Currently Craving: MMMMmmm Chocolate
I think maybe i should make a label for all the posts about sleep. sleep is a serious subject in my life that i've never given much thought to until becoming pregnant and knowing an infant is on the way to rob me of it.
All the baby books, all the emails, all the relatives... EVERYONE says "Sleep when the baby sleeps." YES. ok. i plan to sleep when baby sleeps and be awake to take care of her when i need to. getting my mind logically around that seems fine. so then the other day i got an email from one of the services i'm subscribed to. it tells me what's going on with Babe each week (this week she is supposed to be about 5 lbs, 20 inches... the size of a medium pumpkin). again the email stressed the Sleep when baby sleeps mantra. and what it said was something to the effect of just LET GO of any sort of desire to keep a normal schedule, let go of any need to be 'social' or do laundry or get things done during the daytime hours and really let yourself rest whenever you need to. nothing different from what everyone has been saying and has said all along since the dawn of time. but somehow when i read it it just made sense differently.
and it occurred to me... there's no reason why this can't start right now. there's no reason to try to cling to some specific sleep schedule at this point when in general i don't have major responsibilities before 6pm most days. and if i'm not sleeping all night, there's no reason to 1. force myself to get OUT of bed just when i start getting comfortable around 7am or 2. force myself NOT to nap so i can 'get stuff done'. also, if i'm going to be awake all night anyway i may as well get up and DO something rather than toss and turn and keep max up. so i told max about this new plan and he seemed to support it which is good because he likes to call us 'bums' if we take a nap or rest on a sunday. and so far it seems to be working well. usually i'll wake up too early for my own comfort needing breakfast. but i'm finding i can sleep for at least an hour, maybe two more if i get up and eat and then just crawl back in bed with him. yesterday i also tried the napping idea, but it didn't last because seriously our bedroom must be the hottest place on the planet. perhaps the rain from the hurricane this weekend will induce a more nappable state. either way.... if you call and i sound groggy i'm just on the thomas jefferson (or is it thomas edison) model of sleeping every few hours and being awake every few hours. we'll see how it goes.
2 comments:
I have been trying that model of sleeping when I feel I need sleep. Alas, some 4 year-old keeps sticking his face in mine just as I nod off, exclaiming, "Mommy, Mommy!! Look at me!!"
Luckily, if I am really exhausted, my mind has learned how to tune it out.... I think that the best advice I could give you is just listen to your instinct, in all aspects of child bearing and rearing. Schedules and routines may suit some folks, but others are happy doing what needs to be done just when it needs to be done. Cillian taught us that wonderful lesson. So, drink to your thirst, eat to your hunger, and sleep to your exhaustion. Just do what feels natural.
most of the whacked out routine starts to level out after 6 weeks or so...
sleeping with baby eliminates a good bit of that lost sleep myth... it's just different sleep (regardless of where they are). check out the work of dr. james mckenna, a sleep researcher from notre dame.
and, a never- spoken- of parenting truth-- you only have to change poop diapers at night-- not pee!!
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