Sleep Deprivation and Snuggles: Month 8

Sleep Deprivation and Snuggles: Month 8

Even though Cooper isn’t crawling yet (Don’t worry, I’m learning to count my blessings on this one), we definitely have a curious little monkey on our hands. Here’s a little peak.

Sometimes it seems Cooper's arms get longer every day. Even though he can't move far, he always seems to manage to get what he wants.
Cooper's favorite toy is generally whatever I am trying to use. The other day I foolishly let him play with a "clicky" pen thinking he wouldn't be able to get the pen to click out. I shouldn't have been so surprised when he drew all over himself.
We've already got big plans for him to be a runner.

The other day I was reading a blog post where the writer was talking about how growing up she fully trusted her mother and truly thought she knew everything. Then she said, “Sometimes I think, wait, I can’t be a mom, I’m just a random person, I don’t know all the answers!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had thoughts almost exactly like that, especially in the middle of the night.  Unfortunately, I have this sneaking suspicion that I will probably feel at least somewhat befuddled and inadequate for quite awhile (15-20 years? Indefinitely?). In the meantime, I truly appreciate the unwavering faith Cooper puts in my abilities.

PS If anyone has any tips/advice on night weaning, please let me know.

7 thoughts on “Sleep Deprivation and Snuggles: Month 8

  1. What we did is when she woke up we would go in to make sure she was okay giver her binki back and say good night. It was a lot of crying at night for the first few days but they will eventually quite waking up at night.

  2. How many times does he eat at night? Adam used to eat two or three times a night, but then we just let him cry it out. I read in my favorite baby book, (which is what I sadly base all of my parenting decisions on) “Baby 411” that by 6 months a baby has the ability to sleep 9 hours without eating. (I wish I could tell you what 8 months have the ability to do, I lent my book out.) So, if he woke up before he was hungry, I just let him cry it out. (Which I decided after reading my second favorite baby book, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child”) Sounds worse than it is- he would whine for 10 minutes for about 2 nights and then he figured it out. I’m going to keep one night feeding till he gains some weight.

  3. I am working on this with Isaac too! He CAN sleep through the night, becuase he has done it, but very infrequently. I have “Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child” reserved at the library to read in the future, but for now I am reviewing “Sleepeasy Solution” which worked great for me when Caleb needed to learn to nap on his own at 15 months. Sleep training is hard on the emotions, but sleep deprivation is hard too (on your baby, too!), so there comes a time to reclaim your sleep, help your baby rest better, and function better in the day! “Sleepeasy” is a newer book, (2007) so it’s not as well known yet, but it has tips for nightweaning and I think it’s a good resource. Good luck!

  4. I feel your pain. I’ve had to sleep train Tayven like 4 times, because every time we get something good going, he’s hospitalized, or we leave town, or something, and then we have to start all over again. It was so much easier with Breah because she had her own room and so was easier to just let her cry. Plus, with #2 you are just so exhausted you don’t want to deal with the emotions of it all, you just want to feed him and get back to sleep, so you just keep putting it off. But, just as others have said, it’s not as bad as it sounds. This last time, the first night he cried for a whole hour, but the next night it was like 2 minutes and he’s slept all night ever since (almost a month). However, he often is up for the day at 5 or 5:30, which is so not cool. Can’t wait to figuer that one out! GOod luck!

  5. I don’t have any advice or tips, because I can relate all too well 🙂 However, Sam actually slept through the night two times in the last week (knock on wood) so I guess I can contribute that to my awesome parenting skills 😉 I can’t wait until those teenage years when sleeping and eating all day/night become his second nature and don’t involve me.

  6. My dr. had us give LE a bottle of water. Ry had to be the one to give it to her; It was for the middle feeding(around 2-3). It took about 4 nights and then she didn’t wake up anymore. Or he said just give her a little bit of tough love. Go in make sure she is o.k. and then just say good night and leave. Don’t go back in until 5-6 if she wakes back up, that should be a good 6-8 hours of not eating. Ellie still has a hard time, she just got her first tooth and all of that went down the hill. We had to start over. Good luck

  7. I’ve read lots about night-weaning. I’m not sure what to tell you. Some common ideas are to have the dad take the wake-up call and then baby may not continue to wake at that time if there is nothing to eat. Another is to nurse more during the day to make sure they get all the needed calories. Cluster feeding is nursing a few times right before bedtime. And more…

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