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Cecelia at Four Months

September 28 | Four Months

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Likes: Nursing, mommy, being awake CONSTANTLY, being held, tasty hands/blankets/anything that can go into her mouth, squealing/shrieking, popping her eyes open as soon as her body touches the crib, nursing, being outside, nursing, and watching her big brother

Dislikes: sleeping at night, napping during the day, being put down once asleep, the hour before bedtime.

(comparison time...)
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Biggest Achievement of the Month: Two things---> taking the pacifier like a champ, and surviving the first TWO nights away from mom and dad. Nate and I went to Colorado for a college friend's wedding and we were gone for 2.5 days, getting home really late on the third night.

(four iPhone pics for you...)
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(we are officially in love with Breckenridge!)
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Cecelia did fantastic for my mother-in-law and father-in-law even though I was a nervous wreck before we left. They stayed at our place to keep the kids in a consistent environment and I know they loved their time with CC and Tru but I could also tell they were exhausted when we got home:) CC took the bottles, including ones in the middle of the night and before bedtime, and was generally happy without The Boob. Whew. I'm sure you could hear my sigh of relief around the world even though this blog has been ridiculously silent in the past month. (no exciting excuse for that one, just crazy-busy life with little time at the computer). I overcame my fear of pumping and dumping ABSURD amounts of milk on this trip, and only brought back 16 oz with me. And I didn't even freak out too much thinking about how much of my freezer stash Cecelia went through while I was gone. Well, that's not true---I still get a little sweaty just thinking about it, weeks later:) But I did enjoy myself despite the milk dumpage and I'm really glad we went on the trip together, just to have 'adult' time away from the kids for once. We felt so free and young! :)

Biggest Challenge of the Month: Sleep, or lack-thereof. I shall go into detail in a few more topics but let's just say it hasn't been too pretty up in this household for the past couple of weeks. I've come dangerously close to multiple mental breakdowns and it's seriously starting to feel like we are 'just' surviving each day and not really living/enjoying it. Sad, but true. For as young and free as I felt in Colorado, I'm pretty sure I've aged an additional 5 years because of sleep drama.

(don't let the smiles fool you.)
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Secret Tricks of Parenting: I discovered that when she is super fussy at night, even while attempting to nurse and rock in her dark room, she will usually pipe down if I walk around while nursing. Apparently sitting to nurse is not always acceptable to miss thang? The pacifier has been an awesome 'trick' this month, too, although she isn't the best at actually keeping the darn thing in her mouth. At least it's something to soothe her when she just wants to suck....took her long enough to listen to me on that one, huh?

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The Mecca (aka Sleep): Okay, here we go. This should have been a separate 'complaining about life/It's really hard being a parent sometimes' post but you are lucky enough to get my emotional unloading all wrapped up into one post today. Cause that's just how I roll as a dwindling blogger:)

One month ago Cecelia was kicking butt and taking names in the sleep game. Remember how I was all, 'Oh she can sleep 7, 8, 9, even 12 hours at night now!' but I was nervous it wouldn't last? It didn't. Apparently the initial transition to daycare, or maybe just being 3 to 3.5 months in general was amazing for her sleep. But about 3 weeks ago everything fell apart. Four month wakeful period, indeed.

She gradually started waking up earlier for her first wake up, moving from 3 am to 1 am, then midnight, then 11:00. That is when I sort of freaked out, wondering what in the heck happened to my great sleeper who could sometimes last until morning time without waking but almost ALWAYS lasted until at least 1:30. Then we left for Colorado and when we came back, Cecelia's sleep went into the crapper.

(who, me?)
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I've been keeping track of her sleep for the past few nights and holy man, it's bad. She used to go down peacefully after nursing to sleep at 7, and I wouldn't hear from her again until about 2ish. And now?

6:45 - asleep in the Ergo, into crib
7:10 - awake, screaming, pissed. Nursed and rocked until 8:00. Tip-toed out of room.
8:35 - awake, talking. Then crying by 8:50. Tried paci, failed. Nursed other side, rocked. Tip-toed out at 9:40.
10:25 - Awake, sighing, but somehow fell back to sleep without help. There is a God.
11:05 - Awake, fussing. I'm exhausted, so I took her to bed and nursed to sleep.
3:45 - Awake, fussing. Nursed other side. Couldn't fall back to sleep until 4:45 after pacifier and rocking and a lot of praying on my part.
6:30 - Awake for the day since big brother is calling for me. Sigh.

