Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Baby, It's 3 am, I must be....

...desperate.

Last night, while discussing Isaac's new sleep troubles with Lorena, I told her, "the good thing is, no matter what, I always know that if I can get through the day, I can count on him going to sleep at night and sleeping through the night". When he was only a few months old, and he was fighting sleep, there was no guarantee that we would ever have a reprieve. Now, knowing that we'll get a good 10-11 hours at night, I can keep from having that hopeless desperate feeling.

At precisely 2:04 am, the boy awakened beginning an hour long fight to get back to sleep. As I sat in the rocking chair in the darkness, the hopeless desperate feeling crept back over me.
Will I be up all night?
Will he ever stop trying to climb out of his crib?
Will this be one exception to the rule, or do I need to plan on getting up in the middle of the night from now on?
Why didn't I go to bed when I got home from tutoring instead of staying up until 11?
Am I spoiling him?
If I let him cry, will I be neglecting him?

If today is like yesterday, look for Isaac to be on ebay by the end of the day.

*********************************************************************************************

I just now realized that I never really detailed what happened yesterday.
Here it is in a nutshell:

Isaac slept a total of 2 hours in the course of 3 naps. And they weren't naps like they used to be. It takes about 45 minutes for him to go to sleep. At least. I put him down. He cries a little, and then climbs the side of the crib. He gets stuck (because he doesn't know how to sit back down yet). He screams. I go in and pry his little hands off the railing and lie him back down.

Repeat.

Only with each repeat, he gets more and more frustrated and frantic. Finally, I pick him up to calm him down, change a diaper and try again. In the extreme cases, I hold him down (lightly - as to not alarm social services) until he puts his thumb in his mouth and goes to sleep.

I then run, to complete essential tasks before he awakens 30-40 minutes later and climbs the side of the crib and begins to scream. This time there's no going back to sleep, so we get up and fight through another awake cycle.

Good times.

Oh, and then there's the part where he's so tired and/or he wants to get down and test his new skills, so he won't sit in his high chair and eat. I'm sure that's helping how he's feeling. Tired, hungry, frustrated, and a little (lot) more tired.

So, that is (not in a nutshell after all) what went down yesterday.

6 comments:

Kim and Mike said...

Hmmm...let's see....yes, after reading your blog, I am ready to go back and try to get hs students to like math. At least they get to leave my room after an hour and a half! :) Good luck with the boy!

~stevesgurl~ said...

I will be praying for you today. You know where I am and you can call if you get too frustrated.

Just so you know, Josiah woke up in the middle of the night too. Maybe the boys talked and came up with a plan!

Deb said...

FROM WEBMD --
4-12 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day

While up to 15 hours is ideal, most infants up to 11 months old get only about 12 hours sleep. Establishing healthy sleep habits is a primary goal during this period, as your baby is now much more social, and his sleep patterns are more adult-like.

Babies typically have three naps and drop to two at around 6 months old, at which time (or earlier) they are physically capable of sleeping through the night. Establishing regular naps generally happens at the latter part of this time frame, as his biological rhythms mature. The midmorning nap usually starts at 9 a.m. and lasts about an hour. The early afternoon nap starts from 12 to 2 p.m. and lasts an hour or two. And the late afternoon nap may start from 3 to 5 p.m. and is variable in duration.

Love, Gramma Debbie

Anonymous said...

I hope you get a better night's sleep tonight. Hang in there. You are doing a great job!
Brenda

Jude said...

Praying for a restful night tonight for you guys. We missed you at dinner!!

Jeremy said...

I'm going to go research multiple forms of birth control now.

Please don't sell your baby.