I’ll sleep when I am dead!

01/26/2017

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead:

One Mom’s Struggle to eradicate the 30 Minute Nap. Part 1

When I first had my daughter Leah, I never really gave any thought to whether she would be a good sleeper or not. Frankly, I pretty much thought all babies were superstars when it came to sleeping.  Around the one month mark, Reality sure did sucker punch me right in the face.  Boy, was I wrong!

It didn’t take me long to realize there was a pattern to my little girls sleep. During the day when Leah was put down, she would fall asleep with ease. Then by the magical number of 30 (minutes), she would wake up. Still tired but unable to fall back to sleep.  At first I didn’t think too much of this because she was only a month old. I just figured it was normal. But by 2 months of age, then 3, the 30 minute naps continued and Leah continued to be tired. Like, bags under the eyes tired.

As a concerned Momma, I began trying things that I thought would sooth my baby girl back to sleep. I kept her swaddled at nap time and during the night. Against my husband’s and my own plans, we caved and gave her a soother.  Sound machine, lovey, sleep sacs…..you name it, we tried it.  Swaddling helped a little, until she became the incredible hulk baby and could break through it every 3 minutes.  It always amused us how she could wiggle around the crib when she looked like a wrapped up mummy. So when we retired the swaddle, we transitioned her into a Magic Merlin’s sleep suit.  By this time though, Leah’s sleep had grown exponentially worse. Nights had turned into me getting up every 20 minutes to a crying baby who needed her soother reinserted so she could fall asleep. If anyone of you has seen a Magic Merlin Sleep suit you know, that kid is not moving around to find her soother that she has spit out. She looks like a giant pink Marshmallow!

But OH MY GOD we thought we had just won the baby sleep lottery with this suit! Leah the very first night slept 13 hours straight. By this time she was around 5 months old.  We couldn’t believe it! Naps were even a bit longer. Not as long as we would like, but I’d take 45 minutes over 30!  Unfortunately that didn’t last very long. The 6 month sleep regression fell upon us like the black plague and we were back to our 30 minute naps and a million night time wakings!

6,7,8 months…..I have tried reading books. Seeking medical advice, changing eating habits and sleepwear. I was pretty much at my wit’s end!! I was a zombie and so was my daughter.  I decided that we needed to seek some professional help. I brought up the idea of hiring a sleep consultant to my husband and we both agreed we needed outside help and advice to get our little girl some much needed visits from the sandman.

Part 2 of my story will continue with our experience with our sleep consultant.