While I was up visiting my family, I let Gordon Lee get a little spoiled. I just didn't feel like going to the trouble of having him sleep by himself because I'd have to keep running up and down the stairs. I'd tried it for one day but when he woke up to unfamiliar surroundings, he wasn't going back to sleep. So, I just let him fall asleep in my arms, his carseat, or somewhere he found comfortable.
But I knew when we came back that I wanted to go back to getting him to nap in his crib. So, I tried going back to that. He has taken 1-2 naps in there every day. And I wanted to post some things about his napping and also ask some questions in case anybody reading might have some information for me.
First of all, the book I was reading said to lay him down when he is sleepy but not yet asleep. I hadn't really been doing that previously because I found that if I laid him down in any state other than completely asleep, he'd be jolted awake and it would take that much longer to calm him down again. But yesterday, I just figured I'd try it and see what happened. Well, he fell asleep! I was so excited. He slept for about 45 minutes until he woke up for some reason. I wasn't able to get him to go back to sleep to finish that nap, but I did get him to take another nap for about 30 minutes.
Today, I tried something even different. I just laid him down in his crib when he was wide awake after a morning feeding. I turned his lullaby and turtle lamp on and walked out of the room. The only reason I did this was because I am starting to feel sick and I just needed a break to take care of myself. Well, much to my surprise (and excitement), he fussed a little and then just fell asleep! I don't know how long he slept because when I got out of the shower he was crying. However, I know he slept at least 30 minutes because it was that long before I got in the shower. Once again, I wasn't really able to get him to go back to sleep after he had woken up. I put him in the baby bjorn and did chores while he watched.
Then, I put him down for another nap that lasted about 25 minutes. By the time I got in there (which was just seconds after I heard him crying), he was screaming with his hands clenched across his chest.
Now....here come some questions or things I'm currently unsure about
1.) Gordon Lee sleeps next to me at night. This started out with a growth spurt that had him feeding all night one night. And then, I discovered he slept better with us than on his own. So, I let him keep sleeping with me.
I'm starting to think this wasn't such a good move because I think I've trained him to believe he can't sleep unless he is next to me.
2.) I'm not sure if his shorter sleeping periods are actually coming from something that is hurting him and causing him to wake up. After I got him up from his most recent nap, he stopped crying when I picked him up and carried him around.
So, I'm really stumped here as to what to do. If I keep letting him sleep with me, I could be just making it harder for him to sleep on his own--and I really need him to do that for my well-being. If something is physically hurting him making naps harder, I do want to be able to comfort him so he can sleep. Any comments, ideas or suggestions are welcome.
But I knew when we came back that I wanted to go back to getting him to nap in his crib. So, I tried going back to that. He has taken 1-2 naps in there every day. And I wanted to post some things about his napping and also ask some questions in case anybody reading might have some information for me.
First of all, the book I was reading said to lay him down when he is sleepy but not yet asleep. I hadn't really been doing that previously because I found that if I laid him down in any state other than completely asleep, he'd be jolted awake and it would take that much longer to calm him down again. But yesterday, I just figured I'd try it and see what happened. Well, he fell asleep! I was so excited. He slept for about 45 minutes until he woke up for some reason. I wasn't able to get him to go back to sleep to finish that nap, but I did get him to take another nap for about 30 minutes.
Today, I tried something even different. I just laid him down in his crib when he was wide awake after a morning feeding. I turned his lullaby and turtle lamp on and walked out of the room. The only reason I did this was because I am starting to feel sick and I just needed a break to take care of myself. Well, much to my surprise (and excitement), he fussed a little and then just fell asleep! I don't know how long he slept because when I got out of the shower he was crying. However, I know he slept at least 30 minutes because it was that long before I got in the shower. Once again, I wasn't really able to get him to go back to sleep after he had woken up. I put him in the baby bjorn and did chores while he watched.
Then, I put him down for another nap that lasted about 25 minutes. By the time I got in there (which was just seconds after I heard him crying), he was screaming with his hands clenched across his chest.
Now....here come some questions or things I'm currently unsure about
1.) Gordon Lee sleeps next to me at night. This started out with a growth spurt that had him feeding all night one night. And then, I discovered he slept better with us than on his own. So, I let him keep sleeping with me.
I'm starting to think this wasn't such a good move because I think I've trained him to believe he can't sleep unless he is next to me.
2.) I'm not sure if his shorter sleeping periods are actually coming from something that is hurting him and causing him to wake up. After I got him up from his most recent nap, he stopped crying when I picked him up and carried him around.
So, I'm really stumped here as to what to do. If I keep letting him sleep with me, I could be just making it harder for him to sleep on his own--and I really need him to do that for my well-being. If something is physically hurting him making naps harder, I do want to be able to comfort him so he can sleep. Any comments, ideas or suggestions are welcome.
Well, I know my opinion isn't a popular one, but I think it's wonderful that Gordon Lee sleeps next to you! If you don't think of it as "I trained him to believe that he can only sleep next to me" and more like "it's perfectly natural for an infant to want to sleep next to his mother", it doesn't seem like such a bad thing. In every other culture other than Western cultures, babies sleep with their mothers, and have been doing so for centuries. All three of our babies slept in bed with us, and now all three of them can sleep just fine on their own. Moses still sleeps in our bed most of the time, but some nights he decides he'd rather sleep with his big brothers in their room. So don't worry, chances are that little Gordon Lee will not be sleeping with you at age 13, or even age 3! And I know it feels like an inconvenience right now that he "needs" you to fall asleep, but the baby phase will be over in the blink of an eye, so I would encourage you to just cherish these moments of sleeping snuggled up to your baby because they will be gone before you know it! Just follow your heart and your natural maternal instincts... you are doing a great job!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the encouragement, Katie! :)
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