The Sleep Sitch

It's the question everybody asks parents with young infants:


"So...how much sleep are you getting?"


Around here, the answer ranges from "very little" to "a full night" on any given day.  The longest stretch of sleep Jacob has ever had during the night was about 8 hours.  Typically, though, his longest stretch is the first 5 hours after I get him to sleep for the night.  After that, he can get up every 2-4. 


We start the bedtime routine around 8:00 with a bath, then he eats and I hold him upright/cuddle him for a little bit to help his tummy settle and rock him to sleep.  On a good night, he's in bed, asleep, by 9:00.  Last night?  It was after 11:00 before he settled down for the night. That's 3 hours of eat, rock, put in crib, eyes pop open, repeat....then up at 4, 6, and 8am for the day.


As for naptimes?  Both kids seem to be boycotting those. 

I started writing this post last Thursday, and then, as often happens, ran out of time to finish it, and never posted.  The bottom line?  I was struggling with a fussy baby, one who could not self-soothe, and would not fall asleep without being rocked, and then as soon as you tried to transfer him to any other surface, he would wake up, and the eat/burp/rock process would start all over again.  Ad nauseam.


This past weekend, Kevin had to work both Saturday and Sunday.  And they were calling for an ice storm.  And I was running low on reserves.  So I packed up both kids and drove 2 hours north to my parents' home.  And there, 2 miracles occurred:

1.  Jacob slept 8 hours one night, and 9 hours the next.  Apparently, he likes to be kept much warmer than what I would think is comfortable, even for a small baby.  By increasing the temperature in his room by a few degrees, we got 2 nights of solid sleep from him.

2.  He likes Mams pacifiers.  Not Nuk, not First Years.  Mams.  And if given a paci after he's fed/when he's ready to nap, he falls asleep in a matter of minutes.  In fact, for his morning nap today, I was able to put him down drowsy, but not sleeping, and he put himself to sleep.

We're back at home now, and I was afraid I wouldn't have the same success here.  He only slept 5 hours straight last night, not 8 or 9, but woke up for feedings and went back down right away, so I can live with that.  But being able to comfort him with a paci?  Complete and total success.

I feel like a huge, huge weight has been lifted.  Not only have we solved the problem of overeating/puking because he would nurse for comfort, but bedtimes/naptimes have suddenly become so much easier.  I'm able to cuddle/rock my baby to sleep, he falls asleep happily, and the process takes a normal amount of time so I'm also able to meet the needs of my other child.  This morning I sat on Mia's bed and kept her company as she played with her dollhouse, cuddled Jacob while he drifted off, put him down in his crib, and then was able to return and spend some one-on-one time with her while he napped.  Which means her whining has been kept to a minimum because she's able to get some attention too.

And now I'm rambling, but after 7 weeks, I have a profound sense of...

RELIEF.

At least until the next challenge pops up ;)