Friday, June 10, 2011

whoever coined the phrase "sleeping like a baby" never had one.

Here's the bottom line: It is my own fault.

A couple weeks ago his doctor politely, and in not so many words, informed me that there is no biological reason my son should not be capable of sleeping a solid 8 hours at night. The fact that he is waking up every 2 hours (and last night every hour) is my own fault. She said, make him cry it out. It'll take a couple weeks, but he'll get the idea and you'll both be better off.

The thing is: theory is always easier than practice.

I've tried to do this. I have. And I've been successful for nap times and putting him to bed. It's those middle of the night wails that I just can't seem to ignore. I've tried... but before I can even stop myself, I'm in his room, lifting him out of his crib. I'm too tired to have any kind of clear thought, so I go through motions that I'm pretty sure are genetically programmed in me to do.

The thing is: I'm exhausted.

I'm in the middle of a vicious cycle -and I know it. And I've had enough. I'm ready to just suck it up & listen to him cry for the next two weeks, only... the ear infection thing. I need to wait for that to clear up first, because I think that last night there was some ligit -I don't feel good, please comfort me- going on.

Question: How long will it take for the ear infection to clear up? He's been on antibiotics for three days.

Anyway... he's napping so I should be too. Let's hope for an hour, eh?

5 comments:

Laurie said...

He should start to feel better within the next day or two!

I never could let my kids cry it out. I'm okay with taking naps when I need it. It's so nice to snuggle when they're this little. :)

Kyla said...

Like Laurie said he should be doing better in the next day or two. I gave my little guy Tylenol before bed every night the week he was on antibiotics and It did help him sleep longer. It's SO hard to listen to them cry at night! My "rule" was if he cries more than 10 minutes, I would go get him, rock him, and put him back to bed. For me, it worked, but not all the time. Good luck, welcome to mommy-hood, the part where no one really listens to the "get sleep before the baby comes" advise because its true even though you roll your eyes!

Wendy-n-Jason said...

Awhile ago you talked about his sleeping and I wrote you a novel and it got erased. I was too tired to re-post so here it is in a nutshell. I wish people would stop telling moms that it's our own fault when our children aren't sleeping etc etc. Everest is almost 2. TWO!!! And does he sleep through the night? Nope. Have I tried everything? Yep. Including letting him cry it out. But here's the difference in my child and someone else's. He's a different child. And he does his own thing. And I have had to deal with him being up at night for almost two years. I've heard of much worse. Anyway, I'm not telling you this to make you feel worse, but for me, when I finally came to terms with the fact that he may still get up at night and there was nothing I could do about it, it was actually easier to get up. Instead of being frustrated, I was resigned. And maybe some moms are reading this in the comments section and rolling their eyes (I know my pediatrician would) but I don't care. I have tried EVERYTHING and the only time he sleeps all night (usually) is when I wear him out so much that he can't move and sometimes he actually sleeps in for 15 or 20 minutes. But that takes half a day or more of running and jumping non stop and mommy doesn't always have the time or energy. All I'm saying is, do what you feel you need to do as his mom and don't let others tell you you're doing something wrong. You know better than anyone else what he needs. And I'm not saying letting him cry it out is or isn't a good option, I've done that too. And the 10 minute rule is a good one.
There's my novel. Sorry. Love ya and good luck!
Wendy

Malinda said...

I agree with everyone! Funny! I have had to let all my kids cry it out eventually. My first was definitely my fault he wasn't sleeping through the night. It's okay I can admit it. It didn't take a couple weeks or even a week. It took like 3 maybe 4 days and he was through it. My youngest the same I let him cry it out and he was 3 maybe 4 days and we were done. each night got better. My daughter and middle child. Completely different story. I tried EVERYTHING!!! I mean it. By 9 months she was still not sleeping. I tried the crying it out thing again. No luck. She is going to be 5 on the 19th of this month and she still doesn't sleep through the night. She's gone through stages. At first she wasn't sleeping because she had to be swaddled, when i broke her of that habit, it became she needed a drink (not hungry)just some water. Heck I need water in the middle of the night sometimes. This one was harder to break. I did it and then she potty trained at 23 months. SO then we were up every so often to go potty. That's where we are now. Almost 5 and still wakes up either peed her bed or has to go potty. I figure by the time she graduates she will start sleeping :) Good luck!!! Just remember you know what's best.

Cynthia said...

My first was an awesome sleeper from birth, that said I was totally unprepared for my second who had horrible reflux and that made him a horrible sleeper. I was up at least twice a night with him until he went on meds at 7 months, then it took forever to break the bad sleep habits.

So, long story short - like others have said, every child is different (#3 is even a different sleeper from the first two...still trying to figure him out). Good luck, hope you find what works for you and the Little Pirate :)