Who Would Think…

Who would think that the little guy linked to these sweet fingers and toes, sleeping so soundly, could give his mama such grief when it comes to sleep??



I thought I’d have this figured out by my third child, but I am so far from understanding how to get a baby to sleep well that I am about to throw up my hands at the matter.  I read Baby Wise in preparation for Kaden and really felt like I had it figured out.  And when he came home from the hospital he fell right into the schedule that Baby Wise suggested… eat, wake, sleep.  He’d go to sleep easily on his own, sleep until feeding time, and be awake for a bit and repeat. 

When did that stop?? I mean, obviously the wake time gets longer and the sleep time shorter than it was back in the newborn phase but we are told that sleep gets better as they get older.

Now, at 5 months, Kaden is waking more often, taking shorter naps and waking up cranky.  I’m at a loss.  And I feel like now, I’ve lost hope that it is just going to get easier and am starting to accept that I’m going to have to intervene with some ‘crying it out’ attempts.  I’d so hoped to avoid that. 
The other night, Kaden slept for 6.5 hours straight… 8pm – 2:30am.  YEAH!  I couldn’t believe it, considering the night before he’d been up every 2 hours.  I now know, however, not to celebrate prematurely, because an hour and a half later, I was finally back in bed. Then I was back up in his room 45 minutes later.  And an hour after that, he was in my bed.  Bless his little heart, though… he doesn’t cry during this time… he’s just talking and wide awake!

And then the next night, he was up at 10:30, 3:30, 5:30 and 7.

I know that at some point, he’ll figure out that sleep is a WONDERFUL thing (I could certainly tell him that, but evidently he needs to figure it out on his own).
For his sake, I’d love for him to embrace sleep… but until he does, I will try (and I will try HARD) to cycle this thought through my head… “At least he is waking up and each time he does is just one more chance to snuggle my sweet, warm, squishy little boy.”