Night time struggles....

 

So, I knew that sleep would be a challenge, but I didn't expect all of this.  Please note, Elliott is a GREAT baby and I know that compared to other Mommies/babies we have it made in the shade, but we still have our struggles.  As I have stated before, Elliott is a great sleeper.  Once she finally goes down for the night she sleeps great.  It is that getting down part that is rough.  Before the time change she was finally giving in at around 2 am, which we were able to adjust to 1 am.  Since the time change (which for most households is awful...not ours!) we now are able to get her down around 12am.  Hallelujah!  For a little over a week now she has been sleeping for about 6 hours, waking for a feeding, then right back down for about three more hours.  Which by all accounts is a successful night. 

I had given much thought to the whole pacifier vs. thumb sucking debate before we had Elliott and I thought in my grand plan that I wanted her to take the pacifier.  I believed that because you can take the pacifier away that it would be the best option, as I didn't want my sweet girl going to school and sucking her thumb.  Well, someone should have shaken some sense into me before I started all of that.  lol.  Some babies need the pacifier as it helps with colic and reflux.  Elliott had none of those issues, just a crazy mommy.  So I gave her the pacifier and trained her to use it as she is going to sleep.  Now, all of you that have babies are now laughing at me, because you see the problem with this grand plan.  If the pacifier falls out of the mouth the baby wakes up and cries.  EVERY. TIME.  ugh!  Wednesday and Thursday nights it was every 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes that she would wake up crying.  So we would have to meander our way to the crib and put that thing back in her mouth and make sure it stayed there until she fell back to sleep.  Which really means that mommy and daddy were super sleep deprived and grumpy.  So Friday morning I made the executive decision that the pacifier was banned.  Cold turkey.  No more. 

But wait....that isn't all of it!  Until Thursday night Elliott had been sleeping in the bassinet that came with the pack and play in our room.  She hated the regular bassinet that we had and refused to sleep in it.  The pack and play bassinet is contoured so it kind of "hugs" her in it.  Well, we knew that it wouldn't be too long before she no longer fit into it and the growth spurt she had this week pushed it to the limit.  She could no longer really fit without bending her legs.  So Thursday night we took the bassinet out and put her right into the pack and play.  She didn't love that...because it is flat, it is kind of hard (even with the quilted sheets) and well, we have spoiled her.  So Friday morning I also decided that we were going to transition her to the crib (in her room!) effective immediately.  (Hormones what?!  I'll get to that in a minute....) 

So last night was our first night with out the pacifier and our first night in the crib.  It took us two attempts to get her to sleep, but at 1:30 am we were finally successful.  She was so tired she gave up fighting and slept until 5:30 am.  We put her back down at 6am with a clean diaper and a full belly and she fought sleep until 7am....then finally gave in and slept until 10am.  Woohoo!  For all of that change coming at her at once she did great.  When she woke up she was all smiles and ready to play!  She has struggled with naps a little today as she has wanted the pacifier, but still no pacifier.  Hopefully after a few nights she (and us!) will get more restful nights of sleep. 

Speaking of hormones from earlier....do baby blues come back?  Because seriously, I don't know if the sleep deprivation is finally keeping up with me or what, but I don't like it!  I am exhausted all of the time, no matter how much sleep I get, and this week the tears have started back as well.  I cried last night while I was holding her and she kind of looked at me like she couldn't decide whether I was crazy or to cry with me.  Lol.  I *may* have also had a really hard time with moving her into her room....

So the moral of this post is....with the next kiddo I will NOT give him/her the pacifier unless it is necessary and I need to not spoil the child in sleeping locations...i.e. they need to learn to sleep on flat surfaces.  And seriously...if you have any suggestions for more energy (other than coffee and sugar) and how to get rid of these crazy hormones, I am all ears!