Sleep is Overrated

My son was up last night more than he was asleep. It makes for a very tired mama, but I know that it was because he is uncomfortable. Whenever he doesn’t poop his belly gets upset and he is up throughout the night, some nights worse than others.

I often wonder what the sleeping habits of other babies are. Is my experience a common experience or am I totally different from other moms? As a first time mom I often find myself comparing myself to other, more experienced, moms. I am making an effort to be less critical of myself and to accept that I am on a journey of discovery. I am learning to trust my instincts about what is best for my child and to not let others opinions have such an effect on the way I feel about myself. I am sick of feeling guilty for doing what I feel is best for my situation.

Take for instance the topic of the baby sleeping through the night. It’s inevitable that this topic will come up when having a discussion with friends and family. If you say that your child is not sleeping through the night you get the sympathetic sighs and frowns on faces that say ‘poor you’. Yet if you say that your child is sleeping through the night people are so enthusiastic and let you know how lucky you are. So what is normal?

When completing my Google searches during sleepless nights I found that some experts say that an infant sleeping through the night means 5 or 6 hours. Some moms say that their little one sleeps for 7, 8, even 10 hours at a time. Others say that their infant will sleep for several hours, wake to eat, and then go back to sleep soundly for another few hours.

My son sleeps about 7 hours straight on a good night. He will then eat (nurse) and go back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. He will sometimes wake around 3am and then easily go back to sleep with a little soothing. There are those nights , like last night, when it feels like he is up all night long. My son is a night owl. I get a look (you know the look) when I tell folks that he doesn’t go down for the night until around 10pm. He will go to sleep earlier but it is more like a nap. I hear of these babies that go to bed at 7 or 8 (which I agree is a fantastic bedtime for little ones), but even with effort, my son won’t go down at this time. I don’t find it to be a hindrance that he is up (I am up) but again, its one of those situations that makes me feel like a guilty mom. Do these babies that go to bed at 7 really stay asleep for 11 or 12 hours? I keep telling myself that as long as my son is getting the sleep he needs, it really doesn’t matter what hours this takes place in. Eventually, I want to transition to him going to bed on his own at a more appropriate hour for little guys, but we just aren’t there yet.