Seriously I don't know. Sleep these days has been ROUGH. And I've done tons of research so I know it's normal for babies to sleep great and then totally change their schedules. But it certainly doesn't make things easy. And he's pre-teething (UGGHH), more on that later.
We had a pretty good thing going for close to 6 weeks. There were a few rough nights in there with a wake up or 2 but Hunter was pretty much sleeping 7-8 hours every night and an occasional 10 hours. But about 10 days ago all that changed. It started with 2 wake ups, then 3, then he was up every hour or 2, meaning 4-5 wake ups each night. It has made me pretty cranky, although it has been better the last few days with only 1 or 2 wake ups a night. I'm not holding my breath though.
It's just so weird because even as a newborn he wasn't up that much. Luckily he does go right back to sleep after a bottle or some soothing so I don't have to worry too much about crying and sleep training, YET. He goes to sleep on his own every night which is a bonus. So I'm praying it's the teething or a growth spurt because I really need some sleep.
Adam will get up and help every once in awhile, but it's hard because I'm a bit of a control freak and I'm afraid he won't stick to my night ritual. And that makes him fearful of helping. When I was breastfeeding all the time I had to be up and thought at least one parent should get rest so the transition to me needing help has been rough as well. I'm sure we'll figure it out though. Or maybe Hunter will start sleeping better. We shall see.
We also have some milestones approaching. Hunter will be 4 months on Saturday, he's getting so big. He's also started to "pre-teeth." I know this discomfort is definitely contributing to his overall crankiness and restlessness. And the good news is that he could be uncomfortable for 1-2 months before the tooth even cuts. Are you kidding me?
And up until today he hasn't really been able to soothe himself except for eating his hand and drooling everywhere. He just didn't have the coordination to get a teether to his mouth and keep it there. He will grab something and try to gnaw but usually loses control pretty quick and just hits himself in the face. Last week we got him a teething pacifier. But the darn thing was so big he could barely get it into his mouth. Couple that with the fact that he's not a good sucker and it just didn't work. Good in theory, but not for us.
So I was really thankful that he got the teether in his mouth today, and long enough for a photo. Sweet!
pre-teething: the hylands homeopathic tablets work WONDERS for us. also: try putting a wet washcloth in the freezer for a bit. someone also told me to give him a frozen celery stalk, but i never did try it...
ReplyDeletesleep: you know what we did. and its working. he's sleeping from 8 to 8, with one wake up at 4.
now watch: it will all go to hell tomorrow.
Lisa-
ReplyDeleteI am definitely going to try the Hylands tablets.
He's back to sleeping well, at least for the past few days. 8-3:30 then back asleep until 7. The lady that leads the Mommy and me class I go to recommended we try dream feeding to get Hunter to sleep through the night since he was only waking once. And it absolutely backfired for us. We took away the dream feed and his sleeping schedule is much better. I don't mind waking up once.
I am not at all opposed to stomach sleep but Hunter hates tummy time so I just assume he'll hate tummy sleeping.
A friend of mine bought her 'lil one an amber teething necklace and so I ordered one for Leon as well. It's a traditional European remedy- they say the warmth of baby's skin releases the therapeutic properties from the amber beads to the baby. It's worth a shot during the trying stage of teething.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna!!!!
ReplyDelete