Nathan

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Saturday, July 11, 2009

So, This is What It's Like

Because my brain turned into mush sometime in 2007, I can't remember if I mentioned this: Nathan is a terrible sleeper. The first six weeks of his life, he was nearly impossible to keep awake long enough to eat. So, he lost weight... before finally getting back up to his birth weight. After he began having waking hours, he started barely sleeping. By this I mean, at 12 weeks, he'd sleep only 12-13 hours a day.

More recently, he's had a hard time staying asleep. We'd struggle to get him to sleep and then a dog barking four blocks away would wake him up. And my God, if the floor boards squeaked? He'd be up for the next two hours.

I'm almost afraid to mention this - and I don't know if it will stick once we move - but I've been reading him stories, brushing his teeth, then putting him in his crib around 8:00 the past week. AND --- Nathan has been sleeping until 6:50 (when I wake him up). He's taking a good 2 1/2-3 hour nap at daycare... and it's all been easy. Easy!

I realize he's almost a year and a half old, and most of the people I know have had perfect children who began sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. Regardless, this is a huge accomplishment in our household. I'm sleeping better too!

5 comments:

Becca said...

People who say their kids sleep through the night at 6 weeks are LYING! I had one good sleeper and even he took more like twelve weeks. Kidding.

Hurray for better sleep! I can personally attest to the way it can improve the vibe of the entire household.

Carrie said...

I think it's probably the routine. Once you start it, they begin to wind down. Their brains need time to adjust from crazy-awake-mode to sleepy-time-mode.

Shannon said...

I too suffer from brain damage caused by an insane amount of non-sleep. I mean just look at that previous sentence, anyone can tell. We've gone through all kinds of sleep stages. And I will say, Liam sleeps better now than ever. Not perfect, but hey, close enough for me. I am so glad Nathan is giving that precious gift of sleep. I remember those days of being huddled in the far corner of the house, barely breathing, afraid of waking the baby. I wonder if I'll ever be normal again!!

Nadine said...

Yay!!! Good to read it's going better!

AJU5's Mom said...

I am glad Nathan is figuring it out! We are trying to get AJU5 back to sleeping well after the crazy week we had, but in general she has it figured out. And it took about 14 months for her. Hopefully he will keep it up!