Sleep well my son, you are loved!

The biggest struggle I've had with Edison has been the sleep issue. Ever since he was born he was waking up every 2-3 hours and it got to the point that some nights I'd be breaking down from complete exhaustion. How was I ever going to cope? How was I going to function? Go back to work? Get a break? Have him go down with a sitter?

I was worried! Obviously.

I kept hearing that I "just need to let him cry". As though having my son scream in bed was the only solution. It was definitely an option I went back and forth with and I struggled to decide whether it truly was the right direction to take.

But after Edison started refusing the bottle and refusing the soother completely, I knew something was going to have to change. His teeth kept coming one after the other and he started scraping them on my nipples. This meant the suckling he was doing was causing me all kinds of pain and discomfort. So I started nursing him and unlatching him after he was done. I'd hold him and rock him as he screamed hysterically and cried himself to sleep. I could only handle it for so long before Cam started to take over and put him in his crib. This was brutal, I spent days crying tears of sadness at the thought of my son just wanting the comfort of my breast to sleep. But I knew, as I know now that this was the best time for a change and he was more than ready for it.

Thursday came and we went to his nine month appointment and talked to dr. Katie about it. She was so encouraging and thoughtful, listened and gave advice and reassured me of my fears. I'm SO grateful for her.

So Thursday night instead of trying to rock him through his tears I nursed him and gave him to Cam and down in his bed he went. Only 12 minutes of tears and he went straight to sleep! It was hard, but such a turning point as well. Ever since that night Edison doesn't cry more than 2-3 minutes if he cries at all! He gets boob/milk for as long as he needs and I only unlatch him when he's completely done eating, obviously sleepy and ready for his crib. He's sleeping longer, better and so am I! I'm SO HAPPY that we took this step and did it when we were both ready for it. I'm so grateful for friends who listened to my fears, offered me encouragement and words of support. I know that struggles will still come with sleep routines and nap schedules and all that. It's far from over, but at least in this moment everything is good.

Sleep well my baby boy, I love you!


Sweet dreams everyone,
N.