Remember when I said I couldn't let my baby cry? Apparently I can.
That's not why I'm an asshole, though.
The Chipmunk started waking every hour. EVERY HOUR. Not only that, but she was arching her back and kicking me and SCREAMING bloody murder. So, like the wonderful parents we try to be, we took her to the doctor. They diagnosed her with silent reflux. She was started on Zantac and you guys, that night she stopped with the arching and kicking and screaming. The only problem was, she was used to getting up every hour and getting cuddles. So she kept getting up and requiring snuggles to get back down. Every hour. EVERY HOUR.
I was losing it. I have an hour commute one way and with the lack of sleep I was pretty sure I was going to end up careening off the road. It was going to be one of those situations where no one knew where to find me and I was stuck upside down, couldn't reach my phone, hanging out in the brush somewhere, starving to death. I was sure of it. Let's not even talk about the stupid mistakes that were happening at work. I was gunna hurt a kid if I wasn't careful.
J and I had said that if she wasn't taking bigger chunks of sleep by 9 months, we would talk to the doctor about what to do. When we make arbitrary timelines like that, J likes to stick to them. I, on the other hand, like to see my child and my life as a fluid, changing, state and offer some flexibility. I should really stop letting him make these timelines. Anyway, I'd read the Weissbluth book before she was born and had been brushing up, just in case we decided to do some sleep training when the magic 9 month mark hit. One night, I completely lost it. It was 1 AM. I went in, nursed her, and laid her down asleep. I went back to my room, into the bathroom, peed, washed my hands, crawled back into bed, laid my head on the pillow, and WAAAAAAH! She was up again. So I joined in with the WAAAAAH!!! I knew I couldn't handle one more night of no sleep. I had been getting frustrated and my frustration was starting to turn on her. That wasn't fair and it scared me. I was just in there. I knew she was fine. She had a dry diaper, a full tummy, and plenty of hugs and kisses. We have a video monitor. I let her cry.
That first night it took her 45 minutes (Sounds horrid, I know, but I still did it.). The second night, 30 minutes. Ever since then, she's fine. She goes to bed at bedtime and naps without a fuss. She has a schedule and she is thriving on it. She still wakes once or twice to nurse and goes right back to sleep. I'm fine with that because she's sleeping 12 hours at night (naps at daycare are a joke) and I can't expect her to not need to eat. She doesn't even weigh 14 lbs yet.
We forgot her meds one night and she was back to the back arching, so we know it wasn't just a coincidence and that she legitimately needs them. Now I can't help but wonder how long she's had this reflux thing. Would she have been a better sleeper before if we'd caught it? She's so much happier now that she sleeping that I feel like we'd been robbing her of sleep! Had she been toughing it out and then it just got so bad that the arching and screaming started?
I'll just keep eating my words over and over as she grows, I reckon!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh my goodness! Great post because everyone has been there with some thing or another. I'm glad you got her on Zantac. I think the arching is the #1 reflux sign. D was on meds for over a year but we were eventually able to stop. I hope you are feeling much much better now that she's sleeping!
ReplyDeletePoor girl! Glad the meds are working. How great that she is sleeping well! What a blessing!
ReplyDeleteWow! So glad you guys figured it out. And whatever you do, don't beat yourself up over if you coulda/shoulda caught it sooner. Babies have no manuals to tell you how to troubleshoot. The main thing is it's working better now and everyone is happier!
ReplyDeleteWhy are you beating yourself up? You are far from an asshole from doing so CIO. Though you originally stated this wasn't something that would work for your family, what happened is that you found you needed to adapt in order to continue to function as a family. And that is totally okay.
ReplyDeleteI find myself rolling my eyes at people who are so insistent about how certain things should be done. Be it feeding, sleep, milestones, or even daily aspects of life. Because the truth is babies grow and change. So do adults. And what works for some at one particular moment will likely change.
Anyway, glad you identified the reflux and Chipmunk is feeling better. May there be many more sleep-filled nights.
Poor thing!!! I'm glad you found the source of the problem and I'm glad you were able to get through CIO too! I've done it with my kids, it's sooo hard, but it's worked super quickly! We let them cry, but still went in every 10 minutes or so. We only soothed, we didn't pick them up then, we just wanted to reinforce that we were still there, but they were ok and needed to go to sleep. Like you, two days and we were done! Good for you! Don't beat yourself up, we all figure out what works for us and 1 hour of sleep at a time isn't it!
ReplyDeleteSo glad the Zantac is working and you're all getting some sleep! I'm the same way--when I figure something out with baby girl, I feel terrible that it took me so long. But it's not like she can tell you what's bothering her. We just have to do our best and be happy we've found something that works.
ReplyDelete