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November 25, 2010

Confession

I am here to say that my 9 1/2 month old son does not sleep through the night. Not only does he not sleep through the night, he's not even close. Realistically I know that one day when we send him off to college we will be an individual that can sleep through the night but right now it just seems like it will never come. I thought this same thing when I'd see other babies in his class sitting up on their own or eating finger foods and now he does these things too. Just like those milestones I know the sleep will come too.

For the past 3 nights we've actually had some really great sleep nights. He's made it through the night doing a 5 hour stretch! It's funny how to some this might be a bad night but this extra time we're getting feels amazing. We get up in the morning and actually feel rested. I"m hoping that he's slowly starting to stretch out his sleep periods naturally.

So for all the other moms that also feel like all they hear about is how everyone else's baby is sleeping through the night. It's okay to be jealous (I know I am) but know you are not alone. My name is Melissa and my baby does NOT sleep through the night.

14 comments:

Shannon said...

You must be exhausted. I remember the first time each kid almost made it to morning - waking up at 4:00 a.m. and feeling *so* rested, and couldn't believe we got 5 hours of sleep in a row.

Ian didn't start sleeping through the night until about 8 or 9 months and let me tell you, it was hard on us because we were spoiled. Erik started sleeping through the night at about 2 months and was always a great sleeper (at night - naps were a different story.) So we expected the same thing to happen with Ian and when it didn't, it was frustrating.

Ian is a good sleeper now (with the occasional exception like last night when he decided 4:00 a.m. was a good time to get up for the day) and it just sort of happened. Hopefully that's the case with Jackson too.

I live in fear that we've been amazingly lucky to get two easy-to-bed, good sleepers - if we have another baby, he/she is probably never going to sleep.

tireegal68 said...

One of my sisters less fun comments the other day was this: " that whole thing about kids sleeping through the night is a myth. Most kids won't give you a whole nights sleep until they are five years old!"
I was like WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT???!! aargh!
I'd like to believe in the fairy tale a bit longer please!
I hope Jackson gets with the program soon:)

B. said...

I'm living the fairy tale, but I know how lucky I am. I'm glad that Jackson has such reasonable mommies who are not trying to force him into some expected pattern, but who will allow him to develop at his own pace. You're sleep-deprived now, but I suspect you'll have a much happier, better-adjusted youngster in the long run. And, to be completely honest, I often miss those middle-of-the-night snuggly feedings when neither of us was more than half awake and we'd both fall asleep in the glider.

J and DZ said...

Sadie isn't sleeping through the night either and I'm really tired too. Typical night is bed around 8:00pm, bottle around 1:00-2:00 am, and wake-up at 6:00 am. That doesn't include the countless times she cries out and crawls on top of me. I really really hate to say this but she can be very annoyng at night. She's constantly tossing and turning. I get so much grief from people saying to put her in her crib but I remember the same behavior except she'd hit her head on the bars and cry!!

Stacey said...

Our kids don't sleep through the night. Riley sometimes wakes but is usually good. She's almost 4. She had night terrors until some time after her 3rd birthday and it took forever to get rid of the bottle in the middle of the night.

Jackson co-sleeps and wakes to breastfeed around 11 pm or so. He will usually start stirring around 3 am but will nurse until hopefully 6 am or later.

Our kids don't go to bed easily either. Sometimes we're lucky and they go to sleep by 8 but other nights we are awake in bed until after 9 pm. The other night it was 9:45 pm and I was ready to run away and join the circus!

So here me when I saw I feel your pain. For over 3 years now, I've lived it. It does get better (they should have a video project for this too lol) but I'm not going to pretend that it might be soon. Some kids sleep well, others don't. But you are right in saying they will all figure it out at some point so don't let it worry you and hopefully he'll learn to give you longer stretches.

One thing we used to do with Riley because we knew she'd wake is go in before she woke--when we were going to bed, change her diaper and offer her a bottle. It sometimes worked, I think.

I have to say that I get the most sleep from co-sleeping. Jackson went through phases of tossing and turning but is generally good these days and sleeps well.

Jackie said...

L is 10.5 months old and does not sleep thru the night. He sometimes does 10h streches, which are amazing but only serve to get our hopes up. He inevitably reverts to the twice-a-night wake up pattern. I'm with you in hoping it changes, but also in doing what's best for them on their schedule, not forcing them into something they're not ready for. Good luck!

E and M, jumpingoutoftrees said...

EG had to cry-it-out around 7 months old (she cried for 20 minutes and we were done...a very long 20 minutes). She got a cold around 9 months and didn't sleep through the night again until around her first birthday with another cry-it-out session.

What we learned is the EVERYONE, including the baby, is happier when everyone sleeps.

There are still nights that she wakes up because she is cold or hot or just needs to get settled again. I assume these will continue forever.

Any type of transition will result in poor sleep and once they move through it sleep will return and everyone will be happy again.

Jen said...

Chunk is just not consistent because of always being sick and/or teething. At 6 months, he slept through the night and it was amazing! Now, I am jealous of our former selves because it has been months since that happened. I am praying that once he hits one, he will all of the sudden be a big boy... A girl can dream, right!? I am tired and I know how you completely feel. My name is Jen, and my 11 month old no longer sleeps through the night.

tbean said...

Hope these comments help to show you that you are not alone. Hang in there!

Next in Line said...

Bee is almost a year and still has 4am snack attacks. Usually a quick nursing session and back to bed until 6am. That is when she is not sick, the dog doesn't bark, there are no teeth coming in, and the stars and moon are aligned up properly. I have learned that babies are unreliable bunch when it comes to sleep.

Anonymous said...

I am sad to say that I have been planning a similar post for some time. I don't mean to be discouraging, but our boy is nearly fifteen months old and has yet to truly sleep through the night (the five-hour bit has happened a handful of times, but that's it). All I can say is hang in there. Eventually, they do sleep (or so I'm told). I hope he sleeps sooner than later.

Pufferfish said...

God, I'm so sorry. You must be completely exhausted. I feel like I have no right to complain!
Our boys started STTN at 7 months, but then teething began at 8 months and they started waking up early.....but it will always be something.

This week they are back to their 12 hour stretch. It WILL happen for you and for Jackson.

I hope you can get some sun-filled cat naps in the DR while someone else watches Jackson. You deserve it!

anofferingoflove said...

our girl didn't sleep through the night until she was 10.5 months old, so i feel your pain. it's beyond *exhausting.* i hope the longer stretches continue and expand. hang in there!

Heidi said...

My son is 2 and it is a gift from the gods when he does not wake up at least once in the night. When he wakes it up it is all screaming, kicking, barking orders like a puppet master. It is hard because I know 3 other 2 year olds and they have no problem sleeping. I know too that it will pass and he too will go off to college being able to sleep all night long and not wake up until noon but right now that is way too far away for me to find any comfort in it. I feel your pain and it is nothing you are doing wrong. Some babies just cannot get the whole sleep thing figured out for a while.