Sleep…Interrupted | born.in.japan

Last week I posted, pleading for some help, some answers, some hope in regards to our sleep difficulties. And now, one week later, I thought it only fair to provide you with a little update.

Well, my friends, I’m sorry to say, things got worse.

It seemed impossible for things to get any worse, but they did. Thursday and Friday night our little man was up hourly, and crying for a two-three our chunk each night. He needed to be held, rocked, slung, nursed, until he was so exhausted that he fell asleep.

We all woke on Saturday, after two nights of miserable and interrupted sleep, feeling grumpy. Worse than grumpy. My husband, wishing for a reason behind our sleeping woes, slid his fingers along the gums of our little babe, and there it was.

A tooth.

At thirteen and a half months, our little man had cut his very first tooth. That little sharp sliver caused two nights of hell, but at least we had something to show for it. Our little babe, precious as he is wasn’t waking just to be obnoxious and manipulative and to cause us strife (not that we really believed that’s why he was doing it). He was waking in pain while that first little tooth pushed and pressed its way through his tender little gums.

And you know what?! Once it was through, he slept. We all went to bed as a family before 8pm on Saturday and we were both pleased and shocked when he first woke after 1am. I can’t tell you how long it has been since we had a chunk of sleep that was more than an hour or two long. Five hours, that’s pure bliss.

Knock on wood, the Sunday and Monday nights have been good as well. He’s nursed, cuddled, and drifted back to sleep quickly and easily. After three nights of rest, decent rest, we are all starting to feel like ourselves again.

We know that we can’t get too excited, after all this is just the first, of many, teeth that must push their way through. But at least we caught a glimpse of what is to come. Eventually, when he isn’t teething he will sleep better and longer. Eventually, when he’s ready, he’ll sleep all night long.

For now, I’m glad we followed our instincts, stuck with our parenting ideals, and responded to his cries. I’m glad we were there for him as he was working on his first tooth. I’m glad we trusted that we were doing the right thing. And I’m glad that you, all of you, gave the advice you did and reminded us of an eternal truth.

This, too, shall pass.

This post was written as part of the Moms’ 30-minute blog challenge.

http://dillerhome.blogspot.com Hannah

Good for you! Those moments of deep fatigue can sure challenge those parenting ideals we hold dear, but coming through on the other side is pure triumph!

(Found you from SteadyMom)

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http://cavemother.blogspot.com Cave Mother

What a familiar story. For a year now we have been getting a couple of weeks of decent sleep followed by an inevitable return to crap sleep for a couple of weeks as the next tooth comes through. She now has 6 more teeth to go until she is done – so far they have all been quite a struggle! For us, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer though, and she sleeps quite well when she is not in discomfort.

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http://www.thesimplelifekdl.blogspot.com KDL

I’ve decided this is one of my favorite things about our two two year olds being in toddler beds now. When they were in cribs they would wake up and cry until we came to get them and it interrupted sleep for the whole household. Now if they wake in the night they make their way to our room and many mornings I wake up and wonder how the two extra little bodies wound up in there without me skipping a z. I guess I should also count my blessings that my kids were all easy teethers. We sort of routinely check to see if new ones are in yet (we’re up to molars now) but aside from some runny diapers we often don’t notice until they are all the way through.

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Danielle Reply:
April 25th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Lucky you with the easy teethers. If I didn’t know any better I’d think my son was going through some sort of torture chamber. He likes a little drama to accompany his pearly whites.

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http://ellabeanandco.blogspot.com Andrea!!!

I remember the pain of cutting my wisdom teeth…it wasn’t fun, and I’m an adult who understands why her face is throbbing. I’m so glad your babe made it through, and hope you all continue to get some good sleep chunks (until, I fear, the next tooth…but at least you’ll be somewhat prepared!)

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