This weather is NOT helping me kick-start my day and my pregnancy allotted coffee will surely not do the trick either.
Little C started crying in his crib around 9:30pm last night. Hubs went in to soothe him back to sleep but then he started right back at it around 10:30pm... then 11... then 11:20, 11:45, etc. I mentioned yesterday that he had pinkeye and a head cold so we thought maybe he just wasn't feeling 100% and needed some comforting. But after doing this over and over again it started to feel like he just wanted to make sure we were there, close by.
At one point we groggily decided that this is what the pacifier used to do for him when he would be restless at night and since we are now "paci free" we decided around the 11:45 awakening to let him cry it out and see if he could self-soothe. No dice.
We tried in earnest one last time to get him back to sleep (which we were able to every time he woke up) but once we laid him back in his crib no matter how asleep he seemed, he'd wake up and cry.
This is when we caved and brought him into bed with us. We all needed to get some sleep!
Hubby and I do not subscribe to the co-sleeping school of thought. As a newborn C was next to our bed in a bassinet for only a few weeks before he was moved into his crib. He has always been a pretty descent sleeper and I feel that by doing it this way we didn't lose any bonding or intimate connection with our son.
**We know there are pros and cons to co-sleeping and if you are interested, you can click here and here, to read a few and come to your own conclusions.**
So there we were with Little C sleeping with us. It seemed to be just what he needed as he snuggled in close to me. That part of the gig was amazing and as I listened to my sweet son's breathing, Hubby's breathing, the dog breathing, and the cats purring... I could not fall back to sleep. Then I started getting really hot. Having a baby body right up to mine, and cats snuggled at my legs, AND a bun in my oven, I was on fire!
If that all wasn't enough my arm started going numb from holding C, my calf started cramping up, and my back was killing me because I wasn't in my usual comfy sleep position. So I carefully rolled the little man to a better spot, I gave the cats a couple swift motions reminding them of who's bed it really is anyway, and I attempted to get comfortable.
I slept in hour chunks and would get woken up by a toddler foot in my back or by C draping himself across my neck. Again, the fact that he wanted and needed to be so close was truly a wonderful feeling but this mama needs her beauty sleep!
My alarm going off seemed like a cruel joke and my son's refreshed and energetic mood, even crueler. I am so. very. tired. However, bringing comfort to my son, although exhausting, felt really good and being tired seems worth it. But I might be singing a different tune if this happens again tonight!
I hope you're not draggin your wagon like me today. But if you are, coffee mugs up... cheers!
It seems whenever I'm going through something, you post about how you're going through almost the exact same thing! But, with us, we got into the bad/lazy habit of bringing my 19-month-old into our bed when he woke in the middle of the night and now he does it regularly. I agree it's a tough sleep sometimes.
ReplyDeleteCan I ask about how C gets to sleep normally? I'm obsessing about toddler sleep this week, and we still need to sway our son to sleep for 15-30 minutes before he falls asleep. I don't like "cry it out" and never did it, and I don't know how to transition him to just falling to sleep on his own.
I'm going to do a post about this very soon! We have a very difinitive bedtime routine... reading books, brushing teeth, diaper change, hugs and kisses, then he's given his lovey and this is when he used to be given his paci as well. He'd be placed in his crib, roll to the side and start dozing. it was easy peasy! Now that the paci is gone we do have to rock him for a bit but not always to the point of passed out. Usually just long enough to get him comfortable with the idea that it's time for sleep. But the past few nights have been a bit off and once we set him in the crib his eyes pop open and he cries. So we have rocked him until he is asleep. We are hoping this is a phase...
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