Monday, February 2, 2009

Dear Dr. Ferber, I Need a Refund!

I need some advice from any mommies out there whose child would not sleep through the night after 10 nights of letting them cry!!!! In fact, I need to know if anyone's child got WORSE after the first week??!! In your comments, you need to remember that Hollyn is NOT the typical easy or even average baby. I even have the "challenging baby" diagnosis from my pedi! Oh well, in the grand scheme of life it is truly not a big deal. I am so blessed to have a smart girl with a healthy set of pipes! I am just thinking if she is going to cry for an hour every night now then I would rather go and nurse her. I guess we can always blame all our problems on teething. Instead of dwelling on my sleepless nights, I leave you with this...


My little sleepless wonder crawled under the Exersaucer, stood up, and was peeking through the leg holes.


7 comments:

Jana said...

Aw, so cute. I miss that little "challenge" baby! You poor thing though - I can't imagine not getting good sleep for almost a whole year!

Kylie said...

Bless your heart- I am so sorry that you are so tired! There definitely are some babies, as you are finding out, that don't sleep no matter what. :) My only advice for you now, is to not listen to anyone but yourself and your baby. What works for you? What works for your baby? Don't worry about what anyone else thinks about your parenting or your child and do what is going to make you the happiest and get you some much needed sleep! Babies are people with their own thoughts and ideas :) Yes, you are the mom and you make the rules but you are also a mother/daughter team and you've got to do what works best the both of you. You know what I mean? You may have not ever thought that you were an "attachment parent" but maybe she'd sleep nursing all night in your bed. Then do that and forget what anyone else might think if that works for y'all. If you think she will eventually stop crying after 30 nights of crying, then do that. Just do what fits you and your baby. You're a good mom. Trust your gut. And remember too that nothing lasts forever :) Your attitude is great. Teeth are a problem and her ears could be too. Have you ever talked to your doctor about "silent relfux"? The kind that really hurts and disturbs sleep but has no spit up involved? I am convinced that was Hudson's issue... Of course she does seem to be eating well :) I'm sorry there is no "magic fix". I wish there was. Your patience is incredible and your girl is so beautiful!! Hang in there!

Nicki W. said...

hey jill,
god bless ya. sometimes you just have to accept. i know know know how you feel in a lot of regards with a challenging baby :) my sis-in-law had an easy baby, but he nursed once a night until he was a year. she tried most things, but it was just easier that way.
i am really finding out that each baby is different. i tried the same things with reese that i did with tristan that "worked" and she is her own little person. she is still waking up at night to eat regardless of the cluster feed, bath, book, etc...she wants to eat at 4:45 am! She instantly falls back asleep, so i figure, what's the harm??

it won't last forever...:)

Kimberly said...

maybe on friday we can talk! you know our story- i never made him cry it out until now (because that's what i wanted to do for him) and it only took three nights of three minutes for him to cry. now he sleeps through the night. maybe my advice is just wait until she's two!!! unless of course, you're ready to sleep through the night!

lauren said...

I'm so sorry! I know that has got to be so frustrating, but just know that you will eventually sleep through the night again. I'm about to blog about how Ferber worked for James, but I know that it doesn't work for everyone. I have another friend whose son it didn't work for. I think some children just don't need as much sleep! I know already that Jack is not as good a sleeper as James. Maybe your next one will be a great sleeper!

Tiffany said...

Oh Jilly! What a frustration! Unfortuntaly, I do not have any good advice, but I will pray for your situation. Holly Moley that picture made me laugh out loud!

Jennifer said...

I'm sorry you're not getting any sleep yet. We still aren't in our house either, so you're not the only up at 3 am. I just want to say I agree wholeheartedly with everything Kylie said. What she wrote is exactly what I would have written.

I think what helped me get over my obsession with trying to get Josiah to sleep all night, was to stop expecting that he would and stop expecting that he is ever going to be like all the other kiddos out there that sleep all night. One I accepted that it helped a lot. It helped me to deal with the 3-6 wakings at night. I just realized that he needs me and that's all he needs, nothing else works or helps, just me or Justin. One day he will get better, but in this time in his life I have decided to forsake sleep to give him what he needs. Don't worry about what anyone else says, or what anyone else is doing. Do what works for you and for Hollyn.

And I want to echo what Kylie said about the possibility of bring Hollyn to bed with you and letting her nurse at night. When I finally made that decision (despite what everyone else told me) it made our lives SOOO much better. I actually got sleep at night, and when he would wake he would nurse and go right back to sleep, no getting up out of bed. Just a thought for you.

I am praying for you, I know it's frustrating. Just figure out what works for you guys and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. And stop expecting that she SHOULD sleep through the night, because she may not for a while. God made Hollyn perfect the way she is and you are a good mother. Try to stop stressing about sleeping through the night and just go with the flow...Hollyn's flow. :)