See what that tells us? She sleeps a lot better IN our bed and only woke once in the night when I finally gave in to co-sleeping. But on the nights I'm a hard-ass and keep her in the crib longer that 11pm she will continue to wake up every hour or so. Horrid, right? Also horrid? Any wake-up that lasts longer than about 10 minutes---can't handle being awake for an hour at a time on top of being up numerous times!

Here is what I consider to be the biggest blow to my mental sanity: the hours from 7-10pm used to be my fave because I could unwind a bit, get caught up on housework, BLOG, comment on blogs, do paperwork for my job....you know, total and utter luxuries at this point. But now? I'm lucky if I get 20 minutes in a row to myself before I'm back up in her bedroom begging her to stay asleep. (And yes, Nate helps me out, too, but her highness doesn't tolerate the fact that daddy doesn't lactate. And so I usually end up rescuing Nate from her protests within 10 minutes). Then after such a crappy evening of failed sleep, she is still up throughout the night.

Numerous wake ups. Difficulty getting her to fall asleep at bedtime. And long stretches of awake time in the middle of the night, once she is awake? The trifecta of bad sleep, if you ask me. 

Let's not discuss that Truman has been waking up around 5 to start the day, and he had a streak of three nights in a row when he woke up around 2 after wetting the bed. That has NEVER happened before and thankfully hasn't happened lately, but nothing like having to change a child's jammies and an entire bed on top of dealing with a crying baby at night. Those might have been the 'lowest of lows' at nighttime thus far with two children.

She is also not napping longer than 20 minute stretches throughout the day, unless I hold her or let her nurse the entire time of a nap. And even then, it's only cat naps that never amount to anything past a half of an hour. I believe she is averaging about 1.5 hours total of sleeping each day and it used to be about 4-5 last month. So that's great, too, since I'm pretty sure babies this young need about 14 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. Cecelia gets about 8. Fantastic, right?

Basically she only wants to fall asleep while nursing and when I go to put her down, forget about it. Dunzo. I realize that she probably has a pretty wicked sleep association between my boob and her zzzz's but it's really difficult to change this. I'm not always just popping my tat in her mouth at the first whimper, either---I am totally down to try the pacifier, rocking, shhh'ing, standing near her crib without picking her up for a bit, etc. But seriously? Nothing works. And at 2 am, when she has already been up 5 times, I give up. And usually bring her into our bed and let her nurse until her heart is content, while I'm semi-awake and relaxed.

For the past week or so, I've been so sleep deprived that I feel like I'm treading water and my head keeps dropping below the surface. I'm so frustrated that I can't figure out what has changed, and then FIX it, that I'm just exhausted from over-analyzing all of the possibilities. I know it's just a phase and someday she will sleep. I know I should be grateful that she just wants to nurse and cuddle and be held for every second she is asleep. And sometimes I am at peace with just not caring that much and going with the flow. But sometimes I'm really over being so tired. It's one thing to be majorly sleep deprived with a newborn and a toddler on maternity leave. It's another to be sleep deprived with a 4 month old, a toddler, and a part time job.
 
I'm sure some of you will suggest crying-it-out but the bottom line is that I don't feel comfortable with it right now, especially when she is just now 4 months old (ie way too little, in my opinion, to be left alone to cry). One really ugly night I did try to let her fuss more than usual and put my foot down, refusing to nurse her back to sleep. I put the pacifier in her mouth 100 times, let her cry/fuss for 5-10 minutes at a time, rocked her, etc. And do you know what happened? She was awake from 9:30 until midnight when Nate finally called it quits in the name of maintaining my mental sanity. Seriously. I think my child is the strongest-willed baby girl I've ever met and she makes her laid-back brother look like the easiest child ever.

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So whatever, that is my sob story about how tired I am at the moment. You definitely caught me in the midst of a rough patch and I can only hope that the next monthly update will not contain any mention of multiple RIDICulous wake ups each night, or struggles to fall asleep at all. Please, God, let this phase be short lived (so we can move onto the next challenge in baby-ville) :)

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Temperament/Personality: You won't believe me when I say it, considering the assault you just took with the previous 9 paragraphs of complaints, but she is really a happy baby. Aside from not sleeping she is such a doll and is incredibly happy 80% of her (loooong) waking hours. Cecelia is quite content to lay on a blanket and observe her crazy family, or chew on a toy, or just be. She gives us the most amazing, gigantic smiles each morning and then throughout the day, unless she is overtired (ahem, most evenings). And a big first? She laughed for the first time the day after Nate and I returned from Colorado!! I tried to catch the tail end of this gift on video and only sorta succeeded.




