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Jinx

November 1st, 2008

Ok, so as soon as I wrote about Cooper not being a good napper, but being a great nighttime sleeper, he decided to show off and have TWO totally sleepless nights in a row.

Not entirely his fault, to be fair.   For one, Casey was out of town, which means that Dudley turns psychotically protective and prowls the house all night, checking on his babies compulsively and he woke up Cooper at least twice with his ear shaking and licking.   Then there is Kenny’s three-week-old cough (allergies) that has been keeping all of us up.   He and Cooper share a room, so I finally brought Kenny in with me last night, but at that point I guess the damage was done.   Cooper was up every hour from then on, desperate to nurse, then vomiting all over me.   I think I’ve logged in eight hours of sleep total for the last two nights.     Not so good.

Does this lack of nighttime slumber cause him to nap more?   Of course not.   Three thirty-minute specials was all I got today again.

Now the exhausted  mini creature is sound asleep (at 7:45, darnit), and you’d better believe I’m waking his cute little baby hiney up in a few hours to drink drink drink.     What’s going on with him?   He’s such a charming, sweet, animated baby when he’s happy, and so miserably cranky when he’s not… it’s like living with a mini Jekel and Hyde.

Thanks to all who commented  for the book references.   Ironically, I own nearly all that were suggested, but they are who-knows-where in as yet unpacked boxes in the garage.   Come to think of it, we were going to unpack the books last, so I may have to buy a few extra copies in the mean time…

Ok, here is the question du jour: How do you let a baby “cry it out” at night when they share a room with an older sibling??   I remember getting to the point of letting Kenny cry at night (he slept through the night very early, but had a few months in there where he was waking up constantly), and just turning off the monitor and compulsively checking on him.   But how can I subject Kenny to the torture of Cooper’s wails?   Do we just let Kenny bunk with us until Cooper learns to put himself back to sleep?   Do we bring Cooper back in our room?   Yikes.

Hm, I just realized that Cooper has never had to put himself to sleep.   I always rock him to sleep.   Bad Mommy.   No wonder he needs me in the wee hours to comfort him.   What have I done?   I also need to wean him off the swaddle.   I stopped swaddling him three weeks ago, and that’s when he started waking up at night (for the first time since 6 weeks), so I resumed the swaddle, but now it seems to make no difference.   Hm.   Maybe tonight no swaddle.   But what if he gets cold?   I can’t just put a blanket on him – that’s a baby no-no.   Maybe an extra set of pj’s?

I’m starting to sound insane.   Excuse me while I go eat some cookie dough…

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7 Comments »

  1. Carla says

    Your kids are soo cute!! Try a sleep sack…they are the best. Keeps the babies body temperature consistent and no worries about a blanket being kicked off.

    November 1st, 2008 | #

  2. Becky says

    Well, here’s another baby no-no but we have let Maddox sleep on his tummy now for a few weeks – we found that he would be restless and once he started sleeping on his tummy it was LOVE! I know a lot of people will freak over this suggestion but our moms did it with us and we survived. Also, we just put him in warm jammies and he’s set!

    November 1st, 2008 | #

  3. Emily says

    I am not usually one to give advice, but it sounds like you need it! First off, babies need to fall asleep on their own where they will spend the night (crib, pack & play, etc.) It is normal for them to wake up throughout the night, and if they are in a different surrounding from where they fell asleep, that will upset them. So, you should have little Cooper in his crib to fall asleep on his own. Even if he falls asleep while you feed him, wake him back up by changing his diaper or something, then lay him down. It might be difficult for about a week, but he will get the swing of things. Try to be home consistently for nap time so he can sleep in his crib. Until he has that down, I would keep him out of Kenny’s room. My 3rd was an awful sleeper, and my pediatrician gave me her blessing to let her sleep on her belly from 2 weeks. Once they hit 3 months, and can roll over, it is very safe anyway. He will feel more secure. Who likes to lay on their back? Blanket sleepers are nice and cozy, and safer than blankets. Just remember, the earlier you get this set, the easier it will be. Good luck!

    November 1st, 2008 | #

  4. Mel says

    They have these cute little sleep sacks that keep them nice and cozy! There are all brands, but here is an example: http://www.target.com/Back-Sleep-Sack-Night-Cap/dp/B000BUOS66/sr=1-1/qid=1225597164/ref=sr_1_1/178-3959924-6111105?ie=UTF8&rh=k%3Asleep%20sack&page=1

    Some are sleeveless so you can put long or short sleeve onesie on them depending on the weather, we also have a long sleeved one for really cold nights.

    If you figure out the sleeping arrangement, I’d be interested! We have a 2 year old and a 4 month old and right now the 4 month old is sleeping in the game room in a pack-n-play. My goal is to have them share a room, but I’ve been afraid to put them together for fear of them waking each other up!

    Love your blog by the way!!

    November 1st, 2008 | #

  5. Brooke says

    Well, some people may think it’s strange, but we STILL swaddle our 6 month old baby girl. It’s simply the only way she’ll sleep. We’ve talked to her doctor about it and she says that it’s fine. I know that eventually she’ll have to learn to sleep without it, but for now it works. It seems to be a cue for her. When she’s tires and we start to wrap her up, she immediately calms down. I personally wouldn’t worry about the swaddling too much. Well, I obviously don’t worry about it too much! 😆

    November 2nd, 2008 | #

  6. LeAnne says

    My sons (ages 2 1/2 and 10 1/2 months) do not share a room right now. They have there own separate rooms. In about a year or year and a half, we plan for them to share a room.

    With my first son, I was so nervous about laying him on his stomach. With my second son, I tested him out on his stomach during his afternoon naps. He did well. After a while, that’s what we did at night while he was in his bassinett in our room. I know that it’s supposed to be a no-no. But talk about everyone sleeping well! Also another no-no that I did with my first (for quite a while, but not anymore because he phased us out of it all by himself) and I also do with my second, is rock him. I look at it differently than most. They grow up so fast so I take advantage of holding him/rocking him while he’s little. There will be a day come when they get out on their own and won’t be here, so I rock him while I can. My oldest son goes to sleep pretty good and sleeps all night even though I rocked him to sleep when he was a baby. There was no harm done.

    I know probably none of this was what anyone asked for, but I just wanted to share my experience.

    November 2nd, 2008 | #

  7. Colleen says

    I love the sleep sacks too. Our doctor told me kids sleep better when not to bundled so we used them and then blanket sleepers when our baby could roll over. To throw another suggestion out there…. have you used a white noise machine to drown out the dog and baby crying, etc? Our seven year old and 19 month old both have them. We crank them up and usually use a water sound. Seems to relax them and keeps us from worrying about the inevitable noises that interrupt their sleep. When it’s on, the baby seems to nap longer. It’s also great for hotel rooms when we all stay together on a trip.

    November 4th, 2008 | #

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