The Sleep Situation

This sleeping situation came up yesterday in the comments, so I thought I would post about it. Honestly, I don't think it's going very well. My plan pre-birth was to have him sleeping in his own room by the time I went back to work. Didn't happen.

Apparently, I subscribe somewhat to the Attachment Parenting theory. In our house, this is also referred to as "smother mother," or simply, "Jewish mother."

The way this has played out in MacBaby's sleeping habits is that he sleeps in the bed with us. At first, we chose this route not out of any sort of defined parenting techniques -- I simply needed to get some sleep and the dude would NOT sleep in his Pack 'n Play.

Then, things got better and he would sleep in his Pack 'n Play until about midnight. But, then he started rolling from his back to his stomach and everything went haywire again. In his sleep, he would roll and wake up and cry.

I suppose I could leave him in there to cry himself to sleep, but, in the big picture, he's still a little baby. They say that all babies are born premature compared to other species who pop out rearing to go. So, by that logic, he didn't really come into his own until three months, which means he's really only been an alert human being for two months.

At some point, he will sleep in his own crib, in his own room. As for the how and when, your guess is as good as mine.

My New Favorite Parenting Site Speaks the Truth

This dude is hilarious. I commend him for pointing out the one negative part of breastfeeding:

Unlike the absurdly judgmental authors of just about every baby book lying around the flat, I really have no opinion when it comes to breast vs. bottle feeding. However when I hear the "F" word, all my selfish instincts tell me one thing: the breast is better. The breast means I get to sleep most of the night.

When I say negative, I mean negative for me. Thank you, new dad, for admitting the truth. Dads love the breastfeeding because it absolves them from feeding responsibilities! The most uttered phrase from MacDad after MacBaby was born was "I think he's hungry." Sometimes this was true, sometimes not. Now, it's even less of an excuse since he's on more of a schedule for eating (every three hours).

While I didn't mind being solely responsible for feeding MacBaby during the day, after 10 p.m. it sucked. Once MacDad went back to work, the rational part of my brain said, "let him sleep, he has to get up in the morning." But, it is very hard to maintain this attitude at three a.m. while your spouse is snoring and you are staring at the clock watching one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock come and go.

Fortunately, our (my) sleep schedule has improved, and but I haven't more than four hours in a row since March 22, 2009. On the plus side, I haven't witnessed a sunrise in several months.

A friend suggested I would miss those quiet morning, listening to the birds begin to chirp and staring at my child wondering if he would ever fall back to sleep. I do not. Instead, I relish the time we have now, sleeping and cuddling side by side.

One Night TWO Exciting Developments!

Last night MacFamily unit had a few friends over to celebrate MacDaddy's birthday. At 9 p.m. MacBaby was ready to call it a night. I took him upstairs, intending to stay with him for the remainder of the evening, but MacDaddy set up the video monitor so I could still socialize. I waiting until he fell asleep, put him in the pack and play next to our bed and crept down the stairs. There was his face on our TV! Instead of watching him right next to me, I stared at him in hi-def sleeping peacefully. Not only that, but he remained peaceful until we came upstairs at 11. And, not only that, but he didn't wake up two hours later, but slept until 3 a.m.! Hopefully it wasn't a fluke and the one-time per night feedings will continue.

You're Getting Sleepy

Now that I'm back at work, we've settled into somewhat of an evening routine and MacBaby falls asleep between 8 and 9 p.m. My alarm goes off at 5:50 a.m. The hours in between I struggle with. If MacDaddy works late and comes home around 9, we have maybe one hour to converse before I sack out. Do I call it a night as early as 9 and quit fighting the urge to close my eyes, or do I savor an hour of adult time to read or zone out with the TV? I rarely push the bedtime boundary later, missing the new TV friends that provided a dose of daily snark while on baby vacation - Chelsea and Conan. Last night I couldn't decide whether to go to sleep or veg, knowing I'd likely be up again at 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. I thought I'd close my eyes, and then if I couldn't sleep I'd turn on the tube. Five minutes later, my dreams were entertainment enough.