Wednesday, January 16, 2013

From Bad to Worse...Where Did We Go Wrong?

Just in case anyone thought (like me) that things would just improve on their own...they have not.

I made a sleep log last night after spending AN HOUR AND A HALF bouncing my baby to sleep.

Yes, bouncing my almost 6 month old for hours like he's a newborn...we've regressed so so far.

Would you all like to see my sleep log? 

It's scary...are you ready?

Anyone who's complaining about their baby waking up 3 times a night will immediately start thanking their lucky stars that their baby is ONLY waking up 3 times.

Baby Jett woke up 7 TIMES last night.

And went 2 hours as a MAXIMUM.

Here goes:

10:05:  FINALLY DOWN FOR THE NIGHT AFTER LOTS OF BOUNCING AND FAILED PUT DOWN ATTEMPTS.

11:48pm: Awake!  Nurse.

12:27am: Asleep.

1:03am: Awake!  Try not nursing, try some shushing and patting, all to no avail, give up and nurse.

1:12am: Asleep.

1:41am: Awake!  Nurse for 2 seconds.

1:42am: Asleep.

2:00am:  Awake!  Nurse for 2 seconds.

2:03am:  Asleep.

3:23am:  AWAKE!  Try not nursing again, shushing and patting, nope...back to nursing for 2 SECONDS.

3:25am: Asleep.

4:17am:  AWAKE!  Nurse for 2 seconds...do you see a pattern here?  I think he might need to suck to sleep.

4:18am: Asleep.

5:50am:  AWAKE!  Here I get desperate for him to not wake up for the day so I'm quick to whip out the boob, I don't even bother with other attempts because nursing works and I don't want to get up at 5:50am.

5:54am: Asleep.

7:30am:  Awake for the day.  All smiles and giggles and chatty.

Sounds like a restful night, DOESN'T IT?

We're like a week into nights like this.  I'm a zombie.  And alone, husband is traveling.

You name a sleep trick and I've tried it.  I even put him down in his crib last night (after spending half an hour trying to get him back to sleep after he went down at 7:30pm for A NAP apparently) sleepy and not crying, I went downstairs to watch the last 5 minutes of a show and he BAWLED his little brains out.  He went from happy and content and sleepy to HYSTERICAL in less than 5 minutes.  He spent the next 2 hours fighting sleep and constantly checking on me to make sure I didn't leave him again.

I feel completely lost as to what to do from this point, especially being this tired where I don't have the emotional control to follow through with anything.  I will basically do anything to make him sleep, especially as the day wears on and I get more and more exhausted, even if that means he's back in my arms for naps.  I'm just too tired to deal with the screaming.

Sleep deprivation is no joke.  It's wreaking havoc on all facets on my life.  Dom and I are constantly fighting.  I'm on edge and crying over anything.  And I'm so so skinny, I'm literally wasting away, no matter how much I eat.  And I'm wishing I could give someone my baby and they could bring him back to me when he learns how to sleep.

So we're calling in a professional.

That's right I AM PAYING SOMEONE to fix my baby.  It's bloody expensive...and it better damn well work.

I will keep you all posted!

And just because he's so damn cute even if he won't let me sleep...here's a picture of Baby Jett at his first swimming lesson.

10 comments:

  1. Hi Jess, I'm not a mum but I have a lot of friends that are and they all swear by the Book Baby Wise, it's about getting the child to sleep and teaching them to sleep, it's worth a try? http://www.amazon.com/On-Becoming-Baby-Wise-Nighttime/dp/1932740139/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358357254&sr=8-1&keywords=baby+wise
    3 of my friends all swear by this and they all had different challenges in Child sleeping habits. Good Luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a friend who called in a sleep doula too! she told me some of the tricks (you might have already tried them) but a super, pitch black room (a few blogs I read the Moms actually tape tin foil up on the windows to totally black them out), and white noise as loud as you can get it. We tried both at about 5 months and Austin slept better, and now can't sleep without white noise. so we created a habit there, but a sound machine is not a big purchase. I hope you find some relief...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my gosh I would die. Moms NEED sleep! I feel for you lady! No joke! I have no real words of wisdom because I have never dealt with that- but I am hoping this doula you are hiring works for you! Keep us posted!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hugs hugs hugs

    Molly has also completely regressed. Just when I thought holy shot this is it sleep nirvana she goes back to 2-3x a night and hardly having day sleeps a d has learned to sulk and whine. It's killing me. Sending you a huge piece of cake and vodka and sleep! Good luck x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh man I'm so sorry!! Does he not take a pacifier? I'd be forcing it on him at this point... I held out until arch was 7 weeks and decided to sleep no more than 30 minutes at a time for a whole week. He hated it at first but finally took to it with me constantly shoving it in his mouth. Hope the professional gets things back on track!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I would do the same thing! Everyone needs sleep. Totally worth the money if it improves his nights. He is darn cute.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Awwww...beautiful baby boy, your mommy needs sleep! I hope the sleep doula works!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree - pacifier! Thumb! Whatever! This boy seems like he wants to suck himself to sleep, he's obviously not hungry, and it looks like he is using you as his pacifier. :( :( He is adorable, but sometimes that makes it worse for me when I feel like I have a little torturer in my home and the torturer is cute. Sleep deprivation is noooo joke. I wish there was some way you could get a night (or day) of sleep!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good thing he's cute. Makes it ALMOST worth losing your mind. I can't imagine, being sleep deprived is it's own brand of hell. I think you are doing the right thing, call for help! Great idea - sometimes kids will do things for others they just won't do for you, kinda like teaching them to swim or dive! Is there anyone you can have over to visit in the meantime so you can get a good nap in while they visit with Jett? That might help too, just a couple hours to CATCH up.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm sorry! I feel you and I only have a 4 weeker. I cannot handle anything on that little sleep. I had a night/day like that two days ago and was breaking down left and right. We can't be good moms on that kind of schedule. My little one wakes about every 2-3 hours at night and takes tiny cat naps during the day so I can't get much done. I wish you luck with the professional help. I am going to look into BabyWise myself and see if I can get Cooper to be a successful sleeper early if possible. I need to sleep!

    ReplyDelete