It has just gone 7pm and I am dreaming of my bed. It has been an exhausting week as Lily has suddenly developed separation anxiety on top of teething. My child must be in quite a considerable amount of discomfort as she is 9 days short of 10 months old and is still sporting a gummy, toothless smile. So with the separation anxiety as well as teething, you can just imagine the wonderful nights I've been having!
Lily has always, since day one, been a great night time sleeper. She never fought being put down at night nor being put down after a night time feed. I often sympathised with friends whose babies would wake up at night and wouldn't go back to sleep - keeping them awake for hours. I have been spared that torture, well, until last week when, unfortunately, my turn arrived.
The first night Lily started to protest and scream just as I was about to go to bed. I couldn't stand it as my mom was staying over and my husband was out of town, so I just put Lily in bed with me and after a few kicks in my ribs, we both eventually fell asleep. Although I slept, it wasn't a peaceful night as I was very much aware of her tiny little body next to mine and the fact that she could roll out the other side. I was rather stiff the next day from sleeping on my left side all night. So when the crying started the next night again, I decided that I had to be tough and let her cry it out. It was heartbreaking, but luckily I had my mom's support and we both sat together in our pj's in my bed. I would go back into Lily's room every 5-10 minutes to check on her, reassure her and turn her back on her side. She would calm down, but then as soon as I walked out of the room, the screaming would begin again. She eventually fell asleep after 38 minutes.
If I thought 38 minutes was bad, I was in for a treat 2 nights later when she cried for 50 minutes! It felt like a lifetime, but she eventually passed out and slept right through until 4:30am when I fed her and she started her day at 6am. The only "good" thing (if you can call it that) about the crying is that she exhausts herself so much that she sleeps relatively nicely through to the morning. Last night she didn't protest too much, but our night was was much, much worse... She woke up every 2 hours! I went to bed around 9:30pm only to be woken at 11:30pm, 1:30am, 3:30am, 5:15am! All I can be grateful for was the fact that it was hubby's turn to do morning duty so I got to sleep in until 8:20am. Even thought I had a little lie-in, it didn't stop me feeling like an absolute zombie today.
I'm really hoping that Lily's little teeth will make an appearance soon so that at least the teething discomfort will be alleviated. I also hope that this separation anxiety doesn't last too much longer. This sleep deprivation and interruption is really torture. But on a positive note, Lily is getting cuter and cuter with each passing day. She can crawl properly now which is great to see, but she still prefers to leopard crawl. She has been doing so since the 10th February (9.5 months old). She is also pulling herself up and holding onto the couch and coffee table. She has also discovered she can climb the stairs which means the time has come to move our bums and finally buy the gate for our stairs! Lily has also learned to repeat "ta" when we take or give her something - so exceptionally cute!
It is now 7:30pm so I better head off to bed... Here's hoping to a much better night tonight - please!
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