“Sleep like a baby”
Posted by Moira on Feb 19, 2015 in General | 0 comments As a mom, I will tell you that “Sleep like a baby” is one of the most misleading phrases I have ever heard. I don’t know about your baby, but our “baby” still doesn’t consistently sleep through the night at 3.5-years-old! Sleep is a topic that is often fraught with strong opinions, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, hope, breath-holding, and tiptoeing. My hope is to allay some of your fears and anxiety and encourage you to be creative. Before our son arrived our doula did a wonderful job of trying to help us understand the intricacies of infant sleep. She talked to us about co-sleeping and room-sharing. Even after those discussions and reading The Baby Sleep Book: The Complete Guide to a Good Night’s Rest for the Whole Family (Sears Parenting Library) we still naively thought that our baby wouldn’t “sleep like a baby”. We thought he would sleep like an adult. We were in for a rude awakening. The first night in the hospital was pretty perfect. I stayed awake all night holding him (much to the nurse’s stern disapproval – she told me I would spoil him), nursing him, and gazing at his perfect little body. After 5 years of patience very few things could have pried him from my arms. He dozed and nursed all night. The second night was fairly similar, and then we went home. We found out that it is that third night that often takes parents by surprise. This is when babies really start waking more frequently and wanting to nurse more often. Somewhere in there they also find their lungs and make use of them during those middle of the night diaper changes and feedings that don’t happen fast enough. None of that bothered me. I was so in love and thrilled that our baby was finally here that it was an absolute pleasure to be awake all night. As we learned how to breastfeed, pump, and master diaper changes we continued on that sleepless path and we were content (thank goodness for those good mama hormones!). I got a lot of smiles and hugs in those early weeks. Everyone expects a new mom and dad to be exhausted, but almost everyone assured me that sleep got MUCH better around 6 months. Our baby had dairy sensitivities so from about 6 weeks until 12 months we were up all night every night...read more