Sleeping like babies
Bedtime has become a bit of a nutty affair in our household.
After sleeping in his own room since the start of this year, we have had to move Sean back to our room. Now he is happily sleeping on our bed again (sigh, I know).
His allergic rhinitis acts up every time the aircon is on - he cannot stop sniffling and sneezing and he would tell me that he is 'soooo cold'. Yet his room somehow gets very stuffy and warm with just the fan on that he would wake up every night completely drenched in sweat.
So we made the big decision to let Sean sleep in our room. Our room is surprisingly very cool with just the fan on. He also kicks off the blanket every chance he gets - I now make him wear socks to bed so he doesn't get a chill.
The move has been really good for all of us - he is sneezing/coughing and falling sick a lot less now. Plus, I can keep a close eye on him throughout the night so that makes me feel better too.
Otherwise he is a pretty good sleeper. He takes a while to fall asleep (he goes to bed around 9-930pm) but once he is out, he doesn't stir till morning (7am).
He has this very irritating habit of sleeping horizontally across the bed and sticking his foot in my face sometimes but as long as he is not waking up to bug me, I will look past his night time antics.
It is my other son that has been giving me sleepless nights.
Ry (now 8 months) is *still* waking up at least three times a night (he sleeps around 9pm and wakes up at 1am, 3am, 5am then gets up at 7am).
There was this wretched period that lasted a few weeks where he would wake up almost every hour at night. He expected to be carried and rocked for a good amount of time before he would go back to sleep.
I had no idea what brought on the wakings but in my delirious sleep-deprived state, I really wanted to throttle him! It got so bad at one point that I felt like I was losing my mind. I was very tempted to apply for no-pay leave for a few months just to sort his sleeping out!
I know part of it has to do with him being hungry in the night and not getting enough to drink from me. He is not all that enthusiastic about drinking from the bottle and would often take a sip or two before rejecting it completely.
I have read every sleep training book out there and tried everything I possibly can to train him to sleep for longer stretches (except for letting him crying it out - it is just not for us).
He has a clockwork schedule in the day and predictable winding down routine every night. I make sure he has a full dinner (of porridge or cereal) before bed. I let him nurse one last time for the day and cuddle him lots before I put him down in his cot. I have weaned him off the yao lan for his morning and evening naps (because I suspected he got a little too used to the rocking motion and expected me to do the same for him at night). I have asked my mum and helper to let him sleep in his cot during day naps so he gets used to it. I have been trying to ramp up my milk supply so that he feels satiated after the night feeds. I still supplement with one bottle of formula and he is thankfully a wee bit more receptive to it.
He is back to his usual waking up three times (sometimes four) at night but I think it is an improvement from his wake-up-every-hour-to-scream-his-head-off terror nights. He usually just wants to nurse and then he will fall back to sleep on his own.
For the sake of my sanity, I have also lowered my expectations and re-jigged my schedule. I go to bed at the same time as the boys so that early morning wakings don't feel so torturous to me. It also helps that Foops is sleeping in the same room again (he used to sleep with Sean) and I could wake him up in the middle of the night to help prepare milk for Ry.
Some days when Ry wakes up at 530am to fuss and refuse to go back to sleep, I bring him out of the room and pass him to our helper (who will feed and rock him back to sleep) so that I can get one more hour of shuteye before getting up for work.
Ah, if only there was a sleep clinic for babies where I could check Ry into for a few nights and I can go pick him up when his sleep routine is all sorted out!
Sean wasn't that good a night sleeper when he was a baby too (though not as bad as Ry, I think) but I think it was much easier for everyone after he learned how to self-soothe by sucking on his lower lip and settled on a comfort object (bolster).
I think I have done all that I can for Ry and am quite resigned to the fact that my babies are just not great night sleepers.
Surely I will be able to enjoy a good night's rest one day?
After sleeping in his own room since the start of this year, we have had to move Sean back to our room. Now he is happily sleeping on our bed again (sigh, I know).
His allergic rhinitis acts up every time the aircon is on - he cannot stop sniffling and sneezing and he would tell me that he is 'soooo cold'. Yet his room somehow gets very stuffy and warm with just the fan on that he would wake up every night completely drenched in sweat.
So we made the big decision to let Sean sleep in our room. Our room is surprisingly very cool with just the fan on. He also kicks off the blanket every chance he gets - I now make him wear socks to bed so he doesn't get a chill.
The move has been really good for all of us - he is sneezing/coughing and falling sick a lot less now. Plus, I can keep a close eye on him throughout the night so that makes me feel better too.
Otherwise he is a pretty good sleeper. He takes a while to fall asleep (he goes to bed around 9-930pm) but once he is out, he doesn't stir till morning (7am).
He has this very irritating habit of sleeping horizontally across the bed and sticking his foot in my face sometimes but as long as he is not waking up to bug me, I will look past his night time antics.
It is my other son that has been giving me sleepless nights.
Ry (now 8 months) is *still* waking up at least three times a night (he sleeps around 9pm and wakes up at 1am, 3am, 5am then gets up at 7am).
There was this wretched period that lasted a few weeks where he would wake up almost every hour at night. He expected to be carried and rocked for a good amount of time before he would go back to sleep.
I had no idea what brought on the wakings but in my delirious sleep-deprived state, I really wanted to throttle him! It got so bad at one point that I felt like I was losing my mind. I was very tempted to apply for no-pay leave for a few months just to sort his sleeping out!
I know part of it has to do with him being hungry in the night and not getting enough to drink from me. He is not all that enthusiastic about drinking from the bottle and would often take a sip or two before rejecting it completely.
I have read every sleep training book out there and tried everything I possibly can to train him to sleep for longer stretches (except for letting him crying it out - it is just not for us).
He has a clockwork schedule in the day and predictable winding down routine every night. I make sure he has a full dinner (of porridge or cereal) before bed. I let him nurse one last time for the day and cuddle him lots before I put him down in his cot. I have weaned him off the yao lan for his morning and evening naps (because I suspected he got a little too used to the rocking motion and expected me to do the same for him at night). I have asked my mum and helper to let him sleep in his cot during day naps so he gets used to it. I have been trying to ramp up my milk supply so that he feels satiated after the night feeds. I still supplement with one bottle of formula and he is thankfully a wee bit more receptive to it.
He is back to his usual waking up three times (sometimes four) at night but I think it is an improvement from his wake-up-every-hour-to-scream-his-head-off terror nights. He usually just wants to nurse and then he will fall back to sleep on his own.
For the sake of my sanity, I have also lowered my expectations and re-jigged my schedule. I go to bed at the same time as the boys so that early morning wakings don't feel so torturous to me. It also helps that Foops is sleeping in the same room again (he used to sleep with Sean) and I could wake him up in the middle of the night to help prepare milk for Ry.
Some days when Ry wakes up at 530am to fuss and refuse to go back to sleep, I bring him out of the room and pass him to our helper (who will feed and rock him back to sleep) so that I can get one more hour of shuteye before getting up for work.
Ah, if only there was a sleep clinic for babies where I could check Ry into for a few nights and I can go pick him up when his sleep routine is all sorted out!
Sean wasn't that good a night sleeper when he was a baby too (though not as bad as Ry, I think) but I think it was much easier for everyone after he learned how to self-soothe by sucking on his lower lip and settled on a comfort object (bolster).
I think I have done all that I can for Ry and am quite resigned to the fact that my babies are just not great night sleepers.
Surely I will be able to enjoy a good night's rest one day?