You Are Getting Sleeeeeeepy....

On Sunday I bought a sleep training book: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Sleep Training Your Child. It should be called, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wasting Your Money". Needless to say, I'm returning it to Chapters today.

The book gives way too many ways to sleep train your child. They don't just concentrate on one method, they give a whole bunch of methods, listing all the pros and cons of each. There is even a section on HYPNOTIZING your child to sleep. I don't know about you, but I don't want a child that is sleeping through the night because they are in a hypnotic trance. The only thing I got out of that stupid book is that in the first 3 months, you cannot sleep train a child. It's pretty much impossible because they will wake up through the night to be fed.

Take heart you sleep deprived moms: by two months, your child starts sleeping longer through the night, but trust me, it's nothing you're doing. It's just due to the fact that your baby is developing and maturing, so naturally they start sleeping longer.

Noah's bedtime "routine" consists of the following: I put him down between 7 and 7:30 because he's usually had his last feeding for the night. Sometimes I'll even top him up with an ounce or two if it's been almost two hours since he last ate to ensure he doesn't wake up from hunger the minute I put him down to sleep. I change his diaper, put on his pjs, cuddle him a bit and put him down. Sometimes he's half asleep, and sometimes he's already out like a light. Sometimes he needs his pacifier, sometimes he spits it out. I'm trying to stick to this "routine", but really, Noah is the one leading me, as much as I'd like to think it's all me.

Every night I have the same conflict within me, wake him up at midnight and feed him in the hopes he will sleep longer, or just let him be? Everytime I decide to just leave him be. Last night, we almost had a victory. Noah slept from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.! He stirred and whined a bit around 3 and then 4, but alas! Sleep was much more enticing to him then the grumblies in his tummy.

I am discovering that Noah is not a day time sleeper. If it is bright outside, he is wide awake and will very rarely take a nap for any long stretch of time. I'm lucky if I get him to sleep an hour during the day. He is just too nosey and curious about the world around him to shut his little eyes and get some rest. I don't blame him, I'm not one for naps in the day time either. Once I'm up, I'm up. It's a good thing I don't need to sleep when the baby is sleeping. I decided from day one that I would not do that. Who wants to go from one feeding and diaper change to the next all because you sleep when the baby sleeps? That's a fast track to depression in my opinion. That's all you would feel like you were doing 24/7. Hey, if it works for other moms, great--but I am not a fan.

I have also discovered that I can function on way less sleep. I used to need at least 8 hours to feel alive and look alive, but for some reason, I can operate just fine on at least 5 hours. If I've determined that Noah is NOT going to go back to sleep first thing in the morning no matter how hard I try, I'm good to go.

Well, Noah is actually napping right now, so I'd better jump in the shower and try to get a little work done before the little monster wakes up ready to play again.