Sleep

Sleep.  It is the obsession of every new parent.  How to get your baby to fall asleep, stay asleep, to sleep longer, and how to get some for yourself too.

Asleep on the big red chair in the living rm

Before I became a parent I hardly ever thought about sleep.  I slept when I was tired.  I knew that I wasn't the best sleeper ever.  I need dark and quiet and something comfy to lie on.  Sometimes I was tired from staying up late or doing too much but.... I had no idea.

When Evan came along we spent months and months being very sleep deprived. I was miserable, frustrated and did I mention miserable? Looking back I realize that I was too tired to be as thoughtful as I would have liked or enjoy the process of parenting very much.  I was just trying to survive.

Eventually we got to the end of our ropes and desperate for sleep we did some sleep training and we all slept a little better.  At the time I was traumatized.  How could I let my baby cry?  I must be the worst parent ever (especially here in co-sleeping heaven Ithaca).   Is sleep really that important?  Yes, in my book it is!

Alec is a completely different baby. I'm sure some of it has to do with us being more experienced but I have to give the little guy some credit.  He started sleeping long stretches on his own and they just kept getting longer.  Last week he slept 10 hours or more three nights in a row.  Having a taste of what being a rested parent of an infant feels like was heaven! (He's gone back to getting up about twice...still  not bad!)

Alec sleeping at Viva Taqueria

Rested me really enjoys taking care of Alec and can handle a minor crisis.  (Like today when Evan, Alec and I went to Mama Goose and just as Evan announces that he had an accident Alec spits up on me.  Rested me didn't cry or yell, I just calmly took them both to the restroom and we got on with our day.)  Rested me threw an ice cream party.   Rested me took care of both boys by myself for 24 hours while Russ went to Rochester for a helicopter thing and I wasn't begging for death by the end. 

All this to say...sleep can make all the difference in the world.  Get it any way you can.