Though, my laptop did. Jon Boy and I are now sharing his computer, which means less time for time-consuming activities online, such as blogging. What’s more, Lego has recently decided that it’s BORING when Mommy’s on the computer, and he pesters me by grabbing the mouse, begging to nurse, pushing buttons on the keyboard, and pushing my chair around in circles until I get off. Anyway, I just haven’t been online much, and when I have been, I’ve been playing Scrabble on Facebook.
The main thing I’ve been wanting to blog about recently has been Lego’s sleeping problems.Because I’m pregnant, I’ve found that suddenly my body can’t handle waking up three or four times each night to nurse Lego. I never really liked doing it, but I was used to it enough that I was coping. But when I’m pregnant, I need even more sleep than usual. The days were dragging, and I had no energy to do my housework or to play with Lego.
I did a ton of research and even got some advice from Lego’s doctor, so we started on a strict regimen. Lego was to eat every three hours, no less (he’d always been a “grazer”), we would comfort him when he woke at night, but I would not nurse him until he’d been in bed at least eight hours, and I would “calorie pack” everything I fed him (this was because his weight gain was approaching abominable). Mmm, half and half mixed with whole milk to drink. Mmmm, butter on everything.
To make a long story short, the regimen did a good job of getting more calories into Lego. It didn’t do a great job getting him to sleep. After five days of rocking, singing, and snuggling Lego to sleep when he’d wake (still three or four times a night), I was exhausted. Nursing is a LOT faster and easier than that, and he wasn’t really waking any less. I relaxed a bit and figured I’d start with a five-hour stretch as the goal instead of eight and then gradually lengthen it. That allowed me to sleep better (only two wakings) for a few nights, until he started waking every three hours again, and by then I was so tired I didn’t have the will to fight it. Lego was back frequenting the all-night diner with a vengeance.
Last week, I reached the end of my rope. I did something I never felt I could do before: I tried the horrible, cruel, painful method of just not going into Lego’s room at all from bedtime until morning. I knew he would scream his lungs out all night. I knew he’d probably feel abandoned and hungry and scared. But I also knew that he’d soon learn that there was no point to waking up if there was no reward for it. After a week of doing this, Lego still wakes once or twice, albeit briefly. He quickly puts himself back to sleep.
Meanwhile, he’s protesting solid food a bit (though that’s slowly getting better). And now he has a cold. But I’m sleeping at night, and I’m feeling so much better during the day. As mean as I felt those first few nights, I’m wondering if I should have done this earlier.