Because It's The Small Victories!

Admittedly, I am the last person in the world who would be recruited to teach a seminar on how to get your child to sleep through the night. I can not let my kids cry it out! I have to rescue them because my heart seriously bursts in two (oh yeah, and my kids have strong gag reflex when they cry hard and I don't particularily feel like cleaning up barf)! I know a lot of people, some of my dearest friends, who have been really successful with letting their kids cry it out a bit- which of course then leads to a full night of sleep for the parents and the baby. After seven and a half years of being a mother and after raising three babies- I am no closer to understanding nor do I feel capable of getting my kids to sleep through the night at an early age! Let me clarify here. I have gotten them to sleep through the night (without waking up or needing me to get out of bed to soothe them) by about 15 months. That was Claire. She really adjusted well to the crib after many, many months of sleeping in my arms. Michael stayed in our bed until he was three. Don't judge! This brings us to the noticeable absence of discussion about my dear little Matthew. Excuse me here as I hit 'return' because the two words Matthew and sleep need their own paragraph.

Matthew, Matthew, Matthew. Where do we begin? He was born into a family with a four and a five year old sibling. Those two added together make a lot of noise in a house where a baby needs some kind of quiet to sleep. Add a Daddy that works from home who needs quiet when he is on a call, and a desperate Mom in need of a few hours where she doesn't have a needy, sleepy baby in her arms and you have some serious craziness. Hence the lack of structure to Matthew's sleep habits. But I tell you people, it is about survival! Whatever I could do to make sure he got a good nap or no matter how many times I breast fed him in the middle of the night meant nothing to me as long as I got some sleep or some down time. Okay. Are you starting to catch on? As Matthew grew older, he started to nap better but I always had a secret ingredient involved in this well hatched plan. It is called 'The Fan'. No- not someone cheering on the sidelines as he took a decent nap but an actual fan- with blades whirling around. This source of white noise seemed to drown out the nut-so-ness around him and let him get some decent shut eye! Every time he naps or sleeps in the middle of the night, the fan gets flipped on and for a brief few hours- there is peace. Michael can have a play date and they can go romping around the house and Matthew can't hear them. If I drop a dish in the kitchen even though I am trying with all my might to be as quiet as a mouse- he generally doesn't wake up. I love my fan and am not ashamed to admit that I (and Matthew for that matter) are addicted to it!

This whole rambling post is just a way for me to remember a magical night. It happened on the evening of August 29th. I went to bed around 11ish and would you know that I didn't open my tired little eyes until our alarm went off at 6:45 a.m.? Yes! Matthew slept through the night and I am not afraid to scream it from the rooftops! And would you know that it has happened over and over with only an occasional wake up now and then! I am way too much of a veteran Mom to think that things won't change. I was so excited (and I guess pathetic) that I snuck into his room in the morning and took a picture of him. Yes, you just might think I am crazy but at least I have had had enough uninterrupted sleep to have a debate with you on why I am not! Life is good. I am rested (for the time being) and I still love my fan.