Sleeping through the...

Night?!? First of all, the idea that anyone sleeps through the night is a farce. So to think that an infant sleeps through the night is really absurd! The question is how long do they sleep...and can they soothe themselves BACK to sleep.

At the young age of 7 weeks, Dean began sleeping 8-10 hour stretches IN THE SWING. He was probably waking several time a night and found himself soothed by the constant motion. Gotta love that swing. Oh, how I miss those nights. He slept in the swing til nearly 4 months of age - when we decided sleep training was a necessity.

Sleep training went really well for us. Dean quickly learned to soothe himself (sucks his fingers...so cute) and he became a real crib-lover. He naps well and usually falls asleep within 5 minutes of being put down - anytime of day. I'm lucky, right? So why am I so tired?!?
Dean has never really slept through the night...not since his early swing days. So when he awakens, we ALL awaken. I've tried letting him cry for periods of time, tried just rocking him a bit, tried sending in Daddy...but the only way to really calm him so he can fall asleep again is to nurse him. This will happen anywhere from once (YaHoo) to four times (ugh!) each night.

He usually goes to bed around 7pm and sometimes as early as 8pm he's up crying. Why?!? We think maybe he's teething -he has three teeth now and two more emerging- or maybe he's going through a growth spurt -he gained 1.5 lb. in the past month- or maybe he's wet, rolled over, feels sick... Not that it matters WHY because I end up going in, nursing him, rocking a bit, and putting him back in the crib. He smiles, turns to the side, cuddles his blanket, and falls back to sleep. This repeats at 10pm or 12pm or 1:30am or 3:15 am ... you get the idea.

All I can say is that you should never ask a mother of an infant if she is "Sleeping Through the Night" because the answer is NO!