Now that my little baby girl is 6 months old I thought I'd talk about sleep. Sleep is such a huge topic of discussion amongst mamas, so I thought I'd contribute my 2 cents.
First, I just want to say to all of you struggling with sleep issues, every child is different and every child will find a way. I happen to be in the lucky crowd who's baby has decided they like sleep and will do so all night long. But don't be jealous, as she was also colicky (a 3pm till 12am kind of colic!!) for the first 10 weeks of her life, so we more than did our time. The one thing that was on our side was that she was never a constant crier when she was colicky, she was almost always consolable, but once you found something that consoled her you couldn't stop. I think there is a path in my kitchen/living room from all the walking. I used to knit while I paced!
The biggest thing that I learned about sleep for our baby was that she couldn't tolerate being awake for more than 2 hours at a time. Once I learned this by reading my favorite sleep book things greatly improved. At 6 months old she still is pretty much a 2 hour awake kinda girl, but now will also go to stretches of 3 hours comfortably. Any longer than that and I can hear "Danger Will Robinson, Danger!" over and over in my head. I have found that by respecting this simple "rule" we have a much happier baby and much less stressed parents. It's a complete win-win.
I've also learned that my baby doesn't cry much at this point anymore. I'd definitely say < 15 min/day. If she wants something, she tells me differently, doesn't just cry anymore. However, she definitely does cry at times, and usually it is to let me know that I am completely missing her other ways of telling me what she needs. This change happened sometime in the 3-4 month age and I have been much happier since. Again, I find that this is the case when I'm most respectful of her sleep (such as making sure I'm home for her nap time) as when I'm not, we have a much more cranky baby, and then the crying will often exceed the 15 min/day.
Also, I've been really pleased that our child has fallen into the norm as listed in the book for the most part. She generally wants her long nap around 1pm, usually for 2-3 hours. In the morning she likes a shorter nap, and that is about an hour long and starts around 9am. The only thing that gets us in the wrong phase is that she is having an early wake up time, around 6am. Then she wants to take that first nap around 8, and I find that she'll usually need a catnap around 10-11am in order to make it to her long nap at 1. So, she naps 2-3 times a day, anywhere from 1 hour to 3 at a stretch. Bedtime is around 7pm.
I just thought I'd share where she is at during this stage in her life, and that the book by Weissbluth has been very very helpful in helping me navigate this. Now, I should mention that the biggest lesson I've had in being a new mama is that as soon as I get the hang of taking care of her, something changes. My advice is to hang in there, do the best you can, and seek advice where you may.
Good luck!
First, I just want to say to all of you struggling with sleep issues, every child is different and every child will find a way. I happen to be in the lucky crowd who's baby has decided they like sleep and will do so all night long. But don't be jealous, as she was also colicky (a 3pm till 12am kind of colic!!) for the first 10 weeks of her life, so we more than did our time. The one thing that was on our side was that she was never a constant crier when she was colicky, she was almost always consolable, but once you found something that consoled her you couldn't stop. I think there is a path in my kitchen/living room from all the walking. I used to knit while I paced!
The biggest thing that I learned about sleep for our baby was that she couldn't tolerate being awake for more than 2 hours at a time. Once I learned this by reading my favorite sleep book things greatly improved. At 6 months old she still is pretty much a 2 hour awake kinda girl, but now will also go to stretches of 3 hours comfortably. Any longer than that and I can hear "Danger Will Robinson, Danger!" over and over in my head. I have found that by respecting this simple "rule" we have a much happier baby and much less stressed parents. It's a complete win-win.
I've also learned that my baby doesn't cry much at this point anymore. I'd definitely say < 15 min/day. If she wants something, she tells me differently, doesn't just cry anymore. However, she definitely does cry at times, and usually it is to let me know that I am completely missing her other ways of telling me what she needs. This change happened sometime in the 3-4 month age and I have been much happier since. Again, I find that this is the case when I'm most respectful of her sleep (such as making sure I'm home for her nap time) as when I'm not, we have a much more cranky baby, and then the crying will often exceed the 15 min/day.
Also, I've been really pleased that our child has fallen into the norm as listed in the book for the most part. She generally wants her long nap around 1pm, usually for 2-3 hours. In the morning she likes a shorter nap, and that is about an hour long and starts around 9am. The only thing that gets us in the wrong phase is that she is having an early wake up time, around 6am. Then she wants to take that first nap around 8, and I find that she'll usually need a catnap around 10-11am in order to make it to her long nap at 1. So, she naps 2-3 times a day, anywhere from 1 hour to 3 at a stretch. Bedtime is around 7pm.
I just thought I'd share where she is at during this stage in her life, and that the book by Weissbluth has been very very helpful in helping me navigate this. Now, I should mention that the biggest lesson I've had in being a new mama is that as soon as I get the hang of taking care of her, something changes. My advice is to hang in there, do the best you can, and seek advice where you may.
Good luck!
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