If Its Not One Thing…

…Its another.

We are all aware about the different “phases” that our babies will go through. The growth spurts, wonder weeks, hunger strikes (those really happen!), but what I have considered the worst of them all: sleep regression.

Ah, the fourth month wakeful… Ethan has never been the best of sleepers (every two hours at night is still the norm). However, he had been pretty easy to put down: shush, rock, sleep. Even last week, he gave me some long stretches, including a 7.5 hrs one. He had also been taking one long nap in the morning, normally 2 hours, which allowed me to shower, eat lunch, and work on my crafty side!. 

And then, my little monster turned 4 months, and all hell broke lose. The cat naps have returned, and I am lucky if I get 3 hours out of him for his longest stretch of the night. He has also decided that no position is comfortable enough, so we play the guessing game for at least 45 minutes every time he goes to sleep.

Feeding him has also been a challenge. Apparently, everything around him is ten times more interesting than eating during the day. And then, night time comes, and you would think I have been starving this kid, because all he wants to do is eat every hour or two!

So, as I ride this wave and pray for this phase to be over soon, I look at my little peanut, and realize that no matter how hard he fights his naps or how often I have to feed him, there is nothing more amazing than looking into his eyes and falling in love all over again.

Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen…

As I watched my son sleeping on his tummy (which I said I would never do) on the video monitor (which I said I would never get), I realized how many things I have done with my son that I used to judge other mothers for. Yes, this post is a mea culpa, in which I am about to admit all the things that I once judged others for that I now do myself.

Ethan is a horrible sleeper. And by horrible, I mean up every 1.5 to 2 hours. I always swore I would move him out of our room as soon as possible and that I would NEVER have him sleep in bed with me. Well, in the last few weeks, I have had a few large pieces of humble pie. He is still in our room, after trying the bassinet and rock and play with no success. He finally sleeps somewhat decently when next to me in bed. Also, no matter how many times I tried to put him to sleep on his back, he kept rolling onto his belly, so I gave up on that one also. When we finally decided that it was time to move him to his crib, I cried; I could  not imagine not seeing his little sleepy face in the middle of the night, not being able to cuddle him when he seemed to be having a nightmare, or not being able to feed him right away when he seemed hungry.

Humble pie piece numero dos: The dreaded video monitor. I swore up and down that I would not be one of those moms who got a video monitor, because I saw no reason to stare at my son while sleeping the entire night. Boy, was I wrong! After seeing me upset about moving Ethan, Stephen bought a video monitor, which has been life saving for my sanity. I do stare at him all night, and I secretly count the minutes until he wakes up so I can go sweep him out of his crib and into bed with me.

Breastfeeding was another big one in my book. I am ashamed to admit that I wasn’t convinced about breastfeeding for more than three months or so. I always said I would just exclusively pump. Yeah, so not the case anymore. I LOVE breastfeeding. I love the bond that it has created between us and how good it is for him. Not only that, but I no longer care about nursing in public. I haven’t had to, but if need be, I have no issues with finding somewhere where I can just throw on my cover and feed my child. If adults can go to restaurants and eat without hiding, why should my son have to hide?.

Since being moved into his crib and sleeping on his tummy, Ethan has slowly been getting better at napping. Sometimes I wonder if babies know more than we do, and that we are better off just following their lead for when they are ready for things. Though I admit to still judging some things that others do, I am much more open minded about things like sleeping arrangements or feeding my child whenever or wherever.

In summary, I have gained about 10lbs worth of humble pie, and I am sure I have at least another 20lbs to go!