Thursday, February 08, 2007

Regaining Trust

Well last night was a long night. We are very fortunate that typically our little one is a good sleeper. In fact for about a month he slept the whole night through - no questions asked. I was getting spoiled! Last night that was not the case. He woke up a little before 3 am. I went in to check his diaper and help him calm down. I am trying to follow the advice of all the books - don't stimulate him at night, don't feed him immediately, allow him to put himself back to sleep, etc. Then it was 4 am and I figured he was coming close to going back to sleep. Sometimes he'll stay awake for about an hour at night - just fussing a little. Then it was 4:30 and still he wasn't calming down - in fact he was getting more upset. So I sent his dad in. Finally at about 5 am in desperation I pulled out a book and read it without my glasses on. It advised that if your little one gets up at random times at night (which he does) then maybe he is hungry and going through a growth spurt. So, I decided to feed him. He was RAVENOUS - poor boy. I was hoping this would mean he would sleep in - but no. He woke up at about 6:45 and was still somewhat hungry. He did take a short morning nap - which was helpful.
So the rest of the day I've been tired and felt badly for not feeding the poor boy. He is hungry a little before he normally eats and is eating a lot. So I think he might be growing again (he is already above the 95th percentile in height and weight). Today I have tried to spend extra time cuddling him and I am staying with him until he goes to sleep. We had gotten to a place where I could leave him in his crib and he would go to sleep. Well, I think that last night kind of ruined that for a while. All my friends say once you feel like you have a sleeping pattern they change. I am finding that to be true. Now it's about regaining his trust so that he will go to sleep more easily - again.
The moral of the story is to listen to your kiddo - through all those screams they are probably trying to tell you something!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Many things can trigger a change is sleep patterns, growing, teething (Tabith is working on her molars right now) or even a having a visitor like grandma. Like you said listen to your little ones, I have found that usually there is a reason behind their crying especially if it is a change from what they had been doing. IT's the same with taking medicine. My daughter will occassionally ask for her "red medcine." I say no and then the next day she'll have a runny nose or a fever. And I feel bad for not giving her something to help her feel better. I am learning. When they feel better they refuse to take the medicine.

A great medicine for teething is Hylands Teething Tablets.