Sleep, that million dollar ephemeral drug

[theatokos]

Speaking of adopt-a-mom.... I wish there was a sleep adopt-a-mom group. Sleep is our biggest challenge. We do not want to do anything CIO related, but sweet lord, you just can't make a kid sleep. Or stop squirming. Or want to be with anyone other than mama. As frustrating as the inconsistency is, I am grateful that these awful chunks are broken up with periods where he sleeps soundly and easily. I know that this will pass, but we have no idea what we're doing. One of us is always wondering if we're creating bad habits and dragging this out.

GAH.

(Boy, Bennett sure is mad that his papa is trying to put him to sleep.)

Comments

[msmidge.livejournal.com]

I think this was the age when Sam started really driving me crazy and I couldn't take the lack of sleep anymore (which had never been broken up by periods where he slept well, ever). We stopped co-sleeping right around then. I thought we would all sleep better if we had more space--a queen size bed isn't even really big enough for two adults, never mind them plus a not-quite-baby-anymore who likes to thrash all night. It took a month or so to adjust to the new situation, but it definitely got better.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

YES.

So how did you transition Sam? We too need to transition Bennett out of the bed. Adam has taken to sleeping on the couch. Which is good only in the sense that he is getting sleep and isn't resentful... about lack of sleep anyway. Most nights it's just me and Bennett in the queen sized bed and he STILL steamrolls me and nurses all night long. We're trying to put him down in the pack n play, but once he wakes up he WILL NOT go back down in it. Adam rocked and sang to him for an hour in the middle of night last night and B sobbed the whole time, so.... back in the bed he came.

The problem is, I can't put Bennett in the pack n play myself. I can't bend over and gently set down 25 pounds without waking him.

[msmidge.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I would call it a transition, though I don't remember with total clarity. I believe we just started putting him to bed in his own room. I decided it was okay for him to cry a little. So he did, a little, but it didn't take long before he got the idea, and he seemed to sleep better too without being next to me.

For at least another month or so, I would leap up several times a night and run in his room when he cried, and I might have brought him to my bed to nurse and then taken him back to his bed when we were done. I only vaguely remember. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than being kicked in the back all night.

I had the same problem with the pack & play and the crib rails being too tall for me to put him down smoothly. Can Adam do it? If your job is nursing, his job can be putting B back in bed. :)

[miss-malloreee.livejournal.com]

I've heard you say a few times that you have used a pack n play for B... Anna will NOT sleep in her pack n play, she has never taken to it. On a rare occasion that we are out somewhere & she needs to nap she will sleep in it but she has to be asleep before laying her in it & then her nap is usually half the time she normally would nap for in her crib. My suggestion, buy a crib. The pack n play may be the reason Bennett doesn't want to adjust to a new sleeping arrangement.

In my opinion, you are dragging this out. I know you are strongly against CIO & I understand that but Bennett should be able to fall asleep on his own by now.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

"Should" A completely pointless word. I have nearly eliminated it from my vocabulary. I disagree that he should be able to put himself to sleep by now. He really prefers to fall asleep with some one else. I don't think this is a bad thing. In fact, I think it's more natural than if he were sleeping all by his lonesome. Babies are not meant to be independent. We are their whole world for several years.

So far, he's sleeping the first shift of the night in the pack n play. We're going slow and doing baby steps. It'll happen eventually.