Another Baby Sleep Post

Baby C attempts to flee as Daddy eats his brain.

Upon reading the title of this post, many people sigh and think "Dear Lord, is she talking about how her kid sleeps AGAIN?!?!???" And in response I say: "Yes. Yes I am. Because this is my life now:)"

So this baby boy of mine slept pretty well at night for 4 months. You know, the kind of sleep you are grateful for after the initial OMG, I HAVE A BABY WHO EATS EVERY HOUR!!! of newborn-dom. That nice kind of sleep where you only wake up 2 or 3 times to feed the starving little guy, who then proceeds to conk out easily in dreamland. 

AND THEN THE 4 MONTH GROWTH SPURT HIT.

Ever heard of sleep regression? Yep, I have!! Or rather my baby does! I took C to his 4 month well baby visit on Dec. 22 and mentioned to her that on Sunday, 3 days prior, he started waking every couple hours. What was up with that??? I wanted to know. Oh, that's normal baby sleep! She brushed it off and smiled. Well, she doesn't have to sleep with my baby each night. She's childless and young. No, I'm not bitter. And no, she's really not that young since she is older than me.

Back to baby sleep habits: Later I read babies have a mental growth spurt around 20 weeks which can wreak havoc with sleep patterns. Also around that time, we moved for the 3rd time in C's short and homeless life. I assumed he would go back to normal soon since we had FINALLY bought a house. Didn't he know buying a house is supposed to help with sleep patterns?????

BUT NO. Beautiful baby C is now 5 months old and is stuck in the sleep rut. So is Mommy. She has banned Daddy to the guest room since nodding off at work isn't acceptable. Because C sleeps with Mommy since NO ONE can get him to sleep in his room. Seriously, two weeks ago I spent 2 HOURS laying down a sleeping babe and picking up a crying one repeatedly. Imagine doing this every single night, every hour? Spend 1 hour sleeping, the next hour or two getting the baby back to sleep and trying oh so delicately to get him to sleep alone. I gave up fast...

Baby C trained me to let him sleep with me. Every day I think: wait, aren't I supposed to be the boss? How is HE making me do all this to get him to sleep? Because he's the babe with the power. The power over his mommy's life. He KNOWS how much I cherish and need baby free time and he WIELDS that power over me like a EVIL TYRANT!!!!!

So Mommy and C play the wake up, ignore him, didn't work, shush him, didn't work, nurse him (of course that worked!!), jam in pacifier, go back to sleep game. It's a long game to play every 1-2 hours from 10:30 PM- 6ish AM.

But that's okay. I decided it was okay today and here's what makes it better: 

1. C smiles in his sleep and I get to see it more often:)
2. I get more Internet surfing time in the middle of the night.
3. I get to cuddle with my baby at night.
4. I have an excuse to take a nap each day!
5. C generally sleeps alone and fine 7:30-10:30 each night. So nice to have a couple baby free hours each day!
6. LOTS of people have it much worse than me! All I have to deal with is a baby with funky sleep! 
7. If I were to make a list of bad things in my life right now, sleep would be near the top. I'd say that makes for a pretty easy and wonderful life!
8. Interrupted sleep for a few months or 1 year in exchange for this delightfully amazing bundle of joy? Hell yes!!!

So that's that. I don't dreadfully mind this phase but am definitely working to teach my baby how to sleep more like I do:)