The child definitely has opinions about things, though, and will let us know about it if we get out of line:) I hate to admit it, yet I sort of love it, but she is definitely showing preference to mommy holding her above most others. It is embarrassing when daddy or grandpa or anyone else tries to hold her and she immediately starts to cry and stare me down, but I'm hoping it's just a phase. {side note: should the title of this blog be 'Hope it's just a phase' or maybe 'So freaking tired?' I might need to rename it soon}.

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(shrieker)



Eating: Sister loves to nurse and for that I am seriously thankful. (There's always a bright side, right Pollyanna??) I just wish she wouldn't NEED to nurse in order to sleep but I will gladly accept her love for my milk. She still goes about 3 hours or so between feedings but sometimes can go 4 if we are busy. She's been doing great with her bottles at daycare for the most part and only takes two 4 oz bottles while there. Which obviously makes me pretty happy since I'm pumping three times each day and getting about 15 oz. Love the number games...when I come out on top:)

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The Superficial: The Hair is still there...in patches.
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She's wearing all 6 month clothes now and 9 month ones fit, too. Since I've gone on a bit of a shopping spree for missy in the name of a fall/winter wardrobe, I had to buy all 9 mo stuff because 6-ers fit just perfectly now and I know in a few more weeks her legs will be entirely too long for them. Let's pause for a second and soak that in: my 4 month old baby is wearing 9 month clothes. She's so freaking tall. Weight guess: 15 pounds by my trusty method of weighing myself alone and then holding Cecelia. No clue about her height but we'll find out official stats next week at her four month appointment!
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Oh, and I guess this fits in here: she has a new favorite pose. I call it 'The Mega Pout' and it's freaking amazing. She did it non-stop for a few days and now not so much, which makes me sad, because I loved seeing her bust it out when she was happy and playful, like, 'Oh, this is kind of fun, this lower lip thing I can do. I think I'll practice for 10 minutes straight.' Observe.

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Strangers are still stopping me to drool over her, asking how old she is. When I tell them 'four months' I'm still getting the response that she seems a lot older than that, and a lot more alert/attentive. I think it's funny that people think my baby looks 'old'. :)

Motor Milestones: Shortly after my 3 month update Cecelia started holding her head up during tummy time like a boss. For real, and not just occasionally, like I had said last month. Her head control is fabulous enough to avoid the classic newborn head bob when we hold her upright. Then there's her stellar hand-to-mouth coordination. She's like, 'Oh, come here, shirt--let me eat you,' and 'Ooooh, my favorite tasty blanket again!'. Everything.in.her.mouth. She's still the queen of a half roll and hasn't *quite* gotten the hang of moving her arm out of the way to make it all the way onto her belly from her back.

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Out and About: The only really notable excursion from the month would be CC's first time to church. AND! It was our first time as a family of four in the pews, but we weren't 'that' family with crazy-loud kids distracting the entire congregation. I hesitate to use the church nursery just because I really do enjoy having our family do church together, and I'd just rather have them with me so I'm not stressed about them crying the whole time in the nursery. But anyway, we all made it to church and it was a good trial run for this upcoming weekend when Cecelia is getting baptized!

(all dressed up for God!)
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Favorite Baby Gear: 
 -Nuk brand pacifiers (apparently we should have bought stock in all things 'Nuk' brand, since these are the only bottles she will take, too. Love you, Nuk!!)
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-The Ergo (again. I wasn't going to repeat baby gear throughout each month but this bad boy has provided for at least a FEW decent naps. And therefore it makes the list again)
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Little Sister and Big Brother: Reading back over Truman's four month post made me chuckle for a lot of reasons, but mostly because OMG-he was so fat and bald! But also, we had already pulled out the jumparoo for him. I just remembered we even had one for Cecelia a few days ago, haven't pulled out the monstrosity yet as I'm avoiding the inevitable 'baby gear takes over the house' period of time. He'd already rolled over twice but he wasn't consistent with it yet, which really surprised me to read because I remember Truman rolling over really 'late' compared to most babies. Apparently he gets the tally mark for the first child to roll over as CC hasn't done it yet. And then, it struck me to read that he was laughing a LOT by now. Cecelia had her one shining moment of laughing for me one weekend but nothing like that since. Hmmm. Hope I don't start getting a complex about her being less happy than her big brother. Plus, I didn't even mention Truman's sleeping habits in my 4 month post so they must have been more acceptable than Cecelia's at this point. Which is frightening because Truman has never been the best sleeper and even HE was sleeping okay at 4 months. Sheesh.

