Bed Bugs

Like I said, if it isn't one thing, it's another! Moms don't need sleep.. no, who needs mental relaxation? Like people know, Riley has been quite a hand full these last 3 months, and instead of joining in on the 'my perfect baby' conversations with my friends, trying to prove my baby is better then theirs, I sit back and think in my head, 'babies can DO that?'. But, my one joyful moment is when I can add, 'Well, Riley sleeps basically through the night'. That has been one thing we have been blessed with, a sleeping baby who had his days and nights figured out from the start!

When Riley was brought home from the hospital, we had one rough sleepless night, and the next morning I was off to the store to buy out their supply of Milicon and Grip Water. The next night, he slept like a, well, baby. We usually put him to bed around 11pm, and he goes right to sleep. At the time I was feeding him every 3 hours, and he would wake up, on the dot, and 2am. Nursing at night is a breeze. He eats, and is right back to bed for another 3 hour stretch. In the morning, he is usually ready to be up around 9am, sometimes 8am if his tummy is bothering him, and we get up to watch the View, make some toast, and start our day. During the day, we would eat for about 30min, and would be calm for about 5min after, scream for an hour, sleep for 15min, scream for another hour, sleep for 15 min, and then it would be time to eat again. And so the cycle would continue all throughout the day when my wonderful husband would come home and take him while I just got to sit since by this time, by back and legs were killing me. I assume, since all the crying and lack of sleep can be exhasting, he would be zonked out by 10pm or 11pm and we would all go to bed and our nightly routine would start, 3 hour blocks of feeding, then back to sleep. That was my strict routine for the first 2 months or so.

But like they do, things get better. And one amazing night, we went to bed around 10:30pm, and I was later awake thinking, 'I wonder what time it is, I'm sure he will be waking up soon' and Trav's alarm went off right after. SURELY this was a mistake. SURELY Trav set his alarm for 3:30am, instead of 6:30am by accident. SURELY Riley did not just sleep 8 hours. But it was true! Our first long night. And it continued. From that day forward, we would always get 1 good long stretch of sleep. 5 or 6 hours, but sometimes longer. I finally had something to tell people my baby was good at.

But like they do, things get better, and then for me, it gets worse again. Story of my life! Probably about 3 weeks ago, his sleep stretches have gotten shorter and shorter. There was a week where he was only sleeping 2 hours at a time, and I almost walked out on him and my husband. We now are back to our 3 hour blocks. And I guess my body is used to it, so I can do it, but like clockwork he wants to be out of bed at 7am, and that's what I can't handle. I need that extra hour or so, and he will not be having it!

I have come to a conclusion. His collic is mostly better, and his reflux is mostly better, but we have this poop problem now. I can tell because everytime I nurse him, he is passing gas like he has something to prove. But for 3 days, no poop at all, just gas. I called the doctor and he said to give him a tiny bit of prune juice or pear juice to loosen him up. And right after our conversation, he pooped all day long. But he still doesn't poop while he is sleeping at night. Which causes problems in the morning. The poop thing will pass, I'm sure, and it's getting better.

But the sleep is not getting better. No more do we have long stretches. During the day he can go 5 hours without eating. I don't usually make him wait that long because I read that if you give a child frequent feedings during the day, and one big meal before bed, they sleep better, but at night, all he does is grunt and wiggle and wake himself up. The only thing that gets him back to sleep is feeding him so he is soothed enough to sleep again. HOW DO I FIX THIS! And it isn't like he is napping a lot either. He usually only naps 45 mins for every 4 hours or so. And lately he has been so clingy. Don't get me wrong, I love that he loves his mom the most, but sometimes, I need to be able to butter bread with 2 hands!

I do have to say, my sister Julie gave me the best advice. We were putting him to sleep by rocking him and swinging him in his car seat, and she told me by 4 months, how ever we put him to sleep is how he will expect to be put to sleep from then on, so the day I had that conversation with her, I tried putting him down for a nap by just waiting until he was really tired, and putting him in his crib with his binky, and he was out like a light! And ever since then, that is what we have done. And it's been great. Shaking that car seat was becoming too much. So at least he goes to bed great, he just doesn't stay asleep. And I dont believe in letting him cry himself to sleep yet, so I'm so blessed to has to baby to loves his crib.

SO! Send me your remedies and help this sleepy mom out. I was told that by 3 months he would be sleeping so great, and it gets better and better, but that is SO not the case with us.