Once Makafui started his reflux meds, things were good, they were reeeeally good. It would take one or two times, but he would go down at about 8:30 and wake up every 3 hours, quickly eat and go right back to sleep. He'd be up for the day (and oh so delightful, I might add) at around 8:00. It was wonderful!
For the past week and a half or so, things have gone downhill fast and stayed there. We start bedtime routine at the same time, but he's not truly down for the night until sometime between 9 and 10-often closer to 10. That's lots of up and down! Then, he wakes up very often, about every 1-2 hours and it takes a lot longer to get him back to sleep, about 45 minutes. He's also up for the day, and grumpy, earlier.
I'm obviously not getting much sleep and it's catching up to me- I've been a borderline zombie the last few days.
I'm stumped and exhausted. So I decided to be a total genius and take to the web for some help. I sifted through a lot of things because there's a reason we aren't Baby Wise parents or Dr. Sears parents or Ferber parents or any other follow-someone-else's-method-to-a-tee parents.
What I found was that it seems every other baby on the planet Makafui's age/weight sleeps more than he does. I also read more about the "Dream Feed" and decided to give it a try.
To Dream Feed, you put your baby down for bed at their regular time and then before adult bedtime, between 10-11 usually, you go in and feed the baby in his sleep. In theory, the baby just eats and goes right back down, extending the time until their next feed. Sounds simple, huh?
So we tried. First, we had to stay awake til 10! Usually we run to bed as soon as we're sure M is asleep. So we waited. I went in and picked up my sleeping baby. Getting him to eat took a few tries, but he finally did...I was so excited! Then, I put him back down....and those beautiful brown eyes shot open and he started crrrrrying! Noooooo! Damn you, Dream Feed, damn you and damn you Internet!! I WOKE UP my baby! Who the hell does that?! 40 minutes later, he was back to sleep and an hour and a half after that, he was up for a feeding. The stupid Dream Feed did nothing good and if anything, made things worse!!!
What is happening?!
We haven't changed anything, he just quit sleeping well. He has a regular nighttime routine, he sleeps in a cool, dark room, with white noise. He is full, has a fresh diaper and is swaddled. He gets plenty of love, attention and food during the day, so I know his "tank" is full.
So what am I gonna do (other than wash my mouth out with soap)? No more baby advice from the Internet. I'm grounding myself from Babycenter and all other stupid baby websites.
Instead, I'm listenin' to my Mama-duh! (I'm not grounded from her) When you don't know what to do, keep doing what you do know. And, each day is new, each night is new, just keep trying again and hoping for the best.
Here goes...I'm just gonna hope for the best and keep doing what I know, and what I think is best for M. Dear GOD, please let this phase end soon!
And since you got to the end of my tirade, here's some cuteness!
3 comments:
He looks like he's up to something in the first pic. I'm seeing him this weekend.
Thanks for not being grounded from me! I can really appreciate what you are going through and I am praying for a quick end to this phase!!!!!
uggg!! i am so sorry. i know how crazy exhausting and frustrating it is. annie was much the same way and meg only slightly better. i too hope this phases passes quickly for little M!
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