Last night Anastasia slept for eight hours straight. Actually eight and a half, from ten-thirty till seven. I don't think she's ever slept longer than five hours before, and that somewhat rarely, although I can't really be sure...now that she's big enough to pull my boob into her mouth by herself, I think I've slept through quite a few of her night wakings. Gotta love having her sleep in bed with me.
So I ought to have felt wonderful today after such a long sleep, but of course I didn't sleep for eight hours. I didn't go to bed till midnight, and I woke up at five. That's when Anastasia has been waking up for breakfast, until today. I did go back to sleep until seven, but, well, it's not the same as straight hours of sleep.
Or is it that I'm more tired now because I got enough rest to feel how tired I've been?
The funniest part is that I don't even mind her night wakings any more...in fact, I kind of missed them this morning. I lay awake for a while at five this morning hoping she would wake up. I wasn't about to wake her, of course, or move or breathe loudly in a way that might disturb her, but, well, I lay there looking at her, waiting for her to wake. I knew she was going to. But she just sighed and moved her arm a little, and slept on. After a while, I fell asleep too, still expecting her to wake and want to nurse.
I already can tell I'm going to miss all the night nursings as she gradually outgrows them.
Ah, well. Ten to one she'll wake every two hours tonight.
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
10.09.2008
7.16.2008
baby houdini
I'm just laughing this morning at how active Anastasia is. She will not fall asleep without swaddling, but she can wiggle out of the best swaddle known to man. The other night I wrapped her in Matt's baby blanket so tightly that I even tied a knot to keep it in place. Then I put a swaddle blanket (the kind with velcro to hold it shut) on top of that...but by morning, her arms were out and waving.
Right now she's swaddled for her nap, but she somehow managed to turn over from her back to her stomach. Swaddled. How is that even possible? I have no idea...but I have a picture to prove she did it.

You can see that she's rolled over, because she started out lying on top of the pink blanket.
In other news, she didn't pee in her diaper at all last night. Not once. She woke up every two hours as usual, and at 2:30 am she was very restless, kicking her legs and squirming. It occurred to me that she might want to be changed--I've usually been changing her around 3 or 3:30. She's wiggled so much in that swaddling blanket that it now has a big hole at the bottom, so it was easy to pull it up and take her diaper off, so I did, even though it was a little early. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that her diaper was completely dry. So I held her over the bowl I keep next to the bed, cued her, and sure enough, she peed up a storm.
And then it took her less time than usual to settle back down to sleep.
And when I woke up at 7:00 this morning, she was still dry. Again, of course, she peed a lot. But wow! She's been wearing a new swaddlebees pocket diaper that I bought her on diaperswappers.com (she's starting to grow out of her newborn diapers, finally, so I had to buy some more), and I love it--it's very trim and cute. But I've barely had a chance to test it, because she's hardly peed in it since I started using it yesterday morning. I've been using it like a cover with a flatfold inside it, and I think she's only peed in it three or four times in the last 24 hours. At this rate, I'll never find out whether this diaper actually contains leaks or not.
Right now she's swaddled for her nap, but she somehow managed to turn over from her back to her stomach. Swaddled. How is that even possible? I have no idea...but I have a picture to prove she did it.
You can see that she's rolled over, because she started out lying on top of the pink blanket.
In other news, she didn't pee in her diaper at all last night. Not once. She woke up every two hours as usual, and at 2:30 am she was very restless, kicking her legs and squirming. It occurred to me that she might want to be changed--I've usually been changing her around 3 or 3:30. She's wiggled so much in that swaddling blanket that it now has a big hole at the bottom, so it was easy to pull it up and take her diaper off, so I did, even though it was a little early. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that her diaper was completely dry. So I held her over the bowl I keep next to the bed, cued her, and sure enough, she peed up a storm.
And then it took her less time than usual to settle back down to sleep.
And when I woke up at 7:00 this morning, she was still dry. Again, of course, she peed a lot. But wow! She's been wearing a new swaddlebees pocket diaper that I bought her on diaperswappers.com (she's starting to grow out of her newborn diapers, finally, so I had to buy some more), and I love it--it's very trim and cute. But I've barely had a chance to test it, because she's hardly peed in it since I started using it yesterday morning. I've been using it like a cover with a flatfold inside it, and I think she's only peed in it three or four times in the last 24 hours. At this rate, I'll never find out whether this diaper actually contains leaks or not.
