I went to a mom’s meetup group the other day and we got to talking about sleeping. Our sleeping and our babies sleeping and how as theirs changes so does ours. It seemed like back in the newborn days when we were up every 1.5-2 hours to feed that I got so much more sleep or at least felt so much more rested. As time went on and Edith began to sleep longer it got so much harder to get up for nightly feedings but as time went on my body adjusted and it got better. However now whenever we have a bad night (or week) and by bad night I mean up every 1.5-2.5 hours I feel like death in the morning.
For example last night I went to bed early, like 8:30pm early. Edith had gone down to bed around 7:30pm and then she was up again at 10:30pm and then 12:40am and then 2am and then 3:15am when she finally decided that she really didn’t want to sleep any longer. I went in and nursed her until she was clearly just wanted the boob in her mouth. Neil then took his turn and came in and rocked her but she just refused to go back to sleep.
While Neil was rocking her I could hear the squeak of the rocking chair (reminder: Neil you need to look into that) and then you could hear the tired babble of Edith. Needless to say I wasn’t going back to sleep right then. After about 20 minutes (4am by that time) I decided to go check on things and ultimately we brought Edith to bed with us where she ended up comfort nursing for 45 minutes. Since I wasn’t getting any sleep and Edith just wanted to comfort nurse I decided to get up with her. When she was a newborn this would have barely phased me. Now it’s 3pm and I’m dying because for some reason I gave up caffeinated coffee, however at this point I either need a nap or caffeine if I want to make it to 8pm. 
Anyways the whole point of this rambling post was that the whole sleep deprivation thing was way easier (for me) from 0-4 months than 4-8 months. Edith is far from sleeping through the night and that is fine with me I just hope that the every 1-2.5 hour wake up phase is going to end soon. I also miss the whole sleep when the baby sleep thing…that just doesn’t happen anymore during the day.
What are your thoughts on sleeping? How has (or hasn’t) your sleep changed over time with your child(ren)?
My daughter is only 2 months old. But I have not felt sleep deprived at all. The first 6 weeks she actually slept on top of me, witch was kinda nice. Very easy to nurse, no need to stand up, so was easy to fall right back to sleep after feeding. Now she sleeps next to me. I swaddle her and give her a pacifier. That way she always takes around 5 hr nap, then 4 hr, then 3 hr, then up for the day. In my case I can´t imagine not co-sleeping. Both for my sake and my daughters sake.
I also take: Organic India Shatavari, 4 kaps daily. It both helps with sleep and increases breast milk. I buy mine on amazon! Can highly recommend it!
I agree the first few months I didn’t feel sleep deprived at all. From 0-4 months we bedshared/co-slept (bassinet in our room) and I was able to nurse in bed and didn’t have to get up. I really liked this aspect but as Edith has gotten older sleeping with her in our bed or the same room has been less ideal for all of us. Now if we bedshare with her (which we did again from 5.5-6.5 months) all she wants to do is nurse all night long and for me it starts to get uncomfortable and I don’t get much sleep so once our belongings finally arrived to our new home she went back in the crib in her room and we all seem to sleep better with the exception of this past week.
As for the Organic India Shatavari I have never heard of it. I am curious to learn more. Currently I take Mothers More Milk and it works pretty well for me. Who recommended it to you?
Shatavari is great Lindsay! I sell it at the store (www.midwiferymercantile.com) and a bunch of LC’s and midwives/herbalists highly recommend it. It is really making waves as far as it’s helpfulness for milk supply too.
I had never heard of it either! At my husbands last lecture, he met this nice guy ( http://drtomyarema.com) who recommended it to him, when he found out we just had a baby. I did not have any problems with milk supply, nor sleep. But I decided to give it a try, after reading about it.. And after haven taken it for couple of days, my milk increased and we sleep more. I am even considering donating milk now, as I have so much! I just ordered another bottle of it, I like it so much! 🙂
oh i hear ya! Sleep was easy those first two months. Newborns are so sleepy! Wes sleeps in shorter chunks now than he did in the beginning. I thought I had this great baby (I do of course;) and he was on the path to sleeping most of the night then around 8 weeks it all started to change. I really really try not to pick him up to feed him from the crib if it has been less than 2.5 hrs, usually a paci (he does not fall asleep with it but we started to give it to him for night wakings where he is not hungry) and a back rub works. But he does still nurse 3 times a night. Fortunately he does not like it when we try to get him to sleep any other way and if the boob isnt working and he is tired enough he will fall asleep on his own. But man we have a friend with a baby that slept through the night at like 9 weeks (both parents are big sleepers too) and it kills me! I hate comparing him to them but I do it…I would love just one or two feeds. Gonna chat with the pediatrician on Tues. I wish he could learn to fall back asleep when he wakes without crying, oh that would be so nice! Time will tell but I feel ya !
Totally agree with you on the first few months being more rested than 4 onward. We’re sleep training this weekend and it’s going well… Better than I had expected. I’m already feeling more rested.
What method of sleep training are you trying?