Sleep is my current obsession. If one were to click on my Google history, he would find searches like "baby napping" and "baby sleep schedule" occasionally broken up by something random like "bottle-nosed dolphin" or "Sugar Ray Leonard."
My son is a fantastic sleeper. I always knew he would be. While I was pregnant, I diligently counted kicks. My little Wormie would sometimes go for long periods (like, hours) without moving, but when he did move, there was absolutely no doubt about it, so I never worried. I just figured, "No big deal, he's just sleeping." I hoped this meant he would have a long sleep cycle when he was born.
I had such a horrible time sleeping during my last trimester. I would wake up pretty much every half-hour, and have to completely reposition myself and all the bedding to ease the pain in my back and hips. People thought I was completely delusional when I would say that I couldn't wait for the baby to be born so I could get a decent night's sleep.
When Alex was born, I was in the hospital for two nights afterward. "Enjoy it," people would tell me. "It's not the same after you go home." Thank God for that! The problem was never Alex sleeping. It was the constant parade of people into my room -- nurses, techs, doctors, dietary, lactation consultants, etc. I never got more than a half-hour of sleep before someone else would come in to feed me, take my vitals, or just check on me or the baby. My lactation consultant (who for the most part totally didn't get me, but she meant well, bless her) finally had the nursery take Alex for a while and put a note on my door that I was not to be disturbed. Of course, this didn't stop the geniuses at the front desk from calling my room to tell me that I had a visitor and could they come in or did the note apply to them, too, but that wasn't so bad.
Anyway, we got Alex home finally, and my husband and I fell into the routine almost instantly. Alex would cry, Philip would get up and change him, and I'd get situated to nurse. Occasionally, Philip would volunteer to feed him, too, so I could get some sleep, but I was lousy noob at pumping, had no breast milk in storage, and didn't want Alex to have a feeding that was solely formula because I was a spastic new mom.
Anyway, after Alex's bout with jaundice and our strict two-hour bili-bed cycle (which wasn't always so strict and once or twice turned into a four-hour cycle due to a faulty alarm clock), he became a great sleeper. Within a week he was sleeping for stretches of five hours at night. By six weeks, he was sleeping through the night. Now at three months he sleeps 11 to 13 hours at night.
Alex's nighttime sleeping habits have never been in question, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. He does not nap, however. Oh, sure, a little cat-nap here and there, but he very, very rarely sleeps for more than 30 minutes during the day. He's a goodnatured baby, and this doesn't seem to be affecting his nighttime sleeping at all, but it still concerns me because I know he ought to be napping.
The very first book I got for my Amazon Kindle, on the recommendation of PopMommy, was Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth -- a fascinating read, which has once again given me some ideas to implement. Unfortunately, this week is going to be disrupted by my summer camp, but I am bringing Alex's bassinet, will black out the window in my office in the gym, and will hope for the best.
My son is a fantastic sleeper. I always knew he would be. While I was pregnant, I diligently counted kicks. My little Wormie would sometimes go for long periods (like, hours) without moving, but when he did move, there was absolutely no doubt about it, so I never worried. I just figured, "No big deal, he's just sleeping." I hoped this meant he would have a long sleep cycle when he was born.
I had such a horrible time sleeping during my last trimester. I would wake up pretty much every half-hour, and have to completely reposition myself and all the bedding to ease the pain in my back and hips. People thought I was completely delusional when I would say that I couldn't wait for the baby to be born so I could get a decent night's sleep.
When Alex was born, I was in the hospital for two nights afterward. "Enjoy it," people would tell me. "It's not the same after you go home." Thank God for that! The problem was never Alex sleeping. It was the constant parade of people into my room -- nurses, techs, doctors, dietary, lactation consultants, etc. I never got more than a half-hour of sleep before someone else would come in to feed me, take my vitals, or just check on me or the baby. My lactation consultant (who for the most part totally didn't get me, but she meant well, bless her) finally had the nursery take Alex for a while and put a note on my door that I was not to be disturbed. Of course, this didn't stop the geniuses at the front desk from calling my room to tell me that I had a visitor and could they come in or did the note apply to them, too, but that wasn't so bad.
Anyway, we got Alex home finally, and my husband and I fell into the routine almost instantly. Alex would cry, Philip would get up and change him, and I'd get situated to nurse. Occasionally, Philip would volunteer to feed him, too, so I could get some sleep, but I was lousy noob at pumping, had no breast milk in storage, and didn't want Alex to have a feeding that was solely formula because I was a spastic new mom.
Anyway, after Alex's bout with jaundice and our strict two-hour bili-bed cycle (which wasn't always so strict and once or twice turned into a four-hour cycle due to a faulty alarm clock), he became a great sleeper. Within a week he was sleeping for stretches of five hours at night. By six weeks, he was sleeping through the night. Now at three months he sleeps 11 to 13 hours at night.
Alex's nighttime sleeping habits have never been in question, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. He does not nap, however. Oh, sure, a little cat-nap here and there, but he very, very rarely sleeps for more than 30 minutes during the day. He's a goodnatured baby, and this doesn't seem to be affecting his nighttime sleeping at all, but it still concerns me because I know he ought to be napping.
The very first book I got for my Amazon Kindle, on the recommendation of PopMommy, was Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth -- a fascinating read, which has once again given me some ideas to implement. Unfortunately, this week is going to be disrupted by my summer camp, but I am bringing Alex's bassinet, will black out the window in my office in the gym, and will hope for the best.
*looks at the image for this post, then shouts*
ReplyDeleteIt's Good!