“I don’t want a full-night’s sleep anyway,” I protested when my husband suggested that we start trying to wean Joey off of his nighttime feedings. I mean, without mid-night feedings, I’d miss out on so much. I’d miss out on dragging myself out of my warm bed at three a.m. and tripping over toys and dogs as I stumble to the nursery in the middle of the night. I’d miss out on staring at the clock in the rocker while willing myself to stay awake for just three more minutes. I’d miss out on dragging eighty pounds of dead weight off of my pillow because my dog seems to think that it’s his job to keep my bed warm while I’m up. I’d miss out on groggy mornings where it takes everything I have to drag myself out of bed at six to change Joey’s diaper. Yes, losing those midnight feedings is quite the sacrifice.
My husband, on the other hand, thinks that the night time feedings have to go. When Joey was young, he was a great sleeper. In fact, I admit that I got a bit prideful when my four-month old was sleeping through the night apart from an occasional four o’clock dream feed. I thought that I really had the whole parenting thing figured out. Unfortunately, Joey had other plans. At five months, Joey decided that since that four o’clock snack was so delicious that he might as well have another one at midnight. At six months, he added an occasional ten o’clock nightcap and even the frequent five o’clock pick-me-up. I went from a gloating and well rested mother to an exhausted mommy with a cranky husband. I admit it, I wasn’t too impressed with the frequent feedings, but I’m less impressed with hearing him screaming in his crib in the middle of the night, so I chalked it up to the joys of parenting and became very adept at scurrying out of bed at Joey’s first whimper.
My husband wasn’t quite as joyful about the situation. Armed with our copy of Baby 411, my husband cornered me last night. “A healthy, full term six-month old is perfectly capable of sleeping for a ten to twelve hour stretch without eating,” he quoted. “He may protest for minutes, or even hours, but he will be fine. He’ll wake up in the morning well-rested and happy to see you.” I cringed. My husband wanted me to ignore Joey’s cries, to leave him alone in the nursery and see if he would fall back asleep. I’d heard about this. One of my friends told me that she had tried this and her daughter had cried for two and a half hours in the middle of the night before finally falling back asleep. Call me a wimp, but I’m not sure I could listen to my son crying for twenty minutes, much less two and a half hours. Still, my husband wasn’t backing down, so we came up with a game plan.
Our plan was simple. We would simply ignore Joey’s cries for the first five minutes. After five minutes, we would go into the nursery and let him know that we were there, but not pick him up. After another ten minutes of crying, we would offer him water. If that didn’t help, we would let him cry for fifteen more minutes before offering him a feeding. I went to bed feeling really nervous, scared that my poor little boy would feel abandoned, hungry and alone in the middle of the night. I braced myself when I heard those first cries on the monitor, willing myself to stay in bed and ignore them. I stared at the clock. Joey fussed for about a minute and then started sucking on his fingers. By the three minute mark, I only heard an occasional coo. By five minutes, he was sound asleep. I never even had to get out of bed. He woke up this morning at seven, happy and cooing and even better, I woke up well-rested with a happy husband at my side. I’ve decided that perhaps a full-night’s sleep is a good idea after all.
My husband, on the other hand, thinks that the night time feedings have to go. When Joey was young, he was a great sleeper. In fact, I admit that I got a bit prideful when my four-month old was sleeping through the night apart from an occasional four o’clock dream feed. I thought that I really had the whole parenting thing figured out. Unfortunately, Joey had other plans. At five months, Joey decided that since that four o’clock snack was so delicious that he might as well have another one at midnight. At six months, he added an occasional ten o’clock nightcap and even the frequent five o’clock pick-me-up. I went from a gloating and well rested mother to an exhausted mommy with a cranky husband. I admit it, I wasn’t too impressed with the frequent feedings, but I’m less impressed with hearing him screaming in his crib in the middle of the night, so I chalked it up to the joys of parenting and became very adept at scurrying out of bed at Joey’s first whimper.
My husband wasn’t quite as joyful about the situation. Armed with our copy of Baby 411, my husband cornered me last night. “A healthy, full term six-month old is perfectly capable of sleeping for a ten to twelve hour stretch without eating,” he quoted. “He may protest for minutes, or even hours, but he will be fine. He’ll wake up in the morning well-rested and happy to see you.” I cringed. My husband wanted me to ignore Joey’s cries, to leave him alone in the nursery and see if he would fall back asleep. I’d heard about this. One of my friends told me that she had tried this and her daughter had cried for two and a half hours in the middle of the night before finally falling back asleep. Call me a wimp, but I’m not sure I could listen to my son crying for twenty minutes, much less two and a half hours. Still, my husband wasn’t backing down, so we came up with a game plan.
Our plan was simple. We would simply ignore Joey’s cries for the first five minutes. After five minutes, we would go into the nursery and let him know that we were there, but not pick him up. After another ten minutes of crying, we would offer him water. If that didn’t help, we would let him cry for fifteen more minutes before offering him a feeding. I went to bed feeling really nervous, scared that my poor little boy would feel abandoned, hungry and alone in the middle of the night. I braced myself when I heard those first cries on the monitor, willing myself to stay in bed and ignore them. I stared at the clock. Joey fussed for about a minute and then started sucking on his fingers. By the three minute mark, I only heard an occasional coo. By five minutes, he was sound asleep. I never even had to get out of bed. He woke up this morning at seven, happy and cooing and even better, I woke up well-rested with a happy husband at my side. I’ve decided that perhaps a full-night’s sleep is a good idea after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment