Sleep

Looks like I'm averaging a post a month right now. I really wish I had time to write more so I could track every little thing that Ever does on a day to day basis. I feel like I'm missing so much in this blog about her.

This post is actually going to be about some of her sleep habits since birth.

We started off with her sleeping in our room in a Rock n' Play. We were told she shouldn't sleep in that because it could cause her spine to become crooked if she was in it too much. So we setup the Pack n Play with the bassinet insert at the end of our bed. Ever would make all kinds of crazy noises in her sleep. We made jokes about how she sounded like she was possessed. I wish we had got video of this, it was quite funny.

I did get a short video of her sleeping and making noises but it is dark and I think she was just having a bad dream or something. This was taken when she was about 2 1/2 months old in January.

Check it out....

I had planned on her sleeping in our room until she was 6 months old but alas with all of the noise she made we eventually moved her into her crib by the time she was 4 weeks old. It really helped me get more sleep because I wasn't jumping up at every little noise she made in her sleep anymore. Now that she is 4 1/2 months old she no longer makes all these noises when she sleeps, now she just snores a little bit. LOL She sleeps in her crib every night and for some of her naps. I think it helps her get better sleep to be in her own room so no one is disturbing her.

They tell you to put baby to sleep on their back it helps reduce the risk of SIDS. Everyone is scared of SIDS. I would feel awful horrible heartbroken if I were to awake to find Ever not breathing. With that being said I have to admit that we would put her to sleep on her stomach in those first few weeks. First it started with when she was taking a nap and we would be right there next to her. Then it grew into when we laid her in the bassinet. She just slept better that way. She wouldn't jolt herself awake as much. I know, we could have swaddled her but I could never get it to stay wrapped around her. Also I felt that she could move her head enough to be able to breath and I would check on her constantly.

4 1/2 moths old -- Her favorite sleep position

I did research on it and apparently they used to tell parents to put babies to sleep on their tummy so they wouldn't choke on spit-up while sleeping. It wasn't that long ago they did this. So taking that into consideration and knowing that her other risk factors for SIDS was very low I felt a little more comfortable laying her on her stomach to sleep. We now lay her on her back to sleep and she doesn't jolt herself awake any more.

SIDS is still a constant worry of mine. So when I woke up at 7am this morning and realized that Ever still hadn't woke up I started to feel this lump in my throat and panic in my gut.  My husband had checked on her and she was fine. Still sleeping away. She actually slept through the night. The first few times this happens it really does give you a bad feeling to wake up in the morning and realize that you haven't heard your baby all night. I wonder if this is the beginning of me getting more sleep at night?

As far as her waking up at night... from when she was probably 6 weeks old she has consistently went to sleep about 8 or 9pm and would sleep until about 4am. There was the time we went to Ohio to visit family and her sleep schedule was all screwed up and when she was sick a few weeks ago she would wake up every few hours but besides that she has had a consistent sleep schedule. Now the amount of time I'm up at night with her is down to a half hour. She eats and is back to sleep pretty quick compared to the hour I would be up with her every 2 hours just after she was born.  It really didn't take that long to get here. It seems like forever when you are going through it but looking back that time was so short.

Here are two more videos of Ever sleeping. These were taken on our way to Ohio. She used to make all kinds of faces in her sleep too. Glad I got video of this because I almost forgot about it. She is about 2 months old in these videos.

They really do grow up so quick in these first few months. Here's to getting more sleep at night!