Sleep, Baby, Sleep
When you have a baby, there are a lot of moments to cherish. When you are a mom working at home and caring for a baby, during the day, there are some moments you cherish a little more than others:
A sleeping baby is always a wonderful thing. She always looks so beautiful and tranquil when she sleeps. John and I will often just stop and enjoy looking at her when she is taking a nap. Her calm makes us a little calmer. It's in those moments when, even when it's been a harrowing day, I feel like I've done something right. If this tiny baby can sleep so peacefully in my house, all must be well with the most important part of the world.
Z will sleep in many positions (tummy is her favorite) and at all times of the day except the evening. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of my personal favorite nap. It's too dark between 12:30 AM and 7 AM to take a good photo... and besides, I'm sleeping.
Yep, about a week and a half ago (literally on the night of her "8 week birthday"), John and I woke up in the morning after putting her down and it was light out. At first, of course, we both got up worried that something had happened to her. But she was alive and happy. The night before, John had put her down to sleep on her tummy for the night for the very first time, figuring she'd be waking us up for her usual 3-4 AM feeding. We figured it must just be a fluke (she's tricky like that... we've had a few times where she did it and then was back to the usual schedule the next night), but a week and a half later (knock on wood), she's still doing it. Not only that, but her daytime nap routine has become very stable. And, even better, when she is awake now, we've got much less fussiness to deal with (it's not gone, but it's more like 30 minutes of continuous unhappiness instead of 2 hours and it can be diminished if she's entertained properly) and much more happy smiley interactive baby to enjoy.
Clearly, space aliens have come to our house replaced our original baby with a new version. Or, at least, the transition was so abrupt, that that's what it seems like. We keep living under the assumption that they will come back and bring us the first baby, and that every day with this new baby is a blessing and not something we're entitled to*. Not getting up in the middle of the night has made me feel like a whole new person**. And the need to drain the feeding apparati after 6 hours of accumulation adds a special level of extra pleasure to nursing her in the morning (my favorite nursing session of the day). We'd love for her to actually sleep sometime between 4 and midnight, but if being awake for 6 to 8 hours guarantees us an almost equal amount of night sleeping and she's mostly pleasant, I, for one am completely willing to make the trade.
A pleasant, happy sleep-filled weekend to everyone!
* While we would love to take credit for this wonderful sleep transition, I don't think we actually did anything that made a difference, it was probably just good luck and the right timing for her. We have established a bed time ritual -- a bath, a change into her footie pajamas and nursing -- which I think helps her get ready for bed. But I don't think it has an impact on the length of time she sleeps.
**Strangely enough, I have developed the ability to wake up in the morning at hours that would have been incredibly early for me before (i.e. between 6 and 7:30 AM) and feel pretty good about it. I'm sort of baffled by this, and wonder if those mommy hormones have something to do with it.
Mmm ... you are lucky. It took my niece more than 4 months to get over the waking up at 3-4 a.m. phrase ... Chinese people call these "100-day babies" and she sure was one! I still remember how relieved my sister-in-law was when she could sleep through the night without waking up for the baby.
Hooray! And here's hoping it lasts!!
With my guys it lasted with short weeklong bursts of being up at 3am for a feed proceeding big growth spurts. Doesn't it feel nice to have a bit of energy again?
Sounds like things are settling into a wonderful routine. Congrats on the un-interrupted sleep! I'm sure it does wonders for your outlook! :) Z is a total cutie!
When Emma was a little baby, I was able to wake up at ~5:30am, and be up for the day. This is a feat I was unable to do before or since! I'd say it's definitely mommy hormones....
I had two babies during law school and made it through entirely on naptime. It was hardest after the second baby was born, and he was up all night, while my toddler was up all day. I went to school in the evenings and studied during nap times, so there wasn't much sleeping for mom. It used to make me speechless with rage when some 22-year old driving a car daddy bought and living in an apartment daddy paid for would ask me what I did for a living and then say, "Oh, you don't work?" I got my revenge by graduating first in my class. Babies make you much more efficient and focussed. I'm sure I would not have done as well without their...help.
Wow! You're so lucky to get 6 hours night sleep already! Although 'sleeping through the night' is defined (medically) as ONLY 5 hours! She wouldn't happen to be 12 lbs would she? I've heard that around that weight, babies can sleep 'through' the night usually. Often, keeping a baby awake hoping they'll sleep better backfires too, but if it's working for ya, that's great. We went to the 24 hr grocery store ALOT with our first baby, LOL!
