Lessons for Mommy

Sleeping on Mommy

So we've been having some difficulty sleeping at night. Tommy will go to sleep somewhere between 7 and 10pm and sleep for 3-4 hours but then, the rest of the night is a struggle. He will wake up to eat and fall back to sleep, but not want me to put him down. He wants to sleep on mommy. Well, that doesn't really work for mommy because then mommy can't sleep!

Confession: two nights ago, after Bill left for work, I let Tommy sleep in bed with me. In my defense, I fell asleep while I was nursing laying down and it kind of just happened...but I didn't move him when I woke up and noticed. I hadn't slept more than 3 hours that night and he was quiet. This scared me though. We have a pillow-top mattress and it's really not safe for him to be sleeping there.

So after talking with my mom and grandma I decided I needed to get this figured out. I decided that I was going to break this sleeping-on-mommy habit. Last night I took my shirt that I'd worn all day off and laid it down in the pack-n-play and turned on the Sleep Sheep to rain. I then nursed Tommy to sleep. I carefully got up and laid him on his side (more about this in a minute) on my shirt. I kept my arms wrapped around him while he settled in. After about a minute I pulled my arms back slowly. AND IT WORKED!

So, I got him to sleep in the beginning of the night. Three hours later, he woke up to eat. I followed the same routine AND IT WORKED AGAIN!!! He woke up to eat every 2-3 hours all night and I was able to get him back to sleep each time! In the process though, I learned something: Tommy is a VERY loud sleeper. He grunts, and sighs, and moans, and occasionally cries but he does it in his sleep. I think I've been hearing him make these noises and immediately picking him up, subsequently waking him up. Last night I waited him out. Maybe his poor nighttime sleeping habits are my fault. I'm really hoping that we're on to something here. I'm going to try this routine again tonight and see how it goes.

One of the big problems we've had with Tommy sleeping is that he really doesn't like to be flat on his back. He'll nap in his Rock n' Play and bouncy chair but I really don't want to get him used to sleeping in them at night. I'm afraid I'd have a hard time transitioning him to his crib. So, after careful research and discussion, Bill and I decided to let him sleep on his side. He really would like to sleep on his belly but I'm not willing to do that, so side it is.

Here's the thing though, if he's making all of these noises and waking me up all night, should we move him to his crib? I don't know if I'm ready for that. His room is literally right across the hall from our room. And the hall is only 3 feet wide. He wouldn't be far away. But I don't know if I want him out of my eye sight. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.