Tuesday, September 30, 2008

When It's Bad, It's Bad

Will has never really been a good sleeper. Even in the early days, he was much more of an eater. Wake him to eat? Never had to do it. He was always ready and raring to go. I believe that I have had one stretch of four hours of sleep since he was born. Three was a stretch that I would consider good.

The past three nights, Will has had one two hour stretch and then been up every hour to hour and a half for the rest of the night.

I am exhausted.

The first night, I thought it was an aberration. I am still hoping for growth spurt. At each waking, I am trying not to rush right to shoving a boob in his mouth. However, shushing, walking, bouncing doesn't seem to soothe him. And trying to put him back down without a feed isn't working at all. He is also giving all of his usual hunger cues.

I tried giving him a formula "topper" last night, to no avail. This seems to be his newest sleeping schedule.

So, I am tired.

Very, very tired.

8 comments:

RBandRC said...

I know this is a dirty word, but...have you tried a pacifier? Lemy likes to suck and without it she wouldn't sleep at all. It is like a golden ticket to sleep in this house. :)

He may be going through a growth spurt though...they happen around 6 weeks, so timing wise it could be causing it.

Hope you get some sleep soon! :)

AwkwardMoments said...

We are now using the dirty worded pacifier also. This is helping MT this week SO MUCH. I am trying to stop him from using me as a human pacifier so I can put him down, he gets sleep and we have clean clothes, etc. So far so good.

You will make it. You will.

Anonymous said...

I have just been catching up with your last few posts, and I wanted you to know that I am here reading, all of the time! I have also had many miscarriages, and right now I'm miraculously 15 weeks pregnant. I know you mentioned that you're getting fewer comments (I am too, for that matter) but reading about your life with a newborn is really invaluable to me. And I think you're doing a great job, by the way!

Anonymous said...

*delurking* First of all, congrats! Will's sleep pattern sounds a lot like our daughter's. She has the interesting habit of regressing (waking every hour) for a few days right before she is going to take a giant leap forward (sleep an extra hour or two, drop a night feeding). Like you, I thought "growth spurt" and then "new pattern" and then "I am never going to survive" - but just when I was ready to sit down and sob from exhaustion, she would take her leap forward. Now she sleeps all the way through. I hope I at least gave you a little hope... :)

Polka Dot said...

I was going to suggest a possible growth spurt. From reading Farah's blog, it seems to be about the same age that MT went through one.

And why is pacifier such a dirty word? We use to call it a 'plug' in our house - it plugged them up and kep them content lol Really - for a baby that likes to suck and finds comfort in that, what's wrong with a pacifier?

If he gets hungry or doesn't want it, he'll spit it out and let you know.

Katie said...

Oh, I wish a pacifier worked for us. There are no dirty words in this household! Dirty dishes, sure, but nothing is off limits if it helps him sleep. We popped a pacifier in his mouth from day one. And from day one, he will only occasionally take it. Usually in the baby b.jorn for some reason?

Elle Charlie said...

I have no advice, but I'm sorry to hear you're so tired :(

Jen said...

No advice from me obviously, but I'm sure hoping it is just a growth spurt so that you can start getting more sleep very soon.