Exhaustion - Part 3

The baby

In the beginning, the baby was a baby. He ate often, but usually gave me a 3-4 hour stretch at night. With 2 other children to care for, naps never happened unless my wonderful mother was watching the twins and then only when the timing was right. He did the usual late evenings and a little party session somewhere in the middle of the night, but this was to be expected.

When the baby was 4 months old, he slept through the night 3 times, not consecutively. I thought I had the best baby ever. He even slept in his own crib. I had not introduced co-sleeping for fear of loosing more sleep. Then teething began.

At 6 months old, the baby started teething. He got 7 teeth in 3 weeks. He was in pain and wanted to suck all the time. The good little sleeper ended. He started getting about between 3 - 6 times a night to eat. Nothing put him back to sleep except eating. So, the co-sleeping began. I was not going to get up out of bed 6 times a night. At least I could doze while co-sleeping and nursing.

The baby is now 10 months old. He gets up 4-6 times a night to eat. And, yes, he is still co-sleeping. We are in the midst of finishing the nursery. I think he will get to sleep in there when he is no longer a baby, but at least he will have his own room. Lets see if it gets used or not!