Sleep like a Baby

I believe the phrase "Sleep like a baby" may be the most incorrectly used string of words in the English language. Either that, or someone forgot to tell my baby about this policy that encourages long periods of rest among the infant set. As I mentioned, one of the most popular questions I get asked is "Is she sleeping through the night?". I'm not sure why this particular question is so popular; either misery loves company is truer than I thought or people just enjoy using it as an opportunity to brag about how their child began sleeping through the night at two weeks old (and takes three, two hour naps daily and makes diapers full of rainbows, no doubt.)

Life is cruel; towards the end of my pregnancy I was so exhausted but I couldn't sleep most nights - between the frequent trips to the bathroom and the giant, almost comically large belly, a good nights sleep was rare. Then when I traded those in for the infant, those nights pretty much disappeared completely. I have noticed a few things though - when Baby Lovely naps, she sleeps better at night, and the earlier she goes to bed the longer stretch she will sleep at night. While both of those facts seem counter-intuitive, they definitely work to get a few more hours of sleep.

For some reason she HATES to nap, though. She fights it every time. I finally came to the conclusion that I needed a little help, so I checked out Elizabeth Pantley's The No-Cry Sleep Solution. I'm currently in the process of reading it, but I'll let you know if it makes a difference. I have several friends who use the "cry it out" method or a modified version, but I personally haven't been able to. For one thing, I just don't think I have the stomach for it.  Baby cries do me in. I also don't know if it would work for us - on the few occasions where BL has had to cry for any length of time when I couldn't immediately get to her, her screams would escalate to the point that she would make herself sick. (Specifically a thirty minute car ride home from my dad's house one night. I even stopped ten minutes in because I was afraid something was wrong with her. I don't know which one of us it was more traumatic for.) Until I finish the book I'm just going to continue to encourage long naps and enjoy the time I do get to watch her sleeping peacefully.

My sweet girl as a newborn, sleeping like a baby