If you remember, I posted some time ago about Julia and her lack of sleeping. By the end of August, we were waking up every two hours, each time resulting in me feeding her, as this seemed the only thing that would get any of us back into bed.
About 2 or 3 weeks ago (time escapes me), we went back to letting Julia cry - which mostly means that Jonathan and I went into the situation both agreeing on what/how/why we were training her. Oh boy. I have to say, I would rather deal with loads of dirty diapers, complete melt downs and just about anything more than crying it out at 2 in the morning. Ugh. Anyways, since Julia was waking up so frequently, we thought we should tackle the first wake up time and then over the course of a few weeks tackle the others.
The first night had everyone up for a good 2 1/2 hours. But, eventually she did manage to fall asleep without being nursed. And granted she woke up like 2 hours later, at least the first session was over. Each night for about a week went pretty much the same, with the crying becoming a little less each time (a little, meaning only an hour and a half). Once we felt we had finally tackled the first wake up time - as Julia was finally not waking up at that time - we decided to start the second one. But of course, she got sick. So everything we had slaved for flew out the window. Bummer. Thankfully, however, once we were back on track, she seemed to either sleep well past her first wake up time, or is easily consoled back to sleep.
She is still waking up twice a night to nurse, around 2 and again at 5. I had set out last weekend to help train her out of the 2ish wake up time, but then realizing that since we are going to Tennessee this weekend, everything will get thrown out of whack, I didn't want to waste my time (or sleep). Once we get back, I fully plan on getting her down to just waking up at 5ish, and then try to break her of that one before she turns 1. Ha! With that last sentence, I am reminded of Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."
The other day I realized that I haven't had a full night's sleep in a year and a half. From the time I got pregnant, I would wake up needing to use the bathroom and then couldn't fall back asleep because I was too nauseated. Then, obviously, once Julia arrived, she kept me up. I look forward to the day that I can sleep 8 hours straight. Part of me thinks this is wishful thinking, especially if I have any more children. But one can wish can't they?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
sarah you will have those days again don't worry! it seems like forever ago that j and a woke up- but now number 3 is coming.. so it'll start all over again! :) it shall pass!
I have to disagree. It never passes. Even when they are grown you still wake up nights thinking of them. It's just part of motherhood.
mama
Hey! We are doing the same thing for Luke. It's killer. We alternate using ear plugs so somebody can get sleep. Actually, I usually get them. :) Bless my husband. We haven't had to feed L in the night for a couple months (we let him cry that out, too, unknowingly b/c we couldn't hear him at my in-laws)....anyway, we are starting to work on crying thru falling back asleep w/o a paci...semi-successful...good luck! It's worth a good night's sleep! We kind of had to do it with R, but she was a better night-time sleeper from the get-go, so you might get one of those for #2! Anyway, rest assured that Julia is old enough not to need a feeding in the night at all, so eliminating at least one is healthy and good! In fact, feeding her can disrupt her digestive system and make her not sleep as well in the long run...so don't feel guilty!!!!
maybe i'm just the type of person that needs a lot of sleep- and the type of person that never wakes up in the middle of the night unless i'm pregnant and need to pee! :)
Post a Comment