Friday, July 15, 2011

Sleep: Just a Memory

Sadly, this is how it feels.
I'm recalling the wonderful thing known as SLEEP, through a very foggy mind.
I am worn down, people. Absolutely worn down.
I hate when I've reached this point, but it's where I am. And I sure as heck hope to be in a different situation soon!

Cillian has been a decently good baby & sleeper. When we went to SC last month he started not sleeping so well, and this past week it's just become downright terrible. He's not inconsolable, but he's waking A LOT. As in I haven't had more than a 2-hour stretch in some time.

Every once in a while, I can handle that, But night after night after night...
No. Then I feel myself in zombie mode, like I'm trudging through heavy slosh each step I take...
Like there is no amount of caffeine that can help me...
Like my brain is fogged over.
Things go undone around the house. The bed? Not made. The laundry? Fallen behind. (& those are 2 tasks I generally stay on top of)
Patience? Out the door.

Herein lies a dilemma.
I'm generally not a fan of CIO (cry-it-out), but I do know there are circumstances where it makes sense.
We tried CIO with Aidan & it didn't work.
We did it w/ Brennan & it did.
Each time I had many moments of feeling like a horrible mother, "making" my baby cry.
But there were also moments of seeing the rewards of the "training", and "letting" my baby learn to fall asleep unassisted.

Gah. What to do? What to do?
Cillian is only 5 months old (on the 18th) & part of me feels it's too young. The other part of me is screaming for relief from this exhaustion. Aside from some major teething, there is nothing physically wrong.

So can you help me? Just tell me what to do? PLEASE? I am so torn. And I'm driving myself crazy.

4 comments:

Mandy said...

As much as I hate to say it, I think letting him cry may be the way to go. When we did that with our first, we hovered around him, then in the room, then backed away to the door, etc. until we were out of the room. It took two nights, both nights we thought we were going to lose our minds. Thinking of you.....

Molly said...

Funny...I have been going through the EXACT same thing with Bennett. What is it about the past week? Ever since we went to Michigan he has been sleeping horribly. Waking every two hours (or less) is not the way to get a good nights rest. He was sleeping pretty well about a month ago and even has had two 9 hour nights! I think he just wants to sleep with a boob in his mouth! I decided today to let him cry for his nap and it worked. I am thinking of trying it tonight. He is so young....but I can't keep getting up that often. I too, am like a zombie and very impatient with the boys. I keep telling myself that this will be over and I will soon forget....Oliver was a horrible sleeper early on too. Good luck!

Amy said...

I think you need to do whatever you need to do to get yourself some rest. You know he is safe- it's not like you're ignoring his true needs- so I don't think it hurts to let them cry a little. I did it with my kids and I'm pretty sure it was harder on me than it was on them.

Hyperactive Lu said...

I agree with the other gals... I think it might be time to let him learn to settle himself. I usually do it around 6 mos- I give my kiddos 6 mos to learn how to sleep, eat whenever they want, etc. but at 6 mos, we do a schedule and we learn how to self soothe,etc. Will be praying for you girl!!! I can relate!