Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Sleep Wars...

My son is not a fan of sleep. I can't wrap my head around this because, I for one, love sleep. LOVE. IT. Back in the day, when I actually worked for a living, the first thought that went through my head when the alarm so rudely disturbed me from my blissful slumber, was how many hours had to pass before I could reasonably crawl back into bed without seeming too lazy or depressed. I love sleep like Homer Simpson loves donuts, "mmmmm, donuts..."

Seriously. Ask Husband about the "Pajama Song". The lyrics and the tune change all the time, but the general message is the same--pajamas make me damn happy. I love all things associated with sleep--pjs, dreams, pillows, comforters...zzzzzzzzzzz...

oh, sorry.

So how is it that my son, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, carrier of half my genes, is so opposed to sleeping? Or should I say, sleeping when we want him to sleep? Husband and I are up half the night convincing this little man that sleep is, indeed, a good thing. There is rocking, there is swinging, there is shhhhhushhhhing, there is a vibrating pack and play, there are lullibies and soothing nature noises. He overpowers them all with his grumbly, groany declaration of "Nope. You can't make me! I'm awake!"

He seems to take the most joy in the fake-out. He will buy into our rocking and swinging, our lullibies and the rest. He will close his eyes and relax his little arms and legs. Sure. He'll do all that. And while you are mentally high-fiving yourself as you put him down, he's thinking, "Sucka!!!" and then there is much squirming and groaning. "Fooled ya, mom! I'm still awake!" Grrrrrr...

It'd be fine that he didn't like sleep if he could, say, go downstairs, make himself a sandwich and turn on the TV. Then he could stay up all night watching Noggin or Conan O'Brien if he wanted. It's not like he's got a demanding daytime schedule that he's got to be well-rested for. But he's got this whole 10 week old "I can't sleep. What to do? What to do? I know! You should hold me!" thing going on. And try as I might to explain to him that mommy and daddy need a few hours of shut eye in order to keep themselves remotely sane, he doesn't seem to grasp the concept. Go figure.

His saving grace is that he's so damn cute. And we tend to make up for the lack of night sleeping during the day. This is where I would insert a cute picture of Ethan and me snoozing on the couch, but stupid blogger.com is not cooperating...

6 comments:

Amy said...

Tell me it wasn't really 4 a.m. when you posted...

Have you tried the Miracle Blanket?

I feel for you! We have good nighttime sleep, but he won't sleep during the day for shit. We're on our third 30-minute nap of the day.

Anonymous said...

I had a refluxy baby (now a big kid in elementary school). Elevating the head of the bassinet / crib made a difference in his sleeping. We put a crib wedge under the bed. I'll check in the basement - we probably still have it and we live nearby. I don't know that it'll work in a snuggle nest (probably too big), but if you end up moving him to a crib at some point and want it, let me know.

Meanwhile, you could put some folded towels under the head part of the snuggle nest or the pack'n'play if that'd work, and see if it makes a difference.

(I came here from amalah.com)

Becci said...

oh, man. I feel for you.

ChickenMoose said...

That made me LOL. The Chickenmoose does the same thing but miraculously only during the day. He likes to sleep at night.

I give it another week before he figures out the night-waking thing :)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like he inherited some genes from his aunt :-)

Kate B. said...

God, this takes me back. Firstborn would ONLY sleep on the boob and in bed with me - both things that are (this year) really dangerous/ bad mommy award-worthy/ etc. If I recall (and it's all a bit fuzzy due to the chronic sleep deprivation of the time) she slept a maximum of four hours at a time until she was six months old - at which point, fearing for our sanity, we got an expert in. Their advice was to put her in her cot and let her cry it out - tough but it worked (I cried, Alpha Male let out a few anguished yet still manly squeaks, Firstborn screamed as if her head was coming off).

The Small(er) One was better, but mainly because I didn't let her fall asleep on the boob or in bed with me.

Bear with it. Some babies sleep and some don't. If he still won't sleep at six months then worry. Until then, enjoy it all as it doesn't last long, that lovely small baby smell and the not talking back (says the tearful and reminiscing mother of two very cheeky pre-schoolers).

And as for the anti-breast feeding lobby, tell them to piss off. Babies need to eat too. Oh yeah, and squirt anyone who complains.