I used to have a baby that was such a good sleeper and someone took him and traded him an early rising, crazy napping baby.
I am sure I will get a lot of people saying "At least he sleeps though the night!" Well yes, at least he does that most of the time. The problem is he is up at 5 am! It is still dark out! The bus hasn't even run past our apartment yet. The traffic and the sirens haven't even started up! We can't go for a walk because it is still dark out! So why oh why is he waking up at this time?
I understand babies have no sense of real time. He doesn't know it is 5 am. I get that. I also understand that when I signed up to be a mama I was going to lack sleep. Trust me I KNOW THIS! I also know that not all babies sleep the same, act the same, develop the same, etc. I get all of that and I appreciate the numerous blogs, books, Dr. Google advice that I have gotten. I just want my baby to sleep past 5 am!
He goes to bed between 8-9 but there are days when it takes him a solid hour, sometimes more, to go to sleep. After checking in to make sure he has his blankie, Glow Worm, he doesn't have a dirty diaper, I leave him. He never cries. He just stands up in the crib and bangs on the wall! There are days when he goes to bed at 10 pm after an hour of messing around and then he is up at 5 am. This can't be enough sleep can it?
The problem with all of this is he is up at the butt crack of dawn only to want to go back to sleep 2 hours later! So why not just sleep those 2 extra hours before getting up at 5? Trust me we have had this talk and I am getting nowhere with it. I am OK with the morning nap but the morning nap runs 2-3 hours and then the afternoon nap is shot to hell. If it does happen then it is at 4 or 4 30 because he is just so, so tired and then he sleeps till 6 and I wake him up. But...THEN HE WON'T GO TO BED TILL 9 or 10 only to WAKE UP AT 5 the next day! It's a revolving door!
I am really at my wits end here. I am so thankful that he sleeps through the night except for the occasional teething incidents. I am also thankful that he does nap most days. Most of all I am thankful that I have a happy (99% of the time) baby.
Please don't judge me on this. I judge myself enough these days! I blame myself for this mess and am trying to pick up the pieces. I want to do what is best for his sleep pattern and have him get enough rest. I follow all of his cues when he gets tired. I also make sure he has eaten, he is changed, has all of his security items, sound machine, etc.
My next step is to cut the morning nap or push it back as much as I can so he has one big nap in the mid afternoon BUT I am afraid this will bite me in the ass and he won't nap because he is passed the point of no return in the sleep department. My doctor says he should still be napping 2 times a day even if it is just an hour. I love him so I am trying to follow that advice!
I feel like I am running in circles here and can't seem to find the right balance. Clearly he is a tired baby when he wants to go back to sleep for 2-3 hours 2 hours AFTER he got up. Or maybe I am wrong. Maybe this is just the way he will be and I need to accept it. Either way I need some sort of guidance so as to not loose my sanity!
I am looking to you, my twitter friends for help and answers, guidance, opinions, schedules, etc.
I am exhausted. I feel beat down. I feel a bit like a failure in the sleep department for him. I just need to get a handle on his routine. I never set a schedule for him. I let him do that himself and maybe that was the problem. Maybe I need to be strict about it so as to get him used to something. Also maybe I need let him stay in bed in the AM and not get him up in hopes that he will put himself back to sleep?
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