Shhhhhhhh, the baby is sleeping!

Yes, there have been some changes around here. But only recently. Up until two days ago I was wandering around half crazed from lack of sleep, at times found staring off into space as I thought "So THIS is what being a little insane feels like", trying just to get through each day without too much stress and/or tears. Chocolate was my coping mechanism, amongst, of course, the support of my husband, friends and family. I knew things were bad when my friend phoned "just to check in" after a long chat about how little sleep I had been getting.

But not to jinx anything, I am not saying things have gotten all perfect around here, and I fully realize that I could once again have sleepless nights. I am just saying, things might be getting better (touch wood).

I was all ready to let the baby start to cry it out at night. I was shocked to realize that since I hadn't been doing that, I was actually parenting in a style I hadn't intended. Now there is nothing wrong with attachment parenting, I just hadn't intended to be following this method. But I was, and it was wearing on me.

Fortunately I got a very good book out of the library which outlined several reasons why a baby might not sleep at night, and one of them was because they are "Snackers" who are used to eating frequently throughout the day. The book suggested that I could try to spread meals out a bit during the day, with the result that the baby would want to eat less at night as well. Magic. Day one, I did this with no protest at all from baby, and the night was... better. He still woke up but I was able to pat him back to sleep very quickly in his crib. I fed him twice at night (rather than 4-6 times!). Day 2, last night, I only got up twice to soothe/feed. Oh my that is ok!

I have also stopped feeding him to sleep during the day. And what I thought would be a battle is really quite painless. He sometimes cries a bit, but not for very long at all.

This is all good timing because Mr W starts a job in Vancouver next week for the next couple of months. Meaning he will be away 5 days a week. Tough for him to do, but necessary financially. We are looking a for a place which won't mind baby and dogs visiting from time to time though so we can spend more time together than just weekends.

But yes, baby is sleeping so I think I will go catch up on my reading- I purchased Twilight the other day, and I am hooked!