Wanna come to my pity party?

[jojo2324]

UGH. Gannon has never been a champion sleeper, but up until a few weeks ago, he wasn't doing so bad. He'd be in bed by 7, wake once or twice at night, and then wake up for good between 6 and 7. We had even gotten down a nap routine; between 9-10 am, around 1:30pm, and then maybe even again at 3:30! It was heaven I tell you, pure bliss.

And then the dreaded cold hit. He was miserable, couldn't breathe well, and we went back to only nursing him. This bout was much shorter than the previous scare we had back in October, due in part to the steroids he was prescribed. YAY! What relief! Let's get back to our normal lives...

But NOOOOOOOOO...Now, every morning at 5am on the dot, he is up and rarin' to go! He sleeps with us, so I am content to let him crawl all over the bed and explore our faces, pull my hair, play with the remote, laugh, talk, WHATEVER, just to catch a few more winks. This lasts about 15 minutes before he attempts to launch himself over the edge.

DH and I have devised a plan. Each day we switch off. This morning was my turn. Now, this would all be well and good if I didn't just have the most hellish weekend. It was tremendously busy, lots of people at the restaurant. ("We'd like to share the $7 salad please. Oh, and please make sure they split the salad in the kitchen. I can't STAND having to do it here, I make such a mess, hee hee. And a glass of water, no ice, with lemon AND lime. Extra lemon. That's all. Oh miss...Could we have some more bread? Just SO ravenous." And so on. And I've been very gracious, because the word please is quite a rarity...More like "Gimme." ) Given my work schedule (read: getting home at midnight after standing up for 8 hours), waking up at 5am, believe it or not, does not jive with me. And DH works nights too, so he is feeling the same pain.

Nap when he naps? SURE!!! I'd love to have that opportunity! He refuses to nap. Just screams and screams. Even if I do lay down with him, after about 20 minutes he is usually flipping over and practicing aerobic movements WHILE continuing to nurse. Much fun for the nipples, let me tell you. Oh, and did I mention that I am now the sick one? My nose is red raw, and my ears! You say something to me and it just bounces around my head.

I just poured myself a bowl of cereal and realize that we have no milk. I must say he is being quite the angel this morning, bless his heart. It is mommy who is looking rather evil...

Must...muster...the...strength...to...read...Weiss bluth...

[sweetbasil]

Bless your heart, Joanne. I hope you are feeling better soon! And as for Gannon, maybe he'll gradually start sleeping later? Kellen did the same thing, but by 12 months, he was back to sleeping until 7am. I imagine that isn't much comfort right now, though. Hope your week makes a turn for the better soon!

[Momof3Labs]

Joanne,

Daylight savings time starts in less than two weeks - so if you hold out long enough, he'll be waking up at 6am! Just don't tell him about the time change!!

[nathansmom]

I don't have any advice for you but I hope you start to feel better. Hopefully Gannon will grow out of this phase soon.

[atlbaby]

Oh Joanne, you poor thing!! I can't imagine what it must be like to have to work on your feet all day, fall into bed, and have Gannon wake up at 5am! I worked in Starbucks while I was doing research before grad school (even with both jobs I never earned more than pennies though!) and was pregnant for about 4 months while working those 2 jobs. My feet were so tired when I got home from starbucks(that was the night job) but having a baby (an outside one:) ) would be a thousand times worse I expect! I hope you get good tips at least?

As for your non-sleeper, I've found whenever Arielle gets into a groove of not sleeping/napping well, she will usually build up a huge sleep deprivation and then suddenly change and sleep later in the AM (or nap longer, etc) for a while to make up for it. Maybe that will happen with Gannon? Also, I think you wrote in the Lounge that he's pulling up all over the place and I've read that oftentimes when babies learn a "new trick" they will sacrifice sleep because they're all excited about practicing!

I hope you feel better and can ALL get some sleep soon!

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2:) EDD 10/24/03

[KathyO]

Hi Joanne -

I don't know if this helps at all (possibly only on the principle that misery loves company) but both my daughter, and the son of one of my momfriends, went through this no-napping thing at about that age. We just kept INSISTING on a quiet lying-down time at the appropriate intervals (swaddling snugly with stretchy blankets if necessary) and after a week the naps came back.

By all means read Weissbluth, but to my mind this is where he falls down a bit - the nitty-gritty how-to. Okay, I'm sold on the idea of good daytime napping, but exactly HOW do I convince little Bright Eyes here to become unconscious...?

Good luck, and get well soon,

KathyO

[Annette_C]

Joanne, I totally sympathize!
I feel for you for standing at 8 hrs stretches and get little sleep afterwards!
If it makes you feel any better, Sabrina gets up at 5 am EVERY morning! And that's after she wakes up a few thousand times during the night! She's been doing this for the past 5 months and DH and I look like zombies.
She's 9 months today....I really thought by now she'd be sleeping better but, NO! Will she sleep before I go on Social Security!?! :)
I hope, for your sake, Gannon starts sleeping better for you.
Good luck,

Annette
SAHM to Sabrina 6/24/02

[jojo2324]

Grumble grumble, moan moan. Isn't it always the way? I am WIDE awake right now. It's just past 2am and I cannot for the life of me fall asleep. Of course, I was so tired today I just conked out with Gannon at 8pm and slept for a few hours. It was not my intention to fall asleep! And now all I want to do clean the house and instead I am forced to watch reruns of The Nanny and Mad About You on Lifetime. Well, not forced, but there isn't much on at this hour.

And he is sleeping blissfully this evening, hasn't woken up since falling asleep. Great, the longest stretch of sleep in months and I am pacing...

GRRRRR x(

[MartiesMom2B]

Joanne:

I feel for you and understand what it's like to not be able to fall asleep when you want too. I hope you got some sleep b/n 2:00 AM and now!

Sonia
EDD 4/14/03