**I will preface this with the following. I'm writing this post because I have a lot of friends and family with newborns or infants that complain to me that their child is either not sleeping through the night yet or that they don't think their child will EVER sleep or be on a schedule**
As many of you know P was a hard baby. Crying almost all day and most of the night for a few weeks. Then he started sleeping longer through the night so it was just crank baby during the day...all day...alllllllll day.
I didn't think it would ever get better. Honestly I thought it was going to be like that forever.
We got told to try a million things, from a million people, a million different times. While we welcomed the advice and kindly responded with "oh yes, we've tried that and it just didn't work for P." or "oh why didn't we think of that!", we were welcomed back a good portion of the time with looks of disgust because we didn't try it right then and there to prove it or show them they were right.
Then it turned into he's too cold, you aren't dressing him properly, you aren't feeding him enough/the right thing, he's wet, he's tired, you need to swaddle him the rest of his life, you are doing SOMETHING wrong.
And a lot of the times it turned into this "The baby is feeding off of your anxiety."
Yes, I know the baby reads and feeds off my levels, but that's not always how it goes. When I'm nice and calm inside and out, and he's screaming his brains out.....I just don't see the correlation there.
****After two hours of this, hey! I see the correlation! I was frazzled by that point so he had to REALLY be frazzled by that point!****
He did have some good days where he was a happy little clam. But to be honest, those days were far and few to come by the first 8 weeks. I didn't have a huge cuddler either... Not with me anyway. I'm bony though, so I understand his disgust =)
I had a no-nap-ninja... and let's say the cat-nap-ninja somedays. He didn't nap. I tried EVERYTHING to get him to nap. Nothing worked. IF...IF IF IF IF something worked, he really only napped for about 10-15 minutes.
I remember the time he napped for 2 hours. I was freaking out! This isn't my kid!? Whose kid is this?! Yeah, see up there...the bolded part? That was ONCE in his 4.5 months of existence in the world.
I remember everyone telling me it's going to get better (or my dad's infamous jinxing words "babies just eat, sleep, and poop").
It took awhile, but it's finally better.
Since I have been home from work this summer (I say work because I've noticed that when I say I'm home from school people ask what my job is or tell me I'm just a teacher and don't have much work to be working on...that's a whole new can of worms) I have managed to get P on a nice schedule for ME AT HOME.
He wouldn't nap forever, but AT HOME he is taking two to three naps now, scheduled naps, AND they are becoming longer! While my sister was here this past week he took an almost 4 hour nap. I was going crazy! Again, whose kid is this?! this isn't my kid!? He has been having a few fussy early mornings but we are working on those. The last three mornings he has woken up around 6 or 7 for his first bottle. Woop!
P is sleeping about 9-10 hours a night and sometimes goes back down for another 2-3 after his first bottle (of course only right now because I'm at home and not having to leave for work).
So, coming from someone who didn't have it too terribly easy to start out (I know, it could have been worse.....he could have not slept at night too!), it does get better. It may take awhile, but it will get better.
**someone remind me of this post if we ever have another child and they are a no-nap-ninja too**
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