Sleep. The elusive dream.
One of the first major shocks of motherhood was just how little sleep I got. Looking back, it seems confusing, as the baby (in memory, at least) was on a 2 hour schedule. Sleep for 2 hours, wake, eat, sleep for 2 hours, wake, eat... Somehow, though, you just don't get to sleep. I guess there were plenty of times when the baby would NOT sleep, or wake up more often. There's that Momnesia again.
It doesn't necessarily get easier as they get older, either. Just more frustrating. Why can they sleep for 7 hours one night, then wake up every hour on the hour the next night? Why won't they nap when they are tired? Why do they cry when nothing is wrong? Is there something more I should be doing? What tricks am I missing out on?
The answer to these questions is one that takes some time to find. The answer is: there is no answer. There is no rhyme, reason, logic, or magic spell. You'll go crazy trying to figure it out, so give up now.
Then there is the big debate: to C.I.O., or not C.I.O. I fought C.I.O. for months, and when I finally let B administer that particular form of what I viewed as cruel and unusual punishment, I hated it, but it worked. O would still wake up, more from a wet diaper than anything, but B would change him and put him right back to bed and there was no crying. But that didn't mean we were in the clear, and it's all gone back to hell again.
Maybe I just have a crappy sleeper. Those that LOVE the Mom thing must have great sleepers, because I don't know anyone who can go 9 months on no sleep and be happy. I've been driven to the brink of insanity by sleep deprivation. It is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting to fight a baby over a nap or bedtime. I could just let O stay up, but then he'd be even more over tired and less likely to go down.
I just keep hoping that at some point during the fight, he'll just pass out from exhaustion. And SOME DAY, he will sleep through the night. Right? RIGHT??!
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