The sleep struggle

The good news- Tate slept through the night! The bad news- it was in my bed, so I didn't sleep through the night! In an attempt to get some rest for both of us, the original plan was that he move to his bed once he had calmed back down and was asleep. Only every time I tried to move him to his bed he screamed.

We have some sleep issues at our house! At 9 1/2 months, he has maybe slept through the night 5 times. His doctor says not to worry about it, but that's easy for him to say! So my reading has consisted of sleep books. Not the most interesting, especially when you are exhausted, but I signed up for the adult summer reading program at the Hutchinson Public Library. As if sleeping through the night wasn't incentive enough, they give away weekly prizes!

I am not a huge fan of the cry-it-out method or CIO as it is often referred. For one, the madder Tate gets and the harder he cries, the quicker he is to throw up. Among other reasons, no one likes to hear there child screaming. The books I have been reading explore other alternatives to CIO.

The first book I read was Nighttime Parenting by William Sears. I was really discouraged by this book. He is a huge advocate for the La Lache League and co-sleeping. I totally support and agree with breastfeeding; however, he didn't offer any solutions for those of us that couldn't. I tried with little success. First, my milk never really came in like it should have. Thank you Hutchinson Hospital. Second, we struggled with latching. Tate often wouldn't recognize that my nipple was in his mouth. I tried to continue for a month and even had a home visit from the lactation specialist. But, my poor son was starving. It was so hard to figure out how much formula to supplement after we would spend nearly 2 hours trying to breastfeed. Pumping didn't offer much help either.

As for the co-sleeping, I like my space when I sleep. It is hard enough to sleep with one restless sleeper; with two, there is no sleeping for me. Once and a while I don't have a problem with it, but I'm not a big fan of every night. I think a child needs to learn to sleep on their own. I know this is hypocritical coming from the mama who still has to rock her 9 1/2 month old to sleep! For whatever reason Tate sleeps better in our bed whether we are in it or not. It is not a habit I would like to get in to even though they provide you with supposedly smooth transitioning tools.

The next book I read was also by the Sears family, The Baby Sleep Book. I was able to take more away from this book. They were still very much advocating breastfeeding and co-sleeping but they offered other solutions. One that I liked and seemed to work (for 2 nights anyway), was leaving a piece of you behind if you choose to have them sleep in another room. I covered Tate with the shirt I had worn that day and it seemed to work. On the third night, we encountered a problem. He spit up mixed vegetables on my light pink shirt. I needed to get it in the washer as soon as possible, so I substituted with my pillowcase. For whatever reason, it did not help that night.

I am currently reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It's endorsed by Cindy Crawford. I am still not sure how I feel about his methods. Most people think I am crazy for putting Tate to bed between 7-7:30. He would like me to put him to bed at 6:30 and claims he will sleep all night. I am really skeptical! I won't be able to try it for at least 2 weeks because swimming lessons start tonight at 6:30. Speaking of that, why are lessons for the youngest child offered the latest at the YMCA and from 6:30-8:15 through the Red Cross?!

One common theme is keeping a sleep log to establish sleeping habits. I can tell you right now that my son is random and there are no patterns! The longest and only pattern to date is his favorite song, Chicken Fried. Since he about 3 months, the Zac Brown Band has been able to calm him down. But as for sleep patterns, negative. One night he will wake up at 1 AM and it may or may not be close to the next night. But guaranteed it will not be longer than 2 nights in a row.

So for now, I will keep researching and the basic sleep plan will remain. To be continued...