What has five letters, peaks in babies 6-8 weeks old, affects one out of every four babies, and has no proven remedy? That's right, folks, it's colic! :) I'll admit that for the last week or two, pretty much since Thanksgiving, I've been wondering if our son hates us! His fussy times, normally in the evening like many babies, have started earlier and lasted longer, been considerably more intense (we saw our first real tears!) and he has just not slept. When I read that newborns sleep 15-20 hours a day, I wonder whose newborns they're talking about! For a few days there we were lucky to get 2-3 hours during the day and 4-5 at night - absolutely not enough for a little guy like Ethan.
So people out there reading this may wonder, "Alexis, you dummy, how could you let your poor, defenseless child get so sleep deprived? Why didn't you put him in a car and drive him around?" Luckily, my husband has a clearer head than I, and did just that after one of our mornings of lots of crying. And I kept thinking, "It's time for him to eat now - he'll fall asleep in his crib and get a good nap." A few hours later, after putting him in his crib, he rests for 5 minutes, spits up, cries, I pick him up, soothe him again, (repeat several times) - I'd think the same thing, and voila, we have hours passing by with no nap! And then an extra unhappy tired boy...
Now that we've taken him to the doctor, just in case there was a more serious digestive issue affecting his sleep, I feel completely entitled to get this kid sleep any which way I can - car seat, swing, repeated insertions of the pacifier, etc. as opposed to my previous purist view of "he'll get better sleep in his crib than he will in the car seat."
3 comments:
You poor thing! I totally agree with you about the sleep any way he can. My sister took Tehani on car rides all the time. I hope that his colic ends at 12 weeks like it's supposed to. You could start a countdown calendar:)
having been through it, you have my heartfelt sympathies! and support for doing whatever it takes - car rides, swings, you name it!! have you tried building a bookcase? putting him in the snugli and vacuuming the house ten times? strapping his seat to the dryer while it's running? there's gotta be a list somewhere!
The front carrier has limited effectiveness - those legs get to pumping and he's a mess! The car seat is even just taking the edge off rather than putting him to sleep instantly like it used to! We'll be counting down to 12 weeks... (or using the vacuum a lot!) But some days are better than others, of course.
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