I am not going to lie and say having a 4 month old is all candies and rainbows and that I love every second of it, because I don't! This doesn't make me a bad parent or a bad person, just an honest one. I love my little girl more than anything in this universe but right now I hate night time!
Night time should be when we can put sweet little angle Emma to sleep and have some quiet time to ourselves, where we can get some mommy and daddy cuddles in and spend some quality time with each other. The past few weeks this has not been the case. It has, instead, been the return to newbornhood. I thought we left that a few months ago. Apparently it's come back to haunt us.
We HAD been down to a decent sleep pattern. Emma would go to bed between 8 and 9:30pm and sleep for about 5 hours before waking up to eat. She would then go back to sleep for 2-3 hours and get up to eat again and would go back to sleep for another 2-3 hours before she was up for the day. It worked for us.
That lasted about 7-8 weeks and I have to say it was marvelous.
The past couple of weeks, it may not have been that long but it sure feels like it has, we have been having some rough nights...rougher than when Emma was a newborn.
Here's an example of what happened last night. We put Emma in her crib without a problem at 8:30pmish. That's normal. Then Emma woke up at 10:30pm (which has been the norm for the past how ever long this has been going on, I call sleep deprivation on my part for not being able to remember). I went in and was able to just rock her until she fell back asleep, she wasn't interested in nursing. It took me 20 minutes to get her to go back down. Then she woke up at 11:45pm. Scott got up to get her to go back to sleep which he did. Then she woke up again at 12:30. I nursed her and she went back to sleep. She was awake again at 1. Scott went in this time and spent probably 40 minutes trying to get her to go back to sleep. He came back in our room and not after he'd been in bed for 2 minutes did she start up again, so It was my turn, it's 1:45am at this point. I try to calm her, which she's having none of so I resort to nursing her in the side lay position on the bed we have in her room. I fall asleep with her there. She wakes up at 3, isn't interested in eating. I can't calm her and Scott comes in and we trade off. He gets her to go back to sleep in her bouncy chair on vibrate, I discovered this at 5:00 this morning when she work up again. I nursed her and she was then up for the day.
Mind you, if she's fussing at all I'm NOT sleeping. And every time I go in to try to calm her, I offer to nurse her but if she's not hungry she gets PISSED, but I offer nonetheless, it use to fix everything.
What happened??? She did roll over by herself for the first time on Wednesday. Could this be a contributing factor? I don't know.
Did you experience this around this age? If so, what did you do?
Here's where y'all come in. Time to help a sista out!! All of you!! Family, friends, blog buddies, lurkers...advice please!!!!
10 comments:
When you know they are not hungry, cold or need a diaper it's okay to leave them to cry. They need to learn to self sooth. I know it sounds bad, but after a few nights it stops. It's harder for the parents then it is for the kids.
If she's not interested in nursing, it could just be she's fussing because she woke up and isn't happy about it. She is still learning how to put herself back to sleep when she stirs. Thankfully, it is probably just a phase. Try putting her down a little earlier or later and see if that changes her pattern. If she is having trouble sleeping for naps too, you might want to contact your pediatrician. Good luck to you all!
4 months is usually the beginning of a growth spot so maybe she is trying to build up your milk supply by wanting to nurse..who knows sometimes they are just fussy! good luck. I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.
Probably the new milestone and a growth spurt. She could also be starting to teethe. I do not agree with leaving them to cry until they are much older if ever. This too shall pass.
It's been awhile since I've had to deal with this, my girls are 5 and 3 now but I'm 32 weeks pregnant with a boy so it won't be long before I have to do it again. My first daughter was the same way. I would get her to sleep and sometimes it wouldn't even be an hour later when she woke up again. I know how you must feel.. your baby wakes up crying and sometimes you just want to sleep but you can't figure out for the life of you why she/he won't stay asleep. It would drive me crazy. It almost sounds like there could be something bothering her when she tries sleeping. But honestly, I can't be of any help. I don't think I ever solved the problem with my daughter. I just dealt with it and once she got a bit older, it stopped. I've read you can feed your baby a little more before you lay them down for bed and they should sleep longer. Or try using a lavender bath before bed; it's calming and relaxing and helps them sleep. Good luck!
I'm a new follower. I also have a blog hop open if you're interested in joining. You can find me and link up at www.adeliciousobsession.com
Have a good day!
My daughter just turned 6 months old yesterday and boy, being sleep deprived isn't the prettiest thing. What my doctor told me though was if the baby wants to be held then the mother should give it to him or her. After all, they will not be babies forever. I know it's difficult but you'll breeze through this stage. :-)Now that my daughter's schedule is more predictable (she sleeps at 7pm, wakes up at 2am and then at 5am to feed, then starts her day at 7am) I feel less tired, and I look back and feel glad that I gave in to her whining all those months. :-)
I have a blog called Cure for Mondays where I write about my journeys in life: ones that physically take me out on the road, also spiritual, virtual, cosmic, and imagined travels where weather has no part to play. Hope you could drop by and follow back.
http://cure4mondays.blogspot.com/
I'm your newest follower :-) I'm following you from Finding Friends Weekend Blog Hop.
It is always hard when they don't sleep for long periods. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until 18 months.
I'm stopping by from the Finding New Friends Weekend Hop. I'm following by GFC, Twitter and Facebook. I'd love if you'd stop by my blog. Have a great weekend.
Lisa
http://frugalmommieof2.blogspot.com/
Now I know this isn't for everyone, so take it as you will, but DH and I subscribed to the "cry it out" method. We had to do it with Alex. I checked to make sure he wasn't hungry or dirty and if everything was all okay, we'd let him cry it out. The crying lasted maybe 10-15 minutes and then he'd fall asleep. It went on maybe a week and then he figured out how to suck his thumb, he found out how to self soothe. From that point on, the only times I wake up with him is when he is sick.
My daughter is a little over 6 months and we went through the same thing. She was sleeping great through the night from the day we brought her home from the hospital. Then about 3.5-4 mo she just stopped and I about lost my brain. I was exhausted and wondering what was going on. She wasn't fussy or crying, just not sleeping. Then she started drooling all day long and not sleeping at night. Finally a tooth popped through and she was sleeping through the night again. It happened again only it was just 3-4 sleepless nights and then another tooth. I guess I can't complain because she isn't crying or screaming or running fevers. But, no matter what, if baby isn't sleeping ... Mama isn't sleeping. And that isn't fun. Good luck to you, as someone else posted ... this too shall pass.
Also, I am a new follower, come visit my blog at http://surroundedby3pink.blogspot.com
Post a Comment