Bedtime? I don’t have no stinking bedtime!

It’s yet another night this week that Rónan decided to just not go to sleep. I’m sure if he could, he would have risen his little hand up high and given me his best middle finger gesture. It was a fight to get him into pjs even. Generally, he has a solid food dinner at 5pm, bath around 5:30-6pm and then he is nursed at 6:30pm until he’s asleep. I know that’s a big no-no, but it’s our time to cuddle and bond at night. He doesn’t have to be all the way asleep and I just pick him up and put him in his crib and he’s out like a light at 7pm. It was always like clockwork. This week has been one hell of a battle every night during bedtime. By the time he goes to bed, it’s 8:30pm and he STILL gets up at 6am. You’d think that going to bed later would make you want to sleep later. Apparently not for infants.

I’m not a fan of the cry it out Ferber method. It goes against human nature and my motherly instincts (which I think I’ve finally acquired) to leave the love of my life to cry himself to sleep. I know that he isn’t trying to manipulate me. He’s a baby. He is having trouble going to sleep and wants some company. I know that I sleep better knowing that I have my husband to snuggle into and help me drift into slumber every night, so why is it so bad for me to do the same for my baby? I definitely like a lot of aspects of Dr. Sears’ attachment parenting. (http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/attachment-parenting) So that is what we have been doing all week. We take him out of the crib, hold and cuddle him while we talk or watch TV until he eventually falls asleep. The more I research, the more I learn about baby sleep regression. And apparently the worst age this happens at is 8-10 months old and usually lasts for 4 to 6 weeks. It usually happens when a baby is learning a new skill like crawling or cruising. So seeing as this is only the first week, I’m sure there will be another few weeks of fighting sleep to deal with. (http://naturalfamilytoday.com/parenting/sleep-regressions-what-they-are-and-what-to-do/)

Oh look, I’ve rambled. I try not to do that in these blogs, but it happens. I think it’s time I join Rónan in sleepytime land. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be slightly more coherent. I’ve tried to put a couple sites for sleep info down here in the hopes that it may also help someone else. Enjoy!