I’m officially eating my words and thoughts. Jessi was a total freak of nature. When she was 3 weeks old she was sleeping 8pm-4am and waking to eat and back to sleep until between 8-10am. By about 8 weeks, she was sleeping 12-14 hours every night. She never wakes in the middle of the night. She has always been a fantastic nap taker. For the first 4 months she would nap in her swing and then started napping in her bed with no problems.
I thought this was normal. When I heard other parents talk about issues with getting their kids to sleep I thought SURELY they were doing something wrong because my perfect parenting was working wonders on my perfect baby.
And then I had Zoey.
She will be 6 months old next week and sleep is a nightmare for this one. She’s done pretty well with napping in her swing (until the last few weeks), but you better not even try to lay her down to sleep or she will bust your eardrums with screams.
And nighttime? Let’s just say I’m beyond beat. 8 times she has slept through the night. EIGHT. In six months. Most nights she wakes 3-6 times. Lately I can usually get away with one feeding, but that still means I’m being woken up way too many times. And getting her to go to bed? Don’t even get me started. Right now I’m writing this after having tried walking her, rocking her and on and on for over 45 minutes and she’s still fighting me. I finally just put her down and am letting her fight it out because I’m about to LOSE MY MIND.
I’ve had a migraine for the past 24 hours that I can’t beat. I’m absolutely exhausted. I have no energy. I just want some rest without having to go stick a paci in a mouth 12 times.
This is what I get for thinking I rock at parenting.
CODE IT & LOAD IT!
CODE IT & LOAD IT!
Hang in there friend. Saying some prayers that you get some rest and so does Zoey. Hugs from Florida.
Hey KK! First off – HUGS to you, friend!! Sleep struggles with Baby are the worst. It’s exhausting, frustrating, and nothing can make you feel more stressed out quite like dealing with sleep (or lack thereof). You’re not alone. I’m on Boy #3 now and I’ve certainly dealt with my fair share of sleep issues. The good news is that there are a ton of resources out there to help with sleep issues. My blog buddy Erin wrote an awesome post about helping her kids sleep – http://www.thesunnysideupblog.com/2010/07/baby-boot-camp.html
She recommends several books in that post as well and I found it extremely helpful with sleep training Thomas the past couple months.
Hang in there, honey. It might take some work, but you can get Zoey to sleep!!
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Thanks for the tips…and for being my late night buddy
Oh dear. I’m so so sorry. I think Bennett fell kind of average with sleeping. He slept through the night fairly young (like 4-5 weeks) and was a pretty good napper… but he couldn’t put himself to sleep so we had to always be holding him or rocking him. He had to be SOUND asleep before we could lay him down and if he woke up – it was over. So I totally know what you’re going through there. It wasn’t until about 7-8 months that I felt comfortable letting him “cry it out” and even then it was torture for both him and me. But it was the best thing I ever did. Keep you head up mama… you’re doing your best!!!
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I have such a hard time letting her cry…it makes me so sad!!! I’m hoping in the next few months she will start falling asleep better on her own, or at least I’ll be ok with listening to her cry! SAD!
Aww I’m sorry. That is rough!! Praying for you that she sleeps better.
I am so sorry. I feel for you. B had silent reflux until he was 2. Even after we had the reflux controlled, his sleep issues persisted since he had never learned to sleep. And now he sleeps, but I still don’t! My body lost the ability and I can’t regain it!
Yikes….I sure hope my body remembers how to sleep after all this!!!!
I know how badly that sucks. I can offer no suggestions, only can identify. I only thought my first was a bad sleeper. My baby (who is almost 19 months old) is STILL not sleeping through the night.
Hope rest comes to you!
Allison recently posted..all my boys
Whoa, 19 months and still not sleeping??? OK, I’ll stop whining now!
KK, I still have sleep issues with Anna. Mia is much more like Jessie. Anna could drive me to my room with ear plugs, tears and utter exhaustion until the wee hours of the morning!!! That girl never wants to sleep!!! Hang in there and stay strong!!! I love you girl!
That was Henry. I actually could get him to sleep for bed easily (nursing), but naps? No freaking way. He fought me daily, and dropped napping altogether at TWO. Yeah. He woke up at least once a night until he was four, and until he was two, he was waking anywhere from 2-4 times. Some nights more. See, you were totally spoiled by Jessi! I had the WORST SLEEPER EVER first so anything seemed better in comparison!
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Hang in there friend! Belle consistently woke up through the night until about 13 months. Sometimes she still wakes, but I can usually get her to go back down again. It will get better. Promise. I won’t lie, and I know that some mamas will think I’m terrible, but that’s why I started letting her get back to sleep with us. I’d pull her into our bed, and I’d doze lightly while she fell back asleep and then I’d put her back in her crib after she was out. It was better than falling asleep in the chair holding her! I felt like such a bad mother for not being able to stay awake, and since I was the only one getting up with her at night, I had to do something that was the least dangerous! I got a little more rest that way.
Hang in there, friend. Also, we had some friends that suggested the book Babywise for sleeping and schedules. I learned some good insight from the book, although I didn’t do it religiously.
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