Sweet Dreams

My little guy has never been the world's best sleeper. On his first night in the great big world, I slept with him in my arms. I put the hospital bed down as far as I could and cuddled with him all night. I was so tired and I don't think I slept much. I was certain the nurses would yell at me for having the baby in the bed, so I pretended that we had just been nursing every time they came in.

When we got home, it became pretty obvious that he was not going to sleep unless he was in my arms. I was stubbornly against co-sleeping, so every night I would prop myself up with a million pillows and sleep sitting up in bed. Usually around 3 am, I would end up on the couch because it was more comfortable.

After about 2 weeks of that nonsense, I said screw it. I pulled the big blankets and pillows off my side of the bed, laid down with my baby in the crook of my arm and slept. That's how it's been ever since.

After several weeks of trying to wrestle him to sleep night after night, hubby and I started a night time routine. The baby would have a meltdown every evening around 6/6:30. So we started a bath, book and bed routine. Once he got used to it, it worked pretty well. He would be sound asleep by 7/7:30; I would cuddle with him while reading for about an hour or so, then I would be able to sneak away and have some time to myself.

Well, between teething, learning new tricks and a little dose of separation anxiety...it's not working so well these days.

Lately, I'm lucky if he falls asleep anytime close to "bedtime." Even just letting him fall asleep in my lap while we watch TV isn't working anymore. There are too many distractions in the living room.

I try to tell myself that everything is a phase, and we'll get back to a routine soon, but it's becoming hard to believe myself. Someone so sleep deprived is liable to say just about anything.