I feel that I’m a good mom – though, maybe not necessarily a smart one, sometimes. We have quite possibly turned the corner in some of our sleep struggles and I’m coming to the realization that Pumpkin not sleeping was largely MY FAULT. I have basically, for the past 7.5 months, been missing her sleep cues. She has been doing all those cute little baby things to “tell” me she’s tired, and by and large, I’ve apparently been ignoring them.
Whoops.
After heading to the doc last week and getting a clean bill of health, the doc started in with the: “You’re gonna have to let her cry” stuff. Because letting her cry keeps me awake longer than just picking her up and rocking her or feeding her, I basically blew it off to a degree.
Instead, I started paying attention. What a novel concept. I feel like the world’s biggest idiot for not doing this sooner. When she starts rubbing her eyes with her hand, or on my shoulder (if I’m holding her), I’ve simply been wrapping her up in her blanket, snuggling her for a few minutes, singing a song, and placing her gently in her crib. At that point, she’s usually asleep with little to no fussing within minutes. Sheesh. All this crying when I could have just been PAYING ATTENTION?!
It’s not fool proof, but I will say that the past few days, she’s taken several naps daily (still tending towards “crap naps” – several 30-40 minute naps), and her night wakings are less frequent, when she wakes up in the middle of the night at all.
Sigh. Sometimes these babies have to train their mommies.
About sarah
Sometimes we’re too close to see what’s going on…Like me and #1 son needing one on one attention. It takes someone removed to see it for us. Glad to hear you’re getting more sleep! Isn’t it great!