Laura I was thinking about you last night as I lay awake in anger at my sleeping husband, still unable to get a hold of my anxiety because one or both of the babies woke a few times in a row (both babies have colds and coughs picked up from the hospital I think) resulting in me lying there, adrenaline pumping through me unable to actually sleep... Even though everyone else by that time is.
And I wondered if it would be more helpful if I explained my understanding (or maybe it's just acceptance) of what sttn means for us.... Mostly, it's about being sure of what it is they want or need when they wake or stir... Because they both do several times a night. And regardless of whether they need me to help them or not I generally always get up and at least got to their door. B tends to wake, cry out and then shuffle around until she finds a paci and I hear her sigh and she goes back down. Occasionally the cry is prolonged so she's normally stuck in an awkward position or she needs a drink. P wakes up for a drink of water most nights (we are working on her finding her own sippy cup which we leave in her crib) which I attend to.
There have been a few weeks (when they were 11 or 12 months old) when most nights we only heard from b and she resettled herself but apart from that there has always been something to attend to or attune to between one and twenty times a night depending on what's been going on. Growth spurts, teeth, pain/illness, developmental milestones, emotional processing. But I have been calling this sleeping through the night! Perhaps I shouldn't have been but for me there is a difference between this and the early early days of feeding two/three/four/five hourly. It feels more of like I've got a handle on the what's and why's of their waking which feels different to their early days.
Just wanted to share the reality of our sttn.
Xxxx
