It's probably the most frequently discussed topic among parents of young children. We ask each other questions about it, discuss it at length with our spouses, complain about how we can never get enough of it. I'm talking, of course, about sleep.
The funny thing about sleep is that it varies so much from kid to kid. What worked for one may not work for another. We learned that lesson when our sweet little Reid came into our lives. He is such an angel in so many ways, but sleep has always been a struggle. For months, the only way he'd sleep was while he was moving. In the car, in a swing, whatever. In the crib, he would wake often. It got to the point that I just could not take the sleepless nights anymore. It was bad. I was working a full time job with such little sleep that I had become so stressed out. Something had to change.
I explained the situation to the ladies at daycare and asked if they would put him in a crib for naps instead of in the swing. You see, on a typical day he'd take several long naps in the swing there, and then he'd come home and wake up every hour that night.
Long story short, he did amazingly well in the crib. The first day, they said he fussed until he fell asleep, but he never all-out cried. The second day, there was even less fussing. The third day, as soon as they laid him down he turned over on his belly and went right to sleep.
The best part? He is SLEEPING during the night! Last night he slept from 10 pm from 5 am, and fell right back to sleep after a feeding!!! This is huge in our house. Huge!
And then there's Colin. Oh, Colin. He has always been a pretty good sleeper. However, when we transitioned him out of the crib a few months ago, he suddenly realized he could hop right out of bed and come visit us whenever he wanted. That little habit comes and goes. Sometimes he'll sleep in his bed just fine for a week, and sometimes he'll climb in bed with us every night for a week. We usually put him right back to bed when that happens, but sometimes we shrug it off and enjoy our snuggles. This morning, I woke up to find him between Justin and me in the bed. I don't even remember him coming in, so I'm not sure how long he's been there! Little stinker.
The other "bad" habit he has developed lately is that he wants me to lay down with him at bedtime while he falls asleep. Here's my mommy confession, though: I'm not sure I want to correct this right now. You see, with work, a husband, a baby, and everything else I have going on, Colin and I don't get a whole lot of quality mommy/son time lately. So if he asks me to lay down with him for 15 minutes a night, well, I'm going to oblige. I know that the day will come, probably sooner than I think, that he will be too independent to want snuggles with Momma before bed. So dang it, I'm going to enjoy those snuggles while I can.
How is your little one sleeping these days? When did he/she start sleeping through the night?
How is your little one sleeping these days? When did he/she start sleeping through the night?
0 comments:
Post a Comment