It really is the darnedest thing... Linc was doing GREAT (falling asleep around 9 p.m. and sleeping until 5ish, with a quick nurse and back to sleep until 7:30 a.m.) until we went home to N.Y. for Christmas. Then, with all four of us sleeping in the same room for a week, I jumped up at every fuss he made so as not to wake up everyone, and we returned to Jersey with him thinking a middle-of-the-night-nurse was a good thing.
Initially, I didn't mind, since The Wonder Weeks talked about this period of growth being accompanied by such behavior, and also since we found out at his 6-month visit that he was only in the 5th percentile for weight (even adjusting a month for his early arrival, he was 15-20 percentile). I figured he really WAS hungry and needed some sustenance. But in the last three weeks, he added a 10:30 feed, bumped to a 1:30 feed, and wants it again at 5. It feels like he is 2 months old again! The "good" thing is that he goes right back to sleep, and if I can stay awake, it's only a 20-minute nursing session. Then he usually awakens for the day around 7:30.
Trying to get to the root causes, though, I think we have a true trifecta: mom-enabling, 6-7-8 month “milestones,” and bona fide teething...his mouth is full of “bumps” and you can tell some of his cries are due to pain. Unfortunately, Hyland’s isn’t helping, and I try to be judicious with our use of Tylenol.
So what are we doing? I've been trying to follow Marc Wiessbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child sleep schedule guidance (worked great with Greta and most of my former co-workers’ kids), but, again, the Greta-Factor is the biggest impediment to both naps and bedtime routine. I’ve read the chapter titled Months Four To Twelve, about a dozen times. (Dani, I recommend it… it will make you feel good about your decision to let Kate “cry it out.” If you want "professional advice", you can reach Dr. Weissbluth at DrDad@dadmag.com) The other thing we’re trying is putting him to bed without being swaddled. (Anyone else follow The Happiest Baby On the Block? The 5 S's worked for Greta and Lincoln like magic for their first six months.) Lincoln is old enough to not be swaddled, but he just started kicking free from my burrito wraps...maybe he has been waking himself up trying to roll over? And since his room can get chilly, we added a space heater, so maybe the “white noise” will help, too. Who knows?
Today was a good day, though (maybe Linc knew we were blogging about him?!). He went down for a nap at 11:30 (in a nursing-induced sleep), and promptly opened his eyes the minute I put him in his crib. I darted out of the room and left him to babble and moan, which he did until noon. But then he slept until 2:30! And I put him to bed awake, post-bath after a brief (10-minute) nurse, at 7. He put himself to sleep, again with a few minutes of babble and moaning. Of course, he’ll probably be up in an hour...but how can you hold a grudge against this most adorable kid?!
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