Several times a year I go through horrible bouts of insomnia, and unfortunately, this is one of those times. I fall asleep without a problem; B will attest that I am dead to the world about 15 minutes after I go to bed - often with the light on and a book across my face.
My problem is staying asleep. This week I've been popping awake at 4 am like clockwork. I think it started when Campbell went through a phase where he woke up at 4 and whimpered for a few minutes. As soon as I went in and patted his back, he'd go right back to sleep. My body got used to waking up then, and I can't get it to stop.
During the time I'm awake I've written some amazing blog entries in my head that haven't made it onto the blog because I've forgotten about them in the morning. I've wandered the house, cleaning up toys. I've replied to work e-mails. I've done everything but fall back to sleep immediately.
It usually takes about an hour for me to settle back down and drift off. Unfortunately, Campbell likes to nurse at about 5:30, so I get woken up right after I've gone back to sleep. Then I have to get back up again at 6:45 to get my day started. As a result, I'm exhausted.
I've tried taking a benadryl to knock me out, but I just wake up even foggier and with a killer sinus headache that turns into a migraine, which is worse than being tired. After my bad experience with making phone calls I don't remember after taking ambien, I'm reluctant to try heavier sleep aids.
So I guess I'll ride it out and wait for this phase to pass. But while I'm waiting, don't be surprised if you get e-mails from me at odd hours.
Showing posts with label sleeping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleeping. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
I may have blogged too soon
I've received several e-mails congratulating me on my success with Campbell's sleeping. It turns out I was a tad premature in claiming victory; Campbell has been up partying the last two nights.
Sunday night he woke up at midnight but went right back to sleep after I patted him on the back for a minute. He woke up again at 3 am, and I had to do Ferber for 5 and 10 minutes before he conked out. Then Lily woke up with a wet, leaking pull-up, so I had to clean her up and strip her bed. In the process, Campbell woke up, and I had to start the Ferber routine again. That time I had to go in after 5, 10 and 15 minutes before he fell asleep.
I thought last night would be better because Campbell didn't wake up at midnight like he had the night before. I was wrong; it was much, much worse. He woke up again at 3 and jabbered in his crib for a while. I ignored him until he started crying. I went in and patted him and then waiting another 5 minutes before going back in. He settled down, and I went back to bed thinking he had fallen asleep. But he started jabbering again, and I ignored him until he started crying again. We went through that routine until 5 am - two freaking hours of listening to him alternate between playing and crying. I was ready to cry.
So who knows what tonight holds. I am proud of myself for staying strong, though. It would have been very easy to pull him out of the crib at 4 this morning and nurse him to sleep. But that would have set me back in the whole process. I know he's capable of sleeping through the night; I just have to convince him of it.
Sunday night he woke up at midnight but went right back to sleep after I patted him on the back for a minute. He woke up again at 3 am, and I had to do Ferber for 5 and 10 minutes before he conked out. Then Lily woke up with a wet, leaking pull-up, so I had to clean her up and strip her bed. In the process, Campbell woke up, and I had to start the Ferber routine again. That time I had to go in after 5, 10 and 15 minutes before he fell asleep.
I thought last night would be better because Campbell didn't wake up at midnight like he had the night before. I was wrong; it was much, much worse. He woke up again at 3 and jabbered in his crib for a while. I ignored him until he started crying. I went in and patted him and then waiting another 5 minutes before going back in. He settled down, and I went back to bed thinking he had fallen asleep. But he started jabbering again, and I ignored him until he started crying again. We went through that routine until 5 am - two freaking hours of listening to him alternate between playing and crying. I was ready to cry.
So who knows what tonight holds. I am proud of myself for staying strong, though. It would have been very easy to pull him out of the crib at 4 this morning and nurse him to sleep. But that would have set me back in the whole process. I know he's capable of sleeping through the night; I just have to convince him of it.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Dr. Ferber, I salute you
I have been struggling for weeks with Campbell's sleep problems. He had gone from bad to worse in the course of a week - from waking up one time a night to every two hours Thursday night. Plus he's been waking up at 5:00 and refusing to go back to sleep. I felt like I was back in newborn phase. So I borrowed a page from Liz and did some research, pulling out books she had given me when Campbell was born. I had stashed them away thinking that being a mother of three I was seasoned enough to never need a baby book. Ha!