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But it's funny that at 4 months we were getting ready for a visit from the Missouri grandparents---because they are coming for CC's baptism this weekend, too! And both of my children found their voices by 4 months with their shrieks, they are generally happy children, and really freaking cute (biased opinion noted, but it's true. You have to admit). So they are still a lot alike.

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Cecelia is obviously super young still, but I can already tell that she is in love with big bro. She pipes down when he is around and will just stare at him as he runs from train to train. And Truman? He's still very protective of baby sis, telling strangers as they oogle the baby, 'That is my sister. She grows up and plays trains with me.' ::swoon::

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I love you, Cecelia Lorene. Even when you are giving me hell and wrecking my confidence as a mom because you WILL.NOT.SLEEP. I still love you. And I'm totally going to make you pay for this when you are a teenager by waking you up suuuuuuper early each day when all you want to do is sleep. Hee, hee, hee. No, really. We shall be best of friends during your teenage years, okay? Seriously. Because girl teenagers scare me a little right now.

21 comments:

  1. This sounds SO much like my story with Jaxon. Your "schedule" during the night is a vivid reminder of those months, and how horrible horrible horrible I felt each day, because of the lack of sleep.

    I am with you - I am not a fan of CIO - and with our second boy, I also refused to have a child who didn't sleep.

    Here's what we did, and I'm not by any means telling you what you SHOULD do. :) With Jaxon, I knew all he wanted was me. He wanted me to hold him, rock him, nurse him. And I was being stubborn and following all the baby books that said babies should NOT co-sleep. So we were stubborn, he was stubborn, and none of us slept.

    With Cohen, I gave him what he wanted. He wanted to sleep by me? Ok, fine. He wanted to nurse all night long? Whatever... at least my supply never lacked. :)

    Cohen co-slept with us from about 3ish months until 8 months. We all had decent sleep, and at 8 months he decided he was done with me and has slept in his crib, through the night, ever since.

    I'm not saying it's the magical formula by any means, because I fully know what works for us may not work for anyone else. Just thought I'd share. :)

    Hang in there Mama. And pour yourself an extra cup of coffee/wine/beer today.

    Hugs!

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  2. I am right there with you on the sleep problems and they SUCK! My son is 7 months old and pretty much decided to throw fits for naps and bedtime a couple of weeks ago. Things are slowwwly getting better, but he still ends up in our bed at some point during the night. And forget trying to put him down awake or semi-awake because he just will not have it. It's definitely exhausting and frustrating. I keep telling myself that it is a phase and will get better. I hope things start getting better for you soon too!

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  3. I am right there with you on the sleep problems and they SUCK! My son is 7 months old and pretty much decided to throw fits for naps and bedtime a couple of weeks ago. Things are slowwwly getting better, but he still ends up in our bed at some point during the night. And forget trying to put him down awake or semi-awake because he just will not have it. It's definitely exhausting and frustrating. I keep telling myself that it is a phase and will get better. I hope things start getting better for you soon too!

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  4. I am a mommy to a four year old and 18 month old twins. Twins had problems sleeping, and my pedi nurse said she swore by the Fisher Price Rock n' Play. Something about giving the little babies the angle to sleep. Anyways....I bought two. I WILL WALK THROUGH FIRE FOR THAT THING. My twins slept like champs. I could move it around. They transitioned to the crib just fine. Seriously, best money I ever spent to get some sleep.

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  5. We went through very similar with Hunter around 4 months. He slept great from weeks 8 until right around 4 months and for a good 1-2 months his sleep SUCKED. Waking up all night and I didn't want to even try CIO until 6 months. Fortunately around 6 months his sleep improved a lot and we did do a bit of modified CIO which also helped. He now mostly sleeps through the night but will wake up if he's sick or teething but nothing like that dreaded month 4. She could be starting to teeth as well which would cause a lot of the fussiness. Hopefully she grows out of it soon!

