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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Ramblings of a Sleepless Mother

It's 2:30 in the morning and I am up yet again, I can't fall asleep after feeding Noa and putting him back down. He's 5 months old and at 4 months he slept from 7:30 to anywhere between 4 and 5 in the morning with a midnight dream feed, which was pretty good if you ask me and he had been sleeping like that from about 2 and 1/2 to 3 months, but I have no clue what his deal is now. For the last two weeks he's been getting up every two hours and eating anywhere from 4- 6 ounces each time and I am so utterly exhausted. I tank him up before bed and it's no help, he's even started to eat rice cereal but the boy still gets up every 2 hours for more. I am so tired right now that I can't sleep, I know it sounds crazy but I just lay in bed getting more and more frustrated at the fact that I can't drift back into sleep. So here I am writing to get my frustrations off my chest in the hope that I will be able to sleep for at least an hour before I am awaken again by Noa at 4 ....most likely. I have not had more than two hours of consecutive sleep for way too long and I have never been the best sleeper and the more tired I get the harder it is for me to sleep. I am surprised I am even functioning, will this ever end? I am sure you all are thinking well he needs to nap more, but honestly his napping is alright... besides the fact that he refuses to sleep longer than an hour in the daytime out of my arms. So as long as I hold him he takes some pretty good naps. I just wish I could figure out the magic way to get him to sleep better, so that I can sleep better. I get mad that Chris can drift into sleep so effortlessly and I can't. Noa even sleeps well, he just gets up to feed and then goes right back down....but not me. I can't wait until he this growth spurt from hell ends and I get my Noa back. I just hope that ends really soon, because I am just so exhausted. I think the lack of sleep is starting to really get to me.

4 comments:

jonny said...

Make chris get up next time :)

Aubrey said...

I know it may sound crazy but I think that he is doing this because he is testing you and now he realizes that everytime that he wakes, you feed him. I think that you should let him fuss for 10-15 mins. Most kids will realize that you aren't coming and drift right back to sleep. Once babies are 12-15 lbs their bodies have plenty of stores for them to be sleeping 4-5 hours at a time. You don't have to worry about him starving. Even if he is in the middle of a growth spurt. If he's anything like the kiddos in my life, everytime you get in a routine, they through a twist just to check to see if you are paying attention. He'll get it. Good luck

AshEnds said...

I totally agree with Aubrey. He should actually be sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night by now with now wake up feedings. He is probably big enough and he will be so much happier for it and so will you. He will test you though, just plug through. It took us and hour of crying with Kevin just one night at 4 months and has been an amazing sleeper since. Just try it. It won't take more than 3 nights of sticking to your guns before he gets the picture and what is 3 nights compared to a full nights rest for Mommy and Baby

Anjalique said...

With my last two babies this happened. They were great sleepers, then hit about 4-6 months and started waking up at night. We found that it was teething. (Have you checked his gums and temp?) I'm guessing it could be that, or he is just checking the boundaries. With either scenario, tank him up, like you said, if you think he's teething, give him some Tylenol/teething tablets, and let him have a night of crying himself to sleep. It's hard for awhile, but you'll get back into the routine. Good luck! Lots of love--Anjalique