One book was by Sears, who wasn't helpful at all. He's a big proponent of letting babies sleep in bed with parents. I'm fine with that when they're tiny. Ella slept with us for her first three months - it was the only way she would sleep. But I wasn't about to put Campbell in bed with us at 10 months old. It seemed like that was a path that would just lead to more problems.
Another book had a table with information on all the different sleep training philosophies, from Ferber to Baby Whisperer to Baby Wise. The table was just what I needed. It gave a nice recap of Ferber, which I used with Ella and Lily with great success. It contained information I had forgotten - like increasing the time between visits to the crib by 5 minutes each time. It also reassured me that the baby wasn't going to calm down when I went in to check on him. I had been trying to do Ferber last week, but I kept getting freaked out that Campbell cried harder each time I went in. I thought I was doing something wrong. The book reassured me that it was normal for him to sound "possessed" while he was screaming.
Armed with this knowledge, I decided Friday night was the night. Campbell went to bed without a problem as usual, but then he woke up at 9:30. I knew he wasn't hungry, so I went in and patted him and talked to him for a few moments and left. I went back after 5 minutes, 10 minutes and 15 minutes. Each time he cried harder after I left him. I sat on the sofa, grinding my teeth in agony. But then, 10 minutes after my last visit and 10 minutes before I was supposed to go in again, Campbell stopped crying. The silence worried me. What if he had suffocated on his lovey? What if? What if? What if? B kept me from going in to check, and I went off to bed, so tired I was shaking.
The next thing I knew, it was 4 am and the dog was whining at the back bedroom door because it was pouring. I let her in and realized I hadn't been up with Campbell. I resisted the temptation to go check on him and went back to sleep. Campbell slept through until 6:30! That's the latest he's slept in weeks. And he woke up happy and chattering, rather than screaming, as usual.
Last night I put him down at 6:30 and crossed my fingers. He slept through until 6:30 again! Actually, that's not quite true. I heard him jabbering at one point over the monitor, but he didn't start crying and fell back asleep on his own.
Hallelujah.
So now I know he's capable of sleeping through, and I know that I can tough it out and do the Ferber method again if I need to. And I'm feeling more rested than I have in months and months.
One book was by Sears, who wasn't helpful at all. He's a big proponent of letting babies sleep in bed with parents. I'm fine with that when they're tiny. Ella slept with us for her first three months - it was the only way she would sleep. But I wasn't about to put Campbell in bed with us at 10 months old. It seemed like that was a path that would just lead to more problems.
Another book had a table with information on all the different sleep training philosophies, from Ferber to Baby Whisperer to Baby Wise. The table was just what I needed. It gave a nice recap of Ferber, which I used with Ella and Lily with great success. It contained information I had forgotten - like increasing the time between visits to the crib by 5 minutes each time. It also reassured me that the baby wasn't going to calm down when I went in to check on him. I had been trying to do Ferber last week, but I kept getting freaked out that Campbell cried harder each time I went in. I thought I was doing something wrong. The book reassured me that it was normal for him to sound "possessed" while he was screaming.
Armed with this knowledge, I decided Friday night was the night. Campbell went to bed without a problem as usual, but then he woke up at 9:30. I knew he wasn't hungry, so I went in and patted him and talked to him for a few moments and left. I went back after 5 minutes, 10 minutes and 15 minutes. Each time he cried harder after I left him. I sat on the sofa, grinding my teeth in agony. But then, 10 minutes after my last visit and 10 minutes before I was supposed to go in again, Campbell stopped crying. The silence worried me. What if he had suffocated on his lovey? What if? What if? What if? B kept me from going in to check, and I went off to bed, so tired I was shaking.
The next thing I knew, it was 4 am and the dog was whining at the back bedroom door because it was pouring. I let her in and realized I hadn't been up with Campbell. I resisted the temptation to go check on him and went back to sleep. Campbell slept through until 6:30! That's the latest he's slept in weeks. And he woke up happy and chattering, rather than screaming, as usual.
