Thursday, March 8, 2012

Will I ever get to sleep? New Baby Woes

Lately there has been a lot of new babies being born amongst my friends and family. Five months ago I even welcomed our new little one, but the difference being this is my third child. I was laughing the other night, as I was typing on facebook to a relative who has a three week old, over a conversation about lack of sleep.

So, I started to think back to my first two children.  The lack of sleep that left you feeling like a zombie. Those sleepless nights when they are teething. Waking when they are infants every 3 to 4 hours, if you were lucky, to feed them. Little colds that would keep them congested and you from getting any sleep. Really, and all those who give the advice of "sleep when the baby sleeps"? Yeah right! When they sleep there is laundry to be done, and dinner to be made, and floor to be vacuumed! If you did not get those things done on a daily basis, you were screwed because it is almost impossible to catch up. I remember sitting up at night for about 6 months when my daughter was teething. She would go to bed at 9 and be back up at 10 and just be up and down all night. I can tell you every single line from Elmo in Grouchland. That was the only movies we watched as we cuddled on the couch. She would stop crying and just lay there, on my pregnant belly, with her rosy red cheeks and a runny nose. She was done crying, but then I would start! Everyone had advice on what to do. "Let her cry it out!", "Rock her in a rocking chair!", "Medicate her!"  I would sit and just say "God, please if you are listening, I will do anything just please let me be able to sleep a good nights sleep!"

The truth is I tried each of those thing and it never worked. We had to find out what worked for us. What works for one baby may not work for another. I found that the more stressed and tense I was, the worse my baby would be. Now, that said, I only no that now that I have my new little one! It really is trial and error with your baby. People can give you advice and you can try what you would like to. But, more often than not you have to fall into a routine that works for you.

With my new son, when he gets cranky, gassy, or fussy, we rock in his favorite chair and I pull him close, I sing or talk to him in a sweet voice. I relax my body and tap on his bum gently. This is what works for us. He calms down and stares into my eyes. I am relaxed so he is relaxed!

Sleep is such a valued thing. You just feel as though if you can get one good nights sleep the next 6 months will be better somehow!

Your babies sleep patterns will change and it will get better. Just when your body adjusts to no sleep your baby will start to sleep better, that's usually how it goes!

I have figured out that once your baby is getting a little older and is taking in about 24 ounces or more, you can squeeze in those feeding during the day. This makes it so that they are full before they go down to sleep for the night.  You know they have had all they need for the day and if they are waking at night  it is for something other than food. More often than not, this is when they will sleep for a longer period of time at night.

Remember to trust in yourself. Even first time moms have the answers. You know what is best for your baby even if it means trying different methods to find what works for you.


Do you have any advice or tips that you can post on my blog? Maybe you can help another sleepless mother...

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