Hi all
I've posted many times before about Abby's night wakings, and I've really tried to be zen-like about it and just accept that Abby just doesn't sleep well at night. But last night at 4:30am when she just wouldn't go back to sleep, I realized that I'm going to lose it if something doesn't change soon. The thing is, I've been on this site long enough to answer all the questions I have. So I guess this is more of a rant than anything else. *sigh*...
On average, I get three wakings per night. Not bad, considering how terrible she used to be. The first waking, if it happens, is before midnight and is usually very easy to get her back to sleep. Just a quick reposistion and a pat on the back, and she's off. The second one, which can be from 12am-3am, I usually just bf her for 4 minutes, and she's out. The third one, which usually happens if the second one is earlyish, is the hardest. I've been trying my best to only feed her once a night (and limit that one as well) but last night I caved again. I popped her onto the "empty" boob and she was out within 10 minutes. Up for the day at 7am. I mean, I know I got some sleep, and it's not nearly as bad as some people (or as bad as it used to be), but I feel frustrated with it all. Way back when I was preggers, I tried to be as informed about the whole baby sleep thing since I have a SIL with two of the worst sleepers ever. And Abby is still a better sleeper than them. Being "well-informed", I really thought that Abby would be sleeping through the night by now. And I realize that it's this expectation that's driving me crazy. I know I should not be feeding her back to sleep. I know she doesn't really need to feed at night. And I know that some babies can't do this quite yet. So how do all those moms with babies that don't sleep function during the day?
She is on a great EASY schedule during the day, with two naps that I try to get to a total of 3 hours. She falls asleep independently without a peep at 8pm, wakes for the day at 7am. She has three small solid meals a day. Here's a quick routine:
awake 7am
out of crib 7:30am and bf both sides
solids 8:30am
nap 10am-11:30am
bf both sides 11:30am
solids 12:30pm
bf one side 2:30pm
nap 3pm-4:30pm
bf other side 4:30pm
solids 6pm
sleep 8pm
The weird bf schedule is due to the fact that her third feed is in the middle of her second nap.
If anyone can give me some advice (other than tell me to PU/PD for all her night wakings - because I know that I need to do this), or encouragement, or whatever, please do so. Truly, this baby sleep thing is a million times harder than I would have imagined.
p.s. Oh, i forgot to mention, I give her Hylands teething tablets every night before bed 'cause I know she's in the midst of teething (two so far). She gets TONS of rolling practice during the day, and I know that's not why she's waking since she's been doing this since 4 months. No other milestones.
