Suggestions are always welcome. Like my babysitter's idea of putting him down swaddled with a stuffed animal inside the blanket, which seems to have helped a lot.
Your endurance is awesome. (And I'll bet you don't feel very awesome most nights.) I hope the swaddling with the stuffed animal helps, but especially, that his ultra-sensitivity wanes with his development, and soon. Hang in there!
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