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  6. So, we went through the no bottle phase at about the same time, and I guess the no nap phase, too. It was probably right around 4 months when our little just seemed to be 'up'. She would fall asleep if rocked and then open her eyes wide and smile every time I laid her down. I started asking how they did naps at daycare. We still swaddled on the back at home. But they didn't swaddle and would just lay her on her stomach and pat her back. Needless to say, we weren't too sure about that. But she had just started rolling over to her stomach... so we knew the end of swaddles was near. One day at a desperate nap, I just laid her down on her stomach and patted her back. She was out in ten minutes. We've been stomach sleepers since and haven't had any issues with sleep. I still nurse her until she's drowsy, then lay her down. It seems to be working. I'm not sure how you feel about her being on her stomach, but maybe she's strong enough? We thought it was worth a try. At five months, she can roll both ways really well now, so we don't worry too much. She's good at finding a comfortable position. We also have an Angel Care monitor from Craigslist for a little extra piece of mind. Maybe its worth a shot! ? Good luck! Its hard to be a mama when you aren't getting good sleep, or worse - none at all.

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  7. So sorry Cece isn't sleeping. I can totally relate, a few weeks ago I really thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. Some nights/days I swear I cried as much as Ben did. It was just so horrible. I know it may be of little comfort but I just kept telling myself it wouldn't be like that forever.

    Do whatever feels right for you and your baby. Sleep deprivation is no joke.

    Also, the pictures of Truman and Cece are adorable! Lily is going through a "do NOT take my picture phase" makes for some great photos...or not! Lily had some of the same clothes as Cece and seeing her little outfits always makes me smile!

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  8. I totally sympathize with you on the sleep issues. The only things that worked for us were the Rock 'n Play and/or swaddling. Seriously, the Rock 'n Play may change your life.

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  9. Hi! I just found your blog, and I can definitely relate. I was a Missouri transplant living in Wisconsin for seven years. Now we are in California. I love the pictures of Cecilia's crazy hair - it's too cute! Good luck with the sleeping thing. The only thing that sort of worked for us (and only sort of) was a rigid feeding schedule. My 8-month old son started doing a little better at night when we insisted on a specific feeding schedule during the day.

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  10. Aubrey was very similar to Cecelia in regards to sleeping but we also dealt with colic and reflux- ugh. I feel your pain! I am hoping things start to get better again for you guys!

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  11. The four month wakeful period is from the devil. I'm sure of it. Both my kids had it wicked bad but hold tight, for it does not last.

    I'm so sorry you're so tired. God, do I remember those days/nights. Brigham's first year was so challenging with sleep and sickness. I thought I would never make it through. But I did!

    Here's hoping Miss Thang (love this nickname, BTW) starts cooperating in the sleep department. She must miss her mama too much to go to sleep for long periods of time :)

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  12. There is the four month wakeful thing, but honestly both of my kids were crazy bad about wake-ups the first several months. And Bella was much harder on me because she was also a crappy napper like you are dealing with.

    Sleep issues are SO HARD. Sleep deprivation is SO HARD. It does feel like surviving and it's terrible. You want to be in the moment and love your life - and you do! and you are grateful! but man it's just so much easier to stay rational when you get stretches of sleep.

    The unknown factor with a bad sleeper is also really challenging. You dread bedtime because you don't know what it will bring. You feel like you have no control and having kids already pushes you to the edge with feeling like you have relinquished much of the control in your life!

    Can you tell I'm passionate/a little crazy with PTSD when it comes to sleep issues? :)

    I will say that at 5 months I got crazed and desperate with Bella (talking 6-10 wake-ups EACH NIGHT) and tried CIO. My husband was very much the one who pressed the issue and since we are co parents I did agree to try it. It was terrible for me, really hard, and I cringe looking back. It did help a little bit, but not enough for my psyche to justify it. I did find the method in the Sleep Easy SOlution (basically a hollywood easy reading version of Ferber) more compatible. I will say that crappy sleepers are harder to sleep train and they seem to require more re-training after any interruption in routine. But it can help. But only do with when and if you want to! And I'm with you on four months being on the early side, although every baby is so different that I won't make any absolute statement. Deciding whether or not to do sleep training remains such a big THING in my head, but I'm glad I did with both. I needed it. And getting them more sleep was so important and that helped me feel a ton better about it all.

