From about 7 weeks - 14 weeks Charlotte slept through the night like a champ. She would be down from 7:30pm - 7:00am. It was wonderful. For the past couple of weeks, she has started to wake up at night again, sometimes twice. I think Charlotte found this article...
OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep through the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months.
Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.
It goes like this:
Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3--every hour.
Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change.
If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.
Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what's up with that? The cat said 'meow'. I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn' t matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.
P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me
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4 comments:
That article made me laugh...kind of like a revisit to the "Look Who's Talking" movies :-)
I actually saw on the discovery channel (90% of Americans' science education, so it must be true) that one of the big mysteries of the human body is WHY we actually need sleep as adults. Animals need it because they're hunting food all day. If you think about it, most of us eat more calories than we require, and we Americans have no shortage of food should we need that extra energy to stay awake all 24 hours - but even if we were sedentary, we still can't function without sleep. The theory is that we will evolve to the point that we won't need it. Maybe the baby in the article is just of that newly evolved generation?
At any rate, hope you get some sleep soon. :)
Good luck. Hope you are sleeping again soon!
OMG! We are having the same problem! Are you sleeping yet? Cooper has started this routine over the last week where he wants to be up every hour at night! I am like the walking dead at work. It's awful. One time he wants to nurse, the other time he wants his pacifier, the other time he wants to play and the other times he just wants to cry!! Those babies are too crafty! They know us too well. I should have know when i couldn't sleep during the last half of pregnancy that this is what I would be in for!!!!!
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