For all the new bf'ing moms .... There's hope & LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!!
Thought I would post this little update to give some hope to the new mom's still in the 'soup' ....
Maria ... at barely 3 months old ... has officially slept through the night! WHEW! I can't believe it finally happened. Not that mom did, b/c of course I woke up at least three times in a sweat, panicked that something was wrong! But she was blissful. So even if she doesn't do this often, or again soon, for that matter, I have hope that she will again, some day, sleep through the night!!!
Any tips, you might ask? I read an article recently from my LC & tried some of the suggestions. Here's what I think worked.
I resisted the urge to pick her up during the night, even though she was making an awful lot of noise which I had been thinking were waking cues. Instead I watched her for a few minutes & she quieted down & continued to sleep! (I'd been picking her up to nurse even though she wasn't really awake, afraid she might wake up crying). The article mentioned that by picking them up too soon, you might actually be teaching the baby to wake up more often!![]()
Lord knows, I don't want that!
I've also been giving her a late night bath. Around 10 pm or so. The article suggested beginning a bedtime routine as early as possible. So we're beginning with a bath (AH, the power of relaxation!), then a baby massage (in case the bath didn't leave her relaxed enough), then I nursed her (did you know that breastmilk constains a sleepy hormone?) Most nights she falls asleep nursing, but last night she didn't. I put her in the bassinet anyway when she was finished & she promptly closed her eyes & FELL ASLEEP!![]()
Not to awake until 7:15 AM!!!
So the moral of this story ... hang in there! Sleepless nights do come to an end.![]()
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Maria ... at barely 3 months old ... has officially slept through the night! WHEW! I can't believe it finally happened. Not that mom did, b/c of course I woke up at least three times in a sweat, panicked that something was wrong! But she was blissful. So even if she doesn't do this often, or again soon, for that matter, I have hope that she will again, some day, sleep through the night!!!
Any tips, you might ask? I read an article recently from my LC & tried some of the suggestions. Here's what I think worked.
I resisted the urge to pick her up during the night, even though she was making an awful lot of noise which I had been thinking were waking cues. Instead I watched her for a few minutes & she quieted down & continued to sleep! (I'd been picking her up to nurse even though she wasn't really awake, afraid she might wake up crying). The article mentioned that by picking them up too soon, you might actually be teaching the baby to wake up more often!
I've also been giving her a late night bath. Around 10 pm or so. The article suggested beginning a bedtime routine as early as possible. So we're beginning with a bath (AH, the power of relaxation!), then a baby massage (in case the bath didn't leave her relaxed enough), then I nursed her (did you know that breastmilk constains a sleepy hormone?) Most nights she falls asleep nursing, but last night she didn't. I put her in the bassinet anyway when she was finished & she promptly closed her eyes & FELL ASLEEP!
Not to awake until 7:15 AM!!!
So the moral of this story ... hang in there! Sleepless nights do come to an end.
