Okay, so Gwen is not exactly my enemy. But she is an enemy to sleep. I don't know why she hates sleep so much. She tends to be a much happier baby when she gets adequate sleep. But she fights it with all her might.
An example: She was sick on Saturday night. She rolled back and forth crying almost the entire night. I gave her Tylenol because she had a fever, and we were able to grab a few hours of sleep. But most of the night was spent in misery. But on Sunday something magical happened. First, Gwen took a 3 hour nap. Then, later in the day, Gwen took a 2 hour nap. That's 5 hours of naps (Note: it's not as simple as it sounds. The only way she was willing to nap was if I laid down with her and fed her every 45 minutes while she slept; otherwise she would only sleep about 30-45 minutes total and would wake up from her nap a little monster). It was amazing. But she didn't wake up from her last nap until 5:30 and she generally melts down if we try to put her to bed 1 minute past 7. So I had planned on putting her to bed at her normal bedtime (she has, in the past, woken up from her second nap at 6 and gone to bed at 7). But she seemed happy, and she wasn't rubbing her eyes, so I thought I would just wait it out. She didn't start giving tired signals until 7:30 and didn't fall asleep until 8. I was hoping this would translate into a wake-up time of 5:30 or 6, since she had gone to sleep an hour later (normal wake-up is at about 4:30), but she woke up at 5. After about 40 minutes of continual nursing and laying her back down every time she tried to stand up I got her to go back to sleep...for 35 minutes. Not exactly a victory. 3 hours later she took an hour and fifteen minute nap. I thought I would try for nap 2 at 3pm, but she wasn't tired yet. I knew she needed another nap if she was going to make it until 8 pm again, but I don't think she had any intention of making it until 8. At 5pm she decided it was time for what I thought was nap number 2. But, alas, it was not. Apparently Gwen was under the impression that she was going to bed for the night. She is only 10 months old but is determined to drop her second nap and to only take 1 nap a day. Most babies don't do this until about 15 months. I think she just wants to knock her sleep out in as few sittings as possible. I thought she was taking her second nap, so after 2 hours I woke her up. It was 7pm. She screamed the rest of the evening until I put her in bed at 8:30. And then she was awake at 5:00. And then she spent the entire morning in a horrible mood. So maybe I should have let her sleep straight through from 5 pm. My only fear is that our new wake-up time will be 2am instead of 4:30, but if she tries that tonight I am going to risk it because it can't go much worse than it did this morning (and Keith will be home from his conference tonight and has agreed to wake up when she does tomorrow, so I get to sleep in anyway).
All this to say, I'm tired. So if I drop the ball on something, please forgive me. If I seem cranky or cynical or like I am complaining quite a bit in this little online world or in person, I probably am. I know that all babies are enemies of sleep (with a few notable exceptions, and if you have been blessed with one of those exceptions be thankful, but understand that while I am happy for you I am also secretly a little jealous), and I don't want to diminish anyone else's experience (I am aware that I have a healthy baby and some people don't, and for her health I am thankful, and that is not what I am talking about here). But, from what I understand, Gwen is a baby in her own stratosphere. My mother-in-law, a former pediatric nurse, told me she has never met such a cranky baby who hates sleep quite this much. I'm glad that I get this feedback from time to time because, Gwen being our first, we don't know if this is what people meant when they said, "babies are hard," or if Gwen really is harder than most babies. Because if all babies are this hard, maybe we don't want to have any more (maybe this is Gwen's master plan to be an only child so she never has to share her toys or her ice cream).
I will close with a recent conversation that we had with a soon-to-be father. People were telling him what to expect when the baby was born. As we had the youngest baby of anyone at the table, naturally, he turned to us for the most recent experience with an infant. We told him about Gwen's sleep and crying habits, and he appeared to pale and break out in a cold sweat. Keith backtracked, so as not to panic the father-to-be, and said, "But don't worry too much. Gwen is pretty much the worst example of a baby, ever." That seemed to make him feel better. And while I wish she were easier, we manage. I think any parent rises to whatever challenges their baby presents them.
