A Post About Sleep

See?  My baby does sleep.  And he has since he was a wee little baby.  But seriously, even though he is asleep in every single one of these photos, he doesn't sleep as well as the average baby.  Don't worry, I don't love him less because of it, but man, I used to think, "If only he would sleep better..."

A couple of pros from my sleepy baby-- When he was born, he automatically knew when night was night and when day was day.  I have to hand it to him for that.  A friend of mine had a baby 5 weeks after McCoy was born and she was up with him for a couple of hours during the 3-4 am shift.  I was lucky because that was not happening at the Martin household.  McCoy would fall asleep every time I fed him.  That was another pro.  He was a "milk coma" baby.  He loved his Mommy Milk.  :)

But here's where it started to get tricky.  He would not, could not, refused to sleep through the night.  I would here mothers, giggling and smiling from excitement that their children began sleeping through the night at 5 weeks old.  I waited at 5 weeks... at 6 weeks... at 8 weeks... at 4 months... at 6 months... at 9 months... at 12 months... at 18 months.... still McCoy did not sleep through the night.  I tried everything (that I could think of).  I tried letting him cry (didn't see a consistent response to that), I tried giving him food before we went to bed, I tried a bedtime routine, I tried letting him run and run and run and run, I tried bedtime books, I tried... I tried... I tired, very tired.

And then, as he turned 18 months old, he got "kicked out" of the infant room (okay, not kicked out, but moved up) to the ButterBears room.  And that night, a glorious halo of darkness shone over his crib and angels lulled him to a deep, deep sleep.  Because that night, 4:00 am rolled around and I didn't hear him wake up.  Hallelujah!  Okay, but this was probably just a fluke, he's done this before-- he has slept through the night before.  So, I waited until the next night.... He didn't wake up!  Again!  And the whole week was the same.  Until, of course, Saturday night.  And Sunday night.  And looking at a calendar, it proves that McCoy only sleeps through the night when he is thoroughly worn out from ButterBears.  I need to be more structured and offer more activities for my dear little one on the weekends.