Last night I put him down at 6:30 and crossed my fingers. He slept through until 6:30 again! Actually, that's not quite true. I heard him jabbering at one point over the monitor, but he didn't start crying and fell back asleep on his own.
Hallelujah.
So now I know he's capable of sleeping through, and I know that I can tough it out and do the Ferber method again if I need to. And I'm feeling more rested than I have in months and months.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Is it really too much to ask?
Really, is getting one good night's sleep too much to ask for? Campbell is just killing me with his sleep habits, and I don't know what to do. He doesn't really fit into any of the typical categories that baby experts write about.
Most nights he goes to sleep on his own without a problem. I nurse him until he's drowsy and pop him in his crib while he's still awake. I putter around in there for a minute, closing blinds and turning on his white-noise machine before closing the door. Sometimes he'll jabber or sqwak for a minute or two, but then he goes to sleep. Up until a month ago, he would sleep from 6:30 or 7:00 until about 4:30 without a problem. I didn't complain too much because he was sleeping for about 9 hours straight, even if they weren't the 9 hours I would have liked. He'd wake up, nurse and go back to sleep until about 7:30, which was perfect. This schedule allowed me to run at 5:30 and still have time to shower and get dressed before Campbell woke up.
But a month ago it all fell apart. I think he hit his 9-month growth spurt AND started teething all at the same time, which just caused so many problems.
He still goes to bed most nights without a problem, but now I have no idea how long he'll sleep and how many times he'll wake up in the night. Some nights he sleeps through. Some, like last night, he'll wake up twice. Each time he wakes up he nurses like he's starving, so I don't think it's a case of waking up and not knowing how to go back to sleep. Plus, he knows how to go to sleep on his own.
In addition to the middle of the night stuff, Campbell has now been waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 and refusing to go back to sleep. I nurse him and put him back in bed, hoping he'll go back to sleep, but he usually starts screaming after playing quietly for about 15 minutes. At that hour, I hate to let him scream it out because a. it doesn't work, and b. he wakes up the girls. Having one child awake at the crack of dawn is bad enough, three is awful.
So I'm stumped. Do I Ferberize him? Do I let him cry it out in the middle of the night? I've got to do something, though. I'm as tired now as I was when he was just weeks old. Suggestions anyone?
Most nights he goes to sleep on his own without a problem. I nurse him until he's drowsy and pop him in his crib while he's still awake. I putter around in there for a minute, closing blinds and turning on his white-noise machine before closing the door. Sometimes he'll jabber or sqwak for a minute or two, but then he goes to sleep. Up until a month ago, he would sleep from 6:30 or 7:00 until about 4:30 without a problem. I didn't complain too much because he was sleeping for about 9 hours straight, even if they weren't the 9 hours I would have liked. He'd wake up, nurse and go back to sleep until about 7:30, which was perfect. This schedule allowed me to run at 5:30 and still have time to shower and get dressed before Campbell woke up.
But a month ago it all fell apart. I think he hit his 9-month growth spurt AND started teething all at the same time, which just caused so many problems.
He still goes to bed most nights without a problem, but now I have no idea how long he'll sleep and how many times he'll wake up in the night. Some nights he sleeps through. Some, like last night, he'll wake up twice. Each time he wakes up he nurses like he's starving, so I don't think it's a case of waking up and not knowing how to go back to sleep. Plus, he knows how to go to sleep on his own.
In addition to the middle of the night stuff, Campbell has now been waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 and refusing to go back to sleep. I nurse him and put him back in bed, hoping he'll go back to sleep, but he usually starts screaming after playing quietly for about 15 minutes. At that hour, I hate to let him scream it out because a. it doesn't work, and b. he wakes up the girls. Having one child awake at the crack of dawn is bad enough, three is awful.
So I'm stumped. Do I Ferberize him? Do I let him cry it out in the middle of the night? I've got to do something, though. I'm as tired now as I was when he was just weeks old. Suggestions anyone?
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