SLEEP DEPRIVATION

I have always called Griffin my angel baby. From the day we brought him home from the hospital, this little boy has been an incredible night sleeper. We have always had to rock him to sleep, but taking 30 min to rock him was worth the hours of sleep we got after.

And then something happened. At just over 4 months old, the dreaded 4 month sleep regression came like a thief in the night. Our incredible sleeper suddenly would not sleep at night anymore. He was up every hour or two. He would fall back asleep as we rocked or I nursed him, but as soon as you laid him down, screaming ensued. David and I traded off every other wake up. I would doze off in the rocking chair and wake up and hour later, or I would find David passed out in it at 7am, holding our sweet little boy. There were some nights, that out of desperation, we would bring him into bed with us. I would nurse him to sleep [and he would actually sleep! And we got 2-3 hours much needed of consistent sleep]. Now this didn't just last a week, or a month. 

Three and a half months people! 

It. Was. Horrible. 

[Now, I know three and half months of sever sleep deprivation may seem like nothing to most new parents. But when you start out parenthood with a good sleeper, it is super rough to transition to a horrible sleeper.]

After lots of late night/early morning, and sometimes desperate daytime research, I came to the conclusion that Griffin had separation anxiety. [Yes, I Facebook, Instagram, Google and Pinterest to stay awake when I'm feeding Griffin at night. I'll have a post soon about my scrollings on Facebook coming soon]. On the random nights that he slept in our bed, he would wake up, reach out and touch me, then roll over and go back to sleep. That's how I really knew it was separation anxiety. Crying it out was just not an option for getting through that.

Now I know that there are many different opinions on this, and I am not here to debate. My opinion is whatever works for you[however you and baby get sleep at night]- do it. David and I just don't agree with cry-it-out. We can't do it. Yes, I have taken breaks when Griffin is screaming his head off and I'm home along while David is at youth. Yes, we tap out and trade. I just physically cannot listen to my son scream for that long. He works himself up and makes himself sick, and it's just not worth it to us. When he cries, we are there. And it is paying off! 

Something clicked the week Griffin turned 8 months. Suddenly, he was only waking up 1-3 times a night. A miracle. It made all of our sleepless nights, rocking and comforting our little boy, totally worth it. I have seen him [on the monitor] wake up, then roll over and go back to sleep. He wakes up [most mornings] quietly and will play for a while. He's woken up in the middle of the night, and I have patted his butt for 1 minute, and he goes back to sleep for hours [this is when he wakes up sooner than it's time to feed him. If it's been 3 hours, I will feed him. If it's sooner, it's back to sleep for the little boy]. 

Now, I'm a little nervous, because another sleep regression is set to happen at any point. And I know it's coming. This kid is almost crawling, and pretty soon he will be pulling up, sitting up from laying down, and walking. Prayers are much appreciated for our rest.