After much training, my 2 older kids are great sleepers. They sleep 12 hrs a night, well probably closer to 11-11.5hr and are happy and smart and yeah for them...
But they had a heck of a time getting to that stage. And Kster seems to be heading in the same direction.
I think I jinxed myself when I kept telling everybody he was my best sleeper. But he was. He once slept for 11 hrs. Unheard of in my other two at the same age. But mostly he would sleep for 8-10 hrs, eat and then go back to sleep for 4-2 hrs to make it 12 hrs.
And then Christmas happened and we went to family and he was up all the time eating and eating and eating and I finally gave him cereal (far earlier than my other ones because I figured he must be hungry). He eats it and loves it and we were doing better for awhile but now we're back to very frequent wake ups. My problem is...Kster sleeps on his tummy and has since he was born. He recently figured out how to roll from his tummy to his back and likes to wake up, roll over, realize he doesn't like being on his back, get stuck and scream till I go in there. He hasn't developped the roll from front to back skill which is much harder (musclewise) and usually happens at 7/8 months.
So I'm left trying to figure out what to do. I can just let him try and figure out how to sleep on his back (but I did try one night to let him cry and he bellowed for 90 minutes straight. When I went in he was on his back. It was the first time it happened). or I can wait it out till he can roll himself back.
In the long run it doesn't seem like a few months is a big deal but I need sleep. I like sleep. I don't like to get up repeatedly to soothe a baby back to sleep only to have him wake up again 2-3 hrs later.
I like sleep. I look at some of the older ladies that go to my church who have older kids (and no babies) and I think to myself that that will be me one day. Sleeping whenever I want....
And on a side sleeping note - I do find the fact that I am even debating what to do with Kster funny because anybody that knows me knows that I am a strict mom when it comes to sleeping. Let them cry. Make them go to bed and stop coddling in the middle of the night. I've helped numerous moms in the past, which I say this not to brag but to reiterate that I have very strong feelings about this, which is why my debate is so odd. I guess I just feel that its not right to make him be on his back, crying when he is physically incapable of fixing himself. It doesn't seem fair. Make a child learn to sleep but make sure he has the tools to actually accomplish the task.
And now I'm rambling.
4 comments:
can you teach him how to sleep on his back? like start putting him down for one of his naps (the one he sleeps best at) on his back?
seems like if he can learn to like that, your problem is easier
PS I love sleeping too. That's one of my biggest fears for having kids. C and I are really really good at sleeping a lot. What will we do??
All of my kids loved sleeping on their tummies too! I had one child who did the same thing as your Kster. Lucky for me, he could only roll on his right side and not his left. So, I just laid him in his crib close to the right side of the crib and so when he tried to roll over at night he couldn't, so he just went right back to sleep. I don't know if your little guy can roll both ways, but if he can't, this might be a good tip for you. . . . if he can roll both ways. . . well. . . good luck! I've got nothing for you!
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