Oh little Bear, why won't you sleep?

So, I accepted I was going to be tired. I knew being a mummy was going to be hard. But my little bubba, who was sleeping relatively well, has changed his mind, and now has decided it's much more fun to stay awake.

I attempted to follow Gina Ford's Contented Little Baby Routine, but it wasn't for me. I'm a very active person and I found the routine very restricting as Little Bear was supposed to sleep in his room, in the dark, at set nap times. I can't stay in all day, it's not practical and drove me insane. I also found that keeping him awake for set amount of times just made him very cranky. So I started following his lead. If he wants to sleep, I let him sleep. But I make sure that when he is awake, I play with him, talk to him and keep him stimulated. For the last few days he's been cluster-feeding, and I'm putting it down to a growth spurt, as I can't settle him with a dummy, cooled boiled water or a cuddle, he wants food every 60-90 mins.

And don't get me started on night times. He fights sleep for a long time, spitting out his dummy and waking after about five minutes, so it's a cycle of put fummy back in, hold his hands, and usually he'll settle. If not, a quick cuddle will quieten him. Put him down. He wakes within 15 mins and cries. Back in, dummy in, drifts off, leave the room, he wakes up. It doesn't matter if I'm in my bed next to his Moses Basket, he's just not staying asleep.

I'm putting it down to insufficient naps during the day, he's fighting them too which means I struggle to get anything done! Over the past few days I've tried swaddling, sleeping bags, keeping him warm, keeping him cool, a bottle of formula, putting a sheet under the head of his mattress so he's not flat, and now I'm at a loss!

Today, my experiment is letting him nap in his bouncy chair in front of me instead of putting him in his room. I figure he's only dinky and needs to know I'm close, as he is fast asleep has stirred once or twice, spotted me and gone back to sleep. He's quite happy to sleep in my arms, or in a chair or in the pram, but this doesn't help my night times - I appear to be running on some kind of freaky back-up energy for now but I'm very tired.

Let's see if what they say is true - that sleep breeds sleep and his better daytime naps mean better sleep at night - I shall update soon!!

Eagerly awaiting a better night's sleep
xxx