Motherhood and sleep are incompatible.
I’ve come to the conclusion that motherhood and sleep are incompatible.
I have one friend who has a new baby almost exactly the same age as Nate, and this friend’s baby has been sleeping through the night pretty much since he came home from the hospital. She kids around and says he’s just lazy, but I know she’s just trying to make me feel better about Nate’s sleeping patterns.
I have another friend who had a new baby about a month ago, and this friend also has two other kids who began to sleep through the night around twelve or fourteen weeks.
I keep hearing people tell me, “It’ll get better,” or “He’ll get there soon,” or “You should nap when he does.”
All of these sentences kind of make me want to scream. I know it will get better. He won’t be a ten year old who wakes up every three hours to nurse. I know he’ll get there. All babies eventually figure out the mysteries of sleep and the nights of interrupted slumber become a distant memory for moms and dads.
But in the middle of the night, when I’ve had the longest stretch of sleep I’ll get that night (three measley hours) and Nathan won’t go back to sleep because his tummy is troubling him or whatever else is preventing him from falling back to sleep…when it’s been days, weeks, months now, since I’ve had any real quality rest, when the tears begin to fall and I begin to envision walking away from the house just to find a bed somewhere dark and quiet…that’s when I know it’s time to ask for help.
Like I did last night.
Desperation began to set in so I put Nate back into his crib. I went back into our bedroom and woke up Graham. I told him I needed help. I was beginning to lose it a little. I was exhausted. Without a word he left our room to tend to our son so I could get some rest, shutting the door behind him.
I felt awful. Guilty. Sorry. Like I had that one night in the hospital when our nurse took Nate, screaming, from our room so a sleep-deprived new mom could cry herself to sleep.
Thanks, Graham. I know it’s hard for you, too, when neither Nate nor I are sleeping well. Thanks for being on our team.
Someone commented here once that a 4 hour stretch is the minimum required to feel "human". I think she was right! Let's pray for each other Chantal! haha
Someone commented here once that a 4 hour stretch is the minimum required to feel "human". I think she was right! Let's pray for each other Chantal! haha
Babies brains regulate sleep at 4 months, eh? Well that is cause for hope! Thanks Tina. I'll check out that book.
Babies brains regulate sleep at 4 months, eh? Well that is cause for hope! Thanks Tina. I'll check out that book.
No no, I appreciate it! Thank you! I do feed Nate on demand, and sometimes that means he eats every couple of hours, sometimes less than that. And he LOVES his hands, so he wiggles out of a swaddle too. But sometimes it calms him enough just to get him to sleep, so that's okay. We have an iPod docking station in his room and I've been playing Rock-a-Bye Baby tunes at night. I also have a Sleep Machine on the iPod, so I should try that!
No no, I appreciate it! Thank you! I do feed Nate on demand, and sometimes that means he eats every couple of hours, sometimes less than that. And he LOVES his hands, so he wiggles out of a swaddle too. But sometimes it calms him enough just to get him to sleep, so that's okay. We have an iPod docking station in his room and I've been playing Rock-a-Bye Baby tunes at night. I also have a Sleep Machine on the iPod, so I should try that!