Labels:
accomplishments,
diapers,
elimination communication,
sleep,
swaddling
7.12.2008
she's growing up too fast already
I don't know whether to be thrilled or miserable. Anastasia just fell asleep without me.
She's 19 weeks tomorrow, and after four and a half months of needing a lengthy nursing session every time she fell asleep (every nap, every evening, and every night waking every two hours), I was thinking about making some changes. The last few days and nights her sleep has been very disturbed for no discernible reason...the other night she (and I, of course) was awake from 3 am to 6 am. So I was really ready to try something different.
Then a mom in my playgroup told me she had an Amby bed she wanted to sell. The Amby bed is supposed to be very gentle and comfortable and very good for babies who want to be held all the time like Anastasia, so I'd been thinking about giving it a try. My friend told me we could borrow it for a week to see if Anastasia liked it before we bought it. So I picked it up yesterday.
Last night she still woke every two hours at her usual times, but she didn't take as long as usual to go back to sleep. I took her out of the bed, nursed her for five or ten minutes until she stopped sucking hard, and then put her back in the bed and swung it for a minute or two. Every time, she went straight back to sleep. The whole process took less than twenty minutes every time. She usually falls asleep within twenty minutes for her night wakings...but I take longer to fall back asleep, because she's right beside me and I disturb her if I move at all. Now with her in her own space, I'm able to get comfortable without bothering her. I feel like I got twice the sleep I normally do!
But most amazing of all was this morning, when I tried it for her morning nap. She's been having a lot of trouble with this nap; I know she needs it, but for some reason she'll never fall asleep in the morning any more. But today I swaddled her as usual when I thought she was tired, nursed her, and then put her in the Amby bed. I gave her a pacifier, too, which I'm not fond of, but at this point I need a break from the nonstop nursing. Anyway, then I swung the bed for a few minutes. She didn't fall asleep right away, but she was clearly relaxed and tired, and her eyes were closing occasionally, so I stepped out of the room for a minute to brush my hair. I came back and sure enough, she was asleep. It's been twenty minutes and she's still sleeping. Maybe she'll even get a full two-hour nap like she used to! Yeah, I'm definitely sold on the Amby bed. I'll be giving my friend a check at playgroup next week.
Here's a picture of her asleep all by herself:
She's 19 weeks tomorrow, and after four and a half months of needing a lengthy nursing session every time she fell asleep (every nap, every evening, and every night waking every two hours), I was thinking about making some changes. The last few days and nights her sleep has been very disturbed for no discernible reason...the other night she (and I, of course) was awake from 3 am to 6 am. So I was really ready to try something different.
Then a mom in my playgroup told me she had an Amby bed she wanted to sell. The Amby bed is supposed to be very gentle and comfortable and very good for babies who want to be held all the time like Anastasia, so I'd been thinking about giving it a try. My friend told me we could borrow it for a week to see if Anastasia liked it before we bought it. So I picked it up yesterday.
Last night she still woke every two hours at her usual times, but she didn't take as long as usual to go back to sleep. I took her out of the bed, nursed her for five or ten minutes until she stopped sucking hard, and then put her back in the bed and swung it for a minute or two. Every time, she went straight back to sleep. The whole process took less than twenty minutes every time. She usually falls asleep within twenty minutes for her night wakings...but I take longer to fall back asleep, because she's right beside me and I disturb her if I move at all. Now with her in her own space, I'm able to get comfortable without bothering her. I feel like I got twice the sleep I normally do!
But most amazing of all was this morning, when I tried it for her morning nap. She's been having a lot of trouble with this nap; I know she needs it, but for some reason she'll never fall asleep in the morning any more. But today I swaddled her as usual when I thought she was tired, nursed her, and then put her in the Amby bed. I gave her a pacifier, too, which I'm not fond of, but at this point I need a break from the nonstop nursing. Anyway, then I swung the bed for a few minutes. She didn't fall asleep right away, but she was clearly relaxed and tired, and her eyes were closing occasionally, so I stepped out of the room for a minute to brush my hair. I came back and sure enough, she was asleep. It's been twenty minutes and she's still sleeping. Maybe she'll even get a full two-hour nap like she used to! Yeah, I'm definitely sold on the Amby bed. I'll be giving my friend a check at playgroup next week.
Here's a picture of her asleep all by herself:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)