The Sleep Chronicles

My baby is two months old today! It's so hard to believe that over eight weeks have gone by. I'm going to upload some photos later to celebrate. :)

So my little guy is a whopping two months old... and still not sleeping through the night. There is, however, hope on the horizon. In the last week we have made major strides in the sleep department. Prior to last Wednesday my little guy was waking up not once, but TWICE in the middle of the night to eat. Given his hefty 13 pound frame, there is no good reason for this. It became quite apparent on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning that I was being a little too indulgent with him. He woke up every three hours and definitely only had a "snack feeding" each time that only lasted five minutes. I got a bit fed up and after talking to a few mommy friends decided what things had to change.

First up? We made the transition to his own crib. I think it was harder for me than for him. He had been sleeping next to our bed in a co-sleeper. I now only hear him when he cries rather than when he just coos and talks to himself in his sleep. I also honestly think that he sleeps better without the occasional noise of his parents rustling the sheets or his dad letting out the random snore.

So Wednesday night was the first test. He woke up crying at the 2.5 hour mark and rather than pick him up to feed him I just checked his diaper, rubbed his belly and gave him the pacifier. Of course the pacifier kept falling out so I had to stand by his bed for like a half an hour to reinsert it while he drifted back off. After that he woke up four hours later. That means he went a whole 6.5 hours without eating! Of course I fed him this time.

Thursday night through last night were about the same. He now goes anywhere from 4.5 to 6 hours of solid nighttime sleep which translates to only one middle of the night feeding session rather than two. Thank the lord. Quite frankly I know he can go even more than this, but I don't want to make too many changes too soon. I'm going to give him a couple more days of this and then try to make another transition. He was probably capable of this a couple of weeks ago but I guess I just wasn't ready to lay down the law. Oh-- I also let him cry in his crib for five minutes before going in to comfort him. He hasn't learned to put himself back to sleep after starting to cry yet either, but we are working on it. Those measly five minutes seem like an eternity to me! This parenting stuff is tough!

Now, one things that isn't going as smoothly with this longer night time sleep transition?-- My milk production. By the time he wakes up after his long stretch of sleep I'm bursting at the seams and my breast pads are soaked. I am wondering if this is how it always will be or if your body eventually learns to make less milk at night? I'm thinking it has to if babies eventually sleep 8+ hours at night... I guess only time will tell.