Sleeping Break Through

The only place she slept well for about three months was in my arms. That was a long three months...

I'm not a baby sleep genius, in fact I often feel like this lady. Take a second to read it. 

Go ahead, I'll wait. 

Finished? Good, now you understand the last year of my life. Moving on. 

I had an epiphany today. I read this book (along with about 900 others, but this was the one that made the most sense to me) called Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child that talked about sleep as not the amount of time a child should be asleep or at what time, but rather the appropriate "hours of wakefulness." The idea (very simplified) is that tiny babies can only be awake for an hour to two hours at a time before their bodies need to sleep again. When babies are first born they are growing so quickly, they need a ton of sleep to rest their bodies and their brains. As babies get bigger they can remain awake and take in new stimuli for longer periods of time, thus resulting in a longer "period of wakefulness."

Here's the "well duh" part. I've been thinking about Wiggle's naps as how many, what time, and how long. What I should have been focusing on is the time in between naps. How long has she been awake and is she old enough to handle being awake for longer. 

She's ready for one nap? Instead of thinking about when the nap should be and how long, I should have been slowly increasing her "hours of wakefulness." Seems like I should have understood this from the beginning right? Well I have only two words as an excuse: Sleep Deprivation! Poor Wiggles. The first is always the guinea pig right? Baby number two will benefit from your hardships, just remember that when you are talking to your therapist someday!

Two days in and we already had a nice long nap 2 days in a row! In fact yesterday my child (yes, MY child!) slept for two hours straight. Thats right people, the longest nap my child has taken since she was literally three weeks old! Amen and Hallelujah! I could kiss someone!

To all the moms out there who are struggling with naplessness and/or nighttime sleeplessness, there is hope! It will get better. It might not be for a year (sorry, honesty sucks), but it will happen. Hopefully sooner for you than for me...

God bless and good sleep,
Jillian