sleeper.

this is important, and after reading this post you will understand why that is: Olivia slept for 10 1/2 hours STRAIGHT last night.....for the first time ever. I can't even begin to tell you the emotions that are going through me right now.

At 2 months, Olivia would sleep 6-8 hours straight. This was wonderful. I thought I was blessed with a good sleeper. Then 3 months hit.

All of sudden she was waking up-ever-single-hour. The doctor told me it was called Developmental waking and that she didn't know how to soothe herself back to sleep. So I began my quest to help her learn how to self soothe.

I decided to try cry it out methods. I didn't really want to, but my sanity was at stake here. They didn't work. We gave it an honest go for weeks and it seemed to make her sleep ever worse (if that's even possible). This little Angel of mine could cry and cry and cry for hours on end. Just when I thought that she had calmed herself down (I would hear nothing for 15 minutes), she would start crying again and even louder. Finally, I had had it. Everyone told me that eventually she would learn to cry herself to sleep but we had tried for 2 weeks and it wasn't getting better.

As I said, If I let her cry she would actually sleep worse at night. So the best option was to go in and soothe her. Rub her head, her tummy, some times even picking her up. (I know someone out there is judging me....don't judge...you don't know what I was going through.) I would help her and then get back into bed. Besides, we lived in a one bedroom apartment at the time and even if I wanted to let her cry it out....we wouldn't have gotten ANY sleep. I was on the point of a breakdown.

Every once in a blue moon she would have a good night. This would only get my hopes up. I would try to think back at the day and see what I had done differently and then try to duplicate it, but that didn't work either. It was always what seemed like a fluke.

There were nights where we woke up 8-12 times in one night. Especially between the hours of 2 and 5 am. Those were always her worst.

We tried a stricter schedule, a flexible schedule, shorter naps, longer naps, solid foods, Later bed time, earlier bed time, you name it, but nothing worked. I got advice from everyone about what worked for their baby but finally I had to stop asking for Advice because it just didn't work for MY baby. It started to drive me mad.

I really was at a terrible place emotionally. I never knew what lack of sleep could actually do to you. I really had only a few friends-- because I just didn't have time for friends. (sorry sweet friends who tried contacting me and I didn't get back to you quickly--I was dealing with a lot) I felt like a walking zombie and I was just trying to keep my head above water. I can't tell you how many tears were shed in the middle of the night during those 5 months.

I had the most supportive husband. He helped SO MUCH at night. We even tried having him help her at night and never me...but that didn't work either. He was there for me in so many ways and I know I couldn't have gotten through this without him.

And I have the most beautiful baby girl who despite her sleep issues has always wanted to be happy, so she is. She would always wake up in the morning with a smile on her face as if to say "I love you Mommy-I'm so cute, you can't possibly be mad at me!" and she was right...I could never be mad at her. The poor thing wanted to sleep too.

Right around 8 months, she started sleeping in 6 hour stretches which was so huge for us! The longest she had ever really gone before was 3...and it was usually only 2 hours at a time. 6 hours was an absolute dream. However, she dropped a nap which was fine with me. If she slept better at night with only 1 nap...I could totally deal with that. Right around this time we started putting her to bed at 6:30...yeah, super early and she sleeps better. It's a bit inconvenient but guess what..I DON'T CARE!

Then this week she had 2 nights in a row where she slept from 6:30-1:30 and then 1:30-7ish. I couldn't believe it!! And then last night happened....She slept from 6:30-5!!!!!!!!! And then she went back to sleep after that as well. Oh My blessed little angel girl I am so grateful that you are learning to SLEEP!

I don't think there is much I could have done differently during those months to help her sleep better....I think something in that little head of hers had to switch in order for her to learn to sleep, and it has, and she is sleeping so much better!

I will never take sleep for granted again. I have missed you dear friend of mine. Welcome back.

(I would have written more about this during those months of no sleep....but I didn't want to sound too negative, and trust me...I would have.)

I love my Angel Baby...whether she sleeps or not, but I sure do appreciate that she has learned how to now! Perhaps now I can actually call her a good sleeper!