An example: She was sick on Saturday night. She rolled back and forth crying almost the entire night. I gave her Tylenol because she had a fever, and we were able to grab a few hours of sleep. But most of the night was spent in misery. But on Sunday something magical happened. First, Gwen took a 3 hour nap. Then, later in the day, Gwen took a 2 hour nap. That's 5 hours of naps (Note: it's not as simple as it sounds. The only way she was willing to nap was if I laid down with her and fed her every 45 minutes while she slept; otherwise she would only sleep about 30-45 minutes total and would wake up from her nap a little monster). It was amazing. But she didn't wake up from her last nap until 5:30 and she generally melts down if we try to put her to bed 1 minute past 7. So I had planned on putting her to bed at her normal bedtime (she has, in the past, woken up from her second nap at 6 and gone to bed at 7). But she seemed happy, and she wasn't rubbing her eyes, so I thought I would just wait it out. She didn't start giving tired signals until 7:30 and didn't fall asleep until 8. I was hoping this would translate into a wake-up time of 5:30 or 6, since she had gone to sleep an hour later (normal wake-up is at about 4:30), but she woke up at 5. After about 40 minutes of continual nursing and laying her back down every time she tried to stand up I got her to go back to sleep...for 35 minutes. Not exactly a victory. 3 hours later she took an hour and fifteen minute nap. I thought I would try for nap 2 at 3pm, but she wasn't tired yet. I knew she needed another nap if she was going to make it until 8 pm again, but I don't think she had any intention of making it until 8. At 5pm she decided it was time for what I thought was nap number 2. But, alas, it was not. Apparently Gwen was under the impression that she was going to bed for the night. She is only 10 months old but is determined to drop her second nap and to only take 1 nap a day. Most babies don't do this until about 15 months. I think she just wants to knock her sleep out in as few sittings as possible. I thought she was taking her second nap, so after 2 hours I woke her up. It was 7pm. She screamed the rest of the evening until I put her in bed at 8:30. And then she was awake at 5:00. And then she spent the entire morning in a horrible mood. So maybe I should have let her sleep straight through from 5 pm. My only fear is that our new wake-up time will be 2am instead of 4:30, but if she tries that tonight I am going to risk it because it can't go much worse than it did this morning (and Keith will be home from his conference tonight and has agreed to wake up when she does tomorrow, so I get to sleep in anyway).
All this to say, I'm tired. So if I drop the ball on something, please forgive me. If I seem cranky or cynical or like I am complaining quite a bit in this little online world or in person, I probably am. I know that all babies are enemies of sleep (with a few notable exceptions, and if you have been blessed with one of those exceptions be thankful, but understand that while I am happy for you I am also secretly a little jealous), and I don't want to diminish anyone else's experience (I am aware that I have a healthy baby and some people don't, and for her health I am thankful, and that is not what I am talking about here). But, from what I understand, Gwen is a baby in her own stratosphere. My mother-in-law, a former pediatric nurse, told me she has never met such a cranky baby who hates sleep quite this much. I'm glad that I get this feedback from time to time because, Gwen being our first, we don't know if this is what people meant when they said, "babies are hard," or if Gwen really is harder than most babies. Because if all babies are this hard, maybe we don't want to have any more (maybe this is Gwen's master plan to be an only child so she never has to share her toys or her ice cream).
I will close with a recent conversation that we had with a soon-to-be father. People were telling him what to expect when the baby was born. As we had the youngest baby of anyone at the table, naturally, he turned to us for the most recent experience with an infant. We told him about Gwen's sleep and crying habits, and he appeared to pale and break out in a cold sweat. Keith backtracked, so as not to panic the father-to-be, and said, "But don't worry too much. Gwen is pretty much the worst example of a baby, ever." That seemed to make him feel better. And while I wish she were easier, we manage. I think any parent rises to whatever challenges their baby presents them.
No comments:
Post a Comment