    Hang in there. Hope you get some rest and relief very soon. She is such a sweet little beauty...that helps a lot :)

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  13. ohhh CECELIA! Be nice to your mama!!! She seriously is so cute. The sleep issues... ugh. I am so thankful we've never had it THAT bad, but daaaaaang even the bad nights we have had just make me want to die inside a little. This too shall pass. SURE WOULD BE NICE TO KNOW WHEN.

    Glad you have re-joined the caffeinated society at least.

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  14. Julia,

    I can so relate to your trouble in the napping department. My little boy (who is about a month younger than your daughter) has decided that he prefers taking half hour naps, or none at all. If it was working for us, that would be great, but we're both losing our minds by the end of the day. It's wearing me out, though I am in no position to complain since I am getting some relief at night.

    Thanks for sharing what's going on with you and Cecelia--it makes me feel less alone as a new mom trying to figure out how to make naps happen in our house. Here's to hoping next month is better!

    Sarah

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  15. Love those videos, especially the shrieking one! I need to see that girl again soon.

    Good comments here - at least you know you're not alone! She will get better at sleeping soon, I'm sure of it. ;)

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  16. I agree with everyone, but Molly said it best: "The four month wakeful period is from the devil." Natasha is 4-1/2 months old and we're struggling with her sleep. She's rolling now but has a really hard time sleeping without a swaddle. And naps? She'll take them at daycare, but at home on the weekend she'll only stay down for about 30 minutes at a time. I know it will get better, but like Erin said, "SURE WOULD BE NICE TO KNOW WHEN!" In the meantime, we'll just keep living our "three-ringed circus" life.

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  17. I remember the late 3 month though 5 month period with #2 being the worst thing ever. All I could think was that I was super glad that April was over! The sleep will return. I promise! :) Or coffee and Mt. Dew will be your new BFFs. Like me. haha

    #2 is fighting the worst cold that he's had since he was like 2 weeks old (no joke), so I hope we will all be able to see the fun tomorrow!

    Hang in there!

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  18. A few things. First, what is UP with this no sleeping deal? Don't they know how LUCKY they are to get to sleep so much? Second, she's still so, so cute!!! Third, where did you get your navy and white chevron rug and is it true white with the navy?

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  19. What a cutie!

    I'm so sorry she's not sleeping well. I know how absolutely maddening it can be. I know how exhausting it is going to work after not sleeping (or sleeping only a few hours).

    I don't have any suggestions for you -- I imagine you've tried what you feel comfortable with. But, I can commiserate with you.

    We struggle with the same thing with Michael and have all along -- he only catnaps and wakes every few hours in the night. ONCE in his nearly 7 months of life he slept 8 hours. Freaking once. Most of the time, he sleeps 4 hours, max. Sigh...

    I refuse to let him cry it out. I realize that it works for some people and everyone makes their own parenting decisions and who am I to judge. But I just don't foresee it working for our family. Am I totally exhausted all of the time and want to crawl under my desk during the day to nap? Yes, absolutely. But, I also know that it's still normal for a baby to not sleep through the night. Someday, he'll sleep and I will probably still wake in the night and want to watch him sleep because I will miss our middle of the night cuddle sessions (I can't get over how cute he is when he sleeps!).

    Michael does sleep in bed with us most nights -- he starts out in his crib and then I usually pull him into bed with me around 2 or 3 when he wakes up. I also read the No Cry Sleep Solution and found it to be really helpful. It didn't solve all of our problems, but there were a lot of helpful tips and I broke little dude of his need to suck to sleep, which is huge.

    At any rate, hang in there! I really hope it gets better for you.

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  20. I hate when people ask this question (really, I do), but could she be teething? My son had a really rough month 5 - just so melancholy - and then by month six he had six teeth popping through. Just a thought! Because if that is happening under her gums somewhere, that would really make it hard to sleep. (I'm so glad we don't remember teething. Ouch.)

    I hope it gets better soon. You're doing a great job. Just do what's right for you and what feels right for CeCe.

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  21. She has the funniest expressions and you write the funniest captions. :) Reading this brought back memories of all the sleepless nights with my daughter. When you're in it, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. But, as you know, you just gotta hang in there a little longer. Have you tried a swing? Sometimes that was the only thing that kept my kid sleeping.

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