Let me just start out by saying how completely blessed I have been with a good sleeper. At 3 weeks old, Rylee was only waking up once in the night to eat and by 7 weeks, she was sleeping through the night. By “through the night” I mean 7:30 PM to 7:00 AM. Even with an almost 12 hour night of sleep, she would take at least 2 naps a day, always at the same times (give or take a 1/2 hour). It contiuned that way well into this last December…that’s when it all started changing.
I attribute these good sleeping habits to a few different things…1. She likes to sleep…just like her mama! 2. Consistent Schedule-this was one area I refused to budge on. 3. I got hints from books (a BabyWise/Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child Combo). 4. We’ve been at this since she was 2 weeks old.
I can’t complain too much about Rylee’s current nap schedule. It’s very consistent. I think we are in a transition period from 2 naps a day, down to 1. Considering that 1 nap ends up being 3 hours long, I’m fine with that. Where I’m struggling is thie nighttime habits that have developed since she’s been so sick. It all started back in December. Rylee got really sick and it turns out she had H1N1 (or Swine Flu). From there, it progressed into pnemonia. After that, she got the regular flu. After that she got RSV, Bronchiolitis and Croup. From there, she got pnemonia again. I’d be crazy if I didn’t knock on wood when I write that I think we are finally over all that. She finished up her latest round of antibiotics this last Saturday.
Now, you can’t blame a kid for waking up in the middle of the night when she can hardly breath. And you can’t blame her parents for be so worried about her that they end up sleeping the rest of the night on the couch with her. The trouble starts when you realize that your kid is healthy, no breathing issues and she’s still waking up in the middle of the night and then points to her bedroom door as if to say “Ok, let’s go sleep on the couch now!”
Last night was my shift for the Rylee wake up and at 1:40 in the morning, I was not about to spend the rest of my 4 hours on the couch…I decided it was time for a change! Channeling all I could remember from my Babywise and HSH-HC readings, I rocked with Rylee for about 30 minutes or so and got her all calmed down. She started fidgeting and I could tell she could not find a comfortable way to fall asleep on Mama’s lap. I got up from the rocking chair, gave her a kiss and told her it was time to go back to bed…by herself. I left the room and the next 15 minutes were some of the hardest, longest Mama minutes I have experienced. She cried and screamed and now that she can talk, she yelled “Uppy” and even “Mama” (which is extra hard to hear because she never says mama). She had 3 different fits like this within that 15 minutes, but right as I was about to go rescue her, she stopped. I listened and waited 5 more minutes.Then I went back to bed, in my own bed, for the next 3 glorious hours.
Tonight is Daddy’s shift. If he contiues what I started tonight, let’s hope we break this bad habit as quickly as it began.
