12-2-2009 - baby sleep solutions

My mood while writing this blog: Ok

I have repeatedly encouraged mothers to buy the book Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West because we kept our sanity after reading it. Once again, I encourage you to buy it. Ada has not been a perfect sleeper, but she has become a good sleeper, one that we can deal with and not want to give up for adoption to the zoo. The times she is a less than stellar sleeper are during changes, such as growth spurts, travel, etc.

It seems like just when we have sleeping down pat, something changes. We traveled to Minnesota over the weekend, and Ada was great during the trip, but now her nighttime schedule is thrown off and she wants to sleep at 7:00 instead of 8:00. Another new development is that she not only knows where her feet are (she's known that for a while now), but she knows they taste good. Therefore, every activity now revolves around her feet (diapering, eating, sleeping, playing). Add to that, the nonstop gnawing on her hands that she has been doing since month 2, which has recently increased, if that's possible, to an insanity level. Now, pour in a little bit of separation anxiety that she developed since month 2, which isn't as bad as it had been, but she still wants to know I'm near. Now, we have the recipe for sleepless nights for mother.

So, I've been wondering what to do. I had already read the 4 and 5 month chapter and was doing everything the book said (even when I had not read that chapter before), but Ada was still not sleeping through the night on her stomach, which is the only way she wants to sleep if she wakes up during the night. So, I opened the book because I just had to figure out what to do about teething and mobility and separation anxiety. Surely, there is a chapter on that. Sure enough, Kim addresses these very issues Ada is having in chapter six to eight months. Rolling over, sitting up, teething, feeding solids, etc. are all addressed in this chapter. Cosleeping is also discussed.

After having read this most helpful book, I am again recommending it to all you mothers who want to keep your sanity.