sleep through the night??? We thought it was gonna happen at 8 months, then 10 months, but he fooled us. Orien didn't sleep regularly and completely through the night until ONE year! I think we may have aged 5 years in that one year.
Sleep is wonderful. It is something I never knew I could crave SO much when I lacked it. I would get depressed during the day (when O was very young), because I knew what I was in for that night. You don't realize just how essential it is to your well-being and overall happiness until it's non-existent. I can't tell you how many nights I walked around his room bouncing him in my arms, nearly in tears, and praying to God to "please help him sleep, please help him sleep".
For those of you who are moms-to-be or will have a baby in the future...throw out the baby books. Well don't throw them out, but don't stress over reading every book or website that tells you how to make your baby sleep. Every baby is different. And they almost ALL don't sleep well at first. Every baby is soothed by different things and has different temperments that affect their sleep patterns.
The one piece of advice I can say to try to do (although it's very hard for first-time parents) is to let them cry as long as you can! Even if you just wait a minute or two before going to get them, that's better than running straight to the baby every time they make a peep. Another thing that worked for us is to have Orien sleep in his crib as early as possible. I had him literally RIGHT next to me up against the bed in his porta-crib for the first 6 weeks. He was a delicate newborn and I felt so scared to put him in his crib. But he slept better there (although not perfect) and I slept much better. When they are next to you, you hear every movement, breath, cough, etc. I literally was not sleeping! My mom would come over in those early days and relieve me in the morning and I would take a two hour nap. That's what I was functioning on...TWO HOURS!...no wonder I had a hard time in the beginning adjusting to motherhood.
Ok I have to brag now. Orien is excellent at sleeping. He is even better at putting himself to sleep - for naps and bedtime. He has his moments when he fights it but mostly he plays for a bit in his crib, then lays down and crashes. This started happening when we put our iPod in his room with some speakers. May seem extravvagant to some, but it works like a charm! I switch on his tower fan (a good noise-maker) and play "Orien's bedtime music" playlist and ta-da!!! He's out! It's like magic. I love it.
I'll end with a photo of sweet newborn Orien napping the day we brought him home. His tiny face is so precious and perfect. My life is so enriched because of this tiny little man...and all the sleepless nights and late feedings were so incredibly worth it!
He IS my life!
Sleep is good.
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