I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but I feel like I need to tell the world!! Bennett slept wonderfully last night!! By wonderfully, I mean he slept for a long stretch of time and only got up once while he was in his crib! Last night was a huge milestone for us. Ever since Bennett was born, sleep, or lack thereof, has been the biggest challenge for me. I say for me because for Bennett he was perfectly content to sleep that way and I'm pretty sure that's the way he really wanted it. Let me just tell you about all our sleeping arrangements since birth.
I knew from the beginning Bennett would not be sleeping in his room His room is upstairs and I was not going to drag my butt up those stairs during the middle of the night to feed him. We had a pack and play all ready for him right next to our bed. Bennett had other plans though because for the first couple of months Bennett slept on my chest on his stomach. Yes, you read that right, he slept on me. I slept on the couch with him for the longest time. While it wasn't the best sleeping arrangements, it was the only arrangement that would make Bennett sleep- and at that time I was all about getting him to just sleep. He didn't want to sleep on his back and I was scared to death of letting him sleep on his stomach. That was the only position he wanted to be in. So I felt much more at ease with him asleep on me that way. I worked hard trying to get him to sleep on his own- he just did not want to be put down and sleep by himself. I can't really blame him, he was used to the comfort and security of mommy and only being 2 months old, it had to be scary. Eventually he was ok with sleeping right next to mommy in her bed, which I was more than happy to do because it was much better than sleeping on couch with him on my chest. So that's how he started sleeping in our bed. Plus, middle of the night feedings were SO much easier if he was right there beside me. We have been sleeping that like that for a long time now. And to be honest, I loved it. I loved knowing he was right there with me and I could just reach over and rub his hair or feel his soft little hand. There were some sweet moments in the midst of some frustrating and exhausting nights.
The 9 month growth spurt has been the roughest so far. It had him getting up several times a night and I think he got used to doing that because he continued to get up all throughout the night. Plus teeth started to come in and I'm sure he was uncomfortable with that. Being a mother who never let Bennett cry it out, it was exhausting. But I knew in time he would reach a point when he was ready to sleep differently. The hard part was I just didn't know when. I think last night might have been the turning point. We put him in his crib around 8:00, which was early, and he slept for about an hour or so and then we heard him stirring. Before, he would wake up and start to cry, but last night he rolled around in is crib and went right on back to sleep. (Note, his crib has been in our bedroom because we have attempted to try to get him to sleep there many nights. And the thought of him being upstairs in his room is still uneasy to me right now.) I even walked into our room and put sheets on our bed and he didn't wake. I had a hard time going to sleep last night, probably because in the back of my head I just knew he would get up again. He slept until 3:30, which at that time he woke up and was crying. Jason got up and warmed up a bottle and he drank it, spit some of it back up, and went right on back to sleep, in his crib! Jason had to wake him up at 7:00 to get him ready to go to Mrs. Bertha's.
I'm in shock right now, and I definitely don't want to jinx myself by writing all of this. But it seems like Bennett has made a turn in the right direction. Not that what we were doing before was wrong. (Although I'm sure a lot of you reading this might think it was wrong to co-sleep) But for all of you out there that might be struggling with the same thing, babies will reach milestones when they are ready. I think a lot of parents have this idea what is right and what their baby should be doing at certain times, specifically sleeping through the night, and sometimes they aren't there yet. Letting them cry it out isn't the answer- give them time, give them lots of love and attention, and in the end everything will turn out just fine.
Now, we just have to see what Bennett does tonight!!! :)
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