Monday, December 15, 2008

Determination and a Mommy's Need for Sleep

So last night Eric and I chose to do something that we should have chosen to do several months ago. We decided to let Lucy cry it out in the middle of the night. I kept thinking that maybe she was hungry or thirsty or scared in the middle of the night and she needed me and then went back to sleep on her own. She has been putting herself to sleep for months at bedtime with no problem so I thought there must be some other explanation. Sadly I was wrong. Some nights Lucy will wake up twice and other nights (like Saturday night) she will wake up every two hours and need help falling back to sleep.

For me this is absolutely unacceptable. I need more sleep than that and it didn't seem like anything I was doing during the day was helping. I tried extra water, snuggles and food near bedtime. Finally I had to admit it. I have a little lady that just wants me to help her get to sleep.


I don't call myself the mommy with the heart of stone for nothing and I decided that Eric and I would let her cry. And let me tell you cry she did. Lucy woke up at 1 and I think the last time I heard a whimper out of her was around 3:30. It was rough for all of us. Somewhere around 2:45 Eric asked me how long we were going to let her cry and I told him until she falls asleep. Mercifully the boys didn't hear a peep of it. They slept through the whole entire incident. I am sure we will have to repeat this process tonight. Possibly all week. I am just completely done with the night feeding bit with my almost one year old. Neither of the boys had this problem. Once they started sleeping through and were eating cereal they were done and the nights of uninterrupted sleep returned for me. I am hoping for a quick return of sleep again this time for sure!

5 comments:

joanna said...

Good for you. I will pray that you get more sleep tonight. Gabe still wakes sometimes, right now he is feeling a bit cruddy so I just wake up and feed him. I've found he sleeps in an extra 1.5 hours after the night feeding so that almost makes it worth it. I do wonder how long until we are done with this. It isn't every night and unfortunately even after crying it out several nights he sometimes gets back into night waking. I think some babies are just more determined than others! You need your rest though so I hope it goes better tonight!

Kelly said...

Good Job! I am proud of you for sticking with it that long. Will is doing much better since we don't go in if he doesn't sound in real pain. He usually cries 2 times a night for about 10 min or less. Good Luck and I hope you get a full night within the next week!

Amber said...

I should just give up this whole incognito thing...the jigs up I've posted pictures! Oh well, we live in the land of the fair!

Oh and good for you for letting her cry, hopefully she'll figure it out quickly!

Ms. Leigh said...

how was night 2?

Little Blessings said...

Night 2 was much better! She slept until 4 and then I did feed her. I think that I could have made her cry though because she hardly ate at all. Tonight I will try no waking until 6 because I think that she is ready. She definitely wakes up happier though. And I feel much more rested myself!