No! My baby boy absolutely does not even closely resemble an infant who "sleeps through the night." I'm lucky to get three straight hours of sleep and sometimes it's a miracle if I get four. I frequently stumble around my home like a sleep deprived zombie and I drink at least two cups of coffee (yes, even while exclusively breast feeding) a day. I also hold my baby while he takes his naps and frequently bed share with him throughout the days when I need a nap too.
So you may say, "wow! Nicole how do you cope? Just let him cry." And to that comment I respond with "thanks, that might work for you and that's ok but I refuse to implement the cry it out method and that's ok too." And you know what? It is!
It's ok for me to wake up several times during the night because I've come to understand that my parenting doesn't stop when it gets dark outside. I'm still Edison's mommy at night, in bed and asleep just as much as I am his mommy during the day and awake. So if my baby needs me, he gets me. This too will not last, this too is just a season in my boys life and one day far in the future I'll miss my nights of nursing him back to sleep for the third time by 4am.
I'm taking my time transferring him to his room in his crib. I'm allowing my bed be a haven for him if he needs to nurse back to sleep at 6am. I used to be worried. I was nervous, stressed and terrified thinking that I was doing it wrong. Believing the lies that he'll never learn to sleep on his own or trying out any method possible to get him to sleep longer. And then I decided to say NO! I'm following my gut, I'm trusting my child. I'm parenting my baby my way and I'm not going to worry about this anymore. I'm going to wait out what my son needs, I'm going to wait for when HE is ready to sleep through the night in his crib. But until then what I'm doing is just fine, in fact it's perfect! And if that's a little "crunchy momma attachment style" for you then I'm sorry (not really)!
So no, there's no sleeping through the night here. Instead there's a lot of night nursing, walking, cuddling and gliding with some dreaming mix in. And I'm okay with that.
So now, Where's my coffee??
N.
2 comments:
Love this Nicole! I have written a very similar post to this and you echoe my thoughts exactly. I especially feel the same about how parenting doesn't just magically stop when it gets dark out. So true. I hated the "does he sleep through the night" question!! And if I'm being honest, I've had yet to experience that yet in his 2 years. But it will come. And the exhaustion won't stick around that long so don't get discouraged. Carter wakes still a few times during the night but I just roll over and he nurses fora few minutes and we both drift back to sleep. I'm glad you're finding confidence in your choice. I truly believe my little guy is such an awesome toddler because of the fct that I have always chosen to respond to his needs. I may have had terrible zombie days but the trade of was that my son never experienced the feeling of his mom all of a sudden ignoring him. Good on you, stay strong with it and most importantly know that you are not alone!! It can be hard if you have friends and family with naturally good sleeping babies so just know that many of us struggle with it but often keep it as a dirty little secret!!
Sleep tight!
Carrie
Word.
I think that most babies don't sleep through the night on their own which makes it the *norm*
That's why people resort to sleep training, and that's why people think sleep training is the norm. But biologically, it doesn't seem to be....
My boy still wakes several times a night but it's really not that bad. Just that perspective shift does make it seem manageable.
At this point, he does sometimes go for a longer stretch, like 4-5 hours, so I'm pleased with the development. But there are still nights where it's every two hours.
On those days, there's a coffee mug permanently attached to my hand. Good thing there's always coffee at work..... Hehe
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