Neither of my children are great sleepers. The little man wasn't consistently sleeping through the night until well after his first birthday--and now he's convinced he no longer needs a nap. The baby was showing great promise but recently had a relapse and I feel like we're now in reverse on the sleeping--sleeping less and less hours in a row as opposed to more and more. However, when she lays in her crib at 4am not sleeping she's very happy about it. She chats and coos, growls and snorts. Her brother, on-the-other-hand, would lay there not sleeping at 4am and scream. Fed and dry, yet still screaming. He ended up sleeping in bed with me on most nights simply out of survival on my part--it was the only way I was getting any sleep at all.
Now when people ask me if the baby is sleeping through the night instead of bursting out, "Are you kidding me? Babies don't sleep. And anyone who says they do is lying! Lies I tell you--all lies!" I simply smile and say, "No, not yet. But she doesn't scream either--we're grateful for the little things!" (Usually I'm that polite--but not always.) Of course, even with the latter response the conversation swings over to the asker relaying stories of his or her child or grandchild who is the world's most perfect sleeper. Seriously, are we keeping score here? My child was sleeping through the night the day we brought him home from the hospital. Bully for you. The thing is, I truly cherish the midnight hours with my daughter. We get so little quiet time alone. She was cooing up at me at 2 this morning. How can I whine about that? Don't misunderstand me--I'm more than ready to sleep for five hours in a row, but if she's not ready for that yet then I'm going to continue to enjoy these wee hours of the morning get-togethers we share. Yes, fine--I still whine about not getting any sleep.
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