Wow! Colin is actually sleeping in the house, during the day, while I write this post. It's in the swing, but it's better than nothing. I'm going to take full advantage of these few minutes I have to do a little mommy venting. (Disclaimer: I am totally in love with Colin and being a mommy, I just had no idea this sleep thing could be so hard)
Before Tim left, we worked really hard to improve Colin's night-time routine. It is now pretty easy to get him to sleep after a bath, massage, story, and a little bit of rock and/or nursing. He is down in his crib if not the first try by the third. This means he is almost always asleep by 8 and sometimes as early as 6:30. He continues to wake up to eat about three times a night (around 10:30, 1:30, and 4:30) and wakes between 6:30 & 7:30 in the morning. Those few hours in the evening from 8-10 or so are keeping me sane because....Colin is the Ultimate Nap Fighter.
We use to call him the Ultimate Sleep Fighter but have since refined the name. Since about 2 months old, Colin has been fighting the sleep during the day, to the point where his eyelids are bright red from trying to keep his eyes open. It seems the only way he will sleep is if he is in his car seat and out and about. This is great in some ways because it allows me to get out of the house but bad in other ways such as the dent all the shopping is doing on my wallet, the various household chores that aren't getting done, and most importantly it's keeping me from having any down time whatsoever during the day. When I'm only getting at max 3 hours of sleep at a time and not getting any break with Tim gone I need a little time to recoup. That being said, I LOVE spending time with Colin, and really would not care, sleep deprived and all, if he was awake all day if he wasn't wailing half the time like this:
Ok, ok. I guess it's not that bad ALL the time but he fusses a whole lot. He just gets himself to the point of exhaustion. I've been doing a nap routine with him and placing him in his crib for weeks now but all he does is scream. I'm doing everything all the sleep books say, making sure to start the routine before he is overly tired, making the room dark, etc. Sometimes he will eventually fall asleep but it will last 15 minutes-30 minutes max. This morning, for example, he cried for a hour in the crib and never fell asleep. I couldn't take it anymore, strapped him in the car seat and went for a drive, within 15 minutes he was asleep.
I keep telling myself it will get better, and I know it will, I just wish there was more I could do to make him happier. I feel like the only time he is happy is when he is nursing or right afterwards (thats when I take all my pictures!). Unfortunately, nursing for me is mostly unpleasant, I'm still having problems and just wish I could get him to take a bottle so I would get a break once a day. Speaking which, I bought yet another pacifier while I was out today, came home, boiled it right away, and....he wouldn't take it. I tried giving him a bottle this morning too and thankfully he does seem to be more interested in it along with the pacifier but he just thrusts them both out of his mouth and cant seem to suck on them correctly. Not sure what all that is about.
Anyways, right now, he is STILL sleeping in his swing....I decided to put the speed a lot faster today and I think it actually worked. Crossing my fingers that it will work tomorrow too! I just love seeing him peacefully asleep and I get excited knowing that he will wake up happy after getting a decent nap, yay!
Since Colin is the ultimate nap fighter and I pretty much never win the fight at home I spend a lot of time around town. I figure I better enjoy it now because before I know it he will only sleep in his crib and nowhere else. Here are some of our most recent nap adventures.
We took a beautiful walk on the beach last Wednesday.
Colin stayed asleep the entire time.
He was asleep when we got to the beach at 10:00 and was still asleep at 12:00. I decided to take advantage and had lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. It was so nice. I was able to sit outside and take in the ocean breeze. The waitress was awesome and gave me a sand dollar for Colin who remained asleep all through lunch, the drive home, and after I took him out of the car. A new trick I've learned is to keep him on the front porch when we first get home. The kitchen is right there, so I try to get everything in the kitchen done that I needed to do that day before he wakes up.
If I bring him inside, he always seems to wake up immediately. He slept out front on that day for over 15 minutes. I didn't want to keep the door open any longer so I took him out back and closed the screen door while I got some things done in the living room. He seriously slept a good 45 minutes after we got home, outside.
The last time Colin had ate was 8:40 that morning. He did not wake till almost 1:40. This means he went 5 hours between eating ~ this was a record for Colin who usually demands I feed him every two hours or less when we are home. He also slept for over 3 hours. I know that is too long for a nap but when I can hardly get him to sleep for 30 minutes I'll take what I can get. If I would have stayed home as I did the next day...he'd sleep less than an hour from 7 AM until bedtime at 7 PM. That is just not enough sleep for a 3 month old!
On Friday, it was really crummy weather here so I didn't feel like going out. We stayed in the house all day and it was basically torture. Colin did not sleep all day. The video above was from that day. So, what do you think I did on Saturday? Got out of the house! Another item on my bucket list was to visit the county park just down the street from our house. I did not realize how beautiful it was. They had a bunch of walking trails which were all lined with various palm trees.
Lilly got to come along and really enjoyed being surrounded by nature. I was able to take her off the leash for most of the time and she just followed along. Meaning she'd get totally distracted by a smell and get really far behind us then realize we were getting too far away and run to catch up.
I was just totally taken back by all the beauty. I could not get over all the moss hanging off this tree.
Colin fell asleep on the way there and you can probably guess, slept the whole time. Even when going across this bumpy bridge...
or over rocks and tree roots...
I found a few hidden spots that I will definitely be bringing Tim back to. At one point I thought I was on a path to nowhere and was completely lost when I stumbled upon this swing. It just seemed like such a romantic spot!
There were also a bunch of picnic areas. This was one of my favorite spots I saw. I plan on eating here in the spring with our little family.
Just another site that took my breath away. The reflection of the trees was totally awesome.
You can also rent paddle boats...another thing I will be back to do...
On our way out we stopped by the fenced in dog park. We took Lilly to the "small" dogs section. Unfortunately, it was for dogs up to 25 pounds and Lilly couldn't quite take what the dogs in there were dishing out. One even jumped up on to the picnic table where Colin was blissfully sleeping (that's right, sleeping through a bunch of dogs causing raucous).
Colin can sleep through anything when we are out so I just don't understand why he wont sleep at home, even when I try to make it mimic the outdoor noises. Oh well, I wouldn't be able to enjoy all the beautiful weather and amazing scenery around me if he only slept at home, so I guess I shouldn't complain!
When we returned, I tried my trick again. It worked, even with my neighbor cutting down a tree with a chain saw. I'm not kidding folks, I could not make that up.
Guess what?? Colin is STILL sleeping in his swing! I was able to write an entire post while he slept...during the day! Victory! Ultimate Nap Fighter: 43 Mom:1
(UPDATE: While editing, Colin woke up screaming, wanting food, I'm sure, even though it hasn't even been that long since he last ate...at least he got about 45 minutes in! Mom still wins.)
