Tuesday, April 5, 2011

zzzzzzz.........

The first 2 months of A's life I was tired. But going on adrenaline and dealing with it just fine. In the next month I got tired. Really tired. Then in the past month her sleep habits have gotten worse and now I am hurting BIG TIME. I am so exhausted I feel like my head could fall off. I'm soo tired that I'm irritated by everything. i'm sooo tired that I can't sleep well when I have the chance too. Alexandra is now sleeping with approximately this schedule:
Bed 7pm
12:30am wake to eat
2:30 am wake, require rocking back to sleep for about half an hour
4:30am wake to eat
5:30am soother falls out...
6:30am soother falls out...
7:15am up for the day.

I usually get to bed around 10 but have been having trouble falling asleep before 11. This means the longest stretch of sleep i'm getting is 2 hours! This hurts!

I hate to complain because I know I would hate to hear someone lucky enough to have a baby complain about anything. I feel guilty complaining. But I am at the end of my rope here.

Sleep training....this weekend we are starting. She will be 4 months old and something's got to give.

Any advice on what worked/didn't work...?

Oh...and sleep when the baby sleeps (ie. during naps) does not happen over here! She only naps "independently" in her crib for about a half an hour...not enough time for me to even get to sleep. Otherwise we are napping in the stroller or in my arms...

Any tips on how to make her naps in the crib longer would be appreciated too!!

She's torturing me with lack of sleep but she sure is cute!!!

See for yourself!


9 comments:

  1. I look forward to seeing what people suggest for sleep training. We're on pretty much the exact same schedule over here.

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  2. You're doing better than us. Truitt's longest span EVER has been 4 hours and that was a one time thing. We are normally up every 1.5-3.5 hours.

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  3. I did sleep training around 4 months and it really did work...but then she got sick and a had a growth spurt and got sick etc. My little one is due for another round of sleep training.

    When she woke up I would wait 15 minutes then go in and tell her it's "night night time" get her to stop crying so she could catch her breath then walk away. Sometimes I picked her up to get her to stop but immediately put her back down and she would or course scream right away. The first time I had to do this for about an hour and a half. The second time was for an hour. The second night I think it only lasted 15 minutes. It really does work. I would sit in the rocking chair and try to doze off as she cried. Amazingly it really does work but then they get sick and momma get weeks and/or paranoid about SIDS and they very easily fall back into old habits. We are due for sleep training around here too. I was going to do it this week because I'm off work but now she has an ear infection.

    My doctor said that when she gets better I need to just shut her door and let her cry. I'm not sure I have the heart for that.

    Here's a good post about sleep training.

    http://www.poopwhisperer.com/search/label/sleep

    Good Luck! Keep us posted on how it goes.

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  4. She is such a cutie!!! Are you swaddling her? I stopped swaddling my guy for naps and he then started only napping for 30 minutes. I started to swaddle him again for naps and now sometimes he'll sleep for 2 hours!! I suggest a swaddleMe swaddle blanket.

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  5. No advice, but just wanted to say I 110% feel you on the fuzzy, hazy, emotional wretchedness that is sleep deprivation. Hoping the sleep training does the trick and STAT!

    I'm sure you get this a zillion times a day, but she is seriously your mini-me. What a beautiful, beautiful girl!!!! xoxo

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  6. I don't have any great advice since I have only been doing this for 2 months....but maybe you are putting her to bed too early?? Mine goes to bed between 9:30 and 10....wakes around 5:30 to eat and then goes right back to sleep until 7 or 8. She takes several catnaps and usually one 2 or 3 hour nap during the day.

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  7. Good luck mama!! I know you need your sleep! It's essential.
    I still co sleep with my little one, which isn't teaching her to sleep independently, but right now it's the best option that still lets everyone get some sleep. Wishing you the best!!

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  8. I didn't do sleep training until 6 months, but I can tell you that it's rough for a week or two, but worth it!

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  9. You'd never know she was such a troublemaker looking at that cute little face. :) I hope things turn around in the sleep department. There is truly almost nothing more debilitating than absolute exhaustion.

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