DDOL: Books about babies only taught me that most books about babies aren’t about mine.
I have been thinking a lot lately about babies, since my sis just had Ethan and he’s even more laid back than Em thus far. I am wondering if there’s any hope that my second will be a little easier than L when it comes to some of the things that we’ve struggled with this first year.
Liam is truly what I would consider a “high needs” child when it comes to sleeping. (Thank you ever so much for the lovely term, Dr. Sears.) It’s taken me awhile, but I have finally come to terms with the fact that I haven’t made him this way - he just is.
He is 14 months today and he has slept through the night a total of two weeks the entire 14 months - if I count all of the random nights along the way. However, I am very fortunate that when he doesn’t sleep, he’s pretty happy for the most part, unless he’s sick. I am grateful for that.
L has never been a good sleeper. (He used to take 30 min. naps and I thought it was great if we GOT a nap. Now we get an occasional nap of 3 hours and I don’t really know what to do with myself. And if we’re out of town or trying to get him to sleep somewhere other than his bed, forget about it.) None of the books that I read to try and help was worth a damn. What do you do when your kid doesn’t fit any of the examples in the book? And seriously, he can - and will - cry non-stop through the night if I try to ignore him.
I have been trying to get him to sleep through the night since he was nine weeks old because Babywise said he should. Whatever. Not my kid. Scratch that one off the list.
I also read Dr. Sears and I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. They are fine books, but I’m not a Dr. Sears girl and HSHHC seemed to be thinkly veiled cry-it-out.
Then I read Ferber and tried the Ferberization thing, but it ended up being cry-it-out because he doesn’t respond well to me going into his room to “reassure” him.
I think about Em and Ethan and I’m a little jealous. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Liam. I totally do. I just know what a better mom I am when I get some sleep.
Maybe instead of reading sleep books, I should SLEEP.
