Losing Sleep
10 days ago we did "sleep training" with Tegwyn: in an effort to teach her to self-soothe and sleep through the night, we resolved to put her down at night, and not go in til morning. We vacated our bedroom (where we all sleep) and J and I camped upstairs for a couple of nights. The first night was horrid: she awoke at 10pm and screamed for 2 hours before finally dropping off to sleep. She woke again at about 4am and moaned for about 15 mins... and then next awoke in the morning. The next night had no screaming fits, just a couple of "wake and moan" moments. The next night... less. By night 4, she slept through 11 hours, without waking! Yay! On night 5, we "moved back in", thrilled with how rested and happy Teg was in the morning, having had a really solid nights' sleep.
Last night was night 11. We put her down at 7pm. She awoke at 9:30pm crying. Thinking this to be unusual, we went in to check... but no amount of diaper changing or nursing could get her back to sleep. At 10pm I had to leave her to cry... and at midnight, I gave up, picked my hysterical and exhausted-from-screaming child up and pulled her into bed with me, letting her nurse to sleep then (and again at 5am, and again at 6am when she awoke). I have done quite a bit of reading on sleep training, and NOWHERE do I find anyone telling stories of children crying for HOURS at a time... and that you may have several batches of "training days". Even the "sleep bible" seems to suggest that the worst sleeping kiddos can be sleep trained in about 7 days... and those writing testimonies for the books tell of 45 minutes at the very worst for crying duration. Most of the stories tell of about 20 minutes.
But my pediatrician's daughter is on day 24 of sleep training... and still occasionally wakes up to cry for 20 minutes. Another friends' kiddo cried for 3 hours one night. My kiddo has now screamed for over 2 hours more than 4 times in her life. And apparently I'm out of options: I have to let her cry it out... or I have to go in and nurse/play with her on demand- which lands up meaning less rest for us all and is a poor long-term solution.
I think that figuring out my daughters' sleep is the single biggest challenge I have faced in my life thus far.
Last night was night 11. We put her down at 7pm. She awoke at 9:30pm crying. Thinking this to be unusual, we went in to check... but no amount of diaper changing or nursing could get her back to sleep. At 10pm I had to leave her to cry... and at midnight, I gave up, picked my hysterical and exhausted-from-screaming child up and pulled her into bed with me, letting her nurse to sleep then (and again at 5am, and again at 6am when she awoke). I have done quite a bit of reading on sleep training, and NOWHERE do I find anyone telling stories of children crying for HOURS at a time... and that you may have several batches of "training days". Even the "sleep bible" seems to suggest that the worst sleeping kiddos can be sleep trained in about 7 days... and those writing testimonies for the books tell of 45 minutes at the very worst for crying duration. Most of the stories tell of about 20 minutes.
But my pediatrician's daughter is on day 24 of sleep training... and still occasionally wakes up to cry for 20 minutes. Another friends' kiddo cried for 3 hours one night. My kiddo has now screamed for over 2 hours more than 4 times in her life. And apparently I'm out of options: I have to let her cry it out... or I have to go in and nurse/play with her on demand- which lands up meaning less rest for us all and is a poor long-term solution.
I think that figuring out my daughters' sleep is the single biggest challenge I have faced in my life thus far.
posted by Bronwyn at 1:01 pm
3 Comments:
Hi Bron,
Wow, do I sympathise with you! Nick has also not been an easy sleeper and we've had to do the sleep training thing to stay sane. We have weeks of blissful sleep and then a few where for some reason things go awry and we have to start from scratch. With number two on the way in September I am desperate for as much rest as possible but it seems the sleep deprivation challenge shall continue (although on the whole Nick's sleep is pretty good!).
Apparently night time wakings peak around 7mths (we found this to be true with Nick) and then things start to settle down. So, hang in there!!! I'm thinking of you though and know how tough it is.
Tons of love and God bless to all three of you!
Leza
Shame Bronwyn and Jeremy - no one tells you about how much of a mystery babies are! You are forever wondering if they are tired or hungry or sore and you never know. I have sat outside the baby room door crying myself while they screamed because I felt too guilty to do anything else! I really hope it works out soon. Love Kate
Thanks for the encouragement Lez and Kate :-)
Update 5 days later:
Last night Teg slept 11 hours in a row (6:15pm til 5:15am)... then woke up for a feed, and slept another 2 hours more. Apparent triumph??
Not too fast! She then proceeded to HOWL for 90 minutes at morning nap time... and during the whole day only took two naps of 25 minutes each. ARGH!
I'm persevering though!
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