The Sleep Diaries
Wouldn't it be nice if a post titled this way could just be blank because all that had happened was, well, sleeping?
Alas, Allison Clare's sleep has become a bit of a problem lately. We enjoyed a nice period when she first began sleeping through the night from 9:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. or so. But gradually she started going to bed earlier and waking up for one night feeding. We hung out there for a long while, with her sleeping from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., with one quick night feeding around 3:30 a.m. Overall, her extended night sleep made this schedule pretty humane.
After she went onto a regular diet of solid foods, however, her sleep deteriorated from there--the opposite of what we'd been told to expect. She still went to sleep at 6:30 p.m., but her night feeding moved earlier and earlier . . . and then there were two.
A few nights ago, I thought perhaps I should try not feeding her and just soothing her to sleep and/or letting her cry a little, in case she was what they call a "trained night feeder" (one who is eating due to habit, not hunger, since at her age she shouldn't be waking twice to eat). No dice. She cried off and on from 4:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., stopping only when I'd pick her up and soothe her, but building to hysteria if I laid her down. I finally just decided to feed her, and she practically lunged for it.
Alas, Allison Clare's sleep has become a bit of a problem lately. We enjoyed a nice period when she first began sleeping through the night from 9:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. or so. But gradually she started going to bed earlier and waking up for one night feeding. We hung out there for a long while, with her sleeping from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., with one quick night feeding around 3:30 a.m. Overall, her extended night sleep made this schedule pretty humane.
After she went onto a regular diet of solid foods, however, her sleep deteriorated from there--the opposite of what we'd been told to expect. She still went to sleep at 6:30 p.m., but her night feeding moved earlier and earlier . . . and then there were two.
A few nights ago, I thought perhaps I should try not feeding her and just soothing her to sleep and/or letting her cry a little, in case she was what they call a "trained night feeder" (one who is eating due to habit, not hunger, since at her age she shouldn't be waking twice to eat). No dice. She cried off and on from 4:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., stopping only when I'd pick her up and soothe her, but building to hysteria if I laid her down. I finally just decided to feed her, and she practically lunged for it.
I was really puzzled; she had generally been a good sleeper and quite capable of putting herself to sleep, but we were now (at eight months) back to where we had been when she was about two months old.
So I called the pediatrician and spoke with their very helpful advice nurse. She thinks our poor little Munchkin is just not getting enough to eat during the daytime. This theory makes sense when considering that her sleep has gotten worse with the introduction of more solid foods--while she's eating two solid "meals" per day, it's all fruits and vegetables so far, and as she's begun nursing less, there's less milk for her at each feeding I think.
So, our new plan is to stop starving our baby so that she has to awaken crying from hunger at night (my poor, poor babe--what she has tolerated from her newbie parents!). I've bought some oat cereal to mix with her fruits and vegetables, and we've reorganized her feeding schedule to fit in an extra meal. She was thriving according to the growth scales, but perhaps she just needed "a little something" more. We'll see tonight!
So I called the pediatrician and spoke with their very helpful advice nurse. She thinks our poor little Munchkin is just not getting enough to eat during the daytime. This theory makes sense when considering that her sleep has gotten worse with the introduction of more solid foods--while she's eating two solid "meals" per day, it's all fruits and vegetables so far, and as she's begun nursing less, there's less milk for her at each feeding I think.
So, our new plan is to stop starving our baby so that she has to awaken crying from hunger at night (my poor, poor babe--what she has tolerated from her newbie parents!). I've bought some oat cereal to mix with her fruits and vegetables, and we've reorganized her feeding schedule to fit in an extra meal. She was thriving according to the growth scales, but perhaps she just needed "a little something" more. We'll see tonight!
posted by Tara | 8:10 PM
2 Comments:
Oh, poor sweetie! Well, I guess it just goes to show that Mommy milk is the very best stuff.
I've been thinking lately that I have very few memories of how it was when Lizzy started solids. I'm embarrassed to admit that I think it's because they pretty much handled it at day care, and I just took their lead on the weekends, etc. Each stage is such a whole new world and experience!
This has been really tough for me as well...It seems like she eats so much volume-wise, but she's really getting very few calories from the solid foods. If you look at the calories on the baby food jars, they're very low (I guess as you'd expect). I guess Mommy's milk probably has a lot more. Good luck with the sleeping...
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