It was just a couple of weeks ago that I wrote about making it to the wonderful 3 month mark and how everything was getting easier and Evan was getting more predictable… Well he must have read that post because he is playing a wild game of “Gotchya” this week!
For some reason my little guy has been abnormally fussy and sleep? Ha! He’s fighting it like it’s the devil! Actually today seems to be a bit better, but Tuesday, Wednesday… yesterday, he was not acting like himself. He nearly had me in tears a few times. The things that would usually occupy him (like his Baby Einstein Play Mat) weren’t doing the trick, he wanted to be held and getting him down for his naps and bedtime sleep took every bit of strength in me. He would cry his purple faced, bloody murder cry and wiggle his body like a squirmy worm. Just when I thought he was sleeping and it was safe to put him down his eyes would pop open and he would start balling again. As I paced back and forth with him I thought about what an awful parent I was. I was nervous he was going to get used to being cradled to sleep. I had this overwhelming sense of failure.
In my need to seek help I reluctantly picked up a book that one of John’s clients gave us. I threw my books to the side over a month ago because they were stressing me out, but now the stress was bringing me back to them. Thankfully this book is for me! It’s called The Sleep Easy Solution by Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack. I started reading it and those feelings of failure dissipated. They didn’t tell me I was a bad mom for allowing Evan to fall asleep in my arms before putting him down, in fact they say in their book that before four months do whatever works! On page 130 they write, “There are no bad habits in the first 4 months. Do whatever you need to do to help your baby sleep.” THANK YOU! Maybe today is a better day because I read that yesterday. Reading that made me relax and stop fretting, so Evan is probably feeding off my new and improved energy.
I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend; I know I will, no matter what!
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The hardest thing was hearing my little girl cry . As much as it breaks your heart you gotta stay strong and remember that no baby has gotten hurt from just crying .
ReplyDeleteIf you have a bad night with the little one not sleeping try standing beside the oven with the hood fan on. Alot of kids find that noise soothing and pass out instantly .
John D
Thanks for the phone call babe. That one sentence also has made a big difference for us. This week anyway. You're a fabulous mom. :) Looking forward to seeing you guys for a play date next week!
ReplyDeleteOur little man is 4.5 months old now...and I had this same worry! From birth until about four months old, we ONLY rocked and held him to go to sleep, he'd go no other way and I was so worried about having created a bad habit etc etc as many of the "books" tell you ...for naps and bedtime, I spent hours each day with him in my arms...a couple of weeks ago I decided to try and just put him down in his crib....he adjusted amazingly! A bit of crying of course, maybe 15 minutes the first day or two at each sleep, but he settles himself usually in about 5 minutes, sometimes less and mostly just plays and talks until he falls asleep!
ReplyDeleteI'm finding the books to sometimes be the worst thing - follow your instincts and do what feels right for you two :)
I have a daughter who was born on June 10th this year and she is doing the exact same thing. I don't know what happened, but suddenly she's up more often during the night and fusses for an hour before going back to sleep. And so cranky during the day this week.
ReplyDeleteOf course, last night she slept like a dream! *sigh*
I keep telling myself "everything is a phase, this too shall pass."
My son Aeden Jack is now 14 months old. He only started sleeping through his nights after we put him in full time daycare at 13 months! I like you had a very hard time putting him to sleep, Aeden had to fall asleep in our arms while rocking him or else he would cry until he turned blue and almost foam at the mouth! Everyone kept telling us let him cry it out, he will fall asleep. Well their method didn't work by letting him cry it out gave him a fear of his crib and huge seperation anxiety. Every time we went near his crib he would freak out! So we kept doing what worked for us allowing him to fall asleep in our arms and then placing him in his crib. But after 1 week at daycare he allowed us to put him down awake and he would fall asleep on his own, same for Naps! It’s a long journey 1 year feeling sleep deprived but we all get good nights sleep now. So take it one day at a time and don’t read it to those books too much! They are a guideline, but a parent knows best!
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