Tough and interesting times
I was going to call this "Tough BUT interesting times," but "and" seems more accurate, somehow.
A whole bunch of changes have been happening, all at once. A few days after she turned 12 months, Daisy started crawling properly. She was sort of dragging along on her belly before, but now she seems able to crawl on her knees. The odd thing is that she chooses not to do it very often or to go very far. She also pulled all the way up--once. We haven't seen her repeat it, but she does pull up to her knees regularly. She has been taking small steps (holding our hands) and cruising just a little bit. She still sits and plays with toys in one area, mostly.
Given these changes, I suppose it's not that shocking that we are going through one of the hardest periods we've ever had with her. About a week ago, she stopped sleeping through the night (she'd been doing 10-11 hours straight, and napping well, too). Overnight, it changed. She has been refusing to be placed in her crib; she sits straight up, and even tries to stand up, clutches at the bars, and screams and screams and screams. It is absolutely heartbreaking and horrible.
We dealt with this as best we could for four or five days. We'd go in and rock her, or I'd try nursing, but finally she'd end up in bed with us, because no matter how asleep she seemed to be, if we placed her in her crib the screaming would start again. Last night, we were finally so entirely sleep-deprived that we tried a different strategy-- letting her cry in intervals of about 20 minutes, then going in and soothing, then going for another 20 minutes of crying. It was one of the hardest nights we've ever had with her, emotionally. But we are feeling really trapped. If she won't sleep in her crib, what would that mean? Not only would it mean she's always sleeping in bed with us (in which case, none of us gets much sleep, including Daisy), but it also means I'd have to start going to bed at 7. This just doesn't seem like the answer.
After about 2 hours of our method last night, she finally went to sleep and slept for 8 hours, which is longer than she'd slept in five days. So it worked, in a way, but there was a little barf stain on her crib sheet this morning, propelling me into more agony over whether it was the right thing to do. On the good side, she was a bit more like her old cheery self this morning after having finally had some sleep. I know that she needs the rest as much as we do, if not more. I'm just not sure I have the fortitude to get through many more nights like this last one.
On top of this, she hasn't been eating. Foods she previously adored, like eggs and cheese, she now won't touch. We think this might be connected to her 12-month vaccines; she had a temperature of 102.5 the next day (although I have to say the sleeping problems began before the vaccines). This is particularly disturbing because our doctors have told us she needs to gain some weight. She had not gained even one pound since her last appointment at 9 months and was in the 6th percentile for weight (though she's up to the 47th for height). She doesn't look too thin to me, but she is light and it does seem maybe a little too easy to feel her ribcage. I don't know. All is a tired blur. I am worried and every night rolls round with a feeling of dread about what ordeal awaits me this time. It's definitely a tough, interesting time.
A whole bunch of changes have been happening, all at once. A few days after she turned 12 months, Daisy started crawling properly. She was sort of dragging along on her belly before, but now she seems able to crawl on her knees. The odd thing is that she chooses not to do it very often or to go very far. She also pulled all the way up--once. We haven't seen her repeat it, but she does pull up to her knees regularly. She has been taking small steps (holding our hands) and cruising just a little bit. She still sits and plays with toys in one area, mostly.
Given these changes, I suppose it's not that shocking that we are going through one of the hardest periods we've ever had with her. About a week ago, she stopped sleeping through the night (she'd been doing 10-11 hours straight, and napping well, too). Overnight, it changed. She has been refusing to be placed in her crib; she sits straight up, and even tries to stand up, clutches at the bars, and screams and screams and screams. It is absolutely heartbreaking and horrible.
We dealt with this as best we could for four or five days. We'd go in and rock her, or I'd try nursing, but finally she'd end up in bed with us, because no matter how asleep she seemed to be, if we placed her in her crib the screaming would start again. Last night, we were finally so entirely sleep-deprived that we tried a different strategy-- letting her cry in intervals of about 20 minutes, then going in and soothing, then going for another 20 minutes of crying. It was one of the hardest nights we've ever had with her, emotionally. But we are feeling really trapped. If she won't sleep in her crib, what would that mean? Not only would it mean she's always sleeping in bed with us (in which case, none of us gets much sleep, including Daisy), but it also means I'd have to start going to bed at 7. This just doesn't seem like the answer.
After about 2 hours of our method last night, she finally went to sleep and slept for 8 hours, which is longer than she'd slept in five days. So it worked, in a way, but there was a little barf stain on her crib sheet this morning, propelling me into more agony over whether it was the right thing to do. On the good side, she was a bit more like her old cheery self this morning after having finally had some sleep. I know that she needs the rest as much as we do, if not more. I'm just not sure I have the fortitude to get through many more nights like this last one.
On top of this, she hasn't been eating. Foods she previously adored, like eggs and cheese, she now won't touch. We think this might be connected to her 12-month vaccines; she had a temperature of 102.5 the next day (although I have to say the sleeping problems began before the vaccines). This is particularly disturbing because our doctors have told us she needs to gain some weight. She had not gained even one pound since her last appointment at 9 months and was in the 6th percentile for weight (though she's up to the 47th for height). She doesn't look too thin to me, but she is light and it does seem maybe a little too easy to feel her ribcage. I don't know. All is a tired blur. I am worried and every night rolls round with a feeling of dread about what ordeal awaits me this time. It's definitely a tough, interesting time.
posted by Sarah Goss at 3:01 PM
4 Comments:
I have an image of Daisy guzzling tons of vitamin-enriched chocolate milkshakes to bulk up!
She seems very alert and aware despite her petite status, so I guess it's a waiting process...
Sorry to hear about the sleep deprivation--hope things ease up soon so that you can all get back on schedule and be well-rested.
I'm sorry you're having such a tough week! I think it's very common after big milestones for babies to have a rough patch, I'm sure Daisy will be her normal happy (and hopefully sleepy) self in no time.
I ordered a rug from Pottery Barn called Emma Daisy Dot and it made me think of your little supermodel. =)
Hang in there!
1. Arie began refusing to sleep through the night when he started becoming more mobile.
2. We did the "letting him scream, then soothing" thing. It worked after three hellish days. But it WORKED!!!!
3. She is alert and healthy? Tell the doctors to stuff it.
If she won't eat foods she used to eat, there may be some sort of allergy going on. Can you substitute?
This is a very hard time; it was for me, too. Much love!
For comparison and sympathy:
http://www.dooce.com/archives/daily/03_31_2006.html
Post a Comment
<< Home