Monday, September 14, 2009

Not in the face!

The last week (or maybe more because the days seem to run together due to lack of sleep...) has been rough. WEB hasn't really slept more than 3 hours at a time at night. He's almost 6 months old! Yes, I know he's teething but that's unacceptable to me. I'm done nursing him, so there is no need for him to wake up every couple of hours to eat at night, especially when he was doing so good. We would get at least 6 hours at a time.

In my desperation, I busted out the books this weekend. Baby 411 basically told me that I'm doing everything wrong.
*No binky - Well, he likes his binky and woobie (aka Rupert) to fall asleep.
*No eating till he falls asleep - How am I supposed to deny my hungry baby food? Even it it's right before he falls asleep?
*Don't pick him up when he starts screaming. Let him soothe himself. - Sorry. When my baby cries and it sounds like he's in pain, I am going to pick him up and hold him.
*There wasn't any real advice when it comes to sleep and teething, other than yes, it will disrupt his schedule. Tell me something I didn't already know!

Hubby and I can't possibly have done bad thus far. We have a happy and healthy baby. He naps pretty well, he eats very well, and is a very happy kid. I would think that if we were doing a horrible job, he'd be screaming and just generally pissed all the time. It's got to be that he's in pain from teething. He already has his bottom two teeth that have broken through the gums. Maybe the top ones are coming in...?

I also picked up 2 books on babies and sleep this weekend: The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Program by Polly Moore, PhD and Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber, MD. Baby 411 goes over all of the most popular sleep methods by different doctors and basically gives you the cliffs notes version of it. It does talk about Dr. Ferber's method, but I figured I'd pick up his book to read more about it. Maybe he has some other tips in his book that will help, especially when it comes to special circumstances like teething. I began reading The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Program , and I am intrigued. I'll tell you more about this in a post later this week when I finish the book. I'm half way there. :)

Well, this morning, after yet another sleepless night, I had Hubby call the pediatrician. WEB has been tugging at his ears. My books (aka "They") say that could be a sign of sleepiness, but it could also be him telling us he has an ear infection. He's been doing it for a few days now, but doesn't have a fever, so I figured if nothing else, it was something we could rule out. Lo and behold, he does not have an ear infection... He has a sore throat. Throat and ears are fairly close, so he's probably tugging on his ears because his throat hurts. There's no antibiotics or anything, but the Nurse Practitioner said to give him some Tylenol at night to just help with the pain of teething and now sore throat. Hopefully it will make him sleep better at night. The funny thing she said was that he could get it from a number of ways, including someone at the grocery store coming up and giving him the "Oh, what a cute baby!". Well, that broad just coughed a virus into my child's face. Thanks a lot, Lady! Why don't you cough malaria all over him too, while you're at it?!

Needless to say, we will be washing our hands more and try to stay out of his face as much as possible. Please, OH PLEASE, let this all help. I could really use a good night's sleep. I've already given Hubby fair warning that I'm PMSing and haven't had any sleep (just like him), so I might be snappy today. I'm trying extra hard to think about what I say before I say it. I've already caught a few snotty things before they flew out of my mouth...Let's hope I can do that for the remainder of the day and we can actually get some sleep tonight!

2 comments:

  1. I hope WEB starts to feel better soon! I imagine its very frustrating trying to help your baby sleep at night and not wanting to "tylenol" him every night. Be tough Lady, hopefully soon WEB will start feeling better. If not you can always call me to sit for you while you sleep! Seems like you two both need a catnap.

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  2. I enjoyed reading this. We have a 2.5 year old and a 9.5 month old - I can totally relate :) It gets better. They do sleep and you are doing a great job!

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