Saturday 28 April 2012

Dear Nocturnal Baby...


Dear nocturnal baby boy,

I write this letter with blurry eyes and a not so bushy tail, after nights of you going down late and waking throughout my slumber, I am wondering when these horrid nights will end.

We had such a great understanding you see Leo, when 6pm would chime you would be out for the count. Now I can spend hours trying to settle you and that understanding seems to have gone.

I don't know if your poorly, teething or just plain mean? Is it just a phase? Or am I really in for it now?

I seem to sit on the stairs longer than I stay in my bed. I sit there willing you to stop crying and lie down in your cot. You seem to think it is immensely clever to stand up and shout at me, and sometimes you are stood up quicker than I can escape the clutches of your room.

Last night it took me 5 hours to finally get you down, and even though you went down exceptionally late you still awoke at 2am for a bottle. It wouldn't be so bad if you went back down after your Milk, but you seem to want to play. It is lovely that you like to relax and watch a bit of television, but I must protest at you waking me up in the middle of the night to do so.

I have tried to just stay in your room and put you back down in your cot to go to sleep, but this has not been working like it usually would. Although I know flicking the television on is not the best idea, at this time of night I don't really know what to do. It seems to settle you, and the cuddles then seem to calm you down, a temporary solution to my nightly problem.

Leo this actually does have the potential to drive your Mummy insane. There really is only so much 'In the night garden' I can stand to watch. My sleep deprivation hits a new level when you insist I watch this, and when the narrator tells me it is time to go to sleep, I find myself nodding in agreement and hoping you will too. Those magic words make me long for my bed, and the thought of closing my tired eyes makes them heavier still.

When you finally succumb to sleep, and the standing up in your cot and screaming for all to hear comes to an end. I see a opportunity to take my tired body back to bed. I look at the clock knowing you will be up again soon and try to make the best of the sleep I can get. I lie there in bed and take full advantage of the warm duvet wrapped around me, and the satisfying feeling I get when I close my eyes. I find myself listening to the baby monitor half expecting the slightest cough you make to be another reason for me to leave my sanctuary behind.

Leo I am looking to cut a deal with you, something along the lines of extra pudding at dinner. Or more Milk before bed, in fact.... Anything at all. You name it and it will be done. The only thing I am asking of you is to PLEASE go to bed at your usual time. PLEASE just wake up once if you feel you must, and PLEASE go straight back down after your Milk.

You know...Like usual...

I am not asking you to sleep straight through and I know this will come when you are ready. I am just asking for enough sleep to keep me human, and enough sleep to do all the fun things I love to do with you.

So please nocturnal baby...Bring me back my little Leo and let us both catch some Zzzz's...

Signed...

Blurry Eyed & Not Bushy Tailed
xx


3 comments:

  1. Oh lovely, I feel for you, I can't imagine how tired you must be feeling. I have no suggestions really because Mads has always slept well, but I know from friends that they try and implement a strict routine- they get into bad habits really quickly unfortunately. We go upstairs at half 6 and have a bath, then read a story, brush teeth, have milk and go to sleep. My friend who is a health visitor recommended to another friend to get her son a cuddly toy and she made her sleep with it under her pillow for a few weeks so it got her scent, she gave it to him and he found it really comforting and started to sleep a bit better. x

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    Replies
    1. Thanks lovely, has been a trying week to say the least. Tonight seems better. He has been down since 6 and I haven't heard a peep yet. We have a strict routine that I follow to the dot. every night. I think he has either been a little under the weather with his teething or him not being in his Gro bag has played a part. Tonight he has gone down no problem in his Gro Bag after a relaxing bath with Little Me baby bath!

      Thanks for all the advice :-) Really appreciate it xx

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  2. I'm on day 9 of living with a nocturnal baby. After a week of having a cold and teething she has decided that night time, is playtime. I'm so pleased to read that there's an end to the tunnel! Late night baby programs are not the future!

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