When you read this next sentence, pretend you’re reading it in hushed tones. A whisper, if you will.
Nate is sleeping through the night.
Something magical happened when 2010 turned into 2011. Almost overnight, it seems, Nate’s little body stopped needing a bottle overnight and he’s been sleeping ten to eleven hours each night. He goes to bed between 7:00 and 8:00 at night and sleeps until about 6:30 or so. Of course, this does mean that we are having much earlier mornings than I’m used to, but you can’t have it all, can you?
This new pattern of sleep for Nate is great for him. It’s great for all of us. Or at least, it would be if my own body would figure out how to sleep for more than three hours at a time without waking up and needing urgently, it seems, to look at the clock.
Sleep is hit and miss for me these days. I used to be able to lay down, fall asleep fairly quickly, and then stay that way almost all night long. Now it takes a conscious effort not to wake up too often or too much throughout the night. Some nights are just awful…I’m up as frequently as I was when Nate was a newborn, nursing throughout the night. I wake up, look at the clock, start thinking about things that need to be done around the house, work that needs to be finished up (now that I’m back to work), meals that need to be cooked, errands that need to be run, bills that need to be paid…well, you get the idea. I get up, go to the bathroom, come back to bed, try to get comfortable, resentfully nudge the slumbering snorer beside me, toss, turn, doze if I’m lucky until the next time I wake up to look at the clock.
On a better night, I don’t allow my mind to wander. I don’t allow myself to look at the clock. I shut out messy and unnecessary thoughts and welcome in only peaceful scenes that will, I hope, induce sleep. I get five or six hours in a row of uninterrupted slumber.
I’ve even resorted to methods traditionally reserved for sleep-training babies and children:
- To avoid overstimulation, I avoid computer or iPad or television screens right before bed.
- I play some peaceful music.
- I avoid drinking caffeine from the late afternoon onward (I once read that it should be avoided eight hours before bedtime).
- I try not to go to bed too early or too late.
- I drink mint tea to soothe my stomach and make me drowsy. If a bedtime bottle works for Nate, something similar might work for me!
- I practice a night time wind-down routine: pyjamas on, washed up, getting comfortable, deep breathing, relaxation. This seems to work best.
- If I do wake up in the night, I try not to get distracted. I get up, go directly to the bathroom, come directly back to bed and try to go right back to sleep. I avoid looking at the clock. Who cares what time it was when I went pee?
It’s taken 13 months for Nate to learn how to sleep all night. How long will it take me to learn how to do it again?
{ 2 trackbacks }