Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Lining Up

When Logan was under 4 months old he was sleeping for HOURS at a time, day or night and it was the norm for him to be sleeping during Ayden's naps. Ever since Logan hit the 4 month mark and that transition to big boy sleep patterns, his sleep his been less predictable overall. He's in the "if it's not one thing it's another" stage and will continue to be there for the next 6 months or so. If it's not teething it's a milestone. If it's not a milestone it's separation awareness.  If it's not separation awareness, it's teething WHILE mastering a new milestone. Etc, etc, etc. The bottom line is that in the first year, there is SOOO much going on that messes with a baby's sleep cycles. Even an amazing sleeper can have rough patches. The beauty of going through this with my second child is that I rest assured knowing that there will be ups that follow the downs. It also helps that Logan's rough patches are still better than Ayden's sleep was on a good night at this age.

 We'll weather rough patches and take a big, deep breath during the smooth patches. The next rough patch won't hit us so hard because, even if we don't know exactly how it will manifest, we know it's coming. Logan has been working on cutting his bottom teeth for weeks now and they are still taking their sweet time. He is also working really hard on crawling.


His sleep has been unpredictable and he is waking often. When he does wake up, he realizes that I am not there and cries for me. He luckily still goes back to sleep easily but after a couple of weeks of these patterns we are both tired. But, the past few days are feeling familiar again. He is taking solid naps and waking up happy. The boys' naps have even lined up a few times like the good ol' days which is LIFE CHANGING for me as an introverted mother.

A first baby is so special in so many ways like experiencing parental love for the first time or having quiet one on one time while you are lost in uniterrupted baby land together.  The second is special in their own way too. The fact that you have wisdom and previous experience allows you to relax and just enjoy them knowing that rough patches will smooth themselves out again with time. All we have to do is be there as they work their way through. 

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Old Man Winter"
Two years ago today: "Surprise"
And three years ago today : "Down On The Farm"

8 comments:

  1. I have a spirited child who is almost 2. she reminds me of how you've described Wyden and she has been a challenge since day 1. She is hard to discipline too just as you've mentioned ayden is difficult to discipline. I think you discipline better then I do. I tend to get claustrophobic because I am introverted as you are and I need my space. My daughter nurses still too, on and off all day and once in the middle of night. We co sleep with her too. Nursing is a huge challenge because she nurses out of boredom too. Anyway, we have our challenges.

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    1. Being an introverted parent is so hard! I have remind myself that I'll miss this season someday when we are having a rough day and I find myself wishing time away. I hear myself saying "I need some space" a LOT these days. Even to the pets, haha! You are not alone.

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  2. Love this post! Since my girl was born on the same day as Logan, I was ready to ask how sleep was going. I'd been cosleeping with her since she a few months old and now that we're transitioning to a crib in our room she suddenly seems to wake up all the time! I end up putting her in bed with me anyway but I really want to get her to sleep in that crib eventually. She just started crawling so I think that milestone disrupts her sleep. I needed that reminder that there are ups along with the downs and that it's not forever!

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    1. Glad you can relate! Good luck with transitioning to a crib. We won't have our crib available for Logan until we move into our new house where Ayden will have his own room. We plan to at least start Logan out in the crib once that option is available to us. This post was a pep talk for myself... rough patches are so consuming, it is really hard remember that they are only temporary when I'm in the middle of them.

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  3. My two boys are close to the same ages as yours (2.75 and 6 months) and I can relate to everything you wrote here! I'm so exhausted but keeping things in perspective, especially that Owen is likely our last baby, helps a ton. Thanks for sharing your story!

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    1. You're welcome! So glad I'm not alone. There's a chance that Logan might be our last too so I am with you there! It also makes me a little more sad at the same time...

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    2. Oh I hope you have more. Gotta try for a girl so she she can take dance class with you. Its hard raising kids. Maybe in 5 years you be v baby hungry.

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  4. Please make those sweet boys stop growing!!

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