Cam's been giving us a run for our money. At first he was so excited to get on his knees ready to crawl, that he'd practice in his crib at 3am. I'd hear him talking LOUDLY to himself, go in after awhile and find him on his knees trying it out. This went on for a few days.
Then he started waking up multiple times in the middle of night. Before all this started, he'd been sleeping pretty well and some nights would sleep until 5 or 6am. So this whole waking up again felt like a slap in mommy's face. To make matters worse, he also decided at the same time that naps were no longer fun. He began to fight his afternoon nap EVERY DAY. Some days, I'd give in and just take him out after an hour of him crying/talking and me checking in on him. One day, I tried to let him "cry it out" for a longer period of time. That didn't seem to make things better or teach him anything positive. So, I went back to going in when I'd hear him cry in a way that I know will not subside on its own.
What is going on here?
Mommyhood is largely about trial and error. And it really is about mommy instincts too. One afternoon, Cam had been fighting his nap for almost and hour. It was 2:30pm and he needed to sleep. Something told me, "Maybe he's hungry." I never feed him at this time. He takes down 8 oz at noon and goes 4-5 hours in between meals. How can he possibly be hungry again? Well, something told me he was so I made him 4 oz and fed him. Point 1 for mommy cause he WAS hungry! After his 4 oz he went down for his nap, no problem.
So then I started thinking that maybe he needs a snack in the afternoon. The next day I tried giving him 4 oz at around the same time again. Nope. Point 1 for baby.
Still fighting his naps and now he's moved on to fighting his morning ones too. Good grief. Points 2, 3 and 4 for baby!!
I'm still thinking that maybe he really is hungrier these days though and perhaps that's why he's waking up more? Worth a shot. I start to work oatmeal back into his diet and he takes that down easily. Point 2 for mommy.
Still getting up in the middle of the night though and won't go back down without a feeding. Point 5 for baby.
Friends start to say maybe it's a growth spurt?
Up his oatmeal intake some more after a few days and he eats like a champ! THIS KID CAN EAT. He is SO Brian's child.
Then yesterday, there seemed to be a turning point. Cam got up at around 2:30am the night before. I fed him 6 oz in a effort to hopefully get Cam to sleep until 7am so mommy and daddy aren't zombies. No such luck and he got up at 5:30am (his new seemingly usual routine). I decided to give him another 4 oz and see what happens. He went back to sleep.
I got up on my own at 8:45am and was shocked to see the time. Cam's not up yet? How is that possible? He never sleeps this late!
Quietly enter his room to make sure he's still breathing. Yup. Fast asleep. Huh.
I go and make myself breakfast, get his breakfast ready and watch the clock. 9am. 9:15am...still sleeping. I text Brian to let him know what's up and tell him I figure he's tired so I'll let him sleep. Check in on him at 9:30am. Still alive.
Finally, Cam wakes up at 9:45am. Interesting.
We go about our usual day and I make sure to watch for his sleepy cues. He's tired at around 11:30am so I put him down for a nap and he goes down pretty easily. Sleeps for 2 hours.
He's up again and then gets tired around 3:30pm. Another easy nap and sleeps for an hour.
He's fed at 4:30 and then again at 6:30pm. This isn't out of the ordinary but he doesn't drink all of his milk at 6:30. Try to put him down for the night and he fusses for an hour! Boo. At 7:30 I pick him up and he's still crying. Are you hungry?? Brian makes him a few more ounces of milk, he drinks it like he's starving and then quickly goes to sleep after that. SO WEIRD.
This morning, he's back to his regular schedule. Got up at 7am, nap at 8:30am and then nap again at 1pm. All naps he doesn't fight me on. Points 3, 4 and 5 for mommy!
I'm hoping whatever phase Cam was going through is over. Yesterday, he really figured out how to scoot around the house so maybe he was working that out in his sleep? Or maybe he really was going through a growth spurt? Or maybe we were just keeping Cam out too late and not putting him down for naps early enough. Who the heck knows? I just hope we're back on track and on the road to sleeping through the night. I keep waiting for that day to come!
Mommy and baby are even at the moment. We'll see who gets a leg up tonight...
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