So, when I wrote my oh-so-controversial booklet on the sleep techniques we used to get Jonas sleeping through the night, I guess there was one major thing I hadn't accounted for.
No, I still don't believe that a good schedule and some tried and true techniques won't get a normal baby sleeping in a normal situation. That part I still believe. We had Jules sleeping through at about 8 weeks old too. Awesome. So, I don't really get why it's so hard for some other babies. Call me naive, or just lucky, but my kids like schedules – and according to the other books, my kids are pretty normal in that respect. Some of my Meetup mommy-friends had luck with the same exact books/techniques I used and swear by them, just like I do.
So kid #2 was sleeping just like kid #1, enforcing what I had believed (and experienced) to be true….. but then……..but then…. I went back to work. Not only that, I was still breastfeeding so there began the working and pumping. And because of those two new factors, I was introduced to this horrible little thing called "reverse cycling." **shudder**
Oh, what wretched, wretched person invented that phenomena? Reverce cycling – for those of you who have never had to leave your poor little baby at just 3 months old to return to work and pump milk out of your boobs all day to feed him – occurs when a breastfed baby reverses their feeding schedule so they can breastfeed at night because they're not able to breastfeed during the day. Even though they may be eating during the day, some babies prefer the boob and will stay awake all night long to get it.
I went from having a baby who slept 9 pm to 6 am straight, to having a baby who goes down at 9, only to wake up every 2 hours to eat all night long. These days we're lucky to get 2 hours… usually it's less than that.
I'm quite sure I'm being punished for something. Perhaps it was my bravado about my kids' awesome sleep habits? Or maybe the god's are punishing me for working outside the home AND going to school at night when I should really be a stay-at-home taking care of my wee babies? ("like I have a choice you jerky gods.. cut me a break!")
Reverce Cycling. This will have to go into the apology portion of the revised edition to my sleep booklet. Tell me other Working and Pumping moms – how do you stay sane?























Yeah, it's a whole other issue if the kid won't sleep well with you. Can you arrange a side-car with some sort of crib next to the bed, so that at least you don't have to get UP to nurse him - just pull him close to you? It may be that co-sleeping works better if you do it from the beginning.
All I can say is, this too shall pass. Sucks, huh? That's how I get through the nipple-biting (horrendous!). I just know it won't last forever. Meanwhile, I swear at my one-year-old like a sailor.
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