Sleep, or Lack Thereof
Remember when you were a kid, and getting to go to a sleep over was the BIGGEST DEAL IN THE WORLD? Or when you were in high school and NEEDED to go to the movies, or you would die?
It wasn't the biggest thing in the world. You weren't really going to die. That time passed, and in retrospect it's so trivial.
I'm sure that's how people feel about their child's baby years in retrospect. However, as I am in the throes of sleep issues, I have no perspective. There is no forest. Only trees. Trees that stay awake all night long. Trees that have prevented me sleeping more than 4 hours for 14 MONTHS. Yes, I have not slept more than 4 hours straight for 14 months. I tell you this so you know WHY I'm doing what we're doing.
The things that we were doing (bed sharing, nursing to sleep and on demand all night) are no longer working. Our bed isn't big enough for the three of us anymore. Joseph doesn't fall asleep nursing anymore, and I can't handle nursing all night anymore with a kid who then will not go back to sleep. The post partum depression drugs aren't strong enough for this kind of mental torture!
On Sunday, T.J. and I moved out. Joseph is now the proud owner of a bedroom. All to himself. And I'm determined to get him to sleep there. All night. Well, at least most of it. After reading many books, websites, message boards, and talking to friends, we've decided to go with Dr. Jay Gordon's night weaning plan. He promises me a full night's sleep in two weeks time. I picked this program for several reasons:
1) He advocates this for toddlers, not babies
2) He is a huge proponent of cosleeping, and recommends this only if it's not working for YOU
3) I read his book "Good Nights" and it really helped me be secure with the choices we made when Joseph was a baby. (I need to remember this point).
So wish us luck. I really want to do this, now. I want to stop complaining about Joseph's sleep. And I want to move towards my goal of 8 hours of sleep on my birthday at the end of the month.
6 comments:
We go back and forth. Sometimes Link sleeps in his own bed in his own room (he will not fall asleep in a crib) and we get a full nights sleep. I wake up in the morning and think, is it really that time? Other times he cries for hours and doesn't want me to leave so he sleeps with us then he sleeps with us continually for a few days, etc. I think each night is different.
You CAN do it! Joseph CAN do it too! Having a child that sleeps at night is well worth the effort! For me, the going to bed awake but sleepy was the hardest part.
Ugh! I have been trying not to nurse unless 4 hours has passed but there are times that I wake up several hours later with my shirt lifted up and wonder when/how I nursed...keep us posted on if this works!!
Dr Gordon is an amazing man. I love him :)
Good luck, lady. Love you!
I totally understand where you are coming from! While I love having The Good Baby snuggled in with us, I need sleep and alone time with The Good Husband. We plan on moving TGB over soon, so I will have to check out that book.
I wish you luck. You can do this!
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