Suzanne -- I think I've gotten much more time efficient since Z showed up -- or at least better at prioritizing. With only 5-6 hours of daytime naps, I have to take care of the most important things first. Somethings are sliding, but I've gotten more focused about some things as well.
Tracy -- Z's evening awake cycles are all her own doing. We can't take credit for keeping her awake, it's just what she does. Sometimes she humors us and takes a short nap (usually laying against dad's chest on the couch while watching TV) but there is definitely no evening nap of any length. And she started sleeping through just around the time that she passed the 10 lb thresh hold.
Wow, you are very lucky! My son hit 11 lbs. around 3 or 4 weeks, but didn't start to sleep through the night until 4 months. Given that I was driving back and forth to work in the November-in-Michigan darkness by 4 months, that extra sleep probably literally saved my life!
Boy, my husband is really worried about the sleeping issue because he's such a light sleeper. Our baby is not even here yet and he's already complaining about how he will lose sleep and not be able to function!
when did you start giving her a bath? A real one? Our baby girl is 2k weeks now and she's has a washcloth bath and her belly button thingy fell off, She fusses every night so maybe thats a good time to distract her with a bath... not sure when to start though!
yea! congrats! now take advantage of it until she starts teething and waking up again... :)
You are lucky - my adorable granddaughter is 10 months old & still wakes up several times a night (& she has 2 big brothers). And enjoy it 'cause you don't know how long it will last - teething is in your future. Of course, you could luck out & have one of those babies who just sprouts teeth with minimal fuss. I did - she also slept 11-12 hours at night & took 2 long naps during the day - she is the mother of the sleepless Miss M - doesn't seem fair does it?
I think it's the hormones. I'm totally a night person, but when my kids were babies I was waking up pretty early in the morning. It did go away, unfortunatly, long before my kids stopped waking up early.
Ahh...sleep. Once that was established, all seemed good in the world.
Before I had my daughter, I *had* to have eight hours of sleep. I would naturally sleep that long, no matter what, and if I couldn't, it wasn't good. Since LouLa was born, the most I can sleep is seven hours, and six and a half isn't bad, either. It has nothing to do with her, she'll sleep for 10-11 hours now. It's amazing how much you change after having a child, in so many ways.
Babies' cycles are so, well, mysterious. But sleep for mama? It's a wonderful thing!
Until your baby can turn herself over from front to back, you should always put her to sleep on her back - according to the CDC, having baby sleep in a position other than on her back is considered a risk factor for SIDS. The following excerpt is from the American SIDS Institue in response to the question "My baby doesn't like to sleep on his back - can't I let him sleep on his tummy? The response: It's hard to know for sure what babies like since they can't tell us. However, babies do tend to cry more when placed on their backs. In fact, for many "hard to soothe" infants, placing them on their stomachs does seem to calm them and help them fall to sleep. Also, babies wake less when on their stomachs and it takes more stimulation to wake them than when they are on their backs. Another thing we know is that tummy-sleeping infants retain more heat than when on their backs.
But should parents give in and place their little ones on their tummies? They should certainly not! Infants are more likely to have apnea (pauses in breathing) when on their stomachs. They are also more likely to re-breathe the air they have just exhaled, which can raise their levels of carbon dioxide. The increased retention of body heat can also be dangerous for some infants. But more convincing than any other fact is that belly-sleep has up to 12.9 times the risk of death as back-sleep*.
There are SO MANY things to worry about as far as babies---too much mommy guilt!---and tummy sleeping is just ONE. Bottle/Breast? Daycare/stay at home? Family bed/own bed?
From what I understand, the jury is still out and there are many conflicting opinions.
I know that you had this discussion and concern some time ago about her sleeping situation. I would say that if polled, most people feel comfortable sleeping on their tummy, so naturally, a baby does too. My kids (now 10 and 12) actually wiggled their ways to their tummies despite being placed in a wedge (do they make those any more?)
I would make sure that there is nothing in the crib for her to get caught in or up against, and talk with other moms (we're probably ALL guilty of a mothering "no-no"). There are always going to be sad, frightening stories, and YES we need to do what's best for our babies, but it sounds as if she is in a loving, safe environment with two parents who adore her...that's 99% of the battle.
That smile is precious!
Congrats on the 8-week birthday! This is the time that a lot of babies start sleeping longer and being able to have a set schedule. You must really be enjoying the extra few hours of sleep.
The pictures are so adorable!
Wow--maybe we'll see this miracle in another few weeks??? I love sleeping baby pictures ... and real, in-person sleeping babies :)